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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/fiftyyearsoverofOOIanerich 


FRONTISPIECE. 


THK  CHANGES  OF  A    MKKTrMK-.SlXTY    VKAKS— Hi  TO  7l),  OK 


FIFTY  YEARS  11  OVER 


OF 


AKRON 


AXD 


Summit  County, 


BY 


EX-SHERIFF  SAMUEL  A.  LANE. 


EMBELLISHED   BY   NEARLY    SIX    HUNDRED    ENGRAVINGS  —  PORTRAITS    OF 

PIONEER   SETTLERS,    PROMINENT  CITIZENS,    BUSINESS, 

OFFICIAL   AND    PROFESSIONAL — ANCIENT 

AND   MODERN   VIEWS,    ETC. 


NINE-TENTH'S  OF  A  CENTURY  OF  SOLID  LOCAL  HISTORY  ^PIONEER  INCIDENTS, 

INTERESTING  EVENTS— INDUSTRIAL,  COMMERCIAL,  FINANCIAL 

AND  EDUCATIONAL  PROGRESS,  BIOGRAPHIES,  ETC. 


AKRON,  OHIO: 

BEACON   JOB    DEPARTMENT. 

1892. 


Entered,    according    to   Act   of    Congress, 
in  the  ofiBce  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at 
Washington,     D.    C,    January    17,    1887,    by    , 
SAMUEL  A.  IvANE.  / 

All'Righta  Reserved. 


CONTENTS. 


Autobiography  of  Author 1— 3(t 

Preliininar J'  Remarks 31 

CHAPTER  I.— Akron's  Beginning— Ancient  Middlebury— A  Visit  from  DeWltt 
Clinton — Commencement  and  Completion  of  the  Ohio  Canal — First  Boat  to 
Cleveland— Dr.  Crosby  and  his  "  Ditch  "— "  Thunder  from  a  Cloudless  Sky  "— 
The  Doctor's  "  Goose  Pasture  "  Prophecy— The  New  Village  of  "  Cascade  "— 
Bitter  Triangular  Rivalry— Spirited  Guide  Board  War— Early  Manufactures 
Pioneer  Hotels,  Merchants,  Etc.,  Etc .32 — 48 

CHAPTER  II.— Akron  Incorporated— First  Charter  Election— Early  Mayors— The 
First  a  Venerable  but  Wealthy  Quaker,  the  Second  an  Impecunious  Lawyer 
"  Kid  "  — Unsuccessful  Speculations — Curious  Law  Practice  —  A  "Moving" 
Defense— Successful  Administration— Subsequent  Mayors,  Etc 49—56 

CHAPTER  III.— Early  Crookedness— Confidence  Games,  -'Keg  Money,"  Etc.— 
Unsavory  Reputation  — The  "  Gore-y  "  Battle  Ground— Bitter  Post  Office  Con- 
troversy—Scandalous Church  Squabbles— Decadence  of  Middlebury  and  the 
South  End — "Cascade"  in  the  Ascendency— Succumbing  to  the  Inevitable, 
Etc .57-63 

CHAPTER  IV^— The  Boom  and  the  Collapse— Poetry  versus  Fact— Speculation 
Rampant— Wonderful  Enhancement  of  Values  and  still  more  Wonderful 
Decline  — The  Morus  Multicaulus  Craze —Immense  Fortunes  that  Didn't 
Materialize— The  Panic  of  1837— Hard  Times  as  was  Hard  Times— The  Shin- 
plaster  Era— Decidedly  a  Mixed  Currency— The  "Truck  and  Dicker"  System, 
Etc 64—70 

CHAPTER  v.— The  "Cross-Cut"  Canal-Charter  Granted  in  1827— Preliminary 
Survey— Eight  Years'  Slumber— Revival  of  Project  in  1835 — Ohio  a  Large 
Stockholder— Delaj^ed  by  Panic  of  1837 — Push  and  Pluck  of  its  Projectors — 
Successful  Completion— Celebrating  all  Along  the  Line— Prosperity,  Decline, 
Etc 71—79 

CHAPTER  VI. — The  Portage  Canal  and  Manufacturing  Company  or  "  Chuckery  " 
Enterprise — A  Mammoth  Scheme — Superior  Sagacity  and  Engineering  Skill 
of  Akron's  Great  Benefactor,  Doctor  Eliakim  Crosby— Rise,  Progress  and 
Collapse — Portrait  and  Life  History  of  its  Projector,  Etc.— An  Instructive 
Chapter 80-90 

CHAPTER  VII.— Summit  County— Six  Years'  Struggle  Over  its  Ejection- Rejoic- 
ing Over  the  Result — Preliminary  Election  and  Organization— The  County 
Seat  Question— Akron,  Cuyahoga  Falls  and  the  "Chuckery"  Competitors- 
Akron  Finally  Wins  the  Prize— Public  Buildings  Erected— First  Speech  in 
the  New  Court  House  Made  by  ex-President  John  Quincy  Adams— Improve- 
,  ments,  Etc 91—108 

CHAPTER  VIII.— Educational  Matters— Pioneer  Schools— " Model"  Examination 
— Early  Select  Schools,  High  Schools,  Etc. —  The  Union  School  System  — A 
Distinctly  Akron  Institution  but  now  Universal — A  magnificent  Educational 
Showing— Present  Status  of  Akron's  Splendid  Public  Schools, Views  of  Build- 
ings, Portraits  of  Superintendents,  Etc.— Buchtel  College  and  its  Promot- 
ers, Presidents,  Officers,  Etc 109—167 

CHAPTER  IX.— Akron's  Literary  Achievements— "Lyceum  and  Library  Asso- 
ciation" Chartered  in  1834— "Philo  Lexion  Society"  1&36-40  — "Akron  Literary 
Association" — "Akron  Lecture  Association  "—"Akron  Library  Association" 
—Akron  Mechanics'  Library,  Akron  Public  School  Library,  Akron  Free 
Public  Library— Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Reading  Room,  Lec- 
tures, Etc 168—187 

CHAPTER  X.— Akron's  Churches— Pioneer  Religious  Organizations— Successes 
and  Reverses  — The  Various  Sects  Very  Largely  Represented  — Views  of 
Several  Early  Church  Structures  and  a  Number  of  Modern  Houses  of  Wor- 
ship-Portraits of  Several  Representative  Ministers  With  Brief  Biographies 
—Church  and  Sabbath  School  Statistics,  Etc 188—214 


ii.  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XI.— Akron  Truly  a  Literary  Center— Ancient  Middlebury  the  Pioneer 
with  the  "Portage  Journal"  in  1825— The  "Akron  Post"  of  1836— The  "Ameri- 
can Balance"  of  1836— The  "Akron  Buzzard"  of  1837— The  "Akron  Journal"  of 
1836,  '37— The  "  Summit  Beacon"  of  1839,  and  the  Various  Literary  and  News- 
paper Ventures  to  the  Present  Day.    An  Interesting  Chapter 215 — 231 

CHAPTER  XII.— Akron's  Burial  Places— The  Old  Sixth  Ward  Cemetery  of  1808- 
The  Spicer  Cemetery  1813  to  1870— The  .  Original  North  Akron  or  "Dublin" 
Burying  Ground  of  1825— The  Akron  Rural  Cemetery  1838  to  Present  Time— 
The  New  Sixth  Ward  Cemetery— The  Several  Church  Cemeteries  of  the 
City— Superintendent's  Lodge  and  Memorial  Chapel  and  Other  Fine  Views  in 
Akron  Rural  Cemetery,  Officers  of  Association  and  Superintendents— Some- 
thing About  Public  Parks,  Etc 232-2.')9 

CHAPTER  XIII.— Akron  and  Portage  Township  Civil  Service— Town,  Village,  City 
and  Township  Local  and  General  Public  Officers  for  Over  Half  a  Century 
— A  Highly  Honorable  Record  "Without  a  Single  Case  of  Malfeasance  Known 
Among  the  Hundreds  of  Official  Incumbents — Portraits,  Biographies 2fiO— 300 

CHAPTER  XIV.— Public  Illumination— The  Original  "Tallow  Dip"  Followed 
by  Sperm  Oil,  Lard  Oil,  Coal  Gas,  Petroleum  and  Electricity — Local  Trans- 
portation, Herdics,  Horse  Cars,  Electric  Cars,  Etc.— Fuel  Gas,  and  Other 
Modern  Improvements— Akron  Fully  Abreast  With  the  Times 310—314 

CHAPTER  XV.— Akron's  Postal  History— Ancient  Middlebury's  Early  and  Suc- 
cessive Postmasters  to  Present  Time — First  Postmaster  of  Akron  Proper- 
Youthful  Mail  Carrier— Successive  Postmasters  of  Akron  for  Sixty  Years, 
With  Portraits  of  Several— Scramble  for  the  "  Spoils "  Under  Successive 
Administrations— Wonderful  Growth  of  Postal  Business — Free  Delivery  Sys- 
tem, Etc .315—329 

CHAPTER  XVI.— Akron's  Fires— Hundreds  of  Houses,  Churches,  Stores,  Shops, 
Mills,  Etc.,  Destroyed— Millions  of  Dollars'  Worth  of  Property  Consumed— 
Incendiarism  Rampant— The  Bucket  Brigade— The  Old  Crank  and  Brake 
Engines— The  Tireless  Steamer  — List  of  Akron's  Principal  Fires  for  Over 
Half  a  Century— A  Chapter  Full  of  Instructive  Information .330—349 

CHAPTER  XVII.— Akron,  Middlebury  and  Portage  Township  Military  History. 
Ancient  and  Modern— Early  Army  and  Civil  Militarj'  Operations— Brilliant 
Record  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion— Later  Local  Military  Affairs— A  Mag- 
nificent Showing ,3ii0 — 446 

CHAPTER  XVIII.— Ancient  and  Modern  Akron  Contrasted— Early  Business  and 
Industrial  Status  -What  Horace  Greeley  Said  of  Us  in  1843— Greeley  a  True 
Prophet— The  Boom  that  Came  to  Stay— From  Village  to  City— An  Indus- 
trial, Commercial,  Financial  and  Professional  History  Justly  to  be  Proud  of. .447— 557 

CHAPTER  XIX.— Summit  County's  Tornadoes— The  Stow  Disaster  of  October  20, 
1837— Dwelling  House  Demolished  and  Fotir  Persons  Instantly  Killed— The 
Sharon,  Copley  and  Springfield  Blow  of  April  8,  1890,  Leaving  Death  and 
Desolation  in  its  Track— Akron's  Fearful  Visitation  of  May  10, 1890,  with  Ten 
Graphic  Illustrations— Barberton's  Fatal  Call,  December  23,  1890,  Etc 5.'i8— .568 

CHAPTER  XX.— Akron's  First,  Last  and  Only  Homicide— The  Sixth  Ward  Wife- 
Murder— Terrible  Brutality  of  a  Whisky-Selling,  Whisky-Drinking  Fiend 
—"Watt"  Henry's  Fatal  Assault  upon  His  Wife,  Bridget  Henry— Exciting 
Trial,  Conviction,  Life  Imprisonment,  Etc 569-576 

CHAPTER  XXL— The  "Irrepressible  Conflict"— The  Infamous  Fugitive  Slave 
Law— Every  Man,  Woman  and  Child  a  Bloodhound— Dastardly  Attempt  to 
Kidnap  a  Weil-Known  Akron  Barber,  "Jim  "  Worthington— Prominent  Citi- 
zens to  the  Rescue— The  Slave-Catchers  Foiled- Escape  of  "Jim"  and 
Other  Local  Fugitives  to  Canada— An  Intensely  Interesting  Chapter 577—58,3 

CHAPTER  XXII.— Our  Own  John  Brown— "  Old  Ossawatomie"— Freedom's  Hero 
and  Martyr— Full  Personal  History  with  Life-like  Portrait— Business  Suc- 
cesses and  Reverses— Free-State  Operations  in  Kansas— Fatal  Harper's 
Ferry  Expedition— Capture,  Trial,  Conviction  and  Execution  for  Treason 
and  Insurrection— A  Thrilling  Historical  Episode .584—592 

CH.VPTER  XXIII.— The  Canadian  Patriot  War  of  1837-183$)— "  Hunter's"  Lodges- 
General  Lucius  V.  Bierce  one  of  the  "Leading  Spirits"— Defeat,  Execution 
and  Banishment  of  Insurgents  in  the  East— The  United  States  Interferes— 
Commander-in-Chief  Bierce  Captures  Windsor,  Burns  Barracks,  Etc.— 
Defeat  and  Flight  for  Life— An  Exciting  International  Episode 593—603 


CONTENTS.  iii. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. -Second  Adventism— The  End  of  the  World  Predicted  in 
1843 — Great  Excitement  in  Akron  and  Summit  County— Miscalculation  in 
Dates— The  Final  Catastrophe  Postponed  One  Year— Still  the  Day  of  Doom 
will  not  Come— Attempts  to  Work  Miracles— Feet-Washing  and  the  Holy 
Kiss— Spiritual  Marriages,  Etc.— Wonderful  Power  of  Humbug (iOl— (ii;? 

CHAPTER  XXV.— The  Geology  of  Summit  County,  by  Professor  Matthew  Can- 
field  Read,  with  Portrait  and  Biography  of  Author— Canyon  Formation- 
Nature's  Great  Ice  Pl<5w,  the  Glacier— Structural  Geology— Coal,  Oil  and 
Gas  Measures,  Etc— An  Extremely  Useful  and  Instructive  Chapter 614— G'JO 

CHAPTER  XXVI.— Summit  County's  Railroads  Early  Railway  History- 
Schemes  that  never  Materialized— Successes  and  Reverses— Projects  that 
Came  to  Stay — Present  and  Constantly  Increasing  Systems — The  Chief 
Factor  in  Akron's  Unexampled  Prosperity— A  Chapter  Full  of  Interest 
to  All , ". 621-««) 

CHAPTER  XXVII.— The  Township  of  Bath— Early  Settlement,  with  Portraits  of 
First  and  Subsequent  Early  Settlers— Pioneer  Incidents  and  Perils— Civil 
Criminal,  Military  and  Business  Status.  Past  and  Present— Educational  and 
Religious  Matters,  Etc &40— 653 

CHAPTER  XXVIII.— The  Township  of  Boston— Early  Settlement,  Organization, 
Xame,  Etc.  — Indian  and  Other  Pioneer  Incidents  —  Ancient  and  Modern 
Military  Prowess— A  Splendid  Record  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion -Criminal 
Catalogue— Civil,  Business,  Educational  and  Religious  Status— Portraits  of 
Prominent  Citizens,  Soldiers'  Monument,  Etc 654— (>6!» 

CHAPTER  XXIX.— Daring  Burglaries  in  Peninsula  —  Singular  Detection  of 
Burglar— Arrest,  Indictment  and  Ingenious  Escape  from  J^il— Giving  "Aid 
and  Comfort"  to  Rebels— Confinement  in  Fort  Lafayette— Return  to  his  Old 
Quarters  in  Jail— Conviction  and  Nine  Years'  Imprisonment— Thoroughly 
Reformed,  Etc 670—677 

CHAPTER  XXX.  -The  Peninsula  Wife  Murder -Henry  Kerst  from  Ambush 
Shoots  his  Wife  upon  the  Public  Highway— Terrible  Excitement  Among  the 
People— Arrest,  Trial,  Conviction  and  Sentence— His  Own  Executioner  by 
Suicide— A  Ghastly  Spectacle 678— tw;{ 

CHAPTER  XXXI.— Boston's  Last  Great  Sensation— The  VVashburn-Peoples  Homi- 
cide—A Wronged  Husband's  Terrible  Revenge— Preparations  for  the  Bloody 
Deed  —  Arrest,  Trial  and  Conviction  of  Murder  in  the  Second  Degree- 
Imprisonment  for  Life— Still  Doing  Penance  after  Twenty  Years 684— (MU 

CH.VPTER  XXXIL— Copley  Township— Why  so  Xamed-Topography-The  Big 
Swamp— A  Gamy  Locality — Early  Settlement,  Organization,  Etc.— Pioneer 
and  Later  Thrilling  Incidents— Growth,  Population  and  Business,  Educa- 
tional, Religious,  Civil  and  Military  Status— The  Bosworth  Insane  Homicide, 
Etc 095—7(15 

CHAPTER  XXXIII.-'The  State  of  Coventry  "-Origin  of  Name— The  Indian's 
Paradise— Settlement.  Organization,  Growth  and  Wonderful  Prosperity- 
Mineral  and  Manufacturing  Resources— The  Reservoirs,  When  and  Why 
Constructed— Early  and  Later  Criminal  Matters— Civil  and  Military  Status— 
A  Chaoter  Well  Worth  Perusal 70(i— ?_'4 

CHAPTER  XXXIV.— Cuyahoga  Falls,  a  Full  History  of  its  Beginning,  Progress, 
Prosperity,  Reverses,  Etc.— Its  Past  and  Present  Business,  Educational, 
Religious,  Criminal,  Civil  and  Military  Status,  with  Portraits  and  Biogra- 
phies of  Several  Promkient  Citizens,  a  Numljcr  of  Romantic  Views,  Etc 7"i5  -7<W 

CHAPTER  XXXV.— The  Parks-Beatson  Homicide— One  of  the  Most  Cold- 
Blooded  Murders  on  Record— Exciting  Chase  after  the  Murderer— Capture,, 
Trial,  Conviction— New  Trial  Granted— Again  Convicted,  Executed,  Etc.— 
Full  History  of  the  Case 770—783 

CHAPTER  XXXVL— Franklin  Township— Early  R(;sources,  Settlement,  Busi- 
ness Centers,  Civil,  Criminal,  Moral  and  Military  Status--Portraits,  Biogra- 
phies, Etc 784— 7U5 

CHAPTER  XXXVII.— Green  Township— When  and  by  Whom  Settled -Organiza- 
tion— Mercantile,  Educational,  Military,  Business  and  Criminal  Matters- 
Personal   Biograj>hy,  Etc 7!K!— 8H} 


iv.  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII— Hudson  Township  and  Village— The  Pioneer  Township 
of  Summit  County,  Founded  in  1799— Perils  by  Water  and  by  Land— Early 
Privations— The  Grand  Old  Western  Reserve  College— Other  Educational 
Institutions— Religious,  Industrial  and  Military  History— The  Malony-Ste- 
pleton  Homicide,  Etc 811—^3 

CHAPTER  XXXIX— Northampton  — Indian  and  Frontier. "Matters— Settlement, 
Organization,  Early  and  Modern  "Military  Operations,  Civil  and  Criminal 
Status— The  Dunn-Whipple  Homicide,  Trial  and  Life. Imprisonment  of  the 
Murderer— The  Brooks-Tedrow  Tragedy,  Etc 854—875 

CHAPTER  XL— The  Counterfeiters  of  the  Cuyahoga— "  Dan  "  and  "Jim"  Brown 
—Stupendous  Financial  Schemes— Successes  and  Reverses— Brilliant  Oper- 
ations of  "  Dan  "  the  Second— Wonderful  Romance  of  Crime 87&— 897 

CHAPTER  XLI.—Northfield  — Early  Settlement,  Organization  and  Progress— 
The  Viers-Charlesworth  Episode  of  1826  — Wrongfully  Accused  of  Crime— 
The  Mystery  Pluckily  Cleared  Up— A  Genuine  Romance  in  Real  Life- 
Township  Patriotism  "and  Military  Roll  of  Honor— Honorable  Civil  .Service 
Record,  Public  .Spirit,  Etc 8»8~907 

CHAPTER  XLIL— Xorthfleld's  Second  Great  Sensation,  The  Murder  of  Catha- 
rine McKisson  by  her  Brother-in-law,  David  McKisson  July  24,  1837— Pursuit, 
Trial,  Conviction  and  Execution— A  Highly  Thrilling  Narrative 908—917 

CHAPTER  XLIII.— Norton— Origin,  Pioneer  Experiences— Organization— Early 
"Queer"  ness  — Business  Emporiums  — Mad  Pranks  of  Lunatic  Merchant- 
Killing  of  Burglar  by  New  Portage  P.  M.  — The  McLister-Welsh  Homicide 
—Civil  and  Military  Status— Portraits,  Biographies,  Etc 918—935 

CHAPTER  XLIV^— The  New  Industrial  City  of  Barberton— Wonderful  Growth  ^ 

and  Prosperity— Showing  What  Courage  and  Cash  can  Accomplish— Finely 

Illustrated 836-940 

CHAPTER  XLV.— The  Township  of  Richfield— Pioneer  Inhabitants  and  Inci- 
dents—Successes and  Reverses- Educational,  Religious,  Civil,  Military  and 
Criminal  Status— The  Big  Sleigh  Ride  of  1&56— The  Great  Reunion  of  1880— 
Present  Business  Status,  Population,  Etc !>41— 955 

CHAPTER  XLVI.  — The  Hunter-Gargett  Tragedy  -  Love-Making  by  Proxy- 
Marriage  Contract  "  LTnsight  Unseen" —  Lover  Jilted  by  Sweetheart  — Fatal 
Revenge— Father  and  Mother  of  Girl  Shot  to  Death  — Narrow  Escape  of 
Young  Lady  Herself— Arrest,  Trial  and  Execution  of  Murderer— Spicy  Cor- 
respondence, Etc 95»i— 978 

CHAPTER  XLVII.—SpringHekl  Township  — Early  Settlement,  Organization- 
Progress— Industrial,  Educational,  Religious,  Patriotic,  Etc.— The  Murder  of 
John  Rhodenbangh  and  Punishment  of  Murderers— The  Roof-Musson  Hom- 
icide—Exciting Trials— Imprisonment,  Pardon,  Etc 979—1002 

CHAPTER  XLV'III.— Stow  Township— Historical  and  Incidental  — "  Pioneer  Mir- 
•acle"— Wild   Animals,  Rattlesnakes,   Indians,  Etc.— Early   Fatal  Tornado- 
Double    Fatal   Episode   of    the    Rebellion  — Educational,   Moral,    Civil    and 
Military    Status  —  Portrait    of   Judge    Joshua    Stow    and   Other    Prondnent 
Citizens,  Etc 1003-1027 

CHAPTER  XLIX.— Monroe  Falls  — One  of  the  Early  Booming  Cities  of  Summit 
County  — Rise,  Progress  and  Decline  — Protege  Dude  of  Company  Twice 
Convicted  of  an  Infamous  Crime— Escape  From  Jail;  Secreted  in  Attorney's 
Cistern  Six  Weeks  — Five  Years  in  Sunny  Italy  — Return  to  America  With 
Lola  Monte&-Death,  Etc 1038-1035 

CHAPTER  L.— Tallmadge  Township— A  Unique  Arrangement  of  Roads,  Lots, 
Etc.— A  Projected  "Utopia"— Hopes  of  Founder  Blasted  but  Settlement 
Rapid  and  Township  Prosperous— Industrial,  Religious,  Educational  and 
Military  Status— Biographical,  Etc 1036— l(«t 

CHAPTER  LI.— Twinsburg,  the  Latest  Settled  Township   in   Sununit  County- 
First  Settler  a  Seventeen-Year-Old  Boy— Derivation  of  Name— Rapid  Prog- 
ress—Pioneer Incidents— Wonderful  School  History  — Church,  Official  and 
Military  Matters— Past  and  Present  Business  Status,  Etc 1060—1079 

CHAPTER  LII.— Summit  County's  Agricultural  Society— Origin,  Early  Fairs, 
Changes  ot  Location,  Hindrances,  Successes,  Etc.  —  Popular  "Fountain 
Park"— Most  Prosperous  Local  Fair  in  Ohio 1080- H'd 


CONTEXTS.  V. 

CHAPTER  LIII.  —  Summit  County's  Benevolence— Early  "Poor  Houses"— Pur- 
chase of  County  Farm  — Original  Infirmary  Buildings  — New  and  Enlarged 
Structures— Greatly  Improved  Methods  — The  De  Roo  Hospital  Bequest- 
Akron  Charity  Association— Mary  Day  Nursery,  Etc 1087—1098 

CHAPTER  LIV.— Labor  Fifty  Years  Ago— History  Repeating  Itself-Early  Dis- 
satisfaction, Strikes,  Riots,  Etc.,  as  Now  — Clamoring  for  a  Ten  Hour  Day 
and  Cash  Payments— Combinations,  Dissensions,  Defeats,  Successes,  Etc.— 
An  Interesting  and  Instructive  Chapter 1099—1105 

CHAPTER  LV.  — Akron  and  Summit  County  in  California  —  The  Great  Exodus 
of  1849,  '50— Dangers  and  Hardships  of  the  Journey  Thither— Incidents  of 
Travel,  Both  Thrilling,  Ludicrous  and  Sad -Successes,  Disappointments 
and  Deaths— A  Chapter  Full  of  Reminiscent  Interest  for  All 1106—1140 

CHAPTER  LVI.-Early  Crimes  and  Other  Incidents  Within  the  Present  Limits 
of  Summit  County —  Captain  Samuel  Brady's  Reputed  Wonderful  Leap  for 
Life— Brady's  Lake,  Etc.— Shooting  of  Daniel  Diver  and  Killing  of  Indian 
Nickshaw— Murder  of  Nathan  Cummins  in  1834,  Etc 1141—1147 

CHAPTER  LVIL— Some  Clever  Local  Detective  Operations— How  the  Civil  Offi- 
cers of  a  Third  of  a  Century  Ago  Managed  Things— Thieves,  Burglars  and 
Counterfeiters  "Roped  In"  —  Sheriff  Lane,  Himself  Victimized —  Slippery 
"  Bob  "  Hurst,  Etc.— A  Brief  but  Interesting  Chapter 1148—1159 

CHAPTER  LVIIL— Miscellaneous— Portrait  and  Biography  of  Rev.  William 
Frost  Crispin- Something  Further  About  Buchtel  College— Death  of  Miss 
Myrtle  Louisa  Barker— Death  of  Treasurer  Joy  H.  Pendleton  —  The  Howard 
Street  Disaster  With  View   of  Ruins,  Etc , 1162-1168 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


A. 

Autobiography  of  Author 1—30 

Author's  Preliminary  Statement 31 

Absolute  Chemical  Company 498 

Adains,  John  Quincy,  Visit  to  Akron  in  1813 107 

Advance,  The 230 

^Etna  Furnace 43 

AKRON— Beginning  ;  Why  so  Named 32 

As  seen  by  Horace  Greeley  in  1843 447 

As  seen  by  Henry  Howe,  Historian,  in  1846 447 

As  shown  by  Parallel  Views— 1853— 1891 :  448 

Additions  to 449 

Annexation  of  Middlebury 449 

Ancient  and  Modern,  Contrasted 447 — 457 

Abstracters  of  Titles 521 

Architects 511 

Bakers 510 

Banks  and  Finances 538 

Barbers 510 

Belting  Company , 471 

•              Blacksmiths 511 

Brass  Band— 1840 444 

Book  and  Stationery  Stores 518 

Boom  and  Collapse— 1835— 1845 64 

Boot  and  Shoe  Stores 527 

Board  of  Education,  1847  to  1891 '..  145 

Board  of  Education— Presidents 147 

Board  of  Education — Secretaries. 147 

Board  of  Education— Treasurers 147 

Bounty  Fund  Surplus 176 

Branch  Railroad 623 

Building  and  Loan  Association ;   . .  544 

Burial  Places 232—259 

Buzzard 217 

Cabinet  and  Building  Company 492 

Cart  Works 502 

Carriage  Makers 521 

Cereal  Operations ^. 554 

Chemical  Company 498 

China  and  Glassware  Dealers 520 

Church  History 188-214 

Cigar  Company .' 508 

City  Clerks 278 

City  Councilmen 268 

City  Engineers 282 

City  Marshals ; 278 

City  Mayors : 278 

City  Solicitors 282 

City  Street  Commissioners 282 

City  Guards 429 

City  Organization .' 449 

City. Times 226 

Clothing  Dealers 520 

Coal  Dealers 528 

Cold  Spring  Company 451 

Commercial 228 

Confectioners 520 

Congressmen 308 

Constitutional  Delegates 309 

Contractors  and  Builders 509 

Cooper  Shops..,. ; 510 


CONTENTS.  vii. 

AKRON  County  Officials 298—307 

Croc&ery  Dealers 520 

and  Canton  Railroad 623 

and  Chicago  Junction  Railroad 638 

Daily  Argus 227 

Daily  Beacon 221 

Daily  Beacon  and  Republican 222 

Daily  News 228 

Daily  Republican 228 

Daily  Telegram 228 

Drafts  during  the  War— 1861— 1865 417 

Drug  Stores 527 

Dry  Goods  Stores ; 516 

Eagle 223 

Electric  Company 501 

Engraving  Company 537 

Educational  History 109—167 

Electric  Street  Lighting 312 

Electric  Street  Railway 313 

File  Works 498 

First  Building 38 

First  Church  Building 189 

First  Election 49 

First  Mayor,  Counciltnen,  etc 50 

First  School  House 110 

First  High  School  Building 122 

Fire  History... 330—349 

First  and  Only  Homicide 569 

Fire  Brick  Company 475 

Free  Democrat 224 

Free  Public  Library 178 

Freie  Presse 227 

Fruit  Dealers 528. 

Fuel  Gas  Company 314 

Funeral  Directors 528 

Gas  Company 310 

Germania 227 

Grain  Dealers 518 

Great  Exodus  to  California— 1839-'40 1109 

Grocery  Merchants , 523 

Hardware  Company 498 

Hardware  Merchants 520 

Harness  Makers 510 

Hat,  Cap  and  Furnishing  Stores 525 

Heat,  Light  and  Power  Company 498 

Heating  and  Ventilating  Company 498 

Home  Guards 395 

Hotels '. 528 

Hydraulic  Company 78 

Incorporated  .' 49 

Institute 115 

Insurance  Agents 529 

Iron  Company 468 

Jewelers 518 

Journal 216 

Knife  Works 409 

Lawyers ' 551 

Lecture  Association 173 

Library  Association 174 

Library  Association  Officers 182 

Literary  Association  Officers 171 

Lyceum  and  Library  Association  168 

Light  Infantry 353 

"Live  Dutchman" 451 

Machine  and  Repair  Shops 510 

Meat  Markets 529 

Mechanics'  Library 171 

Merchant  Tailors 510 

Military  History ^ 350-446 


viij.  CONTENTS. 


AKRON  Milliners S20 

Milling  Company 455 

Mining  Company— 1849 1107 

Ministerial  Association 214 

Musical  Organizations 444 

Newspaper  History 215—231 

Notion  and  Fancy  Stores 520 

Novelty  Manufacturing  Company 506 

Original  "Eel  Pot" 1149 

Painters  and  Paper  Hangers 510 

Paving  Brick  Company 483 

Philo  Lexion  Society 169 

Photographers 525 

Physicians 544 

Pioneer  Boat  Yard 492 

Pioneer  Lumber  Yard 485 

Pioneer  Planing  Mill 486 

Pioneer  Sash  Factory 484 

Pioneer  Street  Railway 313 

Plumbers 525 

Popular  Lecture  System 187 

Population 451 

Postal  History 315-329 

Presidential  Electors 308 

Printing  Houses 534 

Printing  and  Publishing  Company 534 

Public  Parks 255 

Post 216 

and  Portage  Township  260—369 

and  Perrysburg  Railroad— 1836 622 

Queensware  Company 481 

Real  Estate  Dealers 528 

Reed  and  Rattan  Company 502 

Rifles 351 

Rural  Cemetery 235 

and  Richmond  Railroad 622 

Rolling  Mill 468 

Rubber  Works 469 

Savings  Bank 443 

School  Law 116 

Second  Election 51 

Second  Mayor,  Council,  etc 52 

Second  High  School  Building 123 

Security  and  Indemnity  Company 544 

in  State  Legislature 307 

in  State  Senate 308 

Soap  Company 508 

Sewer  Pipe  Company 477 

Shoe  Company 516 

Silver  Plate  Company 502 

Steam  Forge  Company 471 

Stoneware  Agency 481 

Stoneware  Company 481 

Stove  and  Tinware  Dealers 321 

and  Summit  County  in  California 1106 

Tool  Company 496 

Town  and  Village  Attorneys 267 

Town  and  Village  Marshals 263 

Town  and  Village  Mayors  263 

Town  and  Village  Recorders 265 

Town  and  Village  Treasurers 267 

Town  and  Village  Trustees , 260 

Township  OfHcers 297 

Union  Depot  (old) 626 

Union  Depot  (new) 628 

Vitrified  Pressed  Brick  Company 483 

Water  Supply 451 

Water  Works  Company 452 

White  Sand  Company 502 


CONTEJStTS.  ix. 

Akron  Wholesale  Grocery  Company 512 

Akron  "Woolen  and  Felt  Company 49g 

Allen,  David  and  Jesse,  Pioneer  Manufacturers 44 

Allen,  Frank  P.,  Printer 577 

Allen,  Jacob,  Early  Manufacturer  and  Miller 293 

Allen  Mills 459 

Ailing,  Ethan 1061 

American  Balance 217 

American  Cereal  Company '. 457 

American  Crayon  Company 503 

American  Democrat 223 

American  Farm  News 230 

American  Marble  and  Toy  Company 481 

American  Sewer  Pipe  Company 479 

American  Straw  Board  Company 935 

American  Tin  Plate  Company 508 

Angel,  Miss  Harriet  N.,  Teacher 134 

Art  Preservative  of  All  Art 534 

Ashley,  "  Col."  William .' gg7 

Atlantic  and  Great  Western  Railway 628 

Aultman,  Miller  &  Co 466 

Babcock's  Band 445 

Bank  Charter  Applied  for— 1837 45 

Banks,  Finances,  etc 538 

Baker,  McMillen  Company 474 

Bakers 511 

Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad 631 

Bank  of  Akron 543 

Barbers 511 

BARBERTON,  New  City  of.... 936 

Land  Company 937 

Manufacturers 938 

Barber  Match  Company 464 

Barrel  Factory  Fire II53 

Barris-Cummins  Homicide 1146 

Barker,  Myrtle  Louisa,  death  of 1163 

BATH  TOWN  SHIP,  History  of 641-653 

Pioneer  Settlers 641 

Manufactures 641 

In  War  of  1812 642 

Organization,  Name,  etc 644 

Civil  Service  Record 645 

Military  History 647 

as  "  Railroad  Center " 648 

Early  Crookedness 649 

Educational  and  Religious  Status 652 

Population 652 

Present  Official  Roster-1891 653 

Beach,  Thomas  Parnell,  Teacher 115 

Beacon  and  Republican 222 

Belding,  Miss  Lucy  E.,  Teacher 131 

Bennett,  Mrs.  Sarah  P.,  Teacher 129 

Bernard,  Harriet  Amanda,  Teacher 124 

B.  F.  Goodrich  Company 469 

Bierce,  General  Lucius  V 593 

Bierce  Cadets 428 

Bierce  Cadets,  Dismissal  from  Service 430 

Big  Falls,  Cuyahoga  River 1 84 

Bissell,  Rev.  Samuel,  Teacher 1070 

Blacksmiths,  in  Akron y 511 

Bitter  Church  Controversy— 1837 39 

Bitter  Postoffice  War— 1837 61 

Boat  Building  in  Akron 492 

Books  and  Stationery 518 

Boots  and  Shoes -  527 


X.  CONTENTS. 

BOSTON  TOWNSHIP,  History  of 554-681 

Village  of 654 

Pioneer  Settlers 657 

Organization,  Name,  etc 658 

Early  Marriages,  Births,  Deaths,  etc 659 

Pioneer  Experiences ' 658 

Military  Prowess 660 

Roll  of  Honor 661 

Soldiers'  Monument 663 

Industries 663 

Civil  Service  Status 664 

Crookedness 666 

Schools,  Churches,  etc 668 

Present  Official  Roster— 1891 668 

Population 659 

Postmasters 669 

Triple  Burglary 670 

First  Great  Sensation 678 

Last  Great  Sensation 684 

Bounties,  Quotas,  Drafts,  etc 409 

Bounty  Jumpers 428 

Bounty  Tax  Law 418 

Brady,  Captain  Samuel,  Narrative  of 1141 

Brady's  Lake 1144 

Brady's  Leap '. 1142 

Brigger  Belting  Company 502 

Brittain 886 

Brown,  "Jim"  and  "Dan" 876 

Brown,  John—"  Old  Ossowatomie" 584 

BUCHTEL  COLLEGE,  History  of 149-167 

Breaking  Ground 153 

Laying  Corner  Stone,  Address  by  Horace  Greeley 153 

Faculty-1891-'92 161 

Presidents  of 159—161 

Course  of  Study 161 

Board  of  Trustees  of 161 

Officers  of  Board 161 

Professorships 163 

Finances 164 

Crouse  Gymnasium 162 

Science  Building 165 

Fatal  Disaster 165 

Addenda 1163 

Athletic  Grounds 1164 

Cadets 444 

Buchtel,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  R.,  Portraits  of 150 

Buckeye  Sewer  Pipe  Company 478 

Budd,  Townsend  C,  Machinist 498 

Burglar  Neatly  Nabbed 1154 

"  Butternut "  Demonstration — 1863 414 


Caldwell,  Charles  G 1139 

California,  Goldseekers  of  1849-'50 1110 

California,  Perils  of  the  Journey  to 1128 

California,  Akron's  Bonanza  King 1138 

California,  Ups  and  Downs 1139 

Camp,  Miss  Lizzie,  Teacher 132 

Campbell,  Miss  Emma,  Teacher 130 

Canadian  Copper  Company 509 

Canadian  Patriot  War-1837-'39 ms 

Canal  Dover  Paving  Brick  Company 509 

Canfleld,  Horace  G 536 

Capron  &  Curtice 537 

Carothers,  Miss  Sarah  J.,  Teacher 129 

Carleton,  Will  M.,  Memorial  Poet 253 

Cascade  Mill  Race 41 

Cascade,  Village  of 43 

Cascade  House 43 


CONTENTS.  xi. 

Cascade  Store ^ 

Cascade  Roarer 225 

Charleroi  Plate  Glass  Company 508 

Cheap  Popular  Entertainments 187 

Chittenden,  Henry ." 39 

"Chuckery,"  History  of 80 

"  Chuckery  "  Race,  View  of ^ 

Church,  Miss  La  vena,  Teacher •  •  •  124 

CHURCH,  Central  Presbyterian 214 

First  Congregational 189 

Second  Congregational 189 

West  Congregational 211 

Christian  Science 213 

Calvary  Evangelical 207 

First  Presbyterian 188 

First  Methodist  Episcopal •  •  •  191 

First  Baptist 191 

First  Universalist 196 

St.  Paul's  Episcopal 198 

High  Street  Church  of  Christ 201 

Grace  Methodist  Episcopal 201 

First  German  Reformed 202 

Grace  Reformed 204 

German  Zion  Lutheran 204 

Sixth  Ward  Church  of  Christ 205 

Trinity  Lutheran 206 

German  Methodist 206 

United  Brethren 206 

St.  Bernard's 209 

St.  Vincent  de  Paul's r. 207 

Akron  Hebrew  Congregation 210 

African  M.  E.  Zion 212 

Shiloh  Baptist 212 

Trinity  Reformed 212 

North  Hill  M.  E 212 

Wabash  Avenue  Church  of  Christ 213 

South  Main  Street  Church  of  Christ 213 

Sherbondy  Hill  Church  of  Christ 213 

Evangelical  Lutheran 213 

Swedish  Evangelical  Lutheran 214 

Old  Forge  Congregational  Sunday  School «- 213 

Clark,  Henry,  Akron's  First  Hotel-keeper 38 

Clothiers,  Hats,  Caps,  etc . . .  .* 520 

Clarendon  Hotel ^23 

Cleveland,  Akron  and  Columbus  Railroad 625 

Cleveland  and  Pittsburg  Railroad 623 

Cleveland,  Mt.  Vernon  and  Delaware  Railroad 625 

Cleveland,  Zanesville  and  Cincinnati  Railroad 625 

Cleveland  and  Canton  Railroad 635 

Clinton,  Governor  De  Witt,  V^isit  to  Akron  in  1825 38 

City  National  Bank 540 

Citizens'  Savings  and  Loan  Association 540 

Civil  Engineers 530 

Coal^Dealers 528 

Cobb,  Charles  B.,  Pioneer  Hotel-keeper 45 

Codding,  Miss  Elsie  A.,  Teacher 123 

CofTman,  Miss  Rebecca,  Teacher 124 

Cohn  Manufacturing  Company 502 

Collapse  of  the  Rebellion 424 

Commercial  Matters 512 

Commins  &  Allen  , 455 

Company  B,  Eighth  Regiment  O.  N.  G 436 

Company  B,  Official  Roster 440 

Company  B,  at  Presidential  Inauguration,  1889 441 

Cone,  Rev.  Orello,  D.  D 160 

Confectionery  Dealers 520 

Cook,  Fairbanks  &  Co 481 

Cooper,  Samuel  F.,  Early  School  Superintendent 126 

Cooper  Brick  Company 484 


xii.  CONTENTS. 

Cooper  Shops ' ^10 

Cooper,  Jack,  alias  Samuel  Wittuni,  Execution  of 9^ 

COPLEY  TOWNSHIP,  History  of 695-705 

Starting  Point 695 

Swamp— The  Great  Hunt 695 

Swamp— Danger,  Death,  etc 696 

Why  so  Named • 697 

When  and  by  Whom  Settled 697 

Organization 698 

Growth,  Population,  etc 699 

Business  Status 699 

Early  Temperance  Society "^^ 

Schools,  Churches,  etc '^1 

War  Record 702 

Civil  Service  Record "^^ 

Railroad  Facilities 704 

Present  Official  Roster  (1891) J04 

Sad  Insane  Homicide 704 

Cotter's  Battery,  O.  L,.  A 438 

COVENTRY  TOWNSHIP,  History  of 706-724 

Aboriginal  "  Garden  of  Eden" 706 

Early  Settlement 707 

Organization,  etc 708 

Why  Called  "The  State"  of 709 

Early  Homicide 709 

Industrial  Resources 711 

Milling  Operations— The  Old  State  Mill 712 

Ancient  Metropolis 715 

Military  History - 716 

Civil  Service  Record .*. 718 

Growth,  Population,  etc 720 

Indian  Traditions 720 

Early  Crookedness 721 

Last  Sad  Homicide 722 

Present  Official  Record  (1891) 724 

County  Seat  Contest— 1810-1843 102 

County  Seat,  Election  for 101 

Court  House  and  Jail 105 

Court  House,  View  of 105 

County  Jail,  Shabbiness  of 100 

County  Jail,  ^scape  From 106 

Crispin,  Rev.  William  Frost 1162 

Crosby,  Doctor  Eliakim,  Sketch  of .*. 41 

Crouse  Gymnasium  162 

Cummins,  Nathan,  Murder  of 1146 

Counterfeiters  of  the  Cuyahoga 876 

CUYAHOGA  FALLS,  History  of .- 725-769 

Early   Settlement 725 

Pioneer  Mills 725 

Why  so  Named 726 

Pioneer  Paper  Mill 727 

Magnificent  Water  Power 728 

Early  Residents '. 729 

Early  Business  Matters 739 

"Ahead  of  Chicago  " 731 

Shinplaster  Mill  (1838) 731 

Later  Banking  Operations : 732 

Pioneer  Temperance  Society  in   Ohio 733 

Whisky"  Strike 734 

Municipal  Organization 735 

Township  Organization 735 

Portage  Mutual  Insurance  Company , 737 

One  Year  a  County  Seat 737 

Educational  Matters 738 

Church   History 740 

Temperance  Crusade 743 

Musical,  Fraternal,  etc 745 

Fine  Pleasure  Resort 746 

JJewspapers 748 


CONTE^fTS. 


Xlll. 


CUYAHOGA  FALLS,  Military  History 750 

Soldiers'  Monument 753 

Criminal  Status 754 

Early  Births,  Marriages,  Deaths,  etc 755 

Public  Buildings 755 

Library,  Lyceum,  etc 755 

Population 757 

Fires 757 

Civil  Service  Record 761 

Present  Business  Status  (1891) 763 

D. 

Detection  of  Crime  in  the  Early  Days 1148 

D.  F.  Morgan  Boiler  Company 497 

Diamond  Drill  and  Tool  Company 497 

Diamond  Fire  Brick  Works 475 

Diamond  Match  Company ' 464 

Diamond  Plate  Glass  Company 508 

Diver,  Daniel,  Shooting  of , 1144 

Dodge,  Col.  Sebried,  Civil  Engineer 42 

Dodge,  Mrs.  Susan  E.,  Teacher 112 

Dodge,  William  M.,  Probate  Judge ■ 130 

Dow,  James  G.,  Early  Akron  Merchant 1139 

Doyle,  William  B 486 

Draft  "Prize  Winners"  in  War  of  Rebellion 412 

Drafts,  Quotas,  Bounties,  etc 409 

Drop  Hammer  Forging  Company 497 

Dry  Goods,  Akron  Dealers  in 516 

Drugs  and  Medicines,  Dealers  in 527 

"  Dublin  "—North  Akron's  Early  Cognomen 39 

Ducking  Rebel  Sympathizers 411 

Dussel,  Miss  Lida  M.,  Teacher 131 

E. 

Early  Crimes  and  Incidents 1141 

Early  Crookedness ^ 57 

Early  Hotels 37 

Early  High  Schools 113 

Early  Schools,  Teachers,  etc  Ill 

Early  Select  Schools 112 

E.  H.  Merrill  Company 480 

Eighth  Regiment,  O.  N.  G , 436 

Eighth  Regiment  Band 445 

Eighty-fourth  Regiment,  O.  V.  1 417 

Elwood  Land  Company 509 

Empire  Reaper  and  Mower  Works 467 

Enterprise  Manufacturing  Company 497 

Eves,  Parvin ; 1022 

Ewart,  J.  C.  &  Co.,  Roofing  Tile  Works 48S 

Ewing  &  Hollinger,  Builders 292 

Excelsior  Reaper  and  Mower  Works 467 

Exchange  Bank 539 

Executions  at  Wooster  and  Ashland 436 

»=■. 

Filley,  Homer,  the  Killing  of 1020 

First  American  Locomotive 620 

First  Draft  During  the  War 410 

First  National  Bank  of  Akron ^. 539 

First  Ohio  Light  Artillery 384 

Fifth  U.  S.  (colored)    Infantry 405 

Fifty-Eighth  Regiment,  O.  V.  1 386 

Fifty-Fourth  Battalion,  O.  N.  G *  396 

Flag  Festival-»54th  Battalion,  Co.  A 397 

Finances,  Banks,  etc 538 

Forty-Second  Regiment,  O.  V.  1 406 

Foster,  Joseph  W.,  Boat  Builder 4W 

Fountain  Park •. 1084 

Free  Democratic  Standard 224 


xiv.  CONTENTS. 

Free  School  Clarion  225 

Friction  Matches,  History  of 459 

Fruit  Dealers  in  Akron 528 

F.  Schumacher  Milling  Company 455 

Fugitive  Slave  Law 578 

Funeral  Directors  in  Akron 528 

Furniture  Dealers 525 

FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP,  History  of.: 784 

Where  Located 784 

Water  Courses,  Lakes,  etc 784 

Resources 785 

Early  Village  Failures 785 

Early  Business  Emporiums : 785 

Three  Villages  in  One 786 

The  Village  of  Clinton 786 

The  Village  of  Manchester 786 

Business  Status 786 

Organization 788 

Industries 788 

Military  Matters 788 

Criminal  Matters ,  790 

Civil  Service  Record' 793 

Population,  etc 794 

Present  Official  Roster  (1891) 795 

Garfield  Obsequies 436 

Gargett,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert,  Murder  of 956 

Gargett,  Chloe  E.,  Daughter  of  Above 956 

Garrett,  John  O.,  California  Forty-Niner 1110 

Geology  of  Summit  County 614 

German  Guard,  Company  Buchtel 443 

German  Lutheran  School 135 

Gilbert,  Miss  Mary,  Teacher  123 

Globe  Sign  Company 508 

Glover,  Prof.  N.  L.,  Musical  Instructor 134 

Goodrich  Hard  Rubber  Company 469 

Gothic  Block,  Howard  Street 63 

Graded  School  System 116 

Graham,  Joseph  Gilbert,  Teacher 122 

Graham,  William,  tlie  Stow  Homicide 1018 

Grain  Dealers  in  Akron 518 

Great  Western  Band 446 

Great  Western  Railway 622 

Greele,  Samuel  S.,  Teacher 115 

Greeley,  Horace 155 

Grocery  and  Provision  Dealers 5i!3 

Guide  Board  War,  in  the  Early  Days 46 

Green  Township's  Hundred-Day  Men 401 

GREEN  TOWNSHIP,  History  of 796 

Early  Settlement 796 

Indian  Experiences 797 

Topography,  Resources,  etc 788 

Business  Centers 800 

Industries 801 

Educational  Matters 800 

Electoral  Matters 802 

Criminal  Catalogue 802 

Military  History 807 

Civil  Service  Record 809 

Present  Township  Officers  (1891) 810 

H. 

Hall,  Philander  D.,  Akron's  Pioneer  Merchant 46 

Hankey  Lumber  Company  490 

Hanscom,  Lewis 1138 

Harper's  Ferry,  Capture  of 589 

Hardware,  Dealers  in 520 

Harness  Makers , ,,,,, .»«,,.,  ,,r .>....  510 


CONTENTS. 


XV. 


Hart,  Capt.  Joseph,  Middlebury  Pioneer 33 

Hartford  City  Plate  Glass  Company 508 

Hats,  Caps,  etc..  Dealers  in 525 

Hawkins,  Miss  B.  M.,  Teacher 112 

Heathman— Heathtnan  Homicide 709 

Herrick  &  Son,  China,  Glassware,  etc 516 

High  Street  Church  of  Christ,  View  of 1167 

High  School  Dedication   (1853) 123 

Hill  &  Adams  Sewer  Pipe  Company ; 476 

Hill,  Foster  &  Company : 476 

Hill,  Merrill  &  Company 476 

Hill,  Powers  &  Company ,   476 

Hill  Sewer  Pipe  Company 477 

Hole,  Prof.  Israel  P.,  Educator 125 

Hollinger,  Miss  Annie  M.,  Teacher 130 

Home  Building  &  Loan  Association 544 

Howard,  Charles  W 69 

Howard,  Frank  D 498 

Howard  Street  Disaster,  November  7,  1891 1164 

Howe,  Capt.  Richard 117 

Hower  Oatmeal  Mills 457 

Hoy,  Judge  John 98 

Hotels 528 

Hubble,  Miss  M.  E.,  Teacher 114 

Hugill  &  Briggs,  Brick  Manufacturers 484 

Humphrey  Turbine  Company 505 

Hundred  and  Eighty-Eighth  O.  V.  1 407 

Hundred  and  Fifth  O.  V.  1 405 

Hundred  and  Fifteenth  O.  V.  1 371 

Hundred  and'Fourth  O.  V.  1 368 

Hundred  Day  Men,  O.  N.  G.  (1861) 396 

Hundred  and  Ninety-Seventh  O.  V.  1 404 

Hundred  and  Seventh  O.  V.  1 387 

Hundred  and  Seventy-Seventh  O.  V.  1 407 

Hundred  and  Sixty-Fourth  O.  V.  1 400 

Hundred  and  Twenty-F^ifth  O.  V.  1 404 

HUDSON,  Pioneer  Township  in  Summit  County 811—850 

David,  First  Settler ^in  Summit  County 812 

The  Long  and  Perilous  Journey  to 812 

Early  Settlers 816 

Organization,  Name,  etc 817 

First  Born  White  Child 818 

Indian  Experiences 818 

Religion,  Churches,  etc 820 

Educational  Matters 823 

Western  Reserve  College 824 

Railroad  Enterprises 834 

Business  S  a  tus 836 

Population ' 839 

Municipal  Officers 840 

Newspapers 841 

War  History 843 

Civil  Service  Record 846 

Present  Village  and  Township  Officers  (1891) 848 

Criminal  Matters 849 

Hinckston,  the  Fire  Bug 849 

The  Maloney-Stepleton  Homicide 850 

Hunter,  John  H.,  the  Richfield  Double  Homicide 974 

Hunter-Gargett  Tragedy,  History  of 956 

Hurst,  "  Bob  "—Sharp  Evasion  of  Justice 1158 

I. 

Insurance  Agencies 446 

"Irrepressible  Conflict" 577 

Issue,  The 229 

Italian  Orchestra :  529 


xvi.  CONTENTS. 

J. 

Jackson,  George  C,  &  Co 537 

Jackson  &  Lyman 490 

J.  C.  McNeil  Company C 495 

J.  F.  Seiberling  &  Company 467 

Johnny  Cake  Lock 655 

Johnson,  Harvey  H 61 

Jones  Wholesale  Grocery  Company 516 

Joyce,  M.  &  A.  C,  Teachers 112 

K. 

Kansas — Freedom  versus  Slavery 588 

Heating's  Orchestra 445 

"Keg  Money" 57 

Kerst,  the  Peninsula  Homicide 578 

Kilpatrick,  Hugh,  Death  of 1020 

King,  Judge  Leicester 557 

King  Varnish  Company 474 

Klages  Coal  and  Ice  Company 508 

Knight,  Lee  R.,  Teacher 131 

Konkle's  Battery,  O.  L.  A ; 385 

Kubler  &  Beck,  Varnish  Works 473 


Labor  Fifty  Years  Ago 1099 

Ladies'  Cemetery  Association 241 

Lane,  Luman 1064 

Latta,  William,  the  Counterfeiter 651 

Lake  Shore  and  Tuscarawas  Valley  Railroad 635 

Lantz's  Orchestra 446 

Leggett,  General  M.  D.,  Early  School  Superintendent 122 

Ley-Swartz-Thomas  Homicide 722 

Library  Board  of  Control 186 

Line  and  Packet  Boat  Navigation 656 

Locofoco  Matches 461 

Locofoco  Party 462 

Lucifer  Matches 461 

Lumber  and  Building  Establishments 484 

Lyceum  and  Library  Association 166 

IN/I. 

Machine  and  Repair  Shops 510 

Maloney— Stepleton  Homicide 85o 

Marble's  Band 445 

Markle  &  Inman,  Stoneware "481 

Marriner  Rifles 352 

Massillon  Branch  R.  R 635 

Match  Manufacture 450 

May,  Andrews 123 

McArthur,  Miss  Jerusha,  Teacher ; 124 

McCausland  Brothers,  Brick-Makers 484 

McClellan,  William  A.,  Builder 492 

McCollester,  Rev.  Sullivan  H.,  D.  D 159 

McCready,  Miss  Margaret  L.,  Teacher 129 

McMasters,  Henry, 1139 

McKisson  Homicide,  Trial,  Execution,  etc 908—917 

McMillan,  Reuben,  Early  Manufacturer 45 

McMillen,  John 39 

Moffatt  &  McNeil 495 

Meat  Markets  in  Akron 529 

Mechanics'  Association  (1840) 1102 

Mechanics'  Library 1103 

Mechanics'  Political  Organization  (1848) 1103 

Mechanics'  Strike  for  Ten  Hour  Day  (1815) 1102 

Mechanics'  Strike  for  Cash  Payments   (1845) 1102 

Mechanics'  Strike  for  Higher  Wages  (1845) 1102 

Members  of  Akron  School  Board,  1847  to  1891 145 

Memorial  Chapel 245 


CONTENTS.  xvii. 

Merfill,  Powers  &  Company' '. 476 

Merchant  Tailors  of  Akron 510 

Metropolitan  Band 446 

Middlebury,  Ancient  Village  of 32 

Middlebury,  Annexation  to  Akron ^ 449 

Middlebury  Cemetery  Association 232 

Middlebury  Mining  Company  (1»49) 1107 

Middlebury  Township  Ofificers 297 

Militia  During  the  War 426 

Miller  Chain  Works 474 

Millerisni  or  Second  Adventism , 604 

Miller  &  Roche,  Grocers * 512 

Miller  Match  Company 474 

Millinery  Stores  in  Akron 520 

Millheim 986 

Miscellaneous  Kegiments  in  Union  Army ■ 407 

Miscellaneous  Trade  and  Traffic 530 

Modern  Military  Operations 446 

Mogadore,  Village  of 984 

Moore,  Milton,  Trials  and  Tribulations  of 994 

Morrow  County  Draft  Riots .• 413 

Morus  Multicaulis  Craze 66 

Munificent  Bounty  Fund 423 

Munroe  Falls,  Village  of 1028 

Munroe  Falls,  Boom  and  Collapse 1029 

Munroe  Falls,  Early  Criminal  Episode 1030 

Musical  Instrument  Dealers 523 

Musson,  Mrs.  Harriet,  Murder  of 994 

Mustill's  Orchestra 446 

N. 

Neracher  Sprinkler  Company 509 

Newberry,  Henry,  Sr 728 

Newberry,  Henry,  Jr 762 

Newberry,  Miss  Josephine,  Teacher 128 

New  York,  Mahoning  &  Western  R.  R 636 

New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  R.  R 631 

New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  R.  R.  Depot 627 

Nickshaw,  John,  the  Killing  of 1145 

Nineteenth  Regiment,  O.  V^.  I 357 

Ninth  Battery,  'O.  I..  A 390 

Ninth  Regiment,  O.  N.  G 434 

Ninth  Regiment,  O.  N.  G.,  Merged  in  Eighth 436 

North  Hill  Band 446 

Notion  and  Novelty  Dealers 520 

Norton,  Capt.  Aaron 33 

Noyes,  Gov.  Edward  F.,  Memorial  Orator 253 

NORTHAMPTON  TOWNSHIP,  History  of 854-^75 

Locality,  Beginning,  etc 854 

Indian  and  Frontier  Matters 854 

Settlement,  Name,  etc 855 

Growth,  Development,  etc 856 

Industrial  Matters .* 858 

Organization,  Population,  etc 860 

Military  History 861 

Civil  Service  Record 863 

Present  Official  Status  (1891) 864 

Criminal  Catalogue 864 

Dunn-Whipple  Tragedy 865 

Brook-Tedrow  Homicide 873 

Sapp  Treasury  Robbery 1153 

NORTHFIELD  TOWNSHIP,  History  of 898—917 

When  and  by  Whom  Settled 898 

Name,  Organization,  etc 898 

Rapid  Settlement 899 

Military  Record 900 

Civil  Service  Status 901 

The  V^iers-Charlesworth  Romance 903 

The  McKisson  Homicide 908 


xviii.  CONTENTS. 

NORTON  TOWNSHIP,  History  of 918-935 

Origin,  Name,  etc 918 

Early  Settlement 918 

Business  "  Centers  " 920 

Early  Crookedness 922 

Lunatic  Merchant 922 

Postoffice  Robber  Killed 924 

Lost  Child  Excitement 925 

Military  History 926 

Ciyil  Service  Record 828 

McLister- Welsh  Homicide 931 

Population,  Present  Official  Roster,  (1891}  etc., 935 

o. 

Ohio  Canal,  Letting  Contracts , 38 

Ohio  Canal,  Breaking  Ground  by  De  Witt  Clinton 38 

Ohio  Canal,  First  Boat  to  Cleveland 40 

Ohio  Educational  Monthly 229 

Ohio  Exchange 47 

Ohio  National  Guard  (1864) 399 

Ohio  National  Guard,  Guarding  Coal  Mines 430 

Ohio  National  Guard,  Annual  Encampments 438 

Ohio  Stoneware  Company 480 

Olcott,  Charles,  Akron's  Christener 35 

Old  Maid's  Kitchen,  View  of ^ 85 

Olmsted,  Edwin  Bigelow,  Early  Superintendent  of  Schools 123 

Oster-Kernan  Homicide 792 

Overland  Journey  to  California 1107 

Paige  Brothers  Company 516 

Paige  Tube  Company 509 

Painters  and  Paperhangers 510 

Palmer,  Charles  W.,  Early  Principal  Akron  Schools , 122 

Panama  Route  to  California 1108 

Panic  of  1837 66 

Parks-Beatson  Homicide 771 

Patriotism  and  Pleasantry 418 

Pavilion  House 45 

Payne,  William  H.,  Boat  Builder ^. 494 

Pease,  Judge  Calvin 36 

Pendleton,  Joy  H.,  Death  of 1164 

PENINSULA,  Village  of 651 

Burglarized 670 

Homicide 678 

Official  Roster  (1891) 669 

Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  Canal 71—79 

People's  Monthly 228 

People's  Savings  Bank 544 

Perkins,  Crosby  &  King 42 

Perkins  School 128 

Piano  Tuners 523 

Picture  Frame  Makers 523 

Pittsburg,  Akron  and  Western  Railroad 637 

Pittsburg  and  Western  Railroad 635 

Plumbers 525 

Polishing  and  Plating  Company 502 

Pomeroy,  Miss  Helen ,  Teacher 122 

Pooler,  Charles  T.,  Early  Superintendent  of  Akron  Schools 125 

Portage  Canal  and  Manufacturing  Company 80 

Portage  Furnace 43 

Portage  Journal 115 

Portage  Strawboard  Company 595 

PORTAGE  TOWNSHIP-Early  Settlement 32 

Assessors '. 297 

Clerks 289 

Justices  of  the  Peace 295 

Treasurers 291 

Trustees 287 


CONTENTS.  xix. 

Porter  Zouaves 428 

"Powder  Patch" 1083 

"  Preliminary  " 31 

Pryne,  Miss  Rosetta,  Teacher 123 

o. 

Quotas,  Drafts,  Bounties,  Etc 406 

Railroads  of  Summit  County 621-639 

Real  Estate  Agents 528 

Recruiting  in  Rebel  States 420 

Regular  Army  Military  Service 408 

Resistance  to  Draft 410 

Rexford,  Rev.  Everett  L.,  D.  D 159 

RICHFIELD  TOWNSHIP,  History  of 941-978 

Organization 941 

Early  Settlers 942 

Population 943 

Business  Resources 944 

Rival  Centers 944 

Education  and  Religion 954 

Military  History 946 

Civil  Service  Record 947 

Big  Sleigh  Ride  (1856) 950 

Great  Reunion 951 

Lunatic  Horse  Thief 952 

Present  Business  Status  (1891) 9M 

Official  Roster 955 

Hunter-Gargett  Tragedy 956 

Robeson,  W.  E.,  the  Farmer-Detective 1149 

Robinson  Brothers  &  Co 478 

Rodenbaugh,'  John,  Murder  of 991 

Rood,  Wilbur  V.,  Principal  High  School 128 

Roofing  Tile  Works 4S3 

Roof-Musson  Homicide 994 

Roman  Orchestra 446 

Root,  George  H.,  Teacher 124 

Roster  Company  B.,  Eighth  Regiment,  O.  N.  G 440 

Sanitary  Aid  Societies 418 

Sapp,  George,  County  Treasury  Burglar 1152 

Sauter-Sheetes  Homicide 791 

Sawtell,  S.  L.,  Early  Akron  Teacher 112 

School  Enumeration  (1839) 112 

School  Enumeration  (1888) .• 139 

School  Enumeration  (1890) 141 

School  Graduates,  1864  to  1891 142 

Schools— Latin,  Greek,  Etc 144 

Schools— Teachers'  Examinations  in  1835 109 

School-Early  Select  High 115 

Scholarships  in  Buchtel  College , 145 

Schumacher  Gymnasium  Company 504 

Seaman  Manufacturing  Company 508 

Second  Adventisni  604 

Second  Draft  during  the  War 416 

Second  National  Bank  of  Akron 53^ 

Second  Ohio  Cavalry 378 

Seiberling,  J.  F.  &  Co 467 

Seiberling  Milling  Company 459 

Selle  Gear  Company 471 

Semler-Kepler  Homicide 804 

Seventy-Sixth  Regiment,  O.  V.  I.... 407 

Sewer  Pipe  Manufacturers 475 

Sherbondy  Hill  Church  of  Christ 213 

Sheriff  Lane  Victimized 1155 

Singular  Boiler  Explosion 621 

Sixth  Battery  Light  Artillery 431 


XX.  CONTENTS. 

Sixth  Battery  at  Washington  Centennial 443 

Sixth  Battery  Roster  for  1891 642 

Sixth  Independent  Battery,  O.  L,.  A 666 

Sixty-Fourth  Regiment,  O.  V.  I 364 

Sixty-Seventh  Regiment,  O.  V.  1 392 

Smith  Brothers 502 

Soldiers'  Memorial  Chapel 245 

Soldiers'  Surplus  Bounty  Fund 176 

South  Akron  Flouring  Mill 439 

South  End  News 229 

South  Main  Street  Church  of  Christ 213 

Spicer,  Amos,  Early  Portage  Township  Resident 32 

Spicer,  Major  Miner,  Akron's  First  Settler 32 

Spicer  Cemetery 232 

SPRINGFIELD  TOWNSHIP,  History  of 979-1002 

Early  Settlement 979 

Organization,  Growth,  Etc 979 

Population 981 

Topography,  Resources,  Etc 982 

Pioneer  and  Indian  Matters 983 

Villages,  Hamlets,  Etc 984 

Abolition  Riot 986 

Educational  Matters 988 

Railroad  Facilities 988 

Military  History 988 

Civil  Service  Record 1001 

Hundred-Day  Men 401 

Present  Official  Roster 1002 

Murder  of  John  Rhodenbaugh 991 

Roof-Musson  Homicide 994 

"Squirrel  Hunters"  376 

Star  Drilling  Machine  Company 498 

Stein bacher,  Erhard 512 

St.  Bernard's  Parochial  School 148 

St.  Vincent  De  Paul's  Parochial  School 147 

Stone  Mill : 42 

Stoneware  and  Pottery  Trade 479 

Storer  &  Barnhart  . .  494 

Storer  &  Miller 494 

Stoves  and  Tinware 521 

Summit  Sewer  Pipe  Company .. .'. 478 

Stow,  Joshua,  Original  Proprietor  of  Stow  Township,  Portrait  of 1003 

STOW  TOWNSHIP.  History 1003—1027 

A  Pioneer  Miracle 1003 

First  Actual  Settlers 1005 

Organization 1007 

Topography,  Hydraulics,  Etc 1007 

Beautiful  Lakes 1008 

Industries 1008 

Education  and  Religion 1009 

Fatal  Tornado  of  1837 1010 

Early  Marriages,  Births,  Etc 1012 

Indians.  Rattlesnakes,  Etc 1012 

Bears,  Wolves,  Etc 1014 

Military  History 1015 

Civil  Service  Record 1017 

Terrible  War  Tragedy 1018 

Population,  Oflflcial  Roster,  Etc 1027 

Stripe-Cooper  Homicide 803 

Sultana  Disaster 372 

Summit  Beacon , •  219 

Summit  City 80 

Summit  City  Boiler  Works 496 

SUMMIT  COUNTY,  History  of 91-108 

Abstract  Company 544 

Agricultural  Societies 1080—1086 

Benevolence 1087—1098 

Journal 226 

Railroads ; 621-639 


CONTENTS.  xxi. 

Summit  County  Tornadoes : 558 

Summit  Guards 350 

Summit  House 47 

Supplemental  Draft 417 

Superintendent's  Cemetery  Lodge 243 

Surveyors 530 

Symphony  Orchestra 446 

T. 

Tallmadge  Hundred-Day  Men 400 

TALLMADGE  TOWNSHIP,  History  of 1036-1059 

Portrait  of  its  Founder,  Rev.  David  Bacon 1042 

Early  Settlers,  Etc 1036 

Topography,  Population,  Etc 1040 

Name,  Organization,  Etc 1039 

Utopian  Schemes  Not  Realized .■ 1041 

Educational  Matters 1013 

Pioneer  Deaf  and  Dumb  School 1044 

Church  and  Spiritual  Matters \...  1045 

Coal  Mining  Interest 1048 

Early  Railroad  Enterprise 1049 

Manufactures 1050 

Clean  Criminal  Record 1054 

Military  History 105f> 

Honorable  Civil  Service  Record  1057 

Present  Business  Status 1059 

Present  Official  Roster  (1S91) 1059 

Tappan,  Charles  W 1140' 

Taplin,  Rice  &  Co 46& 

Tee-Total  Mechanic. . .  •. 225 

Terrible  Calamity 454 

Thirty-Seventh  Regiment,  O.  V.  1 389- 

Thomas  Lumber  Company 488 

Thomas  Phillips  Company 472' 

Thomastown •. 896- 

"  Three  Hundred  Thousand  More  " 422" 

Thyng,  J.  Warren,  Teacher  Drawing,  Akron  Schools 134 

Trade  and  Labor  Journal 229 

Turner  Band 446 

Twenty-Ninth  Regiment,  O.  Y.  I 358 

Twine  and  Cordage  Company 472 

TWINSBURG  TOWNSHIP,  History  of 1030-1079 

Topography,  Name,  Etc 1060 

First  Settler .• 1061 

Pioneer  Incidents 1066 

Early  Business  Status 1067 

Church  Matters 1068 

Educational  History,  Twinsburg  Institute,  etc 1070 

Military  Operations 1072 

Soldiers'  Monument 1073 

Locust  Grove  Cemetery 1076 

Pioneer  Reminiscences 1076 

Civil  Service  Record  1078 

Present  Business  Status  (1891) 1079 

Present  Official  Roster 1079 

u 

"  Underground  Railroad  " 578^ 

United  States  Baking  Company 508 

United  States  Stoneware  Company 481 

Upson,  Dr.  George  C 1025 

Upson,  Julius  A •• 1025 

Upson,  Dr.  Daniel 1M9 

Upson,  William  H 1058 

V. 

Valley  Railwav 631 

Vallandigham,  Clement  L 374 

Viers-Charlesworth  Romance (903 


xxii.  CONTENTS. 

Village  Rivalries,  1835—1845 46 

Vitrified  Sewer  Pipe  Industry 475 

Voris,  Judge  Alvin  C 646 

Voris,  Mii^s  Annette,  Teacher 123 

Voris,  Judge  Peter 645 

Waltz,  Miss  Laura  E.,  Teacher 133 

Washburn-Peoples  Homicide 484 

Watches  and  Jewelry 518 

W^eary,  Snyder  &  Wilcox  Manufacturing  Company 485 

Webster,  Camp  &  Lane  Machine  Company 464 

Weeks,  Arthur  J 481 

Weeks,  Frederick  H 481 

Weeks  &  Kingsbury 512 

AVerner  Printing  &  Lithographing  Company 536 

Western  Linoleum  Company 508 

AVestern  Reserve  College 824 

Wetniore,  Judge  William ' 1005 

Whitman  &  Barnes  Manufacturing  Company 471 

Whitmore,  Robinsons  &  Co 479 

Wholesale  Dealers  in  Akron 512 

William  H.  Evans  Building  and   Loan  Association 544 

Williams,  Paul,  Akron's  First  Inhabitant 32 

Willis,  Edward  P 1030 

Wilson,  Solon  L 490 

Windsor  Hotel 518 

Wise,  Prof.  J.  O.,  Teacher  Penmanship 134 

Wolcott,  Hon.  Alfred 657 

Wolcott,  Hon.  Christopher  P 553 

Wolcott,  Hon.  Simon  P 665 

Wolcott,  Miss  Lucretia,  Teacher 122 

Wood  and  Provision   Procession , 419 

Worthington,  "Jim,"  Akron's  Fugitive   Slave 577 

z. 

Zanes ville  Street  Railway  Company 509 


VIEWS,  BUILDINGS,  ETC. 


Academy  of  Music,  East  Market  Street,  1891 458 

Akron's  First  School  House,  South  Broadway,  1834 Ill 

Akron's  First  High  School  Building,  South  Summit  Street,  1847 122 

Akron's  Second  High  School  Building  (now  Jennings) ,  1853 123 

Akron's  Present  High  School  Building,  1891 135 

Akron's  First  Church  Building,  1835 189 

Akron's  First  Fire  Engine  House,  1841 332 

Akron  Saving's  Bank,  Mill  and  Main.  1891 543 

Akron,  As  it  was  in  1853,  and  as  it  is  in  1891 448 

Allen  School  Building,  South  Main  Street 131 

Arlington  Hotel,  West  Market  Street 453 

Baptist  Church,  Original,  South  Broadway,  1837 194 

Baptist  Church,  North  High  Street,  1853-1890 197 

Baptist  Church  New,  South  Broadway,  1890 195 

Barberton— Residence  of  Manager  Land  and  Improvement  Company 936 

Cleveland,  Akron  and  Columbus  Railroad  Station 937 

Inn 938 

Houses  for  Workmen 939 

National  Hotel 940 

Beacon  Block,  Corner  Mill  and  Main ,  1891 534 

Bell  Tower,  Akron  Rural  Cemetery 255 

Big  Falls,  Cuyahoga  River 84 

Boston  Township  Soldiers'  Monument 663 

Bowen  School  Building,  North  Broadway 131 

Buchtel  College,  East  Buchtel  Avenue,  1872 149 

Cemetery  Lodge,  from  Glendale  Avenue,  1891 243 

Lodge,  Looking  East 247 

View,  Looking  West  from  Robinson  Monument,  1891 248 

View,  Looking  East  from  Perkins  Lot,  1891 250 

View,  Looking  East,  Miller's  Pond 254 

View,  Bell  Tower 255 

View,  Soldiers'  Memorial  Chapel 251 

View,  Glendale  Avenue,  Looking  West 246 

Central  Fire  Engine  House,   South  High  Street 349 

Children's  Home,  South  Arlington  Street 1091 

Chuckery  Race,  where  it  Emerges  from  River 86 

Chuckery  Race,  in  Glens,  below  Cuyahoga  Falls 768 

City  Building,  South  Main  Street 451 

Clarendon  Hotel,  Corner  Main  and  Exchange .\....  523 

Congregational  Church  (Old) 189 

Congregational  Church  (New) 191 

Companion  Views  of  North  Akron,  from  West  Hill,  1853-1891 448 

Conger,  Col.  A.  L.,  Fine  Stone  Residence,  Irving  Lawn 550 

Court  House  and  Grounds  Fronting  on  High  Street 105 

Crosby  School  Building,  Corner  West  and  Smith  Streets 130 

Crouse  Gymnasium,  Buchtel  College 162 

Cuyahoga  Falls,  High  Bridge  Glens 747 

From  Lower  Dam,  Looking  Up 746 

Suspension  Bridge  in  Glens 765 

Chuckery  Race  in  Glens 768 

Old  Maid's  Kitchen 85 

Big  Falls,  From  Old  Chuckery  Race 84 

View  of  Chuckery  Race,  where  it  Leaves  River • : 86 

East  Market  Street,  From  Howard  to  Main,  South  Side  (1845) 450 

From  Howard  to  Main,  South  Side  (1891)  459 

From  Howard  to  Market,  North  Side,  1891 484 

From  Main  to  High,  South  Side,  1855 460 

From  Main  to  High,  South  Side,  1891 460 

From  Main  to  High,  North  Side,  1864 458 

From  Main  to  High,  North  Side,  1891 458 


xxiv.  CONTENTS. 

Empire  House,  Corner  Market  and  Main 7S 

First  Fire  Engine  House,  Erected  in  1841 332 

Fire  Station,  Number  1,  Corner  High  and  Church  Streets 349 

Number  2,  Sixth  Ward 349 

Number  4,  South  Main  Street.- 349 

First  M.  E.  Church,  Corner  South  Broadway  and  Church  Streets 193 

German  Lutheran  Church,  Old,  1835 189 

Lutheran  Church.  New,  1891 205- 

Lutheran  Parochial  School,  1891 148 

Reformed  Church,  Old,  1837 194 

Reformed  Church,  New,  1891 203 

Gothic  Block,  East  Side  South  Howard  Street,  1861 63 

Grace  School  Building,  Corner  Maple  and  Exchange  Streets 133- 

Glendale  Avenue,  Looking  Towards  Cemetery 246 

Henry  School  Building,  North  Forge  Street 132 

High  Bridge  Glens,  Cuyahoga  Falls .747 

High  Street  Church  of  Christ,  New 1167 

Howard  Street  Collapse,  November  7,  1891 1166 

Howe  School  Building.  Corner  Bartges  and  St.  Clair  Streets 131 

Hundred  Day  Men  Starting  for  Washington,  1864 458 

Hotel  Buchtel 494 

Jennings  School  Building,  Corner  Summit  and  Mill  Streets 123 

Kent  School  Building,  South  Arlington  Street 132 

Leggett  School  Building,  Corner  Thornton  and  Sumner  Streets 133 

Memorial  Chapel,  Glendale  Cemetery 251 

Miller's  Duck  Pond,  From  Cemetery 254 

Northeast  Akron,  View  From  West  Hill , 70 

North  Howard  Street,  West  Side,  Old  ^tna  Mill  in  Distance,  1858 482 

North  Howard  Street,  West  Side,  1891 482 

North  Main  Street,  Old  P.  &  O.  Canal 73 

Ohio  Canal  and  East  Side,  From  Above  Glendale  Avenue 90 

Ohio  Canal,  View  back  of  Stone  Mill 259 

Ohio  Exchange,  Corner  Market  and  Main,  1835—1855 450 

Old  Maid's  Kitchen,  below  Cuyahoga  Falls 85 

Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  Canal,  South  Main  Street 72 

Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  Canal,  North  Main  Street 73 

Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  Canal,  From  Rear  of  Howard  Street 74 

Perkin's  School  Building,  W^est  Exchange  Street 130 

Railroads— Original  Union  Depot 626 

New  Union  Depot #••  ••  ^28 

New  N.  Y.,  P.  &  O.  Depot T....  627 

Valley  Depot 453 

Recruiting  Scene  at  Beginning  of  War,  in  1861 353 

Schumacher  Power  Block, xxxix.  Index 

Sixth  Ward,  View  from  Tallmadge  Hill,  1891 231 

South  Howard  Street  from  Market,  West  Side,  1855 446 

From  Market,  West  Side,  1870 462 

From  Market,  West  Side,  1891 462 

North  from  Cherry,  West  Side,  1872 309 

North  from  Cherry,  East  Side,  1872 329 

North  from  Mill,  East  Side,  1891 486 

South  Main  Street,  Market  to  Mill,  Showing  C.ourt  House,  1855 72 

From  Rear  of  Howard,  1880 74 

West  Side,  1891 527 

Spicer  School  Building,  Carroll  Street 131 

St.  Bernard's  (Catiiolic)  Parochial  School  Building 148 

St.  Paul's  (Protestant  Episcopal)  Chapel,  East  Market  Street 199 

St.  Vincent  De  Paul  (Catholic)  Parochial  School 147 

Stone  Block,  Corner  Howard  and  Market  Streets,  1835—1849 450 

Summit  County  Infirmary 1088 

Tappan  Hall,  Corner  East  Market  and  Main  Streets,  1855 460 

Trussell  Hall,  Corner  East  Market  and  Maiden  Lane  Alley,  1855 460 

Trinity  Lutheran  Church,  1891 206 

German  Lutheran  Parochial  School,  1891 148 

Tornado  of  May  10,  1890,  Overturned  House  of  Antony  Mennell,  175  Grant  Street 561 

View  East  Side  of  Grant  Street 562 

View  of  Burkhardt's  Brewery 562 

View  of  Brewery  Dormitory 563 

Houses  of  Otto  Miller  and  Frank  Kuntz 563 


CONTENTS.  XXV. 

Tornado  of  May  10,  1890,  Overturned  Houses  of  August  Miller  and  Allen  Coup 564 

Grocery  Store  of  Orrin  C.  Baker 565 

Ohio  Stoneware  Works , 566 

Barn  of  Frank  J.  Knapp 566 

A.  D.  Alexander  and  Kate  O'Connell 567 

Twinsburg's  Soldiers'  Monument 1088 

Universalist  Church,  Original  Structure,  1837 197 

Universalist  Church,  New,  Corner  Mill  and  Broadway •* 197 

Valley  Railroad  Depot,  West  Market  Street 153 

Water  Works  Pumping  Station,  Wooster  Avenue,  1891  452 

Windsor  Hotel,  Corner  Mill  and  Broadway 518 

West  Congregational  Church,  Corner  West  Market  and  Balch 211 

West  Market  Street  From  Howard,  Old  City  Mill,  etc.,  1858 453 

West,  Market  Street  From  Howard,  Arlington  Hotel 453 


PORTRAITS,  BIOGRAPHIES,  ETC. 


Abbey,  Henry  S 310 

Adams,  Frank 318 

Alexander,  John 650 

Alexander,  J.  Park 261 

Alger,  David  B 948 

Alger,  General  Russell  A 555 

Allen,  Albert 456 

Allen,  George  G 140 

Allen,  Jacob 293 

Allen,  Jesse 44 

Allen,  Jonah 707 

Allen,  Levi 708 

Bacon,  Rev.  David 1042 

Baird,  Charles 274 

Baker,  John  W 183 

Baldwin,  Captain  Aaron  P 366 

Baldwin,  Frederick 827 

Baldwin,  Harvey 818 

Baldwin,  Mrs.  Harvey 818 

Baldwin,  Joseph  A 478 

Bangs,  Elisha  X 1161 

Barber,  Alfred  M 515 

Barber,  George 532 

Barber,  Ohio  C 533 

Bartges,  Dr.  Samuel  W 545 

Bartlett,  Albert  A 277 

Bates,  George  D 539 

Battels,  Benjamin  F 538 

Beardsley,  Talmon 39 

Beck,  J.  Martin 473 

Beebe,  Joseph  A 185 

Beebe,  Oliver  B 752 

Belden,  Dr.  Albert  C 549 

Berger,  Captain  Darius  F- 801 

Bernard  Charles  B.. 173 

Berry,  George  C 139 

Bierce,  General  Lucius  V 414 

Biggs,  Lester  M 496 

Billow,  Captain  George 388 

Bissell.  Rev.  Samuel 1070 

Bliss,  Ambrose  W 901 

Call,  Moses  D 1005 

Camp,  Hezekiah 761 

Camp,  William 1160 

Canfield,  Horace 224 

Cannon,  Wilson  B 301 

Carpenter,  Judge  James  S 94 

Carter,  Dr.  Israel  E 265 

Cartter,  Hon.  David  K 552 

Case,  James  H 302 

Chalker ,  Newton 556 

Chandler,  William 270 

Chapman,  Dr.  Byron 696 

Chapman,  Dr.  Mason 184 


Allen,  Levi,  Jr 72(^ 

Allen,  Miner  J " 45& 

Allen,  William  C 32S 

Allen,  William  T 177 

Ailing,  Ethan 1061 

Allison,  George 1050 

Allyn.Abel  G 713 

Allyn,  Israel 712 

Anderson,  George  M 286 

Andrew,  Angelo 145 

Andrew,  Robert  L 303 

Atterholt,  Frank  M 137 


Bliss,  Hon.  George 5,51 

Bock,  Philip  P 262" 

Bonstedt,  Charles  W 183 

Bowen,  Hon.  Hiram 219 

Bowen,  Dr.  William 134 

Bradley,  Ariel 980 

Brewster,  Alexander 300 

Brewster,  George  W 718 

Brewster,  Jonathan  H 717 

Bronson,  Hermon 656 

Bronson,  Mrs.  Hermon.... 656 

Bronson,  Hiram  Volney 658 

Broun,  Rev.  John  B 209 

Brouse,  Cornelius  A 514 

Brown,  Charles  W 35 

Brown,  Henry,  H 300 

Brown ,  John ' 584 

Bryan,  Judge  Constant 115 

Bryan,  Captain  Frederick  C 440 

Buchtel,  John 716 

Buchtel,  John  R 150- 

Buchtel,  Mrs.  John  R 150 

Buchtel,  William 542 

Buckingham,  Captain  Edward 374 

Buckley,  Col.  Lewis  P 359 

Bunn.  David  R 274 

Burlison,  James 273 

Burnham,  Sanford  M 163 

Burton,  Rev.  Nathan  S.,  D.  D 195 


Chapman,  Willis  D 290 

Chase,  Dr,  Byron  S 179 

Childs,  Dr.  Orin  D 546 

Christy,  James 297 

Clark,  Benjamin  F 280 

Clarke,  William  L 261 

Cobbs,  Charles  S 285 

Coburn,  Dr.  Stephen  H 545 

Cole.  Dr.  Arthur  M 499- 

Cole,  Edmund  H 661 

Cole,  Herbert  W 499 

Cole,  Dr.  Joseph 113- 

Collins,  Charles  A 175- 


CONTENTS. 


XXVll. 


Cotnmins,  Alexander  H 455 

Comniins,  Dr.  Jedediah  D 235 

Cone,  Rev.  Orello,  D.   D 160 

Conger,  Col.  Arthur  L 470 

Conger,  Mrs.  Arthur  L 470 

Conger,  John   C 664 

Conger,  Kenyon  B 535 

Conger,  Sidney  P 662 

Cook,  John 298 

Day,  Rev.  William  F.,  D.  D 192 

Dahlnian,  Rev.  Jacob 202 

Dick,  Major  Charles   W.  F 278 

Dodge,  Burdette  Lynde 525 

Dodge,  Judge  William  M 130 

Ebright,  Dr.  Leonidas   S 266 

Ebright,  Dr.  Thomas  Mc 1.37 

Edgerton,  Hon.  Sidney 180 

Edison,  Thomas  A 500 

Edison,  Mrs.  Thomas  A 500 

EiChenlaub,  Harry  C ' 327 

Falor,  George  A 714 

Falor,  Hiram  S 715 

Farnam,  Daniel 489 

Fay,  Nahum 112 

Findley,  Dr.   Samuel 128 

Foltz,  Dr.  Abner  E 547 

Gale,  Col.  Justus 47 

Gamble,  William   B 326 

Ganter,  Rev.  Richard  I,.,  D.  D 200 

Gardner,  Omar  N 289 

Goodhue,  Judge  Nathaniel  W 171 

Goodhue,  Nathaniel  P 280 

Hale,  Andrew 643 

Hale,  Hon.  Charles  Oviatt 647 

Hale,  Jonathan 641 

Hale,  Othello  W 493 

Hale,  William, 642 

Hall,  Alfred  W 146 

Hall,  John  2nd 981 

Hall,  Ivorenzo 463 

Hall,  PhUander  D 46 

Hammond,  Roland  0 319 

Hankey,  Simon 491 

Hardy,  Nathaniel 859 

Hardy,  Perry  D 861 

Hardy,  William 305 

Harper,  Erastus  R 301 

Hart,  Henry  W 307 

Hart,  Col.  John  C 983 

Henry,  Milton  W ■...  1.32 

Herrick,  Burke  C 517 

Herrick,  Jonathan  E ..1072 

Hibbard,  Allen 169 

Hill,  David  E...: ...475 

Hill,  George  R 476 

Hill,  Dr.  John 926 


H 


Cook,  Joseph 144 

Cooper,  Gen.  Samuel  F 126 

Cornell,  Thomas   W 541 

Crispin,  Rev.  William  F 1162 

Crosby,  Dr.  Eliakim 41 

Crouse,  Hon.  George  W 152 

Crumrine,  Martin  H 459 

Curtiss,  Augustus 665 

Cutter,  Morrill  T 463 

Doyle,  Dayton  A 167 

Doyle,  William  B 488 

Dudley,  Plimmon   H... 288 

Dyas,  Isaac  J 526 

Elkins,  Richard  S 320 

Ellet,  King  J 985 

Evans,  Mrs.  Mary   I.  T 242 

Ewart,  Joseph  C 442 

Ewart,  Robert  L... 982 

Foltz,  Hiram  H 138 

Foltz,  Dr.  William  K 549 

Ford,  Judge  James  R 114 

Ford,  Newton 287 

Fraunfelter,  Dr.  Elias 129 

Frederick,  Henry 279 

Goodrich,  Dr.  Benjamin  F 469 

Goodwin,  Thomas  H 311 

Grant,  Judge  Charles  R 186 

Green,  Judge  Edwin   P 153 

Green,  Hon.  Frank  M 1006 

Hine,  Charles,  C 835 

Hitchcock,  Dr.  Elizur 548 

Hitchcock,  Herbert  P 497 

Hitchcock,  Lucius  W 1051 

Hitchcock,  Wolcott  W 531 

Hole,  Professor  Israel  P 127 

Holloway,  Rev.  Joseph  T 743 

Houghton,  John  B 514 

Howard,  Dr.  Elias  W 174 

Howe,  Charles  R 244 

Howe,  Henry  W 133 

Howe,  Richard 117 

Hower,  Charles  H..,. 506 

Hower,  Harvey  Y 505 

Hower,  John  H 457 

Hower,  M.  Otis 505 

Howland,  Charles  E 483 

Hoy,  Judge  John  98 

Hudson,  Deacon  David 812 

Hugill,  Joseph 509 

Humphrey,  Dr.  Elwyn 550 

Humphrey,  Tudge  Noah  M 945 

Humphrey,  Major  Norris 942 

Humphrey,  Judge  Van  R 831 


XXVlll. 


CONTENTS. 


Ingersoll,  Charles  F 

Ingersoll,  Henry  Ward. 


Jacobs,  Dr.  Williani  C. 

Jackson,  Andrew 

Jackson,  Erastus 

James,  Daniel  A 

Janes,  Lewis  M 

Jennings,  Rev.  Isaac  .. 


301 


182 
490 
659 
492 
660 
120 


Nash,  Rev.  C.  Ellwood,  D.  D. 

Nash,  Sumner 

Newberry,  Henry 

Newton,  Samuel 


Olmstead.  Rev.  Edward  B 
O'Neil,  Michael 


Paige,  Albert  T 

Paige,  Hon.  David  R. 

Parker,  Richard  E 

Parmelee,  Luther  H.. 
Parshall,  Samuel  W. 
Parsons,  William  C 


K 


Kent,  Hon.  Marvin 629 

Kent,  Roswell 37 

Kent,  Mrs.  Roswell 37 

King,  David  L 241 

King,  Henry  W 119 

King,  Leicester 557 

Knox,  Eugene  0 767 


Ladd,  Judge  Charles  G 270 

Lane,  Julius  S , 181 

Lane,  Luman 1064 

Lane,  Samuel  A.,  Frontispiece 

Lane,  Samuel  A.  1 

Leggett,  General  Mortimer  D 124 


IS/I 


Mahar,  Rev.  Thomas  F 208 

Mallison,  Amos 293 

Mallison,  Albert  G 292 

JMarvin,  David  L 556 

Marvin,  Ulysses 1004 

Marvin,  Ulysses  L 269 

Mathews,  James 56 

McArthur,  Col.  Rial 857 

McClure,  Judge  Samuel  W 268 

McCollester.  Rev.  Sullivan  H.,  D.  D...  158 

McDonald,  William  Z 291 

McFarlin,  John 646 

McFarlin,  William 542 

McGillicudy,  Captain  Timothy  D 432 

McGregor,  John 136 

McKinney,  Judge  Henry 554 

McKinney,  William 1077 

McMillan,  Reuben 45 

McNeil,  James  C 495 

Means,  Captain  John  A 373 


ISI 


198 
275 

728 
33 


125 
526 


519 
271 
&14 
698 
290 
472 


Ingersoll,  Noah  719 

Iredell,  Seth 50 

Jewett,  Dr.  Mendal 264 

Johnston,  Abraham  W 797 

Johnston,  Alexander 101 

Johnston,  Hon.  John 263 

Johnston,  Washington  G 799 

Johnston,  William  700 

Koch,  Jacob 515 

Kohler,  Hon.  Jacob  A 267 

Koplin,  Jacob.. 282 

Kreuder,  John 306 

Kubler,  Edward  G 473 

Kummer,  George   W .535 

Lewis,  Hon.  Asahel  H 220 

Lewis,  Captain  Isaac 750 

Long,  Denis  J 221 

Long,  Jeremiah  A 468 

Lothman,  Rev.  Williani  H 204 

Lyder,  Dr.  John  W 135 

Memmer.  John 299 

Merrill,  Edwin  H -...  480 

Metcalf,  Dr.  Jonathan 823 

Miller,  Ansel, US 

Miller  Charles 921 

Miller,  Edward  B SOI 

Miller,  Harvey  F 308 

Miller,  Ira  M ■ ^ 

Miller,  Lewis 140 

Miller,  Robert  A 501 

Miller,  Samuel  H 930 

Miller,  Stephen  D 927 

Miller,  Stephen  S 506 

Miller,  William  H 285 

Moersch,  Peter  J .•  •  1161 

Monroe,  Rev.  Thomjjs  E 191 

Moore,  Joseph 984 

Morrison,  James  H 324 

Murray,  William  M 522 

Nichols.  Hon.  Orrin  P 1075 

Noah,  Andrew  H 185 

Norton,  Thomas 38 

Oviatt,  Edward 266 

Oviatt,  Emmon  S 279 

Paul,  Hon.  George 766 

Paul,  Hosea,  Sr 756 

Paul,  Robert  S, 271 

Payne,  William  H 493 

Pendleton,  Joy  H 156 

Perkins,  Charles  E 277 


CONTENTS. 


XXIX. 


Perkins,  Col.  George  T 157 

Perkins,  Henry 466 

Perkins,  General  Sitnon 34 

Perkins.  Col.  Simon 238 

Perrin,  Edward  W 319 

Peterson,  Dr.  James  H 177 

Pitkin,  Albert  J 507 

Rawson,  Dr.  Secretary 943 

Raymond,  William  G 295 

Raynolds,  Thomas  C 223 

Read,  Prof,  Matthew  C 614 

Rexford,  Rev.  E.  L.,  D.  D 159 

isackett,  George 764 

Sadler,  Rolin  VV 555 

Sanders,  Hon.  Wilbur  F 554 

Sanford,  Hon.  Henry  C 273 

Sargent,  Albert  H 245 

Schumacher,  Ferd 155 

Schumacher,  Hugo 504 

Schumacher,  Ivouis 504 

Scott,  Dr.  Daniel  A 179 

Scott,  James  F 283 

Searles,  Henry  C 949 

Seiberling,  Charles  W 503 

Selberling,  B'rank  A 503 

Seiberling,  James  H 929 

Seiberling,  John  F 467 

Seiberling,  Monroe 930 

Seiberling,  Nathan 919 

Seward,  Col.  Dudley 379 

Seward,  Louis   D 284 

Seymour,  James  H 833 

Sieber,  George  W 281 

Sill,  Hon.  Elisha  N 733 

Singletary,  John  C 52 

Taplin,  James  B 170 

Thomas,  Col.  David  W 361 

Thomas,  Rev.  David  T 211 

Thomas,  George 296 

Thompson,  Dr.  Moses 821 

Underwood,  Dr.  Warren  J 516 

Upson,  Dr.  Daniel 1049 

Vansickle,  Nicholas  E 294 

Viall,  George..; 519 

Viall,  James 477 

Viall,  John  F 533 

Wagner,  Edwin 291 

Wagoner,  Aaron 541 

Wagoner,  George 789 

Walker,  Richard  B 281 

Wallace,  James  W 899 

Watt,  Robert 522 

Watters,  Lorenzo  Dow 284 

Weary,  Frank  0 489 

Weary,  Simon  B 487 


u 


V 


w 


Pitkin,  Rev.  Caleb  825 

Pitkin.  Judge  Stephen  H.. 176 

Pitkin,  Stephen  H 507 

Poulson,  James  M 276 

Prior,  William 855 

Purdy,  Henry 56 

Rice,  Alvin  299 

Ritchie,  Samuel  J 1053 

Robinson,  John  K 532 

Robinson,  Wilson  G 517 

Rockwell,  Frank  W 141 

Sisler,  Dr.  William 794 

Smith,  Rev.  Carlos,  D.  D 190 

Snyder,  Jacob 487 

Spalding,  Hon.  Rufus  P 93 

Spelman,  Harvey  B 121 

Sperry,  George  R 1054 

Sperry,  Hon.  Ira  P 1052 

Spicer,  Avery 151 

Spicer,  Hiram  J 316 

Spicer,  Major  Miner 32 

Stanford,  George 655 

Steinbacher,  Major  Erhard 513 

Stewart,  Adam  Clarke 787 

Stipe,  Franklin  G 144 

Stone,  Nelson   B 261 

Stone,  Simon  M... 292 

Storer,  James  B 322 

Storer,  Webster  B 116 

Stow,  Joshua 1003 

Stuart,  Judge  Edward  W 272 

Sumner,  Judge  Charles 36 

Sumner,  Increase \ 40 

Sumner,  Julius  A 48 

Thompson,  Judge  Sylvester  H 829 

Tibbals,  Judge  Newell  D 164 

Tinker,  Professor  Albert  B 165 

Townsend,  Captain  Alfred  R 1160 

Turner,  Grant  B 739 

Upson,  Judge  William  H 172 

Viele,  Henry  C 276 

Viele,  Hiram 294 

Voris,  Judge  Alvin  C 154 

Voris,  Edwin  F 142 

Weber,  Florence 531 

Weber,  John  C 367 

Webster,  Charles 465 

Weeks,  Arthur  J 143 

Weeks,  George  W 521 

Werner,  Paul  E 537 

Wegener,  Joseph  E 283 

Wetmore,  Henry 736 

Wheeler,  Benjamin  F 513 


XXX. 


CONTENTS. 


W 


Wilcox,  David  G.,  (at  30) 485 

Wilcox,  David  G..  (at  70) 485 

Wilcox,  Francis  A 302 

Wilcox,  Dr.  Jeremiah  C 944 

Williamson,  Judge  Samuel  C 425 

WiUs,  Thomas 239 

Wilson,  Solon  N 491 

Wilson,  Thomas 99 

Wolcott,  Hon,  Alfred 657 


Wolcott,  Hon.  Christopher  P 553 

Wolcott,  Hon.  Simon  P 665 

Wolf,  John 181 

Woods,  John  B 510 

Wright,  Alpha  1013 

Wright,  Dr.  Amos 1044 

Wright,  Captain  Josiah  J 363 

Wright,  Reginald  H 134 

Wright,  Hon.  Thomas 986 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY, 

IN   PUBLIC   OFFICE  -  NATIONAL,  ESTATE  AND   COUNTY, 
1840  TO  1891,  INCLUSIVE. 


ASSISTANT  SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

WOLCOTT,  Christophek  P.,  of  Akron,  by  appointment  of  PresidentAbrahairt 
Lincoln,  in  May,  1862,  became  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  under  hi» 
brother-in-law,  Secretary  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  continuing-  until  broken 
in  health  by  the  arduous  duties  of  the  position,  returning-  to  Akron  in 
February,  1863,  and  dying  April  4,  of  that  year.     Portrait  page  553. 

UNITED   STATES   MINISTERS,  CONSULS,  ETC. 

Cakttek,  David  K.,  a  resident  of  Akron  from  1836  to  1845— Minister  to- 
Bolivia,  South  America,  1861  to  1863.     Portrait  and  biographj'.  page  552.'  1 

COGGESHALL  WILLIAM  T.,  a  resident  of  Akron  froan  1842  to  1847,  editor  and 
author.  State  Librarian  from  1856  to  1862,  Minister  to  Ecuador,  South 
America,  1865  to  1867,  dying  of  consumption  at  Quito,  in  the  Summer  of 
1867,  his  remains  being  conveyed  by  the  government  to  Columbus  for 
interment,  together  with  those  of  his  daughter  Jessie,  who,  after  suc- 
cessfully closing  up  the  affairs  of  the  Mission,  died  of  yellow  fever,  at 
Guyaquil,  while  en  route  for  home. 

Cooper,  Samuel  F.,  Superintendent  of  Akron  schools  from  1853  to  1856,  was 
United  States  Consul  at  Glasgow,  Scotland,  from  1876  to  1880,  now  being- 
a  resident  of  Grinnell,  Iowa.     Portrait  and  biography,  page  126. 

STATE  AND  TERRITORIAL  GOVERNORS. 

Edgerton,  Sidney,  Akron,  Governor  of  Montana  Territory,  1864-1865.  Por- 
trait and  biography,  page  180. 

AxTELL,  Samuel  B.,  Richfield,  appointed  Governor  of  Utah  Territory  in  1875,. 
transferred  to  New  Mexico  as  Governor,  same  year,  continuing  between 
three  and  four  years,  page  949. 

Alger,  Russell  A.,  Richfield,  Governor  of  Michigan,  during  the  years  1885- 
and  1886.     Portrait  and  biography,  page  555. 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA  AND  TERRITORIAL  JUDGES. 

Cartter,  David  K.,  early  resident  of  Akron,  as  elsewhere  stated,  ably  served 
as  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  by 
appointment  of  President  Lincoln,  from  1863  until  his  death  in  1887.  Por- 
trait and  sketch,  page  552. 

Edgerton,  Sidney,  Akron,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Territory  of  Idaho,  by 
appointment  of  President  Lincoln,  from  1863  to  1864,  resigning  to  take  the 
Governorship  of  Montana,  as  elsewhere  stated.     Portrait,  page  180. 

AxTELL,  Samuel  B.,  Richfield,  by  appointment  of  President  Arthur,  Chief 
Justice  of  New  Mexico,  from  1882  to  1885,  page  949. 

UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

Sanders,  Wilbur  F.,  formerly  of  Akron,  now  of  Helena,  Montana,  was 
elected  United  States  Senator  for  that  State  in  1890,  and  is  still  serving-. 
Portrait,  page  5.54. 

OHIO  STATE  OFFICIALS. 

King,  Henry  W.,  Akron,  Secretary  of  State,  and   Commissioner  of  Public 

Schools,  1850  to  1852.     Portrait,  page  119. 
WoLCOTT,  Christopher  P.,  AttorneyGeneral,  1856  to  1861.    Portrait  page  553, 


xxxii.  CONTENTS. 

Sill,  Elisha  N.,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  served   as  Canal  Fund  Commissioner  of 

Ohio,  from  1843  to  1850.     Portrait,  page  733. 
KOHLER,  Jacob   A.,  Akron,  served  as  Attorney  General   from   1886  to  1888. 

Portrait,  page  267. 

OHIO  SUPREME  AND  CIRCUIT  COURTS. 

Spalding,  Rufus  P.,  then  a  resident  of  Akron,  in  the  session  of  1848,  '49. 
was  elected  by  the  Legislature,  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  serving 
three  years.     Portrait,  page  93. 

Upson,  William  H.,  Akron,  by  appointment  of  Governor  Charles  Foster, 
served  as  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  from  March  to  December,  1883,  to 
fill  the  vacanc3^  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Chief  Justice  William  White. 
Portrait,  page  172. 

Upson,  William,  H,,  Akron,  in  1884  was  elected  one  of  the  Judges  of  the 
Eighth  Circuit  of  the  newly  organized  Circuit  Court  System  of  Ohio, 
drawing  the  fractional  term  of  two  years,  in  1886  being  re-elected  for  the 
full  term  of  six  years,  and  is  still  ably  serving.     Portrait,  page  172. 

CLEVELAND   HOSPITAL  FOR  THE  INSANE— TRUSTEES,  ETC. 

Pitkin,  Stephen  H.,  Akron,  1862—1874  and  1876—1878,  page  847. 
Perry,  JoHxNT  F..  Cuyahoga  Falls.  1878  -1880. 
Beebe,  William  M.,  Hudson,  1880-1886,  page  848. 
King,  David  L.,  Akron,  1886—1889,  page  241. 

Hough,  Dr.  Wayland  S.,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  July  16, 1890,  to  date. 
Evans,  Mrs.  Mary,  I.  T.,  Matron,  1858—1860,  page  242. 

OHIO   PENITENTIARY,  WARDEN,   ETC. 

Dewey,  Laurin,  Warden,  1846  to  1849,  page  220. 
Olines,  Mrs.  Julia  F.,  Matron,  1882  to  1884. 

INSPECTOR  OF  OHIO  WORKSHOPS  AND  FACTORIES. 

TMcDONALD,  William  Z.,  Ak^on,  appointed  bj^  Governor  Joseph  B.  Foraker, 
Inspector  of  First  District,  September  6, 1885,  and  promoted  to  the  Chief 
Inspectorship  for  four  years  from  April  29,  1889,  page  291. 

OHIO  BOARD  OF  PUBLIC  WORKS. 

Paul,  George,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  member  of  Board  of  Public  Works  from  1878 
to  1884,  in  special  charge  of  Ohio  Canal  from  Cleveland  to  Hebron,  185 
miles,  25  miles  of  Walhonding  canal  and  Western  Reserve  and  Maumee 
road,  46  miles,  page  766. 

OHIO  CANAL  SUPERINTENDENTS. 

From  1829  to  1850,  Captain  Richard  Howe,  of  Akron,  was  resident  engineer 
and  superintendent  of  Northern  division,  with  his  brother,  the  late  John 
Howe,  as  his  efficient  Assistant.  Later  Akron  Superintendents  have 
been  L.  Charles  Schnell,  George  T.  McCurdy,  and  Alfred  W.  Hall  from 
1886  to  the  present  time  (1892),  page  146. 

OHIO  CANAL  COLLECTORS. 

The  writer  is  without  definite  data  in  regard  to  the  earlier  collectors  of  tolls 
upon  the  Ohio  Canal  for  the  port  of  Akron,  but  from  the  recollection  of 
himself  and  other  old  residents  consulted,  the  following  roster  is 
believed  to  be  substantially  correct:  Wolsey  Wells,  Samuel  A.  Wheeler, 
Robert  K.  Du  Bois,  Lewis  P.  Buckley,  Frederick  Wadsworth,  Leander  L. 
Howard,  Allen  Hibbard,  Frederick  A.  Nash,  Nathaniel  W.  Goodhue, 
George  T.  McCurdy,  Charles  Baird,  J.  Alexander  Lantz,  Mills  B.  Purdy, 
William  W.  Zeisloft,  and  from  1888  to  present  time  (1892),  Hiram  H.  Foltz, 
page  138. 

MEMBERS  OF  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTIONS. 

Otis,  William  S.  C,  Akron,  Constitutional  Convention  of  1850,  serving  from 
May  6, 1850,  to  March  10, 1851.  Constitution  then  framed,  ratified  by  voters 
of  State,  June  21, 1851,  the  vote  in  Summit  county  standing  2,025  for,  and 
and  2,013  against— a  majority  of  twelve,  only,  in  its  favor,  page  309. 


CONTENTS.  xxxiii. 

VORIS,  Alvin  C,  Akron,  Convention  of  1873,  serving  from  May  13,  1873,  to 
February  3, 1874.  Constitution  then  framed,  thoug'h  in  many  respects  an 
improvement  upon  the  former,  was  rejected  bj*  the  people,  August  18, 
1874,  Summit  county  standing  2,112  for,  and  2,774  against — an  adverse 
majority  of  662.    Portrait,  page  154. 

TRUSTEE  OF  OHIO  STATE  UNIVERSITY. 

BUCHTEL,  John  R.,  Akron,  by  appointment  of  Governor  Rutherford  B.  Haj'es 
in  1870,  became  Managing  Trustee,  and  personally  superintended  the 
laying  out  of  the  grounds  and  the  erection  of  the  buildings  for  the  Ohio 
Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College,  at  Columbus,  which  was  opened 
to  students  in  1873;  name  since  changed  to  Ohio  State  University.  Por- 
trait, page  150. 

REPRESENTATIVES  IN   CONGRESS,  1840  to  1891. 

Andrews,  Sherlock  J.,  Cuyahoga  count}^  XV  District,  1840—1842. 
TiLDEN,  Daniel  R.,  Portage  County,  XIX  District,  1842—1846. 
Crowell,  John,  Trumbtill  County,  XIX  District,  1846 — 1850. 
Newton,  Eben,  Mahoning  County,  XIX  District,  1850—1852. 
Bliss,  George,  Akron,  XVIII  District,  1852^1854,  page  551. 
Leiter,  Benjamin  F.,  Stark  County,  XVIII  District,  1854-1858. 
Edgerton,  Sidney,  Akron,  XVIII  District,  1858—1862,  page  1058. 
Spalding,    Rufus    P.,    Cuyahoga    County.    XVIII    District,    1862  —  1868. 
Upson,  William  H.,  Akron,  XVIII  District,  1868-1872,  page  1058. 
Monroe,  James,  Lorain  County,  XVIII  District,  1872—1880. 
McClure,  Addison  S.,  Wayne  County,  XVIII  District,  1880—1882. 
Paige,  David  R.,  Akron,  XVIII  District,  1882—1884,  page  271. 
Mckinley,  William,  Stark  County,  XVIII  District,  1884—1886. 
Grouse,  George  W.,  Akron,  XX  District,  1886-1888,  page  810. 
Smyser,  Martin  L.,  Wayne  County,  XX  District,  1888—1890. 
Taylor,  Vincent  A.,  Cviyahoga  County,  XX  District,  1890  to  date. 

PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTORS. 

Pitkin,  Stephen  H.,  1868,  voting  in  Electoral  College  for  Ulysses  S.  Grant 

for  President  and  Schuj^ler  Colfax  for  Vice  President,  page  847. 
BucHTEL,  John  R.,  1872,  voting  for  Ulysses  S.  Grant  for  President  and  Henry 

Wilson  for  Vice  President,  page  719. 
Goodhue,  Nathaniel  W.,  1880.  voting  for  James  A.  Garfield  for  President 

and  Chester  A.  Arthur  for  Vice  President,  page  171. 
Marvin,  Ulysses  L.,  1884,  voting  for  James  G.  Blaine  for  President  and  John 

A.  Logan  for  Vice  President,  page  269. 

STATE  SENATORS  1840  to  1891,  INCLUSIVE. 

*<  Perkins,  Simon,  Jr„  Akron  1838  to  1840,  page  308. 
Sill,  Elisha  N.,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  1840  to  1842.  page  762. 
Jackson,  John  E.,  Portage  County,  1842  to  1844. 
Wetmore,  William  Jr.,  Stow,  1844  to  1846,  page  1017. 
Lewis,  Asahel  H.,  Portage  County,  1846  to  1848,  page  220. 
Swift,  Lucian,  Akron,  1848  to  1850,  page  308. 
Lyman,  Darius,  Portage  County,  1850  to  1851. 
Gillette,  Ransom  A.,  Portage  Countv.  1851  to  1853. 
Upson,  William  H.,  Akron.  1853  to  1855,  page  308. 
Brown,  Oliver  P.,  Portage  County,  1855  to  1857. 
Ashmun,  George  P.,  Hudson,  1857  to  1859,  page  847. 
Garfield,  James  A..  Portage  County,  1859  to  1861. 
Bierce,  Lucius  V.,  Akron,  1861  to  1863,  page  308. 
Day,  Luther,  Portage  County,  1863  to  1864. 
Hart,  Alphonso,  Portage  County,  1864  to  1865. 
Tibbals,  Newell  D.,  Akron,  1865  to  1867,  page  308. 
Conant,  Philo  B.,  Portage  County,  1867  to  1868. 
Stedman,  William,  Portage  County,1868  to  1869. 
McKinney,  Henry,  Cuyahoga  Falls.  1861  to  1871,  page  762. 
Hart,  Alphonso,  Portage  County.  1871  to  1873. 
Goodhue,  Nathaniel  W.,  Akron,  1873  to  1875,  page  308. 
Kent,  Marvin,  Portage  County,  1875  to  1877,  page  629. 


xxxiv.  CONTENTS. 

Beebe,  David  Duncan,  Hudson,  1877  to  1881,  pag^e  847. 
Wolcott,  Simon  P.,  Portag-e  County,  1881  to  1885,  page  665. 
Crouse,  Georg-e  W.,  Akron,  1885  to  1887,  page  810. 
Alexander,  J.  Park,  Akron,  1887  to  1891,  page  646. 
Lampson,  Klbert  L.,  Ashtabula,  1891  to  date. 

REPRESENTATIVES  TO  STATE  LEGISLATURE,  1840  TO  1891. 

Spalding,  Rufus  P.,  Ravenna,  1839  to  1840,  page  92. 
Hubbard,  Ephraim  B.,  Deerfield,  1839  to  1840,  page  92. 
Weaver,  Henry  G.,  Springfield,  1840  to  1841.  page  1001. 
Spalding,  Rufus  P.,  Akron,  1841  to  1842,  page  307. 
Perkins,  Simon  Jr.,  Akron,  1841  to  1842,  page  307. 
Seward,  Amos,  Tallmadge,  1842  to  1843,  page  1057. 
McMillen,  John  H.,  Middlebury,  1843  to  1844,  page  307. 
Foote,  Augustus  E.,  Twinsburg,  1843  to  1844,  page  1078. 
Kirkum,  George,  Akron,  1844  to  1845,  page  928. 
Bowen,  Hiram,  Akron,  1845  to  1846,  page  307. 
Johnston,  Alexander,  Green,  1846  to  1847,  page  809. 
Voris,  Peter,  Bath,  1847  to  1848,  page  645. 
Seward,  Ainos,  Tallmadge,  1847  to  1848,  page  1057. 
McClure,  Samuel  W.,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  1848  to  1849,  page  762. 
Spelnian,  Harvey  B.,  Akron,  1849  to  1850,  page  307. 
Finch,  Nathaniel,  Akron,  1850  to  1851,  page  307. 
Humphrey,  Noah  M..  Richfield,  1851  to  1853,  pa^e  947. 
Somers,  Porter  G.,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  1853  to  185o,  page  762. 
Jewett,  Mendal,  Springfield,  1855  to  1857,  page  1001. 
Sperry,  Ira  P.,  Tallmadge,  1857  to  1859,  page  1058. 
Thompson,  S3dvester  H.,  Hudson,  1859  to  1861,  page  847. 
Voris,  Alvin  C,  Akron,  1859  to  1861,  pag-e646. 
Johnston,  John,  Middlebury,  1861  to  1865  page  307. 
Encell.  John,  Copley,  1865  to  1867,  page  703. 
Sisler,  William,  Franklin,  1867  to  1869,  page  793. 
Wolcott,  Alfred,  Boston,  1869  to  1871,  page  666. 
Burnham,  Sanford  M.,  Akron,  1871  to  1873,  page  307. 
Mack,  Hiram  H.,  Bath,  1873  to  1875,  page  646. 
Nichols,  Orrin  P.,  Twinsburg,  1875  to  1877,  page  1078. 
Mack,  Hiram  H.,  Bath.  1877  to  1879,  page  646. 
Hill,  John,  Norton,  1879,  to  1881,  page  929. 
Ebright,  Leonidas  S.,  Akron,  1879  to  1881,  page  308. 
Alexander,  J.  Park,  Akron,  1881  to  1883,  page  646. 
KohlerJTacob  A.,  Akron,  1883  to  1885,  page  794. 
Green,  Francis  M.,  Stow,  1885  to  1887,  page  1018. 
Sanford,  Henry  C,  Akron,  1887  to  1891,  page  307. 
Wright,  Thomas,  Springfield,  1889  to  1891,  page  1002. 
Hale,  Charles  Oviatt,  Bath,  1891  to  date,  page  647. 

COMMON  PLEAS  JUDGES,  UNDER  OLD  CONSTITUTION, 

President  Judges. 

Humphrey,  Van  R.,  Hudson,  1840  to  1844,  page  846. 
Newton,  Eben,  Canfield,  1844  to  1846. 
Wade,  Benjamin  F.,  Jefferson,  1846  to  1851,  page  306. 
Bliss,  George,  Akron,  1851  to  1852,  page  306. 

Associate  Judges. 

Du  Bois,  Robert  K.,  Akron,  1840  to  1845,  page  305. 
Sumner,  Charles,  Coventry,  1840  to  1845,  page  718. 
Caldwell,  Hugh  R.,  Franklin,  1840  to  1847,  page  793. 
Clark,  John  B.,  Hudson,  1845  to  1846,  page  846. 
Ford,  James  R.,  Akron,  1845  to  1849,  page  305. 
Thompson,  Sylvester  H.,  Hudson,  1846  to  1852,  page  847. 
Hoy,  John,  Franklin,  1847  to  1852,  page  793. 
Wheeler,  Samuel  A.,  Akron,  1849  to  1850,  page  305. 
Voris,  Peter,  Bath,  1850  to  1852,  page  645. 


CONTENTS.  XXXV. 

COMMON  PLEAS  JUDGES,  UNDER  PRESENT  CONSTITUTION. 

Humphreyville,  Samuel,  Medina,  1851  to  1856,  pag'e  306. 

Carpenter,  James  S.,  Akron,  1856  to  1861,  pag-e  306. 

Canfield,  William  H.,  Medina,  1858  to  1863. 

Burke,  Stephenson,  Elyria,  1861  to  1869,  page  306. 

Boynton,  Washington  W.,  Elyria,  1869  to  1876. 

Hale,  John  C,  Elyria,  1876  to  1881. 

McClure,  Samuel  W.,  Akron,  1870  to  1875,  pag-e  306. 

Tibbals,  Newell  D.,  Akron,  1875  to  1883,  page  306. 

Lewis,  George  W.  Medina,  1881  to  1891. 

Marvin,  Ulysses  L.,  Akron,  May  to  October,  1883,  page  306. 

Green,  Edwin  P.,  Akron,  1883  to  1891,  page  306. 

Voris,  Alvin  C,  Akron,  1891  to  date,  page  306. 

Nye,  David  J.,  Elyria,  1891  to  date. 

COUNTY  AUDITORS,  1840  to  1891,  INCLUSIVE. 

Booth,  Birdsey,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  1840  to  1842,  page  762. 
Noble,  Theron  A.,  Springfield,  1842  to  1848,  page  301. 
Goodhue,  Nathaniel  W.,  Middlebnry,  1847  to  1852,  page  301. 
Newberrj^  Henry,  Jr.,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  1852  to  1854,  page  762. 
Bernard.  Charles  B.,  Akron,  1854  to  1858,  page  301. 
Crouse.  George  W.,  Akron,  1858  to  1863,  page  809. 
Burnham,  Sanford  M.,  Akron,  1863  to  1871,  page  301. 
Paul,  Hosea,  Jr.,  October  9,  to  November  14,  1871,  page  763. 
Buckingham,  Edward,  Akron,  1872  to  1881,  page  301. 
Wagoner,  Aaron,  Akron,  1881  to  1887,  page  794. 
Dick,  Charles,  W.  F.,  Akron,  1887  to  date,  page  301. 

COUNTY  CLERKS,  1840  TO  1891,, INCLUSIVE. 

Spalding,  Rufus   P.,  Akron,  appointed    by  Court,  April   to  December,  1840, 

page  304. 
Swift,  Lucian,  Akron,  appointed  by  Court,  1840  to  1847,  page  304. 
Peck,  Lucius  S.,  Akron  appointed  b}-  Court,  1847  to  1851,  page  305. 
Stone,  Nelson  B.,  Tallmadge,  elected,  1851  to  1853',  page  1057. 
Green,  Edwin  P.,  Akron,  1854  to  1861,  page  305. 
Means.  John  A.,  Northfield,  1861  to  1864,  page  902. 
Rinehart,  Charles,  Franklin,  1864  to  1870,  page  793. 
Means,  John  A.,  Northfield,  1870  to  1873,  page  902. 
Weeks,  George  W.,  Copley,  1873  to  1879,  page  703. 
Nash,  Sumner,  Bath,  1879  to  1885,  page  647. 
Hale,  Othello  W.,  Bath,  1885  to  1891,  page  647. 
Goodhue,  Nathaniel  P.,  Akron,  1891  to  date,  page  305. 

COUNTY   TREASURERS,  1840  to  1891,  INCLUSIVE. 

O'Brien,  William,  Hudson,  April,  1840  to  February,  1842,  page  847. 

Wallace,  George  Y.,  Northfield,  February,  1842  to  November,  1842,  page  901. 

Arthur,  Milton,  Northfield,  1842  to  1848,  page  902. 

Dewey,  William  H.,  Akron,  1848  to  1850,  page  303. 

Wadsworth,  Frederick,  Akron,  1850  to  1852,  page  303. 

Rice,  Chester  W.,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  1852  to  1854,  page  762. 

Sisler,  Houston,  Franklin,  1854  to  1858.  page  793. 

Wilson,  Sullivan  S.,  Northampton,  1858  to  1863,  page  863. 

Crouse,  George  W.,  Akron,  Februar}'^  to  September,  1863,  page  810. 

Carter,  Israel  E.,  Akron,  1863  to  1867,  page  303. 

Conger,  Arthur  L.,  Boston,  1867  to  1871,  page  666. 

Oviatt,  Schuyler  R.,  Richfield,  1871  to  1875,  page  948. 

Paige,  David  R.,  Akron,  1875  to  1879,  page  303. 

Viele,  Henry  C,  Akron,  1879  to  1883,  page  303. 

Cole,  Arthur  M.,  Boston,  1883  to  1887,  page  666. 

Seymour,  James  H.,  Hudson,  1887  to  1891,  page  848. 

Oviatt,  Emmon  S.,  Akron,  1891  to  date,  page  948. 

PROBATE  JUDGES,  1851  TO  1891,  INCLUSIVE. 

Ladd,  Charles  G.,  Akron,  October,  1851  to  August,  1852,  page  306. 
Hammond,  Roland  O.,  Bath,  August,  1852  to  October,  1852,  page  645. 
Bryan,  Constant,  Akron,  1852  to  1853,  page  307. 
Humphrey,  Noah  M.,  Richfield,  1854  to  1860,  page  948. 


xxxvi.  CONTENTS. 

Dodge,  William  M.,  Akron,  1860  to  July,  1861,  page  307. 

Lewis,  Asahel  H.,  Akron,  July  to  October,  1861,  page  307. 

Pitkin,  Stephen  H.,  Hudson,  1861  to  1869,  page  307. 

Marvin,  Ulysses  L.,  Akron,  1869  to  1875,  page  307. 

Williamson,  Samuel  C,  Akron,  1875  to  1881,  page  307. 

Goodhue,  Nathaniel  W.,  Akron,  1881  to  September,  1883,  page  307. 

Grant,  Charles  R.,  Akron,  1883  to  1891,  page  307. 

Stuart,  Edward  W.,  Akron,  1891  to  date,  page  307. 

COUNTY  RECORDERS,  1840  TO  1891,  INCLUSIVE. 

Johnston,  Alexander,  Green,  1840  to  1843,  page  809. 

Fay,  Nahum,  Akron,  1843  to  1849,  page  303. 

Jennings,  Jared,  Coventry,  1849  to  1352,  page  718. 

Purdy,  Henry,  Springfield,  1852  to  1858,  page  1001. 

Bock,  Phillip  P.,  Akron,  1858  to  1864,  page  303. 

Lantz,  J.  Alexander,  Springfield,  1864  to  1870,  page  1002. 

Thorp,  Grenville,  Bath,  1870  to  February,  1872,  page  646. 

Viele,  Henry  C,  Akron,  February  to  October,  1872,  page  303. 

Payne,  George  H.,  Akron,  1872  to  1878,  page  303. 

Bartlett,  Albert  A.,  Akron,  1878  to  1884.  page  303. 

Searles,  Henry  C,  Richfield,  1884  to  1891,  page  949. 

Clark,  Benjamin  F.,  Akron,  1891  to  date,  page  303. 

COUNTY  SHERIFFS,  1840  TO  1891,  INCLUSIVE. 

Wilson,  Thomas,  Northfield,  1840  to  1844,  page  901. 
Janes,  Lewis  M.,  Boston,  1844  to  1848,  page  664. 
Clarke,  William  L.,  Springfield,  1848  to  1852,  page  298. 
Seward,  Dudlej^,  Tallinadge,  1852  to  1856,  page  1057. 
Lane,  Sainuel  A.,  Akron,  1856  to  1861,  page  298. 
Chisnell,  Jacob,  Green,  1861  to  1865,  page  8^). 
Burlison,  James,  Middlebury,  1865  to  1869,  page  298. 
Curtiss,  Augustus,  Portage,  1866  to  1873,  page  902. 
McMurray,  Levi  J.,  Franklin,  1873  to  1877,  page  794. 
Lane,  Samuel  A.,  Akron,  1877  to  1881,  page  298. 
McKinney,  William,  Twinsburg.  1881  to  1885,  page  1078. 
Gamble,  William  B.,  Akron,  1885  to  1889,  page  298. 
Bunn,  David  R.,  Akron,  1889  to  date,  page  298. 

PROSECUTING  ATTORNEYS,  1840  TO  1891,  INCLUSIVE. 

Dodge,  William  M..  Akron,  1840  to  1842,  page  298. 

Kirkum,  George,  Norton,  1842  to  1844,  page  928. 

Otis.  William.  S.  C.  Akron,  1844  to  1846,  page  298. 

McClure.  Samuel  W.,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  1846  to  1848,  page  762. 

Upson,  William  H.,  Akron,  1848  to  1850,  page  1058. 

Whedon,  Harvej'-,  Hudson,  1850  to  1352,  page  847. 

Edgerton,  Sidne5\  Akron,  1852  to  1856,  page  1058. 

McKinney,  Henry,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  1856  to  1860,  page  762. 

Tibbals,  Newell  D.,  Akron,  1860  to  1864,  page  298. 

Green,  Edwin  P.,  Akron,  ad  interim  100  days,  1864,  page  298. 

Oviatt,  Edward,  Akron.  1864  to  1868.  page  948. 

Kohler,  Jacob  A.,  Akron,  1868  to  1872,  page  794. 

Sanford,  Henry  C,  Akron,  1872  to  1874,  page  298. 

Poulson,  James  M.,  Akron,  1874  to  1876,  page  298. 

Stuart,  Edward  W.,  Akron,  1876  to  1880,  page  298. 

Baird,  Charles,  Akron.  1880  to  1884,  page  298. 

Means,  John  C.  Tallmadge,  1884  to  May,  1886,  page  1058. 

Voris,  Edwin  F.,  Akron,  May  to  October,  1886,  page  298. 

Sieber,  George  W.,  Akron,  1886  to  date,  page  298. 

COUNTY  SURVEYORS,  1840  TO  1891,  INCLUSIVE. 

Ashmun,  Russell  H.,  Tallmadge,  1840  to  1843,  page  1057. 
Voris,  Peter,  Bath,  1843  to  1846,  page  645. 
Seward,  Frederick.  Tallmadge,  1846  to  1849,  page  1057. 
Newton,  Dwight,  Akron,  1849  to  1852,  page  303. 
Oviatt,  Schuyler  R.,  Richfield,  1852  to  1855,  page  948. 
Paul,  Hosea,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  1855  to  1870,  page  762. 


COXTENl'S.  •  XX 

Paul,  Robert  S.,  Akron,  1870  to  1874.pag-e  762. 
Seward.  John  W.,  Tallmadge.  1874  to  1877,  page  1058.       • 
Paul,  Robert  S.  Akron,  1877  to  1883,  pao-e  7(52. 
Perkins,  Charles  E.,  Akron,  1883  to  date,  page  303. 

COUNTY  CORONERS,  1840  TO  1891,  INCI.USIVE. 

Hinsdale,  Elisha,  Norton,  184:0  to  1844,  page  928. 

Mills,  Ithiel,  Akron,  1844  to  1848,  page  304. 

HoUoway,  Joseph  T.,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  1848  to  18."iO  page  762. 

Nash,  Col.  John,  Middlebury,  1850  to  1853,  page  304. 

Gross,  Oliver  E.,  Stow,  1853  to  1855,  page  1017.^ 

Clarke,  William  E.,  Akron,  1855  to  18.57,  page  304. 

Ingersoll,  Noah.  Coventrj^,  18.57  to  1861,  page  719. 

Holloway,  Joseph  I'.,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  1861  to  1863,  page  762. 

Soniers,  Porter  G..  Cuyahoga  Falls,  18(53  to  1868,  page  762. 

Gross,  Oliver  E.,  Stow,  18(58  to  1872,  page  1017. 

Brown,  Almon,  Akron,  1872  to  1882,  page  304. 

Brashear,  B.  B.,  Akron,  1882  to  1886.  page  304. 

Sargent,  Albert  H.,  Akron,  1886  to  1890.  page  304. 

Brewster,  George  W.,  Coventry,  1890  to  date,  page  720. 

COUNTY  COMMISSIONERS,  1840  TO  1891,  IxNCLUSIVE. 

Foote,  Axigustus  E.,  Twinsburg,  1840  to  1843,  page  1078. 

Starr,  Jonathan,  Copley,  1840  to  1844,  page  703. 

Hoy.  John,  Franklin,  1840  to  1845.  page  793. 

Thompson,  Mills.  Hudson.  1843  to  1849,  page  847, 

Weld.  James  W.,  Richfield.  1844  to  1853,  page  947. 

Weaver,  Henry  G.,  Springfield,  1845  to  1851,  page  1001., 

W^etmore,  FMwin,  Stow.  1849  to  1858.  page  1017. 

Weston,  Hiram,  Middlebury,  1851  to  18.t4,  page  298. 

Metlin,  James  A.,  Norton,  18.53  to  18.56,  page  929. 

Bliss.  Ambrose  W.,  Northfield,  18.54  to  18(50,  page  902. 

Gilcrest,  John  S..  Springfield,  18.56  to  1862.  page  1001. 

McFarlin,  John,  Bath.  1858  to  1861,  page  646. 

Upson,  Nelson.  Twinsburg,  1860  to  March,  1866,  page  1078. 

Buel,  George,  Akron,  1861  to  yiay,  1864.  page  298. 

Hill,  David  E.,  Middlebury,  1862  to  1868,  page  298. 

Bates,  George  D.,  Akron,  May  to  December,  1864,  page  298. 

Conger,  Sidney  P.,  Boston,  ^lay  to  December,  18(56,  page  (5(56. 

McFarlin,  John,  Bath,  1864  to  1867,  page  64(5. 

Johnston,  John  C,  Northampton,  1866  to  1872,  page  8(53. 

Sackett,  George,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  1867  to  1870,  page  7(53, 

Oviatt,  Orson  M.,  Richfield,  1868  to  1874,  page  948. 

Hill,  John,  Norton,  1870  to  1879,  page  92i). 

Crotise.  George  W.,  Akron,  1872  to  187.5,  page  809. 

L'Hommedieu,  Giles.  Cuyahoga  Falls,  1874  to  1877,  page  763. 

Sisler,  William,  Franklin,  1875  to  1881,  page  793. 

Call,  Moses  D.,  Stow,  1877  to  1883,  page  1018. 

Hart,  Hiram,  Richfield,  1879  to  1885,  page  948. 

Miller,  David  C,  Franklin,  1881  to  November,  1886,  page  794, 

Ellet,  King  J.,  Springfield,  1883  to  1889.  page  1002, 

Hill,  John  C,  Coventry,  November,  1886  to  December,  1887,  page  720. 

Hine,  Charles  C,  Hudson,  1885  to  1891.  page  848. 

Johnston,  Washington  G.,  Green,  1890  to  date,  page  810. 

Frederick.  Henry,  Portage,  1889  to  date,  page  298. 

Nesbit,  James,  Northfield,  1891  to  date. 

COUNTY  INFIRMARY  DIRECTORS,  1849  TO   1891.  INCLUSIVE. 

Kent,  Roswell,  Middlebury,  1849 to  18)1,  page  303. 

Spicer,  Avery,  Coventry,  1849  to  1853,  page   /18. 

Bierce,  Lucius  V.,  Akron,  July  to  October.  1849.  page  303. 

Ackley,  Gibbons  J.,  Akron,  1849  to  1851,  page  303. 

Wesener.  Joseph  E.,  Akron.  August  to  December,  1851,  page  303. 

Hawkins.  Ira,  Portage,  1851  to  1857,  page  304. 

Bates,  George  D.,  Akron,  1851  to  1855,  page  304. 

Sherbondj%  George,  Portage,  18.53  to  18.56,  page  304. 

Hanscom,  Charles,  C,  Akron,  1855  to  1858,  page  3Q^, 


xxxviii.  CONTENTS. 

Scott,  David  A..  Akron,  1856  to  18.19,  page  304. 
Spicer,  Avery,  Coventry,  IS-oT  to  1866,  pag-e  718. 
Johnston,  William,  Copley,  1858  to  1861,  page  703. 
Walker,  Richard  B.,  Akron,  1859  to  1868,  page  304. 
Townsend,  Alfred  R.,  Akron,  1861  to  1867,  page  301. 
Brewster,  Jonathan  H.,  Coventr}-.  1866  to  1875,  page  719. 
Cunningham,  William  M.,  Akron.  1869  to  1873,  page  304. 
Husong",  Francis  T.,  Copley,  1868  to  1871,  page  703. 
Storer,  Webster  B.,  Portage,  1871  to  1874,  page  304. 
Townsend,  Alfred  R.,  Akron,  1873  to  1876,  page  304. 
Herrold,  Levi  S.,  Akron,  1874  to  1877,  page  304. 
Kolb,  Clement  J.,  Akron,  1875  to  1881.  page  304. 
Frederick.  Henry,  Portage,  1876  to  1882,  page  304. 
Townsend,  Alfred  R.,  Akron,  1877  to  1879,  page  304. 
Southmayd,  William,  Stow,  1879  to  1883,  page  1018. 
Beebe,  Joseph  A.,  Akron,  1881  to  1887,  page  304. 
Johnston,  John  M.,  Copley.  1882  to  1888,  page  703. 
Miller,  Stephen  D.,  Norton,  1883  to  1889,  page  929. 
Moore,  Joseph,  Akron,  1887  to  date,  page  1002. 
Smith,  F:ii,  Portage,  1888  to  date,  page  304. 
Koplin,  Jacob,  Akron,  1889  to  date,  page  304. 

SUPERINTENDENTS  OF  INFIRMARY,  1849  TO  1891,  INCLUSIVE. 

Sichley,  Abraham,  1849  to  1855,  page  304. 
Chandler.  William,  18.55  to  1861,  page  304. 
Husong,  Francis  T.,  1861  to  1868,  page  703. 
Glines,  George  W.,  1868  to  1878,  page  .304. 
Feichter,  George,  1878  to  1879,  page  304. 
Glines,  Julia  F.,  1879  to  1882,  page  304. 
Hamlin,  Millard  F.,  1882  to  1387,  page  304. 
Stotler,  Sherman  B.,  1887  to  date,  page  304. 


FURTHER  ADDENDA;  ERRATA,  ETC. 


On  page  1058,  in  notice  of  Hon.  Williatti  H.  Upson's  election  to  Circuit  Court  Judgeship, 
read  elected  in  188i,  drawing  fractional  term  of  two  years,  and  re-elected  in  ISSfi  for  full  term 
of  six  years. 

On  page  532,  in  biographical  sketch  of  Mr.  John  K.  Kobinson,  read  married  to  Miss 
Henrietta  Eleanor  Barber,  Januarj- 1, 1868,  instead  of  January  15, 1869,  as  printed  in  part  of 
edition. 

On  page  526,  to  biographical  sketch  of  Isaac  J.  Dyas,  add:  died  suddenly  of  pneumonia, 
January  3, 1892,  aged  42  years  and  12'  da5's. 

On  page  913,  to  biographical  sketch  of  IJr.  Secretary  Rawson,  add:  died  in  Des  Moines, 
Iowa,  December  29, 1891,  aged  95  years,  2  months  and  11  days. 

On  page  609,  to  official  roster  of  Boston  Township  and  Peninsula  Village,  add  the  death 
of  Treasurer  Henry  Kerst,  January  7, 1892,  aged  51  years. 

On  page  463,  to  biography  of  Mr.  Lorenzo  Hall,  add:  died  January  9, 1892,  aged  79  years,  10 
months  and  17  days. 

On  page  762,  read  that  Dr.  Chester  W.  Rice  was  elected  Treasurer  of  Summit  county,  in 
1852  instead  of  1872,  as  there  printed. 

On  page  736,  to  biography  of  Mr.  Henry  Wetmore,  add:  died  January  10, 1892,  aged  !K)  years 
and  11  months. 

On  page  130,  to  biographical  sketch  of  Judge  William  M.  Dodge,  add  the  death  of  Mrs. 
Dodge,  January  II,  1892,  aged  8;^  3-ears,  5  months  and  13  dajs. 

Add  to  Contents: 

Official  Roster  of  Summit  County,  1840  to  1891,  Index  pages  xxxi  to  xxxviii. 

Schumacher  Power  Block,  Index  page  xxxix. 

Government  Public  Building,  Index  page  xl. 

Akron  City  Hospital,  Index  page  xl. 


THE  SCHUMACHER  POWER   BLOCK. 


XXXIX. 


Since  the  completion  of  the  main  portion  of  this  book,  Messrs. 
Weary  &  Kramer,  architects,  have  perfected  the  drawings  of  the 
new  power  block  which  Mr.  Ferd  Schumacher  is  about  to  erect 
on  West  Market  street,  the  foundations  for  which  are  now  being 
laid  upon  the  site  of  the  well-remembered  Old  City  Mill,  as  shown 
in  the  upper  engraving  on  page  453.  As  this  will  be  the  largest, 
handsomest  and  most  costly  structure  yet  erected  in  Akron,  it  is 
fitting  that  an  engraving  of  it,  with  proper  measurements,  should 
be  given  the  prominent  place  in  this  volume  here  accorded  to  it. 


ir^ 


-.^ 


Schumacher  Power  Block,  Corner  of  West  Market  and  Canal  Streets,  Erected  in  1892. 


This  superb  structure  w^ill  be  built  in  the  modernized 
Romanesque  style  of  architecture,  and  present  a  facade  of  165  feet 
on  West  Market  street,  and  135  feet  on  Canal  street.  The  building 
will  be  seven  stories  in  height — tw^o  full  stories,  equaling  thirty- 
four  feet,  below  the  level  of  West  Market  street  and  five  stories 
above,  the  total  height  of  the  walls  being  about  114  feet.  The  walls 
of  the  first  tw^o  stories  w^ill  be  of  brow^n  stone  or  granite,  and  the 
upper  stories  of  pressed  brick,  the  floors  and  roof  being  carried  by 
a  system  of  protected  steel  construction,  supported  from  massive 
stone  foundations.  The  building  will  be  so  constructed  that  it  can 
be  adapted  to  any  desired  business,  and  the  machinery  of  such 
mechanical  and  manufacturing  operations  as  may  be  therein 
located  will  be  driven  by  the  waters  of  the  Cascade  mill  race,  with 
its  forty-five  foot  fall  secured  by  means  of  the  tunnel  constructed 
through  the  solid  rock,  by  Mr.  Schumacher,  between  the  point 
named  and  the  Cascade  Mill,  a  year  or  two  ago. 

The  entire  plant  will  cost  not  far  from  $200,000,  and  will  not 
only  be  a  very  decided  credit  to  our  already  wonderfully  pros- 
perous city,  but  the  crowning  glory  of  the  very  many  magnificent 
business  structures  hitherto  erected  by  Akron's  truly  munificent 
benefactor,  Mr.  Ferd  Schumacher. 


xl.  AKRONS   GOVERNMENT   BUILDING. 

In  closing  the  chapter  on  Akron's  postal  history,  pages  315  to 
329,  it  was  stated  that  a  government  building  was  "almost  in 
sight,"  Congress  having  voted  an  appropriation  of  $75,000  for  that 
purpose,  though  owing  to  the  clashing  of  local  interests,  and  per- 
sonal predilections,  the  site  had  not  then  been  agreed  upon.  Since 
that  time,  however,  in  the  spirit  of  mutual  concession  and  good 
feeling  that  should  ever  animate  our  people,  the  differences  in 
question  have  been  harmonized,  and  the  old  Bartges  property, 
now  known  as  the  Union  Club  House,  on  the  southeast  corner  of 
Market  and  High  streets,  has  been  agreed  upon.  It  is  a  convenient 
and  sightly  location,  and  it  is  expected  that  Avithin  the  coming 
year  an  imposing  and  elegant  government  building  will  cover  the 
ground  for  nearly  sixty  years  occupied  by  the  then  and  still  hand- 
some frame  cottage,  built  in  1834  by  Akron's  pioneer  merchant 
and  manufacturer,  Charles  \V.  Howard,  after  Avhom  our  hitherto 
principal  business  street  viras  very  properly  named. 

AKRON  CITY  HOSPITAL. 

On  page  1093,  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  Summit  county's 
benevolence,  is  an  account  of  the  bequest  of  the  late  Boniface 
De  Roo,  of  the  Sixth  Ward,  who  died  November  3,  1883,  towards 
the  founding  of  a  city  hospital  in  Akron,  which  bequest,  judici- 
ously invested  by  duly  constituted  trustees,  now  amounts  to  some- 
thing over  $10,000,  Mr.  De  Roo  expressing  the  desire,  in  his  will,  that 
the  hospital,  when  established,  should  bear  the  name  of  the  largest 
contributor  towards  its  establishment  and  maintenance.  Though 
the  need  of  such  an  institution  has  for  several  years  been  sorely 
felt  and  often  discussed  by  our  people,  nothing  tangible  has  hith- 
erto been  developed  in  the  premises.  Now,  however,  among  the 
very  last  w^ritten  words  for  this  book,  w^e  are  pleased  to  note  that 
this  long  felt  want  is  about  to  be  munificently  filled.  To  the 
accomplishment  of  the  project,  Messrs.  Ohio  C.  Barber  and  Thomas 
\Y.  Cornell  have  made  voluntary  donations  of  $10,000  each,  and 
negotiations  have  nearly  been  completed  for  the  purchase  of  the 
Bartges  homestead,  943  East  Market  street,  for  the  sum  of  $30,000, 
to  be  used  for  that  purpose.  The  property  consists  of  five  acres  of 
land  and  a  large  and  handsome  brick  house  and  suitable  out  build- 
ings, and  can  be  made  immediately  available  for  the  needs  and 
purposes  of  such  an  institution.  In  addition  to  the  generous 
donations  mentioned,  Mr.  Barber  is  endeavoring  to  secure,  by  pop- 
ular subscription  from  our  well-to-do  citizens,  an  endowment  fuild 
of  $100,000,  for  the  future  maintenance  of  the  institution,  nearly 
one  half  of  which  is  already  in  sight,  though  an  analysis  of  the  list 
of  donations,  when  completed,  will  alone  determine  the  question  in 
regard  to  the  name  which  shall  be  given  to  this,  the  crowning 
glory  of  the  charitable  impulses  of  our  people. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 


SAMUEL  ALANSON   LANE. 
foui 


irth  son  of  Comfort  and 
Betsey  (Sikes)  Lane,  was  born  in 
Suffield,  Hartford  County,  Conn., 
June  29,  1815.  The  father,  a  car- 
riage maker  by  trade— ^an  exten- 
sive manufacturer  of  the  old-time 
thorough-brace  stage  coach — ow- 
ing to  a  natural  aptness  in  that 
direction,  had  designed  the  boy, 
Alanson,  for  a  carriage  and  orna- 
mental painter,  and  hence,  during 
his  childhood,  he  was  permitted 
to  dabble  in  colors  to  his  heart's 
content,  his  own  face,  hands  and 
clothing  often  presenting  a  more 
variegated  and  picturesque  ap- 
pearance than  the  majority  of 
the  lavishly  bepraised  subjects  of 
his  juvenile  pencil. 
The  father  dying,  when  the  lad  was  but  thirteen  years  of  age, 
and  the  business  being  discontinued,  that  plan  had  to  be  aban- 
doned, and  the  next  two  and  a  half  j^ears  were  devoted  to  school 
and  such  agricultural  labor,  at  home  and  among  neighboring 
farmers,  as  such  a  boy  was  capable  of  performing — an  arrange- 
ment to  enter  the  painting  department  of  a  large  chair  manufac- 
tory in  an  adjoining  town,  as  an  apprentice,  having  been  foiled  by 
the  destruction  of  the  establishment  by  fire. 

In  addition  to  his  repute,  as  a  carriage  maker,  "Judge"  Lane, 
as  he  was  called  by  his  neighbors,  was  quite  an  inventor,  not  only 
in  the  way  of  mechanical  devices  in  the  furtherance  of  his  own 
business,  but  shortly  before  his  death  he  constructed  and  patented 
the  "Suffield  Cotton  Gin" — a  machine  which  it  was  confidently 
believed  would  supersede  the  celebrated  Whitney  Cotton  Gin — the 
parchment  letters  patent,  dated  March  24,  1825,  (now  in*  possession 
1 


SAMUEL    A.    LA^E. 


Z  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

of  the  writer)  l^earing  the  autograph  signatures  of  John  Quincy 
Adams,  President;  Henry  Clay,  Secretary  of  State;  and  William 
Wirt,  Attorney  General;  a  single  clerk  in  the  office  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  State  then  performing  the  entire  clerical  work  of  the  Patent 
Department,  while  an  average  of  500  emploj^es  in  that  branch  of 
the  government  are  now  scarcely  adequate  to  its  necessities. 
Death  intervening,  however,  before  its  practical  introduction,  the 
device  was  of  no  pecuniary  benefit  to  the  heirs  of  the  inventor. 

MERCHANT'S  CLERK,  BOOK-AGENT,  ETC. 

May  1,  1831,  then  not  quite  16  years  of  age,  young  Lane  engaged 
as  clerk  in  the  store  of  Mr.  Billings  Brown,  father  of  the  present 
United  States  Judge,  Henry  Billi^igs  Brown,  in  the  paper  manu- 
facturing village  of  South  Lee,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass.,  Avith  whom 
he  served  a  year  and  a  half,  when  he  entered  the  larger  establish- 
ment of  Mr.  Austin  Hayden,  at  Pittsfield,  in  the  same  county, 
with  whom  he  remained  six  months.  Keturning  home  for  a  visit, 
in  the  Spring  of  1833,  an  arrangement  was  made  with  a  Hartford 
publishing  house  for  the  *canvass  of  Merrimac  County,  New 
Hampshire,  for  the  sale  of  the  then  popular  History  of  the  United 
States,  by  Chauncey  A,  Goodrich,  which  service  Avas  so  satisfac- 
torily performed  that,  in  the  Fall  of  the  same  year,  he  was  assigned 
to  similar  duty  in  the  States  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  with 
headquarters  at  Augusta;  the  journey  from  New  York  to  Charles- 
ton being  made  in  the  sailing  vessel,  "John  C.  Calhoun,"  there 
then  being  no  ocean  steamers,  (not  even  coastwise);  the  journey 
from  Charleston  to  Augusta  being  over  the  then  just  completed 
Charleston  and  Augusta  Railroad,  at  that  tiine  the  longest  railroad 
in  the  World — 130  miles. 

A  CONTEMPORARY  OF  "BOB"  TOOMBS. 

While  awaiting  the  arrival  of  books,  in  the  late  Summer  and 
early  Autumn  of  1834,  during  a  very  heated  political  campaign,  a 
I^osition,  as  m-ailing  clerk  and  assistant  editor,  was  accepted  in  the 
office  of  the  "Southern  Spy,"  at  Washington,  Wilkes  County,  Geor- 
gia, then,  and  until  his  death,  the  home  of  the  afterwards  notorious 
secession  agitator  and  rebel  general,  Robert  Toombs — the  "Spy" 
being  a  strong  Jackson,  or  Union,  paper,  with  the  talented  j^oung 
lawyer,  Toombs,  as  one  of  its  most  vigorous  writers  against  John 
C.  Calhoun's  nullification  heresies,  so  prevalent  in  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia  about  those  days.  While  thus  employed,  in  addition 
to  his  mailing  and  editorial  duties,  the  writer  obtained  something  of 
an  insight  into  the  "Art  Preservative  of  All  Arts" — printing — 
which  was  to  be  such  a  potent  factor  in  the  shaping  (or  unshaping) 
of  his  futurfe  life. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  3 

A  NIGHT  IN  AN  INDIAN  WIGWAM. 

On  concluding  his  book-canvassing  labors,  in  the  late  Fall  of 
1834,  the  writer,  then  nineteen  years  of  age,  concluded  to  resume 
mercantile  life,  and  permanently  settle  in  the  South.  Not  succeed- 
ing in  finding  a  clerkship  in  Augusta,  and  the  several  other  cities 
and  villages  visited  in  Georgia  and  South  Carolina,  in  company 
with  a  young  northern  printer,  a  few  years  his  senior,  he  started, 
in  his  double-rig  Yankee  peddling  w^agon,  overland,  for  Mobile, 
Alabama,  having  to  pass  through  the  territory  of  the  Creek  Indians, 
then  in  rather  an  unamiable  mood,  by  reason  of  the  agitation  of  the 
question  of  removing  them  beyond  the  Mississippi.  It  was  about 
sixty  miles  through  the  territory,  with  one  intervening  white  set- 
tlement and  trading  post  abovit  midway,  at  the  ferry  across  the 
Wetumpka  river.  The  road  through  the  w^ilderness  was  blind  and 
difficult,  the  Indian  trails,  from  time  to  time  diverging  therefrom, 
being  more  distinct  than  the  road  itself.  Darkness  setting  in, 
before  reaching  the  ferry,  we  at  length  found  ourselves  wedged  in 
-among  the  trees,  and  on  reconnoissance,  in  the  darkness,  for  we  had 
no  means  of  striking  a  light  (friction  matches  not  being  then  in 
general  use,  as  now),  discovered  that  we  had  branched  off  on  to 
a  trail,  but  w^ere  w^hoUy  unable  to  discern  the  point  of  diver- 
gence. 

In  this  dilemma,  our  only  resource,  except  to  remain  all  night 
Avliere  w^e  were,  was  to  unhitch  our  horses  and  follow  the  trail 
whithersoever  it  might  lead.  A  quarter  of  a  mile,  or  so,  brought  us 
to  a  log  hut  in  w^hich  were  two  squaw^s — evidently  mother  and 
daughter.  Endeavoring,  by  words  and  signs,  to  make  them  under- 
stand that  we  wnnted  to  find  our  way  to  the  ferry  across  the 
Wetumpka  river,  the  elder  squaAV  lighted  a  pine-knot  torch,  and 
motioning  to  us  to  follow,  started  diagonally  to  the  left  from  the 
trail  we  were  on,  through  the  woods,  ten  minutes'  w^alk  bringing 
us  to  the  l)ank  of  the  river,  running  rapidly  and  darkly  through 
the  murky  forest. 

We  were  now,  of  course,  no  better  off  than  before,  and  could 
only  follow  our  guide  back  to  her  hut,  where  w^e  found  a  gayly 
dressed  yt)uiig  Indian  buck,  to  whom  ^ve  also  endeavored  to 
explain  the  situation,  in  doing  so,  in  addition  to  signs,  saying  in 
English  that  we  had  got  lost,  wanted  some  supper  and  to  stay  all 
night.  Borrowing  a  torch,  he  started  in  an  opposite  direction,  w^e 
and  our  horses  following.  Our  guide  was  in  a  very  merry  mood, 
indeed,  gayly  singing  as  he  w^ent,  his  music  being  interspersed  \»^ith 
loud  peals  of  laughter,  frequent  repetition  of  our  phrases,  "got  loss! 
got  loss!  suppaw!  suppaw!  'tay  all  night!  'tay  all  night!  "etc.,  with  an 
occasional  blood-curdling  and  hair-lifting  Indian  3'ell,  or  whoop, 
that  made  the  surrounding  woods — the  darkness  being  intensified 
by  the  flaming  torch  he  was  carrying — all  ring  again! 


4  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

RIGHT  ROYALLY  ENTERTAINED. 

Ten  or  fifteen  minutes  brought  us  to  a  somewhat  more  preten- 
tious cabin,  from  which,  warned  by  the  noisy  antics  of  our  guide, 
there  came  forth  to  meet  us  a  fine  looking  Indian,  somewhat  past 
middle  life,  his  w^ife,  another  buck  about  25  years  of  age  and  his 
w^ife,  the  latter  bearing  in  her  arms  a  six  or  eight  months'  old 
pappoose — our  guide  also  being  a  member  of  the  family. 

After  a  short  palaver  \vith  the  head  of  the  family,  active  meas- 
ures for  our  "entertainment"  >vere  inaugurated,  the  men  helping 
us  to  unharness  and  properly  secure  and  feed  our  horses,  the  feed 
consisting  of  corn  in  the  ear,  and  corn-fodder  cured  in  the  same 
manner  as  among  the  planters  of  the  South,  generally,  in  those 
days.  Our  "suppaw"  consisted  of  bread  made  from  pounded 
corn,  and  baked  before  the  fire,  s^veet  potatoes  roasted  in  the  ashes, 
some  bear's  meat  fried  in  a  small  iron  kettle,  and  some  sort  of  home- 
made but  quite  palatable  coffee,  the  rude  table  being  set  with  reg- 
ular dishes — plates,  cups  and  saucers,  knives,  forks,  spoons,  etc. 
Later  in  the  evening,  and  just  before  retiring  to  rest,  the  family 
supper  was  partaken  of.  A  large  tub  of  mush  and  milk  was  placed 
in  the  middle  of  the  bare  earth  floor,  the  members  of  the  family 
squattingthemselves  in  a  circle  around  it.  It  was  provided  with 
one  large  wooden  spoon,  or  ladle.  The  elder  Indian,  picking  up  the 
spoon,  takes  a  mouthful  and  returns  the  spoon  to  the  tub.  The 
elder  squaw  next  takes  a  mouthful,  and  so  on  around,  according  to 
age,  a  running  merry  conversation  being  kept  up  during  the  repast, 
of  which  the  "strangers  within  their  gates"  were  apparently  the 
principal  subjects. 

Across  one  end  of  the  cabin  was  a  platform,  about  two  feet  from 
the  floor  and  six  feet  in  depth,  devoted  to  sleeping  purposes. 
Spreading  a  blanket  on  one  end,  and  rolling  up  some  of  their  sur- 
plus clothing  for  pillow^s,  they  motioned  us  to  take  our  places 
thereon,  my  chum  taking  to  the  wall  and  myself  turning  in  next  to 
him,  w^ith  a  blanket  for  covering.  The  elder  Indian  then  planted 
himself  next  to  me,  the  old  squaw  next,  and  the  younger  squaw 
with  her  pappoose  next,  the  two  younger  bucks  stretching  them- 
selves out  upon  the  floor. 

.  Our  slumbers  were  reasonably  tranquil,  being  occasionally 
interrupted  by  the  distant  hoAvl  of  the  festive  wolf,  and  once  or 
tw^ice  disturbed  by  the  rushing  forth  of  our  hosts  to  drive  away  their 
own  horses  running  loose  in  the  woods,  while  trying  to  pick  a  quarrel 
with  our  animals  in  the  snug  pole-pen  in  which  they  had  l)een 
corralled, 

AGAIN   UPON  OUR  WINDING  WAY. 

Rising  with  the  earliest  dawn,  harnessing  our  horses,  paying 
our  hosts  liberally  in  silver  coin  for  our  entertainment,  and  bidding 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  O 

them  all  good-])y,  we  started  in  the  direction  of  our  wagon.  The 
three  bucks,  however,  fell  into  our  wake  and  helped  to  get  our 
wagon  up  into  the  main  road,  only  a  few  rods  distant,  it  appearing 
that  the  trail  ran  for  a  considerable  distance  nearly  parallel  at  the 
foot  of  the  ridge  along  which  the  w^agon  road  passed.  The  con- 
tents of  our  wagon  were  found  to  be  intact,  and  producing  from 
one  of  the  trunks  some  slight  presents  of  cheap  jewelry,  pictures, 
etc.,  for  each  of  the  three  bucks,  the  two  squaws  and  the  pappoose, 
we  again  bid  our  tawny  friends  good-by  and  started  for  the  ferry. 
The  people  at  the  ferry  were  very  greatly  astonished  at  our 
<iarly  call  to  be  ferried  over  the  river,  it  being  deemed  very  unsafe 
for  pale-face  strangers  to  travel  through  the  territory,  especially  at 
night,  a  number  of  murders  having  been  committed  during  the 
previous  Summer.  From  our  account  of  our  night's  adventure,  it 
was  thought  that  we  had  staid  at  the  house  of  one  of  their 
"kings,"  who,  as  well  as  the  other  members  of  the  household,^ 
<:ould  both  understand  and  speak  English,  but  that  their  natural 
•cunning  led  them  to  affect  ignorance  with  strangers,  in  order,  as 
in  our  case,  to  learn  what  might  be  said  about  them;  but  that  even 
had  our  criticisms  been  offensive  to  them,  having  sought  their 
hospitality,  they  would  have  permited  no  harm  to  come  to  us  or 
our  belongings  within  the  limits  of  their  jurisdiction. 

TWENTY  APPLICANTS  TO  ONE  VACANCY. 

Disposing  of  my  horses,  wagon  and  other  property  at  Mobile, 
I  renew^ed  my  efforts  to  obtain  a  clerkship,  but  without  success,  as 
Avas  also  the  case  at  Ncav  Orleans,  w^hither  I  went  a  couple  of 
weeks  later,  there  being  scores  of  young  men  from  the  North 
watching  for  any  vacancy  that  might  possiblj^  occur. 

I  then  "  floated"  up  the  river  to  Louisville  and  Cincinnati,  where 
everj^thing  in  that  line  was  also  found  to  be  more  than  full.  In 
the  latter  city  1  made  an  arrangement  w^ith  a  publishing  house  to 
canvass  for  a  book  in  the  northeastern  portion  of  the  State,  but  on 
going  to  the  office  the  next  morning,  to  procure  my  outfit,  found 
the  entire  establishment  in  ashes. 

Thus,  for  the  second  time,  had  my  plans  been  frustrated  by 
tire.  I  now  determined  to  visit  "  New  Connecticut,"  as  the  Western 
Reserve  was  then  called,  Avhere,  at  Aurora,  Porta.ge  County,  an  old 
family  friend,  'Squire  Artemas  W.  Stocking,  a  former  employe  of 
my  father,  w^as  located,  an  unmarried  aunt  of  mine  being  also  a 
member  of  the  'Squire's  family. 

NARROW  ESCAPE   FROM   ARREST. 

My  journey  from  Cincinnati  to  Cleveland  was  by  stage,  via 
Columbus,  Mount  Vernon,  Wooster,  etc.      Leaving  Cleveland  by 


6  AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 

stage,  before  daylight,  on  the  morning  of  Wednesday,  March  4, 
"dragging  our  slow  length  along,"  through  the  unfathomable  clay 
mud  of  the  "  turnpike,"  between  Newburg  and  Twinsburg,  we 
arrived  at  the  "  stage  house,"  in  the  latter  village,  between  9  and  10 
o'clock  in  the  forenoon.  Taking  breakfast  with  the  rest  of  the 
passengers,  while  they  resumed  their  journey  I  sought  to  secure  a 
chance  ride  for  myself  and  baggage,  to  Aurora,  live  miles  to  the 
eastw^ard.  No  such  chance  presenting  itself,  I  remained  to  dinner 
and  finally,  leaving  my  two  hand  trunks  at  the  hotel,  I  started  for 
Aurora  on  foot. 

During  my  stay  at  the  hotel,  at  which,  l^esides  the  landlord 
and  his  help,  a  number  of  village  idlers  dropped  in  during  the 
afternoon,  I  had  probably,  like  many  another  "  traveled"  young  man 
not  yet  out  of  his  teens,  put  on  a  good  many  airs,  and  perhaps  in 
settling  my  bill  made  a  somewhat  reckless  display  of  the  rather 
showy,  but  exceedingly  meager  amount  of  Avealth  of  Avhich  I  was 
then  possessed. 

My  Aurora  friends,  w^hom  I  had  not  seen  for  five  years,  made 
me  very  w^elcome,  and  the  next  day  the  'Squire  loaned  me  his 
horse  and  wagon  to  go  for  my  baggage,  the  'Squire's  younger 
brother,  "  Sam"  (about  my  own  age)  accompanying  me.  Through 
the  'Squire  and  Sam  I  was  pretty  well  acquainted  with  most  of  the 
villagers  by  the  end  of  the  week,  some  of  whom  were  from  the 
same  town  in  Connecticut. 

On  Sunday  morning,  about  10  o'clock,  while  the  rest  of  the 
family  were  reading  or  resting  in  their  rooms,  I  slipped  out  to  the 
'Squire's  carriage  shop  to  sharpen  my  knife.  The  grindstone  wa& 
under  the  staging  in  front  of  the  shop,  and  while  turning  the 
crank  wath  my  right  hand,  and  holding  on  with  the  left,  I  observed 
three  men  approaching  from  the  direction  of  the  hotel,  w^hile  quite 
a  crowd  stood  in  front  of  the  hotel,  apparently  watching  for  some- 
thing extraordinary  to  "  turn  up." 

As  the  trio  approached,  I  discovered  one  of  them  to  be  a  young 
man  with  whom  I  had  been  quite  familiar  at  the  Twinsburg  hotel. 
I  greeted  them  pleasantly,  and,  in  answer  to  the  leader's  inquir}- 
for  'Squire  Stocking,  directed  him  to  the  house,  the  back  way, 
through  the  shop.  Entering  the  shop,  I  sat  down  on  a  sa\vr-horse 
at  one  of  the  benches  and  began  honing  my  knife,  holding 
the  whetstone  in  my  left  hand,  the  two  remaining  men  follo\ving 
me  in,  apparently  much  interested  in  the  work  I  w^as  performing. 

Presently  the  other  stranger,  with  the  'Squire  and  Sam,  put  in 
appearance,  the  faces  of  the  two  latter  bearing  a  distressed  expres- 
sion that  I  could  not  at  the  moment  account  for.  After  an  embar- 
rassing silence  of  a  few  seconds,  the  leader  directed  his  attention 
to  me,  by  saying:  "Your  name  is  Lane,  is  it?"  "Yes,  sir,"  I  replied. 
"Well,  Mr.  Lane,  I  desire  to  ask  you  a  few^  questions,"  said  he.  "All 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  7 

right,  go  ahead,"  said  I,  •'  Mr.  Lane,  where  did  you  come  from  to 
Aurora?  "  "  From  Twinsburg,"  I  replied.  "  Where  from  to  T>vins- 
burg?"  "Cleveland."  "  Where  from  to  Cleveland?"  "Wooster." 
"Where  from  to  Wooster?"  "Mount  Vernon."  "Where  from  to 
Mount  Vernon?"  "Columbus."  "Where  from  to  Columbus?" 
"Cincinnati."  "Where  from  to  Cincinnati?"  "Louisville."  "Where 
from  to  Louisville?"  "New  Orleans."  "Mr.  Lane,  were  you  ever 
in  Detroit?"  "No,  sir;  but  I  should  very  much  like  to  go  there," 
said  I,  jestingly.  "Well,  sir,"  said  he,  sternly,  "you  may  soon  have 
your  wish."  He  then  asked:  "Mr.  Lane,  did  you  ever  go  by  the 
name  of  Charles  Lewis  ?"  "  No,  sir!"  "  Or  by  the  name  of  George 
Davis?"    "No,  sir!" 

During  this  colloquy  I  had  continued  sharpening  ni}-  knife, 
and  at  this  stage  my  interrogator  said:  "Mr.  Lane  Avill  you  oblige 
me  by  straightening  out  the  fingers  of  your  left  hand?"  "  Suppose 
I  can't  do  it,  what  then?"  I  smilingly  enquired.  "It  will  be  all  the 
better  for^ow,  if  you  can/'  he  rather  savagely  replied.  After  a  few 
seconds'  aggravating  delay,  I  suddenly  extended  my  open  hand  to- 
Avards  him  for  inspection.  "You  are  not  the  man  I'm  after,"  he 
stammeringly  responded  and  then  it  w^as  my  turn  to  ask 
questions. 

His  explanation  was  this:  That  he  was  a  Deputy  Sheriff  from 
Detroit;  that  a  j^oung  man  named  Charles  Lewis,  but  u'ho  some- 
times called  himself  George  Davis,  about  25  years  old,  and  answer- 
ing to  my  general  description,  but  with  the  fingers  upon  his  left 
hand  seriously  crippled,  had  committed  several  forgeries  in  Detroit, 
and  was  also  believed  to  be  connected  w^ith  an  extensive  gang 
of  counterfeiters.  The  officer  (who  had  never  seen  him)  had  traced 
him  to  Cleveland,  and  from  thence  on  board  the  Pittsburg  stage, 
on  Thursday  morning  (it  w^ill  be  remembered  that  I  came  to  Twins- 
burg on  Wednesday  morning);  that  on  reaching  Twinsburg,  on  the 
Saturday  morning  stage,  he,  the  officer,  was  assured  by  landlord 
Grant  and  his  bar-keeper,  that  the  party  he  was  after  had  stopped 
off  there  and  had  gone  to  Aurora  to  visit  one  of  the  most  respecta- 
ble men  of  that  toA^nship,  'Squire  Stocking,  their  statement  being 
verified  by  the  dining  room  girl,  who  had  particularly  ol)served 
that  in  handling  my  fork  and  food,  I  didn't  straighten  out  the  fin- 
gers of  my  left  hand;  while  the  clerk  was  sure  I  had  quite  a  quan- 
tity of  counterfeit  inoney  w^ith  me. 

Thus  assured,  he  had  remained  at  Twinsburg  over  night,  as 
the  man  he  was  in  pursuit  of  was  a  desperate  character,  always 
w^ent  armed  to  the  teeth,  and  a  dangerous  customer  to  encounter 
in  the  dark.  On  Sunday  morning,  calling  to  his  assistance  a 
Twinsburg  constable,  and  taking  along  a  j^oung  man  w^ho  had  seen 
me  at  the  hotel,  to  point  me  out,  the  Detroiter  and  his  posse  had 
dulv  arrived  at  the  Aurora  hotel  as  stated. 


8  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COTNTY. 

Making  known  his  mission  to  landlord  Woodruff,  and  others  at 
the  hotel,  he  was  assured  that  there  must  be  some  mistake  about 
the  matter,  but  he  knew  better;  he  was  after  the  right  man,  and 
though  he  expected  to  meet  ^rith  a  desperate  resistance  (exhibiting 
a  number  of  weapons)  he  intended  to  secure  him  either  dead  or 
alive,  even  if  he  had  to  take  him  out  of  church,  to  which  it  was 
suggested  that  I  might  have  accompanied  the  family. 

At  this  juncture  the  spy  of  the  party  had  observed  me  passing 
from  the  house  to  the  shop,  and  entering  upon  the  knife  sharpening 
operation  alluded  to,  and  they  had  approached  as  stated.  On 
making  known  his  errand  to  the  'Squire,  he  also  assured  the  officer 
that  there  certainly  must  be  some  mistake  about  it,  as  his  young 
friend  was  the  son  of  his  old  boss,  Judge  Lane,  of  Suffield,  Conn., 
and  although  he  had  not  know^n  much  about  him  for  live  or  six 
years,  it  could  not  be  possible  he  was  the  desperado  intimated. 
The  officer,  how^ever,  was  positive,  and  called  upon  the  'Squire  as 
a  magistrate,  not\srithstanding  his  friendship  for  the  family,  to  aid 
him  in  bringing  the  offender  to  justice.  The  rest  has  already  been 
told. 

By  the  time  the  denouement  had  been  reached,  a  number  of  the 
villagers  had  ventured  into  the  shop.  To  say  that  the  'Squire  and 
Sam  were  indignant,  and  the  by-standers  excited,  w^ould  be  a  mild 
statement.  Sam  Ayas  for  booting  the  Detroiter  and  his  Twinsburg 
aids  out  of  the  shop,  and  several  other  young  men  manifested  an 
ardent  desire  to  help  him  do  it;  but  the  'Squire  and  myself  inter- 
ceded and  they  were  permitted  to  depart  in  peace.  Whether  the 
real  Charles  Lewis,  alias  George  Davis,  was  ever  apprehended, 
this  deponent  knoweth  not;  but  one  thing  is  certain,  the  w^riter,  for 
over  half  a  century,  has  retained  a  very  vivid  recollection  of  his 
first  visit  to  Tw^insburg,  though  his  intercourse  with  many  of  her 
good  people  during  the  intervening  56  years  has  been  both  inti- 
mate and  pleasant. 

ARTISTICAL,  THEATRICAL,  ETC. 

Remaining  Avith  my  friends  nearly  two  months,  about  the  first 
of  May,  1835,  I  again  started  out  to  "seek  my  fortune."  At  this 
time  the  art  of  making  sun  pictures  had  not  been  discovered,  and 
aside  from  painted  portraits  and  miniatures,  about  the  only  mode 
of  securing  a  semblance  of  the  "human  face  divine,"  was  1)3^  the 
silhouette  process — drawing,  with  tracing  rod  and  universal  joint, 
a  sideview  outline  of  the  features  on  white  paper,  deftl}^  cutting 
out  the  same  and  placing  a  piece  of  black  silk  back  of  the  opening, 
the  whole  being  mounted  with  frame  and  glass. 

On  this  crude  device  I  essayed  an  improvement,  in  that, 
instead  of  cutting  out  the  center  and  producing  a  simple  black 
profile,  I   finished  it  up  with   pencil,  india  ink   and  water  colors. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  9 

tracing  in  the  hair,  eyebrows,  eye,  nostril,  lips,  ear,  chin,  Avrinkles, 
drapery,  etc.,  my  apparatus  being  adjustable  from  miniature  up  to 
quarter  size.  After  some  gratuitous  experiments  in  Aurora,  my 
first  objective  "business"  point  was  Kavenna  and  the  contiguous 
tow^nships  of  Shalersville  and  Streetsboro.  Though  infinitely 
superior  to  the  plain  black  profile,  ow^ing  to  the  enhanced  cost  of 
their  production,  and  the  general  scarcity  of  money  in  the  country, 
the  business  did  not  prove  to  be  remarkably  remunerative,  besides 
footing  it  from  house  to  house  with  my  pretty  heavy  outfit,  w^as 
found  to  be  decidedly  hard  work. 

At  this  time  an  amateur  dramatic  company — The  Thespian 
Society — was  being  organized  by  the  young  people  of  Ravenna, 
and  I  was  invited  to  assist  in  painting  the  scenery,  also  taking 
prominent  parts  in  both  the  tragedy  of  "  Barbarossa"  and  the 
comedy  of  "Fortune's  Frolic,"  during  "Court  Week"  of  the  June 
term,  1835. 

HOTEL   CLERK,  BAR-TENDER,  ETC. 

My  Aurora  friends  advised  me,  whatever  I  did,  by  all  means  to 
steer  clear  of  Akron.  But  during  my  brief  stay  in  Ravenna  I  met 
a  number  of  Akron  gentlemen,  lawyers  and  others,  at  the  hotel 
w^here  I  boarded,  and  after  closing  my  theatrical  "engagement,"  I 
concluded  to  run  over  and  take  a  look  at  it.  Accordingly,  on 
Wednesday,  June  10,  1835 — by  stage,  via  Franklin  Mills,  (Kent) 
Stow  Corners,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Old  Forge  and  Middlebury — I 
Avended  my  way  thither,  sleeping  the  first  night  in  the  southAvest 
corner,  second  story,  of  the  frame  building  now  standing  on  the 
northeast  corner  of  South  Main  and  Exchange  streets,  then  kept 
by  Mr.  Lewis  Humiston,  and  designated  as  the  "Stage  House," 
and  later  as  the  "Railroad  House,"  and  kept  by  Mr.  Charles 
P.  McDonald,  father  of  the  veteran  livery  man,  Mr.  Venning 
McDonald. 

The  next  day,  visiting  North  Akron,  or  "Cascade,"  as  it  was 
then  called,  I  made  an  arrangement  with  Mr.  Charles  B.  Cobb, 
proprietor  of  the  "Pavilion  House,"  northwest  corner  of  Howard 
and  Market  streets,  to  keep  his  books,  tend  bar,  wait  upon  guests 
and  make  myself  generally  useful  for  my  board,  until  some  other 
suitable  employment  could  be  found.  Clerkships  were  as  scarce 
then  in  Akron  as  in  the  other  Western  and  Southern  towns  which 
I  had  visited,  and  by  this  time  I  was  beginning  to  think  that 
"counter-jumping"  wasn't  very  good  business,  anyhow.  (The 
grapes  were  getting  very  sour,  you  see.) 

ANOTHER  NARROW  ESCAPE. 

At  this  juncture,  the  late  Gen.  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  then  the 
Prosecuting  Attorney  for  Portage  County,  being  about  to  establish 


10  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

an  office  in  Akron,  made  me  a  proposition  to  enter  his  office  as  a 
law  student,  offering  to  furnish  me  with  gratuitous  instruction, 
and  to  help  me  through  with  my  board  during  my  studies.  I 
interposed  the  objection  that  my  education  was  inadequate,  having 
no  knowledge  whatever  of  Latin  or  the  other  dead  languages.  But 
the  General  held  that  all  that  >vas  needed  to  make  a  successful 
laAvyer  was  a  fair  common  school  education,  a  reasonable  famil- 
iarity with  Shakespeare  and  the  Bible,  and  ordinary  common - 
sense.  Distrusting  my  own  inquisitorial  and  forensic  abilities, 
however,  I  respectfully  declined  the  General's  kind  proposition,  and 
the  legal  world  will  probably  never  realize  the  full  magnitude  of 
its  loss,  by  reason  of  such  declination,  though  the  "generality  of 
mankind  in  general"  may  >vell  congratulate  itself  upon  its  narrow^ 
escape  from  so  calamitous  an  infliction. 

HOUSE  AND  SIGN  PAINTER,  SCHOOL-TEACHER,  ETC. 

About  two  months  later,  as  half  apprentice  and  half  journey- 
man, I  entered  the  service  of  a  house  and  sign  painter,  my  first  job 
being  a  piece  of  ornamental  work  that  the  boss  himself  was 
incapable  of  performing.  With  the  slowing  up  of  work  in  the  late 
Fall,  I  again  returned  to  the"  Pavilion,"  but  a  few  days  later  engaged 
to  teach  the  school  in  district  number  seven.  Portage  township, 
(opposite  the  northeast  corner  of  the  present  Infirmary  farm),  as 
detailed  in  another  part  of  this  volume. 

EMBARKS  IN  BUSINESS  FOR  HIMSELF. 

After  the  close  of  my  school,  in  the  Spring  of  1836,  I  opened 
shop  as  a  full-fledged  "House,  Sign  and  Ornamental  Painter,"  and 
though  not  making  "rich"  come  very  fast,  I  may,  with  all  due 
modesty,  claim  that  I  was  fully  as  expert  on  general  work  as  any 
of  my  "regularly  bred"  contemporaries,  w^hile  on  sign-writing  and 
ornamental  >vork  I  was  ahead  of  all  competitors,  >vith  considerable 
skill  as  a  wood  and  copper-plate  engraver,  stencil-plate  and  brand- 
pattern  maker  for  marking  flour  barrels,  etc. 

PUBLISHER  OF  THE  "AKRON  BUZZARD." 

As  detailed  in  Chapter  XI  of  this  work,  under  the  editorial  noiii 
de  plume  of  "Jedediah  Brownbread,  Esq.,"  while  still  carrying  on 
my  painting  business,  on  the  7th  day  of  September,  1837,  I  started 
a  small  semi-monthly  paper  under  the  above  title,  utilizing  my 
knowledge  of  the  printing  business  acquired  in  the  office  of  the 
"  Southern  Spy,"  by  setting  up  and  striking  off  the  first  number 
with  my  own  hands,  with  the  type  and  press  of  Judge  Bryan's 
suspended  Akron  Journal,  elsewhere  alluded  to,  afterwards  hiring 
it  printed  in  the  office  of  the  American  Balance. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  11 

The  object  of  the  paper  was  to  combat  and  expose  the  black- 
legism,  and  other  crookedness  and  wrong  doing  then  so  prevalent 
in  Akron  and  neighboring  villages  along  the  line  of  the  canal. 
The  editorials  w^ere  constructed  on  the  Yankee  dialect  plan,  these 
excerpts  from  its  salutatory  being  an  example:  "  You  see,  I  cum  from 
Varmount  about  tew^  munths  ago.  Uncle  Jed  w^as  monstrous  glad 
tu  see  me,  now  I  tell  you.  Says  he,  '  Jedediah,'(you  see  I  was  named 
arter  Uncle  Jed,  and  he  thinks  a  monstrous  site  of  me),  'I'm  mity 
glad  you've  cum  and  I've  biii  'spectin  you  this  tew  or  three  years, 
for  I  ne^v  that  a  chap  o.f  your  genus  and  enterprise  wood'nt  be 
contented  tu  stay  in  Varmount  all  your  lifetime,  an'  then  die  poor, 
when  you  cood  make  a  fortin  here  in  six  munths.'  *  *  *  You  see,  I 
was  raised  to  the  occupashun  of  teechin  the  young  idee  how  to 
shute,  but  seein  as  ho^v  as  that's  ruther  poor  bizness  in  this  secshun, 
I've  concluded  to  try  my  hand  at  editerin  awhile.  Uncle  Jed  says 
that  a  real-joUy-nothin-tu-du-with-polyticks-anti-blackleg-respect- 
able  paper  w^ill  du  w^ell  here,  an  that's  jist  what  I'm  goin  tu  print.  * 
*  *  Sum  folks  may  think,  perhaps,  that  I've  got  a  curious  name  for 
my  paper,  so  I'll  jist  explain  it  tu  em.  You  see,  a  buzzard  is  a  kind 
of  haw^k,  an  my  "Buzzard"  is  near  of  kin  tu  the  turkey-buzzard  that 
I've  hern  tell  on  way  down  south,  Avhere  it's  a  fine  tu  kill  'em,  cause, 
you  see,  they  remove  all  the  filth  an  carin  from  the  streets.  Now, 
you  see,  I  calkulate  to  make  my  paper  prodigous  handy  in  this 
way.  If  there  's  enny  thing  Avrong  goin  on,  I  calkulate  to  tell  on't, 
an  expose  an  endevor  to  remove  newsances  and  so  forth  from  the 
city." 

THREATENINGS  DIRE,  ASSAULTS,  ETC. 

As  may  well  be  imagined,  the  plain-speaking  of  the  Buzzakd 
was  well  calculated  to  arouse  the  ire  of  the  \vrong-doers  inveighed 
against„and  many  threats  to  destroy  the  office  where  it  was  printed, 
ivhip,  and  even  shoot,  the  editor,  were  indulged  in,  and  innumera- 
ble schemes  for  revenge  Avere  attempted,  a  fcAv,  only,  of  which  can 
be  noticed  here.  One  evening,  just  at  dusk,  after  the  appearance 
of  a  pretty  pointed  article  on  counterfeiting  and  counterfeiters,  a 
boy  entered  the  office  saying  that  there  was  a  gentleman  at  a 
neighboring  hotel  who  wished  to  see  me.  Learning,  on  inquiry, 
that  a  well-know^n  blackleg,  by  the  name  of  George  Miller,  had  sent 
the  message,  I  at  once  suspected  that  mischief  was  brewing,  but 
not  wishing  to  exhibit  the  white-feather,  in  company  with  a  friend, 
I  promptly  responded  to  the  message.  As  I  entered  the  bar-room, 
in  which  were  a  number  of  well-known  sporting  gentlemen  who 
made  the  hotel  their  headquarters,  I  found  the  head-center  of  the 
counterfeiting  fraternity,  "Jim"  Bro>vn,  in  confidential  conversa- 
tion with  the  said  George  Miller,  and  noticed  the  significant  glances 
and  grimaces  indulged  in  by  the  crowd. 


12  AKROX    AND    vSUMMIT   COUXTY. 

Approaching  the  bar  I  said  to  the  mixer  of  whisky  toddies: 
^'Your  boy  told  me  there  was  a  gentleman  here  Avho  wanted  to  see 
me.  Who  is  he?"  "I  don't  know,"  replied  the  bar-keeper,  "he's  a 
stranger;  you'll  find  him  in  the  sitting  room."  Thinking  it  possible 
that  some  Eastern  acquaintance  might  have  come  to  to^vn,  but 
still  keeping  my  wits  about  me,  I  stepped  across  the  hall  and 
opened  the  sitting-room  door.  The  first  glimpse  revealed  the  fact 
that,  though  not  yet  lighting  up  time,  the  w^indow  curtains 
w^ere  closely  drawn  and  the  room  duly  lighted.  Keeping  my 
hand  still  upon  the  latch  of  the  door,  I  sw^ung  myself  far 
enough  into  the  room  to  discover  that  its  only  occupant,  standing 
"with  his  back  to  the  grate,  was  a  w^ell-know^n  local  bruiser  b}^  the 
name  of  "Jim"  Blane,  who  a  few  years  later,  while  drunk,  fell 
from  the  West  Market  street  bridge  to  the  canal  towing-path  below 
and  broke  his  neck. 

"Good  evening,  Mr.  Blane,"  I  said  pleasantly.  "G'n'ev'ning," 
he  surlily  responded.  "I  was  told  there  w^as  a  gentleman  here 
who  w^anted  to  see  me,  but  I  don't  see  any,"  I  said,  and  sAvinging 
myself  back  into  the  hall,  closed  the  door,  and  re-entered  the  bar- 
room, into  w^hich,  by  this  time,  had  come  quite  a  number  of 
mechanics,  merchants  and  others,  regular  boarders  in  the  house. 

It  afterwards  transpired  that  "Jim"  Brown  had  hired  the 
other  "Jim"  to  give  me  a  drubbing,  not  only  the  blackleg  habitues 
of  the  house,  but  the  rascally  bar-keeper  also,  entering  into  the 
conspiracy,  the  plan  being  to  inveigle  me  into  the  room  ^vith  the 
bruiser,  who,  while  his  confederates  were  to  hold  and  guard  the 
door  upon  the  outside,  was  to  "decorate"  my  countenance  and 
other  portions  of  my  corporeal  economy. 

A  NEARLY  FATAL  RENCOUNTER. 

Up  to  this  time  I  had  never  gone  armed,  but  after  the  occur- 
rence narrated,  my  young  friend,  the  late  Henrj^  J.  Frost,  of 
Wooster,  then  clerking  for  Mr.  P.  D.  Hall,  handed  me  an  old- 
fashioned  single-barreled  brass  pistol  (ready  loaded)  with  which  to 
defend  myself,  should  another  attempt  be  made  to  inflict  personal 
injury  upon  me.  This  weapon  I  carried  in  the  right  hand  skirt 
pocket  of  my  overcoat,  while  upon  the  street,  and  deposited  it  upon 
a  shelf,  above  the  editorial  table,  while  in  the  office. 

A  feviT  days  later,  having  an  item  of  business  w^ith  the  brother 
of  the  landlord  of  the  hotel  in  question,  as  I  started  to  leave  the 
bar-room  I  was  confronted  by  a  six-foot,  double-fisted  habitue  of 
the  house,  by  the  name  of  Dwight  Spooner,  who,  seizing  me  by  the 
collar  with  his  huge  left  hand,  began  making  hostile  demonstra- 
tions towards  my  physiognomy  w^ith  his  right.  Instinctively  I 
thrust  my  right  hand  into  my  overcoat  pocket,  at  w^hich  one  of  the 
half  dozen  black-legs  present,  who  were  hissing  my  assailant  on. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  13 

seized  my  elbow  and  threatened  to  put  an  end  to  me  if  I  attempted 
to  draw  a  pistol.  Quietly  withdrawing  my  hand,  I  appealed  to  the 
landlord  for  protection.  Instead  of  compelling  the  ruffian  to 
release  his  hold,  the  landlord,  opening  the  door,  said:  "  If  j^ou  are 
going  to  fight,  gentlemen,  you  must  go  out  of  doors,"  and  as  my 
assailant  backed  out  through  the  hall  and  front  door,  his  brawny 
fist  still  glued  to  the  collar  of  my  coat,  it  may  be  taken  for  a  fact, 
without  substantiation  by  affidavit,  that  I  didn't  hang  back  anvl 

The  blackleg  fraternity  followed  us  out  and  continued  to  hiss 
the  drunken  bully  on,  but  the  commotion  also  attracted  the 
attention  of  respectable  people  upon  the  street,  who  imiuediately 
gathered  around  us.  Drawing  back  his  right  fist,  and  pulling  me 
towards  him  with  his  left,  he  w^ould  maudlinly  exclaim:  "Shall  I 
strike  you!  Shall  I  mash  your  face  for  you!  "  etc.  Meantime  I  had 
(juietly  slipped  my  hand  into  my  pocket,  cocked  my  pistol,  and,  as 
near  as  I  could  calculate,  aimed  it  in  the  direction  of  the  fellow's 
abdomen,  with  full  determination  to  pull  the  trigger  the  instant  his 
fist  came  in  contact  Avith  my  face,  saying  in  response  to  hi& 
questions,  as  to  whether  he  should  strike  me,  "You  can  do  as  you 
please  about  it,  Dwight,  but  I  advise  you  not  to,  as  you  may  feel 
bad  about  it  aftervt^ards." 

Happily,  however,  for  both  Spooner  and  myself,  such  by- 
standers as  Col.  Justus  Gale,  Mr.  Lyman  Cobb,  Mr.  James  B, 
Taplin,  Alfred  R.  Townsend  and  others,  compelled  him  to  release 
his  hold,  before  bringing  his  drunken  courage  up  to  the  striking 
point.  His  blackleg  coadjutors,  however,  plying  him  still  further 
with  liquor,  urged  him  to  visit  my  office,  and  finish  up  the  job. 
Half  an  hour  later,  I  heard  some  one  blunder  up  the  stairs  and 
open  the  door.  Looking  around,  there  stood  my  late  assailant, 
hanging  on  to  the  door  casing,  incoherently  inquiring  if  I  was  going 
to  "Buthard"  him  again.  Seizing  the  pistol  from  the  shelf,  I 
started  tow^ards  him,  telling  him  to  get  out  of  my  office,  or  I 
would  Buzzard  him  so  that  he  w^ould  stay  Buzzarded,  and  he 
"got,"  falling  heels  over  head  down  the  stairs,  and  vomiting  all 
over  the  landing  and  the  platform  upon  the  outside. 

Subsequent  examination  revealed  the  fact  that  in  addition  to  a 
large  charge  of  powder,  that  pistol  contained  four  buck-shot  and 
three  slugs  of  lead  about  one-fourth  of  an  inch  square.  It  makes 
me  shudder,  even  to  this  day,  to  contemplate  the  consequences  to 
my  assailant,  and  possibly  to  myself  and  the  by-standers,  that 
would  have  followed  the  discharge  of  that  pistol. 

ANOTHER   SHARP  GAME  THAT  DIDN'T  WIN. 

In  those  days  the  village  of  Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent),  like 
many  another  western  village  (and  eastern,  too,  for  that  matter), 
boasted  of  a  number  of  very  fast  young  men,  who,  though  admitted 


14  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

to  the  very  best  society,  were  from  time  to  time  guilty  of  the  most 
immoral  practices.  Among  this  class  was  a  young  and  enter- 
prising business  man,  who,  later  in  life,  having  abandoned  his  evil 
courses,  not  only  became  the  head  of  a  highly  respectable  family, 
but  one  of  the  political,  commercial  and  financial  magnates  of 
Northern  Ohio.  The  Buzzard's  Franklin  Mills  correspondent 
having  laid  bare  some  of  the  more  flagrant  violations  of  the  moral 
code,  by  this  gay  and  festive  Lothario  and  his  associates,  it  imme- 
diately came  to  my  ears  that  he  was  threatening  to  come  to  Akron 
and  "whip  me  Avithin  an  inch  of  my  life." 

A  day  or  two  later,  how^ever,  I  received  a  very  polite  letter  from 
the  gentleman,  enclosing  a  one  dollar  note,  w^ith  the  request  that 
I  should  send  him  my  "very  valuable  paper"  for  one  year.  This  I 
supposed  Avas  the  mode  of  "vengeance"  that  he  had  finally 
concluded  upon,  instead  of  inflicting  the  threatened  personal 
chastisement. 

But  this  proved  to  be  an  erroneous  conclusion,  for  a  short  time 
afterAvards,  one  afternoon,  a  boy  brought  me  a  note  of  about  the 
following  purport : 

"  Ohio  Exchange,  Akron,  March  7,  1838. 

"Compliments  of  Mr.  Blank,  of  Franklin  Mills,  to  Mr.  S.  A.  Lane, 
and  w^ould  be  pleased  to  see  Mr.  Lane  at  room  24,  Ohio  Exchange." 

Know^ing  that  room  24  was  in  the  rear  end  of  the  third  story  of 
the  hotel,  and  surmising  the  true  intent  of  the  "call,"  I  dispatched 
as  polite  a  reply,  by  the  boy,  saying  that  it  was  inconvenient  for 
Mr.  Lane  to  visit  the  Ohio  Exchange,  but  that  Mr.  Lane  would  be 
happy  to  see  Mr.  Blank  at  his  office. 

L^p  to  this  time  T  had  never  met  Mr.  Blank,  and  not  knowing 
exactly  what  kind  of  an  adversary  I  had  to  deal  with,  I  invited  in 
three  or  four  friends  from  adjoining  offices  to  w^itness  the  interview^. 
Presently  Mr.  Blank,  a  medium  sized  but  robust  young  inan, 
presented  himself,  accompanied  by  a  six-foot-tw^o  stalwart  friend, 
whom  he  introduced  as  Captain  Pierce.  After  mutual  introduc- 
tions, and  a  little  desultory  conversation,  Mr.  Blank  expressed 
a  desire  to  speak  with  me  in  private.  Leading  the  w^ay  to  a  back 
room  I  invited  him  to  a  seat  and  to  state  his  wishes.  Thereupon, 
in  stentorian  tones  that  could  be  heard  all  over  the  neighborhood, 
he  exclaimed: 

"  Mr.  Lane,  I  have  come  down  here  to  ascertain  who  wrote  that 
blankety  blank  scurrilous  article  signed  'Jerry,'  in  your  last 
Buzzard." 

"Well,  Mr.  Blank,"  I  replied,  "I  am  not  authorized  to  give  you 
the  name  of  the  w^riter  of  that  article  w^ithout  his  consent.  But  if 
there  was  anything  unjust  or  untrue  in  the  article,  of  course  I 
stand  ready  to  make  the  ^amende  honorable.^" 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  15 

"It  don't  make  a  blankety  blank's  difference  whether  the 
article  was  true  or  false,  I'm  not  going  to  be  held  up  to  public 
contempt,  through  the  press,  without  having  satisfaction,  and  if 
you  don't  give  me  the  name  of  the  writer  of  that  article  you  will 
hav  e  to  take  the  consequences." 

"Very  w^ell,  Mr.  Blank,  I'm  prepared  to  take  the  consequences. 
But  see  here,  'Dan,'"  said  I,  adopting  the  familiar  sobriquet  by 
w^hich  I  had  often  heard  him  called,  "you  may  as  well  understand 
at  the  outset  that  I  don't  '  scare  worth  a  cent.'  I  w^as  too  sViarp  to 
fall  into  your  trap.  After  attempting  to  allay  suspicion  by  sending 
me  a  sop  in  the  shape  of  a  dollar  for  the  paper,  you  sought  to 
inveigle  me  into  a  back  room  in  the  third  story  of  the  Kxchange, 
w^here,  through  the  'influence' of  your  herculean  friend,  you  expected 
to  squeeze  me  into  the  disclosure  of  the  name  of  my  correspondent. 
Though  you  might  there  have  inflicted  upon  me  the  personal 
chastisement  you  had  so  fiercely  threatened,  you  Avould  have  failed 
to  learn  the  name  of  the  correspondent  in  questipn.  Now,  hoAvever, 
I  am  upon  my  o\vn  'dunghill'  and  do  not  propose  to  be  either 
Avhipped  or  frightened." 

"See  here.  Lane,"  he  rejoined,  "I  admire  your  pluck  and  have 
no  desire  to  injure  you  or  your  correspondent.  It  was  a  mighty 
sharp  article,  anyw^ay,  and  I  have  a  curiosity  to  know  ^svho  wrote  it, 
and  if  you  will  just  tell  me,  I  pledge  you  my  word  and  honor  that 
no  harm  shall  come  to  either  you  or  him." 

"It's  of  no  use,  Dan,"  said  I.  "That  would  be  a  breach  of  confi- 
dence and  good  faith  betw^een  publisher  and  correspondent  that 
would  be  entirely  unjustifiable." 

"One  thing  more,"  said  Dan,  "will  j^ou  show  me  the  manu- 
script?" 

"O,  certainly,"  I  replied,  and  handed  him  the  copy  from  which 
the  article  had  been  put  in  type.  After  scrutinizing  it  awhile, 
saying  that  the  handwriting  was  very  familiar  to  him,  but  he 
couldn't  quite  place  it,  he  handed  it  l^ack  to  me,  and  with  his 
stalwart  friend  cordiall}^  took  his  leave. 

Afterwards,  becoming  very  well  acquainted  with  Dan,  in 
talking  over  the  episode  in  a  friendly  chat,  I  disclosed  to  him  the 
fact  that  having  a  printer  from  Franklin  Mills  at  work  in  the  office 
who  would  be  likely  to  recognize  his  chirography,  I  went  to  the 
trouble  of  copying  all  of  "Jerry's"  communications,  and  it  was  my 
copy  of  the  article  that  I  had  show^n  to  him. 

"That  was  the  cutest  part  of  the  whole  transaction,"  said  Dan, 
with  a  hearty  laugh.     "Shake!" 

COWHIDED  BY  A  WOMAN. 

Among  the  minor  subjects  treated  by  the  Buzzard  was  an 
indolent,  whisky-guzzling,  wife-beater  by  the  name  of  Chandler. 


16  *  AKKON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Following  a  pretty  severe  castigation  for  some  of  his  many  acts  of 
brutality  towards  his  long-snffering  wife,  being  too  cowardly  to 
attempt  it  himself,  he,  by  threats  of  additional  violence,  compelled 
her  to  undertake  the  task  of  giving  me  a  whipping.  They  lived  in 
the  garret  of  a  building  in  the  second  story  of  which  \^ras  located 
the  Balance  office  where  the  Buzzard  was  printed,  both  reached 
by  a  common  stairway.  One  day  as  I  started  up  I  observed  the 
lady  coming  dow^n.  As  we  reached  the  central  platform,  she 
suddenly  drew  a  rawhide  from  under  her  apron  and  made  a  pass 
at  me.  Catching  the  blow  upon  my  left  arm,  I  took  the  w^eapon 
from  her  with  my  right  hand,  and  hastily  opening  a  side  door  she 
ingloriously  retreated  into  an  adjoining  room. 

AN  EGGS-TRAORDINARY  DEMONSTRATION. 

Bxasperated  at  the  failure  of  his  cowhiding  scheme,  and 
claiming  that  in  the  scrimmage  on  the  stairs  I  had  choked  his 
wife,  "Old  Hod"  as  he  w^as  called,  determined  to  take  the  matter  of 
inflicting  adequate  punishment  upon  me  into  his  ow^n  hands. 
Among  others  w^ho  had  fallen  under  the  ban  of  the  Buzzard  was 
"Mother  Mason,"  of  questionable  repute,  whose  husband  was  the 
keeper  of  a  grocery,  located  directly  under  the  Buzzard  office  on 
the  present  site  of  the  Arlington  Hotel  on  West  Market  Street. 
Just  before  noon,  one  day,  a  friend  informed  me  that  "Old  Hod" 
w^as  on  the  street  below,  with  a  pocket  full  of  addled  eggs,  with 
w^hich  "Mother  Mason"  had  supplied  him,  Avatching  for  me  to  go 
to  dinner,  with  a  view  of  treating  me  to  an  odoriferous  shower- 
bath.  Raising  a  window^  I  inquired  what  he  w^as  doing  there. 
Drawing  an  egg  from  his  pantaloons  pocket,  he  made  several 
motions  as  if  to  throw^,  w^hich  I  dared  him  to  do.  Finally  I  took 
the  old  brass  pistol  from  the  shelf  and  asked  him  \\o^w  he  liked  the 
looks  of  that.  This  seemed  to  inspire  him  with  the  idea  that 
rotten  eggs  would  fail  to  do  the  subject  justice,  and  thrusting  the 
&g,^  into  his  pocket,  he  stooped  down  to  pick  up  a  stone,  in  doing 
which  he  broke  all  of  the  eggs  in  his  pocket! 

"  Hod  "  withdrew^  for  repairs  and  I  went  to  dinner  w^ithout  moles- 
tation. Having  again  "charged  his  batteries,"  he  watched  for  my 
return,  and,  starting  towards  me  on  the  run,  again  broke  his  eggs 
in  his  pocket.  "Hod"  then  changed  his  tactics,  and  expressed  a 
determination  to  Avhip  me  on  sight,  and  >vhenever  I  would  pass 
him  on  the  street  he  would  strike  or  kick  at  me  with  all  vengeance, 
though  al-ways  very  careful  not  to  hit  me.  This  anno3^ance 
continued  for  several  months,  when  one  day  while  he  was 
follow^ing  me  and  going  through  his  "monkey  shines"  on  West 
Mill  Street,  I  turned  upon  him  and  said:  "Now^,  Chandler,  I've 
stood  this  tom-foolery  long  enough.  You  are  a  consummate  old 
cow^ard,  and  wouldn't  dare  to  strike  or  kick   me,  but  I'll  not   V)e 


AUTOBIOGKAPHY.  17 

annoyed  by  you  any  longer,  and  if  you  ever  make  a  motion  towards 
me  again,  or  even  speak  to  me,  I'll  shoot  you  on  the  spot — and 
(drawing  from  my  vest  pockets  a  pair  of  small-sized  pistols  which 
a  friend  had  in  the  meantime  presented  to  me)  I've  a  good  mind  to 
do  it  now!"  "Oh,  for  God's  sake,  Lane,  don't  shoot;  I  didn't  inean  to 
hurt  you!"  Then  ordering  him  to  "about  face!  march!"  he  left  me, 
and  that  was  my  last  personal  rencounter  with  old  "  Hod. " 

A  "BUTTONED-UP"  EYE  AND  A  BLOODY  NOSE. 

Somewhat  later,  a  notorious  pugilist  and  negro-dancer,  by  the 
name  of  John  Kelley,  whose  action  in  fraudulently  and  forcibly 
obtaining  possession  of  a  hall  occupied  by  a  religious  society,  in 
which  to  give  a  disreputable  exhibition,  had  been  severely  criticised 
in  the  Buzzard,  confronted  me  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Howard 
and  Market  streets.  His  first  salutation  -was  a  swinging  blow  with 
his  right  fist  upon  the  left  side  of  my  head,  slightly  staggering  me, 
but  not  knocking  me  down.  As  I  regained  my  equilibrium,  a 
similar  blow  from  his  left  hand  grazed  my  right  eye  and  the  bridge 
of  my  "rather  prominent"  nose,  almost  instantly  closing  up  the 
former  and  causing  a  copious  flow  of  "claret"  from  the  latter.  Well- 
knowing  my  inability  to  cope  with  the  burly  athlete,  I  dodged 
under  his  up-raised  arm  and  started  at  a  two-forty  gait  for  the 
stone-block  corner,  w^ith  my  irate  antagonist  close  at  my  heels. 
Catching  me  by  the  collar  of  my  vest,  (I  was  in  iny  shirt-sleeves) 
he  gave  me  a  whirl  w^hich  threw  me  to  the  ground,  I  instinctively 
seizing  the  skirt  of  his  fine  broadcloth  frock  coat,  to  ease  my  fall, 
and  tearing  it  entirely  up  the  back.  Here  the  ferocious  gymnast 
endeavored  to  kick  and  jump  upon  my  body  and  face  with  his  heels, 
but  by  making  pivotal  gyrations  on  my  back,  t  kept  him  at  bay 
w^ith  my  feet  until  by-standers  interfered  and  drove  him  off. 

This  being  the  first  actual  personal  injury  that  had  been 
inflicted  upon  me,  a  Tvarrant  w^as  issued  for  my  assailant,  but,  in 
the  meantime,  his  friends  spirited  him  aw^ay,  and  thenceforward 
Akron  was  relieved  of  his  pestiferous  presence.  In  the  next  issue 
of  the  Buzzard,  in  alluding  to  the  affair,  I  said  editorially:  "It 
makes  us  feel  inore  sensibly  the  high  responsibility  that  devolves 
upon  us.  Go  it,  blacklegs,  rummies  and  sympathizers — we  would 
quietly  submit  to  a  good  sound  thrashing  every  day,  for  a  month 
to  come,  if  for  each  one  we  could  rid  the  community  of  the  baneful 
influence  of  twenty  or  thirty  individuals  whom  we  could  mention." 

SUSTAINED  BY  PUBLIC  OPINION. 

In  view  of  these  hostile  demonstrations,  and  other  disreputable 

operations,  a  very  large  meeting  of  the  more  reputable  citizens  of 

Akron,  such  as  Col.  Justus  Gale,  Gibbons  J.  Ackley,  Seth  Iredell, 

Horace    K.    Smith,    Alvin    Austin,    Erastus    Torrey,    Ithiel    Mills, 

2 


18  AKRON    AXD    SUMMIT   COUXTY. 

Jonathan  Myers,  Ansel  Miller  and  others,  was  held  on  the  evening 
of  February  28,  1838,  among  the  spirited  resolutions  unanimously 
adopted,  being  the  following: 

"Resolved,  That  S.  A.  Lane,  publisher  of  the  Buzzard,  is  entitled  to  the 
thanks  of  this  community  for  his  exertions  in  holding  up  to  public  odium 
the  gamblers  and  counterfeiters  who  have  hitherto  infested  this  village. 

"Resoh'ed,  That  we  will  protect  aud  sustain  the  public  papers  of  our 
village,  in  holding  up  to  merited  contempt  the  gamblers  and  counterfeiters." 

A  FABRICATOR  OF  "LOCO-FOCO"  MATCHES. 

In  Chapter  XIII,  of  this  volume,  is  given  a  detailed  history  of 
the  rise  and  progress  of  the  match-making  business,  no\sr  one  of  the 
leading  industries  of  our  goodly  city  and  of  the  w^orld.  The 
pioneer  establishment  of  this  character,  in  Akron,  was  founded 
by  the  writer  and  the  late  Dr.  James  R.  Miltimore,  in  the  Spring  of 
1838,  the  mode  of  manufacture  being  fully  described  in  the  chapter 
referred  to.  The  business  not  proving  remarkably  remunerative, 
and  both  the  writer  and  the  Doctor  forming  other  business 
connections,  the  works  w^ere  transferred  to  other  parties,  and  the 
business  soon  afterwards  discontinued,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Miltimore 
both  being  drowned  on  the  occasion  of  the  burning  of  the  steamer 
Brie,  off  Silver  Creek,  Lake  Erie,  on  the  afternoon  of  August  9, 1841. 

MARRIAGE,  BUSINESS  CHANGES,  ETC. 

On  the  11th  day  of  November,  1838,  I  -was  united  in  marriage 
to  Miss  Paulina  Potter,  the  foster  sister  of  the  late  Paris  Tallman, 
a  week  or  ten  days  later  being  joined  by  my  elder  brother,  Henry 
L.  Lane,  a  carriage  maker  by  trade,  who  had  concluded  to  establish 
himself  in  business  here.  In  the  Spring  of  1839,  owing  to  fears  of 
personal  violence  to  myself  naturally  indulged  by  my  young  wife, 
and  the  desire  of  my  brother  that  I  should  join  him  in  business, 
the  Buzzard  wras  discontinued  and  a  carriage  shop  erected  on  the 
present  site  of  Paige  Brothers'  magnificent  block  on  Main  street, 
there  being  then,  also,  an  open  space  on  the  West  to  Howard 
street.  Here  quite  an  extensive  carriage  making,  painting  and 
blacksmithing  business  -was  entered  into  under  the  firm  name  of 
H.  L.  &  S.  A.  Lane.  My  brother  dying  July  20,  1841,  I  soon  after- 
wards associated  with  myself  Mr.  Jonathan  Remington,  a  former 
employe  of  my  father  in  Connecticut,  and  the  father  of  Mr.  Orson 
H.  Remington,  our  present  w^ell-know^n  Howard  street  jevv^eler,  the 
business  being  disposed  of  to  other  parties  in  the  Fall  of  1843. 

TEMPERANCE  LECTURER,  EDITOR,  ETC. 

Entering  heartily  into  the  Washingtonian  Temperance  move- 
ment, w^hich  struck  Akron  in  the  Winter  of  1841-2,  and  my  health 
having  become  somewrhat  impaired  by  too  close  application  to  the 
painting  business,  in  the  Spring  of  1844,  in  connection  writh  the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  19 

late  William  T.  Coggeshall,  (afterwards  State  Librarian  for  several 
years,  and  later  Minister  to  Ecuador,  South  America,  where  he 
died  in  1867),  I  revived  the  Buzzard  as  a  temperance  paper,  its 
name  being  afterwards  changed  to  the  Cascade  Roarer,  as 
elsewhere  stated.  To  promote  the  cause  of  temperance,  as  -well  as 
io  secure  a  circulation  for  the  paper,  I  devoted  the  most  of  my 
time  to  lecturing,  a  portion  of  the  time  traveling  in  connection 
w^ith  another  l^turer,  and  "discussing"  the  question — I  taking  the 
side  of  the  liquor  drinker  and  saloon  keeper,  using  their  customary 
arguments,  but  by  a  series  of  ludicrous  arguments  and  illustra- 
tions often  producing  a  more  salutary  effect  upon  the  minds  of 
both  drinkers  and  venders,  than  the  most  eloquent  straight- 
forward lecturing  could  possibly  do — that  mode  of  procedure, 
notwithstanding  the  burlesque  nature  of  the  defense,  securing  a 
full  attendance  of  saloon-keepers  and  their  customers,  as  well  as 
out-and-out  temperance  people,  besides  securing  immunity  from 
disturbance  and  violence  so  often  visited  upon  Temperance  and 
Abolition  speakers  in  those  early  days;  attempts  being  made  to 
"egg"  the  writer  w^hile  talking  straight  temperance,  on  tw^o 
different  occasions,  once  in  the  Summer  of  1846,  at  the  small 
village  of  McCutchensville,  Wyandot  County,  while  lecturing  in 
the  village  school  house,  and  later,  the  same  year,  w^hile  speaking 
from  the  Judge's  bench  in  the  Court  House  of  Holmes  County,  at 
Millersburg,  more  harm  coming  to  the  audience,  how^ever,  than  to 
myself. 

ACROSS  THE  CONTINENT  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

Retiring  from  the  Roarer,  in  the  Fall  of  ,1846,  I  again  took 
up  the  brush,  continuing  the  painting  business  until  the  Spring  of 
1850,  when,  my  health  again  becoming  precarious,  I  w^ent  overland 
to  California,  the  details  of  the  journey  being  fully  set  forth 
elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Notw^ithstanding  its  almost  incredible 
hardships,  I  found,  on  reaching  the  first  town  in  California, 
Placerville,  on  Sunday  morning,  August  4,  1850,  that  I  had  gained 
32  pounds  in  weight — six  pounds  more  than  I  had  ever  weighed  at 
home,  which  condition  of  corpulency  I  more  than  maintained 
during  my  entire  residence  upon  the  Pacific  Coast,  over  tw^o  years. 

Looking  about  among  the  mines  for  a  day  or  tw^o,  I  immedi- 
ately proceeded  to  San  Francisco,  spending  but  a  single  day  among 
the  Summit  County  boys  in  Sacramento  City.  With  health  fully 
restored,  then  35  years  of  age,  I  again  embarked  in  the  painting 
business,  earning,  over  and  above  my  expenses,  about  $200  per 
month. 

About  the  first  of  December,  1850,  in  company  with  Mr.  Charles 
G.  Caldwell,  of  Akron,  a  "Forty-niner,"  then  located  at  Sacramento, 
I  embarked  in  the  auction  business  on  the  corner  of  Jackson  and 
Montgomery  Streets,  San  Francisco,  with  a  cash  capital  of  $3,000 — 


20  AKRON    AND    SUMiMIT   COUNTY. 

$600  of  which  -was  contributed  by  myself,  $1,400  by  Caldwell  and 
$1,000  borrowed,  Mr.  James  G.  Dow,  also  of  Akron,  having  accumu- 
lated quite  a  handsome  fortune  in  that  business  during  the  pre- 
ceding six  or  eight  months. 

AN  IGNOMINIOUS  FAILURE. 

The  firm  of  Caldwell  &  Co.  got  a  good  start,  with  a  fair  prospect 
of  doing  as  \^ell  as  the  firm  of  Dow  &  Co.  had  previously  done. 
Before  Ave  had  got  fairly  under  w^ay,  however,  owing  to  the  over- 
stocking of  the  market  with  all  kinds  of  merchandise,  and  the 
appearance  and  fearful  ravages  of  the  cholera  at  Sacramento  and 
other  portions  of  the  upper  country,  a  commercial  panic  ensued, 
by  which  the  same  class  of  goods  "we  had  upon  our  shelves,  could  l^e 
bought  at  one-half,  or  less,  than  we  had  paid  for  ours,  while  retail 
sales  could  hardly  be  made  at  any  figures. 

With  our  heavy  expenses — one  item  of  which  Avas  $600  per 
month  for  rent  of  store — the  reader  will  not  be  surprised  to  learn 
that  though  we  managed  to  refund  our  borrow^ed  money,  besides 
giving  several  months'  valuable  time  to  the  "enterprise,"  we  sunk 
every  dollar  of  our  capital,  and  w^ere  nearly  $1,500  in  debt  to  our 
landlord,  Mr.  Dow^,  who,  on  his  return  to  California,  a  few  months 
later,  generously  abated  one-half  the  amount  of  his  claim. 

AGAIN   AMONG  HIS  POTS  AND  BRUSHES. 

On  winding  up  our  disastrous  venture,  Mr.  Caldwell  returned 

to  his  cows  and  chickens,  at  Sacramento,  which  in  the  meantime 

had  been   in  charge  of   Mr.  William  H.  White,  the  present  head 

miller  at  the  Allen  Mills,  and  I  returned  to  my  pots  and  brushes, 

in  the  upper  portion  of  the  building  spoken  of.     On  the  first  da3'  of 

March,   1851,  though  still  in  possession  of  my  painter's   kit  and 

sundry  household  goods,  furniture,  stove,  bedding,  etc.,  I  hadn't  a 

dollar  in  money  w^ith  which  to  buy  a  meal  of  victuals.     On  the  first 

day  of  April  I  sent  my  wife  a  draft  for  $150,  had  paid  out  a  hundred 

dollars  for  stock,  clothing,  etc.;  had  paid  a  month's  board  in  advance 

by  work  on   Morton  &  Hanscom's  Kastern  Exchange  Hotel,  else- 

Avhere  alluded  to,  and  had  about  $50  of  finished  work  still  in  the 

shop.     On  the  first  day  of  May  I  transmitted  another  $150  to  my 

w^ife,  w^ith  about  that  amount  of  my  earnings  for  the  month  still 

in  hand. 

A  FIFTEEN  MILLION  DOLLAR  FIRE.  > 

Early  on  Sunday  morning.  May  4,  1851,  commencing  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  city,  eighteen  squares,  comprising  the  principal 
business  houses,  banks,  hotels,  etc.,  of  the  city,  Avere  destroyed  by 
fire,  involving  a  total  loss  of  fully  $15,000,000.  As  it  became  evident 
that  the  building  I  occupied  w^ould  be  reached  by  the  fire,  I 
removed  such  of  my  personal  effects  as  I  could  carry  Iw  hand,  two 


AUTOBIOGKAPHY.  21 

or  three  l)locks  away,  only  to  he  ohUged  to  remove  them  still 
further  up  the  hill,  a  half  hour  later,  the  operation  having  to  he 
repeated  several  times  hefore  a  safe  place  was  found  for  them. 
My  individual  loss,  in  stove,  table,  benches,  heavy  sign  boards,  etc., 
and  my  proportion  of  the  store  fixtures  burned,  amounted  to 
perhaps  $200,  Avhile  a  hundred  dollars  or  so  of  work  delivered 
and  not  yet  paid  for  was  afterwards  found  to  be  non-collectable. 

SINGULAR  EARTHQUAKE  EXPERIENCE. 

The  course  of  the  fire  had  left  intact  a  number  of  small 
buildings  on  a  lot  considerably  below  grade  nearly  opposite  our 
old  stand,  mostly  occupied  by  a  company  of  Chilians,  w^ho  coined 
money  by  bringing  drinking  water  and  stove-w^ood  from  over  the 
high  range  of  hills  w^est  of  the  city,  on  the  backs  of  donkeys.  One 
of  these  buildings,  just  10x20  feet  in  size,  planted  on  blocks  about 
a  foot  in  height,  I  secured  for  a  shop,  at  a  rental  of  $30  per  month, 
also  securing,  at  the  same  figure,  a  lodging  room  on  Telegraph 
Hill,  nearly  a  mile  aw^ay.  Painting  on  cloth,  and  fastening  to  the 
end  of  my  shop,  a  suitable  sign,  I  also  nailed  upon  the  charred 
lamp-post  at  my  old  corner,  a  guide-board,  pointing  in  the  proper 
direction,  bearing  the  legend:  "S.  A.  Lane,  Sign  and  Ornamental 
Painter,  just  over  yonder  J|@°"." 

A  few^  days  after  the  fire,  w^hile  seated  on  a  stool  at  my  impro- 
vised table,  vt^riting  an  account  of  the  great  calamity  for  the 
Beacox,  I  felt  the  entire  building  swaying  violentl}^  back  and 
forth,  in  an  easterly  and  westerly  direction,  for  several  seconds, 
which  phenomenon  I  instinctively  thought  was  caused  by  the 
rubbing  of  one  of  the  aforesaid  donkeys  against  the  corner  of  my 
frail  building,  and  was  greatly  puzzled  on  going  to  the  door  and 
finding  none  of  said  animals  in  the  vicinity.  On  going  to  the 
plaza  to  mail  my  letter,  a  short  time  after^vards,  I  found  the  people 
of  the  city  in  a  high  state  of  excitement  over  an  earthquake  \vhich 
had  toppled  down  chimneys,  cracked  w^alls,  broken  windows, 
thrown  bottles  and  other  articles  from  shelves,  and  driven  the 
occupants  of  hotels,  private  dwellings,  stores,  etc.,  in  the  utmost 
consternation    into    the    streets.      The    scratching   of    a   donkey, 

indeed ! 

AGAIN  IN  THE  AUCTION  BUSINESS. 

In  the  rebuilding  of  the  burned  district,  which  proceeded  at  a 
rapid  rate,  there  was,  of  course,  a  great  demand  for  sig-ns,  and  my 
business  w^as  quite  prosperous  for  several  months.  In  the  mean- 
time Mr.  James  G.  Dow,  with  Mr.  Charles  \V.  Tappan,  also  of 
Akron,  as  a  partner,  had  again  embarked  in  the  auction  l)usiness, 
with  phenomenal  success,  and  about  the  middle  of  September,  1851, 
T  entered  their  employ  as  a  salesman,  at  a  salary  of  $275  per  month. 
Two  months  later  a  branch  store  was  established  in  w^hich  I  took 


22  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

a  one-fourth  interest,  with  Mr.  Hallet  Kilbourn,  no-w  of  Wash- 
ington City,  as  a  member  of  the  firm,  finally  becoming  a  half  owner, 
w^ith  Mr.  Humphrey  Sa\^yer,  of  Massachusetts,  as  partner,  the 
venture  being  reasonably  remunerative. 

THE  HOMEWARD  FLITTING— CH0LP:RA   RAVAGES.  ETC. 

Mr.  Sa^vyer  desiring  to  go  to  the  mines,  we  closed  up  our 
business  and  dissolved  our  partnership  on  the  first  of  May,  18o2, 
Doing  an  occasional  job  of  sign-writing  for  an  old  established  firm, 
ad  interim,  to  defray  my  expenses,  on  the  first  day  of  September, 
1852,  I  sailed  for-  home  via  Panama,  on  the  Steamer  "Winfield 
Scott" — its  distinguished  namesake  then  running  for  the  Presi- 
dency as  the  candidate  of  the  Whig  party.  The  steamer  was 
densely  packed  with  passengers,  and  the  passage  to  Panama 
stormy  and  long  (19  days)  not  only  causing  a  great  amount  of  sea- 
sickness on  the  first  part  of  the  journey,  but  producing  consider- 
able havoc  from  cholera,  on  the  latter  part,  from  30  to  50  persons 
having  probably  been  consigned  to  a  w^atery  grave  during  the  last 
six  or  eight  days. 

The  transit  across  the  Isthmus  w^as  then  largely  of  the  primitive 
order,  the  first  22  miles,  from  Panama  to  Cruces,  on  the  backs  of 
mules,  at  a  cost  of  only  $25  per  mule  (hire,  not  purchase,)  from 
Cruces  to  Barracoa,  12  miles,  by  open  boat  rowed  by  nearly  naked 
natives,  at  $2.00  per  passenger,  and  from*  Barracoa  to  Aspinwall, 
20  miles,  by  railroad,  at  the  moderate  charge  of  $8.00,  tivo  full  days 
being  consumed  in  making  the  transit,  54  miles.  The  trip  from 
Aspinwall  to  New;  York,  via  Kingston,  on  the  Island  of  Jamaica, 
was  also  tempestuous,  and  fraught  -with  much  discomfort  to  all, 
and  especially  to  this  particular  individual,  who  lost,  from  sea- 
sickness, nearly  one-half  the  surplus  flesh  gained  upon  the  overland 
journey  as  above  stated,  but  a  small  portion  of  which  has  ever  come 
back  to  him.  The  many  interesting  (and  some  thrilling)  incidents 
of  the  homeward  journey  cannot  be  here  given  for  want  of  space, 

CLOTHING  MERCHANT— AGAIN  BURNED  OUT.  ETC. 

Returning  to  Akron  with  my  "  pile" — something  "less"  than  a 
million — but  with  what  was  far  better  than  gold,  thoroughl}^ 
restored  health,  after  "pottering  around"  through  the  winter  of 
1852-3,  (among  other  things,  paying  my  own  hall  rent  and  deliv- 
ering to  crowded  houses  a  series  of  lectures  on  the  "Overland 
Journey  to  California,"  the  substance  of  which  is  reproduced  in 
another  chapter  of  this  volume),  I  invested  my  savings  in  a 
clothing  and  merchant  tailoring  establishment,  wrhere  the  New 
York  Clothing  House  now  stands,  on  the  south  side  of  East  Market 
Street. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  23 

With  Mr.  Arthur  Malcolm,  as  senior  partner  and  chief  cutter, 
the  firm  of  A.  Malcolm  &  Co.  >vere  doing  a  reasonably  prosperous 
business,  when,  on  the  morning  of  April  30,  1855,  in  the  fire  -which 
destroyed  the  large  brick  hotel  on  the  present  site  of  Woods'  block, 
every  dollar  of  my  investment  was  greedily  licked, up  by  the 
devouring  flames. 

UNSUCCESSFUL  CANDIDATE   FOR   OFFICE. 

In  the  Fall  of  1853,  while  selling  "rags"  as  aforesaid,  the 
Temperance  Reform  Party  of  Summit  County  placed  me  in  nomi- 
nation as  a  candidate  for  Representative  in  competition  with  the 
regular  nominees  of  the  Whig,  Democratic  and  Free  Soil  parties, 
but  afterward  an  arrangement  was  made  between  the  Temperance 
Reformers  and  the  Whigs  and  Free  Soilers,  by  which  all  three 
candidates  should  submit  their  claims  to  a  union  mass  convention, 
in  which  Dr.  Porter  G.  Somers,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  carried  off  the 
prize. 

After  being  thrown  out  of  business  by  the  fire,  as  stated, 
on  the  affiliation  of  the  Whigs,  Free-Soilers  and  Temperance 
Reformers,  under  the  banner  of  Republicanism,  in  the  Summer  of 
1855,  I  announced  myself  as  a  candidate  for  Representative,  subject 
to  the  decision  of  the  county  nominating  convention,  the  late  Dr. 
Mendal  Jewett,  then  living  in  Mogadore,  being  my  successful 
competitor.  On  the  accession  of  Salmon  P.  Chase  to  the  Gover- 
norship of  Ohio,  in  the  Winter  of  1855-6,  I  applied,  with  a  strong 
backing  from  the  citizens  of  Akron  and  contiguous  canal  towns,  for 
the  position  of  Collector  of  Tolls  upon  the  Ohio  Canal,  but  my 
genial  friend,  the  late  Nathaniel  W.  Goodhue,  carried  too  many 
political  guns  for  me,  and  won  the  prize  for  himself. 

OFFICIAL  HONORS  AND    SUCCESSES. 

My  official  "deserts,"  however,  had  not  been  altogether  over- 
looked by  my  fellow-citizens,  for,  on  the  appointment  of  Councilman 
Richard  S.  Elkins  to  the  Recordership,  made  vacant  by  the  death  of 
Recorder  Horace  Canfield,  in  December,  1853,  in  January,  1854,  I 
w^as  appointed  by  the  Town  Council  to  fill  the  vacancy  in  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  holding  the  position  until  the  ensuing  munici- 
pal election.  On  the  resignation  of  the  late  James  Mathews,  as  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Education,  December  20,  1854,  the  Council 
also  elected  me  to  the  vacancy,  which  position  I  continued  to  hold 
by  appointment  and  re-election  until  April,  1857,  also  serving  as 
Treasurer  of  the  Board  from  November,  1855,  until  the  expiration 
of  my  term  of  service,  in  the  Spring  of  1857. 

SHERIFF,   EDITOR,   PROBATE  JUDGE,  ETC. 

In  the  first  National  campaign  of  the  Republican  party,  in  the 
Summer  of  1856,  I  endeavored  to  make  myself  generally  useful,  in 


24  AKROX    AND    .SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

painting  banners  and  mottoes,  writing,  speaking,  etc.,  but  with  no 
special  design  of  asking  for  an  office  for  myself.  Leading  Repub- 
licans, however,  in  different  portions  of  the  county,  seemed  to 
spontaneousl3^  lix  upon  me  as  their  candidate  for  Sheriff,  and 
though  there  were  some  six  or  seven  other  aspirants  w^orking  like 
beavers  for  the  position,  I  was  nominated  on  the  first  ballot  by  a 
majority  of  17  over  all  competitors.  Though  bitterly  opposed,  on 
account  of  my  well-known  radical  temperance  proclivities,  I  'was 
triumphantly  elected,  renominated  by  acclamation,  and  re-elected 
by  a  largely  increased  majority  in  1858,  holding  the  office  four  years 
and  two  months,  the  time  of  taking  possession  of  the  office  having 
in  the  meantime  been  changed  from  the  first  Monday  of  November 
to  the  first  Monday  of  January. 

In  January,  1861,  on  retiring  from  the  Sheriff's  office,  I  accepted 
a  position  with  Messrs.  Beebe  and  Elkins,  as  editor-in-chief  of  the 
Summit  County  Beacon,  a  few  years  later  acquiring  a  one-third 
interest  in  the  paper.  Some  six  months  after  afesuming  my 
editorial  duties,  Governor  William  Dennison,  without  solicitation 
from  either  myself  or  my  friends,  appointed  me  Probate  Judge  of 
Summit  County,  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  death  of 
Judge  William  M.  Dodge,  the  commission,  now  in  my  possession, 
bearing  date  July  24,  1861,  being  accompanied  by  the  following 
note  from  the  Governor's  Private  Secretary: 

The  State  of  Ohio,        )    . 
Executive  Department,  > 
Columbus.  July  24,  1861.  ) 
Samuel  A.  Lane,  Esq., 

Dear  Sir: — The  Governor  has  heard  of  the  death  of  William 
M.  Dodge,  your  Probate  Judge.  He  has  appointed  you  to  fill  the 
vacancy  occasioned  by  his  death  till  the  Fall  election  shall  decide 
upon  a  successor.  Herewith  please  find  commission.  Trusting 
it  will  be  satisfactory  to  yourself  and  beneficial  to  your  people,  I 
remain  very  truly,  Yours,  etc. 

W.  T.  Bascom,  Private  Secretary. 

While  this  voluntary  action  of  Governor  Dennison,  with 
"whom  I  had  had  a  pleasant  personal  acquaintance  for  several 
years,  Avas  exceedingly  gratifying,  I  immediately  notified  him  by 
telegraph  that  I  could  not  accept  the  position,  not  only  being 
under  obligations  to  Messrs.  Beebe  &  Elkins,  but  the  brief  period 
that  I  could  hold  the  office  would  be  no  object,  as  even  iiij^  cheek 
was  not  then  sufficiently  colossal  to  warrant  me  in  asking  the 
people  of  Summit  County  to  elect  me  to  so  important  an  office  so 
soon  after  vacating  the  one  Avhich  I  had  so  recently,  for  over  four 
years,  enjoyed  at  their  hands. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  25 

AGAIN  BURNED  OUT— AGAIN  SHERIFF. 

A  full  history  of  the  Beacon  is  given  elsewhere  in  this  volume, 
b3'  which  it  will  be  seen  that  on  the  27th  day  of  April,  1872,  the 
entire  establishment,  then  running  on  a  fully  paid  up  capital  of 
$25,000,  of  which  I  was  the  one-third  owner,  w^as  totally  destroyed 
by  fire.  Though  immediately  rebuilt  and  established  on  a  much 
larger  scale,  it  became  so  greatly  embarrassed  by  the  calamity, 
and  the  subsequent  commercial  and  financial  panic  of  1873-4,  that 
in  the  Fall  of  1875,  after  nearly  fifteen  years  of  the  very  hardest 
work  of  my  life,  I  had  to  consent  to  transfer  the  concern  to  other 
parties,  for  the  assuinption  of  its  liabilities,  and  retire  therefrom 
without  a  dollar,  and  with  quite  a  large  personal  indebtedness 
resting  upon  my  shoulders,  besides. 

Thus  once  more  hors  de  combat  in  the  battle  of  life,  in  1876, 
just  twenty  years  after  my  first  election  to  that  office — then  61 
years  of  age — I  again  appealed  to  the  good  people  of  Summit 
County  to  give  me  my  old  position  of  Sheriff,  to  which  they 
generously  responded,  also  re-electing  me  in  1878,  making  my 
entire  term  of  official  service  eight  years  and  two  months,  an 
honor  accorded  to  no  other  incumbent  of  that  office  in  the  history 
of  the  county. 

The  office  of  Sheriff,  of  a  county  like  Summit,  while  not 
remarkably  remunerative,  involves  very  great  pecuniarj-  responsi- 
bilities and  hazards,  and  bristles  with  perplexities  and  dangers, 
but  fortunately,  though  declared  by  my  political  opponents  and 
competitors  to  be  too  old  to  properly  perform  its  functions— in  my 
"dotage,"  in  fact — I  got  safely  through,  and  am  under  a  positive 
pledge  to  my  constituents  not  to  ask  for  the  office  again  until  1896 
— just  40  years  from  the  comm^yicement  of  my  first  and  20  years 
from  the  commencement  of  my  last  incumbency,  at  ^vhich  time, 
should  I  survive  till  then,  I  shall  be  onlvSl  years  of  age. 

EXCITING  JAIL  INCIDFINTS. 

Space  will  not  permit  a  recital,  even  in  the  briefest  terms,  of 
the  many  exciting  episodes  of  the  eight  years  of  my  Sheriffalty — 
efforts  to  break  jail — mutinies  and  insubordinations — attempts  to 
commit  suicide— one  by  cutting  his  throat,  at  the  moment  of 
starting  him  to  the  penitentiary,  and  another  (a  girl)  by  drowning 
herself  in  the  bath-tub,  though  I  am  happy  to  say  that  -no  thanks 
to  our  noisome  and  rickety  old  jail— T  never  lost  a  prisoner,  either 
by  sickness,  self-murder  or  escape. 

One  incident,  however,  is  worthy  of  pretty  full  mention,  as 
illustrative  of  the  strategetic  ingenuity  of  the  average  prisoner, 
and  of  the  pluck  and  nerve  of  some  women.  Among  my  most 
efficient  aids  in  the  management  of  the  jail,  and  safe-keeping  of 
the  prisoners,  was  my  present  kind-hearted  wife,  who,  while  most 


26  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

sympathetic  to  any  of  the  numerous  cases  of  illness  or  distress 
Avith  which  we  had  to  deal,  was  also  extremely  vigilant  in 
detecting  mischief  among  the  inmates  and  preventing  escapes. 
In  the  Summer  of  1878,  a  couple  of  tramps  giving  their  names  as 
James  Thompson  and  James  Pierce,  were  convicted  of  burglar- 
izing the  store  of  Mr.  George  S.  Dales,  Corner  Ho^vard  and  Mill 
streets.  Pierce  was  a  stout,  burly  young  man,  \vith  close  kinky 
hair,  from  Avhich  his  jail-mates  nicked-named  him  "Curly,"  and 
Thompson  w^as  a  short,  spare,  and  rather  sickly  looking  youth, 
w^hom  his  companions  nick-named  "  Short3^."  At  this  time  the 
late  John  S.  Rowan  was  temporarily  acting  as  my  turnkey,  ^vho, 
after  locking  the  prisoners  safely  in  their  cells,  in  the  evenings 
spent  the  night  Avith  his  own  family  on  Forge  street. 

After  conviction,  and  before  sentence,  "Shorty's"  " sickly '^ 
symptoms  rapidly  increased,  dieting  the  sympathy  not  only  of 
turnkey  Rowan,  but  also  of  our  kind-hearted  Women,  especially  our 
most  excellent  cook  at  that  time,  Mrs.  Amelia  Randall,  of  Richfield, 
w^ho  fixed  him  up  sundry  delicacies  to  eat,  instead  of  confining 
him  to  the  regular,  though  wholesome  and  abundant,  rations 
served  to  the  other  prisoners. 

One  night,  between  ten  and  eleven  o'clock,  just  as  I  was 
retiring,  there  was  a  commotion  in  the  jail,  and  on  going  to  the 
door  I  was  informed  that  "Shorty"  w^as  very  sick  with  a  terrible 
pain  in  his  stomach,  which  statement  seemed  to  be  confirmed  by 
fearful  groans  apparentlj^  emanating  from  his  cell.  Thinking  that 
perhaps  a  dose  of  strong  peppermint  sling  might  afford  him  relief, 
I  w^armed  some  ^vater  in  a  tin  cup  over  the  gas  burner  in  the 
guard-room  and  compounded  a  good  strong  potion.  In  the  mean- 
time Mrs.  Lane  and  Mrs.  Randall  had  both  put  in  an  appearance, 
and  supposing  all  the  prisoners  to  be  safely  locked  in  their  cells,  I 
thre^r  open  the  inner  jail  door,  without  taking  the  precaution  to 
close  the  guard-room  door,  and  w^ith  my  cup  of  "medicine"  in  one 
hand  and  a  candle  in  the  other,  I  started  down  the  steps  and  along 
the  corridor,  "Shorty's"  cell  being  upon  the  north  side  upper  tier, 
reached  by  stairs,  at  the  east  end  of  the  jail. 

Just  as  I  w^as  about  to  turn  the  corner,  I  heard  a  sort  of 
suppressed  scream,  and  instantly  comprehending  the  situation,  I 
turned  and  retraced  my  steps,  on  what  the  prisoners  in  the  lower 
cells,  w^ho  were  on  the  watch,  called  "the  best  time  on  record,"  to 
find  the  "sick"  prisoner  in  a  desperate  hand-to-hand  struggle  with 
the  two  >vomen,  Mrs.  Randall,  as  he  suddenly  popped  up  from  the 
darkness  of  the  narrow  ct)rridor,  on  the  ^vest  end  of  the  jail, 
instinctively  seizing  him  around  the  w^aist  and  hanging  on  for 
dear  life,  on  the  supposition  that  he  had  suddenly  gone  crazy, 
while  Mrs.  Lane  was  doing  her  utmost  to  keep  him  from  getting 
through  the  open  door  of  the  guard-room. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  27 

On  arriving  upon  the  scene  of  conflict  I  seized  the  young 
desperado  by  the  collar,  whereupon  he  turned  and  clutching  me 
by  the  throat,  endeavored  to  thrust  me  back  into  the  jail. 
Wrenching  his  hands  from  my  throat  Avith  my  right  hand  and 
holding  on  to  his  collar  with  my  left,  with  my  right  foot  I 
managed  to  close  the  outer  guard-room  door,  w^hich  being  at  once 
securely  fastened  by  Mrs.  Lane,  the  prisoner  incontinently  wilted, 
and  was  soon  safely  locked  in  his  cell  again,  by  Deputy  S,  D. 
Blocker,  who,  awakened  by  the  rumpus,  had  by  this  time  appeared 
upon  the  scene;  the  feat  of  closing  the  guard-room  door  being  all 
the  more  difficult  from  the  fact  that  when  both  wide  open  the  inner, 
with  its  stationary  lock-bar,  laps  a  foot  or  more  over  the  outer 
door. 

Investigation  sho^ved,  that  out  of  some  of  their  extra  garments 
and  the  contents  of  their  husk  mattresses,  the  boys  had  constructed 
a  "dummy,"  w^hich  had  been  skillfully  tucked  away  in  "ShortN^'s" 
bed.  When  Row^an  was  locking  them  up  for  the  night,  not  seeing 
the  "sick"  boy  about,  he  sympathetically  inquired  how^  he  wa§, 
and  was  told  by  "Curly"  that  he  guessed  he  was  feeling  better  as 
he  had  been  sleeping  quietly  for  some  time.  On  reaching  his 
cell,  and  finding  its  inmate  already  snug  in  bed  (as  he  supposed) 
he  locked  the  door  and  after  locking  all  the  cells,  properly  secured 
the  outer  door  and  returned  home. 

The  manner  in  which  he  escaped  detection,  while  Row^an  was 
thus  making  his  rounds,  was  as  folloAvs  :  In  the  Winter  time  the 
jail  is  heated  by  a  huge  cylinder  stove,  fully  two  feet  in  diameter, 
and  four  feet  in  height,  with  about  a  10x15  inch  door.  This  stove 
had  been  lined  with  newspapers,  and  "Shorty,"  being  small  of 
stature,  found  no  difficulty  in  secreting  himself  therein,  until  All 
was  quiet  for  the  night,  when  he  made  his  exit  therefrom  with  the 
result  stated^the  desperado  afterwards  being  heard  to  lament 
that  he  didn't  carry  out  his  original  intention  of  beating  me 
senseless  with  the  heavy  iron  stove-poker,  or  a  chair,  before 
rushing  up  the  steps  and  unexpectedly  encountering  the  women, 
in  his  unceremonious  flight  for  liberty. 

HOW  "CURLY"  FOOLED  THEM  ALL. 

The  two  burglars  in  question  were  sentenced  to  the  peniten- 
tiary by  Judge  Newell  D.  Tibbals,  for  three  years  and  a  half  each, 
whither  I  took  them*on  the  8th  day  of  July,  1878.  Nothing  fufther 
was  heard  from  either  until  early  in  Sheriff  William  McKinney's 
term,  in  1881,  when  Probate  Judge  Samuel  C  Williamson  received 
a  notice  from  the  prison  authorities,  at  Columbus,  that  the 
Summit  County  prisoner,  James  Pierce,  was  violently  insane,  and 
must  be  forthwith  removed  from  the  institution.  Sheriff  McKinney 
was  therefore  sent  for  him,  returning  him  to  his  old  quarters  here, 


28  AKROiX    AND    SUMMIT   COl'XTY. 

only  lodging  him  in  the  "crazy  room"  in  the  second  story  instead 
of  a  cell  in  the  lower  jail,  as  before. 

In  the  penitentiary  he  had  violently  assaulted  his  keeper  and 
the  surgeon,  putting  them  all  in  deadly  fear  for  their  lives,  and 
undertook  to  practice  the  same  tactics  upon  Mac.  while  awaiting 
the  determination  of  the  county  and  insane  authorities  as  to  what 
should  be  done  with  him.  Finall^^  mistrusting  that  he  was 
shamming,  Mac.  told  him  one  day,  that  if  he  did  not  stop  his  fooling 
he  would  "pulverize"  him,  w^hereupon  the  fellow  simmered  down 
and  ])ecame  as  quiet  as  a  lamb,  and  finally  confessed  to  Mac.  that 
his  insanity  had  been  w^hoUy  feigned,  and  there  being  some 
question  as  to  whether  he  could  be  legally  returned  to  the  peni- 
tentiary, and  the  term  for  which  he  had  been  sentenced  being  so 
nearly  out.  Judge  Williamson  ordered  his  discharge,  and  he  has 
never  troubled  the  community  since. 

MAYOR  OF  THE  "TIP-TOP"  CITY. 

In  April,  1881,  w^ithout  solicitation  on  my  part,  though  violently 

opposed,  not  only  because  of  my  radical  Republicanism,  but  also 

of  my  radical  anti-saloonism,  as  the  Republican  nominee,  I  w^as 

elected  as  Mayor  of  Akron  by  a  small  majority  (60)  over  the  then 

Democratic  incumbent,  one  of  the  most  popular  members  of  his 

party  in  the  city,  John  M.  Fraze,  Esq.,  in  w^hich  capacity  I  served 

the  people  faithfully,  if  not  brilliantly,  for  a  single  term  of  two 

years. 

FAMILY  AND  DOMESTIC   MATTERS. 

My  good  and  faithful  wife,  Paulina  Potter  Lane,  after  bearing 
me  eight  children,  four  of  whom  died  in  early  childhood,  after  a 
lingering  and  distressing  illness  from  cancer,  died  July  2,  1871.  Of 
our  four  surviving  children,  the  eldest  son,  Julius  Sherman  Lane, 
born  November  19,  1841,  well-knoAvn  in  the  business  circles  of 
Akron  for  many  years  as  the  Superintendent  of  the  Webster, 
Camp  &  Lane  Machine  Company,  is  now  the  general  Superinten- 
dent of  the  M.  C.  Bullock  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Chicago, 
111.,  with  his  family  residence  in  the  beautiful  suburban  village 
of  Oak  Park,  eight  miles  west  of  the  city.  ^Ly  second  son,  Frede- 
rick Alanson  Lane,  born  October  31,  1849,  has  for  many  years 
served  as  foreman  of  the  Beacon  press  rooms,  and  superintendent 
of  its  machinery.  My  youngest  son,  Arthur  Malcolm  Lane, 
bom  November  6,  1855,  is  head  draftsman  *of  the  Schenectady 
(N.  Y.),  Locomotive  Works,  of  w^hich  my  son-in-la\v,  Albert  J. 
Pitkin  (the  husband  of  my  only  living  daughter,  Carrie  Maria, 
born  March  26,  1858,)  is  the  general  Superintendent,  the  works 
being  the  second  largest  of  the  kind  in  the  United  States,  employ- 
ing from  1600  to  2000  men,  with  a  capacity  for  turning  out  one 
complete  locomotive,  of  the  largest  class,  every  day  in  the  year. 


AU1X3BIOGRAPHY.  29 

Among  the  four,  with  one  still  unmarried,  there  are,  at  the  present 
w^riting,  eleven  grandchildren,  five  boys  and  six  girls,  ranging 
from  six  months  to  twenty-three  3'ears,  so  that  there  is  no  imme- 
diate danger  of  the  tribe  becoming  extinct,  while  bringing  to 
their  progenitor  the  proud  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  w^hatever 
his  own  personal  short-comings  and  errors,  in  business  or  social 
life,  the  world  is  decidedly  the  better  for  his  having  lived  in  it. 

THK   SECOND   MARRIAGE. 

On  the  eleventh  day  of  November,  1872,  I  married  for  m}'  second 
wife,  Bmeline  (Potter)  Manning,  widow^  of  the  late  Levi  Manning 
and  only  sister  of  the  first  Mrs.  Lane,  and  who  for  the  past  nineteen 
years  has  been  to  me  a  most  pleasant  and  affectionate  companion 
and  faithful  help-mate,  my  chief  regret  being  that  the  heavy  strain 
put  upon  her  in  the  care  of  the  jail,  during  my  last  four  years' 
incumbencj'  of  the  Sheriff's  office,  and  the  excitements  incident 
thereto,  has  so  seriously  affected  her  health,  as  to  very  greatly 
lessen  the  physical  and  social  enjoyment  that  in  her  declining 
years,  her  long  and  faithful  service,  as  wife,  mother  and  neighbor, 
she  is  so  justly  entitled  to. 

CONCLUDING  REMARKS. 

I  have  thus,  at  some  length,  though  omitting  many  (to  me) 
interesting  incidents  and  experiences  of  the  nearly  four  score  years 
that  I  have  lived,  given  to  the  reader  the  principal  events  of  my 
life-history,  confirming,  in  a  lai'ge  degree,  the  old  adage  that  "Man 
is  the  creature  of  circumstance,"  and  possibly  the  truth  of  the 
familiar  quotation: 

"There's  a  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends, 
Rough  hew  them  how  we  may." 

Since  retiring  from  the  Mayoralty,  in  1883,  being  too  far 
advanced  in  life  to  undertake  to  re-establish  mj^self  in  active  busi- 
ness, and  yet  not  w^ishing  to  be  entirely  idle,  I  have  devoted  a 
large  portion  of  my  time  to  gathering  the  data  and  preparing  for 
the  press,  the  local  historical  matters  contained  in  the  following 
pages,  w^hich,  though  heretofore  mainly  given  to  the  public, 
through  the  columns  of  the  Beacon,  it  has  seemed  to  me  and  the 
many  friends  with  whom  I  have  consulted,  should  be  put  into  a 
more  enduring  and  convenient  form. 

Though  very  many  pioneer  incidents  and  personal  experi- 
ences, that  w^ould  have  been  extremely  interesting  to  the  partici- 
pants therein,  and  their  surviving  friends,  necessarily  had  to  be 
omitted,  I  feel  that  I  have  amassed  a  great  amount  of  matter  that 
has  interested  those  who  have  perused  the  several  chapters  as 
they  have  appeared,  and  that  iviJl  be  still  more  interesting  to  the 


30  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

rising  and  coming  generations,  who  are,  for  the  succeeding 
"  Fifty  Years  and  over  of  Akron  and  Summit  County,"  to  take  the 
places  of  those  who  have  so  gallantly"  fought  and  \von  the  physical, 
political,  intellectual,  moral  and  spiritual  battles  of  the  city  and 
county  for  "Fifty  Years  and  Over"  in  the  past. 

In  the  way  of  illustration,  I  have  reproduced  such  of  the  early 
views  of  Akron,  as  could  be  gathered  up,  supplemented  by  many 
modern  vie>vs  of  the  same  localities,  showing  the  changes  that 
have  taken  place  and  the  improvements  that  have  been  made  in 
the  intervening  half-century.  I  have  also  given  the  portraits  of 
such  of  the  early  settlers  and  prominent  citizens  as  Avere  available, 
together  with  those  of  a  large  number  of  the  present  live  business 
and  public  men,  old  and  young,  accompanied  by  brief  biograph- 
ical sketches.  This  is  a  very  valuable  as  w^ell  as  a  somew^hat 
expensive  feature  of  the  work,  made  possible  only  through  the 
generosity  of  our  people,  many  of  whom,  in  addition  to  liberally 
subscribing  for  the  book  itself,  have  voluntarily  assumed  the  cost 
of  engraving  such  portraits  of  themselves  and  deceased  friends 
as  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  include  therein. 

As  showing  the  changes  of  a  life-time  I  have  also  had 
prepared,  as  a  frontispiece  to  this  w^ork,  seven  portraits  of  myself, 
averaging  about  ten  years  apart,  from  16  to  76,  which  may  possibly 
elicit  the  curiosity  if  not  the  interest  of  my  readers.  The  silhouette 
at  16,  was  left  w^ith  my  mother  on  first  leaving  home  in  1831;  that 
at  26  is  from  one  of  the  very  first  sun-pictures  ever  made  in  Akron, 
by  a  travelling  daguerreotypist,  in  1841 ;  that  at  36,  is  from  a 
daguerreotype  taken  in  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  in  1851;  that  at  48  is 
from  a  photo,  taken  in  1863,  by  Akron's  pioneer  photographer, 
Samuel  J.  Miller,  in  the  gallery  of  Gurney  &  Son,  New^  York,  where 
he  Av^as  then  employed  as  poser ;  that  at  59  was  executed  by 
Akron's  present  well-known  photographer,  Benjamin  F.  Battels, 
in  1874 ;  that  at  72  is  from  the  camera  of  Walter  B.  Manning,  a 
native  Akron  boy,  at  Georgetown,  BroAvn  Co.,  O.,  taken  in  1887 ; 
that  at  76  by  Battels,  in  1891. 

Trusting  that  its  sale  may  be  sufficiently  large  to  defray  the 
heavy  cost  of  its  publication,  and  slightly  compensate  the  writer 
for  his  many  years  of  downright  hard  work  devoted  to  its  compi- 
lation, this  volume  is  respectfully  dedicated  to  my  contemporaries 
— living  and  dead — ^for  "Fifty  Years  and  Over  of  Akron  and 
Summit  County,"  and  their  descendants  and  successors,  by  its 
grateful  author. 

Samuel  Alanson  Lane. 


PRELIMINARY. 

WITH  a  view  of  rescuing  from  oblivion  sundry  interesting  events 
— historical,  biographical,  criminal,  tragical,  comical,  etc., — 
that  have  transpired  in  Akron  and  Summit  County  during  the 
past  fifty  years  and  over,  and  in  the  hope  of  imparting  informa- 
tion, admonition,  and  possible  amusement  to  the  younger,  and 
reminiscent  gratification  to  the  older  readers  thereof,  this  w^ork 
has  been  compiled. 

Of  matters  and  things  transpiring  prior  to  my  becoming  a 
resident  of  the  town  and  county,  June  10,  1835,  I  have  had  to  rely 
largely  upon  tradition  and  such  written  evidence  as  -was  available, 
aided  somewhat  by  the  recollections  of  such  pioneer  residents  of 
the  vicinity  as  still  survive.  But  as  to  incidents  and  events  that 
have  taken  place  since  I  came  here,  I  have  relied  largely  upon  my 
own  memory,  supplemented  by  the  official,  civil  and  criminal 
records  of  this  and  the  original  counties  out  of  w^hich  Summit  was 
carved,  and  the  newspaper  files  in  my  possession,  or  otherwise 
readily  accessible,  covering  almost  the  entire  period  w^ritten  of. 

While  my  own  recollections  may,  and  doubtless  do,  differ 
somewhat  from  those  of  other  gentlemen  now^  living  who  have 
participated  in,  or  been  personally  cognizant  of,  the  scenes  and 
events  herein  recorded,  I  think  I  can  guarantee  substantial 
accuracy,  both  as  to  data  and  detail.  At  all  events,  unlike  some 
local  "  historians"  who  have  preceded  me,  I  have  not,  for  the  sake 
of  telling  a  good  story,  perpetrating  a  flippant  joke,  or  swelling 
the  importance  of  my  subjects  on  the  one  hand,  or  disparaging 
them  upon  the  other,  in  any  instance  draw^n  entirely  upon  my 
imagination,  or  given  vent  to  any  personal  animosities  that  may 
have  existed  between  myself  and  such  persons  as  a  narrative  of 
this  character  must  of  necessity  mention. 

And,  in  this  connection,  I  desire  to  say  that  in  detailing 
individual  transactions  or  personal  conduct  prejudicial  to  morality, 
or  the  public  w^elfare,  I  have  endeavored  to  be  as  considerate  of 
the  feeling  of  the  parties  themselves,  if  living,  or  their  surviving 
friends,  if  dead,  as  a  reasonable  conformity  to  the  truth  of  history 
would  justify. 

Permit  me,  also,  right  here,  to  remark  that  if  in  these  chapters 
the  personal  pronoun  "  I "  should  appear  to  be  a  rather  prominent 
factor,  I  wish  to  have  it  distinctly  understood  that  it  is  not  by  any 
means  because  the  writer  wishes  to  exalt  himself  above  those  of 
his  neighbors  who  have  participated  in,  or  witnessed,  the.  events 
narrated,  nor  through  an^^  spirit  of  egotism  or  "top-loftiness,"  but 
because  the  force  of  circumstances,  and  the  "logic  of  events,"  have 
conspired  to  bring  him  to  the  front  in  many  of  the  skirmishes  with 
immorality  and  crime  herein  described,  as  well  as  in  advocating 
and  advancing  many  of  the  laudable  enterprises  >vhich  have,  from 
time  to  time,  contributed  to  the  industrial,  commercial,  financial, 
educational  and  moral  w^ell-being  of  the  city  and  county. 

That  its  merits  may  be  properly  appreciated,  and  its  faults 
indulgently  overlooked,  by  a  discriminating  public,  on  the  comple- 
tion of  his  long  and  arduous  labors  upon  it,  more  than  any  hope 
for  large  pecuniary  gain,  is  the  sincere  desire  of 

THE  AUTHOR. 


32 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 


CHAPTER   I. 


AKRON'S  BEGINNING— ANCIENT  MIDDLEBUR  Y— A  VISIT  FROM  DEW  ITT  CLINTON 
—COMMENCEMENT  AND  COMPLETION  OF  THE  OHIO  CANAL— FIRST  BOAT  TO 
CLEVELAND  "DR.  CROSBY  AND  HIS  "  DITCH" — "  THUNDER  FROM  A  CLOUDLESS 
SKY"— THE  doctor's  "GOOSE  PASTURE"  PROPHECY— THE  NEW  VILLAGE  OF" 
"CASCADE" — BITTER  TRIANGULAR  RIVALRY— SPIRITED  GUIDE  BOARD  WAR 
—EARLY  MANUFACTURES      PIONEER  HOTELS,  MERCHANTS,  ETC.,  ETC. 

THK   BEGINNING  OF   AKRON. 


PREVIOUS  to  the  commencement  of  work  upon  the  Ohio  Canal, 
in  1825,  the  territory  now  covered  by  the  thriving  and  popu- 
lous city  of  Akron  was  an  almost  unbroken  wilderness,  excepting  a 
small  portion  of  the  Sixth  Ward  (the  original  village  of  Middle- 
bury)  and  the  partially  cultivated  farms  of  Miner  and  Amos 
Spicer  and  Paul  Williams,  these  gentlemen  being  the  first  settlers 
in  Portage  township,  Mr.  Miner  Spicer  having,  in  1810,  visited 
and  located  the  lands  in  the  southeast  portion  of  the  township  on 
w^hich  the  three  families  settled  in  1811 — Portage  township  being 
so  named  from  the  fact  that  its  entire  length,  north  and  south,  is 
traversed  by  the  path  over  which  the  Indians  used  to  "port"  their 
canoes,  and  other  portable  belongings,  betw^een  the  Cuyahoga 
and  Tuscarawas  rivers,  that  name  also  extending  to  the  count}-  of 
which  the  township  was  originally  a  part. 

IVTAJOR  MINER  SPICER,  — born 
iVl  in  Groton,  Conn.,  May  29,  1776: 
married  to  Miss  Cynthia  Allen,  of 
Groton,  in  1798;  in  1810  came,  on  horse- 
back, to  Ohio  and  boug-ht  2(tO  acres 
of  land  in  the  southeastern  part  of 
Portage  township;  in  June,  1811,  with 
his  family,  accompanied  by  his 
cousin,  Capt.  A^nos  Spicer,  and  Mr. 
Paul  Williams,  again  started,  by  ox- 
team,  to  Ohio,  arriving- at  their  desti- 
nation in  September,  being  the  first 
actual  settlers  in  Portage  township; 
built  sinall  log  cabin  about  40  rods 
southeast  of  the  present  corner  of 
Spicer  and  Carroll  streets.  On  organ- 
ization of  township  Mr.  Spicer  was 
made  a  trustee,  and  also  for  inany 
years  was  justice  of  the  peace.  In 
the  war  of  1812,  served  as  Major  of 
Militia,  and  through  life  was  active 
and  energetic  in  all  business  matters, 
both  public  and  private.  Mrs.  Spicer 
dying,  at  the  age  of  50  years,  2  inonths 
and  14  days,  Sept.  10,  1828,  Mr.  S.  was 
again  married  in  March,  1829,  to  Mrs. 
Hannah  (Allen)  Williams,  widow  of 
Barnabas  Williams,  and  sister  of  the 
first  Mrs.  S.  Major  Spicer  died  Sept. 
11,  18.55,  aged  78  years,  3  months  and 
12  days,  and  the  latter  Mrs.  S.,  March 
7,  18.^6,  aged  63  years,  5  months  and 
21  days.  The  first  Mrs.  S.  bore  him 
nine  children — Avery,  born  Oct.  26, 


MAJOR  MINER  SPICER. 

1799;  Lucinda  (afterward  Mrs.  Stephen 
Ajres)  Feb.  8,  1801;  Cynthia,  (Mrs 
Jonah  Allen)  May  21,  1803;  Phcebe, 
(Mrs.  Levi  Allen)  Dec.  4,  1804 ;  Tem- 
perance, (Mrs.  Talmon  Beardsley) 
Oct.  15,  1807;  Emily,  (Mrs.  Ithiel 
Mills)  Aug.  8,  1809 ;  Lydia,  (Mrs.  War- 
ren H.  Smith)  Feb.  16,  1811  ;  Miner  A., 
March  20,  1813  and  Hiram  J.,  Oct.  24, 
1816. 


THE    AXCIEXT   VILLAGE   OF   MIDDLEBURY. 


33 


Down  to  1825,  the  village  of  Middlebury,  founded  bj'  Capt. 
Joseph  Hart  and  Judge  Aaron  Norton,  in  1807,  embracing  a  corner 
each  of  Tallmadge,  Springfield,  Coventry  and  Portage  townships, 
w^as  the  market  town  and  commercial  center  for  this  entire 
section  of  Ohio,  having  a  population  of  from  300  to  400  inhabi- 
tants, with  several  mills,  a  blast  furnace,  a  nail  factory,  three  or 
four  hotels  and  some  10  or  12  stores,  besides  the  usual  comple- 
ment of  mechanics  and  artisans  in  demand  at  that  earl}-  day, 
together  with  sundry  civic  and  military  organizations  which 
need  not  be  enumerated  here,  one  of  the  most  prominent  and 
best-remembered  hotels  of  the  ancient  emporium  being  that  of 
Mr.  Samuel  Newton,  whose  portrait  and  biograph}"  is  here  given. 


e  AMUEL  NKWTON,— born  at  New- 
vJ  port,  N.  H.,  September  13,  1782, 
when  j^oung  moving-  to  Groton,  Conn., 
and  from  thence  to  Ohio,  settling  in 
Middlebur3%  October  14,  1815.  Mr. 
Newton  was  formany  years  one  of  the 
leading-  hotel-keepers  of  Northern 
Ohio,  his  house  standing-  at  what  is 
now  the  intersection  of  East  Market, 
North  Arlington  and  Kent  streets, 
Akron,  Sixth  Ward.  In  March,  1849, 
Mr.  Newton,  though  then  67  years  of 
age,  went  with  the  Middlebury  Min- 
ing Company  overland  to  California, 
returning  via  the  Isthmus  of  Panama 
in  January,  18.tO.  His  wife  dying  in 
September,  18,o5,  Mr.  Newton  was 
again  married,  to  Mrs.  Laura  Reming- 
ton, in  November,  185(5.  Mr.  Newton 
died  August  5,  1871,  at  the  age  of  88 
years,  10  months  and  22  days,  leaving 
three  children — Isaac  S.  (since  de- 
ceased), William  G.,  now  residing  in 
the  City  of  Washington,  and  Eliza- 
beth R.,  married  to  the  late  Hon. 
John  Johnston,  and  now  residing 
with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Robert  Watt, 
East  Market  street. 


SAMUEL  XEWTOX. 


In  that  year,  1825,  Gen.  Simon  Perkins,  of  Warren,  owner  of  a 
large  tract  of  land  in  Portage  township,  foreseeing  that  the 
construction  of  the  canal,  with  the  large  number  of  locks  necessary 
to  its  successful  completion  and  operation,  located  here,  would 
make  it  something  of  a  business  point  for  the  shipment  of 
produce,  and  the  receipt  and  distribution  of  merchandise,  as  well 
as,  through  its  lockage  water-power,  be  likelj'^  to  attract  manufac- 
turing and  commercial  enterprise,  induced  Mr.  Paul  Williams, 
owner  of  the  adjoining  lands  upon  the  east,  to  join  with  him  in 
laying  out  into  village  lots,  with  the  usual  complement  of  streets, 
alleys,  parks,  etc.,  the  territory  embraced  within  the  limits  of 
Summit  street  on  the  east,  Center  street  on  the  north,  and 
Chestnut  street  on  the  south,  on  the  east  side  of  the  canal,  and 
Center  street  on  the  north.  Pine  street  on  the  west,  and  an  alley 
next  south  of  Catharine  street  on  the  south,  on  the  west  side  of 
the  canal,  embracing  in  all  some  300  lots.  The  plat  of  the  new- 
village  was  duly  recorded  in  the  Records  of  Portage  County  on 
the  6th  day  of  December,  1825. 


34 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


f^BN.  SIMON  PERKINS— born  in 
vJ  Lisbon,  Conn.,  September  17, 1771 ; 
located  in  Osweg-o,  N.  Y.,  1793  ;  in  1798, 
eniplo3'ed  by  the  Erie  Land  Com- 
pany to  explore  the  "  Connecticut 
Western  Reserve;''  as  ag-ent  of  the 
company,  spent  his  summers  in  Ohio 
and  his  winters  in  Connecticut, 
until  his  marriage,  March  18,  1804, 
with  Miss  Nancy  Anna  Bishop,  of 
Lisbon,  born  January  24, 1780,  when  he 
permanently  settlecl  in  Warren;  post- 
master of  Warren  from  1801  till  1829, 
also  special  agent  of  Governinent  in 
establishing  local  offices,  treating- 
with  Indians,  etc.;  as  Brigadier  Gen- 
eral of  militia.  August,  1812,  took 
command  of  troops  in  defense  of 
northwestern  frontier ;  at  close  of 
campaign,  Feb.,  1813,  w^armly  com- 
mended by  Gen.  Harrison,  for  ener- 
g-etic  and  faithful  performance  of 
duty;  tender  of  Colonel's  commission 
in  regular  army  by  President  Madi- 
son declined  by  reason  of  pressing 
private  and  fiduciary  duties ;  in  1813 
organized  Western  Reserve  Bank, 
and  its  President  until  1836 ;  Ohio 
Canal  Fund  Commissioner  from  1826 
to  1838 ;  in  connection  with  Paul 
Williams,  in  182o,  founded  the  village 
of  Akron,  and  in  1831,  in  connection 
with  Judge  Leicester  King  and  Dr. 


GEN.  SIMON   PERKINS. 

Eliakim  Crosb5^,  that  portion  since 
known  as  North  Akron,  liberally 
donating  grounds  for  public  build- 
ings, parks,  churches,  etc.  General 
Perkins  died  at  Warren,  November  6, 
1844,  aged  73  years,  1  month  and  19 
days,  Mrs.  Perkins  dying  April  24, 1862, 
aged  82  years  and  3  months. 


Previous  to  this,  our  late  well-retnembered  fellow  citizen,  Mr, 
Charles  W.  Brown,  of  966  Kast  Market  street,  then  living  in 
Middlebury,  where  he  located  in  1817,  w^as  the  owner  of  58  acres 
of  uneven  and  rather  swampy  land,  running  from  near  the  present 
southwest  corner  of  South  Main  and  Exchange  streets,  south- 
wardly and  westwardly,  covering  w^hat  is  now  known  as  the 
Lower  Basin,  and  that  portion  of  the  canal  at  and  immediately 
above  and  below  Lock  One.  Gen,  Perkins  requested  Mr.  Brown  to 
donate  to  the  State  the  right  of  way  through  this  land  for  the 
canal.  This,  Mr.  Brown,  being  a  mechanic  with  but  limited 
means,  could  not  afford  to  do,  but  would  sell  it  to  Gen.  Perkins 
and  let  him  do  the  donating.  The  General  then  made  hifn  an 
offer,  giving  him  the  option  of  four  different  tracts  of  land  for  his 
58  acres  ;  45  acres  in  the  eastern  part  of  Portage  tow^nship,  30  rods 
wide  on  Middlebury  street,  and  running  north  to  the  middle  of  the 
Little  Cuyahoga  River;  100  acres  a  little  west  of  the  homestead  of 
the  late  Col.  Simon  Perkins ;  150  acres  further  west  or  300  acres  in 
an  adjoining  county;  and,  to  the  General's  great  surprise,  Mr. 
Brow^n  took  him  on  the  45  acres,  it  being  a  portion  of  the  same 
farm  on  w^hich  he  ever  afterw^ards  resided,  and  as  the  sequel 
proved,  it  w^as  a  good  trade  for  both  of  them, 

"AKRON,"   HOW  AND  WHY  SO   NAMED. 


There  already  existed  a  tortuous  public  highway  from  the 
northeast  to  the  southwest  portions  of  the  State,  running  from 
Warren  via  Ravenna,  Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent),  Stow  Corners, 
Cuyahoga  Falls,  Old  Forge,  Middlebury,  New  Portage  and  John- 


'AKRON,      HOW    AND    WHY    SO   NAMED. 


35 


son's  Corners  to  Wooster,  Mount  Vernon,  etc.  This  road  ran 
substantially  w^here  Middlebury  street,  since  changed  to  Buchtel 
avenue,  now  is,  as  far  w^est  as  Broadw^ay,  thence  striking 
diagonally  towards,  but  a  little  north  of  what  is  now  Kxchange 
street,  and,  after  crossing  the  valley  and  circling  somew^hat 
around  to  the  south,  again  striking  the  present  Bxchange  street 
line  near  its  junction  with  Maple  ;  thence  rising  the  hill  near  the 
Perkins  residence,  and  continuing  on  southwesterly  towards  New 
Portage. 


r^HARLES  W.  BROWN,— born  Oct. 
v-^  2,  1796,  in  North  Stonington, 
Conn.;  district  school  education ; 
learning-  carpienter's  trade,  in  1817 
came  on  foot  to  Ohio,  reaching 
Middlebury,  700  miles,  February  28, 
Mrs.  Brown,  nee  Miss  Henrietta  Hal- 
sey,  to  whom  he  was  married  June  9, 
1810,  arriving-  in  the  following  Au- 
g-ust,  by  ox-team  ;  lived  in  Middlebury 
15  years,  working-  at  his  trade,  mean- 
time purchasing  the  115  acre  farm 
upon  which  he  resided  from  1832 
until  his  death,  at  the  present  Junc- 
tion of  East  Market  street  and  Buch- 
tel avenue,  dividing  his  time  between 
farming  and  jobbing  at  his  trade, 
opening  streets,  building  bridges, 
etc.,  among  others  opening  Market 
and  Main  streets,  building  the  Stone 
<late  Baptist)  Church,  the  High  (Jen- 
nings) School  biiilding,  etc.  Though 
a  inan  of  peace,  he  took  an  active 
part  in  earl}^  local  military  matters, 
holding  a  lieutenant's  commission 
for  five  years.  Mr.  Brown  was  the 
father  of  five  daughters  and  one  son 
— Mary,  wife  of  Edward  F.  Pulsifer,  of 
Chicago  ;  Prudence,  wife  of  John  W. 
Sabin,  of  Akron,  (both  deceased), 
Antoinette,  wife  of  Benjamin  Mc- 
Naughton,  of  Akron  ;  Eucy,  wife  of 
Robert  P.  Henry,  of  Akron,who  died  in 


CHARLES 


BROWX. 


1850  ;  Alice,  now  Mrs.  William  H.  Mills, 
of  Akron,  and  Capt.  Henry  H.  Brown, 
of  Akron.  Mrs.  Brown  dying  Septem- 
ber 23, 1859,  Mr.  B.  was  again  married 
on  May  14,  1864,  to  Mrs.  Lydia  Will- 
iams, of  Connecticut,  who  died  Sep- 
tember 6,  1865,  Mr.  Brown  himself 
dying  June  1,  1888,  at  the  age  of  91 
years,  7  months  and  29  days. 


The  new  village  w^as  named  ''Akron"  at  the  suggestion  of 
Charles  Olcott,  Esq.,  of  Medina,  from  a  Greek  virord  signifying 
"high,"  this  being  the  highest  point  of  land  on  the  line  of  the 
canal  between  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio  River.  It  is  not,  however, 
as  is  popularly  supposed,  the  highest  land  in  the  State,  though  no 
other  point  in  Ohio,  probably,  can  boast  of  a  location  that,  through 
the  fresh  and  living  w^aters  gushing  from  its  summit,  daily 
replenishes  the  Atlantic  ocean  at  two  separate  points  more  than 
two  thousand  miles  apart,  the  northern  outflow  from  our  own 
beautiful  Summit  Lake  reaching  the  ocean  through  the  Cuyahoga 
river.  Lake  Erie,  the  Niagara  river.  Lake  Ontario  and  the  river 
and  Gulf  of  St.  Law^rence;  w^hile  from  its  southern  outlet  its  w^aters 
find  their  way  to  the  ocean  through  the  Tuscarawas,  the  Muskin- 
gum, the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  rivers,  and  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico. 

Apropos  of  the  name  of  "Akron,"  Gen.  Perkins  was  greatly 
chaffed,  by  his  Warren  neighbors,  while  he  was  engaged  in  laying 
out  his  new  town  in  w^hat  they  regarded  a  very  forbidding  locality. 


36 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


and  many  ludicrous  names  were  suggested,  one  of  his  most 
persistent  teasers  being  Judge  Calvin  Pease,  grandfather  of  our 
well  known  citizen,  Calvin  Pease  Humphrey,  Bsq.,  and  after 
whom  the  latter  was  named.  Judge  Pease  was  a  fine  scholar, 
and  had  suggested  a  number  of  classical  names,  with  the  most 
ridiculous  definitions,  and  in  consulting  with  Mr,  Olcott,  also  a 
fine  classical  scholar.  Gen.  Perkins  told  him  that  he  wanted  a 
name  that  would  not  only  represent  the  topographical  position 
of  the  tow^n,  but  one,  also,  that  Judge  Pease  could  not  perpetrate  a 
pun  upon.  After  having  adopted  the  name  selected  by  Mr.  Olcott, 
on  his  return  to  Warren  he  was  accosted  by  Judge  Pease  with: 
"Well,  General,  have  you  named  your  new. village  yet?"  "Yes," 
said  the  General,  "we've  named  it  Akron."  "Ach-e-ron!  Ach-e- 
ron!"  said  the  Judge  thoughtfully.  "Ah,  yes,  I  see!  Ach-e-ron — 
river  in  hell,  hej^?  A»very  appropriate  name  indeed!""  Classical 
scholars,  asWell  as  those  familiar  ^with  the  original  "lay  o'  the 
land"  hereabouts,  will  at  once  see  the  aptness  of  this  retort. 

In  this  connection,  also,  it  may  properly  be  mentioned  that 
Akron's  christener,  Charles  Olcott,  more  than  65  years  ago, 
invented  and  built  the  model  of  an  iron  ship,  which  he  in  vain 
urged  upon  the  public  authorities  to  adopt;  a  style  of  ship  now  in 
common  use  without  the  bestowal  of  a  thought  upon  the  original 
inventor. 


HON.  CHARLES  SUMNER,  born 
in  Roxbury,  Massachusetts, 
June  6,  1794 ;  common  school  edu- 
cation ;  came  to  Middlebnry,  (now 
Akron,  Sixth  Ward),  in  spring  of  1817, 
and  was  married  the  following-  June 
to  Miss  Clarissa  Hart,  daughter  of 
Rufus  Hart,  w^ho  settled  in  Middle- 
biirj'  in  1815 ;  in  earlj'  life  worked  at 
the  clothier's  trade,  and  officiated  as 
minister  of  the  gosi^el  of  the  Baptist 
faith,  his  quite  extensive  congrega- 
tion being-  greatlj^  decimated  and 
altogether  broken  up  by  sickness  and 
death  during  the  building-  of  the 
Ohio  Canal.  Enterprising  and  suc- 
cessful, he  purchased  a  large  tract 
of  land  in  Springfield  township, 
raising  and  dealing  in  stock,  and 
taking  large  droves  of  horses,  cattle 
mules,  etc.,  over  the  mountains.  In 
1834  he  moved  upon  the  farm  and 
built  the  fine  stone  mansion,  where 
the  daughter,  Miss  A.  Louise  Sumner, 
now  resides.  He  was  Associate 
Judge  for  Portage  countj"  nine  years, 
and  on  the  organization  of  Summit 
Count}'^,  1840,  was  made  one  of  its 
first  Associate  Judg^es,  which  posi- 
tion he  held  until  his  death,  June  22, 
184.5,  at  the  age  of  51  years  and  16 
days,   Mrs.    Sumner  dying  March  3, 


HON.    CHARLES    SUMNER. 

*1872,  aged  75  years,  10  months  and 
25  days.  The  daughter.  Miss  Louise, 
has  never  married,  and  is  managing- 
the  fine  estate  left  by  her  parents 
with  admirable  judgment,  liberality 
and  beneficence. 


SOME  ANCIENT  LANDMARKS. 

At  that  time  the  only  hotels,  or  taverns  as  they  were  then 
called,  west  of  Middlebury,  within  the  territory  now  embraced  in 
Summit  County,  on  the  Warren  and  Wooster  road,  were  those  of 


SOME   EARLY    LANDiMARKS. 


37 


Joshua  King,  a  log  structure,  on  the  present  site  of  County 
Surveyor  Charles  E.  Perkins'  residence,  in  the  T\^est  part  of  the 
city;  a  story  and  a-half  frame  building  nearly  opposite,  on  the 
east,  kept  by  Pliny  Wilcox;  the  tw^o  story  frame  house  of  Henry 
Clark,  at  New  Portage  ;  and  one  or  two  wayside  inns  at  or  near 
Johnson's  Corners;  for  houses  of  "entertainment  for  man  and 
beast,"  of  rather  a  primitive  character,  were  to  be  found  at  most  of 
the  township  centers,  and  at  frequent  intervals  along  all  the 
public  thoroughfares,  in  those  early  days.  On  the  Smith  road 
also,  leading  from  Old  Portage  to  Medina,  on  the  line  between 
Copley  and  Bath,  besides  two  or  three  others  further  w^est,  was 
the  notable  and  somewhat  notorious  "Latta's  Tavern,"  kept  by 
one  William  Latta,  at  what  was  then  called  "Latta's  Corners," 
afterwards  for  many  years  known  as  "Kills'  Corners,"  but  which 
is  now  known  as  the  village  of  Montrose.  The  original  building, 
substantially  as  first  constructed,  is  still  doing  duty  as  a  hotel. 
But  of  this  hotel  and  others,  and  their  earl}^  proprietors,  more 
anon. 


KOSWELL  AXI)   ELIZA    KENT. 


ROSWELL  KENT,  borti  in  Eeydeii,  Massaclmsetts,  Ma)'  18,  1798;  removing- 
with  his  parents  to  Hudson,  Ohio,  about  the  j-ear  1812;  educational 
iidvantag-es  quite  limited  ;  at  majoritj'  entered  store  of  his  brother  Zenas 
(father  of  Hon.  Marvin  Kent,  of  Kent),  at  Ravenna.  About  1820,  he  estab- 
lished a  store  in  Middleburv-,  (now  Akron,  Sixth  Ward),  for  his  brother  and 
Capt.  Heman  Oviatt,  of  Hudson,  buying-  out  the  concern  about  1826,  and 
continuing  the  business  on  his  own  accotuit  for  several  3ears.  He  then 
<?ngaged  in  the  manufacture  of  woolen  machinerj-,  as  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Irish,  Kent  &  McMillan,  afterwards  Irish.  Kent  &  Baldwin,  later  changed 
to  Kent.  Baldwin  &  Co.,  which  he  followed  until  his  death,  July  19,  1871.  Mr. 
Kent  was  married  to  Miss  Eliza  Hart,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Annie 
(Hotchkiss)  Hart,  the  first  settlers  in  Middlebury  (1807),  wdio  was  born 
August  0,  1808,  being  the  first  white  child  born  within  the  present  limits  of 
Akron  and  the  third  born  in  Tallmadge  township.  Seven  children  were 
born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kent,  three  of  whom.  only,  are  living  -Ella  K.,  now  Mrs. 
Finlev  McNaughton,  of  Youngstown;  Russell  H.,  Secretary  and  Treasurer 
of  the  Akron  Stoneware  Company;  and  Flora  K.,  now  Mrs.  T.  S.  Page,  of 
Toledo.  Mrs  Kent  is  still  living  in  the  enjoyment  of  reasonably  good 
health,  at  the  ripe  age  of  over  83  years. 


38 


AKRON    AND    vSUMMIT   COUNTY. 


The  farm  house  of  Paul  Williams,  a  one  story  frame  building, 
on  the  laying  out  of  the  new  village,  was  found  to  stand  in  about 
the  center  of  South  Broadway,  a  little  south  of  Middlebury  street, 
and  was  accordingly  moved  a  few  rods  to  the  eastward,  where,  as 
the  well  known  Babcock  house,  it  still  stands,  in  a  remarkably 
fair  state  of  preservation.  The  first  building  erected  in  the  new 
village,  however,  was  the  tavern  of  Henry  Clark,  on  the  northeast 
corner  of  South  Main  and  Exchange  streets,  the  main  portion  of 
w^hich  building  still  stands  upon  the  same  site.  Up  to  the 
occupation  of  this  house,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  Summer  of  1825, 
the  largely  augmented  hotel  business  of  the  vicinage,  pertaining 
to  canal  operations,  was  transacted  in  Middlebury,  the  letting  of 
the  contracts  from  Cleveland  to  Summit  Lake,  having  been  made 
at  Chittenden's  hotel,  early  in  June  of  that  year;  sections  further 
south  being  let  at  other  convenient  points  along  the  line  of  the 
canal  during  the  same  month. 


nrnoMAs  Norton,— bom   in 

A  Oneida  Co.,  N.  Y.,  April  6,  1806; 
same  year  parents  moved  to  Ohio, 
first  to  Smithfield,  Trumbull  County, 
and  in  1809,  to  Tahmadg-e,  the  father, 
Peter  Norton,  in  1813,  purchasing-  200 
acres  of  land,  in  Springiield  township 
adjacent  to  the  village  of  Middlebury, 
on  a  portion  of  which  Mr.  Norton 
still  lives,  though  somewhat  physi- 
cally infirm,  in  full  possession  of  his 
mental  faculties,  at  the  age  of  nearly 
86  years.  Mr.  Norton  was  married 
January  10,  1847,  to  Miss  Hannah  M. 
Coney,  born  in  Stark  County,  April 
13,  1812.  Of  their  two  daughters, 
Martha  M.  was  married,  June  2,  1873, 
to  Mr.  Theodore  Johns,  a  former 
Middlebury  boy,  now  a  prosperous 
shoe  merchant  in  Des  Moines,  Iowa, 
and  Mary  P.  is  now  the  wife  of  Mr. 
Joseph  Cook,  a  prominent  manufac- 
turer of  Akron,  whose  portrait  and 
biography  will  be  found  elsewhere, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cook  now  occupying 
the  old  homestead,  and  kindlj^  min- 
istering; to  the  care  and  comfort  of 
Father  Norton,  in  his  declining  years. 


THOMAS    NORTON. 

Mrs.  Norton  having- died  at  the  home 
of  her  daughter  in  Des  Moines,  Iowa, 
August  7, 1886  in  the  7Bth  year  of  her 
ag-e. 


A   DISTINGUISHED  VISITOR. 


Though  some  work  had  previously  been  done  by  the  con- 
tractors in  this  vicinity,  the  formal  breaking  of  ground  took  place 
at  Licking  Summit,  near  Newark,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1825,  DeWitt 
Clinton,  the  projector  and  "Patron  Saint"  of  the  Erie  Canal, 
performing  the  ceremony,  aided  by  the  then  Governor  of  Ohio^ 
Hon.  Jeremiah  Morrow,  amid  great  rejoicing  by  the  assembled 
thousands,  with  booming  of  cannon,  beating  of  drums,  and  other 
characteristic  oratorical  and  gustatorical  festivities  of  those  early 
times.  The  distinguished  New  Yorker,  and  his  retinue  of  traveling 
companions  and  servants,  came  to  Buffalo  by  the  Erie  Canal; 
from  Buffalo  to  Cleveland  via  Lake  Erie,  and  from  Cleveland  to 
Middlebury  in  stage  coaches.      Remaining  over  night  at  Chitten- 


RAPID   GROWTH    OF   THE    NEW    VILLAGE. 


39 


den's  hotel,  early  on  the  morning  of  July  2nd,  in  the  private 
carriages  of  Mr.  Chittenden  and  Mr.  John  McMillen,  they  started 
for  Newark,  our  lately  deceased  91-year-old  fellow  citizen,  Talmon 
Beardsley,  Esq.,  officiating  as  the  driver  of  Mr.  Chittenden's  team. 


XALMON  BEARDSLEY,~born  in 
J-  Delhi,  Delaware  Co.,  N.Y.,  De- 
cember 15,  171K) ;  in  1810  moved  with 
parents  to  Licking-  Co.,  Ohio,  settling 
on  wild  land  which  Talmon  helped  to 
clear  and  cultivate,  attending  school 
about  three  months  per  year ;  in  Sum- 
mer of  1818,  walked  to  Middlebury 
(now  Akron,  Sixth  Ward)  finding  em- 
ployment in  the  okl  i  uyahoga  Fur- 
nace of  Laird  &  Norton,  going  to  school 
part  of  the  time  ;  in  1819,  entered  the 
employ  of  Henry  Chittenden,  hotel 
keeper,  farmer,  canal  contractor,  etc., 
with  whom  he  continued  14  years  ; 
October  27,  1831,  was  married  to  Miss 
Temperance  Spicer,  fourth  daughter 
of  Major  Miner  Spicer,  settling  upon 
a  75  acre  farm  near  Middlebury, 
selling  that  in  1833  and  purchasing 
100  acres  in  Coventry,  now  largely 
embraced  within  the  city  limits  of 
Akron,  which  he  brought  up  to  a 
high  degree  of  cultivation,  and  upon 
which  they  lived  until  1864,  when 
they  removed  to  Akron.  Their  five 
children  are  Ann,  wife  of  Mr.  George 
W.  Hart,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls  ;  Mills  H., 
hotel  keeper  at  Green  River,  Utah; 
Avery  S.,  now  residino-  at  Adrian, 
Mich.;  Harriet,  wife  of  Gates  A.  Bab- 
cock,  now  living  in  Fremont,  Ohio; 
Louisa  D.,  wife  of  Mr.  Geo.  Stover,  of 


TALMON   BEARDSLEY. 

Canal  Fulton,  Ohio.  In  1889  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Beardsley  went  to  reside  with 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stover,  where  Mrs.  B, 
died  April  20,  1891,  aged  83  years,  6 
months  and  5  days,  Mr.  Beardsley 
dying  July  18,  1891,  aged  91  years,  7 
months  and  3  days. 


THE  SECOND  BUILDING. 

Soon  after  the  commencement  of  work  upon  the  canal  and 
locks  at  this  point,  and  following  closely  upon  the  erection  of  the 
hotel  of  Henry  Clark,  a  man  named  Benedict  built  a  two-story 
frame  store,  on  the  southw^est  corner  of  Main  and  Exchange 
streets,  w^hich  was  for  many  years,  under  successive  proprietors, 
known  as  the  "  Mammoth  Store."  From  this  time  on,  lots  in  the 
new  village  sold  quite  rapidly,  and  a  considerable  number  of 
residences  and  shops  were  erected  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
large  number  of  contractors  and  operatives  required  to  build  the 
canal,  and  construct  the  locks  and  bridges  in  this  vicinity.  The 
lower  lands  of  what  is  now  called  North  Akron,  being  thickly 
dotted  over  with  log  and  slab  shanties,  inhabited  mostly  by  Irish 
laborers  upon  the  canal,  was  christened,  and  for  many  j'-ears 
retained,  the  historic  name  of  "Dublin."  Thus,  by  the  time  the 
canal  Avas  finished,  in  1827,  the  village  had,  including  its  Dublin 
suburb,  a  population  of  perhaps  two  hundred  souls,  embracing 
merchants,  lawyers,  doctors,  mechanics,  laborers,  and  "gentlemen 
of  leisure,"  of  which  latter  class,  more  anon.  The  more  substan- 
tial improvements  w^ere  on  the  east  side  of  the  canal,  on  Main  and 
Exchange  streets,  several  of  the  original  structures  still  standing 
where  they  w^ere  then  erected,  though  one  or  two  grocery  stores 


40 


AKROX    AND    SUMMIT    COUNTY 


and  two  freight  warehouses  v^ere  soon  afterv^ards  located  upon 
the  w^est  side  of  the  canal,  one  of  the  latter  at  the  head  of  Lock 
One,  still  standing,  and  the  other  on  the  north  side  of  the  bridge,  a 
Avarehouse  also  being  located  on  the  east  side  of  the  lower  basin, 
about  where  the  Brewster  coal  chutes  are  now. 


INCREASE  SUMNER,— son  of 
J-  Thomas  and  P^lizabeth  (Holland) 
Sumner,  was  born  in  Townshend, 
Vt..  Februar}'  2.1,  18(X) ;  at  16,  came  to 
Pittsburg-,  where  he  worked  for  a 
time  at  nail-making,  when  he  came 
to  Middlebur3 ,  where  his  brother 
Charles  was  then  living,  where  he 
early  became  prominent  in  business 
affairs,  engaging  in  milling,  mer- 
chandising, contracting,  etc.,  build- 
ing many  of  the  bridges  and  dams 
in  Akron,  besides  doing  considerable 
stone  work  on  the  Ohio  Canal.  In 
1849,  as  Captain  and  Treasurer  of  the 
"Middlebur3'  Mining  CoinpanjV'  he 
Avent,  by  ox-team,  overland  to  Cali- 
fornia, where,  mining  and  merchan- 
dising, he  remained  nearl}-  three 
3'ears.  On  his  return  to  Middlebury, 
he  engaged  in  farming,  but  later 
sold  his  farm  and  opened  a  stone- 
quarry  and  engaged  in  contracting 
stone  work  until  his  death,  November 
18.  1868,  at  the  age  of  68  j-ears.  8 
months  and  23  days.  March  19,  1837, 
Mr.  Sumner  was  married  to  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  (Hammel)  Miller,  a  native 
of  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  born  September  21, 
1812,  her  first  husband,  Arthur  Miller, 
to  whom  she  was  married  Januar}' 
29,  1827,  having  died  of  consumption, 
at   Pautuxet,  R.   I.,  whither    he    had 


INCREASE  SUMNER. 

gone  in  hopes  of  recovering  his 
health,  Jidj-  KJ,  1830,  leaving  two 
children,  since  deceased.  Mrs.  Sum- 
ner, in  comfortable  health  and  cir- 
cumstances, still  survives. 


The  first  regular  boat  to  navigate  the  waters  of  the  Ohio 
Canal  was  called  the  "Ohio."  It  was  built  upon  the  east  side  of 
the  lower  basin,  about  where  Jackson  Sc  Lyman's  planing  mill  now 
stands,  according  to  the  recollection  of  the  late  George  Dailey,  of 
Cuyahoga  Falls,  l)y  Alexander  and  Edward  Wheeler,  the  hulk  of 
the  ancient  craft  now  lying  in  the  mud  in  a  small  cove  in  the 
berme  bank  of  the  canal  near  the  residence  of  the  late  James 
Robinson,  of  Coventry.  It  was  launched  on  the  27th  daj^  of  June, 
1827,  and,  after  receiving  a  few  finishing  touches,  and  its  furniture, 
commissary  stores,  etc.,  on  the  third  day  of  July,  under  command 
of  Captain  Henry  Richards,  an  experienced  navigator  from  the 
Erie  Canal,  started,  with  a  full  load  of  passengers,  amid  the 
huzzas  of  the  multitude,  the  firing  of  cannon,  etc.,  for  Cleveland, 
to  participate  the  next  day  in  the  dual  celebration  of  the  Nation's 
birthday — the  glorious  Fourth — and  the  arrival  of  the  first  boat 
from  the  "port"  of  Akron,  via  the  new  canal.  The  late  John  C. 
Stearns,  of  Copley,  claims  to  have  been  steersman  of  the  "Ohio," 
on  its  initial  excursion  trip,  while  Northampton  claims  for  the 
late  Job  Harrington,  of  that  township,  the  honor  of  having 
propelled  said  craft  from  Akron  to  Cleveland  and  back,  with  his 
own  team  of  substantial  farm  horses. 


DR.    CROS?BY    A^'I)    HIS   "  DITCH. 


41 


DK.   CKOSBY. 


Doctor  Eliakim  Crosby,  to  whom 
Akron  is  more  largely  indebted 
for  its  manufacturing  existence  than 
to  any  other  one  man,  was  born 
in  Litchfield,  Conn.,  March  2,  1779. 
He  was  educated  and  for  some  time 
engaged  in  teaching  in  and  about 
Litchfield.  In  1806,  he  went  to  Buf- 
falo, where  he  read  medicine  with  a 
Dr.  Chapin,  allopathic,  though  in  the 
early  forties  he  embraced,  and  for 
a  while  practiced,  the  homeopathic 
system  of  medicine.  About  1808  or 
1809  he  went  to  Simcoe,  Canada, 
where  he  was  married  to  Miss  Marcia 
Beemer  in  1810.  In  the  war  of  1812, 
Dr.  Crosby  entered  the  service  of  the 
United  States  as  a  surgeon  in  the  army,  in  consequence  of  Avhich 
his  property  in  Canada  was  confiscated  by  that  government.  In 
1820  he  removed  with  his  family  to  Ohio,  locating  in  the  then 
enterprising  village  of  Middlebury.  Though  giving  some  attention 
to  the  practice  of  medicine,  he  soon  became  interested  in  the 
various  enterprises  of  the  time,  in  connection  w^ith  Mr.  Henry 
Chittenden  taking  a  contract  upon  the  canal,  betw^een  Bethlehem 
and  Zoar,  and  for  furnishing  16,000  bushels  of  water-lime  for  the 
construction  of  locks  in  1826-7.  Previous  to  the  completion  of 
these  contracts,  Dr.  Crosby  purchased  of  Mr.  Ralph  Plum  the 
Cuj^ahoga  Furnace  property,  originally  erected  by  Aaron  Norton 
and  \Vm.  Laird  in  1817,  on  the  present  site  of  the  Seiberling 
flouring  mill.  This  purchase  included  the  property  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  Canton  road,  for  many  years  past  known  as  the  "Aunt 
Betsy  Stewart  homestead,"  the  doctor  removing  his  family  into 
the  small  frame  house  erected  by  Mr,  Plum,  and  now  doing 
service  as  a  horse  barn  and  carriage  house. 

This  furnace,  originally  devoted  to  the  smelting  of  such  iron 
ores  as  were  found  in  the  vucinity,  was,  by  Dr.  Crosby,  largely 
devoted  to  the  manufacture  of  plows  and  sundry  other  agricultural 
and  household  articles  in  demand  at  that  time.  The  furnace  was 
at  this  time  run  by  water  power  from  a  dam  across  the  Little 
Cuyahoga  river,  near  the  present  woolen  and  felt  works.  A  year 
or  two  later  Dr.  Crosby  sold  the  furnace  property,  including  his 
dwelling  house,  to  the  Stewart  brothers,  Arnold,  Isaac  and  Daniel 
B.  The  Doctor  then  bought  the  sawmill  property,  near  the  dam, 
and  by  securing  the  control  of  the  river  above,  built  a  dam  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile  further  up,  and  by  race  and  flume,  secured  a  better 
head  of  water,  both  for  the  furnace  property,  his  saw  mill  and 
the  large  two-story  grist  mill  which  he  erected  where  the  felt 
works  now  stand;  building  for  himself,  in  the  meantime,  a  new- 
dwelling  house  on  or  near  the  present  site  of  the  Kent 
school  house.  After  running  these  mills  a  year  or  two  Dr.  Crosby 
sold  his  mill  property  to  the  late  Increase  Sumner,  who  also 
opened  a  store  in  the  business  portion  of  the  village,  both  of 
which,  finding  himself  financially  embarrassed,  Mr.  Sumner  trans- 
ferred to  his  two  brothers,  Kdward  and  Charles,  in  1832. 


42  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

The  Doctor  now  got  his  practical  eye  upon  "bigger  game,"^ 
and  by  his  mysterious  maneuvers  led  certain  property  owners  to 
believe  that  he  was  endeavoring  to  divert  the  business  of  the 
town  to  a  point  further  down  the  stream,  towards  or  below  the 
Old  Forge,  and  a  combination  was  entered  into  by  which  it  Avas 
sought  to  dam  the  river  at,  or  near,  w^hat  is  now  known  as  the 
"White  Grocery,"  and  from  thence  conduct  the  w^ater  through 
Blue  Pond  to  a  point  near  where  the  Akron  Sew^er  Pipe  vt^orks 
now"  stand,  thus  creating  a  w^ater  power  that  Avould  overshadow 
anything  that  the  Doctor  could  command  lower  dow^n  the  stream. 
That  eminent  hydraulic  t^ngineer.  Col.  Sebried  Dodge,  (afterwards 
ow^ning  and  living  upon,  until  his  death,  w^hat  is  known  as  the 
"Dodge  farm,"  three  miles  south^west  of  Akron)  w^as  emploj^ed  by 
the  syndicate  to  make  the  surveys,  and  both  loud  and  frequent 
were  the  boasts  made  to  the  Doctor  that  they  would  head  him  off, 
to  all  of  w^hich  the  Doctor  would  pleasantly,  but  significantly 
reply:  "  Gentlemen, ^our  scheme  w^on't  w^ork,  but  mine  w^ill;  and 
what's  more,  it  will  cause  the  g-rnss  to  grow  inj^our  streets,  and 
make  a  goose  pasture  of  your  toivn." 

Thus  time  passed  on,  Kngineer  Dodge  found  that  ver3^  little^ 
if  any,  additional  power  could  be  obtained  by  the  plan  proposed 
than  by  following  the  natural  course  of  the  stream  to  the  point 
designated,  and  that  scheme  was  abandoned.  In  the  meantime 
the  Doctor  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  his  way,  quietly  obtaining 
control  of  the  river  bed  and  all  the  lands  upon  either  side,  as  far 
west  as  the  lands  of  Gen.  Perkins,  through  which  the  Ohio  Canal 
had  been  constructed,  when,  suddenly,  like  a  peal  of  thunder 
from  a  clear  sky,  it  burst  upon  the  astonished  intellects  of  the 
Middleburghers,  that  an  arrangement  had  been  made  betw^een  the 
Doctor  and  Gen.  Perkins  to  conduct  the  entire  w^aters  of  the  river, 
by  means  of  a  race,  to  be  immediately  constructed,  from  the  north 
part  of  that  village  to  a  point  near  Lock  Fiv^e  on  the  Ohio  Canal, 
from  w^hence  they  could  be  used  over  and  over  again,  as  far  as 
Lock  Seventeen,  for  milling  and  manufacturing  purposes. 

This  w^as  in  1831.  The  surveys  being  completed,  a  large  force 
of  men  -was  at  once  set  to  work  constructing  the  race,  a  consider- 
able portion  of  w^hich,  from  about  opposite  the  present  Fair 
Grounds  to  Summit  street,  had  to  be  quarried  from  the  solid  rock. 
The  next  year,  1832,  the  building  then,  and  ever  since  knowrn  a& 
the  "  Stone  Mill,"  at  Lock  Five  was  begun ;  both  the  race  and  the  mill 
being  completed  and  running  early  in  1833.  The  lands  purchased 
by  Dr.  Crosby  were  consolidated  with  the  300  acre  tract,  so-called, 
belonging  to  Gen.  Perkins,  and  by  those  gentlemen,  and  Judge 
Leicester  King,  of  Warren,  who  had  in  the  meantime  purchased  a 
one-third  interest  in  the  enterprise,  had  been  platted  into  streets, 
lots,  etc.,  and  quite  a  good  many  lots  sold  and  improved,  though 
the  plat  was  not  put  to  record  until  the  10th  day  of  August,  1833; 
the  new  plat  covering  the  territory  between  North  street,  on  the 
north,  and  the  "  gore,"  so  called,  (Quarry,  Bowery  and  West 
Center  streets)  on  the  south,  and  Summit  street  upon  the  east, 
and  Oak  and  Walnut  streets  upon  the  w^est.  It  was  said,  with 
how^  much  truth  the  writer  cannot  say,  though  with  a  strong 
shade  of  probability^,  that  to  prevent  observation  and  the  miscar- 
riage of  his  designs,  the  Doctor  did  much  of  his  surveying  and 
the  running  of  his  levels  for  his  contemplated  race,  by  moonlight, 


THE   NEW   VILLAGE   OF   "CASCADE."  43 

as  all  of  his  movements  had  to  be  made  on  the  sly,  until  after  the 
control  of  the  river  bed  had  been  secured  by  the  purchase  of 
contiguous  lands  on  either  side. 

As  a  sample  of  some  of  the  difficulties  encountered  and  over- 
come, some  15  acres  off  from  the  north  end  of  the  45  acre  tract 
deeded  by  Gen.  Perkins  to  Mr.  Charles  W,  Brown,  as  before  stated, 
being  needed  for  the  race,  and  the  control  of  the  waters  of  the 
river,  and  suspecting  that  the  Doctor's  designs  Avere  deeper  than 
was  apparent  upon  their  surface,  Mr.  Brown  drove  so  sharp  a 
bargain  with  him  that  57  acres  of  much  better  land,  immediately 
adjoining  him  upon  the  east,  was  obtained  from  the  Doctor  for  the 
smaller  parcel  needed.  Also  upon  the  north  side  of  the  Little 
Cuyahoga  river  was  a  300  acre  farm  belonging  to  Mr.  William 
Phelps,  a  small  corner  of  which  ran  down  into  the  bed  of  the 
stream,  and  which  had  to  be  secured  before  the  waters  could  be 
diverted  from  their  natural  channel.  This  acre  or  two  Mr.  Phelps 
would  not  sell  at  any  price,  unless  they  would  take  the  entire  farm 
at  the  exorbitant  price,  for  those  days,  of  $14,000  in  gold.  An 
option  for  a  certain  number  of  days  having  been  obtained  by 
Judge  King,  late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  last  day  of  the  option  the 
Judge  appeared  at  the  Phelps  mansion  >vith  the  coin.  On 
inquiring  for  Mr.  Phelps,  the  Judge  was  informed  that  he  w^as 
aw^ay  from  home,  but  could  get  no  information  as  to  where  he  had 
gone  nor  how  soon  he  would  be  back.  "  Very  well,"  said  the  Judge, 
"  I'll  Avait  for  him,"  and  wait  he  did  until  near  midnight,  when  he 
took  the  bag  of  gold  from  his  pocket  and  began  counting  it  out 
and  piling  it  upon  the  table,  and  then  and  there  made  a  tender  of 
the  sum  agreed  upon  to  Mrs.  Phelps,  as  the  representative  of  her 
husband.  After  the  midnight  hour  had  passed  Phelps  came  forth 
from  his  hiding,  but  refused  to  receive  the  money,  claiming  that 
the  time  of  the  option  was  up;  thinking  perhaps,  that  by  holding 
off  he  could  extort  from  them  still  higher  figures.  Finally  a  day 
or  two  later,  on  the  advice  of  Mr.  Brown,  he  executed  a  deed  to 
Judge  King,  and  took  his  money,  a  portion  of  w^hich  he  invested  in 
farming  lands  in  Wadsworth,  Medina  County. 

*THE   NEW  VILLAGE  OF  "CASCADE." 

As  indicated  by  the  name  given  to  Dr.  Crosby's  "ditch" — the 
"Cascade  Mill  Race," — the  embryo  rival  to  the  ancient  village  of 
Middlebury  and  the  original  town  of  Akron,. w^as  at  first  called 
"Cascade,"  though  it  was  finally  platted  under  the  name  of  Akron. 
Hence  the  first  store  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  Hall's  block, 
corner  of  Market  and  Howard  streets,  erected  by  Mr.  Seth  Iredell 
(father  of  our  present  fellow  citizen,  Robert  S.  Iredell)  in  1832,  was 
called  the  "Cascade  Store,"  while  the  first  hotel,  erected  the  same 
year,  by  James  Baldwin  (father  of  Capt.  Aaron  P.  Baldwin)  and 
Lewis  Kilbourn  (father  of  William  W.  Kilbourn,  of  212  East 
Exchange  street),  was  called  the  "Cascade  House;"  and  for  several 
years,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  the  snappy  and  prosperous  new 
village  was  known  as  "Cascade,"  rather  than  by  its  platted  and 
ultimately  well-established  cognomen  of  Akron. 

About  simultaneously  with  the  building  of  the  race  and  the 
Stone  Mill,  two  blast  furnaces  had  been  erected  at  the  North  End 
— the  "  .^tna,"  near  Lock  Twelve,  by  Parsons,  DuBois  &  Co.,  (L.  M. 


44 


AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUXTY. 


Parsons,  Robert  K.  DuBois  and  William  Slater)  succeeded  early 
in  1833  by  Hart,  DuBois  &  Co.,  (William  J,  Hart,  Robert  K.  DuBois 
and  David  J.  Garrett)  and  the  "  Portage,"  on  the  present  site  of 
Dr.  J.  H.  Peterson's  Assembly  Hall,  by  Fenn  &  Howard,  (Jonathan 
F.  Fenn  and  Charles  W.  Howard),  the  blast  of  the  former  run  by 
the  waters  of  the  Cascade  Mill  race,  and  that  of  the  latter  by  the 
waters  of  Wilcox  run  (the  cemetery  brook)  brought  in  a  race  and 
Avooden  flume  from  a  little  above  the  cemetery  lodge  and  crossing 
West  Market  street,  at  its  present  junction  with  Cherry  street. 
About  the  same  time,  also,  Messrs.  David  and  Jesse  Allen  and 
Col.  Reuben  McMillan,  under  the  firm  name  of  Aliens  &  McMillan 
erected  a  three-story  frame  building,  a  little  southwest  of  what  is 
now  known  as  the  Allen  Mills,  where  they  entered  largely  into 
the  manufacture  of  carding  and  spinning  machines,  for  which 
there  was  quite  a  demand  in  those  early  days.  This  factory  was, 
a  few  years  later,  converted  into  a  flouring  mill  by  Messrs.  Joseph 
A.  Beebe  (our  late  City  Librarian)  and  William  E.  Wright,  (late  of 
Rome,  N.  Y.,)  and  was  called  the  "Center  Mill,"  and  though  it  long 
years  ago  gave  place  to  the  Allen  Mills,  the  most  excellent  brand 
of  flour,  called  "Center  Mills,"  is  still  a  favorite  with  many  of  our 
citizens. 


TESSE  ALLEN,— sixth  son  of  Jesse 
J  Allen,  senior,  one  of  the  pioneers 
of  Coventr}^,  was  born  in  Tompkins 
Co.,  N.  Y.,  May  1,  18()7,  removing-  with 
familj^  to  Ohio  in  1811.  Though  his 
education  was  limited  he  was  remark- 
ably intelligent,  and  early  acquired 
prominence  in  business,  social  and 
political  circles.  In  boyhood  worked 
on  farm,  later  learning  tlie  trade  of  a 
stone  cutter,  at  which  he  became 
quite  expert,  especially  in  carving, 
lettering,  etc.  About  1833,  with  his 
brother,  David,  and  the  late  Reuben 
McMillan,  he  erected  a  large  three- 
story  building,  west  of  the  present 
barrel-house  of  the  Allen  Mills,  and 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  vs^ool- 
carding  and  spinning  machinerj'.  On 
the  retirement  of  Mr.  McMillan,  three 
years  later,  D.  and  J.  Allen  erected 
the  shop  on  the  west  side  of  Lock  7, 
now  embraced  in  the  Akron  Building 
and  Cabinet  Companj^'s  plant.  Mr. 
David  Allen  djang  December  6,  1842. 
at  the  age  of  42  3'ears  and  4  days,  the 
original  shop  having  meantime  been 
converted  into  the  well-remembered 
Center  Mill,  Mr.  Allen,  in  connection 
with  other  members  of  the  family, 
engaged  in  milling,  later,  with  his 
brothers  Jacob  and  Hiram,  and  the 
late  Jedediah  D.  Commins,  engag^ing 
in  the.  manufacture  of  satinets,  in  the 


JESSE   ALLEN. 

building  now  known  as  the  Allen 
Mills,  the  change  from  cloth  to  flour 
being  made  in  1856,  in  which  business 
he  continued  until  his  death,  Sept. 
24,  18(i3.  at  the  age  of  5(3  years,  4 
months  23  days.  Mr.  Allen  served 
three  years  as  member  of  the  Village 
Council — 1837-38-44.  He  never  mar- 
ried. 


PIONEER   MERCHANTS,   HOTEL    KEEPERS,  ETC. 


In  1832,  Jonathan  F.  Fenn  and  Charles  W.  Howard,  (son-in- 
law  of  Dr.  Crosby),  placed  a  stock  of  general  merchandise  in  the 
store  which  had  been  erected  by  Mr,  Seth  Iredell  as  above  stated, 


BANK    CHAKTEK    APPLIED    FOR. 


45 


but  that  firm  having  failed,  in  the  Spring  of  1835  the  building  was 
leased  to  Mr.  P.  D.  Hall,  and,  as  lessee  and  owner,  the  stand  has 
been  continuously  occupied  by  that  gentleman  to  the  present 
time.  The  "Cascade"  House  was  opened  by  Mr.  Willard  W. 
Stevens,  (now^  living  At  Tontogany,  Wood  County,  Ohio),  and 
kept  by  that  gentleman  until  the  Fall  of  1834,  when  the  lease  was 
transferred  to  our  present  venerable  fellow  citizen,  and  model 
landlord,  Mr.  Charles  B.  Cobb,  who  changed  its  name  to  the 
"Pavilion  House."  These  pioneer  hotel,  mercantile  and  manufac- 
turing establishments,  were  rapidly  followed  by  others,  so  that, 
w^hen  the  w^riter  arrived  in  Akron,  June  10,  1835,  though  the  South 
End  still  held  the  ascendency,  in  point  of  imports  and  sales  of 
merchandise,  shipments  of  produce,  etc.,  ^  the  North  End  was 
rapidly  developing  its  manufacturing  and  commercial  resources, 
and  in  population,  also,  rapidly  approached  the  former. 

/^OL.  REUBEN  MCMILLAN,— born 
^  in  Galwaj^  baratoga  Co.,  N.  Y., 
May  25,  1799,  when  young  moving 
with  parents  to  Lima,  Livingston  Co.; 
soon  after  coming  of  age  was  com- 
missioned Colonel  of  artillery ;  Oct. 
24,  1824,  was  married  to  Miss  Orpha 
Partridge,  of  Thetford,  Vt.,  who  bore 
him  six  children — Geo.  Willis,  died 
in  infancy;  Harriet  Louisa,  now  Mrs. 
D.  E.  Hill,  of  Akron;  Lucinda  Avis, 
late  Mrs.  Robert  Foster,  of  Minneap- 
olis; Caroline  Eliza,  deceased;  George 
R.  died  young;  and  Frances  A.,  now 
Mrs.  O.  W.  Keller,  of  Montana.  In 
1832,  came  to  Middlebury  and  a  year 
or  two  later  to  Akron,  engaging  with 
Messrs.  David  and  Jesse  Allen 
in  the  manufacture  of  carding  ma- 
chines; in  1836  went  to  Massillon  and 
started  the  same  business  there.  The 
works  being  destroyed  by  fire,  in  184() 
he  returned  to  Middlebury  and  or- 
ganized the  firm  of  Kent,  Irish  &  Mc- 
Millan, successful  manufacturers  of 
carding  and  spinning  machinery  for 
many  years.  Col.  McMillan  was  an 
early  advocate  of  the  cause  of  tem- 
perance, and  an  earnest  abolitionist, 
both  by  his  tongue  and  pen  advo- 
cating the  doctrines  of  the  "Wilmot 

The  joint  population  of  the  two  villages  at  this  time  was 
probably  from  600  to  900,  though  in  the  copy  of  a  petition  to  the 
Legislature,  now  in  possession  of  the  writer,  dated  Decerrtber  18, 
1835,  for  a  bank  charter  for  Akron,  the  committee  composed  of 
James  W.  Phillips,  Kichard  Howe,  Erastus  Torrey,  S.  A.  Wheeler, 
Justus  Gale,  Simon  Perkins,  Jr.,  J.  D.  Commins,  R.  McMillan  and 
Seth  Iredell,  state  the  population  of  the  town  to  be  between  1,200 
and  1,300.  It  is  quite  probable,  however,  that  it  was  intended  to 
include,  in  this  estimate,  the  inhabitants  of  Middlebury  and  other 
adjacent  territory,  who  would  be  patrons  of,  and  benefited  by,  the 
establishment  of  a  bank  in  Akron,  the  entire  population  of 
Portage  township,  five  years  later,  including  Akron,  the 
"Chuckery,"  and  a  portion  of  Middlebury,  being,  by  the  census  of 
1840,  but  2,381. 


COL.  REUBEN   MCMILLAN. 

Proviso,"  and  using  his  personal  in- 
fluence, in  Washington,  to  secure  its 
passage;  was  also  an  able  and  intelli- 
gent advocate  of  labor  reform  and 
protection  to  American  manufac- 
tures. Mr.  McMillan  died  Nov.  9, 
1851,  aged  52  years,  5  months,  14  days, 
Mrs.  McMillan  dying  March  31,  1887, 
aged  83  years.  1  month,  5  days. 


46 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


PHILANDER  D.  HALL,— born  at 
1  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  Oct.  10,  1806; 
educated  at  Weston  Academy;  at  20 
engaged  in  teaching  at.Saugatuck, 
Conn.,  where  he  also  clerked  in  dry 
goods  store  a  year  and  a  half;  return- 
ing to  Bridgeport,  engaged  in  the 
grocery  shipping  trade  and  import- 
ing West  India  products;  in  Summer 
of  1834  first  visited  Akron,  and  in  Maj^ 
1835,  established  himself  in  the  gen- 
eral merchandise  trade,  corner  of 
Howard  and  Market  streets,  then 
called  the  "Cascade  Store."  The 
original  store,  a  two-story  frame, 
being  destroyed  by  fire,  February  17, 
1851,  the  present  three-story  brick 
block  was  erected  and  occupied 
the  same  season.  In  1842  Mr.  Hall 
was  joined  in  business  by  his  brother 
Orlando,  who  was  married  to  Miss 
Sophia  R.  Towne,  December  12,  1854, 
and  died  March  10, 1855,  Mr.  Hall  soon 
afterwards  associating  with  himself 
his  brother  Lorenzo,  under  the  firm 
name  of  "Hall  Brothers,"  which  ar- 
rangement still  continues.  Mr.  Hall 
was  married  December  30, 1841,  to  Miss 
Martha  McElhinney,  of  Allegheny 
Citj'',  Pa.,  who  died  in  New  York,  Feb- 
ruary 20,  1889,  Mr.  Hall  in  1857  having 


PHILANDER   D.  HALL. 

established  his  family  residence  in 
that  city,  dividing  his  time  between 
travel  and  purchasing  supplies  for 
his  firm,  though  at  frequent  intervals 
giving  his  personal  attention  to  bus- 
iness and  property  interests  here. 


INTENSE  AND  BITTF:R   RIVALRY. 

The  completion  of  the  Cascade  Mill  race,  the  starting  of  the 
Stone  Mill,  and  other  business  enterprises  resulting  therefrom, 
soon  culminated  in  a  very  bitter  triangular  rivalry  between 
Middlebury  and  the  two  Akrons,  and  especially  between  the  North 
and  South  Akronites.  The  ancient  emporium  had  struggled 
bravely  to  prevent  the  diminution  of  its  business  by  the  establish- 
ment of  a  rival  village  at  the  Summit,  and  for  the  reason  that  the 
former,  through  its  water  pow^er,  possessed  superior  manufac- 
turing advantages,  w^as  for  a  time  fairly  successful  in  holding  its 
OAvn,  if  not,  in  fact,  slowly  advancing.  But  this  new^  rival — 
Cascade — was  an  impending  calamity  to  be  fought  to  the  bitter 
end  by  both  the  Middleburghers  and  Southenders;  for  the  Doctor's 
"goose  pasture"  prediction,  in  regard  to  the  former,  was  not  only 
likely  to  be  speedily  and  literally  fulfilled,  but  South  Akron,  also, 
was  in  imminent  danger  of  sharing  the  same  fate.  Hence,  when 
the  denizens  of  the  former  could  no  longer  retain  all  the  trade 
from. the  south  and  east,  they  would  use  their  best  endeavors  to 
turn  it  towards  the  south  end,  representing  the  inhabitants  of 
"Cascade"  as  being  a  set  of  cut-throats,  and  the  village  itself  as 
reeking  with  pestilential  niiasms  that  it  would  be  dangerous  to 
encounter,  even  for  an  hour.  These  representations  were  also 
persistently  promulgated  by  the  Southenders,  and  every  possible 
device  adopted  to  keep  the  people  of  the  country  from  visiting  the 
lower  village.  At  the  forks  of  the  road,  at  the  intersection  of  East 
Market  and  Middlebury  streets,  the  Southenders  erected,  upon  the 
south  side  of  the  road,  a  guide  board,  pointing  towards  that  village, 
bearing  the  inscription  "  Akron,  1  mile  J|@°"."  This  was  imitated  by 
hg    Northenders,  the   board    pointing  tow^ards   that   village    also 


CESSATION   OF  HOSTILITIES. 


47 


reading  "Akron,  1  mileg^"."  This  was  speedily  demolished  by 
the  Southenders,  followed  almost  as  speedily,  by  the  destruction 
of  their  own  board  by  the  irate  Northenders.  Both  of  these 
boards  were  several  times  replaced  with  like  results,  and  several 
personal  collisions  took  place  between  the  parties  detailed  to 
guard  the  boards  in  question.  At  length  a  compromise  was 
effected,  said  boards  being  inscribed  "South  Akron"  and  "North 
Akron"  respectively;  after  which,  so  far  as  the  guide  board 
contest  was  concerned,  there  was  a  cessation  of  hostilities  ;  but,  as 
will  be  seen  further  on,  the  "cruel  war"  was  bv  no  means  over. 


pOL.  JUSTUS  GALE,  — born  in 
v-y  Guilford,  Vt.,  January  14,  1798; 
June  23,  1823,  was  married  to  Miss 
Sarah  Hyde,  who  was  born  in  Guil- 
ford, April  26, 1802;  in  July,  1833  remov- 
ed to  Akron,  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
Pulsifer,  Gale  &  Austin,  establishing- 
a  store  on  the  east  side  of  South 
Main  street,  near  Exchange,  and  a 
year  later  the  pioneer  tin-shop  in 
North  Akron,  and  erecting- a  dwelling 
house  on  the  southeast  corner  of 
Howard  and  Mill  streets,  later  erect- 
ing a  cupola  furnace  and  engaging 
extensively  in  stoves,  hollow-ware, 
plows,  etc.  Col.  Gale  was  active  in 
all  public  enterprises,  an  earnest 
promoter  of  the  cause  of  education; 
was  one  of  the  trustees  of  Akron's 
first  high  school  project  in  1837;  was 
several  times  member  of  the  Village 
Council,  and  one  of  the  most  influen- 
tial promoters  of  the  New  County 
project— 1835  to  1843.  Col.  Gale  died 
June  28,  1847,  aged  49  years,  5  months, 
14  days.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gale  were  the 
parents  of  six  children — Lucy  Jane, 
afterwards  married  to  the  late  John 
H.  Chamberlain,  now  Mrs.  Alexander 
Brewster;  Sarah  Hyde,  the  first  Mrs. 
Frank  Adams,  died  in  1863,  aged  35; 
Frances  Harriet,  died  May  10,  1845, 
aged   16;   Ann    Elizabeth,    now    Mrs. 


COh.  JUSTUS  GALE. 

Theodoric  Balch,  Henry  Clay, 
farmer  on  West  Exchange  street;  and 
Mary  Gertrude,  widow  of  the  late 
James  C.  McNeil,  whose  portrait  and 
biography  appear  elsewhere.  Mrs. 
Gale,  in  full  possession  of  all  her 
faculties,  now  in  her  90th  year,  still 
survives. 


SOME  OTHER  EARLY  HOTELS. 


On  my  arrival  in  Akron,  June  10,  1835,  besides  the  "Clark 
Hotel,"  then  kept  by  Mr.  Lewis  Humiston,  who  was  also  at  that 
time  Akron's  postmaster,  there  w^as  a  two-story  frame  tavern, 
directly  east,  on  Kxchange  street,  kept  by  Dr.  Rufus  Pierce,  and  a 
new  two-story  and  a  half  frame,  the  Summit  House,  on  West 
Exchange  street,  kept  by  "Col."  Lyman  Green,  afterwards  from 
about  1839  to  1845  by  Samuel  Edgerly,  father  of  Mr.  Charles  H. 
Edgerly  and  Mrs.  Sarah  M.  E.  Battels,  Mr.  Edgerly  being  a 
charter  member  of  Akron  Lodge,  No.  83,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  dying 
in  this  city  in  1852,  while  at  the  North  end,  besides  the  Pavilion 
House,  kept  by  Mr,  Charles  B.  Cobb,  a  three-story  brick  hotel, 
called  the  "Ohio  Exchange,"  on  the  present  site  of  Woods'  Block, 
corner  Market  and  Main  streets,  -was  completed  and  occupied  by 
Gen.  Duthan  Northrop,  of  Medina,  the  same  year.  While  it  is  not 
my  design  to  name  all  the  buildings,  public  and  private,  that  then 


48 


AKKON    AND    vSUMMIT    COUNTY, 


composed  the  two  rival,  and  in  fact,  bitterly  hostile,  villages,, 
since,  with  the  pioneer  village  of  Middlebur3%  now  bravely  over  its 
"goose  pasture"  stage  of  existence,  consolidated  into  one  compact, 
harmonious  and  enterprising  city,  I  have  been  thus  particular  in 
regard  to  those  early  hotels,  because  of  the  prominent  part  the}', 
and  their  proprietors,  and  some  of  their  patrons,  will  pla}^  as 
"dramatis  persomxi"  in  the  scenes  and  events  to  be  recorded  in 
these  chapters. 


JULIUS  A.  SUMNER,  born  in 
J  Townshend,  Vt.,  January  2,  1802; 
educated  in  common  school ;  at  14 
started  out  for  himself,  going-  first 
to  Boston,  then  on  foot  to  Huntington, 
Pa.,  and  soon  to  Pittsburg,  working- 
in  nail  factory  ;  at  16  taught  school 
one  year  ;  in  1818  engaged  with  father 
and  brother  in  the  manufacture  of 
bar  and  strap  iron  and  nails  in  Mid- 
dleburj' ;  also  making  frequent  trips 
east,  over  the  mountains  with  horses 
and  cattle;  later  carrying  on  a  large 
farm,  potter}-  and  distiller3%  near 
Mogadore,  and  in  the  middle  forties, 
erecting  a  large  distillery  at  Lock 
Seventeen,  and  keeping  Akron's  prin- 
cipal hotel,  the  Ohio  Exchange,  on 
the  present  site  of  Woods'  block,  and 
quite  an  extensive  store  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  street ;  later  building 
Empire  block,  adjoining  the  Empire 
Hotel  on  the  west,  and  the  large 
hotel  and  opera  house  building,  cor- 
ner of  Howard  and  Tallmadge  streets. 
Though  from  time  to  time  meeting 
with  heavy  losses  bj-  fire,  Mr.  Sumner 
w^as  phenomenall}^  prosperous  dur- 
ing a  long  business  career,  dj-ing  June 
20, 1882,  at  the  age  of  80  years,  5  months 
and  18  days.  In  1824  Mr.  Sumner  was 
married  to  Miss  Margaret  New- 
comb,  of  Wadsworth,  who  bore  him 
six  children — Charles  A.  (now  of 
Detroit),  Mary  (now  Mrs. C.Ferguson, 
of    Akron,  Sixth  Ward),   Nellie  (Mrs. 


JtXIUS  A.  SUM>'ER. 

J.  B.  Houghton,  now  deceased),  Eliza 
(Mrs.  E.  S.  Stillwell,  of  Coventry), 
Albert  A.  (deceased)  and  Victoria 
(Mrs.  George  S.  Clark,  Akron).  Mrs. 
Sumner  dying  in  1849,  in  18.^3  Mr. 
Sumner  was  again  married  to  the 
widow  of  Heman  A.  Bradlej',  who- 
died  October  18,  1880. 


-^5igi2,.Sigi9^ 


AKRON    IXCOKPORATED.  49 


CHAPTER  II. 

AKKOX  INCOKPOKATEI)  FIRST  CHARTER  ELECTIOxN  -EARLY  MAYORS— THE 
FIRST  A  VENERABLE  AND  WEALTHY,  BUT  WORLDLY-MINDED  QUAKER  - 
THE  SECOND  AN  IMPECUNIOUS,  BUT  TALENTED  FARMER-LAWYER  "KID**— 
UNSUCCESSFUL  SPECULATIONS-  FORCED  INTO  BANKRUPTCY— PECULIAR 
LAW  PRACTICE  -PROSECUTED  FOR  ASSAULT  -CHIEF  JUSTICE  DAVID  K. 
CARTTER.  ATTORNEY  FOR  THE  STATE  "MOVING"  DEFENSE— IxXDEPENDENT 
CANDIDATE—ELECTED  BY  THE  "  KIDS  "—SUCCESSFUL  ADMINISTRATION- 
RE-ELECTED— PROSPEROUS  FARMER   -SUBSEQUENT   MAYORS,   ETC. 

ACT  OF  INCORPORATION. 

^^HE  two  villages,  North  and  South  Akron,  having  for  the  time 
J-  being  placed  their  antagonisms  in  abeyance,  in  the  Winter  of 
1835-36,  jointly  petitioned  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of 
Ohio  for  a  town  charter,  which  was  duly  granted  on  the  12th  day 
of  March,  1836.  The  territory  described  in  the  charter,  comprised 
of  portions  of  both  Portage  and  Coventry  townships,  embraced  the 
territory  within  the  recent  north,  west  and  south  corporation  lines, 
and  a  line  upon  the  east  starting  a  short  distance  east  of  the  south 
end  of  Spicer  street,  and  running  northerly,  diagonally  crossing 
Spicer  street  a  short  distance  south  of  the  old  Spicer  homestead, 
through  Fir  street  to  the  north  corporation  line,  a  little  east  of  Lock 
Sixteen,  and  containing  about  three  and  one-fourth  square  miles  of 
land. 

By  the  terms  of  the  charter  it  was  provided  that  the  first  elec- 
tion for  the  new  corporation  should  be  held  on  the  second  Tuesda}' 
of  June,  1836,  at  the  usual  place  of  holding  elections  in  the  town- 
ship of  Portage,  commencing  between  9  and  10  o'clock  in  the  fore- 
noon and  closing  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  "  white  male  inhab- 
itants "  having  resided  in  said  town  for  the  period  of  six  months, 
and  having  the  qualifications  of  electors  for  members  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  only,  being  allowed  to  vote. 

This  initial  election  was  held  at  the  tavern  of  Asa  Larned  (the 
old  Clark  stand  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Main  and  Exchange 
streets),  Harvey  H.  Johnson  (lawyer),  Rufus  Pierce  (hotel-keeper), 
and  Zebulon  Jones  (shoemaker),  acting  as  judges,  and  Franklin  C, 
May  (merchant),  acting  as  the  clerk  of  election,  being  elected  KiVe 
voce  by  the  electors  in  attendance,  as  provided  by  the  charter. 

As  the  time  for  the  election  approached,  there  was,  of  course, 
a  good  deal  of  figuring  as  to  candidates,  the  officers  to  be  elected 
being  Mayor,  Recorder  and  five  Trustees.  Not  only  politics,  but , 
sectional  interests  and  predilections,  were  invoked,  both  in  the 
choice  of  candidates  and  at  the  polls.  Whigs  and  Democrats  were 
the  only  political  parties  then  in  vogue,  and  the  lines,  in  both  gen- 
eral and  local  elections,  were  usually  drawn  pretty  taut,  and  the 
contests  were  often  very  warm,  and   sometimes  extremely  bitter. 

By  this  time  the  voting  population  of  the  North  End  was 
rather  the  stronger,  and  in  the  caucuses  secured  both  of  the  can- 
didates for  Mayor — Seth  Iredell  (Whig),  and  Dr.  Eliakim  Crosby 
(Democrat) — as  well  as  both  of  tliii  candidates  for  Recorder — Charles 
W.  Howard  (Whig),  and  Constant  Bryan  (Democrat).  Politically, 
the  new  corporation  was  pretty  evenly  balanced,  but  an  analysis 
of  the  vote,  for  Mayor  and  Recorder,  will  show  that  sectional,  rather 


50 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY 


than  political,  interest,  was  the  most  potent  factor  in  determining 
the  result.  Mr.  Iredell  was  a  venerable  Pennsylvania  Quaker, 
a  man  of  liberal  means  (for  those  days),  and  had  been  thoroughly 
identified  with  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  LoAver  Town  from 
its  very  start,  while  Dr.  Crosby  was,  in  reality,  the  very  father 
thereof,  by  reason  of  his  having  projected  and  successfully  com- 
pleted the  Cascade  Mill  race,  w^hich  made  the  very  existence  of  the 
Lower  Town  possible. 

The  vote  for  Mayor  stood  :  Iredell  (Whig),  91 ;  Crosbj^  (Democrat), 
75;  clearly  indicating  that  the  very  fact  that  the  Louver  Tow^n 
existed  through  the  genius  and  push  of  the  enterprising  Doctor, 
compassed  his  defeat.  A  like  influence  is  also'seen  in  the  vote  for 
Recorder;  Mr.  Howard,  (Whig,  but  son-in-law  of  Dr.  Crosby),  receiv- 
ing but  75  votes,  w^hile  his  competitor,  Mr.  Bryan  (Democrat), 
received  87.  The  contest  for  Trustees  seems  to  have  been  a  sort  of 
"go  as  you  please"  scrub  race,  16  different  persons  receiving  votes 
as  follows :  Krastus  Torrey,  153 ;  Jedediah  D.  Commins,  143 ; 
William  B.  Mitchell,  114;  William  E.  Wright,  88;  Justus  Gale,  87; 
Noah  M.  Green,  124;  Ansel  Miller,  23;  Robert  K.  DuBois,  43; 
Samuel  A.  Wheeler,  4 ;  Alvah  Hand,  3 ;  Hiram  Payne,  7 ;  Eliakim 
Crosby,  13 ;  Seth  Iredell,  3 ;  Richard  Howe,  1 ;  Eber  Blodgett, 
2 ;  and  Capt.  Howe,  1.  Erastus  Torrey  (South  Akron,  Whig), 
Jedediah  D.  Commins,  (South  Akron,  Democrat),  Noah  M.  Green, 
(South  Akron,  Whig),  William  B.  Mitchell,  (North  Akron,  Demo- 
crat), and  William  E.  Wright,  (North  Akron,  IF72i^),were  returned 
as  duly  elected,  but  Mr.  Mitchell  declining  to  qualify,  the  Council, 
at  its  second  meeting,  appointed  Col.  Justus  Gale,  (of  North 
Akron,  Whig),  to  fill  the  vacancy ;  the  Mayor  and  Recorder,  with 
the  five  Trustees,  constituting  the  Town  Council,  and  five 
members  constituting  a  quorum  ;  Marshal,  Treasurer,  Engineer, 
Solicitor,  etc.,  being  appointive  offices  by  the  Council. 

AKRON'S  FIRST  MAYOR. 

As  above  stated,  Seth  Iredell  re- 
ceived 91  votes  for  Mayor  out  of  a 
total  vote  of  166,  being  a  majority  of 
16  over  the  vote  of  his  worthy  com- 
petitor, Dr.  Crosby.  This  total  vote 
of  166,  making  the  ver\^  liberal 
allow^ance  of  five  inhabitants  for 
every  vote  cast,  Avould  make  the 
total  population  of  the  town  at  this 
period,  830  souls,  only,  instead  of 
1,200  or  1,300,  as  represented  a  year 
previous,  in  the  memorial  to  the 
Legislature  for  a  bank  charter,  here- 
tofore alluded  to. 

Mr.  Seth  Iredell,  the  first  recip- 
ient of  Akron's  highest  honor,  the 
mayoralty,  w^as  a  Pennsylvania 
Quaker,  then  about  62  years  of  age, 
but  still  remarkably  vigorous,  both 
physically  and  mentally.  Though, 
characteristic  of  his  sect,  he  w^as 
moderate  in  conversation,  and  con- 


SETH  IREDEIvL. 


Akron's  first  mayor.  51 

servative  in  business  and  official  matters,  he  was,  nevertheless, 
decided  in  his  opinions,  and  diligent  in  the  discharge  of  every 
private  obligation  and  public  duty.  Thus,  while  he  looked  care- 
fully after  the  welfare  of  the  public,  and  labored  faithfully  for  the 
prosperity  of  the  entire  town,  being  a  man  of  peace,  he  also  earnestly 
sought  to  harmonize  sectional  differences,  and  allay  sectional  ani- 
mosities. This  characteristic  also  led  him  to  discourage  every 
species  of  litigation,  and  to  peaceably  and  amicably  adjust  antag- 
onisms among  his  neighbors.  Hence,  though  opening  and  keeping 
a  mayor's  docket,  as  required  by  law,  he  not  only  did  not  court 
magisterial  business,  but,  so  far  as  he  could,  turned  such  parties 
as  were  bound  to  fight,  whether  civilly  or  criminally,  over  to  the 
justices  of  the  peace  of  the  respective  townships  out  of  which  the 
municipal  corporation  had  been  carved. 

The  venerable  and  most  amiable  and  devoted  Quaker  wife  of 
Mr.  Iredell,  Mrs.  Mary  Iredell,  died  on  the  17th  day  of  March,  1839, 
at  the  age  of  65  years,  leaving  no  children.  As  soon  thereafter  as 
the  proprieties  would  allow,  Mr.  Iredell  married,  for  his  second 
wife,  Elizabeth  (or  Betsy)  Davidson,  who  had  been  a  faithful 
domestic  in  the  family  for  several  years,  and  who  died  Nov.  30, 
1840,  at  the  age  of  34  years,  leaving  one  son,  Charles  Iredell,  for 
many  years  a  worthy  citizen  of  Portage  county,  but  now  residing 
in  Akron. 

Mr.  Iredell  married,  for  his  third  wife.  Miss  Mary  Irvin,  of 
Middlebury,  March  4,  1841,  with  whom  he  lived  quietly  and  hap- 
pily until  his  death,  March  22,  1854,  at  the  ripe  age  of  80  years. 
The  fruit  of  this  marriage  was  two  sons — Seth,  a  bright  and 
promising  boy,  who  died  at  the  age  of  seven  years,  September 
13,  1849,  and  Robert  S.,  still  living,  a  highly  respected  resident  of 
his  native  city,  over  w^hich,  in  its  chrysalis  existence,  of  more  than 
a  half  a  century  ago,  his  venerable  father  reigned  as  its  first 
chief  magistrate.  Mrs.  Mary  Irvin  Iredell  died  April  19,  1883,  at 
the  age  of  78  years.  ' 

By  the  provisions  of  the  charter,  the  tenure  of  municipal  office 
was  one  year,  only.  The  second  annual  election  was  held  on  the 
first  Tuesday  of  June,  1837,  at  Clark's  hotel,  in  South  Akron,  with 
Councilmen  William  E.  Wright  and  William  K.  May,  as  judges, 
and  Recorder  Constant  Bryan,  as  clerk.  The  record  does  not  give 
the  names  of  all  the  candidates  voted  for,  but  the  result  only. 
There  were  155  votes  polled,  of  which  John  C.  Singletary. 
Jr.,  received  85  votes  for  Mayor  ;  William  E.  Wright,  135  votes 
for  Recorder ;  and  for  Trustees,  William  K.  May,  133 ;  William 
T.  Mather,  145 ;  Dana  D.  Evans,  125 ;  Jesse  Allen,  147 ;  and 
Eber  Blodgett,  110  votes,  being  an  entirely  new  set  of  men,  with 
the  exception  of  William  E.  Wright,  Recorder-elect,  who  had  served 
as  Trustee  during  the  preceding  year,  and  William  K.  May,  who 
had  several  months  before  been  appointed  Trustee,  in  the  place 
J.  D.  Commins,  resigned.  The  new  Council  met  for  organization 
June  12,  with  Mayor  Iredell  in  the  chair,  until  the  bond  of  the 
Mayor-elect,  in  the  sum  of  $3,000,  was  approved,  which  was  unani- 
mously done,  one  of  the  eleven  sureties  upon  the  bond  being  the 
late  Paris  Tallman,  Esq.,  of  803  East  Market  street.  At  the 
second  meeting,  September  17,  Horace  K.  Smith  was  elected 
Treasurer,  and  Moses  Cleveland,  Marshal,  which,  with  the  regular 
standing  committees,  completed  the  organization. 


52 


AKKON    AND    vSUMMlT   COUNTY. 


AKRON'S  SECOND  MAYOR. 

^^^^^^^  Although  Mayor  Iredell,  as  before 
/ j^^^^^^^s  intimated,  had  declined  to  do  very 
i^/    )^^^^^  Vu\^  much  judicial  business,  his  admin- 
^i^f                 ^H^^  istration  had  been  generally   satis- 
fy; fl      ^^^i^^Hv  factory,  and  as  the  time  for  the  new 
(f>!ff     ^^^^r    ^^  election    approached,    it    was    sup- 
\ll^'         "^/    ^^  posed    he  would    be   his   own   suc- 
\lfii'^'^  d^rfm^^k.  cessor;   but  it   was  destined  to  be 

^^<A^M^mVl^m.  ^^    ^^^^'    there     had     come    into 

liii i /-^i^^^iir  /  r'f'iWr\ f  ijy i I I^^S, c-.. ■ -.      Akron,  a  stalw^art  young  lawyer,  hy 
'^lll/^^fmf^h}'  iHyilvll  \\\N;«         -    the  name  of  John  Curtis  Singletary,. 

"^"^^^^Pi^^^Klllij^jM^i^^Hi^  every  way  well  proportioned,  with 
'^^^^^^^■H^^^iil^^^^^'     ^^   intelligent    and    genial    counte- 

>fl^^^^^^^^^    F^^l^^      nance,     good-natured,     social     and 

^^"^^^^^^^^^^v  p/^^^ws       kind-hearted.    His  father,  Col.  John 

'      / iK  C.   Singletary,   was    a    wealthy 

J.  c.  SINGLETARY.  and    highly     respected    farmer     of 

the  tov^nship  of  Streetsboro.  Young 
Singletary  was  born  in  Aurora,  Portage  Count}^  December  19, 1810, 
and  was  a  graduate  of  Western  Reserve  College,  at  Hudson,  of  the 
class  of  1835.  His  proficiency  in  his  studies  was  such  that  he  had 
substantially  completed  his  course  a  year  or  more  before  graduation 
day,  and  had  also  studied  law  with  his  uncle,  in  Middleburj',  the 
late  Senator  Gregory  Powers,  and  had  been  admitted  to  the  Bar, 
by  the  Court  in  Banc,  at  Coluinbus,  in  1834,  Judge  Reuben  Wood 
presiding. 

Though  not  very  liberally  endowed  with  read}-  money,  he  had 
been  provided  by  his  father  w^ith  a  good  law  library  (for  those  days) 
and  started  in,  at  the  age  of  24,  with  bright  prospects  of  winning 
for  himself  a  brilliant  career  in  his  chosen  profession;  building  a 
commodious  and  comfortable  office  on  the  south  side  of  Kxchange 
street,  a  little  east  of  Main. 

Had  the  young  lawyer  stuck  closely  to  his  briefs,  all  would 
have  been  well;  but,  unfortunately,  like  the  most  of  his  associates, 
he  w^as  seized  with  the  prevailing  mania  for  speculation,  the 
embryo  "Lowell  of  the  West,"  as  Akron  was  then  called,  being  at 
that  time  decidedly  on  the  boom;  both  business  blocks  and  tene- 
ment houses  being  in  real  or  prospective  demand. 

Accordingly,  with  but  limited  business  or  financial  experience, 
but,  (as  he  himself  expresses  it  in  a  private  note  to  the  writer),  with 
"immense  credit,"  he  largely  "invested"  in  village  lots,  building 
materials,  labor,  etc.;  one  of  the  monuments  of  his  enterprise  being 
the  substantial  two  story  tenement  house,  on  the  corner  of  Bowery 
and  West  Middlebury  streets,  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Dr.  John 
G.  Carpender.  The  tightening  doAvn  of  business  and  monetary 
matters,  in  1836,  precursory  to  the  great  financial  and  commercial 
crash  in  1837,  brought  matters  to  a  crisis,  and  our  youthful  specu- 
lator was  forced  into  bankruptc}'. 

Bverything  he  possessed,  even  down  to  his  law  office,  library, 
etc.,  had  to  be  sacrificed.  This,  of  course,  very  materially  clouded 
his  prospects,  and  subjected  him  to  many  indignities,  and  consid- 
erable persecution,  from  those  who  held,  but  were  unable  to  realize 


^  Akron's  second  mayor.         "  53 

upon,  his  paper.  But  he  still  maintained  his  genial  good  nature, 
and,  to  a  limited  extent,  his  law  practice;  his  desire  being  rather  to 
see  justice  done,  through  his  services,  than  the  tilling  of  his  own 
pockets. 

As  a  sample  of  his  mode  of  procedure,  in  this  regard,  and  of  tlie 
persecutions  with  which  he  was  beset,  the  following  incident  will 
suffice:  A  farmer's  boy,  from  Springfield,  came  to  town  on  busi- 
ness, riding  upon  one  of  his  father's  horses.  A  local  shark  had 
induced  the  boy  to  swap  horses  with  him,  and  had  palmed  off  upon 
the  boy  a  tolerably  good  looking,  but  totally  blind,  horse.  On  dis- 
covering the  swindle  that  had  been  perpetrated  upon  him,  the  boy 
sought  the  office  of  young  Singletary,  and  weepingly  told  his  tale. 

"Where  is  your  horse?"  enquired  Singletary. 

"  Over  in  the  tavern  barn,"  said  the  boy,  and  then  looking  out 
of  the  window,  he  exclaimed,  "there  he  goes  now;  they're  leading 
him  away —  please  stop  'em,  Mister!" 

Looking  in  the  direction  indicated,  Singletary  saw  a  noted 
horse-jockey-boat-captain,  leading  the  farmer's  horse  past  his 
office.  Stepping  into  the  street,  he  took  hold  of  the  halter  strap, 
and  said  to  the  boat-captain,  "Here,  give  this  boy  his  horse." 

"'Tain't  his  hoss  ;  it's  my  hoss  ;  it  was  a  fair  trade,"  replied  the 
captain. 

Singletary  pulled  one  way,  and  the  horse-jockey  the  other, 
until  the  latter  began  to  make  some  hostile  demonstrations 
towards  the  former,  when  Singletary,  striking  straight-out  from 
the  shoulder  with  that  brawny  right  fist  of  his,  knocked  the 
trick}'  boat-captain  nearly  half  Avay  across  the  street.  Then,  before 
the  captain  could  recover  his  equilibrium,  and  his  grip  upon  the 
halter,  Singletary  picked  up  the  boy,  threw  him  astride  the  horse, 
and  told  him  to  "run  for  his  life,"  which  he  literally  did  ;  neither 
the  boy  nor  the  horse  ever  having  been  seen  or  heard  of  by  Mr. 
Singletary  from  that  day  to  this. 

The  discomfited  horse-jockey,  backed  b}'  the  entire  gang, 
caused  Singletary  to  be  arrested  for  assault  and  battery.  The 
Avarrant  AAras  issued  by  Justice  of  the  Peace,  John  H.  Cleveland, 
whose  office  was  located  in  North  Akron,  in  the  second  story  of 
a  building  standing  -where  the  office  of  the  Thomas  Lumber  and 
Building  Co.  no^v  stands,  on  the  west  side  of  West  Market  Street 
canal  bridge.  Justice  Cleveland  was  a  short,  corpulent  luan,  a  veri- 
table "Dogberry,"  and  very  decidedly  appreciated  the  importance 
and  dignity  of  his  official  position. 

The  case  w^as  prosecuted  by  David  K.  Cartter,  Esq.,  late  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  Cartter 
was  then,  1835,  a  new  accession  to  the  legal  fraternity  of  Akron 
and  the  bar  of  Portage  County.  He  had,  however,  been  here  suf- 
ficiently long  to  have  fully  established  his  reputation  as  a  sharp, 
w^itty,  and  terribly  sarcastic  pettifogger,  before  the  lower  courts,  as 
well  as  a  profound  and  sagacious  lawyer,  and  skillful  pleader, 
before  the  higher  courts.  Singletary  defended  himself,  assisted  by 
Harvey  H.  Johnson,  Esq. 

During  the  examination  of  witnesses,  by  Cartter,  numerous 
objections  interposed  by  Singletary,  and  his  associate  counsel, 
were  nearly  all  promptly  and  pompously  over-ruled  by  the  Court. 
At  the  conclusion  of  Cartter's  opening  plea,  in  which  the  accused 


54  AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 

had  been  unmercifully  scored,  Singletary  arose,  and  with  smiling 
countenance,  commenced  his  defense  something  in  this  -wise : 

'*  May  it  please  your  Honor,  I  stand  here  nominally  to  defend 
myself  against  the  charge  of  assault  and  battery,  but  in  reality  as 
the  defender  of  virtue  and  innocence  against  such  unmitigated 
scoundrels  as  the  complainant  in  this  case,  and  the  perjured  vil- 
lains who " 

Cartter  :  (Interrupting)  "I  ask  the  Court  to  protect  the 
-witnesses  for  the  State  from  the  abusive  epithets  of  the  prisoner 
now^  on  trial." 

The  Court:  "Mr.  Singletary,  you  must  confine  your  remarks 
strictly  to  your  defense,  under  the  evidence  that  has  been  given." 

Singletary:  (Resuming)  "That,  may  it  please  your  Honor, 
is  precisely  ivhat  I  am  doing,  and  I  repeat,  that  I  stand  here  as  the 
defender  of  virtue  and  innocence  against  thieves  and  robbers,  and 
I  am  not  to  be  intimidated  by  the  foul-mouthed  billingsgate  of  the 
imported  blackguard  from  New"  York,  nor  am  I  to  be  frowned 
down,  nor  awed  into  silence,  by  the  bloated  dignitj^  of  the 
Court " 

Justice  Clev^Eland  :  (Hastily  rising)  "  Stop,  sir !  Stop  sir !  I 
w^on't  listen  to  you,  btit  bind  you  over  to  Court!"  and  seizing  his 
docket  he  rushed  from  the  room.  As  he  reached  the  door 
Singletary  laughingly  called  to  him  : 

"Hold  on.  Squire!     What's  the  amount  of  the  bond?" 

"Three  hundred  dollars!"  yelled  the  irate  Justice,  as  he  dis- 
appeared through  the  door. 

The  bond  -was  duly  executed,  and  the  transcript  sent  to  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Portage  County,  but  the  case  was 
promptly  ignored  by  the  Grand  Jury  at  the  September  term,  1835,^ 
on  hearing  all  the  facts  connected  therewith. 

As  above  related,  the  financial  and  business  status  of  the  young 
lawyer,  was  considerably  below^  zero,  on  the  setting  in  of  the  Winter 
of  1836-7.  Clients  were  few,  and  most  of  those  who  d^d  emploj"  him 
were  as  impecunious  as  himself;  and  being  too  proud  to  call  upon 
his  father  for  further  pecuniary  aid,  he  was  often  in  dire  straits  for 
his  daily  bread.  In  addition  to  this,  he  was  constantly  hounded  by 
his  creditors,  and  taunted  with  his  failure  and  poverty. 

One  day,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  Winter  of  1836-7,  he  turned 
upon  a  party  of  his  high-toned  annoyers,  saying:  "Never  mind,, 
gentlemen,  it  is  your  turn  now^,  but  my  turn  v^^ill  come  by  and  by^ 
for  I  intend  to  be  your  next  Mayor ! "  This  declaration  was  received 
virith  shouts  of  derision,  and  after  a  few  daj^s'  gossip  and  laughter 
over  the  boast,  the  circumstance  was  forgotten  by  those  >vho  heard 
it.  Not  so,  how^ever,  with  the  moneyless  and  almost  briefless  la^v- 
yer.  As  the  June  election  drew  near,  he  announced  himself  as  an 
independent  candidate  for  Mayor.  His  announcement  was  fairl^^ 
hooted  at  by  the  "aristocracy"  of  both  sections  of  the  town;  his 
lack  of  success  in  business,  and  his  poverty,  being  the  chief  accu- 
sations against  him,  for  his  honesty,  moralit}^  and  ability  could  not 
be  called  in  question. 

It  is  not  no"w  remembered  w^ho  was  placed  in  nomination  against 
him,  but,  by  concentrating  the  vote  of  both  parties  upon  a  single 
man,  it  Avas  not  supposed  that  Singletary  stood  the  ghost  of  a 
chance  of  being  elected.  The  opposition  to  him  at  length  became 
so  bitter  and  abusive  that  a  reaction  in  his  favor  finally  set  in.    The 


SUBSEQUENT   MAYORS   TO   DATE.  55 

majority  of  the  voters  of  the  town,  mostly  young  men — nearly,  if 
not  quite,  as  poor  as  himself — began  to  argue  that  poverty,  though 
mighty  inconvenient,  was  not  a  crime,  and  that  even  in  a  rough- 
and-tumble  physical  fight,  it  was  mean  to  kick  a  man  when  he  was 
down.  Consequently  the  "kids"  of  that  day,  of  whom  the  writer 
was  one,  openly  espoused  the  cause  of  the  plucky  independent  can- 
didate, and  the  election  of  June  13,  1837,  resulted  in  his  triumphant 
election  by  the  handsome  majority  of  15,  above  indicated. 

Mr.  Singletary,  who  had  hitherto  resided  in  the  South  End, 
immediately  opened  an  office  in  the  north  village,  and  announced 
himself  ready  to  attend  to  all  the  duties  of  the  office,  both  civil, 
municipal  and  criminal.  So  successful  was  his  administration 
that  he  ^vas  triumphantly  re-elected  on  the  5th  day  of  June,  1838, 
against  a  prominent  South  End  lawyer,  William  M.  Dodge,  Esq., 
receiving  125  votes  out  of  a  total  of  222,  being  a  majority  of  28. 

He  continued  to  satisfactorily  discharge  his  municipal  and 
magisterial  duties  until  February,  1839,  when,  by  reason  of  debility 
superinduced  by  oft  recurring  attacks  of  fever  and  ague,  he  went 
home  to  Streetsboro  to  recruit,  -where,  on  account  of  the  poor 
health  and  the  increasing  years  of  his  father,  he  concluded  to 
permanently  remain,  and  where,  as  successor  to  his  father's  tine 
estate  of  some  350  acres  of  excellent  land,  he  has  since  lived  the 
life  of  a  quiet  but  highly  successful  and  enterprising  farmer. 

On  the  11th  day  of  August,  1845,  Mr.  Singletary  was  married 
to  Miss  Mary  Ann  Carter,  of  Boston  township,  Avho  is  still  living. 
There  have  been  born  tq  them  eight  children — three  sons  and  five 
daughters — of  whom  three  of  the  latter  only  survive.  For  the  past 
few^  years  the  health  of  Mr.  Singletary  has  not  been  very  good,  and 
yet,  at  the  age  of  80  years,  he  is  able  to  superintend  his  extensi>»e 
farming  operations,  and  will  be  happy  to  receive  calls  from  any  of 
his  old  Akron  friends  and  constituents,  at  his  hospitable  domicile, 
on  the  northw^est  corner  of  the  public  square,  at  the  center .  of 
Streetsboro. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  these  papers  to  give  the  biographies  of 
all  the  persons  who  have  held  the  honored  post  of  Mayor  of  Akron 
during  the  half  century  of  its  municipal  existence,  both  as  Town, 
Village,  and  City,  some  of  whose  characters  and  idiosyncracies  were, 
perhaps,  as  marked  as  those  of  the  two  already  named.  The  bare 
names,  therefore,  of  those  who  have  successively  filled  that  office, 
since  June,  1839,  with  the  length  of  their  respective  terms  of 
service,  will  have  to  suffice:  1839,  Lucius  V.  Bierce;  1840,  Arad 
Kent;  1841,  Lucius  V.  Bierce;  1842  and  1843,  Harvey  H.  Johnson; 
1844,  Lucius  V.  Bierce;  1845,  1846  and  1847,  Philo  Chamberlin;  1848, 
Israel  E.  Carter;  1849,  Lucius  V.  Bierce;  1850,  George  Bliss;  1851, 
Charles  G.  Ladd;  1852.  Frederick  Wadsworth;  1853,  Philip  N. 
Schuyler;  1854,  William  T.  Allen;  1855  and  1856,  Nathaniel  Finch; 
1857  and  1858,  Frederick  A.  Nash;  1859,  George  W.  McNeil;  1860 
and  1861,  Henrv  Purdy;  1862  and  1863,  Charles  A.  Collins:  1864, 
George  D.  Bates;  1865  and  1866,  James  Mathews;  1867  and  1868, 
Lucius  V.  Bierce;  1869,  1870,  1871  and  1872,  T^lm  L.  Robertson; 
1873  and  1874,  Henry  Purdy;  1875  and  1876,  Levi  S.  Herrold;  1877 
and  1878,  James  F.  Scott;  187.9  and  1880,  John  M.  Fraze;  1881  and 
1882,  Samuel  A.  Lane;  1883,  1884,  1885  and  1886,  Lorenzo  Dow 
Watters;  1887  and  1888,  Louis  D.  Seward;  1889,  1890,  1891  and  1892, 
William  H.  Miller. 


56 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


TAMES  MATHEWS,  bom  in  Wash- 
J  iiigton  County,  N.  Y.,  April  23, 
1803;  in  bo5^hood  removing-  with  his 
parents  to  Vermont;  educated  in 
common  schools  and  bred  a  cabinet 
maker  and  ornamental  painter ;  in 
1839  came  to  Akron,  and  eng-ag-ed  in 
mantifacturing-  grain  shovels,  in  1841 
engaging  in  g^rocery  business,  until 
1849  when  he  became  secretary  and 
inanager  of  the  Summit  Mutual  Fire 
Insurance  Company,  and  on  the 
winding  up  of  the  business  of  that 
companj',  a  few  years  later,  becoming- 
the  agent  of  several  of  the  leading 
lire  insurance  companies  of  the 
country,  and  of  the  Mutual  Life  of 
New  York,  for  which  he  secured  a 
very  large  clientage  in  Akron  and 
vicinity,  the  policies  written  b}^  him 
aggregating  over  $12,000,000.  Mr. 
Mathews  possessed  both  public  spirit 
and  private  enterprise,  as  witness  the 
fine  block  on  Howard  street  bearing- 
his  name  ;  was  a  member  of  Akron 
Town  Council  in  1843 ;  member  of 
first  Board  of  Education  in  1847,  and 
the  first  Mayor  of  Akron,  under  city 
charter,  1865-1866.  Mr.  Mathews  was 
inarried  to  Miss  Agnes  Grant,  of 
Wells  River,  Vt.,  in  January,  1833,  who 
died  in  Akron  in  April,  1870,  leaving- 
three  children — George  H.,  who  died 


JAMES    MATHEWS. 

in  Deceinber  1873,  Henrj'  G.  and 
Charles  H.,  now  of  New  York.  Mr. 
Mathews  was  ag-ain  married,  to  Mrs. 
Isabella  ("Howard)  Taj'ler,  a  native  of 
Middlebury,  (Akron,  Sixth  Ward), 
who  now  resides  in  California,  Mr. 
Mathews  dying^  December  2'),  1883. 
aged  80  years,  8  months  and  2  days. 


HENRY    PUKDY. 


HENRY  PURDY,-  son  of  Solomon 
Purdj',  was  born  in  Zanesville. 
Ohio,  September  30,  181,5,  removing  to 
Spring-field    township,  with    parents. 


when  13  3ears  of  age;  educated  in 
Putnam  Acadeni)'  in  Zanesville  and 
Randolph  Academy.  In  1837  became 
associated  Avith  his  father  in  the 
manufacture  of  stoneware  at  the 
center  of  Springfield.  In  18.52  Mr. 
Purd}'  Avas  elected  Count}'  Recorder 
on  the  Whig  ticket,  and  re-elected  in 
1855  on  the  Republican  ticket,  hold- 
ing the  office  six  jears;  was  member 
of  Council  in  1857;  Maj^or  of  Akron 
in  18(30-1861,1873-1874;  and  Justice  of 
the  Peace  for  Portage  Township, 
with  the  exception  of  a  single  term, 
from  1868  till  his  resignation,  bj' 
reason  of  failing  health,  February 
12,  1888.  February  2.  1837,  Mr.  Purdy 
was  married  to  Miss  Diantha  C. 
Clark,  daughter  of  Barber  Clark,  of 
Franklin  Mills,  (no%V  Kent).  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Purdj,  who  have  continuously 
resided  in  Akron  since  April,  1853, 
have  three  children  Mills  B.  (City 
Clerk  1867,  1868,  1869,  1870.  1871,  1872 
and  1876)  born  June  27,  1839;  Mary  C, 
(now  Mrs.  J.  A.  Boj-nton,  of  Sala- 
manca, N.  Y.)  born  Julv  10,  1841;  and 
Melissa  C.  (now  Mrs.  S.  K.  Zwisler, 
Akron)  born  November  29.  1847. 


THERE    WERE    "CKOOKS"    IN    THOSE    DAYS.  57 


CHAPTER  III. 

EARLY  CROOKEDNESS"  CONFIDEXCE  GAMES,  "KEG"  MONEY,  ETC.  UNSAVORY 
REPUTATION— THE  "G0RE"-Y  BATTLE  GROUND  BITTER  POST-OFFICE  CON- 
TROVERSY—CRIMINATION  AND  RECRIMINATION  SCANDALOUS  CHURCH 
SyUABBLES — DECADENCE  OF  MIDDLEBURY  AND  THE  SOUTH  END  -DESPISED 
"CASCADE"  IN  THE  ASCENDENCY  THE  "WHIRLIGIG  OF  TIME  BRINGS  ALL 
THINGS  EVEN,"  ETC.,  ETC. 

EARLY  CROOKEDNESS. 

IN  those  early  days,  the  Ohio,  Mississippi,  and  other  western  riv- 
ers and  lakes,  and  the  cities  and  villages  contiguous  thereto, 
were  swarming  with,  and  infested  by,  gamblers,  counterfeiters  and 
thieves;  and  on  the  opening  of  the  Ohio  Canal,  as  a  channel  for 
trade  and  travel,  not  only  the  passenger  boats  navigating  its  waters, 
but  the  thriving  towns  that  immediately  sprang  into  existence 
along  its  entire  line,  were  soon  thoroughly  infested  by  the  several 
classes  of  "sports"  and  "crooks"  alluded  to,  with  branch  resorts  at 
man3^  of  the  "centers"  and  "corners"  of  adjacent  tow^nships. 

Akron  and  other  points  ^vithin  the  present  limits  of  Summit 
County,  were  by  no  means  excepted  from  the  general  rule,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  the  large  number  of  locks  here,  and  the  peculiar  for- 
mation of  the  country,  particularly  down  the  valley,  northw^ard  from 
Akron,  afforded  especial  facilities  for  the  successful  operations  of 
the  fraternity,  and  for  the  effective  concealment  of  their  nefarious 
occupation,  their  gambling  and  counterfeiting  implements,  and 
their  stolen  plunder.  " 

At  the  date  of  mj^  arrival  in  town,  (1835)  the  average  honest 
stranger  was  filled  with  astonishment  at  the  large  number  of  finely- 
dressed,  ruffle-shirted,  plug-hatted,  kid-gloved,  lavishly-bejewelled, 
and  apparently  wealthy  sojourners  at  the  various  hotels.  To  the 
writer,  though,  the  genus  was  very  familiar,  the  several  preceding 
months  having  been  spent  in  New  Orleans,  Louisville  and  Cincin- 
nati, and  on  the  steamers  plying  between  those  points,  with  brief 
calls  at  Natchez,  Vicksburg,  Memphis,  and  other  blackleg-infested 
towns  upon  those  great  thoroughfares — the  Mississippi  and  Ohio 
rivers.  Indeed,  so  flagrant  had  become  the  operations  and  outrages 
of  this  class  of  scoundrels,  that  about  this  time  the  honest  people 
of  Vicksburg,  after  giving  the  gamblers  proper  warning  to  leave 
that  place,  arose  in  their  might  and  summarily  hung  half  a  dozen 
or  more  to  the  lamp  posts  and  shade  trees  of  the  city,  creating  the 
most  intense  excitement  among  all  classes,  and  a  decided  panic 
among  tha  fraternity  throughout  the  entire  South  and  West. 

Besides  the  numerous  raids  that  were  made  among  the  pioneer 
farmers  of  the  vicinity,  by  those  early  "crooks"  and  shoversof  the 
"  queer,"  for  predator}^  purposes,  and  for  the  purchase  of  horses, 
cattle,  sheep  and  other  property  with  bogus  coin  or  spurious  paper, 
there  was  in  Akron  and  other  business  centers  of  the  gang,  a  set 
of  confidence  operators,  who  got  in  their  work  something  in  this 
wise  : 

An  unsophisticated  farmer  would  be  inveigled  into  some  back 
room,  and  "confidentially"  shown  a  number  of  genuine  American  or 
Spanish  silver  dollars,  with  the  statement  that  they  were  bogus, 


58  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

but  SO  cleverly  executed  that  they  could  never  be  detected,  and 
that  if  he  would  buy  500  or  1,000  of  them,  to  operate  with  among 
his  neighbors,  he  might  have  them  for  10  or  20  cents  on  the  dollar. 
If  the  cupidity  of  the  ruralist  should  over-balance  his  discretion, 
and  he  should  "  tumble  to  the  racket,"  he  would  be  shovt^n  sev- 
eral small  kegs,  said  to  contain  500  or  1,000  each  of  the  bogus  coin, 
so  arranged  that  by  taking  out  a  plug  in  one  end,  he  could  see  the 
glittering  metal  of  a  genuine  silver  dollar  inside,  and  be  assured  that 
if,  on  getting  home  and  counting  it,  he  did  not  find  the  full  num- 
ber there,  the  dealer  would  make  it  all  right  the  next  time  he  came 
to  tow^n. 

Having  duly  paid  over  his  $50  or  $100  in  good  money,  and 
having  with  due  secrecy  deposited  the  keg  selected  under  the 
straAV  in  the  wagon,  the  "honest"  yeoman  w^ould  depart  for  home,^ 
to  find,  on  examining  his  treasure,  that,  w4th  the  exception  of  the 
genuine  dollar  seen  through  the  hole  in  the  end,  his  precious  keg 
contained  the  regulation  weight  of  scrap-iron,  onlj^. 

Generally  the  victim  would  quietly  swalloAV  his  disappoint- 
ment and  shame,  and  never  be  heard  of  again  ;  but  noAV  and  then 
one  would  return  to  seek  redress,  only  to  be  told  by  the  operator,  if 
found,  that  he  had  never  seen  him  before,  or  to  be  informed  by  his 
laAvyer  that  his  OAvn  hands  w^ere  too  badly  soiled  in  the  transac- 
tion to  enable  him  to  proceed  against  his  confederate  in  crime. 

The  game  was  ])y  no  means  confined  to  Akron,  or  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  canal,  as  witness  the  following  item  from  the 
Western  Courier,  of  Ravenna,  under  date  of  September  15,  1836: 

"Several  attempts  have  been  made  lately,  to  defraud  in  the  waj-  of  what 
is  called  keg  money  speculations  ;  obtaining  money  and  property  oti  a 
promise  to  deliver  a  keg"  or  box  of  money,  of  large  amount,  and  'Just  as  good 
as  genuine.'  The  keg  or  box  supposed  to  contain  the  money,  and  perhaps 
having  some  on  the  surface,  is  usuallj^  delivered  in  some  dark  place,  and  'is 
then,  if  of  any  value,  wrested  or  stolen  from  the  owner  by  ruffians  before  he 
gets  home  with  it.  Many  such  cases  have  formerly  occurred  in  this  county, 
in  Geaug"a  and  Cuyahoga,  and  several  latelj^ — the  last  one  in  Newburg.  But 
the  people  are  learning  to  expose  them,  and  the  head  ones  have  to  abscond 
from  the  officers  of  the  law." 

Similar  transactions  in  paper  "money"  w^ere  also  often  nego- 
tiated, genuine  bills  being  exhibited  and  represented  as  coun- 
terfeit, and  duly  placed  in  a  package,  under  the  eye  of  the 
purchaser,  to  be  adroitly  exchanged  for  a  similar  looking  package 
of  w^rapping  paper,  cut  to  proper  size,  while  the  purchase  money 
was  being  counted  out  and  examined. 

Still  another  mode  of  procedure  was  for  a  couple  of  sharpers 
to  purchase  a  horse  from  some  rustic,  to  be  paid  for  in  non-detect- 
able counterfeit  money,  at  a  nominal  price,  the  exchange  to  be 
made  after  dark,  in  some  neighboring  thicket,  and  after  the 
transfer  had  been  duly  made,  and  the  horse  led  off  b}-  one  of  the 
sharpers,  other  confederates  would  rush  in,  under  the  guise  of 
officers,  and  pretend  to  arrest  the  remaining  two,  but  finally  let 
them  off  on  their  handing  over  all  their  loose  change  ;  and  thus 
the  victim  would  not  only  be  done  out  of  his  horse  and  the  pre- 
tended counterfeit  money  he  had  received  in  exchange  for  him, 
but  also  of  whatever  good  money  he  might  happen  to  have  about 
him  at  the  time. 

By  this  and  similar  devices  were  the  unwary  pioneers  of  the 
rural  districts  "taken  in  and  done  for,"  while  from  the  lack  of 
information,  now^  so  rapidly  and  so  generally  transmitted  through 


EARLY   CHURCH    IMBROGLIOS.  59 

the  mails,  the  railroads,  the  telegraph  and  the  newspapers,  whole 
droves  of  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  and  even  hogs,  could  be  gathered 
up  and  paid  for  wholly  in  counterfeit  money,  and  safely  driven 
out  of  the  country,  before  the  sellers  would  discover  the  fraud  that 
had  been  practiced  upon  them. 

And  yet,  notwithstanding  such  was  the  early  status  of  Akron, 
as  well  as  many  other  enterprising  business  points  along  the  line 
of  the  canal,  and  notwithstanding  good  friends  with  whom  I  was 
visiting  in  the  northern  part  of  Portage  County,  in  the  early  Spring 
of  1835,  advised  me,  in  my  search  for  a  location  for  permanent  set- 
tlement, by  all  means  to  avoid  Akron  and  Cascade,  I  found,  on 
coming  here,  later  in  the  season,  that  the  great  majority  of  the 
people  were  honest,  industrious  and  enterprising,  and  that  its 
unsavory  reputation  was  wholly  due  to  a  comparatively  small 
minority  of  local  crooks,  and  the  large  contingent  of  transient 
sharpers  continually  moving  from  point  to  point,  along  the  line  of 
the  canal  as  above  noted. 

That  this  vicinity  was,  however,  for  many  years  the  general 
rendezvous  and  headquarters  of  one  of  the  most  extensive  gangs 
of  counterfeiters  in  the  entire  country,  admits  of  not  a  doubt.  The 
reputed  leader  of  this  gang,  together  with  several  of  his  most 
important  subordinates,  were  permanently  located  within  the 
limits  of  what  is  now^  Summit  County,  some  of  whom  sought  and 
obtained  positions  of  public  trust  and  honor,  the  more  effectually 
to  cover  up  their  true  characters,  and  their  nefarious  operations. 

To  the  chief  of  this  gang,  and  his  prominent  lieutenants,  Avith 
an  inkling  of  their  operations,  their  successes,  reverses,  arrests, 
trials,  imprisonments,  etc.,  one  or  more  chapters  of  this  w^ork  will 
be  devoted,  as  well  as  one,  or  more,  to  the  measures  that  were 
finally  taken  to  rid  the  village  and  county  of  local  sharps  and  trav- 
eling blacklegs  and  thieves. 

The  bitterness  existing  betAveen  the  inhabitants  of  the  north 
and  south  villages  has  already  been  alluded  to,  in  the  "  guide 
board  war"  spoken  of  in  the  first  chapter,  and  other^vise.  It  will 
be  impossible,  of  course,  in  the  prescribed  limit  of  this  work  to 
relate  all  the  acts  of  hostility,  overt  and  covert,  manifested ;  but 
one  or  two  episodes,  illustrative  of  that  feeling,  somewhat  in  detail, 
may  not  be  amiss. 

The  tvk^o  villages  were  divided  by  a  wedge-shaped  strip  of 
unplatted  land,  called  the  "gore,"  embracing  the  territory  between 
Quarry  street  on  the  north  and  Center  street  on  the  south.  On 
this  unplatted  strip  the  earlier  churches — the  Congregational 
the  Methodist  and  the  Baptist,  were  originally  erected,  not  only 
because  their  respective  sites  were  generously  donated  by  Gen. 
Perkins,  but  more  particularly,  perhaps,  because  the  adherents  of 
the  several  denominations,  residing  in  either  section,  were  unw^ill- 
ing  to  w^orship,  on  Sunday,  in  houses  located  within  the  boundaries 
of  the  rival  village  they  so  heartily,  and  perhaps  religiously, 
hated  through  the  week.  ' 

This  feeling  was  so  strong  that  when,  in  1836,  the  majority  of 
the  trustees  of  the  Baptist  Church  decided  to  face  the  new  church 
edifice  they  were  then  about  to  build  (on  the  site  of  the  present 
fine  German  Reformed  brick  structure)  towards  South  Akron, 
instead  of  towards  the  West,  as  had  been  done  by  both  the 
Congregationalists  and    Methodists,  (the   Congregational    Church 


60  AKRON    AND    .SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

then  stood  on  the  present  Court  House  grounds),  several  contrib- 
utors to  the  building  fund,  living  north  of  the  "gore,"  withdrew 
their  subscriptions,  and  a  few  even  severed  their  connection  with 
the  society  in  consequence  of  such  action;  the  facing  of  the 
church  in  that  direction  being  considered  an  advantage  in  favor  of 
South  Akron. 

This  anirnosit}'  became  intensified  as  the  w^ork  progressed,  and 
by  the  time  the  structure  was  completed  had  culminated  in  a  most 
bitter  controversy  between  certain  prominent  members,  trustees, 
building  committee,  pastor,  etc.,  in  which  charges  and  counter- 
charges of  falsehood,  dishonesty,  malice,  etc.,  were  freely  bandied, 
resulting  in  the  calling  of  a  church  council  on  the  6th  day  of 
October,  1837,  at  which  Rev.  Levi  Tucker,  of  Cleveland,  presided 
as  Moderator,  and  by  v^rhich  it  was 

'^Resolved,  That  brother  Dodge  has  not  been  labored  with  according- to 
gospel  discipline;  that  brother  Dodge's  conduct  has  rendered  hiin  unworth3^ 
of  a  place  in  a  Christian  church,  and  that  he  ought  not  to  be  recognized  as  a 
member  until  he  make  satisfaction  to  the  church ;  that  brother  Crane  (the 
pastor)  did  not  act  judiciously;  believing,  however,  that  his  press  of  duties 
ought  in  this  case  to  be  admitted  in  extenuation  ;  that  Elder  Avistin  (a  retired 
minister)  has  acted  injudiciouslj^  and  the  church  had  better  grant  him  a  letter 
of  dismission  and  a  recommendation  to  any  other  sister  church ;  that  the 
course  of  brother  Alvin  Austin  has  been  incautious  and  wanting  in  pru- 
dence ;  and  that  this  Council  earnestly  recommend  to  each  individual  in 
any  way  concerned  in  the  late  difficulties,  to  make  very  strenuous  efforts  to 
promote  the  peace  of  the  church,  and  zealousl}^  engage  in  the  cause  of  our 
dear  Redeemer." 

Notwithstanding  these  dissensions  the  church  was  duly  dedi- 
cated October  26,  1837,  Elder  Tucker  preaching  the  dedicatory 
sermon.  But  neither  that  solemn  proceeding,  nor  the  action  of  the 
Council,  were  productive  of  any  perceptible  mollifying  influence,  as 
is  evidenced  by  some  six  or  seven  columns  of  crimination  and 
re-crimination  published  in  the  several  issues  of  the  American 
Balance,  from  December  7,  1837,  to  January,  4,  1838,  in  which  the 
names  of  Kev.  Kber  Crane,  (pastor  and  building  agent)  Alvin 
Austin,  H.  K.  Smith,  Smith  Burton,  Richard  HoAve,  J.  Rockwell,  R. 
K.  DuBois,  S.  R.  Brackett,  Erastus  Torrey,  Nathan  B,  Dodge, 
Miner  Spicer,  Warren  H,  Smith,  Justus  Gale,  Joseph  Cole,  David 
Allen,  Jesse  Allen,  Jacob  Brown  and  Nathan  S.  Jones,  were  some- 
>vhat  promisicuously  mingled. 

Though  nearly,  if  not  quite,  all  of  the  belligerents  in  this  wordy 
w^arfare  have  passed  ixway,  and  though  the  society,  in  another  loca- 
tion, has  for  many  years  maintained  more  than  an  average  stand- 
ing in  usefulness  and  numbers,  among  the  many  similar  benefi- 
cent institutions  of  our  goodly  city,  it  is  questionable  whether  the 
deleterious  influences  of  those  early  contentions,  among  really  good 
men,  have  not  been  felt,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  through  all  the 
intervening  half  century. 

The  Methodist  Society,  also,  got  into  a  similar  tangle,  mainly 
through  sectional  jealousies,  regarding  the  building  of  their  first 
house  of  worship,  about  the  same  time;  certain  of  the  members 
connected  with  the  raising  of  funds  and  erecting  and  furnishing 
the  building,  accusing  each  other  of  gross  irregularities.  This 
bitter  feeling,  though  not  ventilated  through  the  public  press,  con- 
tinued for  several  j^ears,  and  finallj^,  w^hen  the  building  was 
destroyed  by  fire,  on  the  morning  of  March  17,  1841,  each  party 
accused  the  other  of  having  set  the  building  on  fire,  though  the 


"upper"    versus   "  lower"   town.  61 

origin  of  the  fire  was,  doubtless,  purely  accidental.  The  original 
Congregational  society  was  also  twice  rent  asunder,  and  finally 
annihilated,  by  unhappy  dissensions,  which  will  be  fully  set  forth 
in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

BITTER  POSTOFFICE  WAR. 

Up  to  1837,  a  full  year  after  both  the  rival  villages  of  North 
and  South  Akron,  had  been  consolidated  by  Legislative  enactment 
into  the  corporate  "Town  of  Akron,"  and  though  by  this  time 
much  the  larger  portion  of  the  business  of  the  town  was  done 
north  of  the  "gore,"  virhen  it  was  sought  to  remove  the  postoffice 
from  the  upper  to  the  low^er  town,  a  struggle  ensued,  which  in 
point  of  bitterness,  renders  the  partisan  and  personal  squabbles  of 
modern  office  seekers  the  very  extreme  of  mildness  and  cor- 
diality. 

Some  three  or  four  years  prior  to  that  time,  Akron's  first  post- 
master, Wolsey  Wells,  Ksq.,  having  left  the  place,  had  been 
succeeded  by  Mr.  Lewis  Humiston,  keeper  of  the  Clark  tavern, 
the  office  being  located  in  a  small  building  immediately  east  of  the 
hotel,  on  Exchange  street,  the  late  Arad  Kent  officiating  as  hia 
deputy. 

As  Mr.  Humiston  was  about  to  leave  the  to>vn,  it  became 
necessary  to  secure  the  appointment  of  his  successor.  There  were, 
of  course,  a  number  of  applicants  for  the  place,  and  among  the 
rest,  the  late  Judge  Constant  Bryan,  and  another  law^yer  by  the 
name  of  Harv^ey  H.  Johnson,  both  Democrats  and  both  northenders. 
Who  the  southern  candidates  w^ere,  is  not  novir  remembered,  but 
the  contest  was  so  bitter  that  the  appointment  hung  fire  for  some 
time,  Postmaster  General  Amos  Kendall  finally  intimating  that 
unless  the  tvsro  factions  reconciled  their  differences  he  would 
discontinue  the  office. 

In  this  emergency,  after  a  conference  with  that  gentleman, 
the  southenders  gave  in  their  adhesion  to  Mr.  Johnson,  and  he, 
consequently,  received  the  appointment  some  time  in  June,  1837; 
it  being  aftewards  vigorously  claimed  that  the  withdrawal  of  their 
opposition  to  him  by  the  southenders,  ^vas  upon  the  distinct  under- 
standing that,  if  appointed,  he  would  not  remove  the  office  north 
of  the  "gore." 

For  several  months  after  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Johnson,  the 
Akron  postoffice  continued  to  "do  business  at  the  old  stand,"  on 
Exchange  street,  much  to  the*  delight  of  the  southenders,  and 
very  greatly  to  the  disagruntlement  of  the  northenders,  who 
were  not  backward  in  expressing  their  feeling  to  Mr.  Johnson,  both 
verbally  and  through  the  press. 

At  length,  some  time  in  December,  1837,  the  confiding  south- 
enders one  morning  suddenly  awoke  to  the  disagreeable  and 
astounding  fact,  that  the  office  had  not  only  been  removed,  but 
that,  not  stopping  to  rest,  for  even  a  single  moment,  upon  the 
"gore,"  it  had  gone  "clean  down"  to  their  hated  rival,  "Cascade," 
into  the  building  then  owned  by  the  late  Col.  Lewis  P.  Buckley, 
on  the  site  of  our  present  splendid  postoffice  structure. 

This  high-handed  act  of  "perfidy"  and  "treason"  immediately 
called  down  the  direst  anathemas  of  the  southenders  upon  the 
devoted  head  of  the  offending  postmaster,  the  arraignment  of 
whom,  written  by  the  late  Jedediah  D.  Commins,  and  signed  by 


62  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

that  gentleman  and  the  late  Judge  Samuel  A.  Wheeler  and  Gen. 
Philo  Chamberlin,  as  published  in  the  American  Balance, 
commences  as  follows: 

"The  doctrine  that  a  public  servant  is  bound  to  resign  when  he  finds 
himself  unable,  or  unwilling-,  to  perform  the  duties  of  an  office  in  the  manner 
he  had  pledg^ed  himself  to  those  who  were  the  active  cause  of  his  appoint- 
ment, has  been  long  sanctified  by  the  republicans  of  this  country,  and  acted 
on  b}'  everj^  high-minded  man,  when  he  found  himself  so  circumstanced." 

Afternearly  a  column  of  high  sounding  platitudes — "violation  of 
solemn  pledges,"  "plighted  faith,"  "stung  by  the  viper  we  had  nour- 
ished in  our  bosoms,"  "stab  in  the  dark,"  "  forfeited  honor,"  "^vant  of 
gratitude,"  "gentlemanly  feeling,"  "moral  restraint,"  etc. — the  man- 
ifesto concludes  with  several  affidavits  to  the  effect  that  the 
affiants  had,  at  divers  times  and  places,  heard  Mr.  Johnson  say 
that  if  he  should  receive  the  appointment,  he  would  not  remove 
the  office  north  of  the  "  gore,"  or  stone  quarry. 

To  this  severe  castigation,  Mr.  Johnson,  after  a  few  prelim- 
inary observations,  gets  back  at  the  gentlemen  Avhose  signatures 
are  thereto  attached  as  follow^s: 

"As  your  communication  was  intended  to  affect  the  public  mind,  not 
only  in  our  own  vicinity,  but  at  a  distance,  it  is  proper  that  I  should  premise 
by  informing  the  public  by  what  and  by  whom  my  private  as  well  as  my 
public  character  has  been  w^antonly  assailed.  Is  it -not  true  of  one  of  3'our 
number,  that  he  has  succeeded,  to  his  entire  satisfaction,  in  failing  two  or 
three  tiines  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  from  the  wreck  has  been  able  to 
establish  two  most  splendid  wholesale  and  retail  stores  in  Ohio?  In  reg^ard 
to  another,  is  it  not  true  that  there  is  a  letter  in  town  which  asks  if  a  note  of 
some  $.30  or  $40,  can  be  collected,  which  was  g;iven  before  he  absconded  from 
the  town  of  E.,  in  Vermont  ?  " 

After  much  more  similar  verbiage,  reflecting  upon  the  honesty 
and  credibility  of  his  assailants,  Postmaster  Johnson  continues  as 
follows:  "I  will  only  add  that  where  the  parties  to  this  transaction 
and  the  circumstances  are  known,  I  do  not  deprecate  the  righteous 
decision  of  a  virtuous  community — your  allegations  and  affidavits 
to  the  contrary,  notwithstanding." 

The  editor  of  the  Balance  having  declined  to  publish  anything 
further  on  the  subject,  in  a  16-page  pamphlet,  now^  in  possession 
of  the  writer,  Messrs.  Commins,  Wheeler  and  Chamberlin,  in  a 
lengthy  rejoinder,  including  affidavits  from  Ferdinand  Durand,  C. 
P.  McDonald,  Dr.  Dana  D.  Kvans,  Asa  Field,  Jonathan  Myers, 
George  Howe,  Joshua  Catlin,  Silas  Anson,  E.  M.  Chamberlin,  Miner 
Spicer  and  Arad  Kent,  in  opening,  say:  "In  regard  to  what  you 
are  pleased  to  say  about  ourselves,  it  may  be  proper  to  remark  that 
it  does  not  become  us  to  speak  of  our  own  standing  in  this  com- 
munity, but  whatever  it  may  be,  we  have  too  much  self-respect  to 
notice  your  abusive  epithets  and  innuendoes,  further  than  to  say, 
if  our  characters  need  defense  from  such  vituperation,  they  are  no 
longer  worth  our  care."  And  ftirther  on  they  clinch  the  matter 
against  the  offending  P.  M,,  thus:  "But  it  requires  not  the  gift  of 
prophecy  to  foretell  that  when  your  hair  shall  have  been  w^hitened 
by  the  frosts  of  a  fe^v  more  winters,  as  you  walk  among  inankind, 
and  they  shall  hereafter  see  you  niot^ing  alone  in  the  midst  of 
society,  with  the  brand  of  'forfeited  faith'  burnt  deep  in  your  fore- 
head, you  will  regret,  in  the  bitterness  of  your  soul,  the  course  you 
have  taken  in  relation  to  this  w^hole  matter." 


DISSENSIONS    HAPPILY    ENDED. 


63 


But  the  fact  remains  that  the  Akron  Postoffice  u^as  removed 
to  "Cascade"  just  54  years  ago,  and  that,  as  water — then  the  most 
potent  factor  in  the  growth  and  maintenance  of  tow^ns  and  cities — 
ivoald  run  down  hill,  instead  of  up,  the  preponderance  of  business 
and  industry  were  largely  in  its  favor.  Commins,  Chamberlin  and 
others  of  the  original  business  men  of  the  South  End,  had  to  suc- 
cumb to  the  inevitable,  and  a  few  years  later  removed  their  own 
business  operations  north  of  the  "gore;"  though  the  decadence  in 
the  volume  and  value  of  w^ater  power,  and  the  rapidly  increasing 
use  of  steam,  as  a  propelling  agent,  has,  in  these  latter  days,  again 
brought  to  Ancient  Akron,  south  of  the  "gore"  and  in  fact  to  said 
"gore"  itself,  as  well  as  to  the  ancient  burgh  of  Middlebury,  a  high 
degree  of  business  enterprise  and  prosperity,  thus  wonderfully 
demonstrating  the  truth  of  the  old  adnge  that  "the  whirligig  of 
time  makes  all  things  even,"  while  the  offending  postmaster  was 
elected  Mayor  of  Akron  in  1842  and  1843,  afterw^ards  went  to  Con- 
gress from  the  Ashland  District,  and  was  subsequently  U.  S.  Land 
Commissioner,  in  Minnesota,  where  he  still  resides. 

The  office  was,  a  few  years  later,  removed  still  further  "down 
to"wn,"  and  after  several  changes  of  location,  was  finally  established 
in  "Gothic  Block,"  a  view  of  vi^hich  is  here  given,  where  it 
remained  until  removed  to  its  present  location,  in  1871,  as  elsewhere 
stated. 


(iothic  Ulock,  erected  by  Ex-Mayor  James  Mathews,  on  present  site  of  J.  Koch 
&  Go's  Clothing  Store.— From  photo  by  George  W.  Maniey,  1861. 


64  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE  BOOM  AND  THE  COLLAPSE — POETKY  VERSUS  FACT— SPECULATION  RAM- 
PANT—WONDERFUL  ENHANCEMENT  OF  VALUES,  AND  STILL  MORE  WONDEK- 
FUL  DECLINE— THE  MORUS  MULTICAULIS  CRAZE— IMMENSE  FORTUNES  THAT 
DIDN'T  MATERIALIZE— THE  PANIC  OF  1837— HARD  TIMES.  AS  WAS  HARD 
TIMES— THE  SHIN-PLASTER  ERA— DECIDEDLY  A  MIXED  CURRENCY— THE 
"TRUCK  AND  DICKER"  SYSTEM,  ETC.,  ETC 

A  l!)ECIDKD   BOOM. 

In  a  Avork  of  this  character,  it  will,  of  course,  be  impossible  to 
present  a  strictly  chronological  narrative  of  the  events  to  be 
treated  of;  consequently  there  will  sometimes  be,  for  the  sake  of 
continuity  on  the  subject  under  immediate  consideration,  a 
reaching  forw^ard,  and  at  other  times  a  backward  movement,  as  to 
the  order  of  occurrences  herein  recorded.  Though  the  grow^th  of 
Akron,  notwithstanding  its  antagonisms,  had  hitherto,  from  its 
very  inception,  been  almost  phenomenal,  in  the  West,  for  those 
early  times,  the  location  of  the  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  canal,  com- 
monly known  as  the  "Cross-cut"  canal,  from  the  Ohio  River  a 
short  distance  below  Pittsburgh,  to  this  point,  gave  an  impetus  to 
the  boom  w^hich  has  scarcely  been  exceeded  in  the  later  gold, 
silver,  oil  and  gas  booms  of  California,  Colorado,  Pennsvlvania  and 
Ohio. 

While  Howard  and  Market  streets  w^ere  then,  as  now,  the  chief 
business  streets  in  North  Akron,  the  sticking  of  the  stakes  in 
Main  street  for  the  new^  canal,  in  1835,  caused  the  real  estate  upon 
that  street,  betw^een  Mill  and  Tallmadge,  streets  more  than  quad- 
ruple in  value  in  a  verj^  short  time;  it  being  confidently  believed 
that  the  completion  of  the  canal  would  immediately"  create  a 
demand  for  large  warehouses,  and  other  business  blocks,  along  the 
entire  street. 

Such  was  also  the  case  in  South  Akron,  and  lots  abutting 
upon  the  canal,  fronting  on  Main  street,  betw^een  the  present  City 
Building  and  the  Clarendon  Hotel,  were  immediately  and  eagerly 
sought  after,  and  contracted  for  (but  not  alwaj^s  paid  for)  at  almost 
fabulous  prices,  both  on  speculation  and  by  persons  w^ho  reall}^ 
designed  to  improve  and  occupy  them  on  the  completion  of  the 
canal;  one  substantial  three-story  brick  block  having  actualh^  been 
built,  and  the  store-room  filled  with  goods,  by  Mr.  Benjamin  W. 
Stephens,  on  the  present  site  of  Merrill's  pottery,  the  south  end  of 
which  is  part  of  the  original  building. 

Money,  such  as  it  Avas,  -was  plenty,  and  credit  was  seemingly 
lavished  upon  all  who  asked  for  it;  large  stocks  of  goods  were 
ordered,  and  stores  and  other  business  enterprises  rapidly  increased 
so  that,  in  the  early  part  of  the  3^ear  1836,  the  tow^n  was  seemingly 
upon  the  very  apex  of  the  high  road  to  prosperity  and  wealth. 

A  local  poet  (Mr.  Milo  Fuller,  brother  of  the  late  well-known 
"Doctor"  Isaiah  Fuller)  voiced  the  popular  enthusiasm  and  con- 


POETRY  VERSUS  FACT.  65 

licience  in  Akron's  future,  in  the  following  "jingle,"  which  we  find 
in  a  local  journal  of  the  time: 

"AKRON  IN  1840." 

Hail  lovely  city!    Thy  unrivalled  powers, 

Thy  feathered  waters  and  thy  lofty  towers. 

Thy  stately  cars  in  their  majestic  flight. 

Thy  rumblins  coach,  fast  rolling  through  the  night, 

Thy  hundred  wheels  that  raise  the  factor's  tlin. 

Thy  boat,  swift  gliding  round  each  nt)ok  and  Ivnn,  • 

Thy  growing  greatness  and  thy  busy  clan, 

Froclaiiii  to  all,  the  enterprise  of  man! 

A  few  days  since,  in  this  now  peaceful  glen. 
The  wild-beast  lurked  securely  in  his  den. 
The  stately  savage,  with  his  dart  and  bow. 
With  dauritless  step  pursued  his  stealthy  foe; 
The  serpent's  hiss,  the  war-song  and  the" yell. 
Was  oft  re-echoed  from  each  hill  and  dell. 
And  in  this  vale  from  which  yon  Summit  rose. 
The  panther  crouched,  and  safely  sought  repose, 
The  gloom  of  darkness,  as  in  sable  night, 
Hung  o'er  this  valley  and  obscured  the  sight. 
Where  Nature  saw  would  rise,  in  grandeur  d rest. 
The  great,  unrivaled  Princess  of  the  West. 

The  white  man  came,  the  savage  Indian  fled. 
The  wild-beast  started  from  his  leafy  bed; 
The  war-song  ended  when  the  mighty  blow. 
Of  Eastern  genius  laid  the  forest  low; 
Yon  rugged  hills,  that  sought  the  sky  in  vain. 
Fell  by  the  shock,  and  formed  a  pleasant  plain; 
Hence  grew  this  citj',  which  unrivaled  stands. 
A  beacon-light  to  all  l>eniglited  lands. 

Here,  Science  reigns  and  guides  the  statesman's  quill. 

And  Arts  develop  all  their  wondrous  skill; 

Here,  Virtue  sits  enthroned  in  robes  divine,  . 

With  modest  Beauty  kneeling  at  her  shrine; 

Here,  Pleasure,  too,  with  all  her  matchless  charms. 

Invites  the  youth,  and  calls  them  to  her  arms. 

And  gently  whispers  to  each  mirthful  son, 

'  The  banquet's  open  for  your  sport  and  fun  ; 

While  all  things  grand  and  pleasing  to  the  eye. 

Allure  the  traveler  as  he  passes  by. 

And  with  glad  accents  from  his  weary  breast. 

He  hails  a  home,  a  refuge  and  a  rest. 

Thus  has  Dame  Fortune  from  her  bounteous  store. 

Poured  forth  her  treasures  on  this  happy  shore. 

And  every  breeze  from  every  sun-lit  laiid. 

Is  wafting  blessings  with  a  liberal  hand. 

And  all  the  world  with  honor  deigns  to  bless, 

THE  GREAT  A.\D  MIGHTY  LOWELL  OF  THE  WEST. 

The  foregoing  doggerel  was,  as  before  intimated,  a  true  index 
of  the  prognostications,  as  to  both  its  proximate  and  ultimate  great- 
ness, indulged  in  by  the  average  citizen  of  Akron,  in  1835-6.  Btjt, 
alas  !  hov^  uncertain  are  human  calculations  and  human  prophe- 
cies. Not  only  the  new  and  snappy  town  of  Akron,  but  the  entire 
•country  was  at  that  period  on  a  tiigh  pressure  boom;  all  making 
haste  to  get  rich,  but  to  be  overtaken  by  the  inevitable  sequence  of 
over-production,  over-trading  and  excessive  speculation — irretriev- 
able collapse — the  now  historical  panic  of  1837. 

So  disastrous  was  the  collapse  in  Akron  that  only  two  or  three, 
out  of  the  score  or  more  of  the  mercantile  establishments  of  the 
town,  maintained  their  financial  integrity,  while  real  estate  sank 
in  value  almost  out  of  sight.  To  such  an  extent  did  this  deprecia- 
tion fall,  and  continue,  that,  in  1839,  the  writer  leased  from  Col. 
Justus  Gale  the  lot  on  Main  street  now  covered  by  the  handsome 
new  brick  blocks  of  Augustus  Warner  and  K.  G.  Kubler,  and  from 
Mr.  Nathan  B.  Dodge  the  adjoining  lot  upon  the  north,  now  occu- 
pied by  Paige  Brothers'  magnificent  stone  front  block,  for  which 


66  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

$1,(H)()  each  had  been  paid  in  1835,  for  the  period  of  five  years, 
for  tlie  payment  of  the  taxes;  w^hile  hundreds  of  lots, (thus  pur- 
chased at  boom  prices,  either  reverted  to  the  original  oAvners  or 
Avere  sold  for  taxes. 

GENERAL  MONETARY  CRASH. 

At  that  period  the  most  of  the  banks  of  the  countr^^  were 
chartered  under  loosely-constructed  State  laws,  the  greater  por- 
tion of  them  being  what  were  properly  denominated  "  Red  Dog," 
or  "Wildcat"  institutions.  When  the  crash  came,  all  the  banks  of 
the  country,  good,  bad  and  indifferent,  immediately  suspended  specie 
payment,  and  gold  and  silver,  ^vhich  had  been  in  fair  supply  dur- 
ing the  flush  times,  at  once  almost  entirely  disappeared  from 
circulation.  Many  of  the  banks  failed  out-right,  and  the  large  vol- 
ume of  the  notes  of  such  banks  then  in  the  hands  of  the  people, 
became  entirely  worthless.  Others  maintained  a  partial  standing, 
their  notes  for  a  time  being  taken  by  merchants  in  exchange  for 
merchandise,  at  discounts  ranging  froin  10  to  90  per  cent. 

This  condition  of  things .  continued  for  several  years.  The 
Beacon  of  June  loth,  1842,  giving  quotations  of  discounts  as  foUow^s: 
Mechanics'  and  Traders'  bank  of  Cincinnati,  10;  Marietta,  10; 
Chilicothe,  20;  Franklin  bank  of  Columbus,  20;  Lancaster,  20;  Com- 
mercial Bank  of  Lake  Erie,  40;  Farmers'  Bank  of  Canton,  50; 
Hamilton,  60;  Cleveland,  70;  Steubenville,  75;  Urbana,  75;  Gran- 
ville, 80;  Ohio  Railroad,  85.  As  indicative  of  the  dire  financial 
distress  of  the  entire  country,  particularly  Akron  and  Summit 
County,  at  that  period.  The  Beacon  of  November  2,  1842,  contains 
five  full  pages  of  delinquent  taxes,  while  wheat  is  quoted  at  50 
cents  per  bushel,  and  a  year  or  so  later  a  single  number  of  The 
Beacon  advertises  54  sheriff  sales. 

A  few  of  the  old  banks  of  the  country,  though  suspending  spe- 
cie payment,  maintained  their  financial  standing,  among  which,  in 
this  vicinity,  were  the  old  Western  Reserve,  at  Warren;  Banks  of 
Geauga,  Massillon,  Wooster,  Norwalk,  Sandusky,  etc.,  (Akron  hav- 
ing no  bank  at  that  time).  The  notes  of  these  banks  were  readily 
taken  at  par  in  all  commercial  transactions,  though  being 
extremely  conservative  as  to  discounts,  their  limited  issues  were 
entirely  inadequate  to  meet  the  Avants  of  the  people  in  their  abso- 
lutely necessary  business  transactions. 

Then  came  into  existence,  all  over  the  countrj^,  a  class  of  local 
"shinplaster"  factories,  from  which  small  notes  for  circulation 
were  issued,  payable,  not  in  specie,  but  in  current  bank  notes,  the 
most  of  these  institutions  purporting  t<^  be  based  upon  real  estate 
securities.  Of  this  class,  noAV  readily  recalled  to  mind  by  the  wri- 
ter, were  the  "Kirtland  Safety  Fund  Bank,"  under  the  auspices  of 
the  original  Mormon  prophet,  Joe  Smith;  "The  Orphan's  Institute," 
at  Canal  Fulton;  "The  Cuyahoga  Falls  Real  Estate  Association;" 
''The  Medina  Land  Company;"  "The  Munroe  Falls  Manufacturing 
Comj^any;"  "The  Franklin  Silk  Company,"  etc. 

THE  MORUS  MULTICAULIS  CRAZE. 

This  latter  institution  was  based  upon  the  silk  culture  craze 
that  then  prevailed  in  many  sections  of  the  countr3^  viritli  which 
the  people  of  Munroe  Falls,   Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent),  and  other 


THE     "  SHINPLASTER "    ERA.  67 

♦ 

places  in  this  vicinity  were  severely  smitten — village  lots,  as  w^ell 
as  farm  lands,  being  held  and  sold  at  fabulous  prices.  Immense 
cocooneries  were  l)uilt,  and  everybody  having  land  went  into  the 
raising  of  the  moras  niulticaulis  variety  of  the  mulberry  tree,  on 
■which  to  feed  the  silk  w^orms. 

A  wealthy  farmer  b^''  the  name  of  Barber  Clark,  a  short  dis- 
tance east  of  the  village  of  Franklin  Mills,  made  arrangements  to 
devote  his  entire  farm  to  the  business,  and  among  other  like 
transactions,  contracted  with  Joy  H.  Pendleton,  Esq.,  now^  of  the 
Second  National  Bank  of  this  city,  then  residing  there,  for  all  the 
young  trees  of  a  single  year's  growth,  that  he  could  raise  for  three 
years,  at  25  cents  each  for  the  first  year,  15  cents  for  the  second 
year  and  10  cents  for  the  third  year.  As  they  could  readily  be 
groAvn  from  slips,  or  cuttings,  it  will  be  seen  that  Pendleton  had  a 
mighty  good  thing  of  it,  (in  his  eye).  The  first  year  the  plant  was 
comparatively  small,  but  the  second  year  he  w^as  on  hand  with 
some  $3000  worth,  and  by  the  third  year  he  would  have  realized, 
under  his  contract,  about  $50,000.  But,  alas!  for  human  calcula- 
tions and,  alack!  for  Pendleton  and  Clark.  The  bottom  suddenly'- 
fell  out  of  the  silk  business;  Clark  \vas  irretrievably  bankrupted 
and  Pendleton  not  only  did  not  realize  his  $50,000,  but  absolutely 
lost,  from  Clark's  failure,  about  $20(X)  of  the  $3000  already  earned, 
and,  considering  the  outlay  he  had  made,  was  probably  consider- 
ably out  of  pocket  by  the  operation. 

In  the  general  dearth  of  real  monej'',  the  bills  of  these  local 
institutions  circulated  more  or  less  freely,  in  the  traffic  of  the 
vicinit}^  where  they  were  issued,  and  to  a  limited  extent  in  more 
remote  localities.  Being  redeemable  in  sums  of  not  less  than  five 
dollars,  holders  of  lesser  sums  at  length  found  it  difficult  to  get  rid 
of  them,  giving  rise  to  a  brood  of  street  brokers,  w^ho  would  buy 
them  up  at  a  discount,  paying  for  them,  perhaps,  in  the  equally 
w^orthless  notes  of  the  "Bank  of  Pontiac,"  or  "River  Raisin,"  of 
Michigan,  or  simular  red-dog  "currency." 

When  these  speculators  began  to  pass  in  their  accumulations 
for  redemption,  the  shinplaster  fabricators  were  found  to  be  decid- 
edly short  of  "current  bank  notes"  wherewith  to  redeem  their 
promises  to  pay,  and  speedily  fell  into  disrepute  and  eventual 
failure.  The  Franklin  Silk  Compan^^  was  an  exception  to  this 
rule;  the  late  Zenas  Kent,  father  of  the  Hon.  Marvin  Kent,  then 
a  substantial  merchant  in  Ravenna,  being  a  large  stockholder  in 
the  company  in  question,  rendered  the  value  of  its  notes  certain 
and  their  redeinption  sure. 

Owing  to  the  scarcity  of  coin,  merchants,  hotel-keepers  and 
other  business  men,  issued  considerable  amounts  of  a  species  of 
private  "fractional  currency,"  payable  on  demand  in  their  own 
wares,  or  in  current  bank  bills,  when  presented  in  sums  of  one 
dollar  or  its  multiple.  These  however,  unlik^  the  majority  of  the 
class  above  named,  were  pretty  generally  re  leemed,  in  one  or  the 
other  of  the  modes  indicated  upon  their  face. 

In  fact,  so  uncertain  was  every  species  of  "currency,"  that 
people  at  length  became,  distrustful  of  even  the  very  best,  and 
preferred  to  exchange  such  commodities  as  they  raised,  or  manu- 
factured, for  such  fabrics  or  produce  as  they  themselves  needed; 
and  even  if  a  man  got  hold  of  a  dollar  or  two  in  "currency,"  he 
would  hasten  to  get  it  off  his  hands  the  same  day,  lest  he  should 


08  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

• 

wake  up  the  next  morning  to  find  that  the  bank  had  failed  during" 
the  night.  Hence,  the  inauguration  of  the  "truck  and  dicker'' 
system  that  w^ill  be  so  vividly-  remembered  bj^  the  older  portion  of 
my  readers,  and  which  was  operated  something  as  follows: 

Country  produce  w^as  bought  b}^  all  our  merchants,  and  invar- 
iably paid  for  in  goods,  or  credited  on  running  accounts,  farmers,  in 
turn,  paying  their  help,  farm  hands  and  mechanics,  whom  they 
employed  or  dealt  with,  in  their  own  products,  or  in  orders  upon 
the  stores.  There  were  a  number  of  woolen  factories  then  running^ 
in  the  town  and  vicinitj^  and  "sheep's  gray"  cloth,  was  almost  a 
"legal  tender"  in  the  transaction  of  nearly  every  kind  of  business, 
while  the  goods  and  wares  of  the  numerous  stove  founders  of  the 
town,  were  of  almost  equal  potency  as  factors  of  trade  and  com- 
merce. 

How^  was  it  done?  Something  like  this:  A  carriage  maker, 
for  instance,  would  sell  a  ^wagon  or  buggy  to  the  factory  or  foundrj^ 
man,  and  agree  to  take  his  pa^^  in  cloth  or  castings.  Then  he 
Avould  trade  off  his  cloth  or  his  castings  for  lumber,  wood,  coal, 
horses,  hay,  oats,  beef,  pork,  potatoes,  apples,  butter,  cheese,  poultry,, 
eggs,  etc.,  or  perhaps  sell  a  roll  of  cloth  at  a  discount  to  a  merchant 
to  be  paid  for  in  goods.  Then,  in  turn,  he  w^ould  pay  his  hands  in 
sheep's  gray,  farm  produce,  orders  on  stores,  furniture  dealers,, 
tailors,  shoemakers,  butchers,  etc.  In  payment  for  his  ne^v  wagon 
or  carriage,  the  farmer  would  turn  in  ten  or  a  dozen  fat  steers,, 
w^hich  the  wagon  maker  would  pass  over  to  the  butcher  to  be  paid 
for  in  daily  steaks  and  roasts  for  the  famil3^  of  the  ^vagon  maker 
and  his  hands. 

And  this  system  of  exchange  entered  into  all  the  ramifications 
of  business,  agricultural,  manufacturing,  mechanical  and  com- 
mercial, and  to  a  great  extent  into  real  estate  transactions;  the 
w^riter  once  taking  in  part  payment  for  a  house  and  lot  on  HoAvard 
street,  40  brass  clocks,  ^vhich  in  turn,  were  traded  off  to  the  lumber 
dealers,  the  stone  mason,  the  carpenter,  the  brick  mason  and  the 
plasterers,  for  the  erection  of  another  house  on  the  lot  next  north 
of  the  new  Baptist  Church  on  South  Broad\vay. 

Individuals  and  firms  doing  thousands  of  dollars  worth  of  busi- 
ness per  year,  would  thus  sometimes  go  weeks  at  a  time  without 
handling  scarcely  a  dollar  in  money.  During  a  good  portion  of  the 
time  covered  by  this  financial  and  commercial  depression,  the  w^ri- 
ter  was  engaged  in  the  publication  of  a  small  paper  in  the  interest 
of  which  he  personally  canvassed  the  most  of  the  towns  and  villages 
of  Northern  Ohio,  and  in  about  the  proportion  of  nine  to  one,  pay- 
ments for  subscription  and  advertising  ^vere  made  in  trade,  woolen 
cloths,  calicoes,  sheetings,  shirtings,  furnishing  goods,  boots,  shoes, 
tinware,  saddlery,  etc.,  which  in  turn  w^ere  traded  for  paper,  >vood, 
coal,  farm  produce,  etc.,  for  the  use  of  his  own  and  his  printers' 
families.  This  state  bf  affairs  was,  in  manj-  respects,  a  very  whole- 
some experience  and  discipline  for  both  the  business  man  and  the 
farmer,  mechanic  and  laborer  of  the  da^^,  inasmuch  as  the  con- 
stant figuring  and  ingenuity  required  to  transmute  such  commodi- 
ties as  he  could  get  for  his  own  labor  or  j^roducts,  but  for  which  he 
had  no  use,  into  such  articles  as  he  really  did  need,  had  a  tendency 
to  sharpen  both  his  intellectual  and  his  business  faculties,  while  at 
the  same  time  it  inculcated  habits  of  the  strictest  industry  and  the 
most  rigid  economy  of  both  individuals  and  families. 


IMPRISONMEXT   FOR    DEBT.  69 

Of  course,  merchants  had  to  have  sonje  inoney  to  make  their 
purchases  in  the  Bast,  though  these  were  largely  made  with  wool 
and  other  produce  taken  from  the  farmer  in  exchange  for  goods. 
Mechanics  would  also  need  to  have  a  little  money,  to  huy  their 
iron,  steel,  paints,  etc.,  and  in  making  their  contracts  Avould  have 
to  stipulate  accordingly,  a  liberal  amount  of  good  Kastern  money 
finding  its  way  into  circulation  here,  during  the  Summer,  in  the 
purchase  of  wheat,  >vool,  etc.  There  being  no  railroads  in  those 
days,  transportation  of  every  description  from  the  East  to  the  West, 
and  from  the  West  to  the  East,  Avas  entirely  suspended  for  nearly 
one-half  of  the  j'^ear;  the  writer,  on  getting  married  and  going  to 
housekeeping  in  November  (1838),  being  obliged  to  hire  beds  and 
bedding  to  use  through  the  Winter,  until  the  provident  young  lady, 
who  had  consented  to  unite  her  destiny  with  his,  could  get  her  own 
liberal  collection  of  such  articles,  from  her  former  home  in  the 
State  of  New  York;  on  the  opening  of  navigation  in  the  Spring. 

And  dire,  indeed,  was  the  condition  of  the  poor  weight  w^ho  w^as 
so  unfortunate  as  to  be  indebted  to  a  heartless  creditor;  and  the  town 
and  count}^  was  then,  as  now,  perhaps,  cursed  Avith  a  class  of  Shy- 
locks,  who  not  only  stood  ready  to  prey  upon  the  necessities  of 
their  felloAVS,  but  to  invariably  insist  upon  the  "pound  of  flesh,"  if 
the  victim  found  himself  unable  to  meet  the  fullest  requirements 
of  his  bond,  or  of  the  inhuman  and  oppressive  laws  then  in  vogue. 
There  >vas  then  no  exemption  of  real  estate  from  execution,  and 
but  about  $20  worth  of  personal  property,  such  as  furniture,  per- 
sonal clothing,  etc.  In  one  instance  in  the  South  Village,  in  Decem- 
ber, 1838,  and  which  created  the  most  intense  excitement  in  the 
community,  as  well  as  severe  newspaper  comment,  in  collecting  a 
small  store  account  from  a  hard-working  mechanic,  the  creditor 
caused  the  Sheriff  to  levy  upon  everything  he  could  find  in  and 
about  the  house — furniture,  meat,  flour,  potatoes,  beans,  apples,  etc., 
and  even  the  cradle  of  a  sick  infant  and  the  vsrashtub  which  con- 
tained its  soiled  linen,  the  family  books,  the  ax  from  the  scanty 
wood  pile,  etc.,  and  when,  in  setting  off  the  exemptions,  the  wife  of 
the  debtor  wanted  them  to  include  a  portion  of  the  provisions,  the 
creditor  objected,  because  the  law  exempted  clothing  and  furniture 
only. 

The  law  then  sanctioned  imprisonment  for  debt,  and  if  the 
creditor  chose  to  do  so,  by  paying  a  dollar  or  two  a  week  for  board, 
to  the  Sheriff,  he  could  cAst  his  debtor  into  jail  for  an  indefinite 
period,  unless  he  could  prevail  upon  some  friend  to  sign  a  bond 
admitting  him  to  the  limits  of  the  county,  in  which  case,  if  he  but 
stepped  over  the  count}^  line  for  a  single  moment,  the  bondsman 
would  become  liable  for  the  entire  debt.  Under  this  barbarous 
law,  Mr.  Charles  W.  Howard,  one  of  Akron's  pioneer  manufacturers 
and  merchants,  and  for  whom  our  well-known  and  well-used  How- 
ard street  was  named,  was,  in  1837,  incarcerated  in  the  jail  of 
Portage  County  for  nearly  a  year,  at  the  instance  of  the  local 
attorneys  of  the  well-remembered  New  York  dry  goods  firm  of 
Tappan,  Edwards  &c  Co.,  the  senior  member  of  which  firm — Arthur 
Tappan — was  the  best  known  philanthropist  and  promoter  of  the 
Anti  slavery  cause,  and  other  humanitarian  and  benevolent  enter- 
prises, of  half  a  century  ago.  Of  course,  in  the  extensive  operations 
of  the  firm,  Mr,  Tappan  had  no  personal  knowledge  of  this  particu- 
lar transaction,  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  was  said  that  on  his  atten- 


70 


AKKOX  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


tion  being  calltxl  to  the  matter,  through  certain  strictures  in  the 
Httle  paper,  devoted  to  the  righting  of  similar  wrongs,  which  the 
Avriter  \v^as  then  pubHshing  (the  "Buzzard")  Mr.  Howard's  dis- 
charge was  at  once  ordered.  Be  this  as  it  may,  Mr.  H.  n^as  released 
from  custody,  either  by  such  order,  or  by  the  repeal  of  the  law  in 
question,  in  March  1838.  Mr.  How^ard's  case  was,  bj^  no  means,  the 
only  case,  in  wdiich  citizens  of  early  Akron  and  contiguous  villages, 
suffered  imprisonment  for  debt,  though  in  most  of  the  cases  so 
long  a  confinement,  or  perhaps  any  actual  incarceration,  was  obvi- 
ated b}^  furnishing  the  required  bond,  giving  them  the  range  of  the 
county— thus,  of  course,  affording  them  the  privilege  of  being  with 
their  families  and  of  pursuing  their  customarj^  vocations. 

It  will  thus  be  seen — and  those  of  my  contemporaries  who  have 
lived  through  them  all,  will  bear  me  out  in  the  assertion — that  the 
"hard  times"  resulting  from  the  panics  of  1873  to  1877,  and  from 
1883  to  1887,  were  unalloyed  prosperity,  compared  with  the  disas- 
trous nine  years'  panic  and  financial  and  commercial  depression, 
from  1837  to  1846. 

As  may  readily  be  imagined,  during  that  dark  period  in  its 
history,  Akron  made  but  cpmparatively  slow  progress;  though  even 
then,  it  pluckily  more  than  held  its  ow^n  A\ath  its  sister  towns  in 
Ohio,  and  of  the  West  generally. 


View  from  near  residence  of  Mr.  Lorenzo  Hall,  "West  Hill,"  looking 
northeast.— From  ijhoto.  by  G.  W.  Manley,  1*^70. 


THE   "cross-cut"  canal.  71 


CHAPTER  V. 

EAKLY  INTER  STATE  EXTEKPKISE  -THE  "CKOvSS-CUT"  CANAL  GEN.  PEKKLXS, 
JinxJE  KLXG  ANl)  DOCTOR  CROSBY  ITS  ACTIVE  PROMOTERS  CHARTER 
OBTALNEI)  IN  1827  PRELIMINARY  SURVEY  -EIGHT  YEARS'  SLUMBER  PRO- 
JECT REVIVED  OHIO  A  LARGE  STOCKHOLDER  -DELAYED  BY  PANIC  OF  1837 
-CHANGE  OF  ROUTE  MERGED  WITH  CASCADE  MILL  RACE— GREAT  EXPEC- 
TATIONS COMPLETED  AT  LAST  FIRST  BOAT  TO  MIDDLEBURY  FIRST  BOAT 
FROM  PITTSBURG  GRAND  CELEBRATION  MAGNIFICENT  RECEPTION  TO 
GOV.  PORTER  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  BANQUET.  SPEECHES,  TOASTS,  ETC.  - 
DEATH  OF  EXCURSIONIST  FROM  APOPLEXY  EARLY  MODES  OF  TRANSl'OR- 
TATION  CANAL  PROSPEROUSLY  OPENED— ADVERSITY  AND  DECLINE 
SWALLOWED  BY  THE  MAHONING  RAILROAD  LEASED  TO  AKRON  HYDRAULIC 
COMPANY  NOCTURNAL  NAUGHTINESS  -BANKS  CUT  AND  WATER  DRAWN 
OFF— CHARTER  FORFEITED— CANAL  SOLD— MORE  NIGHT  WORK— FINAL 
DEMISE— RAILROAD  BUILT  UPON  ITS  RUINvS,  ETC.,  ETC. 

PENNSYLVANIA  AND   OHIO   CANAL. 

UP  to  1840,  the  only  access  to,  or  egress  from,  Akron,  except  by 
wagon,  etc.,  was  by  the  Ohio  Canal,  completed  from  Akron 
to  Cleveland  in  1827,  and  through  to  the  Ohio  river  in  1830.  As 
early  as  1825,  however,  the  project  of  constructing  a  canal  from 
the  Ohio  river,  a  short  distance  below  Pittsburg,  to  connect  wnth  the 
Ohio  canal,  then  just  commenced,  at  the  Portage  Summit,  began 
to  be  agitated,  a  meeting  of  prominent  citizens  of  Trumbull  and 
Portage  counties,  in  the  furtherance  of  that  project,  being  held  at 
Ravenna,  November  6,  1825,  Gen.  Simon  Perkins,  of  Warren,  and 
Dr.  Eliakim  Crosby,  of  Middlebury,  being  placed  upon  the  com- 
mittee to  collect  information  as  to  the  most  favorable  route,  etc. 

The  ensuing  Winter,  a  bill  was  introduced  in  the  Ohio  Legis- 
lature to  incorporate  the  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Canal  Company, 
"for  the  sole  purpose  of  making  a  navigable  canal  between  some 
suitable  point  on  the  Ohio  river,  through  the  valley  of  the  Mahgning 
river,  to  some  suital)le  point  on  Lake  Erie,  or  to  some  point  on  the 
Ohio  Canal,"  said  act  to  go  into  effect  when  the  Legislature  of 
Pennsylvania  should  pass  a  similar  act,  but  final  action  upon  the 
bill  w^as  postponed  until  the  next  session. 

The  people  along  the  line  now^  became  "terribly  in  earnest"  on 
the  subject,  and  numerous  meetings  were  held  at  Beaver,  New 
Castle,  Warren,  Ravenna,  Franklin  Mills,  Middlebury,  etc.,  in  which 
Gen.  Perkins,  Judge  King,  Dr.  Crosbj'^,  Judge  Wetmore  and  others 
participated,  and  on  the  10th  day  of  January,  1827,  the  bill  passed 
the  Ohio  Legislature,  with  Jonathan  Sloane,  of  Ravenna,  and 
Frederick  Wadsworth,  of  Kdinl)urg  (afterwards  for  many  years  a 
resident  of  Akron),  as  the  corporators  for  Portage  Count}',  a  sim- 
ilar bill  passing  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature  the  following  April. 

Outside  of  preliminary  surveys,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Canal  Commissioners  of  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio,  nothing  further 
was  accomplished  for  the  period  of  nearly  eight  years. 

Interest  in  the  project  at  length  having  revived,  on  the  20th 
day  of  February,  1835,  the  charter  was  renewed   with   an   amend- 


72 


AKK<.).\    AXD    SUMMIT    COUNTY. 


merit,  giving  the  company  ten  years  from  December  31,  1835,  in 
which  to  complete  the  work;  Pennsylvania  taking  similar  action 
April  13,  1835. 


East  side  Main  street,  South  of  Market,  showing  section  of  old  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio  Canal,  and  ruins  of  Ohio  Exchange— 1855— from  photo,  by  S.  J.  Miller. 


The  Company  was  organized  at  Newcastle,  May  21,  1835,  with 
Judge  Leicester  King  as  a  director,  and  as  the  Secretary;  Col. 
Sebr^ied  Dodge  (afterwards  owner  of  the  "Dodge  farm,"  three  miles 
west  of  Akron),  being  appointed  Chief  Engineer.  The  State  having 
promised  to  take  one  dollar  of  the  stock  of  the  company,  for  every 
two  dollars  subscribed  b}"  private  parties.  Judge  King  pushed  the 
matter  so  vigorously,  both  at  home  and  in  Pittsburg,  Philadelphia, 
etc.,  that  he  was  soon  enabled  to  report  private  subscriptions  to  the 
amount  of  $840,000,  the  State  promptly  responding  in  the  sum  of 
$420,000;  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature,  in  1839,  contributing  $50,000 
for  th*e  completion  of  the  work.  In  those  days  the  present  system 
of  exchange  was  not  in  vogue,  nor  ^vere  there  responsible  express 
companies  everywhere  in  operation,  as  now,  and  on  his  return  from 
his  successful  canvass  for  stock  subscriptions  in  Philadelphia,  he 
brought  with  him,  over  the  mountains,  several  hundred  thousand 
dollars  of  gold  and  paper  money  in  a  common  leather  satchel,  an 
exploit  that  would,  be  considered  very  risky  now,  w^ith  all  our 
improved  police  regulations  and  methods  of  travel. 
,  Though  pushed  quite  vigorously  for  two  or  three  years,  for 
those  comparatively  slow  times,  the  work  was  somewhat  retarded 
by  the  panic  of  1837,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  collecting  stock 
installments,  so  that  the  canal  was  not  fully  completed  and  opened 
to  through  navigation  until  the  spring  of  1840,  though  portions  at 
either  end  were  in  use  as  early  as  May,  1839. 

The  project,  originally,  contemplated  running  the  canal 
directly  through  Middlebury,  with  its  western  terminus  ahov^e 
Lock  One,  on  the  Ohio  Canal.  This  would  have  entirely  given 
Cuyahoga  Falls  and  North  Akron  the  go-by.     But  in  the  interven- 


COMPLETION    OF   THE    WORK. 


73 


iiig  years  a  material  change  of  interest  had  taken  place  with  Gen. 
Perkins,  Judge  King,  Dr.  Crosby  and  several  others  of  its  early 
promoters,  which,  together  with  some  engineering  difficulties 
<jncountered  by  the  management,  and  the  powerful  influences 
brought  to  bear  by  the  people  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  resulted  in  a 
change  of  route,  by  which,  after  crossing  the  valley  of  the  Little 
Cuyahoga,  it  should  merge  itself  vi^ith,  and  follow  the  route  of,  the 
Cascade  Mill  race,  and  unite  with  the  Ohio  Canal  below  Lock  One. 
This  change  necessitated  the  construction  south  of  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  of  nine  descending  locks  to  meet  the  level  of  the  race,  and 
of  one  lock  up,  at  Mill  street,  in  Akron,  to  meet  the  level  of  its  junc- 
tion with  the  Ohio  Canal,  thus  very  materially  augmenting  the 
w^aters  of  the  race,  and  by  so  much  the  power  and  value  of  the 
mills. 


..-<.^^^^^-^>$^V 


\'ie\v  of  North  Main  street  from  Market,  showing  old   Pennsylvania  and  Oiifo 
Canal,  Market  street  canal  bridge,  etc.,— 1875. 


Under  this  arrangement,  and  to  somewhat  mitigate  the  disap- 
pointment of  the  Middleborians,  a  side-cut  was  constructed, 
following  the  race  from  the  junction  southward  to  the  mills  and 
warehouses  in  that  village.  The  first  boat  to  navigate  the  western 
end  of  the  new  canal,  was  the  "Joseph  Vance,"  which,  on  May  9, 
1839,  carrying  a  jolly  load  of  passengers,  sailed  from  the  junction, 
in  South  Akron,  making  a  triumphant  entry  into  the  "port"  of 
Middlel)ur3',  amid  the  joyful  plaudits  of  the  people  of  that  ancient 
metropolis. 

It  was  not  only  supposed  that  this  canal  would  greatly  inure 
to  the  advantage  of  the  towns  and  villages,  through  which  it 
passed,  but  that  Pittsburg,  Philadelphia  and  other  |)oints  in 
Pennsylvania,  as  well  as  Cleveland,  Columbus  and  other  points  in 
Ohio,  and  further  west  and  south,  would  be  largely  benefited 
therebv. 


74 


AKK(1X    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


On  this  point,  the  Beacon  of  Mua"  6,  1839,  said:  "This  canal  will 
be  of  very  great  importance  to  the  cities  of  Philadelphia  and 
Pittsburg.  In  the  Spring  goods  can  be  brought  from  Philadelphia 
four  or  five  weeks  earlier  than  by  the  New  York  Canal,  which  will 
make  a  vast  difference  with  merchants  who  live  far  in  the  interior, 
who  are  naturally  impatient  at  tlie  long  interruption  to  navigation 
w^hich  now  occurs  between  the  West  and  New  York;  and  all  the 
Kastern  purchases  will  find  their  way  to  their  destination  by  this 
route!"  the  idea  also  being  advanced  that  during  the  long  seasons 
of  suspension  of  navigation,  by  reason  of  low  w^ater  in  the  upper 
Ohio,  shipments  of  merchandise  and  products  to  the  lower  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  could  be  made  over  this  route;  a  Pittsburg  paper 
of  about  this  date,  saying:  "This  very  important  canal  will  oj^en 
to  our  city  the  trade  of  Warren,  Akron,  Massillon,  Cleveland,  and 
all  the  north  and  western  portions  of  the  flourishing  State  of  Ohio; 
also  of  the  lakes  and  Michigan,  New  York,  Canada,  etc." 


View  of  P.  and  O.  Canal,  South  Main  street  from  rear  of  Howard—the  dwellinif 
«ind  clothes-yard  in  foreground,  being  the  present  site  of  O'Xeil  &  Dyas'  store. 


On  the  eastern  division,  the  first  trip  from  Beaver  to  Warren 
\vas  made  by  the  packet  "Ontario,"  May  23,  1839,  quite  a  jollifica- 
tion taking  place  on  its  arrival;  among  the  impromptu  toasts  offered 
and  responded  to,  being:  "Judge  Leicester  King  and  Col.  Sebried 
Dodge,  to  whom  the  public  is  much  indebted  for  the  early  comple- 
tion of  this  part  of  the  P.  &  O.  Canal,  in  which  they  have  done  the 
company  great  justice,  and  themselves  much  credit!" 

The  first  boat  through  from  Beaver,  freighted  with  mer- 
chandise from  Pittsburg,  mostly  iron,  nails,  glass,  etc.,  arrived  in 
Akron,  April  4,  1840,  on  noticing  v^hich  fact  the  Beacon  said: 
"Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  are  no^v  united  by  a  canal  w^hich  prom- 
ises to  be  of  immense  benefit  to  both,  and  the  citizens  of  Akron 
should  felicitate  themselves  upon  the  completion  of  this  impor- 
tant work,  which,  from  its  termination  at  this  point,  cannot  but  be 
of  great  importance  to  our  already  flourishing  tow^n." 

In  May,  1840,  Judge  King,  Secretary  of  the  company,  success- 
fully negotiated,   at  par,  in   Philadelphia,  a   sufficient   amount  of 


ENTHUSIASTIC    CELEBRATION.  75 

the  bonds  of  the  company  to  cancel  its  floating  indebtedness  and 
place  it  upon  a  firm  financial  foundation,  with  abundant  funds  to 
fully  complete  the  line.  * 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  at  Warren,  June  18, 
1840,  it  was  resolved  to  celebrate  the  completion  of  the  work,  all 
along  the  line,  and  a  committee  of  arrangements  was  appointed, 
consisting  of  Judge  Leicester  King,  Hon.  David  Tod,  Jonathan 
Sloane,  Ksq.,  and  Col.  Sebried  Dodge;  the  programme  being  for  the 
boats  to  start  from  Newcastle,  Pa.,  at  6  o'clock  a.  m.,  August  4, 
proceed  to  Youngstown  for  dinner,  and  to  Warren  the  same 
evening;  leave  Warren  at  6  A.  m.,  Ailgust  5,  dine  at  Ravenna,  and 
arrive  at  Franklin  Mills  (noAv  Kent)  the  same  evening;  August  6 
leave  Franklin  at  7  A.  m.,  and  Avith  brief  stops  at  Munroe  Falls,  and 
Cuyahoga  Falls,  proceed  directly  to  the  junction  of  the  two 
canals,  in  South  Akron. 

The  programme  Avas  successfully  carried  out.  The  Pennsyl- 
vania party,  including  Gov.  David  R.  Porter,  were  met  at  the  State 
line,  by  delegations  from  Warren  and  Youngstown,  and  Avere  warmly 
welcomed  to  Ohio,  by  Judge  King  (in  the  absence  of  Gov.  Wilson 
Shannon  who  had  promised  to  be  present),  which  was  fittingly 
responded  to  by  Gov.  Porter.  Similar  ceremonies  w^ere  observed 
at  Youngstown,  w^here  the  party  dined,  Avith  a  banquet,  speeches, 
toasts,  etc.,  at  Warren  in  the  evening. 

The  next  day,  at  Ravenna,  a  dinner  was  given  the  excur- 
sionists with  an  address  of  welcome  by  Hon.  Darius  Lyman,  and 
responses  by  Gov.  Porter  and  Col.  Dickey,  of  Beaver,  and  in  the 
evening,  a  supper  and  reception  were  given  the  party  on  its 
arrival  at  Franklin  Mills. 

The  next  day,  making  a  brief  halt  at  Munroe  Falls,  where  the 
villagers  and  surrounding  farmers  made  the  welkin  ring  with 
cheers  and  shouts  of  joy,  the  party,  on  arriving  at  Cuyahoga  Falls, 
were  escorted  by  a  band  of  music,  to  the  American  House,  where 
an  enthusiastic  reception,  with  a  bounteous  collation,  w^as  given 
them,  with  an  eloquent  address  of  welcome  from  Hon  Elisha  N. 
Sill,  and  spirited  responses  from  Gov.  Porter,  Col.  Dickey,  Judge 
King  and  others. 

Soon  after  leaving  Cuyahoga  Falls,  the  party  was  met  by  a 
boat  carrying  Akron's  reception  committee  and  other  promi- 
nent citizens,  when  the  entire  fleet,  consisting  of  six  new  and 
freshly  painted  boats,  with  banners  and  pennants  flying,  to  the 
music  of  the  Akron  Brass  Band,  led  by  the  late  Henry  S.  Abbey, 
drove  gayly  into  Akron,  amid  the  plaudits  of  the  multitude  who 
lined  both  banks  of  the  canal  from  Tallmadge  to  Mill  streets,  and 
as  soon  as  the  lockage  at  the  latter  point  could  be  made,  continued 
on  to  final  destination,  in  the  lower  basin  of  the  Ohio  Canal  in 
South  Akron,  where  an  equally  demonstrative  crowd  welcomed  its 
arrival  with  booming  cannon  and  prolonged  and  enthusiastic 
cheers. 

The  six  boats  were  drawn  up  side  by  side  on  the  east  side  of 
the  basin,  many  other  boats  already  in  the  basin,  quietly  drawing 
near,  when  in  the  presence  of  the  large  concourse  of  people  upon 
the  shore  and  surrounding  boats,  Hon.  Rufus  P.  Spalding  deliv- 
ered an  eloquent  address  of  welcome  to  the  distinguished  visitors, 
and  of  congratulation  to  the  officers  of  the  company,  at  the  final 
consummation  of  the  great  work  whose  completion  they  were  met  to 


76  AKKOX    AXL)    SUMMIT   COUXTY. 

<:elel)rate,  to  which  an  equally  eloquent  and  happy  response  was 
made  in  behalf  of  the  visiting  party,  by  Governor  Porter. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  exercises  at  the  basin,  the  visitors 
were  transferred  to  carriages,  and,  headed  by  the  band  and  the 
Summit  Guards,  commanded  by  Capt.  Philo  Chamberlin,  and  fol- 
lovi^ed  by  nearly  the  entire  populace,  were  escorted  to  the  Univer- 
salist  Church,  on  North  High  street,  where  Judge  King,  on  behalf 
of  the  directors,  made  a  concise  report  of  the  work  which  had  been 
so  successfully  accomplished,  and  of  the  highly  satisfactory  condi- 
tion and  prospects  of  the  company,  Mr.  King  being  foUow^ed  by 
Tarief  and  spirited  congratulatory  speeches  from  Hon.  David  Tod, 
Gov.  Porter,  Hon.  E  N.  Sill  and  others. 

At  the  close  of  the  exercises  at  the  church,  the  party  repaired 
to  the  spacious  hall  in  the  third  story  of  May's  block  (the  present 
Clarenden  Hotel),  where  a  sumptuous  dinner  had  been  spread  by 
that  ancient  prince  of  hotelists,  Mr.  Samuel  Edgerly  (father  of  Mrs. 
B.  F.  Battels  and  Charles  H.  Edgerly). 

Here  the  balance  of  the  afternoon  was  spent  in  feasting,  drink- 
ing, toasting  and  speaking,  in  which  both  visitors  and  citizens 
heartil}^  participated. 

Upon  the  Akron  boat  had  been  borne  an  elegant  silk  banner, 
upon  which,  in  the  line  of  his  early  artistical  profession,  the  writer 
had  painted  in  gilt,  two  right  hands  clasped  underneath  the  legend, 
^'Pennsylvania  and  Ohio."  Tow^ards  the  close  of  the  festivities, 
Mr.  Spalding,  offering  as  a  sentiment:  "Pennsylvania  and  Ohio, 
distinguished  by  unity  of  interest,  unity  pf  principle  and  unity  of 
friendship,"  presented  the  flag  in  question  to  Gov.  Porter,  "as  a 
slight  testimonial  of  the  respect  entertained  for  him  by  the  citizens 
of  Akron,  and  as  a  memento,  in  subsequent  life,  of  the  joj^ful  festivi- 
ties of  the  day." 

On  receiving  the  flag,  the  Governor  feelingly  responded, 
expressing  his  great  gratification  at  the  kindness  of  his  reception 
by  the  people  of  Ohio,  and  especially  at  the  extreme  cordiality  that 
had  been  extended  to  him  by  the  citizens  of  Akron  and  Summit 
Count)'. 

Much  w^onderment,  and  very  great  regret,  w^as  indulged  in  over 
the  absence  of  Governor  Shannon,  after  his  unqualified  agreement 
to  honor  the  occasion  with  his  presence,  and  on  his  non-appear- 
ance, without  explanation,  it  was  feared  that  he  had  l^een  suddenly 
taken  severely  ill.  But  when  it  soon  afterwards  transpired  that, 
on  the  very  days  when  the  festivities  named  were  in  progress,  the 
Governor  was  in  attendance  upon  political  meetings  in  the  south 
part  of  the  State,  making  stump  speeches  in  behalf  of  his  own 
re-election,  the  indignation  hereabouts  w^as  both  intense  and 
emphatic,  aiding  to  some  extent,  no  doubt,  in  compassing  his  defeat. 
A  previous  historical  writer  has  given  the  date  of  the  celebration 
as  1841,  and  Gov.  Thomas  Corwin  as  the  delinquent  official,  an  error 
that  should  be  corrected,  as  Gov.  Shannon  was  defeated  by  Mr. 
Corwin,  at  the  ensuing  October  election  after  his  shabby  treatment 
of  Gov.  Porter  and  the  people  of  Northeastern  Ohio. 

In  the  evening  of  the  celebration  in  Akron,  as  above  related, 
there  was  an  impromptu  reception,  with  rather  a  late  supper, 
accompanied  with  the  usual  liquid  refreshments  then  so  univer- 
sally in  vogue,  at  the  Ohio  Exchange,  on  the  present  site  of  Woods' 
block,  corner  Main  and   Market  streets.      The   visitors   retiring  to. 


IX    vSUCCESSFUL   OPEKATION.  77 

their  several  raoms  at  rather  a  late  hour,  were  not  very  early  astir 
in  the  morning,  and  when  finally  assembled  for  breakfast,  Major 
General  Seeley,  of  Warren,  was  found  to  be  absent.  A  friend  going 
to  his  room  to  call  him  found  him  dead,  from  an  attack  of  apoplexy" 
during  the  night.  The  General  was  70  ^^ears  of  age,  of  genial  man- 
ners, and  a  great  favorite,  his  sudden  and  unexpected  death,  creating 
great  excitement  and  the  profoundest  sorrow  among  his  fellow- 
excursionists,  as  well  as  the  citizens  of  Akron  and  other  towns 
along  the  line  of  the  canal  generally. 

But  sometimes  the  most  serious  event  has  a  comical  side  to  it. 
A  middle-aged  son  of  the  General,  a  phj'sician  by  profession,  being 
bibulously  inclined,  not  having  entirely  recovered  from  theindulg- 
encies  of  the  night  previous,  on  being  informed  of  his  father's  death, 
broke  out  into  an  uncontrollable  and  hysterical  fit  of  weeping.  A 
lady  acquaintance  of  the  family,  a  former  resident  of  Warren,  then 
living  in  Akron,  endeavored  to  comfort  him,  urging  him  to  cease 
weeping  and  control  his  feelings,  but  the  Doctor,  in  his  maudlin 
phrenzy,  pathetically  exclaimed :  "  Why,  I — ^I — I  always  cry  w^hen 
my  dear  father  dies  ! " 

Among  the  incorporators  and  active  promoters  of  the  enter- 
prise w^as  a  rather  eccentric  and  somewhat  profane  lawyer,  of 
Ravenna,  named  Jonathan  Sloane,  and  when  the  sudden  death  of 
Gen.  Seeley,  who  was  one  of  his  most  intimate  friends,  was  dis- 
closed to  him,  rubbing  his  hands  together  he  gleefuU}^  exclaimed: 
"Dom'd  fine!  Dom'd  fine!  Went  out  of  the  w^orld  with  his  belly 
full  of  beefsteak  and  brandy!" 

Hitherto  transportation  of  iron,  steel,  nails,  glass  and  other 
Philadelphia  snd  Pittsburg  manufactures  and  merchandise,  com- 
ing into  Nortern  Ohio,  had  to  be  made  overland  in  "Conestoga 
w^agons" — immense  schooner-like  affairs,  drawn  by  four,  six  and 
eight  horses — the  products  of  this  region,  black  salts,  potash,  w^ool,. 
cheese,  flour,  etc.,  etc.,  being  in  like  manner  transported  thither. 
Among  the  .commanders  of  this  class  of  crafts,  the  writer  remem- 
bers, Mr.  Peter  More,  of  Sharon,  (father  of  the  well-known  cattle- 
king,  More  Brothers,  of  California),  Mr.  George  Grouse,  of  Tall- 
madge,  afterwards  of  Green,  (father  of  ex-Congressman  G.  W.  Crouse) 
and  Mr.  Patrick  Christy,  of  Springfield,  (father  of  Messrs.  James 
and  John  H.  Christy),  Mr.  James  Christy  himself  making  an  occa- 
sional trip  both  with  his  father  and  by  himself.  Indeed,  the  writer, 
then  with  a  brother  running  the  carriage  making  and  painting 
business  on  the  present  site,  of  the  Paige  block,  on  South  Main 
street,  made  several  excursions  to  Pittsburg  with  a  four-horse  rig, 
for  iron,  steel,  paints  and  other  supplies,  in  1839-40,  previous  to  the 
completion  of  the  canal. 

The  opening  of  the  canal  to  navigation,  as  above  narrated, 
changed  all  this,  quite  large  warehouses  being  erected  upon  its 
banks,  at  Akron,  Cuyahoga  Falls  and  other  points,  for  the  storage 
and  forwarding  of  produce  and  merchandise  through  the  large  num- 
ber of  boats  that  immediately  commenced  plying  thereon. 

For  12  or  15  years  receipts  for  tolls  were  quite  satisfactory,  and 
several  small  dividends  upon  the  stock  were  declared  and  paid. 
The  tolls  received  at  Akron  amounted  to  about  $7,000,  in  1852;  over 
$8,000,  in  1853;  and  nearly  $9,000,  in  1855;  quite  large  shipments 
being  made  by  this  route  between  Pittsburg  and  Cleveland,  Mas- 
sillon,  etc. 


78  AKROX    AND    SUMMIT   COUXTY. 

In  the  ttieantitne,  however,  railroad  competition  had  come  in, 
the  completion  of  the  Cleveland  and  Pittsburg,  and  the  Akron 
branch,  in  1852,  very  materially  interfering  with  the  canal,  and  the 
building  of  the  Mahoning  Valley  road,  from  Cleveland  to  Youngs- 
town,  a  few  years  later,  seriously  crippling  its  resources  and 
impairing  its  usefulness  and  prosperit}^. 

In  1862,  under  a  resolution  adopted  by  the  Legislature,  in  1858, 
the  Sinking  Fund  Commissioners  sold  the  $420,000  worth  of  the 
stock  of  the  canal  owned  l)y  the  State,  to  the  Mahoning  road  for 
$35,000,  which  with  stock  previously  secured  from  private  parties, 
at  equally  low  rates,  gave  that  company  a  controlling  interest  in 
the  canal.  From  that  moment  its  doom  ^vas  sealed;  transportation 
rates  largely  discriminating  in  favor  of  the  road  and  against  the 
canal  being  adopted,  traffic  upon  the  latter  soon  almost  entirely 
ceased. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  erection  of  the  canal,  the 
Cascade  Mill  race,  from  Middlebury  to  Akron,  had  been  merged 
therein,  under  an  arrangement  that  gave  the  mills  the  advantage 
of  the  surplus  or  lockage  waters  from  the  canal.  So  when,  in  1867, 
the  Legislature  authorized  the  company  to  abandon  or  lease  any 
portion  of  the  canal  it  might  deem  advisable,  the  Akron  Hydraulic 
Company  leased,  in  perpetuity,  all  that  portion  of  the  canal 
between  the  Portage  summit,  near  Ravenna,  (including  the  reser- 
voirs, feeders,  etc.),  and  Akron,  with  the  view  of  mantaining  the 
full  supply  of  water  that  had  hitherto,  since  the  constructing  of 
the  canal,  accrued  to  their  several  mills. 

By  a  provision  of  the  charter,  any  portion  of  the  canal  not  used 
for  navigation  purposes  for  the  period  of  one  year,  became  forfeited, 
the  lands  covered  thereby  reverting  to  their  original  o\vners.  The 
middle  and  eastern  portion  having  thus  gone  into  disuse,  its  stag- 
nant^waters  were  drained  off  by  contiguous  land  owners,  and  its  bed 
and  banks  largely  brought  under  cultivation 

The  Akron  Hydraulic  Company,  however,  fully  maintained  its 
rights,  under  the  charter,  and  its  lease,  by  keeping  the  section 
between  Akron  and  Ravenna  in  repair,  and  passing  an  occasional 
boat  along  its  channel.  In  the  meantime,  the  people  of  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  feeling  that  not  only  Avas  the  health  of  the  neighborhood 
being  imperiled  by  the  comparative  stagnation  of  its  waters,  but 
that  a  large  proportion  of  w^hat  water  did  pass,  was  just  so  much 
wrongfully  kept  from  the  Avheels  of  their  own  mills  and  manufac- 
tories, in  the  Spring  or  early  Summer  of  1868,  the  bank  of  the  canal 
w^as  clandestinel}^  cut  in  three  several  places,  both  at,  above  and 
below  that  village,  by  which  the  entire  waters  of  the  long  level 
between  Kent  and  the  nine  locks  were  drawn  off  into  the  river. 

The  Hydraulic  Company  several  times  repaired  the  breaches 
thus  made,  and  sought  to  protect  them  by  stationing  watchmen 
along  the  line,  but  as  often  Tvould  the  waters  nij'sterioasli^ "  per- 
colate" through  the  soft  earth,  and  wash  it  out  again.  In  this  way 
the  fatal  year  was  permitted  to  pass,  without  a  resumption  of 
navigation,  and  quo  vrarranto  proceedings  were  at  length  brought 
in  the  Supreme  Court,  in  1872,  under  which  Gen.  A.  C.  Voris,  of 
Akron,  and  Hon.  Samuel  Quinby,  of  Warren,  ^vere  appointed 
trustees  to  sell  the  property,  rights,  franchises,  etc.,  of  the  Canal 
Company  to  the  highest  bidder,  which  Avas  accordingly  done,  in 
September,   1873,  for  the   sum   of  $38,000,  the  Mahoning  Railroad 


CANAL    ABANDONED.  79 

Company,  being  the  sole  beneficiary  of  the  sale.  This  sale  did  not, 
of  course,  affect  the  rights  of  the  mill  men  in  that  portion  con- 
nected with  the  original  mill  race,  between  Middlebury  and 
Akron,  nor  the  short  section,  between  the  junction  with  the  race, 
in  Main  street,  and  the  Ohio  Canal  basin  in  South  Akron,  the  ben- 
efits of  whose  waters,  through  the  Mill  street  Lock,  the  mill 
owners  still  for  some  years  continued  to  enjoy. 

To  this  enjoyment  the  South  Main  street  people,  through 
whose  lands  the  canal  ran,  put  in  an  emphatic  demurrer  one 
night,  in  the  Spring  of  1874,  by  filling  the  canal  with  earth  at  the 
Exchange  street  bridge,  and  tapping  the  towing  path  at  one  or 
two  points  further  North,  and  discharging  the  waters  of  the  level 
upon  the  bottom  lands,  and  into  the  Ohio  Canal  ou  the  ^vest. 
Legal  proceedings  against  the  supposed  nocturnal  violators  of  the 
law  were  instituted,  but  finally  abandoned,  and  that  portion  of  the 
canal  also  reverted  to  the  contiguous  land  owners,  and  the 
Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  Canal,  as  such,  became  a  thing  of  the  past, 
and  its  bed  and  banks,  from  New^castle  Junction  to  Akron  are  now 
covered  by  the  tracks  of  the  Pittsburg  &c  Western  Railway,  as  fully 
set  forth  in  another  chapter. 

The  conception  of  the  scheme,  however,  ^was  a  grand  one,  and 
one  which,  through  the  sagacity  and  enterprise  of  Gen.  Perkins, 
Judge  King,  Dr.  Crosby  and  their  contemporaries,  did  its  full 
share  towards  establishing  the  commercial  and  manufacturing 
reputation  and  importance  of  Akron,  Middlebury  and  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  and  but  for  the  advent  of  that  still  more  potent  factor  of 
human  enterprise  and  progress — the  modern  railroad — w^ould  still 
have  been  one  of  the  cherished  institutions  of  the  State,  and  a 
source  of  profit  to  its  proprietors. 

As  a  mill  race,  however,  conveying  the  waters  of  the  Little 
Cuyahoga  river,  Springfield  Lake,  etc.,  from  Ancient  Middlebury, 
now  the  populous  Sixth  Ward,  of  Akron,  to  the  several  extensive 
flouring  mills  of  the  city,  it  is  still  doing  valuable  service,  though 
hidden  from  sight  by  a  substantial  conduit  through  Main,  and  that 
portion  of  Mill  street,  east  of  Howard.  Peace  to  the  "ashes"  of 
the  Pennsvlvania  and  Ohio  Canal! 


8()  AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  VL 

THE  PORTAGE  CANAL  AND  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY,  OR  THE  "  CHUCKER  Y  " 
ENTERPRISE — A  MAMMOTH  SCHEME— SUPERIOR  SAGACITY  AND  ENGINEER- 
ING SKILL'  OF  AKRON'S  GREAT  BENEFACTOR,  DR.  ELIAKIM  CROSBY-  -"  SUMMIT 
CITY"  FIFTEEN  MINUTES  A  COUNTY  SEAT  RISE,  PROGRESS  AND  COLLAPSE — 
MISMANAGEMENT  AND  RASCALITY— PROTRACTED  LITIGATION —RUIN  ALL 
AROUND— BRIEF  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF  DOCTOR  CROSBY  AND  FAMILY 
— TARDY  JUSTICE  TO  HIS  MEMORY. 

TRULY  A   MAMMOTH   SCHEME. 

AFTER  the  consumniation  of  the  Cascade  Mill  race  scheme,  bj^ 
which  the  waters  of  the  Little  Cuyahoga  river  had  been  turned 
from  their  course,  at  Middlebury,  and  brought  to  North  Akron, 
thus  constituting  the  extensive  water-power  now  owned  bj"  the 
Akron  Hydraulic  Company,  and  which  has,  in  reality,  made  Akron 
what  it  is,  Doctor  Kliakim  Crosby  conceived  the  idea  of  securing 
as  an  adjunct  to  that  then  potent  element  of  manufacturing 
growth  and  prosperity,  the  entire  volume  of  the  waters  of  the  Big 
Cuyahoga  river,  also.  Quietly,  but  carefully,  making  his  survej's, 
the  Doctor  satisfied  himself  that,  if  the  right  of  waj^,  and  the 
requisite  territory,  together  with  an  adequate  construction  fund, 
could  be  secured,  a  water-power  second  in  magnitude  and  accessi- 
bility to  no  other  in  the  Western  country  could  be  created,  and  a 
large  manufacturing  town,  rivalling  even  the  most  prosperous  in 
New  i^ork  and  New  England  could  be  built  up. 

The  village  of  Cuyahoga  Falls  was  already  largely  using  the 
waters  of  the  river  for  manufacturing  purposes,  but  the  peculiar  for- 
mation of  the  land  and  the  stream  below  the  village,  with  its  deep 
and  almost  inaccessible  gorge,  rendered  the  availability  of  its 
waters,  for  manufacturing  purposes,  both  difficult  and  extremely' 
inconvenient,  if  not  wholly  impracticable. 

In  the  furtherance  of  this  project,  Doctor  Crosby,  having  sold 
his  one-third  interest  in  the  Cascade  Mill  race  and  contiguous 
lands  in  North  Akron,  to  his  associates  in  that  enterprise,  General 
Simon  Perkins  and  Judge  Ivcicester  King,  with  the  avails  thereof 
quietly,  through  Mr.  Eleazer  C.  Sackett  (for  many  years  past,  until 
his  death,  July  10,  1889,  at  the  age  of  88,  a  resident  of  Wyandotte, 
Kansas),  in  1836  secured,  by  purchase,  all  the  lands  abutting  on  the 
river,  on  both  sides,  from  a  point  a  little  below  the  "  High  Bridge,  " 
in  \ehat  is  now  known  as  the  "Glens,"  to  its  junction  with  the 
little  Cuyahoga,  a  short  distance  below  Lock  Twenty-one  upon  the 
Ohio  Canal. 

Of  the  large  tract  of  land  thus  purchased,  nearly  four  square 
miles,  or  something  over  2,500  acres,  about  200  acres  were  nicely 
platted,  and  a  large  and  handsomely  engraved  and  printed  map  of 
"  Summit  City"  was  placed  on  exhibition  in  the  principal  business 
centers  of  the  country,  particularly  in  the  East,  and  capitalists 
were  invited  to  invest  in  the  choice  manufacturing  sites  and 
eligible  building  lots  for  business  blocks  and  private  residences 
displayed  thereon. 


TRULY    A    MAMMOTH    SCHEME.  81 

To  those  familiar  with  the  territory  comprising  Avhat  is  now 
generally  known  as  the  "Chuckery"  (so  named  from  the  facetious 
remark  of  that  inveterate  joker  and  punster,  the  late  Col.  John 
Nash,  of  Middlebury,  in  reply  to  the  inquiry  of  a  stranger  as  to 
the  population  of  Summit  City,  that  as  near  as  he  could  judge  it 
was  about  10,000,  "that  is,"  he  said,  with  that  peculiar  leer  of  his, 
"one  man  and  nine  thousand,  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  wood- 
chucks"),  it  will  be  readily  seen  that  the  location  was  remarkably 
favorable  for  the  success  of  the  contemplated  scheme.  The  large 
plateau,  now  designated  as  "  North  Hill,"  embracing  the  Wise 
farm,  and  contiguous  lands  north  to  the  river,  and  east  to  the  old 
Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  Canal,  were  admirably  adapted  to  private 
residences,  public  buildings,  parks,  etc.,  while  the  next  lower  pla- 
teau, elnbracing  Cuyahoga  street,  was  to  be  the  business  or 
mercantile  portion  of  the  city";  the  contemplated  mammoth  mills 
and  manufacturing  establishments  to  be  located  on  the  side  of  the 
bluffs,  the  lower  plateau,  and  along  the  bottom  lands  of  the  Little 
Cuj'ahoga,  from  a  short  distance  west  of  the  deep  cut  of  the 
Howard  street  extension,  around  the  brow  of  the  hill  westerly  and 
northerly,  to  the  junction  of  the  two  rivers. 

On  the  27th  day  of  February,  1837,  a  charter  was  granted  to 
Simon  Perkins,  Eliakim  Crosby,  Frederick  Wadsworth,  Eleazer 
C.  Sackett,  Edmund  W.  Crittenden,  Peter  Eicher  and  their  asso- 
ciates and  successors,  undername  and  style  of  the  Portage  Canal 
and  Manufacturing  Company,  with  an  authorized  capital  of  $500,- 
000,  and  with  power  to  issue  bonds  for  the  purpose  of  raising  funds 
for  building  its  dam  and  canal,  and  defraying  the  other  necessary 
expenses  of  the  corporation,  and  w^ith  authority  to  mortgage  its 
entire  lands  and  franchises  to  secure  the  paym'ent  of  such  bonds. 

The  first  series  of  bonds  was  issued  with  the  view  of  being 
negotiated  in  London,  through  the  L^nited  States  Bank  of  Penn- 
sylvania, at  Philadelphia,  to  which  institution,  as  trustee,  the 
company  executed  a  mortgage  upon  all  its  lands  and  franchises, 
on  the  19th  day  of  April,  1839,  to  secure  the  payment  of  said  bonds. 
The  total  amount  of  bonds  thus  authorized  was  £20,000  sterling, 
in  forty  bonds  of  £500  each.  These  bonds,  as  prepared,  were 
nicely  engraved,  with  a  handsome  vignette,  representing  both  a 
moving  canal  boat  and  a  railroad  train,  fine  marginal  designs, 
with  24  interest  coupons  attached  to  each,  and  were  nicely  printed 
on  a  fine  quality  of  bank  note  paper.  The  body  of  the  bonds  read 
as  follows: 

STATE  OF  OHIO,  U.  S.  A. 

No 

500  £  St'g.  [Canal  Boat,  etc.)  £  Sf  g  500. 

THE  PORTAGE  CANAL  AND  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY,  (Incorporated  bv 
the  Stateof  Ohio,  February,  27th,  A.  D.  1837),  promise  to  pay  to  the  bearer  of  this  Bond,  FivE 
Hundred  Pounds  Sterling,  on  the  first  clay  of  January,  one  thousand,  eight  hundred 

and ,  with  interest  thereon  at  the  rate  of  SIX  per  cent,  per  annum  from  the 

date  hereof.    The  said  interest  to  be  paid  semi-annually,  on  the  first  days  of  January  and 

July,  on  presenting  the  proper  warrant  for  the  same  at where  the  principal 

will  also  be  paid  on  the  surrender  of  this  certificate  at  its  maturity. 


paid 

Witness  the  Seal  of  said  Corporation,  with  the  signatures  of  the  President 
[.SEAL]  and  Treasurer,  at  Akron,  Ohio,  the day  of A.  D.  18.... 

Treasuref .  President. 

With  the  exception  of  some  four  or  five  of  these  bonds,  negoti- 
ated with  Joseph  S.  Lake,  a  Wooster  Banker,  and  a  stockholder 
in  the  company,  it  was  found  impracticable  to  carry  out  this 
scheme,  because  of  the  alleged  stringency  of  the  money  market  in. 

6 


82  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

London,  and  because  of  the  discoverj^  that,  being  a  corporation, 
the  United  States  Bank  of  Pennsylvania,  under  the  laws  of  that 
State,  could  not  legally  act  as  a  trustee  for  their  negotiation.  An 
arrangement  was  therefore  made  by  the  company  with  Mr.  Lake 
to  give  him,  in  exchange  for  the  bonds  he  had  thus  purchased,  a 
like  amount  in  a  new  series  of  bonds  to  be  issued,  and  the  mort^ 
gage  given,  as  above  stated,  to  the  U.  S.  Bank,  was  duly  cancelled 
on  the  30th  day  of  March,  1841.  On  the  succeeding  day,  March  31, 
1841,  a  mortgage  was  executed  in  favor  of  John  J.  Palmer,  of  Newr 
York,  as  trustee,  to  secure  the  payment  of  bonds  to  be  issued  by 
the  company,  to  the  amount  of  $100,000,  in  sums  of  $500  each,  to  be 
negotiated  by  him,  which  bonds,  similar  in  style  and  execution  to 
the  others,  as  appears  by  a  specimen  in  the  hands  of  the  writer, 
were  as  follows: 

ILoan  of  100,000  Dollars.]  [Real  Estate  Pledged  By  Deed  of  Trust.] 

STATE  OF  OHIO,  U.  S.  A. 

$500.  [Canal  Boat,  etc.]  $500. 

THE  PORTAGE  CANAL  AND  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY,  (Incorporated  by 
the  State  of  Ohio,  February  27,1857),  promise  to  paj'  the  bearer  of  this  Bond,  Fi\'EHrNUREl) 
Dollars,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  One  Thousand,  Eight  Hundred  and  Forty-Six,  with 
interest  thereon  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent,  per  annum  from  the  date  hereof ;  the  said 
interest  to  be  paid  senii-annuallv,  on  the  first  days  of  January  and  July,  on  presenting  tlie 
proper  warrant  for  the  same,  at  The  Merchants'  BANK  IN  THE  City  of  New  York,  at 
which  iNSTiTLfTlON,  the  principal  will  also  be  paid  on  the  surrender  of  this  Certificate  at 
its  maturity. 

Witness  the  Seal  of  said  Corporation,  with  the  Signatures  of  the  President  and 
[SEAL.]        Treasurer,  at  Akron,  Ohio,  the  thirty-first  day  of  March,  A.  D.  1841. 

S.  DAY,  Treasurer.  Eliakim  Crosby,  President. 

(Instituted  March  31, 1811.]  [Appraised  at  five  times  the  amount  of  the  Loan.] 

Some  time  previous  to  the  issue  of  the  bonds  described,  the 
original  proprietors  of  the  lands  and  water  powder,  Messrs.  Crosby, 
Eicher,  Sackett  and  Crittenden,  transferred  the  entire  property  to 
the  company,  after  it  had  become  duly  organized,  being  credited 
therefor,  upon  the  books  of  the  company,  the  sum  of  $500,000,  stip- 
ulating to  erect  the  dam,  construct  the  canal  and  cause  to  be 
surveyed  and  laid  out  into  suitable  sized  lots  for  the  purposes 
designed,  100  acres  or  more  of  said  lands.  Of  the  $500,000  thus 
credited  to  them,  the  original  proprietors  set  apart  the  sum  of 
$118,000,  for  the  execution  of  the  work  they  had  stipulated  to  per- 
form. Subsequently,  said  original  proprietors  contracted  w^ith 
Mr.  E.  C.  Sackett  to  build  the  canal  or  race  for  the  sum  of  $90,000, 
Mr.  Sackett  entered  vigorously  into  the  work,  its  progress,  from  the 
nature  of  the  route  to  be  traversed,  being  necessarily  very 
slow,  however,  and  af^r  he  had  expended  about  $50,000  the  com- 
pany, reimbursing  him  in  that  amount,  purchased  his  contract, 
binding  itself  to  complete  the  -work  as  stipulated  therein.  After- 
wards the  company  contracted  with  Dr.  Crosby,  for  the  sum  of 
$30,000,  to  complete  the  dam  and  race,  excepting  the  unfinished 
work  upon  the  latter  begun  by  Mr.  Sackett;  but  for  some  reason 
not  now  fully  ascertainable,  this  arrangement  fell  through,  and 
the  company  itself,  under  the  superintendenc}^  of  Dr.  Crosby, 
proceeded  to  complete  the  \vrork. 

The  means  for  the  earlier  prosecution  of  the  work  were  mostly 
procured  from  the  sale  of  shares  of  stock,  lots,  etc.  For  this 
purpose.  Dr.  E.  W.  Crittenden,  as  general  agent  of  the  company. 


ASPIRING   FOR   COUNTY    SEAT   H6N0RS.  83 

and  James  W.  Phillips  as  special  agent,  visited  New  York 
Philadelphia,  and  other  Eastern  cities,  in  the  interest  of  the  corpo- 
ation.  Money  being  a  decidedly  "cash  article,"  in  those  days— the 
panic  of  1837  then  being  full  head  on — large  blocks  of  stock  in 
Kastern  railroads  and  other  corporations,  real  estate  and  all  kinds 
of  merchandise,  were  taken  in  exchange  for  both  stock  shares  and 
building  lots  in  the  prospective  city;  a  store  being  opened,  about 
1810,  in  the  corner  room  of  the  historical  old  stone  block — where 
the  M.  W.  Henry  block  now  stands,  corner  Howard  and  Market 
streets — by  E.  Darwin  Crosby,  son  of  Dr.  Eliakim  Crosby,  the  large 
double-faced  gilt  sign,  bearing  his  name,  on  either  side,  as  above 
given,  made  by  the  writer,  now^  doing  service  as  a  shelf  for  canned 
fruit  in  his  [the  w^riter's]  cellar,  at  510  West  Market  street. 

Later  on,  in  1842,  the  late  John  T.  Balch  (father  of  Mr. 
Theodoric  A.  Balch,  of  136  Balch  street),  as  agent  for  John  R. 
Hudson,  of  New  York,  contracted  to  furnish  goods  upon  the  orders 
of  the  company,  at  retail  prices,  to  the  amount  of  $30,000,  on  a 
year's  credit,  the  company  to  provide  tw^o  store  rooms  for  the  sale 
of  said  goods,  rent  free.  The  main  store  under  the  taking  title  of 
'*  The  New  York  Store,"  was  established  in  room  No.  3,  of  the  stone 
block,  and  filled  with  a  large  and  well-selected  stock  of  general  mer- 
chandise, for  sale  to  the  public  at  large,  as  well  as  upon  the  orders 
■of  the  company;  a  smaller  but  pretty  full  assortment  of  goods  also 
being  kept  in  a  store  erected  by  the  company  in  "Summit  City," 
on  the  southwest  corner  of  Cuyahoga  street  and  Tallmadge 
avenue.  The  same  building,  then  occupied  as  a  dwelling  by  Mr. 
Seth  Sackett,  was  destroyed  by  fire  on  the  night  of  Februar3'-  11, 
1844,  \vith  all  its  contents,  the  family,  in  their  night  clothes,  barely 
escaping  with  their  lives;  the  New  York  Store  closing  business  on 
the  25th  day  of  April,  the  same  year. 

FOR  FIFTEEN  MINUTES  A,  COUNTY  SEAT. 

Elsewhere  will  be  found,  in  detail,  the  history  of  the  erection 
of  Summit  County,  and  the  protracted  and  bitter  struggle  over  the 
location  of  the  county  seat.  For  the  purposes  of  this  chapter  it 
will  be  sufficient  to  say  that,  in  1840,  the  "Chuckery"  appeared  upon 
the  tapis  as  a  compromise  candidate  for  county-seat  honors, 
against  Akron  and  Cuyahoga  Falls,  between  which  towrns  a  fierce 
rivalry  existed.  Akron  claimed  it  as  being  the  larger,  in  point  of 
manufactures,  general  business  and  population,  and  because  of  its 
more  convenient  access  from  a  large  proportion  of  the  territory 
included  in  the  new^  county;  vrhile  Cuyahoga  Falls  claimed  it 
because  of  its  more  central  geographical  location,  its  alleged 
superior  water  power;  its  more  favorable  topographical  advantages, 
and  above  all  for  its  unsurpassed  salubrity  and  healthfulness;  the 
'•Chuckery's"  claim  being  that  by  means  of  its  gigantic  hydraulic 
operations,  then  rapidly  progressing.  Summit  City  would  speedily 
outgrow  either  of  the  other  claimants,  both  in  the  magnitude  of  its 
manufactures  and  general  business,  and  in  population,  while  its 
accessibility,  as  well  as  its  beauty  of  location,  would  be  generally 
satisfactory  to  the  people  of  the  entire  county,  and  allay  the  bitter 
animosities  that  were  being  engendered  in  the  controversy  then 
being  waged  between  its  tw^o  rivals. 

So  promising  were  the  prospects  of  the  company  at  this  time, 
and  so  plausible  were  the  arguments  presented  by  Drs.  Crosby  and 


84 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Crittenden  before  the  reviewing  commissioners,  at  an  all  day's 
meeting  held  by  them  in  the  Universalist  (late  Baptist)  Church,  in 

1841,  to  hear  the  question  discussed,  that  two  of  the  three  commis- 
sioners actually  decided  in  its  favor,  and  proceeded  to  "  stick  the 
stakes"  for  the  public  buildings  on  the  first  level  above  the  vallcA" 
of  the  Little  Cuyahoga,  a  little  east  of  the  house  now  o^vned  bj^  Mr. 
R.  A.  Grimwood,  on  Glen\^^ood  avenue,  built  and  formerly  occupied 
by  Mr.  K.  C.  Sackett,  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  active  promot- 
ers of  the  "Chuckery"  scheme. 

It  is  possible  that  this  selection  would  have  prevailed,  the  disas- 
ters of  the  company  have  been  averted  and  the  project  have  proved 
a  triumphant  success,  but  for  the  "moving"  reinark  of  bluff  old 
Dr.  Daniel  Upson,  of  Tallmadge,  \vhile  the  measurements  were 
being  made  and  the  stakes  driven,  who  said  to  the  bystanders,  loud 
enough  to  be  heard  by  the  commissioners,  that  "  nobody  but  fools 
or  knaves  vt^ould  think  of  locating  county  buildings  on  such  a  spot 
as  that."  This  so  incensed  the  commissioners  who,  having  con- 
versed with  the  Doctor  the  day  before,  knew^  that  though  his  resi- 
dence was  nearer  the  Falls,  he  was  favorable  to  Akron,  that 
they  immediately  pulled  up  their  stakes,  and  proceeded  to  locate 
the  county  seat  at  Cuyahoga  Falls  as  elsewhere  stated,  resulting 
finally  in  a  submission  of  the  question  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  in 

1842,  and  a  confirmation  of  the  judgment  of  the  original  commis- 
sioners in  favor  of  Akron. 

To  those  familiar  with  the  topog- 
raphy of  the  section  traversed 
by  the  canal,  the  engineering  diffi- 
culties to  be  overcome,  with  the 
crude  and  limited  appliances  then 
in  vogue,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
serious  financial  embarrassments 
by  -which  the  company  and  the 
contractors  were  beset,  the  won- 
der is  that  the  really  gigantic 
work  in  question  could  then  have 
been  accomplished  as  soon  as  it 
was,  ^vhile  in  these  modern 
days  of  improved  labor-saving 
expedients,  and  comparatively 
eas3^  finances,  it  could  have  been 
done  in  one -fourth  the  time, 
though  probably  at  double  the 
cost;  common  laborers  upon  the 
job  then  receiving  but  $13  per 
month,  $2  only  of  v^'hich  vt^as  in 
money,  and  the  remaining  $11  in 
orders  upon  the  company's  stores. 
For  the  information  of  those  who 
have  never  been  over  the  ground,  I  will  attempt  to  convey  what,  at 
best,  will  be  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  the  work. 

In  the  first  place,  a  dam,  some  20  feet  in  height,  was  required 
to  be  throvirn  across  the  river,  from  -whence  to  dra-w  the  water 
thereof  at  a  sufficient  elevation  to  properly  flow  through  the  con- 
templated canal  and  discharge  itself,  on  reaching  its  intended 
outlet  at  the  other  end,  a  distance  of  nearly  four  miles.     This  dam,. 


View  of  "Big  Falls"  on  Cuyahoga  River, 

from  "Chuckery"  race,  opposite  "Old 

Maid's  Kitchen/' 


SKILLFUL   ENGINEERING   FEAT. 


85 


nearly  100  feet  below  the  general  surface  of  the  surrounding  coun- 
try, was  constructed  of  heavy  timbers,  anchored  to  the  bed  rock,  at 
the  bottom  of  the  narrow  gorge  where  it  w^as  located,  w^ith  the  ends 
of  the  upward  arching  superstructure  resting  against  the  solid 
rocky  walls  of  the  river  bank,  upon  either  side.  Though  meeting 
with  several  disasters  and  many  hindrances,  by  reason  of  frequent 
floods,  during  the  progress  of  the  work,  the  dam  was  finallj^  suc- 
cessfully completed  some  time  in  the  year  1843. 

For  two  miles  from  the  dam,  the  canal  had  to  be  cut  from  the 
solid  rock  of  the  overhanging  cliff,  or  built  up  from  the  bed  of  the 
stream  with  substantial  masonry  and  curbing,  and  filled  in  with 
earth  difficult  of  access.  On  emerging  from  the  gorge  of  the  river 
a  mile  or  so  above  the  present  covered  bridge,  the  course  of  the 
canal,  southward,  w^as  through  a  succession  of  large  spurs  of  the 
high  bluffs  on  the  northwestern  verge  of  the  upper  plateau  of  the 
company's  domain,  and  at  an  elevation  of  fully  one  hundred  feet 
above  the  bed  of  the  river. 

These  bluffs,  composed  chiefly  of  sand,  had  been  corrugated  and 
worn  into  deep  ravines,  by  the  action  of  the  surface  water  from  the 
■upper  plateau  in  its  flow^  towards  the  river.  These  numerous  high 
ridges  required  to  be  cut  down,  w^hile  the  intervening  gullies  had 
to  be  elevated  to  the  proper  level  for  the  bed  of  the  canal  then 
being  built.  To  have  done  this  by  the  usual  modes  of  excavation 
then  in  vogue,  the  shovel,  the  barrow,  the  scraper  and  the  cart, 
would  have  required  an  immense  number  of  men  and  teams,  and 
an  immense  expenditure  of  time,  muscle  and  money. 

But  the  engineering  and 
hydraulic  skill  of  Dr.  Crosby 
w^ere  equal  to  the  emergency. 
Procuring  a  permit  from  the 
managers  of  the  Pennsylvania 
and  Ohio  Canal,  that  canal  was 
tapped  upon  the  eastern  verge 
of  the  company's  lands,  and  in 
*a  shallow  ditch,  formed  mainly 
by  its  own  current,  the  w^ater 
w^as  conducted  across  the  nearly 
level  plain,  about  a  mile  and  a 
half,  to  the  vsrestern  edge  of  the 
plateau,  where,  in  troughs  and 
properly  directed  sluice-ways,  it 
was  made  to  w^ash  the  parts  to 
be  cut  down  into  the  parts  to  be 
filled  up;  the  latter  being  forti- 
fied at  the  bottom  with  suitable 
breastworks  of  logs,  brush,  etc., 
to  catch  the  moving  sand,  w^hich 
were  from  time  to  time  added  to, 
as  the  cavities  filled  up. 

In  this  w^ay,  not  only  were  the 
depressions  in  the  bluffs  brought 
up  to  the  required  level,  but  thousands  and  perhaps  millions  of 
cubic  yards  of  earth  were  deposited  upon  the  flats  below;  the 
bottoms,  between  the  river  and  bluffs,  being  in  places  raised  from 
twenty-five  to  thirty  feet;  trees  of  quite  large  growth,  being  almost 
completely  buried  thereby. 


View    of   "Old    Maid's    Kitchen,"    from 

"  Cliuckerv"   race  below  the   "  Big 

Falls, *^  on  Cuyalioga  river. 


86 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


The  south  end  of  the  canal,  along  the  base  of  the  upper  plateau^ 
for  a  mile  or  more,  was  constructed  in  the  usual  way,  with  shovels, 
barrows,  scrapers,  carts,  etc.,  and  though  the  \^ork  had  several 
times  been  suspended,  by  the  exigencies  of  the  times,  and  the 
many  unavoidable  obstacles  it  had  encountered,  the  great  project 
was  at  length  so  far  consummated,  that  on  the  27th  day  of  May, 
1844,  the  water  was  turned  into  the  canal  at  the  dam,  and, 
running  its  entire  length,  nearly  four  miles,  was  permitted  to  flow, 
for  a  short  time,  over  the  edge  of  the  lower  bluffs  into  the  valley  of 
the  Little  Cuyahoga,  at  a  point  about  midway  between  Cu^^ahoga 
street  and  Howard  street  extension. 

The  news  that  the  water  was 
to  be  let  into  the  "Chucker3'" 
canal,  at  a  given  hour  of  the  da3' 
named,  attracted  to  the  spot  a 
large  crowd  of  interested  people, 
from  both  "Summit City,"  Akron 
and  the  surrounding  countr^^. 
Of  this  event,  Hiram  Bowmen, 
Bsq.,  founder  and  editor  of  the 
Beacon,  in  the  issue  of  May  29, 
1844.  said: 

"On  Monday  morning  last  the 
water  of  the  Great  Cuyahoga 
river  was  turned  into  the  race, 
which  has  been  for  several  j^ears 
in  process  of  construction  by  the 
Portage  Canal  and  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  for  the  purpose  of 
conducting  it  to  the  brow  of  the 
hill,  just  north  of  the  village,  to 
be  used  for  h3''draulic  purposes. 
The  water  flowed  freely  through 
the  rockj"  channel  which  ha& 
been  made  at  incredible  labor 
and  expense  along  the  precipi- 
tous banks  of  the  Cuyahoga,  for  more  than  two  miles,  when  it 
passed  into  that  portion  of  the  race  made  through  the  sand  bank, 
w^here  it  makes  a  southerly  course  towards  the  village  of  Akron,  and 
leaves  the  river.  Here,  in  consequence  of  the  porous  nature  of 
the  soil,  the  water  made  but  slow  progress,  but  it  crept  slowl^^  and 
securely  on  towards  its  destined  termination,  the  distance  through, 
from  the  commencement  of  the  sand  bank,  being  about  two  miles. 
Long  before  the  Avater  came  in  sight  a  crowd  of  spectators  from 
the  neighboring  villages,  had  gathered  to  w^itness  the  interesting 
spectacle. 

"About  4  o'clock  p.  m,  the  Avater  was  descried  from  the  point 
where  it  yvas  to  flo^v  over  the  hill  into  the  valley  of  the  Little 
Cuyahoga  river,  when  the  *  Baby  Waker'  of  the  Summit  Guards, 
stationed  on  a  neighboring  hill,  awakened  the  echoes  that  skirt 
the  vallies  of  the  two  rivers,  by  repeated  discharges,  done  in  line 
style.  This  was  answered  by  the  hearty  cheei;s  of  the  multitude, 
and  the  ringing  of  the  bells  from  the  town.  Then  came  a  pause, 
and  all  were  on  tip-toe  to  see  the  final  consummation  of  this  great 
w^ork — the  fall  of  the  water  at  the  end  of  the  race  into  the  valley 


View  of  "  Cliiickery  "  race  where  it  emerges 

from   the  rocky  "bank  of  the  Cuyahoga 

river,  into  the  sandy  plain  towards 

Akron. 


INHARMONY    AND    DISASTEK.  87 

below.  The  "water  came  slo\^ly  on,  as  if  it  had  lost  its  "way,  and 
was  loth  to  leave  the  foamy  bed  of  the  ancient  river,  and  check  its 
headlong  career  to  be  subject  to  the  control  of  man.  But  art  and 
enterprise  had  triumphed — the  great  w^ork,  Avhich  had  so  long  been 
held  in  doubt,  -was  accomplished,  for  soon  the  water  was  seen  to 
emerge  from  the  termination  of  the  canal,  and  flow  over  the  hill 
into  the  valley  below.  This  -was  greeted  -with  three  cheers  from 
the  people  and  the  firing  of  cannon.  Ithiel  Mills,  Esq.,  then  pro- 
posed the  follo>ving  sentiment,  to  which  the  people  responded  with 
a  right  good  will,  and  then  retired  to  their  homes: 

"  *Dr.  E.  Crosby:  The  noble  projector  and  efficient  executive 
of  the  great  enterprise  this  day  successfully  accomplished,  of 
introducing  the  waters  of  the  Great  Cuyahoga  river  to  Akron  by 
land.  Of  his  noble  and  persevering  spirit  of  enterprise,  his  fellow- 
citizens  are  justly  proud.'" 

It  was  to  be  expected,  of  course,  that  there  would  be  more  or 
less  defects  in  the  bed  of  the  canal,  particularly  in  the  sandy  por- 
tion of  it,  that  ^vould  need  to  be  puddled  and  otherwise  remedied, 
and  there  being  as  yet  no  proper  gates  and  sluices  for  safely 
conducting  the  water  into  the  Little  Cuyahoga  river,  the  water  -was 
turned  off  at  the  datn  until  these  things  could  be  provided,  and,  as 
the  sequel  proved,  never  to  be  again  turned  on. 

Of  the  causes  that  led  to  the  final  overthro"w  of  this  gigantic 
project,  vsrhich  had  cost  so  much  time,  labor  and  monej',  and  so 
great  a  degree  of  intrepidity,  skill  and  perseverance  of  its  projector 
and  his  associates,  it  is  difficult  at  this  remote  day  to  definitely 
determine.  But  from  the  legal  and  other  sources  of  information 
available,  it  seems  to  have  largely  resulted  from  -want  of  harmony 
among  the  stockholders,  and  the  importunity  of  the  numerous 
creditors  of  the  company,  and  perhaps,  to  a  certain  extent,  from  the 
cupidity,  if  not  downright  rascality,  of  certain  parties  who  had 
been  trusted  with  the  sale  of  bonds,  stocks,  lots,  etc.,  and  the 
purchase  of  merchandise  and  other  property  in  exchange  therefor, 
the  court  records  showing  that  about  fifty  suits  at  law,  and  in 
chancery,  "were  instituted  against  the  company  and  parties  con- 
nected therewith,  between  the  time  its  embarrassments  and 
complications  became  manifest,  until  the  final  closing  up  of  its 
affairs. 

Finding  itself  unable  to  restore  harmony  among  its  members, 
or  regain  the  confidence  of  capitalists,  in  September,  1845,  Joseph 
S.  Lake,  of  Wooster,  was  appointed  a  trustee,  and  all  of  the  lands 
and  franchises  of  the  company  "were  conve^'ed  to  him,  in  fee 
simple,  for  the  purpose,  as  he  expressed  it  in  his  advertisement 
announcing  his  appointment,  "of  enabling  him  to  payoff  the  debts 
of  the  company,  and  to  secure  a  good  title  to  the  purchasers;"  and 
to  more  speedily  accomplish  that  object,  he  associated  with  him- 
self, \V.  S.  C.  Otis,  Esq.,  to  arrange  and  settle  claims,  and  receive 
pay  for  lands  sold;  and  Mr,  E.  C.  Sackett  to  make  sales  of  lands, 
rent  property,  etc. 

Finding  that  but  little,  if  any,  headway  was  being  made  by 
Trustee  Lake,  towards  adjusting  the  affairs  of  the  company,  and 
placing  it  upon  its  feet  again,  on  the  20th  day  of  June,  1845,  John 
J,  Palmer,  of  New  York,  mortgagee  of  all  the  company's  property 
in  trust  to  secure  the  payment  of  its  bonds  negotiated  through 
him,  filed  a  bill  in  chancery,  in  the  Court  of   Common  Pleas  of 


88  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Summit  County,  for  the  foreclosure  of  said  mortgage,  in  which 
suit,  besides  the  corporation  itself,  some  45  or  50  more  or  less 
interested  private  individuals  were  made  parties.  What  with 
answers,  replications,  demurrers,  amendments,  references,  contin- 
uances, etc.,  this  suit  was  prolonged  until  the  October  term  of  the 
court,  1849,  at  which  time  a  judgment  was  rendered  against  the 
company  for  $127,832.18  and  costs  $289.81,  and  a  decree  entered  for 
the  sale  of  the  mortgaged  property,  by  Daniel  K.  Tilden,  Esq.,  as 
Special  Master  Commissioner;  K.  C.  Sackett  having  been  appointed 
by  the  court,  receiver  of  rents,  etc.,  pending  said  litigation. 

Having  been  duly  advertised,  said  property  Viras  sold  by  Master 
Commissioner  Tilden,  on  the  15th  day  of  June,  1850;  a  few  of  the 
smaller  portions,  city  lots,  etc.,  being  sold  to  parties  to  "whom  they 
had  previously  been  sold  or  contracted,  by  the  company,  and  who 
had  made  improvements  thereon ;  but  the  bulk  of  the  property,  includ- 
ing its  water-power,  hydraulic  improvements,  franchises,  etc., 
being  sold  to  W.  S.  C.  Otis,  Ksq.,  attorney  for  the  bondholders  for 
the  sum  of  $38,172,  the  entire  sales  aggregating  a  little  over  $42,000, 
for  what,  exclusive  of  the  large  outlay  on  the  dam  and  race,  had 
originally  cost  the  company  nearly  or  quite  $300,000. 

In  speaking  of  this  sale,  John  Teesdale,  Esq.,  then  editor  of  the 
Beacon,  said:  "Its  present  shape  renders  it  available  for  the  exe- 
cution of  the  original  design,  and  the  conviction  seems  to  be 
general  that  with  the  requisite  enterprise  and  energy,  the  new 
purchasers  may  realize  from  their  investment  what  even  the  most 
sanguine  of  the  stockholders  dared  hope  for." 

But  the  prediction  of  Mr.  Teesdale  w^as  destined  never  to  be 
verified.  The  rapidly  increasing  use  of  steam,  as  a  machinery  pro- 
pelling power,  and  the  constantly  diminishing  volume  of  Avater  in 
the  Cuyahoga  river,  by  reason  of  the  w^anton  denudation  of  adja- 
cent timber  lands,  rendering  hydraulic  privileges  less  desirable, 
the  entire  project  was  finally  abandoned,  and  the  territory  included 
in  the  original  scheme,  embracing  about  2,500  acres — >vith  the  small 
exceptions  noted — was  sold  as  occasion  offered,  to  private  parties, 
mostly  for  agricultural  purposes;  though  at  this  time  a  considera- 
ble portion  thereof  is  rapidly  assuming  a  city  aspect,  preparatory 
to  annexation  as  the  Seventh  Ward  of  the  exceptionally  prosper- 
ous and  growing  city  of  Akron;  while  the  dismantled  canal  through 
the  gorge  of  the  Cuyahoga  river — ruow^  largel}^  overgrown  w^ith 
bushes  and  trees — only  serves  as  an  object  of  curious  interest  and 
wonderment  to  the  thousands  of  pleasure  seekers  Avho  annually 
visit  that  now  celebrated  Summer  resort,  "The  Glens;"  that  portion 
south  of  the  river  being  rapidly  obliterated  by  the  action  of  the 
elements  upon  its  sandy  embankments,  and  the  plowshare  of  the 
gardener  and  husbandman. 

DR.  CROSBY'S  LATER  LIFE,  DEATH,  ETC. 

Fifty  years  ago  the  Crosby  family  were  not  only  the  very  elite, 
but  the  very  life  and  soul  of  Akron  society,  first  and  foremost  in 
every  good  work  and  social  enterprise,  the  second  and  third  daugh- 
ters, Louisa  and  Mary,  being  very  fine  singers — the  latter  occupying 
about  the  same  position  in  musical  circles  that  Mrs.  Henry  Perkins 
holds  among  us  to-day. 

What  I  have  said  of  Dr.  Eliakim  Crosby,  in  this  and  former 
chapters,  conveys  but  a  faint  idea  of  his  services  to  the  people  of 


DOCTOR  Crosby's  later  life.  89 

Akron,  a  meager  recognition  of  Avhich  has  been  tardily  accorded  in 
the  naming  of  the  new  street  running  parallel  with  West  Market 
street,  from  Maple  to  Balch  streets;  and  also  in  giving  his  name  to 
the  Third  Ward  school  building,  corner  of  Smith  and  West  streets. 

It  is  proper,  in  closing  this  chapter,  and  as  supplemental  to 
matters  pertaining  to  the  same  subject  contained  in  the  first  chap- 
ter of  these  papers,  to  add  the  following  in  regard  to  Doctor  Crosby 
and  his  family:  In  1830,  the  Doctor  buried  his  wife,  Mrs.  Marcia 
Beemer  Crosby,  w^ho  died  October  13,  at  the  age  of  38  years, 
having  borne  him  seven  children,  four  sons  and  three  daughters. 
In  about  1832  he  moved  his  family  to  his  projected  new  village  of 
"Cascade,"  building  for  himself  the  house  which  is  still  standing 
on  the  back  part  of  the  lot  on  the  corner  of  North  Howard  and 
Beach  streets,  and  for  many  years  kno^vn  as  the  "Wheeler 
House."  A  year  or  two  later  this  property  w^as  exchanged,  with 
Mr.  Reuben  Downing,  for  the  present  lot  occupied  by  the  St.  Vin- 
<;ent  De  Paul  Church  and  parsonage,  corner  of  West  Market  and 
Maple  streets,  and  in  the  plain  story-and-a-half  frame  house  thereon 
he  continuously  resided  until  removing  from  the  town  in  1853. 

August  15,  1832,  Doctor  Crosby  married  for  his  second  w^ife 
Elizabeth  Brackett,  w^ho  died  January  3,  1834,  an  infant  daughter 
remaining  to  him  as  the  fruit  of  this  marriage.  May  8,  1834,  he 
married  for  his  third  wife,  Mrs.  Ann  Hamlin  West  (widow  of  Dr. 
Wareham  West,  who  died  in  Middlebury,  December  9,  1821,  at  the 
age  of  30  years),  her  only  daughter,  Mary  West,  then  being  added 
to  the  lively  family  circle. 

After  the  disastrous  failure  of  the  great  enterprise  of  his  life, 
^nd  the  termination  of  the  perplexing  litigation  connected  there- 
w^ith,  shattered  in  fortune  and  spirits.  Dr.  Crosby,  in  1853,  removed 
■with  his  wife  and  youngest  daughter,  to  Suamico,  near  Green  Bay, 
Wisconsin,  -where  his  youngest  son,  Benjamin  Franklin  Crosby, 
was  then  engaged  in  the  lumber  trade;  his  two  other  sons,  Henry 
Clay,  and  E.  Darwin,  soon  after  going  thither  also.  Dr.  Crosby  died 
at  Suamico,  September  2,  1854,  aged  75  years  and  6  months,  his 
widow,  Mrs.  Ann  Hamlin  Crosby,  dying  at  the  same  place  Decem- 
ber 11,  1857,  aged  64  years. 

Dr.  Crosby's  eldest  son,  John  B.,  died  in  Akron,  September  23, 
1832,  aged  20  years.  His  second  son,  Henry  Clay,  married  Mary 
West,  (daughter  of  his  last  step-mother),  and  soon  after  the  death 
of  his  parents  removed  to  Chicago,  near  which  citj^  in  the  pleas- 
ant village  of  Winnetka,  he  died  May  27,  1886,  in  the  71st  year  of 
his  age;  his  wife  and  one  son,  Wareham  West  Crosb3%  surviving 
him.  The  next  younger  son,  E.  Darwin,  recently  died  in  Chicago, 
where  the  youngest  son,  Benjamin  Franklin,  now  lives. 

Of  Doctor  Crosb^^'s  four  daughters,  Calista  M.,  when  quite 
young  was  married  to  Charles  W.  Howard,  one  of  Akron's  pioneer 
merchants,  and  for  whom  Howard  street  was  named,  and  in  1853 
was  again  married  to  Judge  Leicester  King,  of  Warren,  who  died 
in  1856.  She  is  still  living,  dividing  her  time  among  her  brothers, 
sisters  and  other  friends  at  Chicago,  Colorado  Springs,  Akron  and 
other  places;  her  only  son,  Charles  O.  Howard,  having  died  in 
Nebraska  in  1876.  The  second  daughter,  Louisa,  married  William 
Harrison  Dewey,  (brother  of  the  late  Mrs.  Dr.  Joseph  Cole,  of 
Akron),  also  one  of  early  Akron's  enterprising  business  men,  who 
died  in  Chicago  in   1863,   leaving  to   the   care  of  his  widow  five 


90 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


daughters;  the  eldest,  Jennie,  died  in  1870;  the  second,  lone,  mar- 
rying Gen.  Li.  P.  Bradley,  of  the  United  States  Army,  now  retired; 
the  third,  Helen,  marrying  Capt.  Rogers,  of  the  U.  S.  Army;  the 
fourth,  Louisa,  marrying  Samuel  Colj'er,  son  of  Rev.  Dr.  Robert 
Colyer,  now  living  in  Portland,  Oregon;  the  fifth,  Charlotte, 
unmarried,  still  living  with  her  mother.  Dr.  Crosby's  third  daugh- 
ter, Mary,  married  Hon.  Henry  W.  King,  brother  of  our  present 
w^ell-known  citizen,  David  L.  King,  Rsq.,  the  two  brothers  forming 
the  law  firm  of  King  &  King,  in  this  city,  from  1849  to  1851;  Mr. 
Henry  W.  King  also  holding  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State  and  Com- 
missioner of  Public  Schools,  from  1850  to  1852,  dying  in  Akron, 
November  20,  1857,  at  the  age  of  42  years  and  one  month,  leaving 
two  children,  Harry  C.  and  Julia  H.  The  former  died  in  Washing- 
ton in  August,  1864,  ^vhile  serving  as  one  of  Summit  Countj^'s  100- 
day  men  in  the  war  of  the  rebellion.  The  daughter,  Julia  H.,  is 
married  to  Homer  Dewey  Fisher,  son  of  the  late  Dr.  Alexander 
Fisher,  of  Chicago,  (formerly  of  Akron),  w^ho  is  now  manager  of 
the  Colorado  Midland  Railw^ay,  \vith  headquarters  at  Colorado 
Springs,  and  with  Avhom  Mrs.  King  now  resides.  Dr.  Crosb3''s 
youngest  daughter,  (by  his  second  wife),  Elizabeth  Brackett  Crosb}', 
married  Charles  N.  White,  paymaster  of  the  N.  Y,,  L.  E.  &  W.  R,  R., 
with  headquarters  at  Nyack,  N.  Y.,  where  she  died  in  Decem- 
ber, 1885. 


View  from  West  Hill,  above  Glendale  Avenue,  looking  East.— From  photo 
by  E.  J.  Howard,  1879. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SUMMIT  COUNTY— SIX  YEARS'  STRUGGLE  OVER  ITS  ERECTION— SUCCESSFUL  AT 
LAST— GREAT  REJOICING  OVER  THE  RESULT— PRELIMINARY  ELECTION  AND 
ORGANIZATION— THE  COUNTY  SEAT  QUESTION— AKRON,  CUYAHOGA  FALLS 
AND  SUMMIT  CITY  COMPETITORS— LOCATING  COMMISSIONERS  DECIDE  IN 
FAVOR  OF  AKRON— BUILDING  OF  COURT  HOUSE  AND  JAIL  BEGUN— NEW 
DEAL.AND  NEW  LOCATING  COMMITTEE  APPOINTED— EXCITING  DISCUSSION- 
STICKING  THE  STAKES,  FIRST  ON  THE  "CHUCKERY,"  THEN  AT  CUYAHOGA 
FALLS — MAJORITY  AND  MINORITY  REPORT— A  DIVIDED  COURT  FAILS  TO 
CONFIRM  MAJORITY  REPORT  —  COUNTY  OFFICERS  DIVIDED  ALSO,  PART 
GOING  TO  THE  FALLS,  PART  REMAINING  IN  AKRON— ANOTHER  NEW  DEAL 
—THE  QUESTION  SUBMITTED  TO  VOTE— AKRON  AHEAD  NEARLY  TWO  TO 
ONE— COMPLETION  OF  THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS— OVATION  TO  JOHN  QUINCY 
ADAMS— SHABBY  COURT  HOUSE  AND  UNSAFE  JAIL— SUBSEQUENT  IMPROVE- 
MENTS—NEW BUILDINGS  IMPERATIVELY  NEEDED,  ETC. 

EARLY  NEW  COUNTY  AGITATION. 

TH'E  opening  of  the  Ohio  Canal,  from  Cleveland  to  Akron,  in 
1827,  and  through  to  the  Ohio  river,  in  1830,  greatly  increasing 
the  facilities  for  travel  and  transportation,  very  materially  changed 
the  currents  of  trade,  diverting  business  from  old  established  cen- 
ters, like  Ravenna,  Canton,  Wooster,  Medina,  etc.,  to  such  points 
as  Akron,  Massillon,  Canal  Fulton,  Clinton,  etc.,  on  the  line  of  the 
canal. 

As  early  as  1833,  therefore,  the  farmers  of  the  western  portion 
of  Portage,  and  the  eastern  portion  of  Medina  Counties,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  people  of  the  new  and  enterprising  village  of  Akron, 
began  to  agitate  the  question  of  a  new  county,  to  be  composed  of 
two  tiers  of  townships  from  Portage,  one  tier  from  Medina,  and  a 
sufficient  amount  of  territory  from  either  Stark  or  Wayne,  or  both, 
to  answer  the  constitutional  requirements  in  regard  to  area. 

To  facilitate  the  project,  on  the  14th  day  of  December,  1833, 
Dr.  Eliakim  Crosby,  in  behalf  of  the  people  of  Akron,  published 
the  following  in  the  Ohio  Review,  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Akron 
having  no  newspaper  at  that  time  : 

"PUBLIC   NOTICE  AND  PLEDGE. 
"  To  whom  it  may  concern: 

"Should  the  Legislature  of  Ohio  set  off  and  org-anize  a  New  County,  at  its 
present  session,  composed  of  townships  from  Portage,  Medina,  Stark  and 
Wa3-ne  counties,  establishing  the  seat  of  justice  in  Akron,  or  its  vicinitj^ 
then  in  that  case,  I  hereby  agree  and  obligate  m3^self  to  raise  and  appropri- 
ate, or  secure  to  be  given  and  appropriated,  towards  the  New  County 
Buildings,  a  sum  not  less  than  Two  THOUSAND  DOLLARS. 

"Akron,  Dec.  14, 1833.  E.  CROSBY." 

It  is  proper  to  say,  here,  that  at  this  time  two  other  projects 
were  being  agitated,  and  advocated  with  considerable  earnestness, 
by  the  people  of  the  localties  interested;  one,  the  project  of  remov- 
ing the  county  seat  of  Portage  County  from  Ravenna  to  Franklin 
Mills  (now  Kent),  which  was  supposed  to  be  destined  to  become 


92  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

a  large  manufacturing  city;  the  other  to  retain  the  regular  county 
seat  at  Ravenna,  with  Cuyahoga  Falls  as  a  half-shire;  that  is, 
the  business  pertaining  to  the  west  part  of  the  county  to  be  trans- 
acted at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  and  that  from  the  east  part  at  Ravenna, 
Avith  perhaps  an  alternation  of  commissioners'  meetings,  court 
sessions,  etc.  For  these  reasons,  not  only  the  people  of  Ravenna 
and  the  eastern  townships,  vigorously  opposed  the  new  county 
movement,  but  Franklin  Mills  and  Cuyahoga  Falls,  also,  and  when 
Dr.  Crosby's  proposition  wras  left  with  the  editor  of  the  i?eFiew, 
the  people  of  the  latter  village  hastily  prepared  for  publication,  in 
the  same  issue,  the  following  counter  proposition: 

"  To  the  Public :  An  effort  being-  inade  at  this  time  to  divide  the  county 
of  Portag-e,  and,  from  a  part  of  this  and  the  counties  of  Medina,  Wayne  and 
Stark,  to  form  a  new  county,  the  seat  of  justice  to  be  at  Akron,  and  public 
notice  having  been  given  that  if  the  Leg^islature  of  the  State  shall,  at  its 
present  session,  locate  the  seat  of  justice  at  that  place,  and  in  conformity 
with  the  terms  therein  offered,  then  that  the  sig^ner,  E.  Crosby,  will  pay,  or 
cause  to  be  paid,  two  thousand  dollars  towards  the  new  public  buildings  : 

"  We,  the  undersigned  inhabitants  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  believing  that 
said  attempt  to  divide  this  county  is  premature  and  uncalled  for  by  the  best 
interests  of  the  county,  and  believing  further  that  if  it  should  be  determined 
to  divide  the  county  at  this  time,  ag^ainst  which  we  hereby  publicly  protest, 
-the  best  interests  of  this  part  of  the  countj^  require  that  the  county  seat  shall 
not  be  placed  at  Akron,  but  that  other  places  would  be  more  eligible,  and 
that  this  place,  from  its  location,  its  superior  healthfulness,  and  the  many 
natural  advantag^es  of  its  situation,  offers  peculiar  advantag^es  for  the 
count3^  seat,  if  such  county  shall  be  formed,  do  hereby  pledge  ourselves, 
that  if  the  Legislature,  at  its  present  or  next  session,  will  locate  the  seat  of 
justice  of  a  new  county,  to  be  formed  of  such  portions  of  the  adjoining- 
counties  as  to  them  shall  seem  proper,  at  this  place,  we  will  pay,  or 
secure  to  be  paid,  the  sum  of  Five  Thousand  Dollars  towards  building 
the  new  county  building-s  of  said  county. 

Henry  Newberry, 

Joshua  Stow, 

(By  his  agent  B.  Booth.) 

Ogden  Wetmore." 

Nothing,  however,  was  accomplished  at  that,  nor  the  five 
succeeding  sessions  of  the  Legislature,  though  continuous  and 
and  persistent  efforts  >vere  made  to  work  up  a  public  sentiment 
in  the  territory  interested,  and  to  influence  the  members  of  the 
Legislature  elected  from  time  to  time,  in  the  counties  named,  to 
look  favorably  upon  the  proposition. 

Thus  matters  stood  up  to  the  Summer  of  1839.  Politically, 
Portage  County  was  largely  Whig,  and  as  long  as  party  lines  were 
adhered  to,  that  portion  of  the  county  opposed  to  division  were 
able  to  nominate  and  elect  candidates  for  the  Legislature  inimical 
to  the  measure.  But  at  the  annual  election  in  1839,  the  Whigs  of 
Akron,  and  the  western  townships,  united  with  the  Democrats  of 
Portage  County,  and  elected  their  candidates  for  Representative, 
Hon.  Rufus  P.  Spalding,  then  practicing  law  at  Ravenna,  and  Hon. 
Ephraim  B.  Hubbard,  an  enterprising  farmer,  of  Deerfield,  both 
pledged  to  the  New  County  project;  Col.  Simon  Perkins  having 
been  in  1838,  elected  State  Senator  for  two  years. 

NEW  COUNTY  BILL  INTRODUCED. 

The  Legislature  convened  on  Monday,  December  2,  1839,  and, 
true  to  their  pledges,  Messrs.  Spalding  and  Hubbard  formulated  a 
bill  for  the  erection  of  the  County  of  Summit,  which  was  favor- 


NEW   COUNTY    BILL    REPORTED. 


93 


ably  reported  by  Hon.  James  Hoagland,  of  Holmes  County, 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  New  Counties,  and  read  the  first 
time  on  Tuesday,  December  17,  a  full  synopsis  of  the  bill  being  a& 
follows: 


HON.  RUFUS  PAINE  SPALDING, 
—born  at  West  Ti8bur3^,  Island 
of  Martha's  Vineyard,  Mass.,  May  3. 
1798 ;  educated  in  academies  of 
Bridg-ewater,  Mass.,  and  Colchester. 
Conn.,  and  at  Yale  Colleg-e,  g-radiiat- 
ing'  from  latter  in  1817 ;  studied  law 
with  Chief  Justice  Zephaniah  Swift,  of 
Conn.,  to  whose  daughter,  Lucretia 
A.,  he  was  married  October  1,  1822. 
Soon  after  finishing-  his  law  studies, 
he  emigrated  to  Ohio,  practicing  for 
several  j'ears  in  Warren,  then  in 
Ravenna,  and,  on  organization  of 
Summit  County,  in  1840,  moved  to 
Akron,  several  j'ears  later  going  to 
Cleveland,  where  he  resided  until  his 
death,  August  29, 1886,  at  the  age  of  88 
years, 3  months.  23  days.  In  1839,  Mr. 
Spalding  was  elected  representative 
to  the  Legislature,  on  the  New  County 
issue,  and  was  largelj'  influential  in 
securing  its  erection  ;  was  re-elected, 
by  his  new  constituency,  in  1841  and 
made  Speaker  of  the  House  ;  in  1848-9 
was  appointed  Judge  of  Supreme 
Court  of  Ohio,  ably  serving  three 
years ;  in  1862  was  elected  Represen- 
tative to  Congress  from  the  18th  dis- 
trict, and  twice  re-elected,  ably 
serving  six  years.  Mrs.  Spalding 
dying  February  21,  18v58,  Judge  Spald- 
ing was  again  married,  Januar}"  11, 
1859,  to  Mrs.  Nancy  Sargent,  eldest 
daughter  of  Dr.  William  S.  Pierson, 
of  Windsor,  Conn.  By  the  first  Mrs. 
Spalding    he    had    seven    children — 


HON.   RUFUS  PAINE   SPALDING. 

Emily,  married  to  Judge  Luther  Day^ 
of  Ravenna,  both  now  deceased ; 
Philura  C,  the  first  wife  of  Mr. 
Joseph  E.  Wesener,  of  Akroti ;  Lucre- 
tia, died  5'ovuig ;  Rufus  died  at  the 
age  of  19 ;  Kittie,  now  Mrs.  Mcllrath, 
of  St.  Paul,  Minn. ;  Zephaniah  Swift, 
now  a  wealthy  sugar  grower  in 
the  Sandwich  Islands ;  and  George, 
deceased.  The  second  Mrs.  Spalding- 
is  now  also  deceased. 


Section  1,  provided  that  the  townships  of  Twinsburg^ 
Northfield,  Boston,  Hudson,  Stow,  Northampton,  Portage,  Tall- 
madge,  Springfield  and  Coventry,  in  Portage  County;  Richfield^ 
Bath,  Copley  and  Norton,  in  Medina  County,  and  Franklin  and 
Green,  in  Stark  County,  be  erected  into  a  separate  county,  to  be 
known  by  the  name  of  Summit,  and  that,  for  the  purpose  of 
restoring  to  Medina  County  its  constitutional  limits,  the  town- 
ships of  Homer  and  Spencer  be  transferred  from  Lorain  to  Medina. 

Secs.  2  AND  3,  provided  for  the  prosecution  of  suits  already 
commenced,  in  the  several  original  counties;  the  collection  of  the 
taxes  should  proceed  as  if  no  change  had  taken  place,  and  that 
justices  of  the  peace,  constables,  etc.,  continue  to  act  until  the 
expiration  of  the  terms  for  which  they  were  elected. 

Secs.  4  and  5,  provided  for  the  election  of  county  officers  on 
the  first  Monday  of  April,  1840,  to  hold  their  respective  offices  until 
the  ensuing  annual  election,  and  that  the  courts  be  held  in  Akron, 
until  the  permanent  location  of  the  seat  of  justice. 

Sec.  6,  provided  for  the  appointment  of  comtnissioners  to 
locate  the  county  seat,  said  commissioners  to  be  paid  by  said  new 


94 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


county;  with  authority  "to  receive  propositions  for  the  erection  of 
county  buildings  by  the  citizens  of  such  towns  and  villages  as 
may  desire  to  have  the  seat  of  justice  established  within  their 
respective  limits/'  and  that  "in  no  event  shall  any  tax  for  the 
erection  of  county  buildings  for  said  County  of  Summit  be 
imposed  upon  the  citizens  of  the  townships  of  Franklin  and 
Green,  which  townships  are  taken  from  the  county  of  Stark,  for 
and  during  the  term  of  fifty  years,  from  and  after  the  passage  of 
this  act." 


JUDGE  JAMES  S.  CARPENTER, 
J  — born  at  Swanzey,  N.  H.,  Aug-ust 
17,  I8O0 ;  at  18  months  of  ag-e  moved 
with  parents  to  Pottsdam,  N.  Y.  ; 
boj'hood  spent  on  farm  ;  educated  at 
home,  in  schools  of  neighborhood, 
and  at  St.  Lawrence  Acadeni}^,  at 
Pottsdam,  teaching  partof  j-ear,  from 
17  to  20;  in  Winter  of  '25-26  taught  in 
Franklin  Co.,  New  York ;  1826  to  1828 
taught  in  Canada,  part  of  the  time  in 
Montreal ;  then  became  assistant 
teacher  in  Amherst  (Mass'.)  Acadeinj^ 
and  during  Suinmer  of  1829  a  teacher 
in  Ladies'  Seininar}^,  at  Springfield ; 
then  entered  Amherst  College,  but 
from  failing  health  returned  home, 
resuming  teaching  and  j^et  keeping 
up  the  studies  of  his  college  course. 
In  June,  1832,  came  to  Ohio,  teaching 
in  Cleveland,  Massillon  and  Ravenna, 
being- Principal  of  Ravenna  Acadeni}' 
from  1833  to  1835 ;  in  Summer  of  1835 
worked  on  farm ;  Maj"  1,  1835,  was 
married  to  Miss  Frances  C.  Saltonstall 
of  Geneva,  N.  Y. ;  in  November,  1835, 
went  to  Medina  and  for  four  j'ears 
edited  the  Constitutionalist,  a  Whig 
and  anti-slavery  paper,  at  same  time 
studying  law ;  admitted  to  bar  May  29, 
1838  ;  in  Fall  of  1839  was  elected  Rep- 
resentative to  Ohio  Legislature,  and 
in  1840  to  the  Senate,  being  the  onlj^ 
avowed  Abolitionist  in  either  House, 
fighting  valiantly  for  the  rights  of 
the  colored  people  of  Ohio  in  the 
schools  and  otherwise ;  from  1840  to 
1850    was     law-partner    of    the     late 


/ 


Ih  % 


JUDGE  JAMES    S.   CARPEXTER. 

Judge  Samuel  W.  McClure ;  in  1846 
removed  to  Akron  and  has  practiced 
law  here  ever  since,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  five  j^ears,  from  1856  to 
1861,  that  he  occupied  the  Common 
Pleas  Bench.  Judge  Carpenter  is 
the  father  of  three  children — Gilbert 
S.,  captain  in  regular  arm3',  now  on 
recruiting  service  in  Cleveland  ;  Dr. 
William  T.  Carpenter,  of  Stambaugh, 
Mich.,  and  Abbie  L.,  now  wife  of 
Charles  W.  Tyler,  Esq.,  of  Warren, 
Ohio. 


Our  w^ell-known  fellow^-citizen,  Hon.  James  S.  Carpenter,  was 
then — 1838-40 — the  representative  of  Medina  County,  and  the 
senator  from  that  district  from  1840  to  1842,  and,  in  accordance 
with  the  w^ishes  of  a  majority  of  his  constituents,  opposed  the 
measure,  slicing  off  as  it  did,  some  of  the  very  best  townships  of 
that  county.  For  a  like  reason  Representative  Bliss  and  Senator 
Birch,  of  Lorain,  and  Representatives  Smith  and  Welch,  and 
Senator  Hostetter,  of  Stark,  also  vigorously  fought  the  project  at 
every  step,  while  the  representatives  and  senators  of  other 
counties  threatened  w^ith  disgiemberment,  by  new  county  projects, 
acted  and  voted  with  them. 

Prominent  citizens  of  Ravenna  and  Medina  w^ere  in  attendance 
to  lobbj^  against  the  measure,  while  a  number  of  Akron's  foremost 
business  men  w^ere  sent  to  Columbus  to  work  for  the  project. 


THE   PROJECT  VIGOROUSLY  OPPOSED.  95 

The  bill  finally  passed  the  House  on  the  6th  of  February,  1840, 
by  the  close  vote  of  34  to  31 — a  majority  of  three  only.  The  bill 
was  read  the  first  time  in  the  Senate,  February  7,  and  passed 
February  28,  by  a  vote  of  19  to  15,  a  majority  of  four;  and  was 
engrossed  and  signed  by  Thomas  J.  Buchanan,  Speaker  of  the 
House,  and  William  McLaughlin,  Speaker  of  the  Senate,  March  3, 
1840. 

Space  will  not  permit  a  full  detail  of  the  artifices  resorted  to 
to  defeat  the  measure,  nor  the  skill  with  which  our  representa- 
tives and  senator  engineered  the  bill  through,  though  the  follow- 
ing extracts  from  the  House  and  Senate  journals  will  suffice  to  show 
the  persistence  with  which  the  project  was  fought  throughout. 

In  the  House,  December  21,  the  bill  being  taken  up  for 
consideration,  on  Mr.  Spalding's  motion,  Mr.  Welch  moved  to 
postpone  until  the  second  Tuesday  of  January,  which  was  carried 
by  a  vote  of  42  to  28.  On  the  day  named,  the  bill  was  taken  up  on 
Mr.  Spalding's  motion,  when  Mr.  Welch  moved  to  commit  it  to  the 
Committee  on  New  Counties,  with  instructions  to  report  the 
number  of  petitioners  for  and  remonstrants  against  the  project, 
w^hich  was  agreed  to.  January  17,  the  bill  being  under  consider- 
ation, Mr.  Welch  moved  to  postpone  further  action  until  the  first 
Monday  of  the  following  December,  which  was  lost,  28  to  32,  and 
the  bill  laid  upon  the  table.  January  27,  Mr.  Spalding  moved  to 
take  the  bill  from  the  table  which  motion  was  lost,  25  to  30. 
February  6,  Mr.  Spalding  moved  to  put  the  bill  upon  its  final 
passage,  which,  after  considerable  delay,  caused  by  Mr.  Welch's 
demand  for  a  call  of  the  house,  was  done,  and  the  bill  passed,  as 
as  above  stated,  34  to  31. 

In  the  Senate  February  27,  Mr.  Hostetter  moved  to  strike  out 
the  territory  belonging  to  Stark  County.  Lost,  15  to  18.  Mr.  Nash 
of  Meigs,  moved  to  strike  out  the  clause  exempting  Franklin  and 
Green  tow^nships  from  taxation  for  public  buildings  for  50  years. 
Lost  14  to  19.  February  28,  on  the  third  reading  of  the  bill,  Mr. 
Thomas,  of  Miami,  moved  to  re-commit  to  Committee  on  New 
Counties  with  instructions  to  so  amend  as  to  strike  out  the  part 
exempting  Franklin  and  Green  from  taxation.  Lost,  13  to  21.  Mr. 
Hostetter  moved  to  postpone  the  further  consideration  of  the  bill 
to  the  first  Monday  of  December.  Lost,  7  to  27.  Mr.  Birch,  of 
Lorain,  moved  to  refer  to  Judiciary  Committee,  with  instructions 
to  strike  out  the  two  Lorain  townships.  Lost,  9  to  25.  Mr. 
Hostetter  moved  to  amend  so  as  to  submit  to  voters  of  the  pro- 
posed new  county  at  the  next  October  election.  Lost,  10  to  24. 
The  bill  was  then  passed  as  above  stated,  19  to  15. 

A  joint  resolution  passed  both  Houses,  without  opposition, 
appointing  Jacob  J.  Williard,  of  Columbiana  County,  James 
McConnell,  of  Holmes  County,  and  Warren  Sabin,  o£,  Clinton 
County,  as  commissioners  to  locate  the  seat  of  justice  of  the  new 
county,  as  did  also  the  organizing  bill  providing  for  the  election 
of  officers,  the  proper  care  of  paupers,  idiots  and  insane;  the  col- 
lection of  taxes;  giving  to  the  new  county  its  proportion  of  the 
government  surplus  revenue,  $29,330;  the  time  of  holding  courts; 
attaching  Summit  to  the  Third  Judicial  District,  embracing  the 
counties  of  Ashtabula,  Trumbull  and  Portage,  and  to  the 
Fifteenth  Congressional  District,  embracing  Cuyahoga,  Portage, 
Medina  and  Lorain  counties,  etc. 


96  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  bill  passed  the  Senate  Februarj^ 
28,  which  was  on  Friday,  1840  being  leap  year.  It  will  also  be  rec- 
ollected that  there  was  neither  telegraphic  nor  railroad  communi- 
cation between  Akron  and  Columbxis  at  that  time,  the  old 
four-horse  mail  and  passenger  coach  being  the  fastest  mode  of 
travel  then  in  vogue,  wrhich  at  that  season  of  the  year,  w^as  not  by 
any  means  fast. 

The  news  of  the  passage  of  the  bill  consequentl3^  did  not 
reach  Akron  until  Monday  evening,  March  2,  three  full  days. 
The  effect  of  the  news  upon  the  people  of  Akron  was  thus  graphi- 
cally stated  in  one  of  the  local  papers: 

"With  the  rapidity  of  lightning  the  news  was  spread  from 
house  to  house,  and  in  less  than  half  an  hour  the  whole  town  Avas 
in  motion.  Cheers,  congratulations,  ringing  of  church  bells,  bon- 
fires and  illuminations  were  the  order  of  the  day,  while  the  deep- 
toned  thunder  of  the  cannon  continued  to  proclaim  the  birth  of 
the  new  county  to  all  the  surrounding  country.  Such  a  spon- 
taneous burst  of  feeling  has  seldom  been  witnessed  under  any 
circumstance.  It  was  a  scene  to  be  looked  upon,  but  cannot  be 
described;  such  a  noise  as  the  shrouds  make  at  sea  in  a  stiff  tem- 
pest—as loud  and  to  as  many  tunes.  Hats,  caps  and  cloaks  fleu^ 
up,  and  had  their  faces  been  loose  this  night  had  lost  them." 

The  recollection  of  the  writer,  looking  backward  through  the 
dim  vista  of  the  intervening  half  century,  is  clear  and  distinct  that 
throughout  that  entire  night  unrestrained  jollit}^,  if  not  absolute 
revelry,  prevailed. 

Nor  did  the  people  of  Akron  confine  the  jollification  business 
entirely  to  themselves.  The  booming  of  the  cannon,  the  ringing 
of  the  bells  and  the  reflection  from  the  bonfires,  had  already 
announced  to  contiguous  townships  that  something  extraordinary'- 
had  happened,  and  many  of  the  nearest  came  in  to  help  us  "make 
a  night  of  it,"  -while  those  more  distant  were  in  betimes  next 
morning. 

Steps  were  immediately  taken  for  a  general  New  County  Cele- 
bration on  Wednesday,  March  4.  A  committee  of  twelve  citizens 
of  Akron  and  one  from  each  of  the  townships,  was  appointed  and 
messengers  were  sent  to  every  part  of  the  county  to  spread  the 
joyful  new^s,  and  invite  everybody  to  the  banquet.  Dr.  Jedediah  D. 
Commins  was  made  President  of  the  daj^;  Col.  James  W.  Phillips, 
Col.  Justus  Gale  and  Justice  Jacob  Brown,  of  Akron;  Col.  Frederick 
A.  Sprague  and  Benjamin  Rouse,  of  Richfield,  and  Col.  Solomon 
Markham,  of  Green,  Vice  Presidents;  Gen.  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  Mar- 
shal, and  Col.  Erastus  Torrey  and  Major  Ithiel  Mills,  Assistant 
Marshals. 

At  sunrise,  on  Wednesday  morning,  a  national  salute  of  13  guns 
was  fired  from  the  summit  of  the  "  grove,"  betv^een  north  and 
south  Akron,  the  present  Court  House  lot,  ^vhich  was  also  the  place 
selected  for  the  celebration.  At  an  earlj^  hour  people  from  near 
and  far  townships  began  to  assemble,  everybody  seeming  jubi4ant 
and  happy.  The  military  display  was  very  fine,  indeed,  partici- 
pated in  by  the  Summit  Guards,  Akron  Light  Infantry  and  Cav- 
alry, Copley  Light  Artillery,  the  Military  Band  and  the  Akron 
Brass  Band,  under  the  leadership  of  the  late  Henry  S.  Abbey. 

The  procession  of  several  thousand  men  and  boys,  after  march- 
ing through  several  streets,  was  joinflid  by  a  large  cortege  of  ladies 


NEW  County  jollification.  97 

dressed  uniformly,  all  carrying  parasols,  who,  taking  position 
between  the  committee  of  arrangements  and  the  military, 
marched  the  balance  of  the  route  to  the  place  of  feasting,  the  din- 
ner, though  hastily  prepared,  being  both  abundant  and  palatable. 
Space  will  not  permit  a  detailed  report  of  the  after-dinner  pro- 
ceedings, consisting  of  the  customary  thirteen  regular  toasts,  and 
a  great  variety  of  volunteer  toasts,  with  responses  more  or  les  appro- 
priate, by  the  more  tonguey  of  the  jollifiers.  The  full  text  of  the 
regular  toasts,  well  illustrates  the  popular  sentiment,  and  are  here 
reproduced  as  foUow^s: 

1.  The  Legislature  of  Ohio — They  have  at  length  done  jus- 
tice to  themselves  and  to  us.     Better  late  than  never. 

2.  Our  Senators  and  Representatives — Many  have  done  well, 
but  these  have  excelled  them  all. 

3.  The  Countv  of  Summit — An  infant  Hercules.  Give  him 
a  wide  berth,  for  he'll  be  a  w^hopper! 

4.  Our  Struggle — Almost  another  Trojan  siege!  The  pangs 
and  throes  it  has  cost  our  parents  to  bring  us  forth  are  a  certain 
presage  of  future  greatness. 

5.  Akron — Look  at  her  as  she  was,  as  she  is  and  as  she 
WLL  BE! 

6.  Our  Young  Countj^ — The  pride  of  our  affections;  unsur- 
passed in  the  elements  of  future  greatness;  already  populous  and 
w^ealthy.  If  such  is  its  childhood,  what  w^ill  it  be  w^hen  it  becomes 
a  man? 

7.  Portage,  Stark  and  Medina — Among  them  thej^  have 
hatched  a  young  eagle,  full-fledged  and  on  the  wing.  She  will  soar 
above  them  all. 

8.  The  Buckej^e  State — A  germ  of  future  empire,  marching 
right  ahead  in  the  road  of  prosperity.  She  w^ill  not  be  turned  aside 
from  the  high  destinj^  that  awaits  her ! 

9.  Our  Canals  and  Public  Improvements — If  such  things 
be  done  in  the  green  tree,  what  will  be  done  in  the  dry? 

10.  The  Late  Meeting  at  Ravenna — Malignity  feeding  on 
envy;  daws  pecking  at  eagles;  a  striking  instance  of  folly  reacting 
on  itself ! 

11.  The  Memorjy  of  Gregorv  Powers — We  mourn  the  untimely 
fate  of  this  patriot,  statesman  and  jurist.  His  memory  will  long 
be  cherished  in  the  County  of  Summit,  his  native  and  resting  place! 

12.  The  Memorv  of  George  Washington — The  greatest  and 
best  man  ever  produced  in  the  tide  of  time.  When  nature  formed 
him  she  broke  the  mold,  that  he  might  stand  peerless  and  alone  ! 

13.  The  Ladies  of  Summit — It  is  the  summit  of  our  ambi- 
tion to  stand  in  the  summit  of  their  affections ! 

Volunteer  toasts  similar  in  sentiment,  and  perhaps  still  more 
extravagant  in  language,  were  offered  by  Messrs.  Benjamin  Rouse, 
of  Richfield;  Gen.  Samuel  D.Harris,  of  Ravenna;  JohnHunsberger, 
of  Green;  Julius  A.  Sumner,  of  Springfield,  and  Dr.  Asa  Field,  Col. 
James  W.  Phillips,  Robert  K.  DuBois,  Dr.  Jedediah  D.  Commins, 
Capt.  Philo  Chamberlin,  Col.  Erastus  Torrey,  Col.  Justus  Gale,  Dr. 
Joseph  Cole,  Major  Ithiel  Mills,  and  Hiram  Bowen,  Esq.,  (Editor 
Beacon),  of  Akron. 

In  the  evening  a  large  convival  party  took  supper  at  the  "Ohio 
Exchange,"  southwest  corner  of  Main  and  Market  streets,  (present 
site  of  Woods'  Block),  winding  up  with  a  social  dance,  the  utmost 


98  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

good  feeling  and  hilarity  prevailing  throughout;  a  local  paper  say- 
ing: "The  day  was  closed  without  accident,  or  other  untoward 
circumstance  to  mar  the  festivities,  amid  bon-fires  and  every 
demonstration  of  joy.  The  4th  of  March,  18iO,  w^ill  long  be  remem- 
bered in  Akron !" 


HON.  JOHN  HOY,— born  in  Adams 
Countj^  Pa.,  Jul3^  4,  1797;  com- 
mon school  education;  learned  trade 
of  stone  and  brick  mason;  December 
19,  1820,  was  married  to  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Traxler;  moved  to  Ohio  in  1821, 
settling  in  Manchester,  then  in  Stark 
Co.;  soon  after  settling-  there  was 
elected  justice  of  the  peace  for  Frank- 
lin township,  holding  the  office  18 
years;  oti  the  organization  of  Summit 
County,  in  April,  1840,  was  elected 
County  Commissioner,  re-elected  in 
October  following,  for  two  years,  and 
again  in  1842  for  three  years,  serv- 
ing in  all  five  j^ears  and  seven 
months;  in  April,  1847,  was  appointed* 
by  the  Legislature  one  of  the  Asso- 
ciate Judges  of  Summit  County,  ably 
serving  till  the  taking  effect  of  the 
new  State  Constitution,  in  1852;  also 
served  as  land  appraiser  for  four 
townships,  and  on  the  State  Board  of 
Equalization,  and  took  an  active 
interest  in  educational  matters  and 
the  religious  and  benevolent  enter- 
prises of  the  da3^  Judge  and  Mrs. 
Hoy  were  the  parents  of  six  daugh- 
ters and  one  son — Sophia,  married  to 
Adam  Sorric,  (now  deceased);  Sabina, 
wife  of  Henr}'  Dailj-.  (deceased); 
Lorohama,  wife  of  Dr.  William  Sisler, 


^'^a^' 


HON.  JOHX   HOY. 


(deceased);  Amanda,  now  Mrs.  Dr. 
Adam  Sisler;  Caroline  Maria,  now 
Mrs  Samuel  Gongwer;  Anna,  wife  of 
Lewis  Everhart,  (deceased),  an-d  John 
F.,  now  a  resident  of  the  city  of 
Springfield,  O. 


As  provided  by  law  the  county  officers  Avere  chosen  at  the  reg- 
ular Spring  election,  on  the  first  Monday  of  April,  to  hold  their 
respective  positions  until  the  annual  election  in  the  following 
October.  The  officers  chosen  at  that  time  w^ere:  Commissioners, 
John  Hoy,  of  Franklin;  Jonathan  Starr,  of  Copley;  and  Augustus 
E.  Foot,  of  Tw^insburg;  Auditor,  Birdsey  Booth,  of  Cuyahoga 
Falls;  Treasurer,  William  O'Brien,  of  Hudson;  Recorder,  Alexan- 
der Johnston,  of  Green;  Sheriff,  Thomas  Wilson,  of  Northfield; 
Prosecuting  Attornev,  George  Kirkum,  of  Akron;  Coroner,  Elisha 
Hinsdale,  of  Norton;  Real  £'si!^a^e^/?pra/ser,  Frederick  A.  Sprague, 
of  Richfield;  Assistant  Appraisers,  Milo  Stone,  of  Tallmadge  and 
Thomas  E.  Jones,  of  Franklin,  County  Clerks  at  that  time  being 
appointees  of  the  several  Common  Pleas  Courts  of  the  State,  Court 
Judges  in  turn,  being  appointees  of  the  Legislature;  the  office  of 
Probate  Judge  not  then  being  in  existence. 

The  officers  elect  assembled  at  the  tavern  of  Charles  P.  McDon- 
ald, northeast  corner  of  South  Main  and  Exchange  streets,  (in  the 
sam,e  building  still  standing  there),  on  Thursday,  April  9,  1840. 
Justice  Jacob  Brown  administered  the  oath  of  office  to  Commis- 
sioners Hoy,  Starr  and  Foote,  w^ho,  in  turn,  administered  a  like 
oath  to  the  several  other  officers,  and  on  the  due  filing  and  accept- 
ance of  the  proper  bonds,  the  organization  was  complete. 


LOCATIXG   THE    COUNTY   SEAT. 


99 


At  this  meeting  propositions  were  made  for  temporary  quar- 
ters for  county  purposes,  pending  the  erection  of  public  buildings, 
as  foUoA^s:  the  present  Continental  Hotel  building,  corner  of 
Main  and  Exchange  streets,  by  Jacob  Brown,  Esq.;  the  three-story 
brick  building  of  Mr.  Benjamin  W.  Stephens,  on  the  present  site 
of  Merrill's  Pottery,  and  the  three-story  stone  block  of  Messrs. 
Chauncey  S.  and  Hiram  Payne,  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Howard 
and  Market  streets;  the  latter  being  accepted  at  a  subsequent 
meeting  of  the  commissioners. 

The  large  hall  on  the  third  floor  was  used  for  a  court  room,  a 
small  portion  of  the  southeast  corner  being  partitioned  off  for  jail 
purposes;  the  several  county  officers  occupying  other  rooms  on 
the  second  and  third  floors  of  the  building. 


nr  HOM  AS  WILSON,  -  Summit  Coun- 
-•-  ty's  firvSt  Sheriff,  was  born  in 
Pennsylvania,  December  22,  1811 ; 
raised  on  farm,  with  common  school 
■education ;  about  1830  moved  with 
parents  to  Northfield,  Ohio,  walking- 
all  the  way,  and  driving- his  mother's 
tw^o  favorite  cows.  He  w^as  married 
at  Brandywine  Mills,  by  Rev.  Caleb 
Pitkin,  of  Hudson,  to  Miss  Emeline 
H.  Wallace,  sister  of  the  late  James 
W.  Wallace,  December  20,  1838,  who 
died  October  7,  1840,  aged  26  years. 
At  the  preliminary  election,  in  the 
organization  of  the  new  county  of 
Summit,  held  on  Monday,  April  6, 
1840,  Mr.  Wilson  was  elected  Sheriff, 
was  re-elected  in  October,  the  same 
year,  and  again  in  1842,  ablj'^  filling- 
the  office  four  years  and  seven 
inonths.  On  retiring  from  office  Mr. 
Wilson  was  for  several  years  engag- 
■ed  in  the  manufacture  of  luineral 
paint  in  Akron,  about  1860  remov- 
ing to  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  the  real  estate  business,  also 
having  an  interest  in  the  Glencoe 
Rock  Company,  and  furnishing  the 
«tone  for  some  of  the  finest  buildings 
in  that  city.  June  15,  1857,  Mr.  Wilson 
married  Miss  Marie  E.  McArthur,  of 
Akron,  who  bore  him  three  children. 


THOMAS    WILSON. 

one  only  of  whom  is  now  living- 
Ruth,  now  a  music  teacher  in  St. 
Louis  and  living  with  her  mother. 
At  the  time  of  his  death,  June  19, 
1887,  at  the  age  of  75  years,  6  months 
and  7  days,  Mr.  Wilson  w^as  superin- 
tendent of  "Memorial  Home,"  a  home 
for  old  gentlemen  in  St.  Louis. 


At  this  time,  it  will  be  recollected,  the  seat  of  justice  of  the 
new  county  was  only  temporarily  located  at  Akron,  the  perma- 
nent location  of  >vhich  was  to  be  determined  by  the  commissioners 
named  in  the  joint  resolution  of  the  Legislature  heretofore  given; 
Akron,  besides  being  pretty  evenly  divided  between  the  North  and 
South  villages,  having  two  formidable  rivals  in  Cuyahoga  Falls, 
four  miles  to  the  northward,  and  the  then  largely  talked  of  "  Summit 
City"  (since  known  as  the  "Chuckery"),  midway  between. 

Messrs.  Williard,  McConnell  and  Sabin,  the  Locating  Commis- 
sioners, entered  upon  the  task  assigned  them  on  Tuesday,  May  12, 
1840,  occupying  several  days  examining  the  several  proposed  sites 
for  the  location  of  the  public  buildings,  hearing  arguments  in 
favor  of  each,  receiving  proposals  for  the  donation  of  lands,  con- 
struction  of    buildings,    etc.     The    principal   competitors    for   the 


100  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

prize  were,  as  before  stated,  Akron,  Cuyahoga  Falls  and  Summit 
City — Akron,  meantime,  having  so  far  harmonized  her  conflicting 
local  predilections  as  to  agree  upon  a  point  midway  between  the 
tw^o  villages,  should  tjie  commissioners  deem  it  advisable  to 
decide  the  matter  in  her  favor. 

Kach  locality  presented  well  secured  pledges  for  the  donation 
of  lands  and  the  construction  of  the  county  buildings  free  of  cost 
to  the  tax-payers  of  the  ne^v  county,  and  each,  through  its  chosen 
spokesman — Hon.  Klisha  N.  Sill,  for  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Dr.  Edmund 
W.  Crittenden,  for  Summit  City,  and  Hon.  Rufus  P.  Spalding,  for 
Akron — presented  arguments,  accompanied  by  statistics  in  regard 
to  business  resources,  healthfulness,  accessibility,  etc.,  of  the 
several  locations. 

Akron  based  its  claim  upon  its  location  on  the  Ohio  Canal, 
the  great  artery  of  travel  and  commerce  from  Lake  Erie  to  the 
Ohio  river  on  the  south,  and  the  just  completed  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio  Canal,  bringing  it  in  direct  communication  with  Pittsburg 
and  Philadelphia,  on  the  east,  and  upon  its  superb  Avater  power, 
as  w^ell  as  its  ready  accessibility  from  all  parts  of  the  county. 

Cuyahoga  Falls  claimed  to  be  nearer  the  geographical  center 
of  the  county,  more  eligibly  located  for  the  building  up  of  a  large 
manufacturing  city,  and  more  healthful  than  the  other  points 
named,  with  inexhaustible  \v^ater-power,  and,  with  the  completion 
of  the  new  P.  &  O.  canal,  of  equal  access  to  the  outer  world  with 
Akron,  and  vastly  superior  to  that  of  the  intermediate  point 
named. 

Summit  City's  claim  w^as  based  upon  its  location  nearly  midAvay 
between  its  two  bitterly  hostile  rivals;  its  high  and  salubrious  terri- 
tory, and,  above  all,  upon  its  mammoth  hydraulic  scheme  then 
nearing  completion,  by  w^hich  the  entire  waters  of  the  Big 
Cuyahoga  river,  with  nearly  200  feet  fall,  was  to  speedily  build  up 
at  that  point  the  largest  manufacturing  city  in  the  Great  West. 

After  a  thorough  and  pains-taking  examination  of  the  points 
named,  and  a  full  consideration  of  the  statistics  and  arguments 
presented,  the  commissioners  unanimously  decided  that  the 
interests  of  the  people  of  the  new  county  would,  as  a  whole,  best 
be  subserved  by  locating  their  seat  of  justice  at  Akron,  and 
accordingly,  as  the  unanimous  choice  of  Akron,  the  stakes  for  the 
county  buildings  were  stuck  upon  the  "gore,"  between  the  two 
villages,  where  they  no^v  stand,  the  land  for  that  purpose  being 
generously  donated  b}^  Gen.  Simon  Perkins,  of  Warren,  father 
of  the  late  Col.  Simon  Perkins,  of  Akron. 

Though  the  bitter  rivalry  betw^een  North  and  South  Akron  for 
the  business  ascendency  had  not,  perhaps,  entirely  abated,  the  public 
buildings  having  been  located  upon  neutral  ground,  then  about  as 
ui3handy  to  the  one  as  the  other,  they  so  far  stifled  their  animosi- 
ties, for  the  time  being,  as  to  unite  in  a  \^rild  jollification  over  the 
result,  and  to  heartily  co-operate  with  each  other  in  raising  funds 
and  materials  with  which  to  erect  the  public  buildings,  which,  it 
will  be  remembered,  each  of  the  three  competitors  had  agreed 
should  be  done  free  of  cost  to  the  tax-payers  of  the  county. 

Hiram  Bowen,  Esq.,  the  editor  of  the  Beacon,  in  announcing 
the  result,  said:  "The  'Gore' is  situated  midway  between  North 
and  South  Akron,  and  a  more  beautiful  and  commanding  site  can 
not  be  found  for  public  buildings  in    the    State.     It   is    said   that 


CONTRACTS    FOR    PUBLIC    BUILDINGS   LET. 


101 


almost  every  township  in  the  county  can  be  seen  from  the  build- 
ings on  this  spot.  Its  location,  as  regards  Akron,  is  auspicious — 
she  is  now  one.  There  is  now  no  North  Akron,  no  South  Akron, 
and  our  citizens  will  henceforth  unite  their  common  energies  in 
developing  the  great  natural  resources  for  which  Akron  has  become 
so  justly  celebrated." 

A  LKXANDER  JOHNSTON,— born 
■^  in  Center  Count}',  Pa.,  Novem- 
ber 7,  1808  ;  coming-  with  parents  to 
Ohio,  and  settling-  in  Green  town- 
ship in  1814;  educated  in  common 
schools ;  for  many  years  taiight 
school  winters,  working-  on  farm  in 
summer;  Summit  County's  first  Re- 
corder, elected  in  April,  184(),  re-elect- 
ed in  October,  of  that  year,  for  full 
term  of  three  years ;  in  1846  elected 
as  Summit's  Representative  to  State 
Legislature  for  two  j^ears,  having 
also  served  his  township  for  many 
years  in  the  capacit}-  of  school  ex- 
aminer, township  clerk,  justice  of  the 
peace,  etc.  March  14,  1850,  Mr. 
Johnston  was  married  to  Miss  Lovina 
Thurston,  who  was  born  November 
8,  1821.  They  are  the  parents  of  three 
children — Horace  Greeley,  surveyor 
and  engineer,  born  April  15, 1851,  now 
living  in  Salina,  Kansas ;  Isaac 
Newton,  born  July  13, 1853,  now  living 
in  Hinton,  W.  Va.;  and  Anna  Maria, 
born  September  7,  1858,  still  at  home 
with  parents.  Residing  on  his  finelj^ 
cultivated  125  acre  farm,  in  the  east- 
ern portion  of  Green  township,  Mr. 
Johnston,  now  in  his  83d  j'ear,  is  one 
of  the  best  preserved  and  most  intelli- 
g-ent  representatives  of  pioneer  life 
in    Summit    Countj'.     Originallj^     a 


\      \i 
ALEXANDER   JOHNSTON. 

Whig  with  strong  anti-slaver}'  pro- 
clivities, Mr.  Johnson  naturally,  on  its 
organization,  attached  himself  to  the 
Republican  party,  which  for  over  a 
third  of  a  century  has  received  his 
most  zealous  and  unqualified  sup- 
port. 


The  committee  on  subscriptions  to  the  building  fund  consisted 
of  Ansel  Miller,  Lewis  Miller,  Robert  K.  DuBois,  Richard  Howe, 
Benjamin  W.  Stephens,  Leander  L.  How^ard,  Justus  Gale,  George 
P.  Stephens,  Simon  Perkins,  Jr.,  Tedediah  D.  Commins,  Jacob 
Brown,  Thomas  P.  May,  Joseph  Cole,  Charles,  P.  McDonald,  Ithiel 
Mills  and  Warren  Clark.  The  subscriptions,  amounting  to  $17,495, 
were  made  payable  to  the  County  Commissioners,  and  the  deed  of 
the  land  having  been  received  from  Gen.  Perkins,  on  the  14th  of 
July,  1840,  the  commissioners,  Messrs.  John  Hoy,  Jonathan  Starr 
and  Augustus  E.  Foote,  and  the  committee,  in  a  w^ritten  agreement, 
transferred,  assigned,  conveyed,  set  over  and  delivered  to  Simon 
Perkins,  Jr.,  Jedediah  D.  Commins  and  Richard  Howe,  as  trustees, 
the  subscription  aforesaid,  with  power  to  collect  the  same,  and  "to 
make  all  such  contracts  and  agreements  as  they  shall  judge  nec- 
essary and  proper,  for  the  erection  and  completion  of  said  buildings, 
and  furnishing  materials  for  the  same,  and  generally  to  superin- 
tend and  direct  in  the  expenditure  of  the  moneys  and  property  to 
be  received  on  the  su])scriptions  aforesaid." 

It  w^as  further  stipulated  in  the  agreement  that  the  court 
house  and  jail  were  to  be  similar  in  construction,  and  equal  in 
value,  to  those  at  Ravenna,  to  be  fully  completed  and  finished  by 


102  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

the  first  day  of  July,  1843.  The  trustees  acted  promptly  and  after 
due  notice  for  proposals,  entered  into  contracts  with  Major  Ithiel 
Mills,  of  Akron,  for  the  erection  of  the  court  house,  and  with  Mr. 
Sebbens  Saxton,  of  Norton,  for  the  building  of  the  jail,  both  con- 
tractors at  once  commencing  operations,  the  foundation,  and  several 
feet  of  the  main  w^alls  of  the  former,  and  the  massive  foundation 
walls  of  the  latter,  being  completed  before  the  setting  in  of  Winter^ 
the  same  Fall. 

AN  ENTIRELY  NEW  DEAE. 

The  term  of  Senator  Perkins  having  expired,  Hon.  Elisha  N^ 
Sill,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  was,  as  the  candidate  of  the  Whig  party^ 
elected  as  his  successor,  in  the  Portage-Summit  District,  in  October, 
1840,  Henry  G.  Weaver,  a  substantial  farmer,  of  Springfield^ 
being  at  the  same  time  elected  Representative  of  the  new^  county. 

Early  in  the  session  Mr.  Sill  introduced  a  bill  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  commission  to  review,  and,  if  in  their  judgment  deeined 
necessary,  to  re-locate  the  seat  of  justice  of  Summit  Count3%  said 
commission  consisting  of  Jacob  C.  Hoagland,  of  Highland  County^ 
Valentine  Winters,  of  Montgomery  County,  and  William  Kendall^ 
of  Scioto  County.  This  bill  was  readily  engineered  through  the 
Senate,  by  Mr.  Sill,  and  though  Mr,  Weaver  made  a  vigorous  effort 
to  defeat  it  in  the  House,  Mr.  Sill's  influence  w^ith  that  body  pre- 
vailed also,  the  bill  having  been  passed  and  signed  by  Seabury 
Ford,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  by  William 
M.  McLaughlin,  Speaker  of  the  Senate,  on  March  25,"  1841;  and 
that,  too,  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  on  a  very  thorough  canvass- 
of  the  county,  3,014  voters  remonstrated  against,  while  but  2,376 
petitioned  for,  the  opening  of  the  vexed  question,  there  being  a 
majority  of  638  in  favor  of  the  location  already  made. 

The  review^ing  commissioners  came  upon  the  ground  about 
the  middle  of  May,  1841,  and,  after  spending  a  day  or  tw^o  in  exam- 
ining the  several  competing  locations,  on  Thursday,  May  20,  held 
an  all  day  meeting  in  the  Universalist  Church  on  North  High 
street,  in  Akron,  where,  as  before,  arguments  were  made  b^'' 
Messrs.  Sill,  of  the  Falls,  Crittenden  of  Summit  City,' and  Spalding 
of  Akron,  in  favor  of  their  respective  locations.  This  meeting  vi^as 
interesting  and  exciting  in  the  extreme,  the  church  being  crowrded 
to  its  utmost  capacity  all  day. 

The  commissioners  held  a  consultation  at  their  room  in  the 
Ohio  Exchange  in  the  evening,  and,  after  "sleeping  over  it,"  a  final 
talk  the  next  morning,  w^hen,  to  the  astonishment  of  everybod3% 
it  w^as  announced  that  a  majority  of  the  committee,  Messrs. 
Hoagland  and  Winters,  had  decided  in  favor  of  Summit  City,  Mr. 
Kendall  being  in  favor  of  the  original  location.  When,  therefore^ 
the  commissioners  started  out  to  formally  drive  the  stakes  for  the 
county  buildings,  a  large  crowd  of  indignant  Akronians  and 
delighted  "Chuckery-ites"  accompanied  them  to  witness  the 
ceremony. 

To  the  great  surprise  of  all,  however,  instead  of  going  to  the 
upper  plateau,  which  sightly  position  had  been  proffered  by  the 
company,  they  proceeded  to  set  their  stakes  on  the  first  bench 
above  the  Little  Cuyahoga  river,  at  a  point  a  short  distance  east 
of  the  present  residence  of  Mr.  R.  A.  Grimwood,  on  Glenwo(  d 
avenue.    Expressions  of  disgust  were  both  numerous  and  emphatic. 


REVIEW    AND    RELOCATION.  103 

the  pretended  "compromise,"  between  the  contending  interests, 
pleasing  nobody.  The  tw^o  active  Commissioners,  (Kendall 
standing  aloof)  were  evidently  sorely  nettled  at  the  pungent  criti- 
cisms of  the  crowd,  bluff  old  Dr.  Daniel  Upson,  of  Tallmadge,  who 
sat  in  his  buggy  watching  the  operation,  capping  the  climax  by 
remarking,  in  his  emphatic  and  incisive  manner,  that  "nobody but 
fools  or  knaves  would  think  of  locating  bounty  buildings  in  such  a 
place  as  that! " 

At  this  point,  Messrs.  Hoagland  and  Winters  held  a  hurried 
consultation,  at  the  close  of  which,  they  hastily  pulled  up  the 
stakes  they  had  driven,  and  loading  them  into  their  carriage  drove 
direct  to  Cuyahoga  Falls,  w^here  they  proceeded  to  set  the  stakes 
upon  the  very  handsome  site  now^  occupied  by  the  Congregational 
Church,  on  the  south  side  of  Broad  street  betw^een  Front  and 
Second  streets. 

As  elsewhere  stated.  Summit  County  was  made  a  part  of  the 
Third  Judicial  District,  of  w:hich  Hon.  Van  K.  Humphrey  was  at 
that  time  the  President  Judge;  while  the  Legislature,  imme- 
diately after  erecting  the  new  county,  had  appointed  as  Associate 
Judges,  Messrs.  Robert  K.  DuBois,  of  Akron,  Charles  Sumner,  of 
Middlebury,  and  Hugh  R.  Caldwell,  of  Franklin. 

As  required  by  law,  majority  and  minority  reports  were  sub- 
mitted to  the  Court  by  the  locating  Commissioners,  ^v^hich  were 
duly  presented  for  record  by  Prosecuting  Attorney  George  Kirkum. 
To  this  the  County  Commissioners,  through  counsel,  objected,  and 
after  full  argument,  the  court,  on  the  23d  day  of  July,  1841,  made 
the  following  entry  upon  its  journal: 

"In  the  matter  of  the  review  and  relocation  of  the  seat  of  justice  for 
Summit  Covinty,  Jacob  C.  Hoagfhmd  and  Valentine  Winters,  two  of  the  Com- 
missioners appointed  by  the  Legislature  to  review  and  locate  the  seat  of 
justice  of  Summit  County,  having  returned  to  the  office  of  the  Clerk  of  this 
Court  their  joint  report,  and  William  Kendall,  the  other  Commissioner, 
having  returned  to  the  Clerk  of  this  Coixrt  his  separate  report,  this  day 
George  Kirkum,  Esq.,  a  citizen  and  Prosecuting  Attorney  of  said  county, 
presented  the  same  reports  to  the  Court,  and  moved  that  the  report  of  said 
Hoag-land  and  Winters  be  filed  and  entered  of  record.  Whereupon  the  Com- 
missioners of  said  County  of  Summit  appear  bj-  their  attorney  and  object  to 
the  filing  and  entering  of  said  reports  of  record,  for  various  reasons  bj-  them 
set  forth,  and  the  parties  were  heard  by  counsel  and  the  Court  being  equally 
divided  in  opinion,  it  is  ordered  that  the  said  George  Kirkum,  Esq.,  take 
nothing  by  his  said  motion." 

The  Court  being  thus  divided  as  to  the  legality  of  the  proceed- 
ings Avhicli  had  been  had,  and  the  County  Commissioners  also 
being  divided  on  the  same  subject,  Commissioner  Foote  favoring 
the  majority  report,  no  further  action  w^as  had  in  regard  to  the 
public  buildings  during  that  year;  the  several  county  officers 
meantime,  assuming  the  prerogative  of  deciding,  each  for  himself, 
where  his  office  should  be  kept;  Auditor  Booth  establishing  his 
headquarters  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Treasurer  O'Brien,  also,  having 
his  main  office  in  that  village,  though  maintaining  a  branch  office 
in  the  room  w^hich  had  been  provided  by  the  commissioners  in 
Akron.  This  arrangement  was  very  unsatisfactory  and  inconven- 
ient, but  was  patiently  borne  with  in  the  hope  that  the  next  Leg- 
islature would  straighten  the  tangle  out. 

Senator  Sill's  incumbency,  of  course,  continued  through  the 
session  of  1841-42,  Summit  County  being  entitled  to  two  represen- 


KM 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY, 


tatives,  at  this  session.  Politically,  as  before  intimated,  the  new 
county  was  largely  Whig,  and  through  certain  influences  the 
executive  conimittee  of  that  party  appointed  its  nominating. con- 
vention at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  notice  of  which  failing  to  reach  the 
remote  southern  townships  in  time,  several  of  said  tow^nships  were 
not  represented  in  said  convention;  Capt.  Amos  Seward,  of 
Tallmadge,  and  Harvey  Whedon,  Ksq.,  of  Hudson,  being  nomi- 
nated for  Representatives. 

Feeling  that  this  convention  was  being  manipulated  entirely 
in  the  interest  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  the  people  of  Akron,  and  those 
townships  favorable  to  Akron  as  the  county  seat,  called  a  non- 
partisan convention  for  about  the  same  date,  "which  convention 
nominated  Hon.  Rufus  P.  Spalding  (then  a  resident  of  Akron),  and 
Col.  Simon  Perkins,  as  its  candidates  for  representatives,  the 
former  being  a  Democrat  and  the  latter  a  Whig.  This  non-partisan 
convention  also  renominated  Mr.  Jonathan  Starr,  of  Copley,  for 
commissioner,  his  opponent  on  the  Whig  ticket  being  Asaph 
Whittlesey,  Esq.,  of  Tallmadge. 

The  canvass  Avas  short  but  spirited,  and  proved  to  be  a  decided 
victory  for  Akron,  the  vote  standing:  Perkins,  2,133;  Spalding, 
2,005;  Seward,  909;  Whedon,  950;  Starr,  2,178;  Whittlesey,  959. 

On  the  assembling  of  the  Legislature,  in  December,  1841, 
Messrs.  Spalding  and  Perkins  introduced  a  bill  to  submit  the  ques- 
tion of  location  to  the  voters  of  the  county  on  the  first  Monday  of 
April,  1842.  The  opposition  to  the  bill  in  the  House  was  much  less 
stubborn  tha^  against  the  original  bill,  but  in  the  Senate,  through 
the  efforts  and  influence  of  Mr.  Sill,  the  vote  was  substantially  the 
same,  standing  45  yeas  to  19  nays  in  the  House,  and  20  yeas  to  16 
nays  in  the  Senate;  the  bill  being  signed  March  2,  1842,  by  Rufus 
P.  Spalding,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  James 
J.  Farran,  Speaker  of  the  Senate. 

Some  lively  campaigning  was  done  by  both  parties  during 
the  intervening  month  between  the  final  passage  of  the  bill  and 
the  election,  and  it  may  safely  be  said  that  a  full  vote  was  polled, 
with  the  followinsf  result: 


TOWNSHIPS. 

c 

c 

kl 

< 

o  a 

Scattering. 

Bath.. 

191 

66 

271 

232 

250 

289 

16 

29 

30 

295 

621 

153 

348 

6 

181 

41 

54 

1 

2 

60 

1 

Boston 

2 

Copley 

1 

Coventry 

Franklin 

4 

1 

235 

132 

143 

12 

Green 

2 

HudvSon      

Northampton 

Northfield 

7 
9 

2 

Norton 

Portage 

5 

16 

15 

361 

177 

199 

15 
1 

7 

1 

Richfield 

Sprnigtield 

1 

StOAV 

I 

Talhnadg-e 

Twinsburg^ 

1 

2,978 

1,:^84 

101 

24 

AKRON    FINALLY    WINS. 


105 


Akron's  total  vote 2,978 

Cuyahog-a   Falls'  total  vote 1,384 

Akron's  plurality 1,594 

Summit  City,  etc 125 

Akron  over  all I,4<i9 


Summit  County  Court  House,  erected   1840— 1843— Remodeled  and  Wings 
added  in  1867. 


This  emphatic  vote  definitely  settled  the  question  as  to  loca- 
tion, and  the  erection  of  the  county  buildings  was  proceeded  with, 
though  by  reason  of  the  protracted  delay,  they  Avere  not  completed 
until  several  months  after  the  time  stipulated  in  the  contract  as 
above  set  forth,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  extract  from  the 
record  of  the  County  Commissioners: 

"December  5th,  1843.  Simon  Perkins,  Jr.,  Jedediah  D.  Commins  and 
Kichard  Howe,  the  trustees  for  building-  the  court  house  and  jail,  and  Ithiel 
Mills,  the  court  house  contractor,  submitted  the  court  house  for  inspection 
of  the  board  and  for  their  acceptance. 

"December  ()th.  Having  examined  the  court  house  the  board  proposed, 
as  an  offset  to  the  general  bad  character  of  the  work,  which  the  building- 
trustees  fully  admitted,  to  accept  it,  if  the  windows  were  made  to  work  freely 
up  and  down,  the  doors  better  hung  or  fastened  and  provided  with  more 
suitable  latches  and  locks,  and  the  windows  in  the  Auditor's,  Clerk's  and 
Recorder's  offices  secured  bj'  iron  blinds  or  shutters  made  and  fitted  into 
them." 

Though  the  ceiling  has  been  raised  and  modernized,  the  court 
room  remains  substantially  the  same  as  originally  built,  though  a 
flight  of  stairs  leading  from  the  lower  hall  to  the  two  small  rooms 
in  the  rear  of  the  Judge's  seat,  on  the  east  end,  has  been  dispensed 
with.  On  the  lower  floor  the  space  on  the  north  side  of  the  hall, 
now    entirely  occupied    by  the    treasury,  w^as   divided    into  three 


106  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

rooms — Sheriff's  office  on  the  east,  Treasurer's  office  in  the  center 
and  Grand  Jury  room  on  the  west,  wrhile  upon  the  south  side  of 
the  hall  was  the  Probate  office  upon  the  east,  with  the  Auditor, 
Clerjc  and  Recorder  in  the  order  named  upon  the  west. 

A  special  act  was  passed  March  29, 1867,  authorizing  the  County- 
Commissioners  to  make  certain  greatly  needed  improvements  to 
the  court  house  edifice  without  submitting  the  question  to  a  vote 
of  the  people.  Under  this  act  the  two  wings  upon  the  front  or 
■west  end  w^ere  erected,  and  the  other  changes  alluded  to  made,  the 
cost  of  w^hich  -was  paid  out  of  the  general  fund  as  collected  from 
the  taxpayers  of  the  entire  county,  notwithstanding  the  inhibition 
clause  of  the  original  new  county  act  in  regard  to  the  taxing  of  Frank- 
lin and  Green  for  county  building  purposes  for  the  period  of  50 
years,  that  provision  having  been  entirely  lost  sight  of,  both  by  the 
officials  and  the  tax-payers  of  those  two  tow^nships,  themselves. 

No  one,  ho"wever,  regrets  the  expenditure,  the  improvements 
being  very  greatly  needed,  the  -wing  upon  the  south  providing 
fairly  respectable  offices  for  the  Probate  Judge  below  and  the 
Clerk  of  the  Courts  above,  and  that  upon  the  north  for  the  Recorder 
on  the  ground  floor,  and  the  Jury  room  above;  though  the  structure 
is  still  very  inadequate  to  the  constantly  growing  necessities  of  the 
public  service,  and  the  people  of  Summit  County  cannot  better 
subserve  their  OMrn  interests  than  by  taking  immediate  measures 
for  the  erection,  upon  their  present  sightly  and  beautiful  grounds, 
a  new  court  house  not  only  commensurate  with  the  public  require- 
ments, but  one,  also,  that,  in  point  of  architectural  design  and 
adornment,  shall  be  in  keeping  Avith  the  proverbial  good  taste  of 
its  enterprising  and  public  spirited  citizens. 

The  contractor  on  the  jail,  Mr.  Sebbins  Saxton,  dying  in  August, 
1841,  pending  the  controversy  over  the  location  of  the  county-seat,, 
on  the  final  settlement  of  the  "  vexed  question,"  the  trustees,  Messrs. 
Perkins,  Commins  and  Howe,  on  the  13th  day  of  April,  1842,  adver- 
tised in  the  Beacon  for  proposals  for  the  erection  and  completion 
of  the  jail,  a  new^  contract  being  finally  entered  into  with  Mr. 
Harvey  Saxton,  a  younger  brother  of  the  former  contractor. 

The  jail  w^as  accepted  by  the  Commissioners  about  the  first  of 
October,  1843,  and  the  prisoners  then  in  custody — four  in  number 
— Avere  immediately  transferred  from  their  comparatively  unsafe 
quarters  in  the  third  story  of  the  old  stone  block,  to  the  supposed 
to  be  impregnable  and  perfectly  secure  quarters  in  the  new  stone 
jail,  on  Wednesday,  October  3,  1843.  Yet,  notw^ithstanding  its 
presumable  "non-break-out-ability,"  the  very  next  night,  those 
same  four  prisoners  liberated  themselves  from  "durance  vile  "  with 
perfect  ease  in  the  following  ingenious  manner:  One  of  them,  by 
the  name  of  Garner  Miller,  charged  with  "tinkering  with  the  cur- 
rency," was  a  machinist  by  trade,  and  perfectly  understood  the 
principle  and  power  of  leverage  and  purchase.  He  Avas  not  long,, 
therefore,  in  devising  a  plan  for  testing  that  power,  and  his  own 
skill  upon  the  walls  of  the  new^  jail.  The  beds  of  the  prisoners 
w^ere  composed  of  a  frame  work  of  strips  of  about  2x6  whitewood 
plank,  w^ith  canvas  nailed  across  them.  The  side  rails  of  the  bunks 
w^ere  just  about  as  long  as  the  space  betAveen  the  outer  and  the 
inner  walls.  Using  one  of  these  bed  rails  horizontally  as  a  lever, 
and  another  as  a  pry,  with  the  inner  wall  as  the  fulcrum,  the 
united  strength  of  the  four  men  readily  pushed  one  of  the  huge 


OVATION    TO   JOHN    OUINCY    ADAMS,  107 

blocks  of  sand-Stone  entirely  out  of  the  massive  wall,  thus  demon- 
strating that  at  least  one  important  point  of  strength  in  the 
construction  of  the  new  bastile  had  been  entirely  overlooked,  viz.: 
the  anchoring  of  the  several  courses  of  stone  as  they  were  laid. 

This  defect  was  remedied,  in  part,  by  drilling  obliquely  from 
near  the  upper  edge  of  each  stone,  into  about  the  middle  of  the 
tier  below,  inserting  iron  dowels,  and  filling  the  orifice  with 
cement.  No  escapes  from  that  cause  have  since  been  made, 
though  many  nearly  successful  attempts  have  been  made  to  dig 
through  the  soft  sand-stone  of  w^hich  the  walls  are  composed. 
Several  escapes  have  been  effected,  how^ever,  through  the  soft-iron 
window  gratings  and  otherwise,  though  that  danger  has  been  par- 
tially obviated  by  the  addition  of  inside  steel  windovir  gratings, 
and  by  boiler  plating  the  walls,  but  the  fact  remains  that  the  jail 
is,  as  it  has  been  so  often  declared  to  be  by  the  Grand  Jury,  a 
nuisance — inconvenient  and  insalubrious  to  both  jailor  and  pris- 
oner— which  should  at  once  be  abated  by  the  erection  of  a  building 
not  only  creditable  to  the  intelligence  and  ability  of  the  people  of 
the  county,  but  also  in  accord  w^ith  the  advanced  humanitarian 
and  reformatory  status  of  the  age. 

A   FITTING  DEDICATION. 

In  the  autumn  of  1843,  Ex-President  John  Quincy  Adams, 
"The  Old  Man  Eloquent,"  was  invited  to  deliver  an  address  on  the 
occasion  of  laying  the  corner  stone  of  the  Cincinnati  Astronomical 
Observatory — the  first  of  its  kind  on  this  continent.  Being  prior 
to  the  advent  of  railroads  in  the  West,  Mr.  Adams  traveled  exclu- 
sively by  those  ancient  "fast"  modes  of  conveyance^ — the  stage- 
coach, the  canal  packet  and  the  steamboat,  making  brief  calls,  and 
receiving  enthusiastic  ovations  at  prominent  points  along  the 
route. 

Learning  that  it  was  his  intention  to  visit  Ohio's  then  most 
distinguished  statesman,  Hon.  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  at  his  home  in 
Ashtabula  County,  a  delegation  was  sent  to  Jefferson  to  invite  Mr. 
Adams  to  visit  Akron,  but  stress  of  w^eather  on  Lake  Erie 
prevented  him  from  calling  upon  his  warm  personal  friend  and 
anti-slavery  colleague  in  Congress,  as  he  had  designed  to  do,  and 
the  committee  returned  home  v^ithout  seeing  him. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  Thursday,  November  2,  1843,  word  was 
received  that  Mr.  Adams  wras  coming  up  the  canal,  en  route  to 
Columbus.  The  committee  were  hastily  convened,  who  procured 
a  carriage,  met  the  distinguished  visitor  at  Lock  Twenty-one,  and 
escorted  him  to  a  hotel.  As  he  could  only  remain  while  the  boat 
w^as  passing  through  the  locks,  bells  Avere  rung  and  messengers 
w^ere  sent  from  house  to  house,  notifying  the  people  that  a  recep- 
tion would  be  tendered  to  Mr.  Adams  at  half  past  eight  o'clock. 
As  short  as  the  notice  was,  the  new  court  room  w^as  crowded  to  its 
utmost  capacity,  by  men,  women,  children  and  babies. 

The  distinguished  visitor,  on  appearing  in  the  Judge's  desk, 
by  the  rear  entrance,  w^as  greeted  by  an  immense  show^er  of 
enthusiastic  cheers  from  the  men  and  the  waiving  of  handker- 
chiefs from  the  women.  Mayor  Harvey  H.  Johnson,  made  a  brief 
and  fitting  address  of  welcome,  the  response  of  Mr.  Adams,  though 
occupying  only  about  twenty  minutes,  giving  quite  a  comprehen- 


108  .  AKROX    AXD    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

sive  review  of  the  history  and  progress  of  our  whole  nation,  and 
of  his  surprise  at,  and  admiration  of,  the  evidences  of  enterprise  and 
prosperity  which  met  him  at  every  step  of  his  initial  visit  to  the 
great  West,  saying  among  other  things  equally  happy:  "It  seems 
as  though  a  person  in  this  Western  country  was  witnessing  a  new 
creation — a  nev^r  world  rising  from  discord  and  chaos  to  order, 
happinsss  and  virtue!  What  will  this  country  be  in  half  a  century 
from  this  time?  Cherish  this  spirit  of  improvement  which  has 
made  it  what  it  is — apply  your  mighty  energies  to  the  work, — 
invoke  the  aid,  encouragement  and  protection  of  your  country  in 
your  enterprise,  and  may  God  speed  you." 

Mr.  Adams'  remarks  were  frequently  interrupted  by  enthusias- 
tic applause,  and  at  the  close  he  stepped  forward  and  took  each  one 
by  the  hand,  gallantly  and  graciously  kissing  each  of  the  ladies 
and  all  of  the  the  babies  in  attendance. 

It  Avas  truly  a  fitting  dedication  of  the  new^  court  house,  which 
had  not  as  yet  been  formally  accepted  by  the  County  Commis- 
sioners. 

ADDITIONAL    TOWNSHIPS. 

The  aggregate  territory  of  the  county  remains  the  same  as  in 
1840,  though  there  have  been  some  changes  in  the  arrangement  of 
the  townships,  there  being  now  eighteen  instead  of  sixteen  as 
originally.  In  March,  1851,  the  township  of  Cuyahoga  Falls  was 
erected  by  the  County  Commisssoners,  out  of  portions  of  the  four 
original  townships  of  Stow,  Tallmadge,  Portage  and  Northampton, 
being  on  the  average,  about  two  miles  square.  In  like  manner  the 
township  of  Middlebury  was  erected  in  March,  1857,  out  of  portions 
of  Tallmadge,  Springfield,  Portage  and  Coventry,  and  though 
subsequently  annexed  to  the  city  of  Akron,  as  its  Sixth  Ward,  it 
retained  its  distinctive  township  features  to  the  extent  of  having 
one  justice  of  the  peace  and  one  constable,  until  the  erection  of  the 
new  township  of  Akron,  by  special  act  of  the  Legislature,  in  March, 
1888,  when,  the  latter  being  co-extensive  with  the  city,  the  former 
becam^  merged  therein.  The  to-wnship  of  Akron  is  entitled  to  three 
justices  of  the  peace  and  three  constsbles,  onlj^,  the  other  govern- 
mental functions  of  the  to^vnship  devolving  upon  the  officers  of  the 
city,  the  law  providing  for  the  appointment,  by  the  cit}'  council,  of  an 
Infirmary  director  to  take  the  place  of  the  township  trustees  iu 
looking  after  the  township  and  city  poor. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

EDUCATIONAL  MATTERS-PIONEER  SCHOOLS— "  MODEL"  EXAMINATION  AND  A 
"MODEL"  TEACHER  OF  A  "MODEL"  SCHOOL— EARLY  SELECT  SCHOOLS, 
HipH  SCHOOLS,  INSTITUTES,  ETC.— SUCCESSES  AND  FAILURES— THE  UNION 
SCHOOL  SYSTEM,  DEVISED  IN  AKRON  IN  1846  BUT  NOW  UNIVERvSAL— A 
MAGNIFICENT  EDUCATIONAL  SHOWING  —  PRESENT  STATUS  OF  AKRON'S 
PUBLIC  SCHOOLS — BUCHTEL  COLLEGE,  WHEN,  HOW  ANl)  BY  WHOM  FOUNDED 
—HORACE  GREELEY'S  CORNER-STONE  ADDRESS— BIG-HEARTED  JOHN  RICH- 
ARDS BUCHTEL— THE  CROUSE  GYMNASIUM  -THE  INSTITUTION  A  GRAND 
SUCCESS— FATAL  DISAvSTER— CONTEMPLATED  NEW  FEATURES,  ETC. 

EDUCATIONAL  MATTERS. 

WHEN  the  writer  first  came  to  Akron ,  in  1835,  the  public  schools  of 
the  village  were  under  the  j  urisdiction  of  the  tow^nship  author- 
ities, Portage  township  then  being  divided  into  seven  school  dis- 
tricts. It  w^as  the  fortune  of  the  writer  to  teach  the  school  in 
district  number  seven,  in  the  Winter  of  1835-6.  The  school  house, 
about  16x18  feet  in  size,  w^as  built  of  logs,  w^ith  a  huge  stone  fire- 
place at  one  end,  surmounted  by  a  stick  and  mud  chimney;  plain 
board  desks  running  lengthwise  around  the  sides  of  the  room,  with 
slab  benches  for  the  older  scholars,  and  an  inner  circle  of  lo^v^er 
board  seats  for  the  smaller  ones.  The  house  was  situated  on  the 
northwest  corner  of  Medina  and  Portage  roads  (opposite  the  north- 
east corner  of  the  present  Infirmary  farm),  and  the  "deestrict"^ 
extended  from  Old  Portage  on  the  north,  to,  and  including,  the 
Perkins  homestead  on  the  south,  and  from,  and  including,  the 
McGuire  farm  upon  the  w^est,  to  the  Ohio  Canal  upon  the  east, 
embracing,  as  will  l)e  seen,  quite  a  large  slice  of  the  western  por- 
tion of  the  present  City  of  Akron. 

Then,  as  now^,  teachers  of  public  schools  had  to  be  examined, 
and  provide  themselves  Mvith  certificates,  to  enable  the  trustees  to 
draw^  their  proportion  of  the  school  fund,  but,  unlike  the  present 
usage,  in  addition  to  the  half  or  quarter  yearly  examinations,  the 
president  of  the  board  was  authorized  to  make  examinations  and 
issue  certificates  during  vacation,  as  occasion  might  require. 

Akron  was  then  a  dependency  of  Portage  County,  the  presi- 
dent of  the  board  of  examiners  being,  at  that  time,  Darius  Lyman, 
Esq.,  a  prominent  law^yer  of  Ravenna.  Riding  on  horseback,  via 
Middlebury,  Old  Forge,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Stow  Corners  and  Frank- 
lin Mills  (Kent),  18  miles  to  Ravenna,  on  a  cold  December  Saturday 
afternoon,  I  reached  the  house  of  Mr.  Lyman,  a  short  distance  east 
of  the  public  square,  just  as  the  family  w^as  retiring  from  the  sup- 
per table.  Making  known  my  errand,  Mr.  Lyman  turned  to  his 
law-student,  Frederick  Hudson,  a  young  man  about  my  oAvn  age, 
and  with  whom  I  had  a  slight  acquaintance,  and  said:  "Fred,  you 
take  Mr.  Lane  into  the  office  and  examine  him  w^hile  I  go  to  the 
barn  and  do  the  chores." 

Repairing  to  the  office,  after  a  few  preliminary  questions  as  to 
where  I  was  going  to  teach,  size  of  school,  etc.,  Fred  shoved  a  law- 
book across  the  table,  requesting  me  to  read  a  few  sentences,  which 
I  accordingly  did.     Then  handing  me  a  sheet  of  paper  and  a  stubbed 


110  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

goose  quill  pen,  he  asked  me  to  write  a  line  or  two,  and  I  "writ." 
Next  a  sum  in  simple  interest,  and  a  problem  in  the  "Rule  of 
Three"  were  submitted  w^hich  Avere  duly  ^vrought  out. 

"That'll  do,"  said  my  examiner.  "What!"  I  exclaimed,  "don't 
you  examine  in  geography,  grammar,  etc.?"  "No,"  said  Fred,  "the 
law  only  requires  a  know^ledge  of  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic — 
the  three  R's  you  kno^^ — and  in  all  of  those  you've  done  first-rate." 

President  Lyman  soon  coming  in,  w^as  informed  by  Fred  that  I 
w^as  "  O.  K."  and  a  certificate  for  one  year,  w^as  AwXy  executed,  and, 
paying  the  customary  fee  of  75  cents  therefor,  I  wended  my  way 
back  to  Akron,  in*the  face  of  a  blinding  snow  storm,  rejoicing  at 
having  slipped  through  the  dreaded  examination-mill  so  easily. 
How  some  of  the  modern  aspirants  for  pedagogic  honors,  in  con- 
templation of  the  intricate  mathematical  problems,  grammatical 
conundrums  and  geographical,  historical,  and  other  puzzles  which 
will  be  fired  at  them,  will  envy  me. 

My  stipulated  salary  was  $11.00  per  month  and  "  board  around," 
some  ten  or  twelve  families  thus  sharing  the  "honor"  of  providing 
the  "school  master"  with  fresh  pork,  sausage  and  buckwheat  cakes 
during  the  winter.  The  average  attendance  >vas  about  30,  ranging 
from  6  to  21  years  of  age.  Every  house  \rhere  I  boarded  but  one, 
wras  of  the  log  cabin  variety;  in  one,  my  bed  being  in  the  loft, 
reached  by  a  ladder,  and  through  the  long  oak  shingles  of  ^vhich, 
on  stormy  nights,  the  snow  would  sift  liberally  down  upon  the 
coverlet.  The  house  where  I  boarded  the  longest,  had  two  rooms; 
one  kitchen,  dining  room,  parlor  and  bed  room,  combined,  the  high 
bed  in  the  corner  being  occupied  by  the  old  folks,  and  the  trundle- 
bed,  beneath,  by  the  two  younger  children;  the  other  room  con- 
taining tw^o  beds,  one  of  which  Avas  occupied  by  the  "Master"  and 
a  twelve-year-old  boy,  and  the  other  by  the  three  older  girls  of  the 
family,  with  a  linen  sheet  suspended  midviray  between  the  t"wo  beds! 

As  prolific  as  were  xw2i\\y  of  those  early  families,  the  enumer- 
ated youth  of  the  district,  of  school  age,  warranted  the  draw^ing  of 
less  than  half  the  amount  of  public  money  needed  to  pay  the 
teacher's  salary,  as  meager  as  it  was;  consequently  a  roll  of 
attendance  had  to  be  kept,  even  to  the  half  da^^s,  and  the  deficit 
assessed,  pro  rata,  and  collected  from  the  parents,  a  task  which 
proved  so  irksome  to  the  acting  director,  the  late  Sidney  Stocking, 
that  he  finally  gave  up  the  job  in  disgust,  paying  the  last  ten 
dollars  out  of  his  ow^n  pocket. 

AKRON'S  EARLIER   SCHOOLS. 

Besides  this  and  other  outside  schools,  in  the  Ayres  settlement, 
the  Sherbondy  neighborhood,  the  Spicer  settlement,  the  Old  Forge, 
etc..  North  and  South  Akron  w^ere  each  separate  school  districts,  a 
small  frame  school  house  standing  on  the  northeast  corner  of 
Middlebury  street  and  Broadw^ay,  afterwards  replaced  by  a  one- 
story  stone  building,  which  is  still  standing. 

That  school  house,  a  cut  of  which,  from  memory,  is  here 
given,  was  the  only  place  for  holding  public  meetings — religious, 
political,  literary  or  otherwise,  the  first  number  of  Akron's  first 
newspaper — the  Weekly  Post — issued  March  22,  1836,  announcing 
that  "The  Akron  Lyceum  and  Library  Association  w^ill  meet  at 
the  School   House  in  South  Akron,  on  Friday  next,  at   6   o'clock 


EARLY    SCHOOL    HOUSES,    TEACHERS,    ETC. 


Ill 


P.  M.,  to  discuss  the  question: 
'Ought  the  right  of  suffrage  to 
be  extended  to  foreigners?'" 
and  the  further  announcement 
that  "the  electors  of  Portage 
township  will  meet  at  the 
School  House  in  South  Akron, 
on^Thursday,  the  31st  inst.,  at 
7  o'clock,  for  the  purpose  of 
nominating  candidates  to  be 
supported  at  the  ensuing  elec- 
tion;" and  a  few  weeks  later 
this:  "A  meeting  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Akron  and  Middle- 
bury  Baptist  Church  and  Society  will  be  held  at  the  School  House, 
in  South  Akron,  on  Wednesday,  June  16,  at  4  o'clock  p.  m,,  for 
the  purpose  of  organizing  under  their  charter;"  and  also  this: 
''The  citizens  of  Akron  and  vicinity  are  earnestly  requested  to 
meet  at  the  School  House,  in  South  Akron,  on  Saturday  evening  at 
7  o'clock  precisely,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  public 
feeling  in  this  place  with  regard  to  constructing  a  Railroad  from 
Akron  to  Richmond,  on  Grand  river  in  Geauga  County." 

In  North  Akron  there  was  then  no  public  school  house,  such 
brief  terms  as  were  taught  being  dependent  upon  such  hired  rooms, 
in  private  houses  or  stores,  as  could  be  procured,  though  there  was 
erected  in  1835,  back  of  where  the  Congregational  Church  now 
stands,  a  small  house  for  a  select  school,  but  by  vv^hom  built,  or  by 
whom  the  school  was  taught,  is  not  no^v  remembered. 

In  this  house,  also,  religious,  political,  literary  and  other  meet- 
ings were  held,  until  the  completion  of  the  Congregational, 
Methodist,  Baptist  and  Universalist  churches,  and  the  halls  in  the 
old  stone  building,  in  North  Akron,  May's  building  in  South  Akron, 
and  Stephens'  building,  between  the  tw^o  villages,  were  completed 
in  1836-7. 

Of  the  earlier  public  teachers,  the  writer  has  no  definite 
recollection,  but  the  proportion  of  public  money  for  the  payment  of 
teachers  w^as  then  so  meager,  and  the  term  so  short  and  uncertain, 
that  many  parents  preferred  to  send  their  children  entirely  to 
select  schools,  which  were  quite  numerous  about  those  days. 
Among  those  recalled,  w^ho  taught  for  shorter  or  longer  periods, 
w^ere  Miss  Sarah  Carpender,  sister  of  Dr.  John  G.  Carpender,  of  315 
Bow^ery  street,  afterwards  married  to  Mr.  John  S.  Harvey,  one  of 
North  Akron's  pioneer  merchants;  Miss  Amanda  Blodgett,  sister 
of  the  late  Mrs.  A.  R.  Tow^nsend,  and  later  the  wife  of  the  late  Dr. 
William  P.  Cushman;  and  our  present  well  preserved  80-year-old 
fellow  citizen,  Nahum  Fay,  Esq.;  Mr.  Fay  teaching  the  North 
Akron  district  school  for  five  successive  Winters — 1836-7  and  1837-8 
in  a  store-room  in  Lewis  P.  Buckley's  building,  where  the  post- 
office  now  stands;  1838-9  in  a  store  room  belonging  to  Elisha  N. 
Bangs,  where  the  Allen  block  now  stands,  and  1839-40  and  1840-41 
in  the  new  school  house,  below  referred  to,  on  South  High  street; 
his  sister-in-law.  Miss  Emily  Cummings,  teaching  in  the  low^er 
story  of  the  same  house;  the  first  Mrs.  Fay  also  at  one  time  teach- 
ing a  small  public  school  in  a  rented  room  on  West  Hill,  near  the 
present  residence  of  Dr.  John  W.  Lyder.  Advertisements  of  other 
select  schools  are  found  in  the  newspapers  of  the  period,  as  follows: 


112 


AKKON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


May  20,  1836,  "M.  and  A.  C.  Joyce  respectfully  inform  the 
inhabitants  of  Akron,  and  vicinity,  that  they  have  opened  a  school 
in  South  Akron,  where  they  -will  instruct  a  iew  young  ladies  in 
Arithmetic,  Orthography,  History,  Composition,  Natural  Phi- 
losophy, Astrononi}',  Botany,  Rhetoric,  Chemistry,  Drawing  in 
Crayon,  Mezzotinto,  Pencil,  India  Ink,  Japaning,  Flower  Paintings 
etc.  Terms  made  known  on  application.  Those  ^vishing  to  attend 
to  Reading,  Writing,  Geography,  Grammar,  etc.,  $3  per  quarter." 


NAHUM  FAY— born  in  Reading, 
Vt,  July  26,  1811;  common 
school  and  academic  education  ;  rais- 
ed on  farm ;  from  18  j^ears  of  age 
taught  school  six  consecutive  win- 
ters ;  then  entered  employ  of  map 
publishing  firm  of  Lewis  Robinson 
&  Co.,  as  salesman  and  copper-plate 
printer  ;  in  Julj',  1836,  came  to  Akron 
where  the  companj^  established  a 
map  manufactory,  working  for  com- 
pany Summers  and  teaching  school 
Winters,  for  six  j'ears ;  in  October, 
1843,  was  elected  County  Recorder, 
and  re-elected  in  1846,  holding  the 
office  six  jears ;  served  as  Deputj- 
County  Treasurer,  under  the  respec- 
tive terms  of  Treasurers  William  H. 
Dewey,  Frederic  Wadsworth  and 
Chester  W.  Rice,  from  1849  to  185.5; 
afterwards  grain  buj^er  for  several 
years  ;  Akron  Village  Recorder  1842, 
'43,  '47;  Township  Clerk  1844,  '45,  '46. 
'47;  Village  Councilman  1844;  Town- 
ship Assessor  of  personal  property 
1847,  '51,  '52,  '54,  '61,  '62,  '64,  also  several 
times  assessor  of  real  estate,  school 
enumerator,  etc.;  in  1860  commenced 
the  manufacture  of  cordage,  twine, 
etc.,  by  hand  machinery,  supplying 
the  local  markets  with  that  class  of 

foods   for  more  than  twenty  years, 
n  1837  Mr.  Faj^  was  married  to  Miss 
Lucia  Cumings,  of  Windsor  Count}", 


XAHUM     FAY. 

Vt.,  who  bore  him  two  children — 
Henry  C.  M.  (deceased)  and  Emma 
v.,  wife  of  James  W.  Chamberlain, 
superintendent  of  the  Webster,  Camp 
&  Lane  Machine  Co.,  of  Akron.  Mrs. 
Fay  dying  October  23,  1882,  Mr.  Fay 
was  again  married,  to  Mrs.  Marv  E.^ 
Wright,  September  16,  1883. 


July  27,  1836,  "Mrs.  Susan  E.  Dodge  announces  that  on  the  1st 
day  of  August,  she  w^ill  open  a  school  on  the  corner  of  Main  and 
Exchange  streets,  for  Young  Ladies  and  Misses,  in  which  the 
foUoAving  branches  will  be  taught:  Reading,  Writing  and  Spelling,. 
$2.50;  Grammar,  Geography  and  Arithmetic,  $3.50;  Rhetoric^ 
Philosophy,  Botany,  Map-drawing  and  Needle-work,  $5.00;  Paint- 
ing (water  colors)  24  lessons,  $5.00,  Landscape  Painting,  $5.00. 
Term  eleven  weeks." 

January  2,  1837,  Miss  B.  M.  Hawkins,  under  the  heading, 
"Akron  High  School,"  gives  notice  that  she  "will  continue  her 
school,  over  the  room  of  M.  C.  and  A.  R,  Townsend,  in  North 
Akron,  during  the  Winter  term  of  twelve  weeks.  Tuition:  Ortho- 
graphy, Writing,  Grammar,  and  Geography,  $2.50;  History, 
Arithmetic,  Rhetoric  and  Composition, $3. 00;  Geometry, Chemistry, 
Botany,  Intellectual  Philosophy,  Natural  Philosophy,  Natural 
Theology,  $i. 00;  French  Painting,  $5.00." 

In  the  Spring  of  1837,  Mr,  S.  L.  Sawtell,  an  eastern  college 
graduate,  opened  a  select  school  in  Stephens'  block  (present  site  of 


VARIOUS    "select"    AND    "  HIGH "    SCHOOLS. 


113 


Merrill's  pottery)  giving  such  satisfaction,  that  on  the  15th  of 
November,  the  "Winter  term  of  the  Akron  High  School,"  with  Mr. 
Sawtell  as  instructor,  is  announced, —  the  price  of  tuition  for  a 
term  of  11  weeks,  ranging  from  $3.00  to  $5.00. 


DR.  JOSEPH  COLE,  —  born  in 
Winfield,  Herkimer  County.  N. 
Y.,  Septeinber  17,  1795 ;  served  in  the 
war  of  1812,  (50  days  at  Sackett's  Har- 
bor in  1814;  graduated  at  Fairfield 
Medical  College,  February  16,  1825 ; 
located  at  Old  Portage,  Ohio,  in 
Spring-  of  1826,  at  once  attaining'  a 
larg'e  practice ;  December  25,  1820, 
was  married  to  Miss  Charlotte  Dewey, 
formerly  of  Westfield,  Mass.,  in 
Spring-  of  1827  remov*ed  to  Akron, 
where  he  enjoyed  a  lucrative  prac- 
tice, and  the  jjublic  esteem  and  con- 
fidence until  his  death,  October  28, 
1861,  ag-ed  66  years,  1  month  and  11 
days.  Dr.  Cole  was  among  the 
earliest  Temperance  advocates  in 
Ohio,  a  bitter  foe  to  human  slavery 
and  a  luost  zealous  friend  of  educa- 
tion, larg-ely  aiding  in  the  formula- 
tion of  the  Akron  School  Law,  and 
serving-  tipon  the  first  Board  of 
Education,  elected  under  said  law,  in 
1847.  Mrs.  Cole  survived  her  hus- 
band nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
dying  August  1,  1886,  aged  85  j^ears,  5 
months.  They  were  the  parents  of 
seven  children  —  Jose])h  Keep,  born 
April  7,  1828,  died  July  4,  1829; 
Harriet  F.,  born  November  24,  1830, 
married  to  Dr.  A.  H.  Agard,  October 
10,  1849,  died  November  14,  1854,  leav- 
ing one  child,  now  Mrs.  Helen  L. 
Epler,  of  Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y. ; 
Amanda  L.,  born  Deceinber  28,  1831, 
died  Jul}'  7,  1855;    Alvin,  born  July 


DR.  JOSEPH  COLE. 


18,  1834,  died  November  15,  1834;  in- 
fant son  born  September  1835,  died 
September  19,  1835;  Ben.  Franklin, 
born  September  19,  1836,  died  Jan- 
uar}'  29,  1839;  Harrison  Dewey 
born  June  19,  1840,  married  to  Miss 
Harriet  A.  Farnam,  November  24, 
1864.  died  April  25,  1876,  leaving-  two 
children — Harrison  D.  and  Fanny  F., 
both  now  living  with  their  mother, 
603  South  High  street. 


This  seems  to  have  been  a  regularly  organized  institution, 
but  whether  chartered  or  not  is. not  remembered,  and  the  manage- 
ment seems  to  have  included  gentlemen  from  several  neighboring 
townships  in  both  Portage  and  Medina  counties  (Summit  not 
having  yet  been  erected),  the  officers  named  in  the  advertisement 
being  as  follows:  Jedediah  D.  Commins,  (Akron),  President; 
Jonathan  Starr,  (Copley),  Vice  President;  Simon  Perkins,  (Portage),. 
Treasurer;  Horace  K.  Smith,  (Akron),  Secretary;  John  Codding, 
(Granger),  Erastus  Torrey,  Eliakim  Crosby,  Gii)bons  J.  Ackley, 
Justus  Gale,  Samuel  A.  Wheeler  and  Joseph  Cole,  (Akron),  Roan. 
Clark,  (Middlebury),  Lewis  Hammond,  (Bath),  Allen  Pardee, 
(Wadsworth),  and  Henry  Van  Hyning,  (Norton),  Trustees. 

But  notw^ithstanding  this  solid  backing,  and  notwithstanding 
the  acknowledged  ability  of  Mr.  Sawtell,  the  attendance  was  so 
meager  that,  as  an  inducemeiit  to  increase  of  pupilage,  the  Spring 
and  Summer  term,  of  22  weeks,  in  1838,  without  increased  pay,  was 
offered,  Mr.  Saw^tell  seeking,  at  the  same  time,  to  create  an  interest 
in  his  school,  and  the  cause  of  education  generally,  as  well  as  to 
piece  out  his  income,  by  the  jiublication  of  the  *' Pestalozzian,'* 


114 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


which  had  an   existence  of  six  months  only,  both   his  paper  and 
his  school  being  discontinued  in  the  Fall  of  1838. 

In  the  American  Balance  of  December  27,  1837,  is  an 
announcement  that  "on  January  3,  1838,  a  select  school  "will  be 
opened  on  the  corner  of  Middlebury  and  High  streets.  South  Akron, 
under  the  superintendence  of  Miss  M.  E.  Hubble,  of  New^  York, 
where  pupils  will  receive  instruction  in  all  branches  usually 
taught  in  our  Kastern  Female  Seminaries.  Terms  per  quarter  (11 
weeks)  from  $3.00  to  $5.00  according  to  studies  pursued,  and  for 
music,  $8.00,  including  use  of  piano." 


JUDGE  JAMES  R.  FORD,— born  in 
J  Herkimer  Co.,  N.  Y.,  January  28, 
1797.  His  earlier  j^ears  were  spent  in 
Pittsfield,  Mass.,  coming  to  Paines- 
ville,  Ohio,  about  the  year  1817.  Here 
he  resided  about  17  years,  filling- 
many  positions  of  trust  and  honor, 
when  he  removed  to  Huron  County, 
and  from  thence,  about  1837  to  Akron, 
when,  with  others  under  the  firm 
name  of  The  Akron  Manufacturing 
Company,  a  large  foundry  and  stove 
business  was  carried  on,  on  what  is 
known  as  the  old  ^tna  Furnace  site, 
opposite  Lock  Eleven,  Ohio  Canal. 
In  June,  1845,  Mr.  Ford  was  appointed 
by  Gov.  Bartle}',  Associate  Judge  of 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  Court, 
for  Summit  County,  which  office  he 
acceptabl}^  filled  until  failing  health 
compelled  his  resignation  in  1849. 
April  27,  1826,  Judge  Ford  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Julia  A.  Tod,  daughter 
of  Judge  George  Tod,  of  Youngstown, 
who  bore  him  seven  children — Sarah 
T.  (now  Mrs.  Peck,  of  Youngstown), 
James  H.,  deceased ;  Mar}^  M.  died  in 
infancy  ;  Hobart,  deceased  ;  Julia  A., 
wife  of  Judge  William  H.  Upson,  of 


JUDGE  JAMES   R.  FORD. 

Akron  ;  George  Tod  Ford,  of  Akron  ; 
and  Elizabeth  A.,  now  Mrs.  John  F. 
Earl,  of  New  York.  Judge  Ford  died, 
January  2,  1851,  aged  53  years  11 
months  and  4  days,  Mrs.  Ford  dj4ng 
Januarj^  19,  1885,  aged  77  years,  11 
months  and  13  da5^s. 


The  growth  of  the  public  school  system  was  sIoav  for  the  next 
six  or  eight  years,  because  of  the  disproportion  of  Akron's  quota  of 
the  State  school  fund,  to  the  number  of  children  to  be  educated, 
though,  in  about  1839,  a  fair  sized  school  house  had  been  erected  in 
North  Akron,  on  High  street,  immediately  south  of  the  present 
Congregational  Church  (still  standing  there),  with  a  room  in  the 
basement  in  which  the  younger  scholars  were  taught;  a  small 
additional  building,  afterwards  known  as  the  "Bell"  school  house, 
on  South  High  street,  being  used  for  a  second  school  in  South 
Akron.  But  owing  to  the  fact  that  each  parent  was  required  to 
pay  his  pro  rata  proportion  of  the  teacher's  salary,  over  and  above 
the  amount  received  from  the  State,  very  many  of  the  youths  of 
the  village  were  not  kept  in  school,  the  average  attendance,  in 
1845,  being  scarcely  more  than  350  out  of  a  total  enumeration 
of  690. 

Yet,  besides  those  mentioned  in  the  "High  School"  advertise- 
ment, above  quoted,  many  other  citizens,  of  both  villages,  were 
deeply  interested  in  the  cause  of  education,  among  whom  were 
Constant  Bryan,  Esq.,  Capt.  Richard  Howe,  Gen.  Lucius  V.  Bierce, 
Webster    B.   Storer,  Ansel    Miller,  Horace   K.   Smith,  William   H. 


THE    "AKRON    INSTITUTE. 


115 


Dewey,  William  M.  Dodge,  Harvey  B.  Spelman,  Allen  Hibbard, 
Henry  W.  King,  Sidney  Edgerton,  Hon.  James  R.  Ford,  James 
Matthews,  James  S.  Carpenter,  Dr.  Edwin  Angel,  Dr.  Elias  W. 
Howard,  etc. 


JUDGE  CONSTANT  BRYAN,— son 
J  of  Elijah  Bryan  (a  soldier  of  the 
Revolution  for  six  years)  and  Content 
Baldwin  Fowler ;  born  in  Delaware 
Co.,  N.  Y.,  September  6,  1809;  raised 
on  farm  ;  common  school  education  ; 
16  to  19  taught  school ;  read  law  in 
Bainbridge,  N.  Y.,  graduating'  from 
Law  Department  of  Yale  College 'in 
1830;  came  to  Akron  in  1833;  admit- 
ted to  bar  in  Columbus,  in  1834, 
opening  an  office  in  Akron,  later  for 
two  or  three  years  having  Hon. 
Oeorge  Bliss  for  partner  ;  originally 
a  Democrat,  in  1836-37,  published  and 
edited  the  Akron  Journal,  a  Demo- 
<.'ratic  paper ;  was  Akron's  first  vil- 
lage Recorder,  in  1836;  was  active  in 
formulating  the  Akron  school  law, 
1846,  and  an  efficient  member  of 
School  Board  thereunder ;  early  es- 
pousing the  cause  of  Freesoilism,  in 
1852  was  elected  Probate  Judge  by  a 
Democratic  and  Free-soil  coalition, 
serving  two  years.  May  15,  1839,  he 
Avas  married  to  Miss  Sophia  Den- 
tiison,  of  Hartland,  Vt.,  who  bore  him 
three  children,  one  of  whom,  only,  is 
living — Henry  E.,  for  man}^  years 
past  Clerk  of  the  City  of  Columbus. 
Mrs.  Bryan  dying,  March  27,  1847,  at 
the  age  of  29  years,  10  months  and  8 
<lajs,  Judge  Bryan  was  again  luarried 


JUDGE  CONSTANT  BRYAxX. 

in  September,  1854,  to  Miss  Susan  L. 
Barnum,  of  Florence,  Pluron  Co.,  O., 
who  bore  him  two  sons — Fred  C, 
now  practicing  law  in  Akron,  and 
Isaac  Jennings,  now  engaged  in 
newspaper  work  in  Chicago.  Judge 
Bryan  died  July  27,  1886,  aged  76 
years,  10  months  and  21  days. 


Early  in  1844,  Mr.  Thomas  Parnell  Beach,  a  graduate  of 
Bowdoin  College,  at  Brunswick,  Maine,  established  a  high  school 
in  the  small  stone  building  on  the  side-hill,  north  of  the  Dr.  D.  A. 
Scott  residence,  on  North  High  street,  originally  used  for  church 
purposes  by  the  German  Lutheran  Society,  the  school  being 
removed  later  in  the  season  to  an  upper  room  in  the  new  Trussell 
building,  corner  East  Market  street  and  Maiden  Lane  alley,  which 
was  carried  on  wdth  a  fair  degree  of  success,  until  the  death  of  Mr. 
Beach,  September  30,  1846,  his  successor  for  a  term  or  two  being 
Benjamin  Franklin  Dennison,  A.  M,,  commencing  in  November, 
1846. 

December  3,  1844,  notice  of  the  establishment  of  a  "  Select  High 
School,"  in  the  "Stone  Block,"  is  given  by  Mr.  Samuel  S.  Greele, 
the  success  or  duration  of  which  is  not  no^v  remembered  by  the 
■writer.  In  the  meantime,  a  number  of  citizens  had  inaugurated  a 
movement  for  the  establishment  of  a  permanent  high  school  on 
the  stock  plan,  and  on  the  10th  day  of  February,  1845,  a  charter 
was  granted  by  the  Legislature  for  "The  Akron  Institute,"  with 
pow^er  to  confer  degrees,  with  Simon  Perkins,  Eliakim  Crosby, 
Edwin  Angel,  Henry  W,  King,  James  R.  Ford,  Lucius  V.  Bierce 
and  Samuel  A.  Wheeler  as  corporators.  Though  the  stockholders 
organized,  nothing  definite  seems  to  have  been  done  towards 
accomplishing  the  object  sought,  the  last  mention  of  the  project 


116 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


found  in  the  papers  of  the  day,  being  the  announcement  of  a 
meeting  of  the  stockholders,  held  October  9,  1846,  at  which  direc- 
tors were  elected  as  follows:  Simon  Perkins,  Kichard  Howe, 
Samuel  A.  Wheeler,  Henry  W.  King,  Edwin  Angel,  Lucius  V. 
Bierce  and  William  Harrison  Dewej^  with  Simon  Perkins  as  Pres- 
ident, Henry  W.  King,  Secretary  and  Richard  Howe,  Treasurer. 

WEBSTER  B.  STORER,— born  in 
Portland,  Me.,  January  24,  1809; 
moved  with  parents  to  Zanesville, 
Ohio,  in  1818,  the  familj^  removing-  to 
Cleveland  in  1828 ;  was  educated  in 
common  schools  of  Portland  and 
Zanesville;  learned  shijj-carpenter 
and  joiners'  trade  with  his  father,  at 
the  age  of  21  engaging  in  that  busi- 
ness on  his  own  account,  in  Cleve- 
land, continuing  four  years;  in  1836 
came  to  Akron,  following  house 
building  for  three  j^ears  ;  then  boat 
buildirtg  for  18  years,  two  3'ears  in 
partnership  with  Jacob  Barnhart, 
and  ten  years  with  Ansel  Miller, 
meantime  from  1856  to  1858,  conduct- 
ing a  wholesale  and  retail  grocerj- 
store  at  corner  of  East  Market  and 
Hi^h  streets.  In  1863,  sold  boat 
building  interests  to  William  H. 
Payne,  and  with  his  son-in-law,  John 
h.  Noble,  vxnder  the  firm  name  of 
Storer  &  Noble,  ran  an  iron  store 
corner  Main  and  East  Market  streets 
until  its  destruction  by  fire  on  the 
morning  of  March  11,  1869;  in  1868 
bought  208  acres  of  land,  one  mile 
West  of  city  limits,  which,  with  his 
eon-in-law,  he  has  since  successfully 
conducted,  making  small  fruits  a 
speciality.  Mr.  Storer  is  a  prominent 
meiuber  of  the  Disciple  Church,  and 
an  ardent  Republican,  having  served 
as  member  of  Town  Council  in  1841 ; 
Portage  Township  Trustee  1848  and 
1851,  member  of  Akron  Board  of  Edu- 


WEBSTEK   B.   STOKEiJ. 


cation  several  years,  and  from  1871 
to  1874 — Director  of  CouiUj-  Infirm- 
ary, the  last  two  years  as  President 
of  Board.  Mr.  Storer  was  married 
July  24,  1832,  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Bangs, 
who  has  borne  him  five  children  four 
of  whom  are  now  living — Daniel  W., 
now  of  Anderson,  Ind. ;  Hattie  I.,  now 
Mrs.  John  L.  Noble ;  James  B..  of 
Akron ;  and  George  S.,  of  New  York 
City. 


THE  GRADED  SCHOOL  SYSTEM. 

Though  not  a  liberally  educated  man,  himself,  the  late  Ansel 
Miller  was  an  earnest  friend  of  education,  in  those  early  days,  being 
for  many  years  a  trustee  of  the  South  Akron  school  district,  as 
well  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  later  on. 

Mr,  Miller,  realizing  the  many  defects  in  the  old  school  system, 
as  early  as  1840  began  to  advocate  the  plan  of  educating  all  of  the 
children  of  the  people  at  the  public  expense,  and  the  classification 
of  schools  into  distinct  grades  according  to  proficiency^.  In  this 
view  Mr.  Miller  was  warmly  seconded  by  Dr.  Joseph  Cole,  Webster 
B.  Storer,  William  M.  Dodge,  Richard  Howe,  and  others  in  the 
South  Village,  and  by  Horace  K.  Smith,  Nahum  Fay,  James 
MathcAvs,  Henry  W.  King,  Allen  Hibbard,  Hiram  Bowen,  Constant 
Bryan,  James  M.  Hale,  Dr.  E.  W.  How^ard,  and  others  in  the  North 
Village. 

This  doctrine,  however,  did  not  find  favor  among  the  childless 
property  owners,  and  some  of  the  larger  tax-payers,  they  contending 


THE    GRADED    SCHOOL   SYSTEM. 


117 


ihat  aside  from  the  amount  annually  drawn  from  the  State  School 
Fund,  every  parent  was  bound  to  provide  for  the  education  of  his 
own  children.  Thus,  for  several  years,  the  discussion  went  on, 
both  in  private  and  in  public,  culminating  in  a  large  and  enthusi- 
astic public  ineeting,  at  Mechanics'  Hall,  in  the  old  stone  block,  on 
the  night  of  May  14,  1846,  at  which  a  committee  was  appointed  "to 
take  into  consideration  our  present  educational  provisions,  and 
the  improvement,  if  any,  which  may  be  made  therein." 


f^APT.  RICHARD  HOWE,— born 
v-^  ill  St.  Marys  Co.,  Md.,  March  8, 
17t)9;  father  dying-  April  16.  1810,  in 
1812  came  with  mother  to  Frank- 
linton,  opi>osite  Cohimbus,  Ohio; 
here  lie  was  adopted  by  Lucas 
Sullivan  t,  a  wealthy  resident  of 
Franklinton,  who,  besides  giving: 
him  a  good  education  for  those  times 
also  taught  him  the  art  of  survej^- 
ing;  at  21,  surveyed  and  located  a 
road  from  Columbvis  to  Cincinnati ; 
in  1824.  was  selected  as  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Kngineers  to  survey  and 
locate  the  Ohio  Canal,  reinoving  to 
Akron  in  1829,  where,  as  president  of 
of  the  board  and  resident  engineer 
of  the  Northern  division,  he  w^as  in 
the  continuous  einploy  of  the  State 
until  his  resignation,  in  18i50,  to  go  to 
California,  where,  in  1851,  he  was 
appointed  Dept.  U.  S.  Surveyor  to 
run  the  meridian  line  from  Mount 
Diablo  to  the  Bay  of  Monterey;  from 
1S63  to  1865.  was  employed  by  the 
Pittsburg,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis 
R.  R.  to  superintend  the  building  of 
a  bridge  across  the  Ohio  River  at 
Steubenville.  at  which  time  the  por- 
trait accompanying-  this  sketch  was 
taken.  Capt.  Howe  was  an  early  and 
earnest  friend  of  education  in  Akron, 
liberallj-  aided  all  of  her  early  church 
enterprises,  was  one  of  the  trustees 
for  the  erection  of  the  court  house 
and  jail  in  184();  village  councilman 
in  18.54.  18.55  and  1860.  September  25, 
1827.  Capt.  Howe  was  mai-ried  to  Miss 


CAPT.  RICHAKD  HOWE. 

Roxana  Jones  who  bore  him  eight 
children,  five  of  Avhom  survived  him 
— Henrj'  W.  Howe.  Esq.,  now  of  Ira, 
Northampton  township ;  Charles  R., 
who  died  December  7,  1875;  Nathan 
J.,  now  of  Chicago;  Emil}'  B.  no^v 
Mrs.  J.  A.  Ingersoll,  of  Chicago ;  Mary 
Anna  now  Mrs.  John  Wolf,  of  Akron. 
Capt.  Howe  died  March  19,  1872,  aged 
73  years  and  11  daj^s.  Mrs.  Howe 
dying  Februar}^  14,  1875,  aged  70 
3^ears,  1  month  and  10  daj's. 


Rev.  Isaac  Jennings,  Pastor  of  the  Second  Congregational 
Church,  was  made  chairman,  (the  names  of  the  others  not  remem- 
bered), and  the  committee  at  once  vigorously  entered  upon  the  task 
of  thoroughly  informing  themselves  upon  the  question  under  con- 
sideration, and  to  the  formulation  of  a  report  upon  the  subject. 
At  an  adjourned  meeting,  held  November  21,  1846,  Mr.  Jennings, 
in  behalf  of  the  committee,  submitted  an  exhaustive  report,  occu- 
pying three  columns  and  a  half  in  the  Beacon. 

After  setting  forth  the  defects  of  the  existing  system,  and  the 
advantages  of  the  proposed  change — greater  uniformity,  enlarged 
scope  of  studies,  greater  efficiency,  etc. — the  plan  submitted  by  the 
committee,  after  full  discussion,  at  a  numerouslj^  attended  meeting 
at  >Iechanics'  Hall,  on  the  night  of  November  21,  1846,  was  unani- 
mously adopted,  and  a  committee,  consisting  of  K'ufus  F.  Spalding, 
Henry  W.  King,  Lucius  V.  Bierce  and   Harvey  B.   Spelman,  was 


118 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


appointed  to  carry  the  report  into  effect,  and  secure  the  necessary 
legislation  in  the  premises. 


A  NSEL  MILLP:R  — born  in  Brid^e- 
■^  water,  Windsor  County,  \  t.,  May 
20,  1798;  education  limited — raised  a 
farmer;  at  23  learned  carpenter's 
trade;  1826  to  1828  worked  at  trade  in 
Boston,  Mass.;  visited  Akron  in  1828 
and  located  permanently  in  1829; 
here,  with  his  brother  Lewis,  he 
eng-ag-ed  in  contracting  and  building 
and  being-  the  first  to  raise  a  building 
in  Akron — a  large  two-story  frame, 
still  standing-  opposite  Lock  One- 
without  the  use  of  whisky;  in  1839, 
engaged  in  boat-building  with  Mr. 
Webster  B.  Storer,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Storer  &  Miller,  continuing- 18 
years;  November  7,  1860,  after  voting 
for  Abraham  Lincoln,  moved  on  to 
a  farm  in  Copley  township,  with  his 
son,  Charles  C.  Miller,  where  he  died 
December  16,  1879,  ag-ed  81  years,  6 
months  and  26  days.  Mr.  Miller  was 
married  to  Miss  Lucy  Auldin  Hawk- 
ins, November  22,  1831,  who  died 
December  17, 1837,  having-  borne  him 
two  children — Charles  C,  now  a  pros- 
perous farmer  in  Copley,  born  Decem- 
ber 11,  1832,  and  James  Nelson,  born 
August  25,  1836  and  died  August  15, 
1837.  Mr.  Miller  was  a  warm  friend 
of  education,  often  serving-  as  school 
trustee  under  the  old  system,  and, 
as  elsewhere  stated,  among  the  very 
first  to  advocate  the  union,  or  g-raded 
school  system,  orig-inating  in  Akron, 


ANSEL  MILLER. 

and  now^  general  in  Ohio;  was  an 
early  member  of  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation under  the  new  system,  and  a 
member  of  the  Council  of  the  incor- 
porated village  of  Akron  for  the  5'ears 
1838, 1841,  1842,  1843,  1847,  1848,  1849, 18.52 
and  1855.  Mr.  Miller  was  an  original 
Anti-Slavery  man,  and  from  its  organ- 
ization, a  zealouB  member  of  the 
Republican  party. 


.  Mr.  Spalding,  as  the  chairman,  and  Mr.  King,  as  secretarj^  of 
the  committee,  carefully  embodied  the  substance  of  the  report  in 
a  bill,  which,  being  duly  presented  and  advocated  by  our  Repre- 
sentative, Hon.  Alexander  Johnston,  of  Green,  and  our  Senator,. 
Hon.  Asahel  H.  Lewis,  of  Ravenna,  was  duly  enacted  into  a  law  on 
the  8th  day  of  February,  1847.     The  act  is  as  follows: 

An  Act  for  the  support  and  better  regulation  of  the  Com- 
mon Schools  of  the  Town  of  Akron. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  Ohio,  that  the  electors  of  the  To\^n  of  Akron,  in  the  County 
of  Summit,  qualified  to  vote  for  members  of  the  town  council,  shall, 
at  the  time  and  place  of  holding  the  annual  election  for  said  inem- 
bers  of  the  town  council,  for  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  forty-seven,  meet  and  elect  six  directors  [Mr.  Jennings'  report 
styled  them  superintendents  and  recommended  their  appointment 
by  the  council],  of  common  schools  for  said  town  of  Akron,  two  of 
whom  shall  serve  for  one  year,  two  for  two  years  and  two  for  three 
years,  the  order  of  the  seniority  to  be  determined  by  lot,  by  such 
directors  after  their  election;  annually  thereafter,  at  the  time  and 
place  above  specified,  there  shall,  in  like  manner,  be  tw^o  directors 
elected  and  qualified.  All  vacancies  which  may  occur  shall  be 
filled  by  the  town  council. 


THE    AKRON    FCHOOL   LAW 


119 


HON.  HENRY  W.  KING,  — eldest 
son  of  Jud^e  Leicester  King-, 
was  born  in  Westneld,  Mass.,  Septem- 
ber 24,  1815;  removed  with  parents  to 
Warren,  Ohio,  in  1817;  graduated  from 
Washington  (now  Trinity)  College,  at 
Hartford,  Conn.,  August  4,  1836;  after 
thorough  course  of  study  at  Cincin- 
nati Law  School  in  1839  opened  law 
office  in  Akron  in  connection  with 
Judge  Milton  Sutliff,  of  Warren,  and 
later  with  James  D.  Taylor,  Esq.,  and 
in  1849,  with  his  brother,  David  L. 
King,  under  the  firm  name  of  King 
&.  King;  was  married  October  20, 1842, 
to  Mary,  third  daughter  of  Dr. 
Eliakim  Crosby,  who  still  survives, 
two  children  having  been  born  to 
them — Harry  Crosby  King,  d3'ing  in 
Arlington  Heights  hospital  August 
11,  1864,  while  m  the  hundred  days 
service  in  defense  of  Washington  as 
a  member  of  the  164th  Regt.  O.  N.  G.; 
the  davighter,  Julia  Huntington, 
being  married  to  Homer  Fisher  (son 
of  Akron's  former  well-known  physi- 
cian, Dr.  Alexander  Fisher),  now 
living  in  Chicago.  Mr.  King  was  one 
of  the  most  active  promoters  of 
Akron's  Union  School  Sj'stein,  as 
elsewhere  stated;  in  1850  was  elected 
Secretary  of  State,  whose  duties,  with 
those  of  Coinmissioner  of  Public 
Schools,  he  performed  with  singular 


HON.  HENRY  W.  KING. 

intelligence  and  fidelity.  Ever  active 
in  the  promotion  of  the  business, 
educational  and  moral  interests  of 
the  town  and  county,  his  early  death, 
November  20,  1857,  at  the  age  of  42 
years  and  one  month,  was  univer- 
sally regretted. 


Sec.  II.  The  said  directors,  within  ten  days  after  their  first 
appointment,  as  aforesaid,  shall  meet  and  organize  by  choosing, 
from  their  members,  a  president,  secretary,  and  treasurer;  and 
such  treasurer,  before  he  enters  upon  the  duties  of  said  office,  shall 
give  bond  and  security,  to  be  approved  by  the  council,  and  filed  in 
the  office  of  the  Mayor  of  said  town,  conditioned  for  the  faithful 
disbursement  of  all  moneys  that  shall  come  into  his  hands  as  such 
treasurer,  which  bond  shall  be  made  payable  to  the  State  of  Ohio; 
and  when  such  bond  shall  be  forfeited,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
town  council  to  sue  and  collect  the  same  for  the  use  of  the  com- 
mon schools  in  said  tov^n;  and  the  said  directors,  so  organized  and 
qualified,  and  their  successors  in  office,  shall  be  a  body  politic  and 
corporate  in  law,  by  the  name  of  "The  Board  of  Education  of  the 
Town  of  Akron,"  and  as  such,  and  by  such  name,  shall  be  author- 
ized to  receive  all  moneys  accruing  to  said  town,  or  any  part 
thereof,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  common  schools  in  said  town; 
and  the  said  board  shall  be  capable  of  contracting  and  being 
contracted  with ;  suing  and  being  sued  ;  pleading  and  being 
impleaded,  in  any  court  of  law  or  equity  in  this  State  ;  and  shall 
also  be  capable  of  receiving  any  gift,  grant,  donation  or  devise, 
made  for  the  use  of  common  schools  in  said  toTvn  ;  and  said  board, 
by  resolution,  shall  direct  the  payment  of  all  moneys  that  shall 
come  into  the  hands  of  said  treasurer;  and  no  money  shall  be  paid 
out  of  the  treasury  except  in  pursuance  of  said  resolution,  and  on 
the  written  order  of  the  president,  countersigned  by  the  secretary. 

Without  following  the  exact  phraseology  of  the  balance  of  the 
law,  we  summarize  the  remaining  sections  as  follows: 


120 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


REV.  ISAAC  JENNINGS,  D.  D..— 
born  in  Trumbull,  Conn.,  Jul)' 
24,1822,  in  boyhood  re  mo  vino-  to 
Derby,  Conn.;  graduate  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, in  class  of  1837,  with  Senator 
William  M.  Evarts,  Chief  Justice 
Morrison  R.  Waite,  Hon.  Edwards 
Pierpont  and  Samuel  J.  Tilde  n; 
taught  school  from  1837  to  1840;  grad- 
uated from  Andover  Theological 
Seminary  in  1842;  June  14,  1843, 
ordained  pastor  of  the  then  Second 
(now  First)  Congregational  Church  in 
Akron — its  first  pastor  and  his  first 
charge;  took  an  active  part  in  inaug- 
urating the  graded  or  union  school 
vSj'stem,  and  formulating  the  "Akron 
School  Laws"  now  g'eneral  in  Ohio 
and  other  states,  the  old  High  or 
Jennings  school  being  so  named  in 
his  honor.  February  17,  1847,  Mr.  Jen- 
nings was  inarried  to  Miss  Sophia 
Day,  of  Mansfield,  O.,  immediatelj- 
removing  to  Stamford,  Conn.,  offi- 
ciating as  pastor  of  First  Cong'rega- 
tional  Church  there  six  years,  when 
he  removed  to  Bennington,  Vt.,  where, 
as  pastor  of  the  old  First  Church,  he 
faithfully  and  successfullj^  labored 
over  a  third  of  a  centurj-,  his  death 
occurring  there  August 25, 1887,  at  the 
age  of  65  years,  one  month  and  one 
day.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jennings  were  the 
parents  of  nine  children,  six  of  whom, 
with  their  mother,  survive— one  son, 
Isaac,  Jr.,  beinga  minister;  one,Fred- 


REV.  ISAAC  JENNINGS,  D.  D. 


erick  Beach,  a  lawyer,  and  one, 
Charles  Green,  a  physician.  The 
memorj'  of  Mr.  Jenning-s,  whose  por- 
trait is  given  herewith,  though  his 
sojourn  here  w^as  comparatively  brief, 
will  long  be  cherished  by  all  the  good 
people  of  Akron,  in  whose  behalf  he 
so  zealousl)"  labored  nearly  half  a 
centurj'  ago. 


Sec.  Ill  relates  to  regular  and  special  meetings  of  the  board, 
quorum,  etc. 

Sec.  IV  gives  the  board  entire  control  of  all  the  schools  and 
school  property;  that  after  the  then  ensuing  first  Tuesday  of  June, 
Akron  should  constitute  but  one  school  district  and  that  all 
moneys  accruing  to  said  district  from  the  State,  or  otherwise,  for 
school  purposes,  should  be  paid  over  to  the  treasurer  of  the  board. 

Sec.  V  relates  to  number  and  grade  of  schools;  the  establish- 
ment of  a  central  grammar  school,  studies  to  be  pursued,  Avhat 
pupils  entitled  to  admission,  etc. 

Sec.  VI  confers  upon  the  board  power  to  make  and  enforce 
rules,  emploj^  teachers,  fix  salaries,  purchase  apparatus,  buy  lands, 
build  houses,  buy  furniture,  etc. 

Sec.  VII  requires  the  tow^n  council  to  levy  such  annual  tax 
upon  the  property  of  the  district,  as,  with  the  amount  received 
from  the  State  school  fund,  and  other  sources,  -would  meet  the 
expense  of  maintaining  said  schools;  which  provision,  ow^ing  to 
the  clamor  of  certain  inimical  tax-payers,  w^as  modified  by  an 
amended  act,  passed  January  28,  1848,.  limiting  the  levj^  to  four 
mills  on  the  dollar  in  any  one  year. 

Sec.  VIII  places  the  title  of  all  lands,  houses  and  other  school 
property,  with  power  to  purchas^,  sell,  etc.,  in  the  control  of  the 
town  council. 

Sec.  IX  provides  for  the  appointment  of  three  school  examiners, 
by  the  council,  for  the  examination  of  all   applicants  as  teachers. 


THE    LAW    MADE    GENERAL. 


121 


granting  certificates,  etc.,  and  also  for  quarterly  visits  to  schools, 
reporting  progress  to  council,  etc.  • 

Sec.  X  provides  for  public  examinations  of  schools,  annually, 
under  the  direction  of  the  mayor,  council,  board  of  education  and 
examiners. 


HARVEY  B.  SPELMAN,— born  in 
Rootstown,  Portag'e  County,  ()., 
September  15,  1811 ;  educated  in  Tall- 
mad  j^^e  Academy  and  T^virLsburg- 
Institute;  after  teach  in  »?  awhile 
entered  employ'  of  Mr.  Roswell  Kent, 
of  MiddWbury,  as  clerk,  afterwards 
becoming'  his  partner  and  opening"  a 
branch  store  in  Wadsworth  ;  in  1839 
removed  to  Franklin  Mills  (now 
Kent),  iji  1841,  formed  a  partnership 
with  >Ir.  Charles  Clapp,  and  removed 
to  Akron,  the  firm  occupying  the  cor- 
ner store  in  the  old  stone  block,  cor- 
ner Howard  and  Market  streets.  An 
ardent  Congregationalist,  he  was  one 
of  the  organizers  of  the  Second  Con- 
gregational Church,  in  1842,  and  one 
of  its  first  deacons ;  stronglj-  anti- 
slavery,  he  early  allied  himself  with 
the  Third  Part}'  movement,  and  by 
the  aid  of  Free-soil  Democrats  was 
elected  Representative  to  the  State 
Legislature,  in  1849;  enthusiastic  in 
the  cause  of  education,  was  a  zealous 
promofer  of  the  Akron  Union  School 
system,  and  a  member  of  the  first 
board  of  education  thereunder  in  1847; 
in  18i51  removed  to  Cleveland,  where 
he  at  once  activel}-  identified  liimself 
with  the  religious,  educational  and 
reform  movements  of  the  daj- ;  in 
185(3  removed  to  Burlington,  Iowa;  in 
1864,  under  Gen.  John  Eaton,  took 
charge  of  cotton  raised  by  "contra- 
bands" on  lands  brought  under  gov- 
ernment control;  in  18(56,  removed  to 
New  York,  there  and  in  Brookljn 
actively  engaging  in  business  and 
philanthropic   work.      November   1(>, 


HAKV'EV   B.  SPELMAN. 

1835,  Mr.  Spelman  was  married  to 
Miss  Luc3'  Henry,  of  Blanford,  Mass. 
(sister  of  the  late  Milton  W.  Henry), 
who  bore  him  three  children — Lucj' 
M.,  born  March  4,  1838  ;  Laura  C,  Sep- 
tember 9,  1839,  (now  Mrs.  John  D. 
Rockefeller,  of  New  York),  and  Henry 
Jennings,  born  December  1, 1842,  and 
died  March  15.  18.57,  Mr.  S.  himself 
d3'ing  October  10,  1881,  his  remains 
being  interred  in  Lake  View  Ceme- 
ter}-,  Cleveland.  Mrs.  S.  still  survives, 
residing  with  her  daughter,  Mrs. 
Rockefeller,  in  New  York. 


February  14,  1848,  an  amendment  was  adopted  by  the  Legis- 
lature, providing:  "That  every  incorporated  town  or  city  in  this 
State  shall  have  the  provisions  of  the  act  entitled  'an  act  for  the 
support  and  better  regulation  of  the  common  schools  in  the  town 
of  Akron'  and  the  amendatory  acts  thereto,  passed  by  the  Forty- 
sixth  General  Assembly  of  this  State,  extended  to  all  or  any  of  said 
incorporated  towns  or  cities,  whenever  two-thirds  of  the  qualified 
voters  thereof  shall  petition  the  town  or  city  council  in  favor  of 
having  the  provisions  of  said  act  so  extended,"  thus  establishing 
a  precedent  for  the  "local  option"  laws,  on  the  temperance  ques- 
tion, now  in  vogue  in  Ohio,  and  other  states. 

Changes  and  amendments  have  from  time  to  time  been  made. 
extending  the  provisions,  under  certain  regulations,  to  unincorpo- 
rated villages,  townships  and  school  districts,  so  that  now  a  large 
proportion  of  the  State  is  working  under  the  Akron  School  Law, 
a  fact  of  which  our  citizens  may  justly  feel  proud. 


122 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Akron's  First  HigKScHool  BuilcLrng'__l847  tc»  I8^^, 
[on  site  of  pv€se»i.t  Jennings  SgKooI} 


It  will  be  noted  that  the  plan  of  the  original  report  was  so 
modified  in  the  act  as  passed,  as  to  make  the  superindents,  or  as 
the  act  specifies,  the  directors,  elective  by  the  people,  instead  of 
appointive  by  the  town  council.  At  the  first  election  under  the 
law,  June  1,  1847,  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  Harvey  B.  Spelman,  William 
H.  Dewey,  James  Mathews,  William  M.  Dodge  and  Dr.  Joseph  Cole 
w^ere  duly  elected  as  members  of  the  board.  The  board  organized 
by  electing  L.  V.  Bierce,  president;  H.  B.  Spelman,  secretary,  and 
W.  H.  Dewey,  treasurer;  James  S.  Carpenter,  Esq.,  Abel  B.  Berrj^, 
Ksq.,  and  Mr.  Horace  K.  Smith,  being  appointed  school  examiners 
by  the  council. 

The  entire  town,  de- 
nominated the  "Akron 
School  District,"  was 
divided  into  eight  sub- 
districts;  additional  pri- 
mary school  houses  ^vere 
built,  and  the  propertj'^ 
abutting  on  Summit,  Mill 
and  Prospect  streets,  then 
embracing  about  two  and. 
a  half  acres  of  land,  was 
purchased  for  $2,137.21, 
and  the  castellated  one- 
story,  frame  building,  al- 
ready upon  the  ground, 
was  fitted  up  for  a  gram- 
mar school,  at  a  cost  of 
$613.44. 
Mr.  Mortimer  D,  Leggett,  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  a  ripe  scholar,  and  a 
thorough  disciplinarian,  ^vas  employed  as  Principal  of  the  Gram- 
mar School,  at  the  "munificent"  salary  of  $500  per  3'ear,  with  Miss 
Lucretia  Wolcott  and  Miss  Helen  Pomeroy  as  assistants,  at  $200 
and  $150  per  year,  respectively. 

The  board  was  opposed  in  all  of  its  movements  by  certain 
penurious  property  owners,  and,  as  above  stated,  an  amendment 
to  the  law  was  secured,  limiting  the  rate  of  taxation  for  school 
purposes,  in  any  one  j^ear,  to  four  mills  on  the  dollar,  which 
compelled  so  great  a  degree  of  economy,  in  providing  houses  and 
apparatus,  and  the  employment  of  competent  teachers,  as  to  very 
seriously  threaten  the  success  of  the  experiment,  Mr.  Leggett  being 
impelled  \o  w^ithdraw^  from  the  schools  the  second  year  for  lack  of 
adequate  compensation  for  his  exceedinglj'  efficient  services. 

The  graded  system  was  found  to  work  w^ell,  however,  there 
being  a  much  greater  proportionate  attendance,  and  at  a  con- 
siderable less  expense  per  capita,  and  greater  proficienc}^,  than 
under  the  old  plan.  In  1849,  an  additional  sub-district  was  formed, 
the  primaries  were  graded  into  primary  and  secondary,  and  the 
grammar  school  w^as  suspended  during  the  Summer. 

September  3,  1849,  Mr.  Charles  W.  Palmer,  assisted  b}^  Mrs, 
Palmer,  and  Mr.  Josiah  Gilbert  Graham,  took  charge  of  the 
grammar  school,  Mr.  Palmer's  engagement  being  for  two  years,  at 
a  joint  salary,  for  himself  and  wife,  of  $600  per  year,  though  owing 
to  Mr.  Palmer's  illness,  the  school  was  again  suspended  early  in 
1851,  not  to  be  again   resumed   until   the  completion  of  the   new^ 


HIGH    SCHOOJw   BUILDING    DEDICATED. 


123 


grammar  school  building,  a  contract  for  the  erection  of  w^hich  \sras 
entered  into  by  the  board  with  the  late  Charles  W.  Brown  for  the 
foundation,  and  the  late  Andrews  May,  for  the  superstructure,  in 
the  Winter  of  1850-51,  at  a  cost  of  $9,200. 

Meantime,  Mr.  Edwin  Bigelow^  Olmstead,  and  his  wife,  were 
employed  to  teach  a  higher  grade  primary,  or  rather  secondary, 
school,  in  lieu  of  the  grammar  school,  at  a  joint  salary  of  $50  per 
month,  the  fifth  annual  report  shoAving  the  cost  of  tuition  for  the 
previous  year  (1851),  to  have  been  $2.00  per  scholar  upon  the 
average  number  enrolled;  $2.80  per  scholar  upon  the  average 
attendance,  and  $1.12  per  capita  on  the  enumeration. 

This  arrangement  continued 
until  the  dedication  and  occupa- 
tion of  the  new  High  School 
building,  October  13,  1853.  This 
building  was  erected  immediately 
south  of  the  original  frame  struct- 
ure, being  a  two-story  brick,  50x70 
feet,  of  fair  exterior  and  interior 
finish  with  a  large  school  room 
and  recitation  rooms,  on  either 
floor.  In  1868,  the  two  w^ings  were 
added,  giving  four  additional 
rooms,  at  a  cost  of  $15,000,  and  is 
now  known  as  the  Central  or  Jen- 
ings  School  building. 
The  dedication  exercises  were 
held  in  the  upper  room  of  the 
new  building,  which  was  crowded 
by  parents  and  the  friends  of  education.  Sidney  Edgerton,  Esq., 
then  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Edtication,  made  a  formal  presen- 
tation of  the  structure,  on  behalf  of  the  contractor  and  the  board, 
with  congratulatory  remarks  upon  the  advanced  position  which 
Akron  occupied  in  the  educational  w^orld,  and  the  bright  future  in 
store  for  her  both  from  a  business  as  well  as  an  educational  stand- 
point. Rev.  D.  C.  Maybin,  rector  of  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Church, 
read  a  portion  of  the  scriptures;  Rev.  A.  Joy,  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  foUow^ing  with  an  appropriate  prayer.  Brief  addresses 
were  made  by  Abel  B.  Berry,  Esq.,  Rev.  John  Tribbey,  of  the 
M.  E.  Church,  and  others.  Rev.  Nathaniel  P.  Bailey,  of  the 
Congregational  Church,  offered  a  resolution  of  thanks  to  the  Board 
for  their  efficiency  in  the  promotion  of  the  work  whicli  had  been 
done,  and  a  hearty  commendation  of  the  system  of  education,  so 
auspiciously  inaugurated,  to  the  unstinted  support  of  the  people  of 
Akron,  and  the  friends  of  education  everywhere.  The  exercises 
Avere  interspersed  with  music  by  the  Akron  Band,  and  closed  w^ith 
a  benediction  by  Rev.  N.  Gher,  of  the  Grace  Reformed  Church. 

Mr.  Samuel  F.  Cooper  was  employed  as  Superintendent  of 
Schools,  assisted  in  the  High  Department  by  Mrs.  Cooper  and  Miss 
Annette  Voris,  sister  of  Gen.  Alvin  C.  Voris;  the  Grammar  depart- 
ment being  placed  in  charge  of  Miss  Elsie  A.  Codding,  assisted  by 
Miss  Mary  Gilbert  and  Miss  Rosetta  Pryne.  Mr.  Cooper's  engage- 
ment closing  after  two  and  a  half  years  of  faithful  work,  in  April, 
1856,  Horace  B.  Foster,  Esq.,  of  Hudson,  graduate  of  Western 
Reserve  College,  filled  the  position  with  great  acceptance,  to  both 


Jennings  School — old  High  School  Build- 
ing—Summit,  Mill  and  Prospect, 
First   Ward. 


124 


AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


board  and  pupils,  from  October,  1856,  until  the  Spring  of  1857. 
Mr.  E.  B.  Olmsted  was  then  appointed  Superintendent,  with  Mr. 
J.  Park  Alexander  in  charge  of  the  Grammar  school,  Mr.  George 
H.  Root,  of  Tallmadge,  having  had  charge  of  that  department 
during  the  years  1855-56,  assisted  by  Miss  Harriet  N.  Angel  and 
Miss  ferusha  McArthur;  Mr.  Root  also  giving  especial  attention  to 
penmanship,  in  both  the  grammar  and  high  schools. 


r^EN.  MORTIMER  D.  LEGGKTT. 
^J  born,  of  Quaker  parentage,  in 
Ithaca.  N.  Y.,  April  19,  1821;  at  16 
emigrated  to  Geauga  Countj',  Ohio ; 
school  advantages  limited,  but  by 
.study  at  night  acquired  an  education 
which  secured  the  voluntary  be- 
stowal of  degrees  from  several  west- 
ern colleges ;  though  admitted  to 
the  bar  at  22,  his  time  was  for  several 
3^ears  devoted  to  the  cause  of  popu- 
lar education,  being  the  organizer  of 
Akron  Union  School  Systein,  now 
general  throughout  the  State ;  as 
Principal  of  the  Grammar  School, 
which  position  he  ablj^  filled  for  two 
j^ears,  as  elsewhere  stated,  ovir  fine 
new  Leggett  School  Building,  East 
Thornton,  Sumner  and  All}^!  streets, 
being  so  named  in  his  honor.  On 
retiring  Mr.  Eeggett  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  law  at  Warren,  in  1857 
removing  to  Zanesville,  where  in 
addition  to  his  law  practice,  he  offi- 
ciated as  superintendent  of  public 
schools,  until  the  Fall  of  1861,  when 
he  was  commissioned  bj^  Gov. 
Dennison  to  recruit  a  regiment  for 
the  Union  Armj-.  Appointed  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel,  78th  O.  V.  1..  Decem- 
ber 1861;  promoted  to  Colonel, 
January  11,  1862 ;  fought  at  Fort 
Donelson,  Februarj^  11,  1862 ;  on  sur- 
render of  fort  appointed  provost- 
marshal  ;  w^as  in  continuous  service 


GEN.   MORTIMER  D.  LEGGETT. 

during  the  war,  being  several  times 
wounded,  with  constant  advances 
for  ineritorious  conduct,  and  appoint- 
ed full  Major-General  from  January 
15,  1865  ;  after  the  siege  of  Vicksburg, 
receiving  as  the  award  of  a  Board  of 
Honor,  a  gold  medal,  inscribed, 
"  Fort  Donelson,  Shiloh,  Sie^e  of  Cor- 
inth, Bolivar,  luka,  Champion  Hills, 
Vicksburg."  Gen.  Leggett  was  ap- 
pointed Commissioner  of  Patents,  by 
Pres.  Grant,  in  1871,  and  is  now  with 
his  son,  L.  L.  Leggett,  Esq.,  practicing 
law  in  Cleveland. 


The  teachers'  pay-roll  for  1856,  was  $2,777 .  42,  the  average  price 
paid  in  the  primaries  and  secondaries  being  about  $4.75  per  week; 
in  the  grainmar  school  and  assistants  in  the  high  school  $35  per 
month;  superintendent  $65  per  month. 

The  board,  deploring  the  evils  resulting  from  frequent 
changes  of  superintendents  and  teachers,  in  their  11th  annual  report 
expressed  the  conviction  that  the  low^est  wages  principle  was  not 
the  most  economical,  and  that  such  liberal  compensation  should  be 
paid  for  both  superintendent  and  instructors,  as  would  secure  the 
best  ability  and  skill  in  all  the  departments. 

Acting  upon  this  principle,  Mr.  Charles  T.  Pooler,  a  teacher  of 
large  experience  in  the  state  of  New^  York,  was  emploj^ed  as  Super- 
intendent, assisted  in  the  High  School  by  Miss  Harriet  N.  Angel 
the  first  five  months,  and  on  her  resignation,  by  Miss  Lavena 
Church,  now  Mrs.  Jacob  Oberholser,  of  New  York  Cit}^,  who  con- 
tinued the  second  year,  with  Miss  Harriet  Amanda  Bernard  as 
second  assistant;  Mr.  Hezekiah  Melchisedec  Ford  having  charge 
of  the  grammar  school,  with  Miss  Rebecca  Coffman  as  assistant. 


EARLIER     SURERINTENDENTS. 


125 


pDWIN  BIGELOW  OLMSTED, 
J--'  born  in  Sidney,  N.  Y.,  Aug'ust 
20,  182(5;  academical  and  colleg"iate 
edncation  ;  taught  school  in  Sidnej', 
N.  Y.,  in  Virginia.,  in  Butternuts,  N. 
Y.,  in  Mt.  Sterling",  Ky.,  in  Geneva,  O., 
Madisoti,  O.  Academy,  as  principal, 
in  Akron,  as  principal  of  grammar 
school,  and  Fredonia,  N.  Y.,  as  prin- 
cipal of  public  schools,  in  1857 
returning  to  Akron,  as  superinten- 
dent, as  elsewhere  stated,  and  then 
for  several  years  as  superintendent 
of  schools  at  Marion,  O.  In  April, 
1861,  went  into  service  as  Captain  of 
Co.  H.,  4th  O.  V.  I.,  participating  in 
battles  of  Rich  Movxntain  and  Rom- 
ne}'.  After  a  great  variety  of  regular 
and  detached  service,  was  wounded 
while  constructing  a  bridge  over  the 
Shenandoah,  near  Front  Ro5'al,  and 
discharged  for  divsability  ;  in  18(54,  at 
request  of  Gov.  Brough,  was  sent  to 
take  the  vote  of  Ohio  soldiers  in 
front  of  Charlestown  and  Hilton 
Head,  S.  C. ;  in  Washington,  served 
on  editorial  staff  of  Daily  Intelli- 
gencer; completed  north  wing  of  P. 
O.  Dept.  building ;  designed  and 
constructed  Dead  Letter  room  in  said 
building ;  was  original  inventor  of 
making  envelopes  for  the  govern- 
erninent,  without  hand  labor,  but 
through  red-tape-ism,  or  favoritism, 
failed  to  reap  the  benefit  of  his 
invention  and  the  large  amount  of 
labor  and  nione}'  expended  thereon. 
Mr.  O.  then  spent  several  years  in 
educational  work  in  the  South,  where 


EDWIN    BIGELOW    OLMSTED. 

he  was  ordained  as  a  Baptist  min- 
ister, and  is  now  the  pastor  of  a 
church  in  Port  Byron,  New  York. 
Mrs.  Olmsted,  who  assisted  him  in 
the  schools  here,  died  in  the  South, 
leaving  four  sons,  two  of  whom 
Victor  H.  and  Edwin  B.,  Jr.,  are  in 
government  emploj^  in  Washington  ; 
Ledru  Rollin  in  the  West ;  and 
William  Dennison  preparing  for  the 
legal  profession.  Mr.  O.  was  again 
married,  to  Miss  M.  F!.  Strong,  of 
Yorkshire,  N.  Y.  in  1881. 


Mr.  Pooler  entered  upon  his  duties  in  the  Fall  of  1857,  at  a 
salary  of  $1,000  per  year,  and  after  a  fairly  acceptable  service  of 
three  years,  declining  a  reappointment,  retired  from  the  Superin- 
tendency  at  the  close  of  the  Spring  term,  1860. 

In  September,  1860,  Mr.  Israel  P.  Hole,  entered  upon  the  duties^ 
of  Superintendent  at  a  salary  of  $900  per  year,  which  was  increased 
from  time  to  time,  the  last  year  of  his  term  of  service,  1867-68,  his 
salary  being  $1,500.  This  increase  of  compensation,  while  made 
necessary  by  the  advance  in  the  cost  of  living,  and  the  enhance- 
ment of  all  values  by  the  war,  w^as  a  significant  acknow^ledgment 
of  the  high  estimation  placed  upon  the  services  of  Mr.  Hole  by 
successive  boards,  and  by  the  majority  of  the  people. 

In  January,  1868,  owning  to  a  real  or  supposed  unfriendliness  on 
the  part  of  a  portion  of  the  patrons  of  the  schools,  Mr.  Hole 
and  several  of  his  assistants  tendered  their  resignations  to  the 
board,  which  body,  on  February  1,  1868,  unanimously  adopted  the 
following  resolution: 

''Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Education  take  pleasure  in  attesting  to- 
the  fidelity  and  zealous  labors  of  the  superintende.nt  and  teachers,  v^e 
further  assure  the  superintendent  and  teachers  that  they  have  and  will  con- 
tinue to  have,  the  most  cordial  support  of  the  Board  so  long  as  they  continue 
to  merit  their  confidence  in  the  future  as  they  have  in  the  past.  We  also 
earnestlj'^  invoke  the  confidence  and  support  of  the  community  as  being 


126 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


eminentl}^  due  to  those  having-  charge  of  our  public  schools  as  superintend- 
ent and  teachers.  As  at  present  advised  we  decline  to  accept  the  resigna- 
tions as  tendered." 


HON.  SAMUEL  F.  COOPER  — 
born  in  Stockbridge,  Mass., 
December  19,  1826-  in  1836  removed 
with  parents  to  Tallinadge,  Ohio, 
working-  on  farm  ;  from  18  taught 
school  Winters,  and  attended  Ober- 
lin  College  Sviminers,  graduating-  in 
the  class  of  1851 ;  in  Aug-ust,  1851, 
was  married  to  Miss  Margaret  J. 
Loughridge,  of  Mansfield  ;  Superin- 
intendent  of  Youngstown  Union 
schools  tw^o  years,  and  of  Akron 
schools  two  years  and  a  half — from 
October,  1853  to  April,  1856— with  Mrs. 
Cooper  as  one  of  his  most  efficient 
assistants  ;  in  Spring  of  1856,  removed 
to  Grinnell,  Iowa,  being  admitted  to 
the  bar,  and  engaging-  in  practice 
the  same  year.  In  August,  1861, 
entered  the  army  as  Adjutant  of  the 
4th  Iowa  Cavalry,  serving  in  Mis- 
soviri  and  Arkansas  till  September, 
1862,  when  he  was  appointed  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  of  40th  Iowa  V.  I., 
serving  under  Gen.  Grant  in  the 
Vicksburg  campaign,  and  afterwards 
till  close  of  the  war,  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  being  mustered  out  in 
August,  1865.  Since  the  war  Mr. 
Cooper  has  filled  many  honorable 
civil  positions— Clerk  of  the  United 
States  District  Court,  Collector  of 
Internal  Revenue,  and,  from  1876  to 
1880,  United  States  Consul  to  Glas- 
g-ow,  Scotland.  For  the  past  ten 
years  Mr.  Cooper  has  been  connected 


HON.  SAMUEL  F.  COOPER. 

with  the  Merchants  National  Bank, 
of  Grinnell,  of  w^hich  he  is  now^  Pres- 
ident, bvit  in  a  recent  letter  to  the 
writer,  saj^s  :  "For  nearlj^  a  half  a 
century  mj^  best  thought  and  effort 
has  been  given  to  the  cause  of  pop- 
ular education,  having  in  all  that 
period,  scarcely  ceased  to  have  offi- 
cial connection  with  that  grand  work, 
in  soine  of  its  departments." 


Feeling,  at  length,  that  a  change  was  desirable,  both  for  him- 
self and  the  schools,  Mr.  Hole  again  tendered  his  resignation,  at 
the  close  of  the  school  year,  in  1868,  after  eight  full  years  of  effi- 
cient and  meritorious  service;  among  his  most  efficient  aids, 
Avithout  disparagement  to  others,  being  Miss  Harriet  Amanda  Ber- 
nard, no^v  Mrs.  Dr.  Edward  S.  Coburn,  of  Troy,  N.  Y. 

In  the  meantime,  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  Akron's 
public  schools  had  immensely  increased,  her  enumeration  of 
school  children  and  youth,  being  fully  3,000  against  less  than  700  in 
1846;  the  town  itself  having  been  advanced  from  an  incorporated 
village  to  a  city  of  the  second  class,  both  its  business  and  its  pop- 
ulation and  w^ealth  being  rapidly  on  the  increase. 

At  this  juncture,  most  fortunately,  the  services  of  Mr.  Samuel 
Findley,  as  Superintendent,  were  secured,  the  new  incumbent 
entering  upon  his  duties  in  September,  1868,  holding  and  most  ably 
and  efficiently  filling  the  position  for  the  period  of  15  years,  until 
feeling  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  rest  from  the  arduous  labors  of 
the  position,  he  voluntarily  tendered  his  resignation  at  the  close 
of  the  Spring  term-  in  1883. 

Meantime,  in  addition  to  the  rapid  growth  of  original  Akron, 
various  annexations  of  territory  were  made,  the  Spicer  school  dis- 
trict being  added  in  1865,  and  the  township  of  Middlebury  in  1872; 


WONDERFULLY    SUCCESSFUL. 


127 


Superintendent  Findley's  last  report  showring  a  total  enumeration 
of  school  youth  between  six  and  twenty-one  years,  for  1883,  within 
the  city  Umits  to  have  been  5,858,  as  against  690  in  the  Akron  of 
1816,  and  probably  not  to  exceed  1,000  in  the  entire  territory  now^ 
included  in  said  city.  The  total  enrollment  of  scholars  in  1882, 
was  3,582  and  the  average  daily  attendance  for  that  year,  2,840. 


pROF.  ISRAEL  P.  HOLE,— born 
^  near  Salem,  Columbiana  Co.,  O., 
April  2,  1827 ;  educated  in  common 
schools  and  at  select  hig-h  school  of 
G.  K.  Jenkins,  Mt.  Pleasant,  O. ;  from 
1849  to  1856  taught  part  of  each  year 
in  countr}'  and  villag-e  schools  ;  in 
1856  was  sttxdent  in  State  Normal 
School  at  Hopedale,  Harrison  Co., 
afterward  merged  in  Hopedale  Nor- 
mal ColJege,  from  which  he  holds 
the  degree  of  B.  S.;  taught  a  select 
school  in  Springiield,  O.,  seven 
months  ;  superintended  Minerva,  O., 
schools  one  year,  Hanover,  O.,  two 
j'ears,  New  Lisbon,  O.,  four  years, 
Akron,  O.,  eight  years  and  was 
principal  of  Damascus,  O.,  Acad- 
emy ten  years,  making  about  a 
third  of  a  century  in  the  work  of 
instruction,  many  of  his  students 
now  adorning  the  bench,  the  bar, 
the  pulpit,  the  medical,  the  teachers' 
and  other  professions  of  Science, 
Literature  and  Art,  or  successfully 
eng'aged  in  the  various  other  honor- 
able pursuits  of  public  and  private 
life.  Mr.  H.,  since  1884,  has  resided 
on  a  small  farm,  near  Damascus,  O., 
partl}^  engaged  in  agriculture  and 
partly  promoting  the  public  welfare, 
as  opportunity  offers.  He  is  presi- 
dent of  an  insurance  companj',  pres- 
ident of  Board  of  Trustees  of 
Danuiscua  Academy,  and  president 
of  a  gold  miniiag  company.  In  the 
Autumn  of  1852,  Mr.  Hole  was  mar- 


PROF.  ISRAEL  P.   HOLE. 

ried  to  Miss  Mary  Miller,  of  Colum- 
biana Co.  February  3,  1861,  two  sons 
— twins — were  born  to  them — Mahlon 
W.,  (deceased)  and  Morris  J.,  the 
latter — married  to  Eliza  Spear,  of 
Garfield,  Mahoning-  Co., — holding  the 
degree  of  M.  S.  from  Damascus 
Academy,  and  of  A.  B.,  from  Adel- 
bert  College ;  is  now  principal  of 
Green  Spring-  Academy,  Seneca  Co., 
Ohio. 


In  speaking  of  Superintendent  Findley's  retirement.  President 
F.  W.  Rockwell,  in  his  annual  report  for  1883,  said:  "  With  the 
close  of  the  year  the  board  lost  the  services  of  Superintendent 
Samuel  Findley,  who  has  been  at  the  head  of  our  schools  for  the 
past  fifteen  years.  His  administration  has  been  marked  by  ability 
and  firmness  of  purpose,  and  having  conducted  our  schools  from  a 
small  beginning  until  they  have  reached  their  present  status,  he 
may  well  look  back  upon  his  work  with  pride." 

Capt.  Elias  Fraunfelter,  for  several  years  Professor  of  Mathe- 
matics in  Buchtel  College,  was  elected  by  the  Board  of  Education 
as  Dr.  Findley's  successor,  entering  upon  his  responsible  duties  in 
September,  1883,  his  administration  thus  far  being  equally  satis- 
factory with  that  of  his  predecessor. 

With  the  passing  years  many  and  important  changes  have 
come  to  the  schools  of  Akron,  not  only  in  the  matter  of  greatly 
improved  school  buildings,  but  also  in  a  large  increase  of  the 
courses    of    instruction,    including    scientific    penmanship,    vocal 


128 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


music,  drawing,  etc.,  and,  in  the  High  School,  the  higher  mathe- 
matics, chemistry,  Latin,  Greek,  etc.,  with  semi-annual  examina- 
tions and  graduations — graduates  from  the  High  School  being 
thoroughly  qualified  to  engage  in  teaching,  enter  college  without 
further  preparation  or  examination,  or  to  engage  in  business  or 
professional  life,  an  arrangement  having  been  made  between  the 
board  and  Buchtel  College  by  which,  beginning  at  tenth  year  of 
course,  or  second  year  in  High  School,  pupils  in  Greek  recite  to 
tutors  of  College. 


SAMUEL  FINDLEY,— born  in  New 
Concord,  Ohio,  December  1,  1831; 
educated  in  common  schools  and 
preparatory  department  of  M u s - 
kingum  College;  at  17,  moved  with 
parents  to  Green  Count5^  working  on 
farm  two  years,  then  teaching  coun- 
try schools  four  years  and  one  year 
in  Xenia  Public  Schools.  In  1855, 
became  publisher  and  manager  of 
Presbyterian  Witness  and  book  con- 
cern at  Cincinnati,  continuing  two 
years.  In  Spring  of  1857,  engaged  in 
book-selling  in  Monmouth,  111.,  for  a 
short  time,  then  teaching  near  Mon- 
mouth two  years  ;  in  Fall  and  Winter 
of  1859,  operated  as  agent  for  Mon- 
mouth College,  in  Ohio;  in  I860, 
returned  to  Ohio  and  resumed  teach- 
ing in  Green  County,  in  the  Fall  of 
1861,  in  Xenia  Union  Schools,  a  few 
months  later  accepting  the  princi- 
palship  of  a  ward  school  in  Colum- 
bus ;  in  January,  1864,  became  princi- 
pal of  the  old  Brownell  Street  School 
in  Cleveland,  organized  the  new 
Brownell  Street  School,  in  1865,  with 
18  teachers;  in  the  Fall  of  1868 
assumed  superintendencj'  of  Akron 
Schools,  which  position  he  ablj^  filled 
for  15  3'ears,  as  elsewhere  detailed. 
For  20  years  Mr.  F.  has  been  County" 
and  City  Examiner  and  member  of 
State  Teachers'  Association,  Presi- 
dent of  Superintendents'  Section  in 
1873  and  President  of  Association  in 
1877;    was  given  degree  of  A.  M.  by 


SAMUEL  FINDLEY. 

Buchtel  College  in  1876,  and  of  Ph. 
D.  b}'  Wooster  University  in  1880,  and 
is  now  editor  and  publisher  of  the 
Ohio  Educational  Monthlj',  with  a 
large  circulation  among  the  teachers 
of  Ohio.  March  31,  1853,  was  married 
to  Miss  Marj'  A.  Hardie,  of  Xenia, 
who  has  borne  him  four  sons  and 
two  daug^hters  —  William  Clarence, 
Alvin  Irwin,  Lorena  Belle,  Laura 
Ma),  Edwin  Leigh,  and  Samuel 
Emerson,  all  living  in  Akron. 


By  the  growth  of  the  city  and  a  change  in  the  law,  the  Board 
of  Education  has  been  enlarged  from  six  to  twelve  members — two 
elected  by  the  voters  in  each  ward — instead  of  being  elected  by  the 
city  at  large,  as  under  the  old  arrangement. 

From  a  half  dozen  or  less  diminutive  rooms,  the  school  accom- 
modations now  consist  of  one  splendid  four-story  brick  tw^elve 
room  High  School  building,  on  South  Forge  street,  Wilbur  V.  Rood, 
principal,  with  fifteen  lady  teachers  in  High  and  Grammar  depart- 
ments. Jennings  School,  six  rooms,  corner  Mill  and  Summit 
streets,  former  High  School,  (named  in  honor  of  Rev.  Isaac  Jen- 
nings, chairman  of  the  committee  w^hich  reported  the  plan  of  the 
Akfon  school  lavir,  as  hereinbefore  stated),  fourteen  teachers.  Miss 
Josephine  Newberry,  principal ;  Perkins  School,  six  rooms  and 
annex,  corner  Bowery  and  Exchange  streets,  (named  in  honor  of 
Gen.  Simon  Perkins,  who  founded  the  village  of  Akron  in  1825),. 


PRESENT    SUPERINTENDEXT   OF    INSTRUCTION. 


129 


17 LIAS  FRAUNFELTER— born  of 
J--'  German  parentag'e,  near  Easton, 
Pa.,  April  3,  1840  ;  came  with  famil}- 
to  Ohio  April,  184C,  settling  near  Ash- 
land, working  on  farm  and  in  hotel  ; 
educated  in  country  school  and  Ver- 
million Institute,  Hayesville ;  at  17 
began  teaching  ;  at  20  chosen  tutor 
of  Mathematics  in  Vermillion  Insti- 
tute; Avigvist  22,  1862,  enlisted  in  Co. 
C,  120th  O.  V.  I.,  but  soon  transferred 
to  Co.  F;  promoted  to  sergeant, 
orderly  sergeant,  first  lieutenant  and 
captain  "  for  ineritorious  conduct  in 
camp  and  in  field,''  serving,  also,  for 
a  time,as  aide-de-camp  on  staff  of  Gen. 
Peter  Osterhaus,  9th  Div.  13tli  Army 
Corps,  and  later  as  adjutant  of  his 
regiment ;  participated  in  the  various 
battles,  skirmishes  and  assaults 
resulting  in  the  siege  and  surrender 
of  Vicksburg  and  capture  of  Jack- 
son, Miss. ;  transferred  with  regiment 
to  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  was  in 
the  Teche  campaign  and  the  dis- 
astrous Red  River  expedition ;  cap- 
tured with  steamer  "  City  Belle"  near 
Alexandria,  La.,  May  4, 1864  ;  confined 
in  rebel  prison  at  Camp  Ford,  Texas, 
13  months  ;  exchanged  at  New  Orleans 
May  30. 186.'i;  by  consolidation,  becom- 
ing captain  of  Co.  D,  114th  O.  V.  I., 
reporting  for  duty  at  Mobile,  Ala., 
May  31,  186i5,  and  mustered  out  with 
regiment  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  June 
27,1865;  August,  18(5.5,  resvimed  posi- 
tion in  Vermillion  Institute  ;  April, 
1866,  elected  Professor  of  Mathematics 
in  Savannah  (Ohio)  Academy,  and  in 
June,  1866,  Associate  Principal  and 
Professor  of  Mathematics  and 
Natural  Science,  reorganizing  insti- 
tution and  enlarging  buildings,  in 
1870  cataloguing  385  students  ;  Sep- 
tember, 1873,  chosen  Professor  of 
Engineering  and  Normal  studies  in 
Buchtel  College,  at  Akron,  and  Pro- 
fessor of  Mathematics  in  June,  1874  ; 
in  August,  1883,  accepted  the  position 
of  Superintendent  of  Instruction  in 
Akron  Public  Schools,  which  respon- 
sible position  he  is  still  ably  filling. 
Capt.  Fraunfelter  holds  a  life  State 
teacher's  certificate  ;  served  nine 
3'ears  as  president  of  board  of  school 
examiners  for  Ashland  County ;  has 
been  a.  member  and  president  of  the 


E.  FKAUNFELTEK. 

board  of  school  examiners  for  the 
city  of  Akron  since  1877,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  board  of  managers  of  the 
Akron  Public  Library  since  May  10,. 
1886  ;  received  degree  of  A.  M.  from 
Bethany  (W.  Va.)  College  June,  1873, 
and  of  Ph.  D.  from  Lombard  (111.) 
University  June,  1879.  The  Captain 
became  a  member  of  Bucklej^  Post, 
G.  A.  R.,  May  4,  1883 ;  was  vice  com- 
mander 1884-1885  ;  commander  1886-87, 
representing  Post  in  Department 
Encampment  at  Cleveland  in  1886,  at 
Springheld  in  1887,  and  at  Cincituiati 
in  1890,  and  the  Department  in  the 
National  Encampment  at  San  Fran- 
cisco, Cal.,  Avigust,  1886,  and  at 
Boston,  Mass.,  August,  1890;  has  also 
been  a  member  of  Ohio  Commandery 
of  the  Lo5'al  Legion  of  the  United 
States  since  April  2,  1884.  April  2, 
1867,  Dr.  Fraunfelter  was  married  to 
Miss  Laura  K.  Caldwell,  daughter  of 
Rev.  John  P.  Caldwell,  a  Presbyterian 
minister  of  Barnesville,  Ohio,  who 
has  borne  him  two  children — Charles 
Davies,  stock  clerk  in  Superintend- 
ent's office  of  Aultman,  Miller  &  Co., 
and  Clara  May,  book-keeper  and 
cashier  for  Kubler  &  Beck,  Akron 
Varnish  Works. 


seven  teachers,  Miss  Sarah  T,  Carothers,  principal ;  Crosby  School, 
eight  rooms,  corner  Smith  and  West  streets,  (named  in  honor  of 
Doctor  Eliakim  Crosby,  projector  of  the  Cascade  mill  race,  which 
gave  to  Akron  its  start  as  a  manufacturing  center),  nine  teachers, 
Mrs.  Sarah  P.  Bennett,  principal ;  Spicer  School,  eight  rooms,  Car- 
roll street,  (named  in  honor  of  Major  Miner  Spicer,  who  in  1811 
settled  upon  the  land  on  which  said  school  is  located),  nine 
teachers,  Miss  Margaret  L.  McCready,  principal  ;  Allen  School, 
eight  rooms,  corner  of  South  Main  and  Thornton  streets,  (named 


130 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


ill  honor  of  Jesse  Allen,  one  of  Coventry's  earliest  settlers,  said 
school  being  in  Avhat  was  originally  a  part  of  Coventry  town- 
ship), nine  teachers,  Miss  Anna  M.  Hollinger,  principal ;  Bowen 
School,  six  rooms,  on  North  Broad^vay,  (named  in  honor  of  Dr. 
William  Bowen,  an  early  and  earnest  promotor  of  Akron's  public 
schools,)  seven  teachers,  Miss  M.  Elma  Cam  pbell,  principal ;    Howe 


Perkins    School    House,    corner    West 
JExchanije  and  Bowerv  Streets, 
^  Fifth  Ward." 


Croi-bv   School    Mouse,  corner    Smith 
arid  West  Streets,  Third  Ward. 


JUDGE  WM.  MORGAX  DODGE,— 
J  born  January  2, 180.5,  at  Granville, 
Washington  County,  N.  Y;  came  to 
Ohio  in  1813;  read  law  with  Judge 
Wheeler,  in  Unionville;  after  his 
admission  to  bar  settled  in  Middle- 
burj",  in  1831  removing  to  Akron;  in 
April,  1840,  was  elected  Prosecuting 
Attorney  of  the  then  new  county  of 
Suinmit,  and  re-elected  in  October  of 
the  same  year  for  the  full  term  of  two 
years;  was  active  in  securing  the 
passage  of  the  Akron  School  Law, 
and  an  efficient  member  of  the  first 
Board  of  Education  thereunder;  in 
October,  1860,  was  elected  Probate 
J  udge  of  Suinmit  County,  which  office 
he  ably  filled  until  his  death,  July  21, 
1861,  aged  56  years,  6  months  and  19 
days.  June  4, 1833,  Mr.  Dodge  was  mar- 
ried to  Mrs.  Harvey  A.  Howard,  nee 
Hannah  B.  Fenn,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Howard 
being  the  parents  of  the  last  Mrs. 
James  Mathews,  and  Mr.  Howard  one 
of  the  early  merchants  of  Middle- 
bury  and  Akron.  Mrs.  Dodge,  born 
in  Milford  (now  Orange),  Conn.,  May 
28,  1808,  still  survives,  now,  in  her  84th 
year,  enjoying  full  mental  and  phj'S- 
ical  vigor,  with  the  exception  of  her 
low^er  limbs,  w^hich  have  been  para- 
lyzed for  the  past  22  years.  Her  chil- 
dren   by  her    last    marriage,    were : 


JUDGE   WILLIAM   MORGAN   DODGE. 


Stella  A.,  now  Mrs.  John  B.  Etz; 
Victoria,  died  in  infancy ;  Walter, 
died  in  infancj'^ ;  Emmet  D.,  died 
August  2,  1882,  at  the  age  of  41  j^ears 
and  28  da3-s ;  Marion  E.,  now  Mrs.  M. 
E.  Reed,  and  Jennie,  now  Mrs.  George 
C.  Heifer,  of  South  Mound,  Kansas. 


AKRONS    LATKR    PRIMARY    SCHOOLS. 


131 


Spicer  School  House,  Carroll  Street, 
Fourth  Ward. 


Allen    School    House,    corner    South 
Main  and  Thornton  Streets, 
Fourth  Ward. 


School,  eight  rooms,  (named  in 
honor  of  Capt.  RichardHowe,an 
nearly  resident  of  Akron,  and  for 
many  years  superintendent  of 
the  Northern  Division  of  Ohio 
Canal),nine  teachers, Miss  Lucy 
K.    Beldine:,    princij^al ;  Henry 


Bowen  School,  North  Broadway,  First 
Ward. 


Howe  School  House,  South  Bowery, 
Bartges  and  St.  Clair  Streets, 
Fifth  Ward. 


School,  eight  rooms,  corner  North  Forge  and  Arch  streets, 
(named  in  honor  of  Milton  \V.  Henry,  long  a  prominent  merchant 
in  Akron,  and  a  great  friend  of  education,)  nine  teachers.  Miss 
Lida  M.  Uussell,  principal;  Kent  School,  eight  rooms,  Arlington 
street.  Sixth  Ward,  (named  in  honor  of  Roswell  Kent,  one  of  Mid- 
dlehury's  pioneer  merchants  and  most  public  spirited  citizens,) 
nine  teachers,  Mr.  Lee  R.  Knight,  principal ;  Leggett  School,  eight 
rooms,  named  in  honor  of  Gen.  Mortimer  D.  Leggett,  first  superin- 
tendent, (or  principal,  as  it  was  then  called,)  of  Akron  schools 
under  the  new  law- — Thornton,  AUyn    and    Sumner  .  streets — nine 


132 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


teachers,  Miss  Lizzie  Camp,  principal ;  Grace  School,  so  named  in 
honor    of    the    late    Mrs.    Grace    Perkins,  intersection     of    West 


MILTON  W.  HENRY,— born  in 
Blanford,  Mass.,  October  13, 
1816 ;  in  1830  removed  with  family  to 
Westfield,  Medina  County,  Ohio; 
educated  in  common  schools  and 
Wadsworth  Academy  ;  clerk  in  stores 
of  Kent  &  Spelman  and  G.  &  J. 
Miller,  of  Wadsworth,  and  Clapp  & 
Spelman,  of  Akron,  from  1836  to  1843, 
when  he  became  a  partner  of  Harvey 
B.  Spelman,  under  the  firm  name  of 
H.  B.  Spelman  &  Co.,  located  in  the 
"Old  Stone  Block,"  corner  of  Howard 
and  Market  streets  ;  in  1848  purchas- 
ed Mr.  Spelman's  interest,  and  soon 
afterwards  associated  with  himself, 
James  Zwisler,  under  the  firm  name 
of  M.  W.  Henry  &  Co.;  December  27, 
1849,  building-  and  portion  of  stock 
destroyed  by  fire,  but  business  con- 
tinued in  another  location  ;  occupied 
new  building  on  old  site,  in  1854,  sixb- 
sequently  purchasing-  the  property  ; 
admitting  to  partnership  some  of  his 
faithful  emplo5'es,  the  firin  of  G.  C. 
Berry  &  Co.,  was  organized  in  1875, 
which  arrangement  continued  until 
1883,  when  Mr.  Henry  retired  from 
active  mercantile  life.  Mr.Henrj^was 
one  of  the  original  stock-holders  and 
director  and  vice  president  of  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Akron  ;  stock- 
bolder  and  director  Taplin,  Rice  & 
Co.,  of  Akron  and  Austin  Powder 
Co.,  of  Cleveland ;  served  nine  years  as 
member  and  officer  of  Akron  Board  of 
Education  and  eight  years  member  of 
Akron  City  Council,  a  portion  of  the 


MILTON   W.   HENKY. 

time  as  its  president.  December  5,. 
1843,  Mr.  H.  was  married  to  Miss 
Abigail  Weeks,  of  Copley,  who  bore 
him  six  daughtei'S  and  one  son : 
Olive  C,  (now  Mrs.  M.  H.  Crumrine),. 
Ella  C,  (Mrs.  C.  E.  York.  Youngsville, 
Pa.),  JuliaA.,  (Mrs.  William  McFarlin), 
Hattie  A.,  (Mrs.  C.  A.  Barnes),  Charles 
M.,  Grace  P.  and  Mattie  W.,  all  of 
whom  are  still  living.  Mr.  Henr}^ 
died,  suddenly.  March  16,  1886,  aged 
69  years,  5  months,  3  daj-s. 


Henry   School    House,    Xor'^h  Forge 
Street,  Second  Ward. 


Kent  School  House,  South  Arlington 
Street,  Sixth  Ward. 


SOME    PROMINENT   FRIENDS    OF   EDUCATION. 


133 


Exchange  and  South  Maple  streets,  eight  rooms,  seven  teachers, 
Miss  Laura  .E.  Waltz,  principal. 


Leggett  School  House,  Allyn,Tliornton 
and  Sumner  Streets,  Fourth  Ward. 


Grace  School  House,  South  Maple  and 

West  Exchange  Streets, 

Fifth  Ward. 


The  rapid  growth  of  the  city  calling  for  still  more  extended 
school  accommodations,  four-room  additions  are  now  (August, 
1891,)  being  made  to  the  already  spacious  Kent,  How^e  and  Spicer 
buildings,  in  each  of  which  four  additional  teachers  will  be 
employed. 

HENRY  WILLETT  HOWE,- 
eldest  son  of  Captain  Richard 
and  Roxana  (Jones)  Howe,  was  born 
in  Bath,  June  29,  1828,  in  infanc}^ 
removing  with  parents  to  Akron ; 
•educated  in  Akron  public  schools 
and  Oberlin  College,  graduating 
from  latter  in  1849;  read  law  with 
Judge  James  S.  Carpenter,  practicing 
with  the  Judge  Jintil  his  elevation  to 
the  Bench,  in  1856;  in  1859,  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  agricultural 
implements  in  Akron,  seven  years 
later  removing  to  Richfield,  where 
he  was»  engaged  in  manvifacturing 
enterprises  until  April,  1881,  when  he 
moved  to  his  farm  in  Northampton, 
which  he  is  still  successfully  culti- 
vating ;  is  also  postmaster  of  Ira 
postoffice,  at  Hawljins  station  on  the 
Vallej^  railway,  Mrs.  Howe  also  hold- 
ing the  position  of  postmistress  at 
West  Richfield,  while  residing  there. 
Mr.  How^e  was  a  member  of  Akron 
Board  of  Education  several  j^ears 
aud  its  secretary  from  1851  to  1857 ; 
represented  the  Second  Ward  in  Citj^ 
Council  in  1865  and  18(56 ;  in  Richfield 
served  as  member  of  School  Board, 
and  as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  is 
now  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  for 
Northampton  township ;  helped  to 
organize  the  Summit  County  Agri- 
cviltural  Society,  serving  as  director 
and  secretary  eight  years,  and  since 
1878  has  been  secretary  of  Summit 


HENRY  WILLETT   HOWE. 

County  Grange,  Patrons  of  Hus- 
bandry. September  17,  1856,  Mr. 
Howe  was  married  to  Miss  Jennie 
Williamson,  of  Stow,  who  died  March 
25,  1857 ;  was  again  married,  Decem- 
ber 12,  1859,  to  Miss  Isadore  C.  Bell,  a 
native  of  Connecticut,  who  has  borne 
him  four  children  Edwin  B.,  Frank 
R.,  and  Abby  B.,  living,  and,  Arthur 
Willett,  deceased. 


134 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


DR.  WILLIAM  BOWEN,  — born  in 
Genessee  County,  N.  Y.,  July  3, 
1805;  learned  trade  of  carpenter;  on 
completion  of  apprenticeship  came 
to  Ohio,  working  on  mill  of  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Raynolds,  near  Canton;  desir- 
ing- to  secure  a  better  education, 
through  the  aid  of  Mr.  Raj^nolds,  he 
attended  the  select  school  of  Barak 
Michener,  in  Canton;  on  completion 
of  his  studies,  taught  school  in  the 
village  of  Paris,  Stark  County,  mean- 
time studying  medicine  with  Dr. 
Robert  Estep.  In  1832,  commenced 
practice  in  Doylestown,  Wayne  Coun- 
tj^ ;  in  1835  attended  lectures  at  Ohio 
Medical  College,  receiving  his  degree 
in  1836 ;  then  practiced  two  j^ears  in 
Canton  and  nearly  15  years  in  Mas- 
sillon.  In  1853  bought  a  farm,  three 
miles  south  of  Akron,  dividinur  his 
time  between  medicine  and  agricul- 
ture vintil  1857,  when  he  removed  to 
Akron,  where  he  remained  in  prac- 
tice until  his  death,  Jan  14,  1880,  aged 
74  years,  5  months  and  15  days.  Dr. 
Bowen  was  a  warm  friend  of  educa- 
tion, having  published  the  Free 
School  Clarion  from  1846  to  1848,  in 
Massillon,  as  elsewhere  noted;  was 
also  School  Examiner  and  ineniber 
and  president  of  the  Akron  Board  of 
Education  for  several  years,  Bowen 
School,  on  Broadway,  being  named 
in  his  honor.     In  Maj',  1830,  Dr.  Bowen 


DR.   WILLIAM   BOWEN. 


was  married  to  Miss  Huldah  M.  Chit- 
tenden, of  Middlebury,  who  bore  him 
nine  children,  three  onlj'  of  whom 
now  survive.  Miss  Elma  C,  now 
residing  in  the  state  of  Washington  ; 
Frances  C,  now  Mrs.  Dr.  A.  E.  Foltz, 
of  Akron  ;  and  Mrs.  Sarah  B.  Freer,  of 
Canton.  Mrs.  Bowen  died  Julj^  3, 
1890,  aged  84  years,  9  months  and  4 
davs. 


REGINALD  H.   WRIGHT. 

REGINALD  H.    WRIGHT,— son  of 
Rev.  A.  K.  Wright,  was  born  at 
Wadsworth,  Ohio,  January   18,  1841  ; 


educated  at  Hudson,  g-raduating- 
from  Western  Reserve  College  in 
1863 ;  served  as  orderly  sergeant  of 
Co.  B,  (composed  principally  of 
students  of  college),  85th  Regiment 
O.  V.  I.,  from  May  27th  till  September 
27,  1862;  in  1884  teacher  in  Shaw 
Academy,at  Collamer,  Ohio  ;  engaged 
in  business  in  Cleveland  from  1864  to 
1869  and  in  Toledo  in  18(59 ;  February, 
1870,  came  to  Akron  as  cashier  and 
book-keeper  for  Aultman,  Miller  & 
Co.,  now  being  treasurer  of  the  com- 
pany ;  has  served  several  3"ears  as 
member  of  Board  of  Education,  being 
treasurer  of  the  Board  for  the  j-ears 
1883,  1884,  1885  and  1886;  October  3, 
1872,  Mr.  Wright  was  married  to  Miss 
E.  Augustine  Chevrier,  youngest 
daughter  of  the  late  Louis  Chevrier, 
Esq.,  of  Akron.  They  have  four  chil- 
dren— three  sons  and  one  daug'hter  : 
Charles  Chevrier  Wright,  born  Feb- 
ruary 16,  1874  ;  Reginald  Ashmun 
Wright,  born  March  14,  1876  ;  Howard 
Buttles  Wright,  born  November  19, 
1880,  and  Helen  Maria  Wright,  born 
July  18,  188:^ 


It  will  thus  be  seen,  that,  including  Superintendent  Fraun- 
felter  and  Prof.  Nathan  L.  Glover,  musical  instructor,  Prof.  J.  War- 
ren Thyng,  teacher  of  drawing,  and  Prof.  J.   O.   Wise,  teacher  of 


THE   NEW    HIGH    SCHOOL. 


135 


Akron's  New  High   School  Building.  South 
Forge  Street.    Erected  in  lb8(j. 


penmanship,  that  Akron's  public  schools  have  a  grand  army  of 
nearly  130  teachers,  and  it  is  safe  to  say,  that,  with  the  thorough 
examinations  which  are  made,  and  the  extreme  care  bestowed 
upon  selections,  together  with  the  ripe  experience  of  man^-  of  the 
number,  Akron's  instructors 'Vill  compare  favorably  with  those  of 
any  other  city  in  Ohio,  or  elsewhere,  while  all  our  people  have  the 
proud  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  the  system  first  devised  and 
adopted  here,  nearly  half  a  century  ago,  is  now  in  vogue  in  every 
state  w^here  public  schools,  for  the  free  education  of  the  children 
of  all  the  people,  are  maintained  and'cherished. 

As  early  as  1875  it  became 
apparent  that  a  new  high 
school  building  was  rapidly 
becoming  a  public  necessity, 
but  as  larger  and  better  w^ard 
accommodations  Avere  also 
equally  necessary,  and  had 
to  be  provided,  the  high 
school  project  was  held  in 
abeyance  until  about  1883, 
though  several  committees 
on  sites  had  previously  been 
appointed  without  definite 
results.  In  1883  a  committee 
on  sites  was  appointed,  con- 
sisting of  R.  H.  Wright, 
Thomas  McEbright,  D.  W. 
Thcmas,  H.  G.  Griffin,  Chris. 
Vogt  and  F.  M.  Atterholt.  This  committee,  after  examining  sev- 
eral   sites,    and    receiving    various     propositions    frtm     pioperty 

p)  R.JOHN  W.  LYDER,-born 
^^  near  Elkton,  in  Elkrtxn  town- 
ship,  Columbiana  County,  Ohio, 
December  16,  1837  ;  educated  in  pub- 
lic schools  and  at  Oberlin  Colleg-e  ; 
graduated  from  Philadelphia  (Pa.) 
ental  Colleg-e  in  1869  ;  practiced  for 
a  time  in  Fairfield,  Columbiana 
County,  then  moved  to  Alliance, 
Stark  Count}',  where  he  practiced 
until  his  settlement  in  Akron,  April 
20,  1875,  where  he  has  since  been  in 
continuous  and  successful  practice. 
Dr.  Lyder  was  president  of  the  Ohio 
State  Dental  Association  three  terms ; 
served  as  member  of  Alliance  Vil- 
lage Council,  and  as  president  of  the 
Stark  County  Agricultural  Societ}^ ; 
from  1881  to  1883  was  a  member  of 
the  Akron  Board  of  Education  ;  was 
a  member  of  State  Dental  Society 
Execiitive  Committee  for  1891  ;  acting- 
Eminent  Commander  Knights  Temp- 
lar for   1891,  and   has  filled   various 

other  offices   of    honor    in    Masonic  DK.  JOHX  \v.  lvoek. 

orders  for  a  period  of  twent}'  years. 

September  15,  1863,  Dr.  Lyder  was  ate  of  Philadelphia  Dental  College, 
married  to  Miss  Marj'  V.  Bedortha,  now  practicing  with  his  father,  and 
of  Oberlin,  who  has  borne  him  two  Jay  Walter,  born  in  Alliance,  Octo- 
children  —  Frederick  H.,  born  in  ber  20,  186S,  now  book-keeper  in  the 
Alliance,  November  4,  1864,  a  gradu-      City  National  Bank,  of  Akron. 


136 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


owners,  finally  selected  and  purchased  grounds  on  the  southeasterly- 
side  of  Forge  street,  fronting  directly  on  Union  Park  and  both  Col- 
lege and  Mill  streets.  The  property  selected  consisted  of  lots  occu- 
pied by  Frank  J.  Staral,  96  feet ;  Noah  A.  Carter,  45  feet,  and 
Augustus  D.  Power,  76  feet,  making' a  total  frontage  of  217  feet  ; 
with  a  rear  frontage,  on  Jackson  alley,  of  190  feet ;  the  aggregate 
price  paid  for  the  three  properties  being  $19,00(). 


JOHN  McGregor,  —  born  near 
J  Wellsville,  O.,  June  14,  1836; 
raised  on  farm ;  graduated  from 
Jefferson  (Pa.)  College  in  1863  ;  attend- 
ing Ohio  Law  College,  at  Cleveland 
on€  year,  was  admitted  to  practice  in 
State  and  U.  S.  Courts  at  Cleveland, 
and  opened  an  office  in  Akron  in 
1864,  continuing  in  successful  prac- 
tice seven  years  ;  was  City  Solicitor 
two  ye ars-vl 869-71 ;  was  Treasurer  of 
Portage  Township  from  1877  to  1884  ; 
member  of  Board  of  Education  frgm 
1888  to  present  time.  In  1871,  Mr. 
McGregor  purchased  an  interest  in 
the  Akron  Steam  Forge  Works,  and 
on  their  reorganization  as  a  joint 
stock  company,  in  1872,  was  elected 
secretary  and  treasurer,  which  posi- 
tion he  stills  holds.  In  1887,  Mr.  M. 
became  a  stockholder  and  director  in 
the  Webstfer,  Camp  and  Lane  Machine 
Companj^,  being'  elected  president 
and  treasurer  of  that  corporation, 
which  offices  he  still  retains.  Novem-, 
ber  11,  1868,  Mr.  McGregor  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Hattie  E.  Folger,  of 
Akron,  daughter  of  the  late  William 
M.,  and  Julia  A.  (Haj^den)  Folger,  who 


JOHN   MCGREGOR. 

has  borne  him  three  children — Julia 
F.,  John  and  Mary,  all  now  living 
with  their  parents. 


Several  plans  were  submitted  by  well-known  architects,  that 
of  Messrs.  Weary  &  Kramer,  of  Akron,  being  adopted.  After 
various  delays  a  contract  was  entered  into,  in  the  Spring  of  1885, 
\^^ith  Messrs.  Wilhelm  &  Schroeder,  of  Akron,  for  the  complete 
structure,  excepting  the  heating  apparatus,  for  the  sum  of  $78,672, 
to  which  changes,  additions,  etc.,  added  the  further  sum  of  $11,- 
277.42.  The  steam  heating  apparatus,  supplied  by  Mr.  John  Robb, 
of  Akron,  cost  $11,423,  which,  with  the  cost  of  furniture,  and  the 
various  other  indispensable  conveniences  for  the  proper  working 
of  the  several  departments  of  the  school,  places  the  total  cost  of 
the  institution  at  about  $135,030,  the  grand  total  of  Akron's  present 
school  property,  at  a  fairly  low  estimate,  being  fully  half  a  million 
of  dollars. 

The  edifice  is  163  feet  in  length,  128  feet  in  width,  and  88  feet 
in  height,  exclusive  of  the  central  tower,  vi^hich  is  160  feet.  The 
foundation  and  basement  walls  are  of  stone,  and  the  superstruct- 
ure of  pressed  brick  with  handsome  stone  trimmings,  the 
architecture  being  of  the  Romanesque  order.  The  foundation 
v^alls  are  three  feet  in  thickness;  basement  walls  (stone)  two  and 
one-half  feet  thick,  and  the  brick  walls  of  the  building  20  inches; 
the  entire  structure,  including  basement  and  upper  floor  of  the 
main  building,  four  full  stories  in  height. 


PERSONAL    AND    BIOGRAPHICAL. 


137 


pRANK  M.  ATTERHOLT— born 
-T  December  19,  1848,  near  New  Lis- 
bon, Ohio  ;  educated  at  New  Lisbon 
Hiftii  School,Xational  Normal  School, 
of  Lebanon,  and  Mount  Union  Col- 
leo-e,  g-radnating-  at  the  latter  institu- 
tion in  1870.  He  was  a  prominent 
teacher  in  the  State  for  several  years, 
and  for  a  time  was  editor  of  the 
Colunibiatiii  Register.  He  came  to 
Akron  in  the  autumn  of  1879  and  read 
law  with  L^pson,  Ford  &  Baird  ;  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  by  the  Supreme 
Court  at  Columbus,  O.,  October  5,1880, 
and  has  most  of  the  time  since  been 
the  law  partner  of  Judge  U.  L.  Mar- 
vin. Mr.  Atterholt  is  an  earnest 
friend  of  education  ;  has  served  as 
member  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
City  Board  of  School  Exaininers,  and 
is  a  Trustee  of  Mount  Union  Colleg-e. 
In  politics  he  is  an  ardent  Republi- 
can ;  has  served  on  the  State  Central 
Committee  and  been  chairman  of  the 
County  Executive  Committee.  He  is 
an  earnest  member  of  the  Board  of 
Trade  and  is  larg'ely  financially  and 
officially  interested  in  a  number  of 
the  most  extensive  business  enter- 
prises of  the  city  and  with  several  in 


FRANK   M.  ATTERHOLT. 

other  places.  He  was  married  Decem- 
ber 21,  1872,  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Baird,  of 
Columbiana,  Ohio.  They  have  one 
ch  ild— Frank  Bryant,  born  June  2, 1878. 


DR.   THOMAS   MCEBRIGHT. 

DR.  THOMAS  McEBRIGHT,-born 
in  Carlisle,  Pa.,  April  14,  1824, 
removing-  with  parents  to  Wooster, 
Ohio,  in  1833;  raised  on  farm,  attend- 
ing district  school  winters;  at  16 
attending  Norwalk  Academj^  and 
later  entering  on  classical  course  in 
Ohio  Wesleyan  University,  but  on 
reaching  the  senior  year  failing- 
health  comjjelled  him  to  return  to 
the   farm.      Improving-  by   out-door 


exercise,  in  1847,  began  the  study  of 
medicine  in  Wooster,  graduating- 
from  Starling-  Medical  Colleg-e, 
Columbus,  February  22,  1851,  immedi- 
ately commencing-  practice  in  Nash- 
ville, Holmes  Countj^  in  1857  remov- 
ing- to  Millersburg-.  In  Fall  of  '61  was 
appointed  by  Gov.  Dennison  surg-eon 
of  8th  Reg-t.  O.  V.  I.,  serving  as  acting- 
Brig-ade  Surg-eon  and  Chief  Opera- 
ting- Surgeon  of  division,  in  the  Ariny 
of  the  Potomac,  until  the  Spring  of 
1863,  when,  by  reason  of  ill  health,  he 
resigned.  In  May,  1864,  was  appointed 
Colonel  of  the  l(36th  O.  V.  I.,  but 
resigned  and  took  the  position  of 
Surgeon  to  that  regiment,  being 
mustered  out  with  regiment  in  Sep- 
tember, 1864,  removing  to  Akron  the 
following  November.  June  16,  1853, 
Dr.  Ebright  was  married  to  Miss 
Nancj^  Liggett,  daughter  of  Judge 
Thomas  Liggett,  of  Millersburg,  who 
has  borne  him  five  children,  three 
dying  in  infanc}',  the  two  survivors — 
Misses  Kit  and  Carita  -both  being 
A.  B.  graduates  of  Cornell  Univer- 
sitj'.  Dr.  Ebright  is  a  high  degree 
member  of  the  Masonic  Oi'der;  a 
member  of  the  Summit  County,  the 
N.  E.  Ohio,  and  the  Ohio  State  Med- 
ical Societies,  and  of  the  .American 
Medical  Association;  Surgeon  of  C, 
A.  &  C.  R.  R.,  and  has  served  14  years 
upon  the  Akron  Board  of  Education, 
several  years  as  its  president. 


138 


AKRON    AXD    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


In  the  basement,  besides  the  boiler  and  engine  rooms,  are  the 
Superintendent's  office;  the  office  of  the  Board  of  Kducation; 
vault  and  safe  room;  laboratory;  boys'  and  girls'  play  rooms, 
\vash  rooms,  cloak  rooms,  halls,  etc.  On  the  first  floor,  besides  the 
entrances,  there  is  a  large  central  court,  eight  school  rooms,  reci- 
tation room,  principal's  room,  boys'  coat  room,  girls'  cloak  rooms, 
halls,  etc.  On  the  second  floor  there  are  a  central  court,  four  large 
school  rooms,  two  recitation  roorns,  lady  teachers'  parlor,  coat  and 
cloak  room,  ante-rooms,  halls,  etc.,  on  the  easterly  side;  while 
Assembly  Hall,  64x84  feet  in  size,  occupies  the  entire  westerh^  side 
of  the  floor.  On  the  third  floor  there  are  five  good-sized  rooms,  to 
be  used  for  society  purposes,  library,  museum,  etc. 

The  exact  dimensions  of  the  several  apartments  need  not  be 
given  here,  but  a  few  figures  will  readily  demonstrate  the  immen- 
sity of  the  structure.  The  \\ralls  have  a  measurement  of  nearly 
100,000  square  feet  of  foundation,  outside  and  partition  walls^ 
containing  about  30,000  cubic  feet  of  stone,  2,000,000  common  brick 
and  270,000  pressed  brick,  and  consuming  over  one-third  of  a 
million  feet  of  lumber  in  its  completion.  Including  halls,  closets, 
attic,  etc.,  there  are  107  separate  rooms  in  the  building,  with  a  floor 
surface  of  some  55,000  square  feet,  there  being  195  doors,  and  253 
windows  in  the  edifice. 

In  the  tower,  108  feet  from  the  ground,  is  a  fine-toned  2,000- 
pound  bell,  and  a  first-class  clock,  with  four  illuminated  dials, 
16  feet  in  diameter,  each.  While  the  building  is  externally  beau- 
tiful, and  its  interior  finish  every  way  tasty  and  pleasing  to  the 
eye,  substantiality  and  practicalness,  rather  than  ornament  and 
show,  have  been  the  objects   aimed  at  by  the  several  gentlemen 


HIRAM  H.  FOLTZ,— fifth  son  of 
Moses  and  Sarah  (Kean)  Foltz, 
was  born  near  Wooster,  Ohio,  June 
20,  1837  ;  educated  in  common  schools 
of  Wayne  County ;  raised  on  farm ; 
August  9,  1862,  with  four  of  his 
brothers,  enlisted  in  the  102d  O.  V.  I. 
in  the  late  war,  serving^  three  years, 
being  honorablj^  discharged  May  13, 
1865 ;  March  14,  1866,  moved  to  Akron, 
and  engaged  in  the  painting  busi- 
ness ;  was  member  of  Akron  Board 
of  Education  from  1881  to  1885,  being 
one  of  the  most  efficient  members 
during  the  building  of  the  High, 
Howe,  and  Henry  School  buildings  ; 
is  an  active  director  of  the  Suminit 
County  Agricultural  Society  and 
superintendent  of  Fine  Arts  Hall  ; 
member  of  State  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  National  Union; 
chairman  of  City  Republican  Com- 
mittee ;  inember  of  Buckley  Post, 
No.  12,  G.  A.  R.;  in  February  1888,  was 
appointed  collector  of  tolls,  rents, 
etc.,  on  the  Ohio  Canal  forthej^ort  of 
Akron,  which  responsible  position 
he  is  still  ably  filling.  March  27, 
1862.  Mr.  Foltz  was  married  to  Miss 
Cynthia  Bell  Hughes,  of  Wooster. 
They  have  two  children  living — 
Minnie  M.,  now  Mrs.  Fred  W.  Davis, 


HIRAM   H.  FOLTZ. 

of  the  Sixth  Ward,  and  Harrj-  J.,  now 
clerk  in  grocery  and  provision  store 
of  J.  B.  Houghton,  Akron.  All  five  of 
the  Foltz  brothers,  who  served 
through  the  late  war  are  now  living 
in  Akron. 


OCCUPATION    OF    NEW    BUILDING. 


139 


under  whose  auspices  Akron  has  been  provided  with  this  splendid 
monument  to  the  intelligence  and  enterprise  of  her  people. 

Very  properly  have  the  gentlemen  alluded  to  perpetuated 
their  names  in  connection  with  the  good  Avork,  by  terra  cotta  tablets 
inserted  in  the  wall,  upon  the  east  side,  as  follows:  "Memhkr.s  of 
THE  Board  of  Education,  1884-5:  Dr.  Thomas  McEbright, 
Pres.,  '84-5,  R.  H.  Wright,  Treas.,  F.  M.  Atterholt,  Sec,  D.  W. 
Thomas;  Lewis  Miller,  Pres.,  '85-86,  A.  M.  Armstrong,  A.  H. 
Sargent,  W.  H.  Evans,  Louis  Seybold,  J.  T.  Sell,  H.  H.  Foltz,  Dr.  L. 
S.  Sweitzer,  W.  H.  Kothrock,  F.  \V.  Rockwell,  H.  G.  Griffin.  Build- 
ing Committee:  D.  W.  Thomas,  chairman,  F.  W.  Rockwell,  Louis 
Seybold,  Dr.  Thomas  McEbright,  Lewis  Miller,  J.  T.  Sell.  Archi- 
tects :  Frank  O.  Weary,  Geo.  W.  Kramer.  Contractors  :  Louis 
Wilhelm,  W.  C.  Schroeder,  John  Robb." 


GEORGE  C.  BERRY,— was  born  in 
Medina  Co..  Ohio.  June  19,  1837, 
removing  to  Akron  with  his  pareats, 
when  three  years  old  ;  educated  in 
Akron's  Union  tjchools  ;  at  15  entered 
store  of  Mr.  Joseph  E.  Wesener,  as 
clerk,  afterwards  serving  in  same 
capacity  in  store  of  Mr.  Milton  W. 
Henry ;  in  1864  was  admitted  to  a 
partnership  in  the  concern  under  the 
firm  name  of  M.  W.  Henry  &  Co.,  by 
the  accession  of  others,  in  1874  the 
firm  name  being  changed  to  G.  C. 
Berry  &  Co. ;  in  1883  withdrew  from 
firm  and  opened  a  carpet  warehouse 
on  Mill  street,  in  which  enterprise  he 
has  been  phenonienall}'  successful, 
in  1888  associating  with  himself  in 
business  his  son,  Charles  W.  Berry, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Berry  &  Son. 
In  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  Mr.  Berry 
served  100  days  in  the  fortifications 
in  front  of  Washington,  as  a  member 
of  Company  F.,  164th  O.  V.  I.,  has 
been  a  member  of  the  Akron  Board 
of  Education,  and  its  most  efficient 
secretary  for  many  years,  and  a 
trustee  in  Summit  Lodge  No.  5(),  I.  O. 
O.  F.  Mr.  B.  was  married  March  11, 
18.57,  to  Miss  Annie  Wheeler,  of  Akron, 
who  bore  him  five  children — Willis 
H.,  who  died  at  6  years  of  age  ;  Geo. 


GEORGE   C.  BERRY. 

C,  Jr.,  Charles  W.,  Anna  L.,  and  Mary 
H.,  Mrs.  Berry  d}  ing  March  18,  1869, 
Mr.  B.  was  again  married,  to  Miss 
Isabel  Wright,  of  Tallmadge,  who 
has  borne  him  two  children — twins 
— Belle  and  Zelle,  the  former  dying 
at  8  months. 


Delays  intervening,  the  edifice  was  not  completed  until  the 
very  moment  for  the  opening  of  the  Fall  term  of  school,  on  Mon- 
day, September  6,  1886.  Consequently  the  formal  dedication  of 
the  building  which  had  been  conteinplated,  had  to  be  omitted, 
though  hundreds  of  parents,  and  others,  availed  themselves  of 
the  privilege  tendered  by  the  board  and  superintendent,  of  visiting 
the  building,  and  witnessing  the  workings  of  the  several  depart- 
ments, during  the  earlier  days  of  the  term,  as,  indeed,  all  are 
w^elcome  to  do  at  any  time. 

The  total  enumeration  of  school  youth,  within  the  citv  limits 
for  1888,  was  7,707,  of  whom  3,871  were  boys  and  3,836  girls;  6,904: 
American  born;  516  German;  56  Irish;  51  English;  83  colored;  19 
French;  9  Scotch;  10  Italian;  7  Welsh;  4  Norway;  3  Hungary;  1 
Bohemia;  2  Greece;  1  Russia;  42  Sweden. 


140 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 


r^EORGE  G.  ALLEN,— son  of 
^  Xenianthus  and  Margaret  E. 
(Turner)  Allen,  was  born  in  Grang-er, 
Medina  Count)',  Aug-ust  26,  1855; 
bo3^hood  spent  on  farm  ;  at  14  moved 
Avith  parents  to  Akron,  graduating" 
from  Akron  High  School  in  1873 ; 
read  law  in  offices  of  John  J.  Hall 
and  Edward  Oviatt,  Esqs.,  with  a  six 
months'  course  in  Law  Department 
of  Michigan  University,  at  Ann 
Arbor ;  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Akron 
August  28,  1870,  and  immediately 
admitted  to  partnership  with  Edward 
Oviatt,  Esq.,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Oviatt  &  Allen,  among  the  most  suc- 
cessful practioners  at  the  Summit 
County  bar.  Mr.  Allen  was  for  a 
short  time  Acting  Mayor  of  Akron 
in  1883  ;  was  elected  to  the  Board  of 
Education  from  the  First  Ward  in 
1887,  and  re-elected  in  1889,  being 
treasurer  of  board  for  1888  and  1889, 
chairman  of  the  cominittee  on  heat 
and  ventilation,  etc.  Besides  his 
extensive  law  practice  Mr.  Allen  has 
been  a  director  in  City  National  Bank 
of  Akron  since  its  organization  in 
1883 ;  director  in  F.  Schumacher 
Milling  Co.  since  1887 ;  director  in 
Canada  Copper  Co  ;  in  Anglo-Amer- 


GEOKOE  G.  AJvLExX. 

ican  Iron  Co ;  in  Central  Ontario 
Railway-  Co.,  Canada,  and  Western 
Linoleum  Co.,  of  Akron.  July  18, 
1877,  Mr.  Allen  was  married  to  Miss 
Olivia  Frances  Oviatt,  youngest 
daughter  of  Edward  Oviatt,  Esq.,  who 
has  borne  him  two  children — Don 
Oviatt  Allen,  born  June  9,  1878,  and 
Ben.  Herbert  Allen,  born  July  11, 1885. 


LEWIS    MILLER. 

T  EWIS  MILLER,--born  in  Green- 
J— '  town.  Stark  Count}',  August  24, 
1829;  educated  in  district  schools 
and  Illinois  Academy,  Plainfield ; 
1846  to  1851  worked  at  plasterers 
trade  Summers  attending  and  teach- 
ing school  Winters ;  1851  became 
member  of  firm  of  Ball,  Aultnaan  & 
Co.,  manufacturers  of  stoves,  plows, 
threshers  and  reapers,  (the  old  Hus- 
sey  machine),  the  firm  removing  to 


Canton  in  the  Fall  of  that  year;  soon 
advanced  from  apprentice  to  super- 
intendent, inventing  the  wonderfully 
successful  Buckeye  Mower  and 
Reaper,  followed  by  the  table-rake 
in  1865,  and  subsequently  the  self- 
binders,  now  so  universally  used, 
and  many  other  important  labor- 
saving  devices  ;  separate  works,  on 
an  extensive  scale,  being  established 
^t  Akron  in  1864,  under  the  name  of 
Aultman,  Miller  &  Co.  Besides  offi- 
ciating as  president  and  superinten- 
dent of  the  companies  named,  Mr. 
Miller  is  pecuniarily  and  officially 
connected  with  a  large  number  of 
other  manufacturing  establishments, 
banks,  etc.,  in  Akron  and  Canton, 
Mount  Union  College,  Ohio  Wesley- 
an  L^niversit)'  and  Allegheny 
College  ;  superintendent  of  the  First 
M.  E.  Sunda)'  School,  orig'inator  of 
present  Sundaj'  School  rooms,  and 
chief  promoter  of  the  Chautauqua  As- 
sociation scheme  ;  has  served  as 
member  of  City  Council  and  many 
5'ears  as  memberof  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, Board  of  Librar}'  control,  etc. 
Married,  Septeml)er  16, 1853,  to  Mary  D. 
Alexander,  of  Painfield,  111.,  eleven 
children  have  been  born  to  them — 
Eva,  (died  when  16),  Jennie,  Ira  M., 
Edward  B.,  Robert  A.,  Lewis  A., 
Mina  (now  Mrs.  Thomas  A.  Edison), 
Mamie,  Grace,  John  V.,  and  Theo- 
dore W. 


SCHOOL  CENSUS,  PAY  OF  TEACHERS,  ETC. 


141 


T7RANK  W.  ROCKWELL,— son  of 
^  Marshall  M,  and  Sarah  (Pendle- 
ton) Rockwell,  born  in  Kent,  Ohio, 
October  31,  1851;  when  seven  or  eig"ht 
years  old,  inoved  with  family  to  Mis- 
souri; father  entering-  the  Union 
army,  came  with  mother  to  Stow, 
returning-  to  Missouri  in  Spring  of 
1863 ;  in  Spring  of  18(54:  reinoved  to 
Andover,  Ashtabula  Countj^  0-!  i" 
186.0,  to  Indiana;  in  186(3,  to  Linesville, 
Crawford  County,  Pa.;  in  1871,  to 
Akron ;  common  school  education, 
with  one  year  at  Allegheny  College; 
entered  employ  of  Akron  Sewer  Pipe 
Co.,  as  book-keeper,  in  1871,  in  A  ugust, 
1882,  becoming  Secretary  and  Treas- 
urer of  the  Company;  January,  1884, 
engaged  in  manufacture  of  stone- 
ware as  member  of  the  firin  of  John- 
son, Rockwell  &  Co.,  successors  of 
Johnson  &  Baldwin,  later  F.  W.  Rock- 
well &  Co.;  in  1881  was  elected  mem- 
ber of  Akron  Board  of  Education, 
holding-  the  position  four  terms 
(eig-ht  years),  serving  two  vears  as 
president  of  the  Board— 1883'-4,  1888-9 
— and  three  years  as  chairman  of 
finance  committee  ;  in  1887  and  1888, 
was  Chairman  of  Republican  Cen- 
tral Committee.  September  21,  1875, 
Mr.  Rockwell  was  married  to  Miss 
Mary  Ann     Johnson,     daughter     of 


FRANK  W.  ROCKWELL. 

Thomas  and  Harriet  Johnson,  who- 
has  borne  him  seven  children — 
George  \V.,  Frank  J.,  Addie  (deceased), 
Thomas,  Mar}',  Ida  and  Wade. 
Thoug-h  still  a  resident  of  Akron,  Mr. 
Rockwell  is  now  Secretarj'  and  Treas- 
urer of  the  Pennsjlvania  Sewer  Pipe- 
Co.,     at  Huntingdon,  Pa. 


The  number  of  scholars  enrolled  during  the  Spring  and  Sum- 
mer term  of  1888,  was  4,654;  the  entire  expenses,  including  the 
superintendent's  and  teachers'  salaries,  janitors,  fuel,  etc.,  for  the 
school  year,  1887-8  being  $59,220,  or  $12.60  per  scholar  per  year,  on 
the  enrollment,  exclusive  of  interest  on  investment  for  lands, 
buildings,  furnishings,  repairs,  etc.  This,  as  will  be  seen  by  com- 
parison with  figures  heretofore  given,  is  somewhat  more  costly,, 
per  capita  than  under  the  earlier  workings  of  the  system,  but 
scarcely  more  so  than  was  the  old  plan  of  select  schools  at  from 
$3.00  to  $5.00  per  quarter,  while  a  vast  improvement  upon  the 
district  and  select  plans,  by  being  more  systematic  and  efficient  in 
its  methods  and  results. 

The  total  enumeration  for  1890-91,  was  8,442 — boys,  4,211;  girls,. 
4,231;  total  enrollment,  5,283.  Total  expenditures  for  the  year  end- 
ing August  31,  1890,  as  follows:  Wages  of  teachers,  including 
salary  of  superintendent,  $51,955.65;  fuel  and  other  contingent 
expenses,  $18,509.51;  sites  and  buildings,  $25,016.55;  bonds  and- 
interest,  $19,100.00;  total,  $114,581.71. 

The  salary  of  Superintendent  Findley  was  originally  $2,500  per 
year,  but  in  1876  was,  for  reasons  which  do  not  fully  appear  upon 
the  record,  reduced  to  $2,000,  but  on  the  accession  of  Prof. 
Fraunfelter,  the  old  figure,  $2,500,  was  restored;  Principal  Rood's 
salary  being  $1,400;  Prof.  Glover,  (music),  four  days  per  week, 
$1,400;  Prof.  Thyng,  (drawing),  $1,000;  Prof.  Wise,  (writing),  $800;. 
teachers  in  High  School,  $500  to  $800;  Grammar  School,  princi- 
pal $900;  teachers  $250  to  $650.  Ward  schools:  principals,  $600  to 
$700;  teachers,  $250  to  $500;  a  slight  contrast  between  the  present 
superintendent's  salary  and  that  of  the    "superintendent"   of  the 


142 


AKROX    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


^'high"  school  on  the  hill,  taught  by  the   writer,  in   1835-6— $11.00 
per  month  and  "board  around." 

In  addition  to  regular  teachers,  "student  teachers" — one  for 
each  room— are  now  regularly  employed,  who  are  required  to  be 
in  dailj^  attendance,  and  in  case  of  sickness  or  other  necessary 
absence,  take  the  place  of  regular  teachers,  being  paid  $25  per 
month,  while  so  employed  the  first  year,  with  $5  a  month  extra,  on 
taking  their  places  as  regulars  the  second  year.  This  plan  of 
training  in  teachers  from  graduates  of  our  own  schools,  is  proving 
to  be  a  very  valuable  feature  of  our  present  most  admirable  school 
management. 


T^DWIN  F.  VORIS,— son  of  Gen. 
l->  Alvin  C.  and  Lydia  (A  1 1  y  n) 
Voris,  was  born  in  Akron  Julj'  31, 
1855;  educated  in  Akron  public 
schools,  gTaduating  from  High 
School  in  1872  ;  at  its  opening  in  Sep- 
tember, 1872,  entering  Buchtel  Col- 
lege, from  which  he  graduated  June 
30,  1875.  Entering  Harvard  Law 
School,  in  the  Fall  of  the  same  year 
he  graduated  th.?refrom  June  27, 1877, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Cleve- 
land October  8th  of  that  year.  June 
8,  1878,  he  went  to  St.  Louis,  and  the 
following  month  was  admitted  to 
practice  in  the  courts  of  Missouri. 
Studying  and  practicing  with  J.  M.  & 
C.  H.  Krum,  of  St.  Louis,  until  Feb- 
ruar}',  1879,  he  returned  to  Akron, 
forming  a  partnership  with  his  father 
under  the  firm  name  of  Voris  &  Voris, 
after  the  accession  of  his  father  to 
the  Common  Pleas  Jixdgeship,  form- 
ing a  partnership  with  his  brother- 
in-law,  Charles  Baird,  Esq.,  Feb- 
ruary 14,  1891,  under  the  firm  name 
of  Baird  &  Voris,  which  arrange- 
ment still  continvies.  On  the  death 
of  Prosecuting  Attornej^  John  C. 
Means,  in  May,  188(5,  Mr.  Voris  was 
appointed  bj^  Judge  Green  to  fill 
the  vacancy,  serving  till  January, 
1887.  Mr.  Voris  was  one  of  the  organ- 
izers of  Camp  27,  Sons  of  Veterans, 


EDWIN   F.    VOKLS. 

DivisionofOhio,in  Akron  ;  April,  1889, 
was  elected  member  of  Akron  Board 
of  Education  from  Second  Ward,  and 
is  still  serving  ;  October  21,  1879,  Mr. 
Voris  was  married  to  Miss  Lizzie  U. 
Slade,  of  Columbus,  Ohio.  The3^have 
3  children — Lj^dia,  born  J  ulj^  17,  1880 ; 
William  S.,  born  August  28,  1882; 
F)lizabeth,  born  August  12,  1884. 


The  first  pupil  graduated  from  the  Akron  High  School,  \^as 
Miss  Pamela  H.  Goodwin,  now^  Mrs.  William  Renwick,  of  Daven- 
port, low^a,  of  the  class  of  1864.  Since  then,  with  the  exception  of 
the  single  year  of  1870,  there  have  been  graduated,  yearly,  as 
follows:  1865,  two;  1866,  three;  1867,  five;  1868,  four;  1869,  five; 
1871,  four;  1872,  seventeen;  1873,  eleven;  1874,  sixteen;  1875,  eigh- 
teen; 1876,  twenty;  1877,  thirty-two;  .1878,  twenty-two;  1879, 
thirty-five;  1880,  thirty-six;  1881,  eighteen;  1882,  twenty-nine;  1883. 
tw^enty-six;  1884,  thirty-five;  1885,  forty-nine;  January,  1886,  nine; 
June,  1886,  forty-seven;  January,  1887,  twenty-seven;  June,  1887, 
thirty-one;  January,  1888,  twenty-five;  June,  1888,  thirty-seven; 
January,  1889,  sixteen;  June,  1889,  tliirty-three;  January,  1890, 
thirty;  June,  1890,  thirty-four;  January,  1891,  thirty-six;  June,  1891, 
thirty-four,  making  a  total  of  747  graduates,  in  the  28  years,  215  of 
■whom  were  boys  and  532  were  girls. 


NEW  AND  VALUABLE  FEATURES. 


143 


ARTHUR  J.  WEEKS.  born  in 
■^  Copley,  June  28,  1847  ;  raised  on 
farm ;  educated  at  North  Madison 
Academy  and  Willoughby  College, 
with  a  course  in  civil  eng-ineering-  at 
Bethany  College,  W.  Va. ;  assistant 
engineer  in  locating  and  construct- 
ing Tuscarawas  Valley  R'y>  t'^^o 
years ;  aSv^istant  to  Chief  Engineer 
P.  H.  Dudley,  on  Valley  R'y  three 
years,  last  two  j^ears  as  division 
engineer  in  charge  of  copstruction 
between  Akron  and  Canton;  Octo- 
ber 1,  1874,  was  married  to  Miss 
Lovina  Humbert,  of  Lake  Township, 
Stark  Co. ;  1875  to  1882,  engaged  in 
jobbing  Akron  stoneware,  pipes, 
matches,  etc.,  at  Evansville,  Ind. ; 
in  1882,  removed  to  Akron,  becoming- 
a  membea-  of  the  pottery  firm  of 
Weeks,  Cook  &  Weeks,  a  short  dis- 
tance south  of  the  present  felt  works  ; 
Mr.  Cook  retiring  in  188(5,  the  firm  of 
Weeks  Brothers  (Arthur  J.  and  Fred 
H.)  was  continued  until  Noveinber  1, 
1890,  Mr.  W.,on  dissolution,  purchas- 
ing the  pottery  works  of  F.  W. 
Rockwell  &  Co.,  lllO-llKi  Flast  Market 
street,  which  he  is  still  successfullj^ 
conducting,on  organization  of  Akron 
Stoneware  Agency,  Mr.  W.  was 
elected  secretary,  which  position  he 
still  fills ;  was  elected  member  of 
School  Board  in  1888  and  re-elected  in 
1890  ;  chairman  of  building  commit- 
tee, and  of  committee  on  heating- and 


ARTHUR   J.    WEEKS. 

ventilation  ;  in  1890  elected  treasurer 
and  continued  on  building  com- 
inittee  in  charge  of  erection  of  the 
new  Grace  School  building-. 


It  will  be  seen  that  while  the  sexes,  in  the  enumeration,  are 
very  nearlj^  equal,  considerable  more  than  twice  as  many  girls 
graduate  as  boys,  which  may  probably  be  accounted  for,  in  part  at 
least,  by  the  fact  that  before  reaching  the  graduation  point,  from 
necessity  or  choice,  the  boys  embark  in  mercantile  or  other 
business  pursuits,  while  a  large  proportion  of  the  girls  go  through 
with  the  design  of  becoming  teachers. 

OTHER  NEW  AND  VALUABLE  FEATURES. 


In  1890,  the  office  of  superintendent  of  primary  instruction  was 
created  by  the  board,  and  the  position  given  to  Mrs.  Sarah  C.  Lake, 
one  of  our  most  experienced  teachers  (formerly  for  many  years 
Principal  of  Bowen  School),  whose  daily  supervision  of  the  work 
being  done  in  the  primaries  is  proving  to  be  a  very  valuable  feat- 
ure of  our  educational  system.  The  salary  of  the  primary  super- 
intendent is  $850  per  year.  Another  valuable  advance  which  has 
been  made  is  the  doing  aAvay  with  formal  examinations  for  promo- 
tion, it  being  found  that  many  pupils  worthy  of  promotion,  being 
naturally  timid  and  easily  embarrassed,  would  fail  at  the  critical 
moment  to  reach  the  iron-clad  standard,  and  thus  be  arbitrarily 
kept  a  grade  or  two  below  their  more  ready  fellows,  in  reality  no 
better  qualified  than  themselves.  Promotions  are  now^  made  on 
the  recommendation  of  the  teachers  and  principals  of  the  sev- 
eral schools,  and  the  plan  has  so  far  worked  most  admirably. 


144 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


JOSEPH  COOK— born  in  London, 
J  Eng-land,  March  24,  1847;  in 
Spring  of  1849  came  with  parents  to 
America,  settling  at  East  Liverpool ; 
in  1863  enlisted  in  the  arm3'^,  serving- 
till  close  of  the  war.  During  service 
in  armj-  his  parents  removed  to 
Middlebur}-,  where  he  came  to  reside 
on  receiving  his  discharge.  Octo- 
ber 9, 1873,  Mr.  Cook  was  married  to 
Mary  T..  Norton,  eldest  daughter  of 
Thoinas  and  Hannah  Norton,  who 
has  borne  him  five  children — Eva  P., 
Thomas  N.,  Mary  J.,  Martha  W.  and 
George  W.  Mr.  C.  engaged  in  the 
pottery  buisness  .  with  David  A. 
Butler  and  John  Richardson,  under 
the  firm  naiue  of  -Richardson,  Cook 
&  Butler,  incorporated  March,  1879,  as 
the  Akron  Stoneware  Co.,  with  Mr. 
Cook  as  president.  Disposing  of 
his  stock,  three  5^ears  later,  the  firm 
of  Weeks,  Cook  &  Weeks,  built  an- 
other potterj^,  of  which  Mr.  C.  was 
superintendent  until  the  Fall  of  1886, 
when  he  disposed  of  his  interest  to 
the  Messrs.  Weeks.  Then  helped  to 
organize  and  was  made  president  of 
the  Wood  Type  and  Novelt3-  Manxi- 
facturing  Coiupany,  two  years  later 
disposing  of  his  interest  therein,  and 
in  the  Spring  of  1890,  aiding  in  the 
organization  of  the  Drop  Hammer 
Forging-  Co.,  of  which  he  is  president. 


JOSEPH  COOK. 

April.  1889,  Mr.  Cook  was  elected 
member  of  the  Akron  Board  of  Edu- 
cation, the  first  year  being  chairinan 
of  coinmittee  on  grounds,  and  the 
second  j-ear  of  committee  on  janitors, 
being  re-elected  in  1891. 


FRANKLIN   G.  STIPE. 

pRANKEIN  G.  STIPE,— eldest  son 
-*-  of  Harrison  and  Anna  (Neugent) 
Stipe,  was  born  in  Greentown,  Stark 
County,  April  23,  1846,  when  young 


removing-  with  parents  to  Green 
Township,  Summit  County;  edu- 
cated in  public  schools  and  Greens- 
burg  Seminar}',  for  several  years 
teaching  in  Winter  and  assisting 
father  on  farm  in  Summer;  during 
the  war,  as  a  inember  of  the  Ohio 
National  Guard,  served  from  May  to 
September,  1864,  in  Co.  H.,  164th  O.  V. 
I.,  in  defense  of  Washington,  as  else- 
where detailed ;  in  1866,  reinoved  to- 
Akron,  where  he  has  since  success- 
fully followed  the  painting  business. 
A  life-long  Republican,  Mr.  Stipe 
was  vice-president  of  the  Republi- 
can CentralCominittee  for  1887  ;  mem- 
ber of  Board  of  Education  from 
Fourth  Ward  for  1888-9,  and  mem- 
ber of  Citj'  Board  of  Equalization  of 
decennial  appraisement  of  real  estate 
for  1890.  September  5,  I860,  Mr.  Stipe 
was  married  to  Miss  Soviah  Koons, 
daughter  of  Jonas  and  Sarah  (France) 
Koons,  of  Green  Township,  Avho  has 
borne  him  four  children — Norah 
Eleanor,  Harry  Jonas,  Mabel  Lonelj- 
and  Mattie  Maria.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stipe 
are  members  of  the  First  M.  E. 
Church  of  Akron. 


In  September,  1884,  in  addition  to  English,  Latin  and  Greek,  a 
class  in  German  was  formed  in  the  High  School,  which  is  highly 


SCHOLARSHIPS   IN   BUCHTEL   COLLEGE. 


145 


appreciated  by  such  of  our  people  as  desire  to  have  their  children 
instructed  in  that  language.  Pupils  in  the  several  courses  in  1890 
were:  English,  222 — 64  boys,  158  girls;  graduates,  5  boys,  25  girls; 
Latin,  51  boys,  53  girls;  graduates,  8  boys,  7  girls;  German,  56 
boys,  57  girls;  graduates,  7  boys,  12  girls;  Greek  scholars  reciting 
at  College,  9. 

November  14,  1881,  the  executive  committee  of  the  board  of 
trustees  of  Buchtel  College  adopted  the  following  resolution,  which 
is  still  in  full  force: 

"Resolved,  That  one  scholarship  be  granted  to  the  City  of  Akron,  to  be 
awarded  by  competitive  examination  onlj^,  to  the  g-raduates  of  the  High 
School  qualified  to  enter  the  Freshman  Class  in  one  ofthe  courses  of  Buchtel 
College.  But  in  case  there  be  no  competitors  for  this  scholarship  among' 
the  graduates  of  the  High  School,  it  may  be  granted,  by  competitive  exami- 
nation, to  anj^  student  in  the  City  Schools  who  shall  be  qualified  to  enter  the 
Senior  Preparatory  Class  of  the  College  in  either  of  the  three  courses." 

A  NGELO  ANDREW,-"born  in  Bos- 
-^  ton  Township,  Summit  County, 
O.,  February  1,  1846 ;  common  school 
education ;  at  17,  apprenticed  to 
printer's  trade  in  oftice  of  Summit 
County  Beacon  ;  August  23,  1864, 
enlisted  in  Company  H.,  177th  O.  V. 
I.,  participating  in  all  its  engage- 
ments, and  serving  until  the  close  of 
the  war  ;  on  retiring  from  the  army, 
returned  to  Peninsula  and  engaged 
in  painting,  three  years  later  accept- 
ing a  clerkship  in  the  store  of  Mr. 
Frederick  Wood,  where  he  remained 
five  years ;  resuming  his  trade  and 
removing  to  Akron,  in  1877  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  his  brother, 
Robert  L.,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Andrew  Brothers,  and  besides  em- 
ploying a  large  number  of  painters 
and  decorators,  dealing  extensively 
in  paints,  paper-hangings,  house  and 
church  decorations,  etc. ;  in  Septem- 
ber, 1890,  buying  his  brother's  inter- 
est and  now  successfully  conducting 
the  business  upon  his  own  account. 
Democratic  in  politics,  Mr.  Andrew 
has  been  thrice  honored  with  a  seat 
in  the  School  Board  of  the  generally 
Republican  City  of  Akron,  serving 
faithfully   and   acceptablj'  four  full 


ANGELO  ANDKEW. 

years,  from  1887  to  the  present  time, 
August  14, 1873,  Mr.  Andrew  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Lizzie  Warburton,  a 
native  of  Northampton  township, 
who  has  borne  him  five  children — 
Mabel,  Frank,  Bessie,  Nellie  and 
Mildred. 


The  following  pupils,  under  this  beneficent  provision,  have 
availed  themselves  of  its  privileges:  Lillian  Moore,  scholarship, 
'81-'82,  full  course;  May  Baker,  '82-'83,  four  terms;  Lizzie  Griffin, 
'84-'85,  one  term ;  Edith  Garside,  '85,-86,  one  term ;  Edwin  L.  Findley, 
'86-87,  full  course;  WilUam  B.  Baldwin,  '87-88,  full  course;  Anna 
Thomas,  '88-'89;  Leroy  C.  Eberhard,  '89-'90;  Myrtle  Pardee,'9(>-'91.- 

MEMBERS  AND  OFFICERS  OF  BOARD. 

FoUoAving  is  given  what  is  believed  to  be  a  full  list  of  the 
gentlemen  w^ho  have  served  upon  the  Board  of  Education,  from  its 
organization  in  the  Spring  of  1847  to  the  present  time,  (1891)  a 
period  of  44  years,  although  the  exact  terms  of  service  cannot  here 
be  enumerated:  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  Harvey  B.  Spelman,  William 
Harrison    Dewey,    William    M.    Dodge,   Dr.   Joseph    Cole,   James^ 

lo  « 


146 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT    COUNTY. 


A  IvFRED  W.  HALL— son  of  Alex- 
■^  ander  and  Phoebe  Elizabeth 
(Kosnian)Hall,  was  born  in  Lawrence 
township,  October  19, 1847  ;  came  with 
parents  to  Akron  when  about  three 
j^ears  of  age  ;  educated  in  Akron  pub- 
lic schools  ;  followed  boating-on  Ohio 
Canal,  first  with  his  father  and  after- 
wards on  his  own  account,  till  1871 ; 
engineer  in  Allen  Mill  and  Rolling 
Mill  ten  j^ears ;  then  engaged  in 
insurance  business  for  five  years,  in 
March,  1886,  being  appointed  by  the 
Ohio  Board  of  Public  Works  super- 
intendent of  Northern  Division  of 
Ohio  Canal,  from  Cleveland  to  Boli- 
var, 75  miles,  which  position  he  is  still 
ably  filling.  In  local  matters  Mr. 
Hall  was  an  eiilicient  inember  of  the 
old  Volunteer  Hook  and  Ladder 
C0nipan5%  Mechanics  No.  '6 ;  a  direc- 
tor of  the  Summit  County  Agricul- 
tural Society ;  in  189()  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Education 
from  the  Fotirth  Ward,  which  posi- 
tion he  still  holds ;  is  also  a  stock- 
holder in  the  Peoples'  Savings  Bank. 
September  22,  1870,  Mr.  Hall  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Jennie  Letter,of  Blissfield, 
Lennewa  Count3%  Mich.  The5'  have 
one  son — George  Alfred,  born   Nov- 


ALFRED   W.  HALIv. 

ember  1,1881,  now  a  student  in  Akron 
public  schools. 


Mathews,  Judge  James  S.  Carpenter,  Dwight  Newton,  Judge 
Daniel  R.  Tilden,  Dr.  Elias  W.  Howard,  Henry  W.  Howe,  Webster 

B.  Storer,  Joseph  F.  Gilbert,  Gov.  Sidney  Kdgerton,  Joshua  C, 
Berry,  Kdw^ard  W.  Perrin,  Richard  S.  Klkins,  Dr.  Joseph  Stanton, 
Samuel  A.  Lane,  Judge  Nathaniel  W.  Goodhue,  Jacob  Snyder, 
Judge  Constant  Bryan,  Charles  B.  Bernard,  Ansel  Miller,  William 

C.  Allen,  Dr.  Elias  L.  Munger,  Rev.  Samuel  Williams,  Dr.  William 
Bowen,  Houston  Sisler,  Capt.  Gilbert  S.  Carpenter,  Dr.  Israel 
E.  Carter,  Milton  W.  Henry,  Hiram  Viele,  Rev.  Robert  Koehler, 
Judge  Roland  O.  Hammond,  Edward  Oviatt,  Judge  Stephen  H. 
Pitkin,  Arad  Kent,  Gen,  Alvin  C.  Voris,  Alvin  Rice,  Col.  Arthur  L. 
Conger,  Andrew  Jackson,  Hon.  George  W.  Crouse,  Col,  George  T. 
Perkins,  Lewis  Miller,  John  F.  Seiberling,  Judge  Newell  D. 
Tibbals,  George  Tod  Ford,  Dr.  J,  K.  HoUoway,  Henrj^  Young,  John 
M.  Kirn,  Adam  Bahl,  Levi  S.  Herrold,  Lewis  Creveling,  Dr.  Mendal 
JcAvett,  Dr.  W.  P.  Morrison,  John  Johnston,  Josiah  Miller,  George 
C.  Berry,  Dr.  Thomas  McEbright,  Fred  Kuhlke,  Frank  Adams, 
Joseph  A.  Baldwin,  David  Butler,  Dr.  William  C.  Jacobs,  Sanford 
M.  Burnham,  Paul  E.  Werner,  Edward  W.  Wiese,  Noah  N. 
Leohner,  William  M.  Heffelman,  James  W.  Stuver,  Martin  J. 
Housel,  William  B.  Raymond,  Andrew  M.  Armstrong,  Horace  G. 
Griffin,  Frank  W,  Rockw^ell,  Hiram  H,  Foltz,  Frederick  Bishop, 
Isaac  C.  Alden,  Frank  L.  Danforth,  Judge  Charles  R.  Grant,  Frank 
M.  Atterholt,  Reginald  H.  Wright,  Dr.  J,  W.  Lyder,  Col.  David  W. 
Thomas,  William  H,  Evans,  Christian  Vogt,  Louis  Seybold,  Dr. 
Louis  S,  Sweitzer,  Albert  H.  Sargent,  John  T.  Sell,  William 
Rothrock,  Frank  G.  Stipe,  Charles  H,  Cleveland,  George  G.  Allen, 
Chester  F.  Lamb,  Angelo  Andrew^,  John  McGregor,  James  V. 
Welch,  Arthur  J.   Weeks,  F,  Joseph  Koeberle,   Edwin   F,    Voris, 


OFFICERS   OF   BOARD   OF   EDUCATION, 


147 


Joseph  Cook,  Amos  J.  White,  Alfred  W.  Hall,  Walter  A.  Folger, 
Ivouis  Lanman,  James  A,  Sv^'inehart. 

Presidents:  Following  is  as  full  a  list  of  Presidents  of  the  Board 
and  years  of  service  in  that  office,  as  can  no^r  be  compiled:  Lucius 
V.  Bierce,  1847,  1848,  1852, 1853,  1854;  James  S.  Carpenter,  1849,  1850; 
Daniel  R.  Tilden  (probably)  1851;  Dr.  Elias  W.  Howard,  1855,  1856, 
1857;  Constant  Bryan  (probably)  1858;  Rev.  S.  Williams,  1859,  1860, 
1861;  Charles  B.  Bernard,  1862,  1863;  Milton  W.  Henry,  1864;  Dr. 
Israel  E.  Carter,  1865;  Judge  Stephen  H.  Pitkin,  1866,  1867,  1868, 
1870;  Dr.  WiUiam  Bowen,  1869;  George  W.  Crouse,  1871,  1872,  1877, 
1878,  1879;  Lewis  Miller,  1873,  1874,  1881,  1885,  1886;  Dr.  Thomas 
McEbright,  1875,  1876,  1880,  1884,  1887;  Col.  George  T.  Perkins, 
1882;  Frank  W.  Rockwell,  1883,  1888;  Albert  H.  Sargent,  1889,  1890; 
Edwin  F.  Voris,  1891. 

Treasurers:  William  H.  Dewey,  1847,  1848;  Harvey  B. 
Spelman,  1849,  1850,  1851;  Dr.  Elias  W.  Howard,  1851,  1852;  Sidney 
Edgerton,  June,  1853  to  February,  1855;  Richard  S.  Elkins, 
February,  1855  to  April,  1855;  Joseph  Stanton,  April,  1855,  till 
death  in  August,  1855;  Samuel  A.  Lane,  August,  1855,  till  April, 
1857;  Charles  B.  Bernard,  1857,  1859;  Constant  Bryan,  1858; 
Houston  Sisler,  1860,  1861;  Dr.  Israel  E.  Carter,  1862,  1863,  1864; 
Milton  W.  Henry,  1865,  1866,  1867,  1869;  Col.  George  T.  Perkins, 
1870,  1871,  1872,  1873,  1874,  1877,  1878,  1879;  William  C.  Allen,  1875, 
1876;  William  B.  Raymond,  1880,  1881;  Reginald  H.  Wright,  1883, 
1884,  1885,  1886;  Frank  W.  Rockwell,  1887;  George  G.  Allen,  1888, 
1889,  1890;  Arthur  J.  Weeks,  1891. 

Secretaries:  Harvey  B.  Spelman,  1847,  1848;  Dwight  Newton, 
1849,  1850;  Henry  W.  Howe,  1851,  1852,  1853,  1854;  Edward 
W.  Perrin,  1855,-1856,  1857;  William  C.  Allen,  1858,  1859,  1860; 
Hiram  Viele,  1861,  1862,  1863,  1864;  Charles  B.  Bernard,  1865; 
Edward  Oviatt,  1866,  1867;  Ahdn  Rice,  1868;  Arthur  L.  Conger, 
1869,  1870,  1871;  George  Tod  Ford,  1872,  1873,  1874,  1875;  George  C. 
Berry,  1876,  1886,  1887,  1888,  1889,  1890,  1891;  Paul  E.  Werner,  1877, 
1878;  Sanford  M.  Burnham,  1879,  1881;  Edward  W.  Wiese,  1880; 
Frank  M.  Atterholt,  1882,  1883,  1884,  1885. 

In  addition  to  Akron's  munificent  public  school  system,  herein 
before  described,  separate  parochial  schools  are  maintained  as 
follows: 

St.  Vincent  de  Paul's  parish 
school  was  established  in  1853,  in 
a  small  frame  building  adjacent 
to  the  original  church  structure, 
on  Green  street.  Since  the  com- 
pletion of  the  nevir  stone  church 
edifice,  corner  of  West  Market 
and  Maple  streets,  the  old  frame 
church  has  been  used  for  school 
purposes.  There  are  at  present 
three  divisions,  each  in  charge  of 
a  competent  teacher,  with  a  total 
pupilage  of  about  200.  It  is  the 
intention  of  the  society  to  erect  a 
new  and  more  commodious  school 
building  adjoining  the  church,  on 

St.  Vincent  de  Paul's  Parochial  School,  TVIor^lc*  cfr-^/^f    ;«    ftic^    t^aor    fn  +  m-^ 

South  Maple  Street,  Third  Ward.  Maple  Street,  in  tne  near  tuture. 


148 


AKRON    AND    SUMxMIT   COUNTY. 


St.  Mary's  division  of  this  Church,  erected  on  South  Main 
street,  near  Bartges  street,  in  1887,  a  fine  two-story  brick  building, 
30x62  feet  in  size,  ^th  chapel  on  the  upper  floor,  and  two  school- 
rooms on  the  lower  floor,  with  an  average  attendance  of  110  schol- 
ars. The  English  language  only  is  taught  in  these  schools.  Salary 
paid  teachers  $200  per  year. 

St.  Bernard's  Catholic  school 
was  established  in  1865,  in  the 
basement  of  the  church,  N.  E. 
corner  Broadway  and  Center 
streets,  with  about  35  scholars. 
In  1867,  a  small  frame  building 
was  erected,  east  of  the  churchy 
the  lower  story  of  w^hich  was  also 
used  as  a  school  room.  In  1880, 
four  school  rooms  were  fitted  up 
in  the  lower  story  of  the  large 
addition  then  made  to  the  church 
edifice,  the  number  of  scholars 
having  meantime  increased  to 
150.  The  present  number  is  370, 
and  a  fine  new  building  on  the 
southw^est  corner  of  Broadway 
and  Center  streets,  of  brick, 
72x100  feet  in  size,  four  stories 
high,  and  of  imposing  architect- 
ure, has  just  been  coinpleted. 
In  the  lower  storj^,  besides  numer- 
ous other  apartments  devoted 
to  the  uses  of  the  societ}",  is  a 
chapel    33x72   feet,   and    on    the 

upper  floor  is  an  assembly  hall  the  full  size  of  the  building.     The 

second  and  third  floors,  besides  proper  halls,  closets,  etc.,  contain 

eight  spacious  rooms;  with  accommodations  for  100  scholars  each. 

The    cost    of    the    building    Avith 

necessary  fixtures,  furniture,  etc., 

was  about    $35,000,   exclusive    of 

the  real  estate,  the  consideration 

for    which     was    $9,000.       Both 

English  and  German  instruction 

is   given    in  the   schools    of   this 

society.     Compensation  to  teach- 
ers $200  per  year  each. 

The  German    Zion's   Lutheran 

society  also    maintains    a   parish 

school  in  a  new  tw^o-story  brick 

building  standing  in  the  rear  of 

the     society's      handsome     brick 

church,   corner   of    South    High 

and    Quarry  streets.     There    are 

at  present  225  scholars,   in  three 

classes,    the    first   taught  by  Mr. 

William  M.   Spuhler,  the  second 

by  Miss  Emma  Lothman,  and  the  third  by  Rev.  Theodore  Huegli, 

both  German  and  English  being  taught.     Salary  of  teachers,  $600, 


St.  Bernard  Parochial   School,  corner 

South  Broadway  and  East  Center 

streets. 


German   Lutheran  Parochial   School, 
Quarry  street,  Second  Ward. 


BUCHTKL   COLLEGE. 


149 


$400  and  $300  per  3^ear,  respectively.  After  confirmation,  at  the 
age  of  13  or  14  years,  pupils  are  permitted  to  attend  the  public 
schools  of  the  city.  Present  school  directors,  George  Single  and 
Henr}'^  Range. 


Unchtel  College,  named  in  honor  of  principal  contributor  to  building 
and  endowment  funds,  Hon.  John   R.   Bnchtel,  of  Akron- 
Erected  in  1871-2. 


BUCHTEL    COLLEGE. 


This  institution  is  the  crowning  educational  glory  of  Akron, 
and,  indeed,  of  Summit  County,  since  the  ruthless  spoliation  of 
the  venerated  old  Western  Reserve  College,  at  Hudson,  and 
requires  more  than  mere  passing  mention  in  this  work. 
Though  in  no  manner  sectarian,  the  College  was  founded  by,  and 
is  carried  forward  under  the  auspices  of,  the  religious  organization 
knovy^n  as  Universalist,  and  its  history  is,  briefly,  as  foUow^s: 

At  the  annual  Convention  of  the  Universalist  Church  of  the 
State  of  Ohio,  in  1867,  its  Coinmittee  on  Education  submitted  a 
report  in  favor  of  establishing,  at  some  eligible  point  in  the  State, 
a  seminary  for  the  education  of  the  youth  of  the  State,  to  the 
privileges  of  which  both  sexes  should  be  admitted  on  equal  footing. 

The  report  >vas  favorably  received  by  the  Convention,  but  no 
•definite  action  w^as  taken  upon  it  at  that  session.  At  the  session 
of  1868,  Rev.  Andre^v  Willson,  of  Kent,  submitted  a  plan  for  the 
estal)lishment  of  the  contemplated  school,  which  was  adopted  by 
the  Convention,  but  no  action  was  had  tow^ards  carrying  it  into 
effect.  At  the  session  of  1869,  the  Convention,  by  resolution, 
rescinded  its  former  action,  and  authorized  the  l^oard  of  trustees, 
and  the  committee  on  education  to  take  the  necessary  steps  for  the 
establishment  of  a  college,  instead  of  an  academy,  as  at  first  con- 
templated. The  board  of  trustees  then  consisted  of  Rev.  John  S. 
Cantwell,  Rev.  Andrew  Willson,  Rev.  Henry  L.  Canfield,  Rev.  John 
W.  Henley,  and  Oscar  F.  Haymaker;  and  the  committee  on  educa- 
tion of  Rev.  Everett  L.  Rexford,  Rev.  Marion  Crosley,  and  Rev. 
Benjamin  F.  Eaton. 

At  a  joint  meeting  of  the  board  and  committee,  in  November, 
1869,  Rev.  Henry  F.  Miller,  then  of  Madison,  Indiana,  who  had 
already    greatly    aided    one   or   two    similar    institutions    in  that 


150 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


direction,  was  chosen  as  the  Financial  Secretary  of  the  Convention, 
to  solicit  funds  for  the  erection  of  the  necessary  buildings,  endowr- 
ments,  etc.,  of  the  proposed  institution,  which  the  Convention 
desired  to  present  as  Ohio's  offering  to  the  approaching  Centennial 
anniversary  of  Universalism  in  America,  the  first  Universalist 
Church  in  America  being  organized  at  Gloucester,  Mass.,  by  Kev, 
John  Murray,  in  1770. 


MR.   AND  MRS.  JOHN   R.  BUCHTEL. 


JOHN  RICHARDS  BUCHTEL,— son  of  John  and  Catharine  (Richards) 
J  Buchtel,  was  born  in  Green  township,  January  18,  1820  ;  education  limited  ; 
raised  a  farmer,  working-  land  on  shares,  then  buying  twenty  acres  in  Coven- 
trj%  and  afterwards  the  210  acre  farm,  since  known  as  the  Thornton  farm,  now 
a  populous  portion  of  the  city  of  Akron  ;  for  several  years  agent  for  Canton 
Buckeye  Reaper  and  Mower  Works,  and  largely  instrumental  in  securing  the 
Aultman,  Miller  &  Co.  branch  for  Akron  ;  during  the  war,  active  in  securing- 
enlistments,  raising-  bounty  money,  and  averting-  the  draft ;  largelj^  promo- 
tive of  many  of  the  industrial  enterpris.es  of  the  cit}',  including  blast  fur- 
nace and  extensive  coal  and  iron  mines  in  Athens  County  ;  Grant  presidential 
elector,  in  1872 ;  Prohibition  candidate  for  Secretary  of  State  in  1874 ;  inanag-ing- 
trustee  of  Ohio  Agricultural  College  for  several  years.  An  ardent  Univer- 
salist, while  unstintedly  liberal  towards  other  denominations,  his  crowning' 
glory  is  his  munificence,  aggregating  nearly  a  half  a  million  dollars^ 
toward  the  coUeg-e  that  bears  his  name,  fully  written  of  elsewhere.  Married 
Janvxary  8, 1844,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Davidson,  never  having  been  blessed  with 
children  of  their  own,  though  both  physically  infirm  for  many  3"ears,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Buchtel  jointly  devoted  the  accumulation  of  their  lives,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  children  of  their  neighbors  and  the  general  welfare. 

Mrs.  Buchtel, — daughter  of  John  Davidson,  was  born  in  Union  County, 
Pa.,  August  25,  1821  ;  removed  to  Ohio,  with  parents,  in  1834,  settling-  in 
Coventry  ;  after  marriage  sharing  with  her  enterprising  husband  the  labor 
of  founding  for  themselves  a  home  and  a  fortune,  and  sharing  equally  with 
him  the  pleasure  of  dispensing,  while  living,  the  wealth  thus  jointlj- accumu- 
lated, in  the  fotinding.of  Bvxchtel  College,  and  the  promotion  of  the  various 
other  educational,  moral  and  benevolent  enterprises  of  the  da}-.  In  June, 
1881,  Mrs.  Buchtel  was  stricken  wirth  paralysis  ;  but  notwithstanding  her  great 
infirmity,  and  its  many  deprivations,  she  was  ever  cheerful  and  helpful  of 
her  distinguished  husband,  who  became  similarlj-  afflicted  March  21,  1887, 
still  retaining  her  interest  in  all  of  their  joint  enterprises  and  benefactions, 
to  the  last,  her  death  occvirring  Friday,  May  22,  1891.  at  the  age  of  69  years.  8 
months  and  27  days. 


AKRON    SECURES   THE    PRIZE. 


151 


Mr.  Miller  entered  upon  his  duties  in  January,  1870.  Meantime 
a  lively  competition  was  in  progress,  between  the  inhabitants  of 
several  of  the  cities  of  the  State,  Akron  among  the  rest.  It  was 
finally  authoritatively  announced  that  the  location  would  be  given 
to  the  city  that  would  furnish  a  suitable  site  and  subscribe  $60,000 
to  the  funds  of  the  College. 

To  this  proposal,  the  people  of  Akron  and  Summit  County 
promptly  responded,  Mr.  John  R.  Buchtel  leading  off  w^ith  a  sub- 
scription of  $25,000  to  the  endowment  fund  and  $6,000  to  the 
building  fund.  Others  followed  w^ith  equal  liberality,  in  proportion 
to  their  means,  and  on  May  31,  1870,  Financial  Secretary  Miller 
reported  to  the  trustees  and  committee  that  the  stipulated  sum  of 
$60,000  had  been  subscribed  and  the  proper  site  secured  b}"  the 
people  of  Akron. 


AVERY  SPICER,— eldest  son  of 
-i*-  Miner  and  Cynthia  (Allen)  Spicer; 
born  at  Groton,  Ct.,  October  26,  1799 ; 
came  with  parents  to  Ohio  in  1811, 
being  the  first  white  settlers  in  Port- 
ag^e  township  ;  district  school  educa- 
tion ;  raised  a  farmer ;  at  21,  worked 
for  father  two  years  at  $7.00  per 
month  ;  in  1825,  had  charge  of  gang 
of  hands  on  Ohio  Canal,  furnishing 
stone,  timber,  etc.  for  locks  ;  Septem- 
ber 3,  1826,  was  married  to  Miss  Har- 
riet King,  daughter  of  Joshua  King, 
first  white  child  born  at  Old  Portage, 
(September  7,  1810);  in  1837  purchased 
large  farm  in  Coventry,  where  he 
lived  20  years,  moving  to  the  original 
homestead,  corner  Spicer  and  Car- 
roll streets,  in  1857,  where  he  resided 
until  his  death,  May  10,  1881.  Mr. 
Spicer  officiated  for  several  years  as 
trustee  of  Coventry  township,  and 
for  15  3'ears  as  director  of  County 
Infirmary,  superintending  the  erec- 
tion of  present  Infirmary  buildings. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spicer  were  the  parents 
of  nine  children — Isaac  A.,  who  died 
in  California  in  1850;  Cynthia,  now 
Mrs.  Geo.  Coggshall,  Akron  ;  Sarah  C, 
late  Mrs.  John  Newton,  of  Buchanan, 
Mich.;  Austin  A.,  who  died  in  Cov- 
entry,  March   4,   1889;    Harriet,    now 


AVERY   SPICER. 

Mrs.  J.  T.  Trowbridge,  Akron  ;  Olive 
and  Oliver,  twins,  who  died  in 
infanc5%  and  Ella  C,  now  Mrs.  Charles 
Parmenter,  Waltham,  Mass.  Mrs. 
Spicer,  now  in  her  82d  j^ear,  still 
survives. 


This  joint  body  then,  by  resolution,  formally  located  the 
"Universalist  Centenary  School  of  Ohio,"  at  Akron,  and  a  certifi- 
cate of  incorporation  w^as  duly  filed,  with  the  foUow^ing  named 
corporators:  Hon.  John  R.  Buchtel,  Rev.  John  S.  Cantwell,  Col. 
Geo.  T.  Perkins,  Henry  Blandy,  Rev.  George  Messenger,  Rev. 
Benjamin  F.  Eaton,  Hon.  Newell  D.  Tibbals,  Rev.  John  W.Henley, 
Hon.  Edwin  P.  Green,  Oscar  F.  Haymaker,  Rev.  Willard 
Spaulding,  James  Alexander  Lantz  and  George  Steese. 

The  association,  on  organization,  very  appropriately  took  the 
name  of  "Buchtel  College,"  in  honor  of  its  principal  donor,  and  the 
institution  Avas  formally  declared  "to  be  under  the  control  of  the 
Ohio  State  Convention  of  Universalists."  It  was  made  the  duty  of 
the  corporators  to  appoint  a  board  of  18  trustees,  five  of  whom  were 
to    be    resident   freeholders    of   Summit   County,    the    first    board 


152 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


appointed  being  as  foljows:  John  K.  Bucbtel,  president;  Henry 
Bland3',  Philip  Wieland,  J.  Dorsey  Angier,  Edwin  P.  Green  and 
George  T.  Perkins,  for  three  years  each:  Kev.  Henr3'  L.  Canfield, 
Rev.  Everett  L.  Kexford,  Gen.  James  Pierce,  John  F.  SeiberUng, 
Kev.  John  S.  Cantwell  and  Newell  D.  Tibbals,  for  two  years  each, 
and  Oscar  F.  Haymaker,  Sanford  M.  Burnham,  secretary,  John  R. 
Cochrane,  Charles  Foster,  Rev.  George  Messenger  and  Avery 
Spicer,  for  one  year  each;  George  W.  Crouse,  not  a  member  of  the 
board,  being  appointed  treasurer. 


HON.  GEORGE  W.  CROUSE.-born 
in  Tallmadg-e,  November  23, 1832  ; 
in  earl}"  bo3^hood  removed  with  his 
parents  to  Green  township  ;  gradu- 
ating- from  district  school  at  17, 
taught  schools  five  years ;  1855  to 
1858,  deputy  in  offices  of  County  Audi- 
tor and  Treasurer ;  1858,  at  25  years 
of  age,  elected  County  Auditor,  and 
re-elected  in  1860 ;  resigned  in  Febru- 
ary, 1863,  to  accept  appointment  of 
Treasurer  to  fill  vacancy,  serving  to 
end  of  term,  seven  months  ;  1863,  took 
management  of  Akron  branch  of  C. 
Aultman  &  Co.'s  Buckej^e  mower  and 
reaper  business ;  in  1865,  on  organi- 
zation of  Aultman,  Miller  &  Co.,  as  a 
separate  corporation,  became  secre- 
tary and  treasurer,  being  no^v  its 
president,  besides  being  pecuniarily 
and  officially  connected  with  a  large 
number  of  other  business  and  finan- 
cial enterprises  in  Akron  and  else- 
where. Republican  in  politics,  Mr. 
Crouse  has  filled,  besides  those 
mentioned,  the  following  civil  offices: 
County  Commissioner,  member  and 
president  Board  of  Education  ;  mem- 
ber and  treasurer  Board  of  Control 
Akron  Public  Library  ;  member  and 
president  Akron  City  Council ;  State 
Senator  and  Member  of  Congress. 
Liberal,  efficient  and  patriotic,  Mr. 
Crouse  served  100  days  in  defense  of 
Washington,  in  1864,  and  was  largely 
instrumental  in  securing  the  erection 
of  our  beautiful  Soldiers'  Memorial 
Chapel,   besides   contributing  liber- 


HON.  GEORGE  W.  CROUSE. 

ally  in  behalf  of  all  the  educational, 
religious  and  benevolent  enterprises 
of  the  day.     Married  October  18,  1859,  ^ 
to  Miss  Martha  K.  Parsons,  of  KTii*tv  ^^ 
The}^  have  five  children— Martha  P.,      ^ 
Julia     M.,    Mary    R.,    Nellie    J.,    and 
George  W.,  Jr. 


The  site  selected  for  the  College  is  one  of  the  most  commanding 
in  the  city,  fronting  on  Middlebury  street,  (now  Buchtel  Avenue), 
upon  the  north,  and  running  through  to  Carroll  street  on  the 
south.  It  is  a  part  of  the  original  farm  occupied  by  Akron's 
first  settler,  Major  Miner  Spicer,  in  1811 — Major  Spicer  himself 
being  an  ardent  Universalist,  and  a  zealous  inember  of  the  first 
society  of  that  faith  organized  in  Akron,  in  1837 — the  college  edifice 
being  visible  from  every  portion  of  the  city,  while  the  view  from 
the  top  of  its  central  tower  is  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  pic- 
turesque in  the  county. 

Tlie  architect,  Rev.  Thomas  W.  Silloway,  of  Boston,  Mass., 
submitted  plans  for  the  College  building,  December  28,  1870,  and 
a  building  committee  of  seveti  was  appointed,  as  follows:  Hon. 
John  R.  Buchtel,  Avery  Spicer,  Col.  George  T.  Perkins,  Rev.  Henry 


LAYING   THE   CORNER   STONE. 


153 


F.  Miller  and  Gen,  Alvin  C.  Voris,  of  Akron;  Rev.  George 
Messenger,  of  Springfield,  and  Mr.  Henry  Blandy,  of  Zanesville. 

Xoah  A.  Carter,  of  Akron,  was  made  general  superintendent; 
Samuel  Snider  and  Lewis  Wilhelm,  of  Akron,  awarded  the  contract 
for  stone  work;  John  H.  Waggoner,  of  Akron,  superintendent  of 
brick  work,  and  Henry  W.  Howe,  Esq.,  superintendent  of  grading. 

Ground  was  broken  on  the  15th  day  of  March,  1871,  and  the 
work  so  vigorously  prosecuted  that  the  massive  foundation  and 
basement  walls  were  completed,  and  the  corner-stone  of  the  super- 
structure was  laid  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1871,  with  the  following 
imposing  ceremonies: 


JUDGE  EDWIN  P.  GREEN,  born 
J  in  Gaysville,  Windsor  Co.,  Vt., 
March  10,  1828;  educated  in  common 
schools  and  Bradford  Academy; 
commenced  studjang-  law  in  Little- 
ton, N.  H.,  coming-  to  Akron  in  1852 
and  completing-  studies  in  office  of 
Humphrey,  Upson  &  Edgerton,  being 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  September 
1853;  October  1854  elected  Clerk  of 
Courts,  holding  the  office  until  Feb- 
ruary 1861,  then  resuming  his  law- 
practice;  during  the  war  was  deputy 
provost  marshal  forSutnmit  County, 
and  member  of  Cohgressional  Mili- 
tary Committee.  Prosecuting  Attor- 
ney N.  D.  Tibbals  entering-  the  ser- 
vice for  10()  days,  in  1864,  Mr.  Green 
was  appointed  prosecuting  attorney 
ad  interiin;  in  1883  was  elected 
Judge  of  Common  Pleas  Court,  to 
fill  the  unexpired  term  of  Judge  Tib- 
bals, resigned,  and  re-elected  for 
full  term  in  1885,  ably  filling  the 
position  until  January  1,  1891, 
when  he  resig-ned  and  ag'ain  resumed 
practice  at  the  bar.  Judge  Green 
has  always  taken  a  lively  interest  in 
educational  matters;  for  many  years 
serving  as  count}'  and  city  school 
examitier;  was  active  in  establishing 
Akron  Public  Library,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  its  board  of  control  until 
elected  Judge;  was  one  of  the  incor- 
porators of  Buchtel  College,  serving- 
as  Trustee  since  its  organization  in 
1872;  member  of  American  Bar  Asso- 
ciation, for  manj'  jxars  its  member 


•     JUDGE  EDWIN  P.  GREEN. 

of  General  Council  for  Ohio,  and  in 
1889  elected  its  vice  president  for 
Ohio,  also  member  'of  Ohio  Bar 
Association  of  which  he  was  made 
president  in  1887.  Judge  Green  was' 
married  to  Miss  Isabella  M.  Moore, 
of  Littleton,  N.  H.,  December  31,  1855, 
who  died  March  13.  1809;  was  again 
married,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  A.  Moore, 
sister  of  the  first  Mrs.  G.,  April  25, 
1870,  who  has  borne  him  three  child- 
ren, Isabella  M.  and  William  A.,  now 
living,  and  Mary  L.,  deceased. 


The  Excelsior  Gun  Squad  fired  a  salute  of  thirty  guns  at  mid- 
night, and  at  sunrise  the  Buckeye  Gun  Squad  awoke  the  morning 
echoes  ^vith  thirty-seven  guns.  The  procession  was  formed  on 
Howard  street  by  Chief  Marshal  Gen.  Geo.  W.  McNeil,  assisted  by 
Herman  F.  Hahn,  Paul  Giffhorn  and  Thomas  K.  Perkins,  on  the 
part  of  the  citizens,  and  by  Dr.  Thomas  McEbright,  Milton  H. 
Hart  and  Ohio  C.  Barber,  marshals,  on  the  part  of  the  Masonic 
Fraternit}'. 

The  procession  formed  in  the  following  order:  1,  Marshals 
and  Assistants;  2,  Bal)cock's  Band;  3,  Fire  Department;  4,  German 
Benevolent  Society;  5,  Order  of  United  American  Mechanics;  6, 
Coopers'    Union;     7,    Harmonie    Society;     8,    Turner    Society;     9, 


154 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Liedertafel  Society;  10,  Knights  of  Pythias;  11,  Father  Mathewr 
Temperance  Society;  12,  Good  Templars;  13.  Sons  of  Temperance; 
14,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  and  29th  O.  V.  V.  I.;  15,  I.  O.  O. 
F.;  16,  Marble's  Band;  17,  Masons;  18,  Mayor,  City  Officers  and 
Council;  19,  Clergy;  20,  Trustees  and  Officers  of  College;  21, 
Officers  of  the  Day  and  invited  and  distinguished  guests;  22, 
Citizens, 


C^  EN.  ALVIN  COE  VORIS,— eldest 
J  son  of  Judge  Peter  Voris,  born 
in  Stark  Co.,  April  27,  1827,  in  infancy 
moving  to  Bath  township;  educated 
in  Twinsburg-  Institute  and  Oberlin 
College;  1850  to  1852,  deputy  county 
clerk  and  acting  probate  judge; 
admitted  to  practice  law  June  20, 
1853 ;  in  partnership  with  Gen.  L. 
V.  Bierce  till  18.59;  Sept.  25,  1853, 
married  Miss  Lj^dia  Allyn,  who  bore 
him  three  children — Edwin  F.  (now 
practicing  law  in  Akron,)  Lucy, 
(now  Mrs.  Charles  Baird)  and  Bessie 
C,  (now  Mrs.  Will  T.  Sawyer);  repre- 
sentative to  State  Legislature  1859 — 
1860;  in  September  1861.  entered  the 
army  as  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  67th 
Regiment.  O.  V.  I.,  becoming  its 
commanding  office  the  following 
March;  [the  gallantry  of  this  regi- 
ment and  the  terrible  sufferings  of 
its  commander,  from  wounds 
received  in  battle,  fully  set  forth 
elsewhere  in  this  work].  Colonel 
Voris  was  bre vetted  Brigadier  Gen- 
eral December  8,  1864,  and  a  few 
months  later  Major  General,  ■  "for 
distinguished  services  in  the  field." 
Since  the  war,  with  the  exception  of 
serving. as  a  delegate  to  Constitu- 
tional Convention  in  1873,  the  Gen- 
eral has  devoted  himself  assiduously 
to  his  profession,  with  marked  legal 


GEN.   ALVIN  COE   VOKIS. 

and  financial  success.  November  4^ 
1890,  General  Voris  was  elected  Judge 
of  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  the 
counties  of  Summit,  Medina  and 
Lorain  for  the  the  term  of  five  years. 
The  first  Mrs.  Voris  dying  March  16, 
1876,  the  General  was  again  married,^ 
to  Mrs.  Lizzie  H.  Keller  Februarj^  21, 
1882. 


The  corner-stone,  three  feet  square  on  its  surface  and  two  feet 
in  thickness,  bears,  in  oval  form,  the  inscription:  "Centenary  of 
Universalism  in  America,  1870.  This  stone  laid  July  4,  1871,  by  A. 
H.  Newcomb,  G.  M.  F.  &  A.  M.,  A.  L.  5871."  In  the  cavity  wa& 
placed  a  casket  containing  copies  of  the  Star  in  the  West, 
Universalist,  Gospel  Banner,  Universalist  Quarter!}^,  Ladies'^ 
Repositorj^,  Mj^rtle,  Guiding  Star,  Universalist  Register,  Akron 
Daily-  Beacon,  Akron  Citj^  Times,  New  York  Tribune,  and  the 
Ohio  Universalist,  published  in  Cleveland  in  1838;  also  a  history 
of  the  College  enterprise,  a  list  of  its  officers,  architects,  builders^ 
etc.;  a  Bible;  list  of  officers  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ohio,  and 
officers  and  members  of  Akron  Lodge,  No.  83,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and 
by-laws  of  the  Lodge;  samples  of  American  coin,  etc.  On  the 
arrival  of  the  procession  at  the  building,  the  President  of  the  Day, 
Henry  Blandy,  Esq.,  of  Zanesville,  introduced  Rev.  Everett  L. 
Rexford,  of  Columbus,  -who  offered  a  brief  but  fervent  prayer, 
which  was  folloAved  by  "America,"  superbly  rendered  by  Marble's 
Band,  and  the  formal  laying  of  the  corner-stone  by  the  officers  of 


HON.    HORACE   GREELEY  S    ADDRESS. 


155 


the  Grand  Lodge  of  Masons  of  Ohio,  conducted  by  Grand  Master 
A.  H.  Newcomb. 

Among  other  musical  exercises,  a  Glee  Club,  composed  of  W. 
Milton  Clarke,  Wilson  G.  Robinson,  Dr.  Byron  S.  Chase  and  Daniel 
R.  Knight,  sang  an  original  song,  of  six  twelve-line  stanzas  to  the 
tune  of  "Yankee  Doodle,"  of  which  the  following  is  a  sample 
stanza: 

"A  Yankee  Dutchman  lived  in  town, 

And  built  machities  for  niowing. 
And  reaping,  too,  so  he  came  down 

(To  set  tlie  thing  a-going) 
With  thirty  thousand  of  tlie  pelf. 

He'd  earned  by  trade  and  labor; 
He  said  'twas  good  to  help  one's  self. 

Better  to  help  a  neighbor; 
In  this  way  Buchtcl  (that's  his  name) 

Was  bound  to  scatter  knowledge; 
He  gave  them  stamps,  they'll  give  him  fame. 

They'll  build  him  Buchtel  College." 

PERDINAND  SCHUMACHER, 
A  — born  in  Celle,  Hanover,  March 
30,  1822 ;  served  13  years  (from  15  to  '28), 
as  clerk  in  g'rocery  and  sugar  refin- 
ery; in  18.tO  emigrated  to  United 
States,  settling-  on  a  farm  in  Euclid, 
near  Cleveland;  in  1851  engaged 
in  fancy  goods  trade  in  Akron; 
in  1852  embarked  in  grocery  trade 
which  he  successfully  followed 
ten  years;  in  18,56  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  oat  meal,  pearl 
barley  and  other  cereal  products, 
enlarging  and  increasing  his  mills, 
until  now,  notwithstan  ding  his 
heavy  losses  by  fire,  as  detailed 
elsewhere,  his  works  are  the  most 
extensive  and  successful  of  their 
kind  in  the  world.  Besides  his  mill- 
ing interests  Mr.  Schiimacher  is 
.pecuniarily  and  officially  connected 
with  many  other  manufacturing 
enterprises.  Liberal  in  his  religious 
views,  he  is  a  generous  contributor 
to  all  church  organizations,  the  Uni- 
versalists  being  under  especial  obli- 
gations to  him  for  their  .  present 
church  lot  and  fine  house  of  worship. 
A  pronounced  Prohibitionist,  he  is 
one  of  the  most  zealous  Temperance 
promoters  in  Ohio.  Mr.  Schumacher 
was  married  at  Cleveland,  October  7,  , 
1851,  to  his  cousin.  Miss  Hermine 
Schumacher,  of  Bevern,  Brunswick, 


FERDINAND  SCHUMACHER. 

Germany.  Seven  children  have  been 
born  to  them,  five  of  whom  are 
deceased,  the  two  survivors,  Louis 
and  F.  Adolph,  ably  assisting  their 
enterprising  father  in  conducting 
the  immense  business  of  which  he  is 
the  founder— the  former  as  vice 
president  and  the  latter  as  secretary 
of  the  F.  Schumacher  Milling  Co. 


HON.  HORACE  GREELEY'S  ADDRESS. 


After  a  few  preliminary  remarks,  Mr.  Greeeley,  continuing,, 
said:  "AUow^  me  nov^r  to  say  a  few  words  in  reference  to  the  edu- 
cation inculcated  by  our  colleges  at  large.  It  is  too  superficial  for 
the  age.  People  do  not  grudge  money  for  education,  provided 
they  know  that  they  secure  what  they  pay  for,  yet  they  fear  that 
they  are  not  noAv  receiving  in  proportion  to  the  expenditure.  My 
objection  to  college  courses  is,  that  while  there  has  been  advance- 
ment of  the  world,  in  every  department  of  human  industry,  there 
has  not  been  a  corresponding  stride  in  the  curriculum  of  college 
studies.     I  insist  that  our  average  course  tends  directly  to  drive 


156 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


men  into  three  pursuits  or  professions,  -which,  however  honorable, 
do  not  comprise  the  great  professions  Avhich  labor  for  the  general 
good  of  mankind;  and  I  hope  to  see  the  day  when  there  will  be  a 
reform;  when  this  college  shall  graduate  a  great  and  glorious 
bod}^  of  young  and  earnest  men  in  engineering,  science,  and  a 
hundred  different  pursuits  where  knowledge  is  of  great  benefit  to 
human  kind.  I  want  the  young  men  to  be  leaders  in  these  hundred 
branches  of  industry,  and  would  like  to  see  it  different  from  the 
present  day,  when  the  richest  metal  of  the  mind  is  sent  abroad  to 
be  moulded  and  formed  into  shape  to  be  practically  applied  to  the 
science  of  the  age." 


TOY  H.  PENDLETON,  -born  in 
J  Litchfield  Countj',  Conn.,  Febru- 
arj'  1,  1810;  removing-  with  parents  to 
Ohio  in  1819,  settling-  in  Stow ;  reared 
to  farm  life,  with  limited  educational 
opportunities  ;  at  20  entered  store  of 
Stow  &  Wetmores,  at  Cuyahog^a  Falls, 
as  clerk,  remaining-  with  them  about 
five  3^ears,  part  of  the  time  traveling 
through  Ohio  selling  their  papers 
and  other  goods  ;  in  1835,  in  company 
with  brother,  opened  a  general  store 
in  Brunswick,  Medina  County,  a  year 
Jater  removing  the  business  to 
Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent),  about  1840, 
■engaging  with  B.  F.  Hopkins,  in 
conducting  flouring  mill,  saw  mill, 
and  woolen  factor}^,  vinder  the  title 
of  "  Center  Manxif acturing  Company," 
also  carrj'ing  on  a  general  merchan- 
dise store,  continuing  therein  until 
about  1847.  From  18.%  to  1860  Mr.  P. 
-was  engaged  in  railroad  construc- 
tion, with  headquarters  at  Da3'ton 
and  Cincinnati.  Removing  to  Akron 
in  1866,  aided  in  organizing-  the  Sec- 
ond National  Bank  of  Akron,  becom- 
ing its  vice-president,  which  position 
he  retained  until  the  death  of  presi- 
dent George  D.  Bates,  July  25.  1887, 
^vhen  he  was  elected  to  the  presi- 
dency of  the  bank,  -which  position, 
yet  hale  and  vigorous,  in  the  82d  year 


JOY  H.  PENDLETON. 


of  his  age,  he  still  retains.  Mr  Pen- 
dleton has  been  three  times  married: 
in  1832  to  Miss  Julia  Corp,  who  died 
July  5,  1833;  in  November,  1834,  to 
Miss  Sybil  Fletcher,  who  died  May  29, 
1841;  September  13,  1842  to  Miss 
Eunice  M.  Post,  a  native  of  Summit 
Count)',  who  still  sur-vives.  They 
have  one  child,  Nellie  A. 


Mr.  Greeley  then  spoke  at  length  on  '^  Human  Conceptions  of 
God  as  thev  affect  the  Moral  Education  of  our  Race."  We 
cannot  here  give  the  full  text  of  the  address,  and  no  mere  synopsis 
-would  do  it  justice.  A  few  brief  sample  excerpts,  therefore,  must 
suffice:  "There  are  those,"  said  Mr.  Greelej^,  "-who  talk  sonorously, 
stridently,  of  Law — of  the  La-w  of  Development  or  Progress — as 
though  they  had  found  in  a  -word  a  key  -which  unlocks  all  the 
mysteries  of  creation.  But  I  am  not  silenced  by  a  word;  I  demand 
its  meaning,  and  then  seek  to  determine  ho\Y  far  that  meaning 
bridges  the  gulf  which  the  ^vord  was  intended  to  over-leap.  To 
my  apprehension.  Law  is  the  dictate  of  an  intelligent  -will,  or  it  is 
nothing.  *  *  *  What  we  affirm  is  that  God  is  mo.re  than  a 
blind,  creative  Bnergy,  an  inexorable  Fate,  a  vitalizing,  fructifying 
Principle.  He  is  the  conscious,  loving  Author  and  Governor  of 
things.     *     *     *     Hence  the  higher  education   of  our  day — most 


EVENING  RECEPTION  TO  MR.  GREELEY. 


157 


wisely  in  purpose,  not  always  in  method — essays  to  base  its  insti- 
tutes and  processes  on  religion,  and  to  ground  the  character  it 
seeks  to  form  on  the  firm  foundations  of  Christian  Faith  and  Love, 
*  *  *  This,  then,  I  apprehend,  is  the  proper  -work  of  the  college: 
To  appreciate  and  measure,  and  undistrustfuUy  accept  and 
commend  the  gigantic  strides  which  physical  science  is  making  in 
our  day,  yet  not  be  swept  away  by  them;  to  welcome  all  that  is 
true  and  beneficent  in  the  impetuous  currents  of  modern  thought^ 
but  not  to  exaggerate  their  breadth  and  depth,  nor  accept  their 
direction  as  authoritative  or  final;  to  proffer  a  genial  and  gracious- 
hospitality  to  whatever  is  nobly  new,  yet  hold  fast,  and  from  time 
to  time  assert,  that  no  discovery  in  science,  no  advances  in  human 
knowledge,  can  ever  invalidate  or  belittle  the  Golden  Rule,  and  na 
conclusion  of  philosophy  ever  equal  in  importance  that  simple 
affirmation  of  the  untaught  Judean  peasant,  who  long  ago  per- 
ceived and  proclaimed  that  'God  is  Love.'" 


pOL.  GEORGE  TOD  PERKINS,— 
^  son  of  Col.  Simon  and  Grace 
Ingersoll  (Tod)  Perkins,  was  born  in 
Akron,  May  5,  1836;  educated  in 
Akron  schools  and  at  Marietta  Col- 
lege ;  April,  1861,  enlisted  as  private 
in  Nineteenth  Regt.  O.  V.  I.  (three 
months),  and  as  Second  Lieutenant 
of  Co.  B.,  participating  in  the  West 
Virginia  campaign  ;  in  August,  1862, 
re-enlisted  in  the  105th  O.  V.  I.,  becom- 
ing its  major ;  commanded  part  of 
regiment  in  the  sanguinary  battle  of 
Perrysville,  K3 .,  October  8,  1862,  two 
of  his  captains  being  killed,  four 
other  officers  wounded,  47  men  killed 
and  212  wounded  ;  participated  in 
the  battles  of  Hoover's  Gap,  Chicka- 
maiiga,  Chattanooga,  Mission  Ridge, 
Kenesaw  Mountain  and  the  siege  of 
Atlanta ;  marched  with  Sherman 
from  "  Atlanta  to  the  Sea; "  promoted 
to  Lieutenant  Colonel  July  16,  1863, 
to  Colonel,  February  18,  1864,  and 
mustered  out  with  regiment  at  Wash- 
ington, June  3, 1865  ;  secretary  of  Tap- 
lin.  Rice  &  Co.  from  1867  to  1870  ;  presi- 
dent of  Bank  of  Akron,  1870  to  1876 ; 
cashier  of  same  till  consolidation 
with  Second  National  Bank,  in  March, 
1888,  and  still  acting  in  that  capacity  ; 
president  of  the  B.  F.  Goodrich  Com- 


COL.  GEOKGE   TOD  PERKINS. 

panj^  and  the  Goodrich  Hard  Rubber 
Companj-  ;  Married  to  Miss  Mary  F. 
Rawson,  October  6,  18(j5 ;  three  chil- 
dren, one  of  whom,  onlj-,  is  is  now 
living — Mar}",  married  to  Charles  B. 
Raymond,  of  Akron,  May  21,  1890. 


At  the  close  of  Mr.  Greeley's  address,  Hon.  John  R.  Buchtel 
was  loudly  called  for,  who  responded  in  one  his  off-hand  unreport- 
able  speeches.  Mr.  Buchtel  closed  his  remarks  bj^  feelingly 
thanking  those  w^ho  had  contributed  to  the  Institution,  and  said 
that  he  hoped,  and  trusted,  and  prayed,  that  those  having  children 
would  educate  them  here,  and  pledged  himself  that  the  College 
should  be  an  honor  and  pride  to  Akron  and  the  State — first-clas& 
in  every  respect.  "We  don't  intend,"  said  Mr.  Buchtel,  "to  pull  a 
shingle  from  off  a  single  church,  but  will  unite  in  suppressing 
evil,  and  in  building  up  the  morals  and  character  of  the  city." 

In  the  evening  an  immense  reception  was  given  to  Mr. 
Greeley,  at   Mr.  Buchtel's   residence,   corner   of  East  Market  and 


158 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Union  streets.  The  trustees  of  the  College  were  present  in  a  body 
in  behalf  of  whom,  Edwin  P.  Green,  Esq.,  thanked  Mr.  Greeley  for 
his  address  and  kindly  interest  in  their  enterprise.  During  the 
evening  there  were  toasts  and  speeches  as  follows:  "The  City  of 
Akron:"  Response  by  Nathaniel  W.  Goodhue,  Esq.;  "The  Common 
Schools  of  Akron:"  Response  by  Newell  D.  Tibbals,  Esq.;  "^The 
Centenary  of  Universalism  in  America:"  Responded  to  by  Mr. 
Greeley,  at  considerable  length,  defining  the  religious  doctrines  of 
the  denomination,  and  his  ov^n  reasons  for  adhering  thereto, 
closing  by  bidding  all  to  hope  that,  in  the  time  to  come,  would 
acts  be  done  in  Love  and  Faith,  as  they  were  done  when  John 
Murray  first  commenced  to  preach  that  faith  in  America  in  1770. 
Other  toasts:  The  "Bands  of  Akron:"  Response,  by  J.  Park 
Alexander;  "Buchtel  College:"  Response  by  H.  D.  Persons,  of 
Cambridge,  Pa.;  "The  Relation  of  Common  Schools  to  Higher 
Institutions  of  Learning:"  Response  by  Dr.  N.  S.  Townshend,  of 
Elyria. 


eULLIVAN  H.  McCOLLESTER,  D. 

»-J  D.,  of  Scotch  descent,  was  born 
in  Marlboro,  N.  H.,  December  18, 
1826 ;  graduated  as  A.  B.  from  Nor- 
wich University  in  1851  ;  taking  div- 
inity course  at  Harvard  Univer- 
sitjs  was  ordained  to  the  Chris- 
tian ministry  in  1854;  was  prin- 
cipal of  Walpole  Academy  two  years; 
Mount  Csesar  Seminar}^  five  3^ears  ; 
Westmoreland  Valley  Seminary 
three  j-ears ;  Westbrook  Seminarj^ 
and  Female  College  eight  years  ; 
commissioner  of  New  Hampshire 
public  schools  and  president  Board 
of  Education  three  years,  during  this 
time  preaching  Sundaj^s,  organizing 
a  church  and  causing  a  house  of 
worship  to  be  erected  at  Swanzey,  N. 
H.,  and  also  one  on  the  grounds  of 
the  Westbrook  (Maine)  Seminar3\ 
After  a  remarkably  successful  pas- 
torate over  the  Universalist  Church, 
at  Nashua,  N.  H.,  was  in  1872  called 
to  Akron  as  the  first  president  of 
Buchtel  College,  which  position  he 
ably  filled  six  j^ears  ;  also  organizing 
the  Universalist  Church  in  Akron 
and  acceptably  filling  its  pulpit  two 
3'ears.  After  leaving  the  college  he 
organized  a  strong  church  at  Bellows 
Falls,  Vt.,  and  three  years  later  one 
at  Dover,  N.  H.,  securing  the  build- 
ing of  a  fine  edifice  for  each.  Mr. 
McCoUester  with  his  family  has  five 
times  made  the  tour  of  Europe — in 
1866,  '69,  '78,  '86  and  '89~visiting  Italy, 
Greece,  Palestine,  Asia  Minor,  and 
many  other  countries,  his  last  trip 
extending  entirely  around  the  world. 
He  received  his  A.  M.  in  course  and 


REV..   S.   H.    M'COLLESTER,  D.    D. 

his  D.  D.  from  St.  Lawrence  Univer- 
sitj^ ;  is  now  domiciled  at  "  Maple- 
side,  "  in  his  native  town,  preaching 
Sundays,  lecturing  winters,  and  gen- 
erally engaged  in  literary  w^ork, 
being  the  author  of  "After  Thovights 
in  Foreign  Lands  and  Capital 
Cities, "  "  Round  the  World  in  Old 
and  New  Paths,  "  and  other  popular 
works,  having  also  represented  his 
native  tow^n  in  the  Legislature  two 
years.  Mr.  McCoUester  was  married 
to  Miss  Sophia  F.  Knight  at  Dum- 
merston,  Vt.,  in  1853.  Of  the  four 
children  born  to  them  only  one  sur- 
vives— Rev.  Lee  S.  McCoUester,  now 
pastor  of  the  Universalist  Church  in 
Detroit,  Mich. 


In  response  to  loud  and  long  repeated  calls,  Mr.  Buchtel  made 
a  brief  speech,  thanking  his  friends  and  neighbors  for  their  kind 
expressions  for  both  himself  and  the  College  bearing  his  name. 


IN    SUCCESSFUL   OPERATION. 


159 


The  institution  was  to  be  in  no  sense  sectarian,  and  he  was  proud 
to  think  that  it  would  not  graduate  Methodists,  nor  Baptists,  nor 
Congregationalists,  nor  Universalists,  but  men  and  women  too; 
and  he  was  willing  to  sacrifice  all  he  possessed — even  his  very  life 
— for  the  success  of  the  College.  One  end  of  the  College  was  for 
gentlemen  and  the  other  end,  just  exactly  like  it,  for  ladies.  He 
believed  in  educating  all,  without  regard  to  sex  or  color. 

THE  COLLEGE  IN  OPERATION. 

The  building  was  so  rapidly  proceeded  with  that  it  was  first 
occupied  in  September,  1872,  but  little  more  than  a  year  after  the 
laying  of  the  corner-stone,  and  within  about  three  years  from  the 
first  inception  of  the  project. 

The  services  of  Rev.  Sullivan  H.  McCoUester,  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, were  secured  as  president  of  the  College,  with  the  following 
Faculty:  Rev.  S.  H.  McCollester,  A.  M.,  Professor  of  Mental  and 
Moral  Philosophy ;  Nehemiah  White,  Professor  of  Languages ;  S. 
F.  Peckham,  A.  M.,  Professor  of  Natural  Science;  Carl  F.  Kolbe, 
A.  M.,  Professor  of  Modern  Languages  ;  Miss  Hattie  F.  Spaulding, 
L.  A.,  Professor  of  Rhetoric  and  English  Literature;  Alfred  Welsh, 
A.  B.,  Professor  of  Mathematics ;  H.  D.  Persons,  Professor  in  Nor- 
mal Department  ;  Gustav.  Sigel,  Professor  of  Music  ;  Miss  Hattie 
L.  Lowden,  Teacher  in  English.  One  member  of  the  original 
faculty,  only.  Professor  Kolbe,  is  now^  officially  connected  with  the 
College. 

PVERETT  L.  REXFORD,  D.  D.,— 
1—'  born  in  Harmony,  Chautauqua 
Countj,  N.  Y.,  April  24,  1842,  his 
father  being-  a  Baptist  minister; 
edticated  in  Jamestown  Academy 
and  St.  Lawrence  University,  at  Can- 
ton, N.  Y.,  graduating-  from  the  latter 
in  I860  ;  commenced  his  ministry  in 
the  First  Universalist  Church  in 
■Cincinnati  in  September,  I860,  con- 
tiiuiing-  three  j-ears  ;  was  then  pastor 
of  the  Cohimbus  Universalist 
Church  five  years  ;  in  1874,  after  three 
months'  trial  (during  which  the 
Columbus  pulpit  was  held  open  for 
his  return,  should  he  elect  to  do  so), 
he  assumed  the  pastorate  of  the 
Universalist  Church  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, Cal.,  where  he  remained  until 
called  to  the  presidency  of  Buchtel 
College  in  1878,  which  responsible 
position  he  ablj'  filled  two  3^ears,  also 
officiating  as  pastor  of  the  First 
Universalist  Church  of  Akron,  both 
of  which  positions  he  resigned  to 
accept  the  pastorate  of  the  ncAvly 
formed  Universalist  Church  of 
Detroit,  Mich.,  where  he  remained 
eight  years,  resigning  to  become  the 
pastor  of  a  Universalist  society  in 
Boston.  Mass.,  where  he  still  remains. 
The   honorary   degree   of   D.  D.  was 


REV.  EVERETT   L.    REXFORD,  D.  D. 

conferred  upon  him  by  Buchtel  Col- 
lege in  1874.  October  5, 186o-.  Mr.  Rex- 
ford  was  married  to  Miss  Julia 
George,  daughter  of  the  late  Isaac 
George,  of  Dunkirk,  N.  Y.,  who  bore 
him  one  daug-hter,  Mary  Elizabeth, 
his  second  marriage  being  with  Miss 
Amanda  Pleasant,  daug-hter  of 
Daniel  G.  Pleasant,  of  Bowling- 
Green,  Ky. 


During  the  first  j'^ear  there  were  seven  students  in  the  classical 
course — six  of  whom  were  designated  as  Freshmen  and  one  Jun- 
ior,  all  entering  for  the   regular  course    of   four   years.     For  the 


160 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Philosophical  course  of  two  years  there  were  39  students,  and  for 
the  Academical  course,  171 — total  217,  of  whom  98  were  ladies,  119 
were  gentlemen.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  from  the  start  the  sexes 
fairly  balanced  each  other  in  the  race  for  know^ledge,  which  con- 
dition has  been  substantially  maintained  to  the  present  time,  the 
catalogue  for  1890-91  listing  130  gentlemen  and  143  ladies — 273 
students  in  all,  and  experience  has  demonstrated  that  the  founders 
of  the  College  acted  wisely  in  providing  for  the  co-education  of  the 
sexes  on  equal  terms. 

Dr.  McCollester  tendered  his  resignation  as  president  in  June, 
1877,  but  its  acceptance  was  declined  by  the  Board  of  Trustees 
until  June,  1878,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Kverett  L.  Rex- 
ford,  a  graduate  of  the  Theological  School  of  St.  Lawrence  Univer- 
sity, at  Canton,  New^  York,  and  a  preacher  of  considerable  emi- 
nence. Dr.  Rexford,  besides  ably  filling  the  presidential  chair  of 
the  College  for  tv^o  years,  also  officiated  as  pastor  of  the  Univer- 
salist  Church  of  Akron,  resigning  both  positions,  in  1880,  to  assume 
the  pastorate  of  a  new  Universalist  parish  in  Detroit,  Mich.,  being 
no^v  pastor  of  a  Universalist  Church  in  Boston,  Mass. 

Dr.  Rexford's  successor  w^as  Rev.  Orello  Cone,  A.  M.,  D.  D.,  for 
fifteen  years  Professor  of  Bibilical  Languages  and  Literature  of 
St.  Lawrence  University,  at  Canton,  N.  Y.,  Avho  assumed  the  presi- 
dency of  the  College  in  1880,  his  administration,  during  his  eleven 
years  incumbency,  having  been  deservedly  popular  and  successful. 


REV.  ORELLO  CONE,  D.  D.,— 
born  in  Lincklaen,  Chenang-o 
County,  N.  Y.,  November  16,  1835; 
taught  in  public  schools,  securing 
an  education  by  his  own  exertions 
and  earnings ;  in  1858  engaged  as 
teacher  in  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Col- 
lege, at  Palmyra,  Mo.,  remaining' 
three  years  ;  soon  after  entered  the 
Universalist  ministry,  preaching  two 
years  in  Little  Falls,  N.  Y. ;  in  18&5 
was  elected  to  the  Chair  of  Biblical 
Languages  and  Literature  in  the 
Theological  School  at  Canton,  N.  Y., 
where  he  remained  until  called  to  the 
presidency  of  Buchtel  College  in 
Akron  in  1880,  which  position,  after 
eleven  years  of  eminently  satisfac- 
torj^  service,  he  still  occupies.  In 
addition  to  his  college  duties,  Dr. 
Cone  has  done  considerable  literary 
w^ork,  having  w^ritten  man}'^  articles 
for  reviews,  a  volume  on  "  Salva- 
tion,"  published  in  1889,  his  latest 
and  most  important  work  being' 
"  Gospel  Criticism  and  Historical 
Christianity,"  issued  from  the  press 
of  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  New  York,  in 
April,  1891.  Dr.  Cone  was  married  to 
Miss  Mariamne  N.  Pepper,  at  Little 
FaJls,  N.  Y.,  October  3,  1864,  who  has 


KEV.  ORELLO  CONE,   D.   D. 

borne  him  two  children — Edwin  F., 
born  October  4,  1867,  now  studj'ing 
chemistry  in  Case  School,  Cleveland, 
after  being  graduated  from  Buchtel 
College,  and  Wm.  Channing',  who^ 
died  in  childhood. 


COLLEGE  FACULTY,  INSTRUCTORS,  ETC. 

We  have  not  the  space  to  name  all  of  the  professors  and 
teachers  who  have  officiated  in  the  several  departments  and  classes 
of  the  College  during   the  nineteen  years  of  its  existence,  but  it 


OFFICIAL   ROSTEK    FOR    1891-'92.  161 

may  be  said,  generally,  that  each  and  all  have  done  well.  The 
present  roster,  for  1891-92,  is  as  follows: 

Rev.  Orello  Cone,  D.  D.,  President,  Messenger-Professor  of 
Mental  and  Moral  Philosophy ;  Charles  M.  Knight,  A.  M.,  Buchtel- 
Professor  of  Physics  and  Chemistry";  Carl  F.  Kolbe,  A.  M.,  Ph. 
D.,  Hilton-Professor  of  Modern  Languages  ;  William  D.  Shipman, 
A.  M.,  Professor  of  Greek  Language  and  Literature  and  Philolog- 
ical Science ;  Charles  C.  Bates,  A.  M.,  Professor  of  Latin  Lan- 
guage and  Literature  and  Secretary  of  Faculty  ;  Bdward  W.  Clav- 
pole,  B.  A.,  D.  Sc.  (Lond.),  F.  G.  S.  S.  L.  &  A.,  Professor  of  Natur'al 
Science  ;  Mary  B.  Jewett,  A.  B.,  Pierce-Professor  of  English  Lit- 
erature and  Logic  ;  Hermas  V.  ISgbert,  A.  M.,  Ainsworth-Pro- 
fessor  of  Mathematics  and  Astronomy  ;  Willard  H.  Van  Orman, 
Adjunct-Professor  of  Mathematics;  Judge  Charles  R.  Grant, 
Instructor  in  Law ;  Dr.  A.  L.  Butterfield,  Ryder-Professor  of 
Elocution  and  Rhetoric  ;  Jennie  Gifford,  A.  M.,  Principal  of  Pre- 
paratory Department  and  Teacher  of  Science  and  School  Manage- 
ment ;  Dora  E.  Merrill,  Instructor  in  English  History  and  Teacher 
in  Normal  Work ;  Mary  E.  Stockman,  L.  A.,  Teacher  in  English 
and  Latin  ;  Martha  A.  Bortle,  Teacher  in  English  and  Rhetorical 
W^ork  ;  Edwin  L.  Findley,  A.  B.,  Teacher  in  Greek  and  Latin  ; 
Ernest  Danglade,  B.  S.,  Assistant  in  Chemistry  ;  Mattie  Fiery, 
Teacher  of  Piano  and  Theory  ;  Louise  Von  Feilitzsch,  Teacher  of 
Vocal  Music  ;  Gustav  Sigel,  Teacher  of  Violin,  'Cello  and  Zither  ; 
Miss  Minnie  Fuller,  Teacher  of  Painting  and  Drawing.  Gymna- 
sium OFFICERS:  Albert  A.  Kohler,  A.B.  M.  D,,  Director  and  Exam- 
iner for  Men;  Katharine  Kurt,  M.  D.,  Examiner  for  Women;  Agnes 
Claypole,  Instructor  for  Women;  Albert  Hoover,  M.  D.,  Oculist. 

Board  of  Trustees:  Hon.  John  R.  Buchtel,  Akron;  Judge 
Edwin  P.  Green,  Akron;  Col.  George  T.  Perkins,  Akron;  Albert  B, 
Tinker,  Akron;  Jonas  J.  Pierce,  Sharpsville,  Pa.;  Hon.  Sanford  M, 
Burnhatn,  Akron;  Judge  Alvin  C.  Voris,  Akron;  W^illiam  H.  Slade, 
Columbus;  Joy  H.  Pendleton,  Akron;  Arthur  A.  Stearns,  A.  M., 
Cleveland;  John  F.  Eddy,  Bay  City,  Mich.;  Hon.  Geo.  W.  Crouse, 
Akron;  Rev.  J.  F.  Rice,  Coe  Ridge;  Judge  Newell  D.  Tibbals, 
Akron;  Ferdinand  Schumacher,  Akron;  Rev.  Andrew  Willson, 
Ravenna;  Joseph  Hidy,  Jr.,  Ph.  B.,  Washington  C.  H.;  Daj^ton  A. 
Doyle,  A.  B.,  LL.  B.,  Akron. 

Officers  of  the  Board:  Hon.  John  R.  Buchtel,  President; 
Charles  R.  Olin,  Secretary;  Joy  H.  Pendleton,  Treasurer.  Execu- 
tive committee:  Hon.  John  R.  Buchtel,  Col.  George  T,  Perkins, 
Albert  B.  Tinker,  Ferd.  Schumacher  and  Joy  H.  Pendleton.  Com- 
mittee ON  instruction:  Judge  Newell  D.  Tibbals,  Judge  Alvin  C. 
Voris,  Hon.  S.  M.  Burnham, 

COURSES  OF  STUDY. 

At  the  opening  of  the  College,  two  courses  of  studj^  were 
established — philosophical  and  classical.  To  these  has  since  been 
added  a  scientific  course,  and  the  College  now  gives  instruction  in 
three  courses  of  four  years  each— a  classical  course  leading  to  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts;  a  philosophical  course  to  Bachelor  of 
Philosophy,  and  a  scientific  course  to  Bachelor  of  Science. 

In  connection  with  the  College  there  has  been  established  and 
maintained  a  preparatory  school,  having  courses  of  study  arranged 
H 


162 


AKKON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 


with  particular  reference  to  the  preparation  of  siudents  for  enter- 
ing this  college,  but  at  the  same  time  so  general  that  students 
completing  a  course  in  the  preparatory  school  may  enter  other  col- 
leges, should  they  prefer  to  do  so. 

OTHER   VALUABLE  FEATURES.    * 

The  Department  of  Music  affords  superior  alv^antages  for  the 
study  of  both  vocal  and  instrumental  music;  the  Department  of 
Art  gives  to  students  every  advantage  found  in  the  larger  Art 
Schools  of  the  country;  Mathematical  Instruments,  Philosophical 
and  Chemical  apparatus.  Astronomical  appliances,  etc.,  are  of  the 
very  best;  while  the  College  museum  contains  a  fair  collection  of 
animal  and  mineral  specimens  and  curios,  and  the  College  Library 
and  Reading  Room,  a  well-selected  collection  of  books,  and  a  large 
variety  of  the  current  periodicals  of  the  day. 


Croiise  Gyuina'^iuin — named  in  lionor  of  principal  contrib- 
utor to  building  fund — Hon.  (Jeorge  VV.  Crouse,  of 
Akron— Erected  in  1^. 


THE  CROUSE  GYMNASIUM. 

Largely  through  the  liberality  of  Hon.  Geo.  W.  Crouse,  a  fine 
structure,  53x100  feet  in  size,  and  of  elegant  design,  has  been 
placed  upon  tl^e  college  grounds,  a  short  distance  westerly  from 
the  main  building,  at  a  cost  of  $22,000,  In  the  basement  is  a 
bowling-alley,  with  bathing  rooms,  dressing  rooms,  etc.,  and  on  the 
main  floor,  besides  rooms  for  the  instructors,  is  a  hall  48x84  feet, 
vsrith  a  gallery  11  feet  above  the  floor  for  the  accommodation  of 
such  visitors  as  are,  in  the  discretion  of  the  instructor,  permitted 
to  writness  the  exercises, — the  gymnasium,  with  its  thorough  equip- 
ment, affording  abundant  means  for  the  healthful  exercise  and 
muscular  development  of  the  students. 

The  two  buildings,  including  the  rooms  of  the  students,  are 
heated  by  steam  and  lighted  by  gas  generated  upon  the  premises, 
and  the  College  has  a  well-equipped  kitchen  and  dining  hall  for 


ENDOWED    PROFESSORSHIPS,    ETC. 


163 


those  who  desire  to  board  upon  the  premises,  besides  furnishing 
facilities  for  tiie  organization  of  boarding  clubs  for  the  conven- 
ience of  such  students  as  wish  to  avail  themselves  of  that 
■comparatively  inexpensive  mode  of  subsistence. 


SANFORD  M.  BURNHAM,— born 
in  Genessee  Count}^  N.  Y.,  Janu- 
ary 23,  1824;  common  school  and 
academic  education;  in  1844  taught 
.school  in  Madison,  Lake  County, 
Ohio;  then  took  a  course  of  commer- 
cial study  in  Buffalo,  afterwards,  for 
a  time,  teaching-  penmanship;  in  1848 
settled  in  Akron,  clerking  in  ware- 
house of  Rattle  &  Tappan  on  Ohio 
•Canal,  and  in  iron  store  of  Mr.  Tap- 
pan  and  his  successor  until  18,55; 
then  engaged  with  Austin  Powder 
Company  as  book-keeper  for  two 
years,  also  for  a  time  a  book-keeper 
at  Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent);  in  1858, 
engaged  as  Deputy  Auditor,  for 
Auditor  George  W.  Crouse,  also 
deputj'  for  Treasurer  S.  S.  Wilson, 
serving  in  both  nearly  four  j^ears;  in 
February  1863  was  appointed  Audi- 
tor to  fill  vacancy,  two  weeks  later 
becoming  Auditor  in  fact  by  virtue 
of  his  election  thereto  the  previous 
October.  After  nearl}^  nine  years 
continuous  servdce — four  terms  and 
a  fraction — as  Auditor,  in  1872  Mr. 
B.  was  elected  as  Representative  to 
the  State  Legislature,  ably  serving 
■one  full  term  of  two  years;  on  his 
retui'n  was  made  .secretai*>'  and  a' 
member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
Buchtel  College;  in  1873  was  elected 
a  director  and  secretary  of  the  Web- 
ster,  Camp   &  Lane   Machine   Com- 


SANFORD  M.   BURNHAM. 

pany,  holding  the  position  14  years, 
and  is  now  engaged  in  the  insur- 
ance business.  Mr.  B.  was  married 
November  5,  1848,  to  Miss  Anna  M. 
Row,  of  Medina  Count}^  who  has 
borne  him  six  children,  three  onlj^  of 
whom  are  living — Lillie  M.  (now  Mrs. 
A.  T.  Saunders);  Charles  S.  and  Clif- 
ford D,  the  latter  now  residing  in 
Grand  Rapids,  Michigan. 


PROFESSORSHIPS,   SCHOLARSHIPS,  ETC. 

By  means  of  its  fifty  endowed  scholarships,  of  $1,000  each,  the 
<'ollege  is  enabled  to  extend  its  advantages  to  such  worthy  students 
as  are  in  need  of  financial  aid,  in  securing  a  liberal  education;  has 
five  endowed  professorships;  an  endowed  fund  of  $5,385,  the 
income  from  which  is  annually  distributed  for  prizes  for  excel- 
lence in  reading,  recitation,  etc.,  and  an  alumni  prize  fund  for  the 
payment  of  tuition  fees  for  the  student  making  the  highest 
av^erage  record  in  the  Senior,  Preparatory  and  Freshman  classes. 

The  endowed  professorships  are  as  follows:  The  Messenger 
Professorship  of  Mental  and  Moral  Philosophy,  by  Mrs.  Lydia  A. 
E.  Messenger,  of  Akron,  in  honor  of  her  deceased  husband,  Kev. 
Oeorge  Messenger,  $25,000;  The  Hilton  Professorship  of  Modern 
Languages,  by  John  Hilton,  of  Akron,  $25,0(X);  The  Pierce  Profess- 
orship of  Rhetoric  and  English  Literature,  by  Mrs.  Chloe  Pierce, 
of  Sharpsville,  Pa.,  $20,000;  The  Buchtel  Professorship  of  Physics 
and  Chemistry,  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Buchtel,  of  Akron,  $20,000;  The 
Ainsworth  Professorship  of  Mathematics  and  Astronomy,  by 
Henry  Ainsworth,  of  Lodi,  $30,000;  The  Ryder  Professorship  of 
Elocution  and  Rhetoric,  by  William  H.  Ryder,  of  Chicago,  $35,385; 


164 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


The  Messenger  Fund  of  $30,000,  by  Mrs.  Iv3^dia  A.  E.  Messenger,  of 
Akron;  The  Isaac  and  Lovina  Kelly  Fund  of  $35,788,  by  Isaac 
Kelley,  of  Mill  Village,  Pa.  A  Theological  Department  is  also  in 
contemplation  toAvards  the  endoA^^ment  of  Avhich  the  sum  of 
$10,000  has   already    been    contributed. 


HON.  NEWELL  D.  TIBBALS,— 
born  in  Deerfield,  Portag-e 
County.  September  18,  1833;  grad- 
uated from  McLain  Acadenty,  at 
Salem,  in  1853;  read  law  in  office  of 
Otis  &  Wolcott,  in  Akron;  admitted 
to  bar  September  18.55,  at  once  open- 
ing- an  office  in  Akron;  in  1860  elected 
Prosecuting-  Attorney  and  re-elected 
in  1862;  in  1865  elected  Akron's  first 
City  Solicitor,  serving  two  terms; 
State  Senator  for  Summit  and  Por- 
tage Counties  1865  to  1867;  in  1870. 
aided  in  organizing  Buchtel  College, 
since  continuously  serving  on  its 
Board  of  Trustees;  in  187o,  elected 
Judge  of  Court  of  Common  Pleas, 
second  subdivision.  Fourth  Judicial 
District,  re-elected  in  1880,  but 
resigned  May  1,  1883,  and  resumed 
his  law  practice.  In  1864,  Judge  Tib- 
bals  served  117  days  in  front  of 
Washington  as  fourth  sergeant  of 
Co.  F.,  l&tth,  O.  V.  I.;  on  return  from 
Washington,  was  elected  Major  of 
54th  Battalion,  O.  N.  G.,  and  com- 
missioned by  Gov.  John  Brough;  in 
1886  was  appointed  Judge  Advocate, 
Department  of  Ohio,  G.  A.  R.,  by 
Commander  A.  L.  Conger,  and  in 
1890  Aide-de-Camp  to  Coiumander-in- 
Chief  Gen.  Russell  A,  Alger.  Octo- 
ber 22,  1856,  Judge  Tibbals  was  mar- 


HON.  NEWELL  T>.   TIBBALS. 

ried  to  Miss  Lucy  A.  Morse,  of 
Akron,  who  has  borne  him  seven 
children,  five  of  whom  are  now  liv- 
ing,—Martha  A.  (now  Mrs.  Wilson  M. 
T>ay  of  Cleveland),  Jessie  A.  (Mrs.  Dr. 
Albert  Hoover,  of  Akron),  Newell  L., 
Gertrude  A.,  and  Ralph  Waldo. 


Besides  his  original  munificent  gift  of  $31,000,  heretofore  noted, 
Hon.  John  R.  Buchtel  has  from  time  to  time  largely  added  to  his 
benefactions,  his  last  gift,  at  the  annual  commencement  in  June, 
1887,  being  $174,4(X),  swelling  the  total  amount  of  his  donations  to 
fully  half  a  million  dollars.  Other  benefactors  have  given  liber- 
ally in  sums  ranging  from  $70,000  down,  all  of  whom  will  receive 
from  the  past  and  future  beneficiaries  of  the  college  their  due  meed 
of  praise  and  gratitude. 

The  college  has  graduated  162  students,  many  of  whom  are 
now  actively  interested  in  the  w^elfare  and  prosperity  of  their  alma 
mater.  More  than  half  the  alumni  are  residents  of  Ohio,  and  are 
a  very  great  help  to  the  college;  three  of  the  graduates  being  now 
members  of  the  faculty,  and  four  others  members  of  the  board  of 
trustees.  The  catalogue  for  1890-91  embraces  273  students  exclu- 
sive of  art  and  music. 

The  College  is  on  a  good  financial  basis,  as  shown  bj^  the  sec- 
retary's report  for  1891,  as  follows: 

Total  Resources $810,700.11 

Total  Liabilities 217,018.32 

Net  Resources $593,681.79- 


A  CONTEMPLATED  NEW  FEATURE. 


165 


The  present  healthy  condition  of  the  college,  tinancially  and 
otherwise,  and  its  promise  for  the  future,  is  highly  gratifying  to 
its  friends  and  patrons  generally,  and  most  of  all  to  him  \Nrho  gave 
all  he  had  to  its  establishment  and  maintenance,  the  large-hearted 
John  Richards  Buchtel,  Avhose  name  it  so  proudly  bears. 


pROF.  ALBERT  B.  TINKER.-son 
^  of  Horace  and  Sophronia  (Skin- 
ner) Tinker,  was  born  in  Mantua, 
Portage  Cotinty,  January  28,  1852 ; 
raised  on  farm,  attending  common 
school  till  18,  in  1870  entering-  Hiram 
College,  teaching  winters;  in  fall  of 
1873  entered  Buchtel  College,  gradu- 
ating in  June,  1876;  taught  school 
and  worked  on  farm  until  November, 
1878.  when  he  entered  the  law  office 
of  Green  &  Marvin,  in  Akron,  gradu- 
ating from  the  Cincinnati  Law^ 
School  and  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
June,  1883.  In  November,  1879,  was 
*;lected  Financial  Secretary  of  Buch- 
tel College,  which  position,  together 
with  that  of  Law  Instructor,  as  M.  S. 
and  LL.  B.,  he  held  until  his  resig- 
nation in  June,  1891,  being  also  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  and 
of  the  Executive  Committee,  in  addi- 
tion to  his  College  duties  continuing 
his  law  practice  at  his  office  in  the 
Arcade;  also  efficiently  serving  as  a 
member  of  the  Akron  Board  of 
Health  from  1885  to  1891,  six  years. 
December  25,  1876,  Prof.  Tinker  was 
married  to  Miss  Georgie  Olin,  of 
Windsor,  Ashtabula  County,  O.,  who 
has  borne  him  seven  children — Olin 
Dale,    born  February    19,   1878;   Ger- 


PROF.  ALBERT   B.   TINKER. 

trude  Ella,  born  March  20, 1879;  Frank 
Burke,  born  August  20,  1880;  Sojih- 
ronia  Mary,  born  June  29,  1882  ;  Ruby 
Georgia,  born  September  25,  1886, 
died  November  11,  1886 ;  Abby,  born 
June  8,  1888,  and  Donna  Alberta,  born 
June  6,  1890. 


SCIENCE  BUILDING. 

The  management  of  the  College  have  in  contemplation  the 
addition  of  a  science  department,  and  the  erection  of  a  new  and 
comtnodious  building,  to  be  fitted  with  the  most  approved  appa- 
ratus and  appliances,  at  a  cost  of  from  $49,000  to  $50,000,  but  the 
plans  are  not,  at  the  closing  of  this  chapter  (August,  1891),  suffi- 
ciently inatured  to  give  them  in  detail  here.  It  may,  however,  be 
properly  said  that  one  donation  to  the  project  in  the  sum  of  $10,000 
has  already  been  secured,  and  one  or  two  similar  offers  condition- 
ally made,  so  that  it  is  confidently  believed  by  the  Board  of  Trustees 
and  officers,  that  in  the  near  future  the  full  fruition  of  the  project 
will  be  realized. 


FRIGHTFULLY  FATAL  DISASTER. 

As  the  Fall  term  was  drawing  to  a  close,  on  the  approach  of 
the  holiday  season  for  1890-91,  a  terrible  disaster  came  upon  the 
College,  bringing  an  appalling  death  to  two  of  its  most  promising 
students,  and  terrible  suffering  and  life-long  injury  to  several  oth- 
ers. The  term  had  been  highly  successful,  and  all  the  students 
were  happy  in  anticipation  of  its  auspicious  close,  and  of  the  holi- 
day pleasures  in  store  for  them  at  their  respective  homes. 


166  '  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

About  a  dofeen  of  the  young  ladies  whose  birth-days,  respect- 
ively, occurred  between  the  first  of  September  and  the  first  of 
December,  resolved  upon 'a  joint  celebration,  and,  by  consent  of  the 
matron,  the  festivities  were  being  held  in  Cary  Hall,  on  the  even- 
ing of  Saturday,  December  13,  1890,  several  ladies  connected  with 
the  building,  and  a  number  of  the  other  lad}"  students  being*  pres- 
ent. The  young  ladies  in  \^hose  honor  the  party  was  being  held 
were  fantastically  arrayed  in  their  night  costumes,  garlanded  'with 
^eecy  white  cotton,  with  tall  paper  caps  also  trimmed  with  cotton, 
surmounted  by  a  tassel,  upon  their  heads. 

Thus  arrayed,  Avith  one  of  their  number  at  the  piano,  the  other 
eleven  were  merrily  dancing  around  a  pan  of  pop-corn,  when  the  tas- 
sel upon  the  head-dress  of  Miss  Aurelia  Wirick,  of  Storm  Lake,  Iowa, 
came  in  contact  with  a  burning  gas  jet,  instantly  igniting  the  highlj^ 
inflammable  cotton, and  enveloping  her  person  in  flames.  Before 
realizing  what  had  happened,  the  other  girls  waltzing  past  her 
were  also  ablaze. 

Without  attempting  to  describe  the  terrible  panic  which 
ensued,  and  the  frantic  efforts  of  the  young  ladies  and  their  friends 
to  relieve  them  from  their  frightful  peril,  suffice  it  to  say,  that  of 
the  thirteen  persons  finally  involved  in  the  fearful  holocaust,  Miss 
May  Emma  Steves,  of  Clifton  Springs,  N.  Y.,  after  four  hours  of 
untold  agon)^,  found  merciful  relief  in  death,  a  little  after  midnight, 
w^hile  Miss  Lulu  Myrtle  Steigmeyer,  of  Attica,  Ohio,  lingered  until 
quarter  past  five  o'clock  Sunday  morning,  when  she,  too,  passed 
away. 

The  surviving  sufferers  were:  Mary  Elizabeth  Baker,  of 
Johnson's  Creek,  N.  Y.;  Myrtle  Barker,  of  Peru,  Ohio;  Eva  Ellen 
Dean,  of  Storm  Lake,  low^a;  Aurelia  Blair  Wirick,  of  Storm  Lake,^ 
Io\ea;  Dian  May  Haynes,  of  Clifton,  Kansas;  Addie  Marion 
Buchtel,  of  Columbus,  Kansas;  Almira  Reed  Van  Dusen,  of  Fair- 
pla}'^,  Colorado;  Dora  E  Merrill,  Professor  of  English  History,  of 
Williamsport,  Pa.;  Mary  Zuba  West,  of  Marietta,  Ohio;  Estella 
Frances  Musson,  of  Mogadore,  and  Wilbur  Walter  Ackley,  Haga,. 
Ohio.  The  lives  of  several  of  these  hung  in  the  balance  for  several 
days,  but  they  gradually  recovered,  though  a  number  will  bear 
marks  of  the  disaster  upon  their  persons  through  life. 

This  appalling  calamity  not  only  brought  deep  sorrow  to  the 
friends  of  the  sufferers,  eliciting  the  depest  sympathy  from  the 
entire  community,  but  was  especially  painful  to  the  College 
authorities,  lest  they  should  be  charged  with  lack  of  discipline  and 
a  proper  oversight  of  the  young  people  entrusted  to  their  care. 
There  is,  hoivever,  no  room  for  censure  of  the  authorities  in  con- 
nection with  this  sad  affair.  The  College  is  not  in  any  sense,  a 
prison,  and  innocent  pastimes,  by  either  sex,  among  themselves^ 
may  properly,  on  occasion,  be  permitted,  and  it  is  gratifying  to 
know  that  while  the  melancholy  event  is  still  sadly  remembered, 
by  the  friends  of  the  institution,  confidence  in  the  administration 
of  its  affairs  has  remained  unbroken,  and  its  pupilage  and  influ- 
ence is  increasing  year  by  year. 

The  writer  has,  in  the  preparation  of  this  chapter,  drawn 
largely  upon  the  late  Judge  Bryan's  sketch  of  the  Akron  schoolSr 
prepared  for  the  Board  of  Education,  in  1876,  and  is  under  special 
obligations  to  Superintendent  Fraunfelter,  ex-Superintendent 
Samuel    Findley,  President  Orello   Cone,  ex-Secretary   Albert   B^ 


C(iNCLUvSION    OF   AKRON  S    SCHOOL   HISTORY. 


167 


Tinker,  and  Secretary  Charles  R.  Olin,  for  data  furnished  there- 
for, and  in  conclusion  would  say,  that  while  the  chapter  itself  is  of 
considerable  length,  it  is  scarcely  more  than  an  outlineiof  Akron's 
educational  history  during  the  sixty-six  years  of  its  existence, 
though  enough  has  been  said  to  show,  that  in  point  of  progress, 
Akron,  for  many  years,  took  the  lead,  and  is  not  now  outranked 
by  any  city,  large  or  small,  in  Ohio  or  elsewhere. 


DAYTON  A.  DOYLE,— son  of  Wil- 
liam B.  and  Harriet  (S  a  fy  e) 
Doyle,  was  born  at  Akron,  Ohio,  Sep- 
tember 27,  1856;  educated  in  public 
schools  of  Summit  County,  graduat- 
ing' from  Akron  High  School  June 
26,  1874.  and  from  Buchtel  College, 
with  the  degree  of  A.  B.,  -June  26. 
1878.  He  then  read  law  in  the  office 
of  Attorney-General  Jacob  A.  Kohler 
one  year,  afterwards  attending-  lect- 
ures at  Cincinnati  Law  School,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  May  26, 188(). 
with  the  degree  of  LL.  B. ;  was 
admitted  to  the  Bar  in  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Ohio,  at  Columbus,  May  27, 
188(),  and  to  practice  in  the  United 
States  Courts,  at  Cleveland,  May  26, 
1882.  On  adinission  to  the  bar  Mr. 
Doyle  opened  a  law  office  in  Akron, 
in  188.5  forming  a  partnership  with 
Frederick  C.  Bryan,  Esq.,  which  still 
continues.  In  April,  1885,  Mr.  Doyle 
was  elected  City  Solicitor  for  Akron, 
and  re-elected  in  April,  1887,  ably  fill- 
ing that  important  office  four  years. 
April  23,  1884.  Mr.  Doyle  was  married 
to   Miss    Ida  M.   Westfall,  of  Akron. 


DAYTON   A.   DOYLE. 

\ 

They  have  two  children— Daj'ton  A., 
Jr.,  and  Julia  M. 


'^"^v?'"" 


M\ 


CHAPTER  IX. 

AKRON'S  LITERARY  ACHIEV^E>IEXT8— EARLY  DEBATIXG  SOCIETIES— "  LYCEUM 
AND  LIBRARY  ASSOCIATION"  CHARTERED  IN  1834 — vSHAPING  THE  DESTI- 
NIES OF  THE  NATION— THE  "^KRON  PHILO  LEXION  SOCIETY  "—BRIEF  BUT 
BRILLIANT  —  THE  "  AKRON  LITERARY  ASSOCIATION  "  —  "  THERE  WERE 
GIANTS  IN  THOSE  DAYS" — THE  MECHANICS'  AND  SCHOOL  LIBRARIES — THE 
"AKRON  LECTURE  ASSOCIATION  "—ITS  SUCCESS  AND  BENEFICENT  OUT- 
COME^THE  "AKRON  LIBRARY  ASSOCIATION,"  CHARTERED  IN  1866 — PHENOM- 
ENAL ENTERPRISE  AND  PROSPERITY — AKRON'S  FREE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY, 
ONE  OF  THE  BEST  IN  THE  STATE — THE  YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCI- 
ATION'S READING  ROOM,  GYMNASIUM  AND  WONDERFULLY'  SUCCESSFUL 
CHEAP  POPULAR  LECTURES,  ETC. 

AKRON'S  ANCIENT  LITERARY  OPERATIONS. 

From  Akron's  very  beginning,  her  people,  as  evidenced  by  her 
splendid  edticational  record  already  fully  set  forth,  have  always 
given  special  encouragement  to  literary  and  scientific  enterprises. 

As  early  as  1834,  the  Legislature  granted  a  charter  to  the 
"Akron  Lyceum  and  Library  Association,"  as  follows: 

An  Act  to  incorporate  the  Akron  Lyceum  and  Library  Association 
Company,  in  Akron,  Portage  County. 

Section  I.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Ohio, 
that  Seth  Iredell,  Justus  Gale,  Hiram  Paj^ne,  William  B.  Mitchell,  William 
E.  Wright,  Charles  W.  Howard,  Lyman  Green,  William  M.  Dodge,  Woolsey 
Wt^ls,  Erastus  Torrey,  David  Allen,  Reuben  McMillen,  Eliakiin  Crosby  and 
Jaines  W.  Phillips,  and  their  associates,  tog-ether  with  such  others  as  may 
be  hereafter  associated  with  them,  be  and  are  hereby  constituted  a  body 
politic  and  corporate  with  perpetual  succession,  by  the  name  and  style  of 
'  The  Akron  Lyceum  and  Library  Association  Company,'  and  hy  their  cor- 
porate name  maj-  contract  and  be  contracted  with,  sue  and  be  sued,  plead 
and  be  impleaded,  in  all  the  courts  of  law  and  eqviity  in  this  State,  or  elsewhere; 
may  have  a  common  seal  and  alter  the  same  at  pleasure  ;  shall  be  capable 
of  holding-  personal  and  real  estate,  bj-  purchase,  gift  or  devise,  and  may 
sell,  dispose  of  and  convej"  the  same,  provided  the  annual  income  shall  not 
exceed  live  hundred  dollars  ;  they  shall  have  power  to  form  and  ratif}'  a 
constitution  and  adopt  by-laws  for  the  g-overnment  of  such  Association,  the 
arrangement  and  regulation  of  its  fiscal  affairs,  the  admission  of  its  mem- 
bers and  the  appointment  of  its  officers,  together  with  all  other  powers 
necessary  for  its  corporate  existence,  and  the  proper  and  efficient  manage- 
ment of  its  concerns  ;  provided  said  constitution  and  bj'-laws  be  not  incon- 
sistent with  the  laws  of  this  State  and  of  the  United  States  ;  and  provided, 
also,  that  the  funds  of  said  Association  shall  not  be  applied  to  any  other 
purpose  than  the  support  of  the  above  named  Lj'ceum  and  Library 
Association. 

Section  II.  That  any  future  Legislature  maj^  alter,  amend  or  repeal 
this  Act. 

John  H.  Keith, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
David  T.  Disney, 
Passed  Februar J- 21,  1834.     '  Speaker  of  the  Senate. 

Besides  those  named  in  the  charter,  such  other  early  citizens  as 
Capt.  Richard  Howe,  Alvin  Austin,  Samuel  A.  Wheeler,  Philo 
Chamberlin,  Jedediah  D.  Commins,  Nathan  B.  Dodge,  Dr.  Joseph 
Cole,   Eber    BIc)d3:ett,  Jonathan    Myers,    Ansel    Miller,   Robert  K. 


ANCIENT   DEBATING   SOCIETIES. 


169 


DuBois,  Gibbons  J.  Ackley,  Alfred  R.  Townsend,  John  H.  Cleveland, 
Ithiel  Mills,  Paris  Tallman,  Arad  Kent,  Horace  K.  Smith,  and 
others,  became  members  of  the  Association  by  the  purchase  of 
stock,  which  was  fixed  at  $25  per  share,  quite  a  respectable  library 
of  books,  by  donation  and  purchase,  being  collected. 

During  the  long  Winter  evenings,  weekly  meetings  were  held 
for  the  purpose  of  listening  to  addresses  from  members  and  others, 
and  of  discussing  the  "burning"  questions  of  the  day:  "Is  the 
human  mind  capable  of  improvement?"  "Ought  a  Representa- 
tive to  be  bound  by  the  instructions  of  a  majority  of  his  constitu- 
•ents?"  "Ought  females  to  be  permitted  to  vote  at  elections?" 
^' Ought  capital  punishment  to  be  abolished  ?"  etc. 


ALLEN  HIBBARD,— born  in 
•^  Amherst,  Mass.,  September  17, 
1813;  came  to  Akron  from  Rome,  N. 
Y.,  in  1834,  with  Mr.  William  E. 
Wrig'ht,  one  of  the  pioneer  merchants 
of  North  Akron,  a  few  j^ears  later 
clerking-  for  Acklej'  &  Austin,  and 
still  later  in  partnership  with  Gib- 
bons J.  Acklej-,  and  Joseph  E.  Wese- 
ner,  under  the  firm  name  of  A.  Hib- 
bard  &  Co.,  doing-  an  extensive  gen- 
eral merchandising  business,  in  the 
well  remembered  "Old  Green  Store" 
on  Howard  street.  On  closing  his 
mercantile  operations,  Mr.  Hibbard 
was  for  several  years  book-keeper  of 
the  Webster,  Camp  &  Lane  Machine 
Compan)',  and  later,  for  nearlj^  20 
j^ears,  and  until  his  death,  collector 
for  the  Akron  Gas  Company.  Au- 
gust 22,  1841.  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Lucy  Ann  Ackley,  of  Akron,  who 
bore  him  one  son — Dwight  A.  Hib- 
bard. of  the  jewelrj'  firm  of  J.  B. 
Storer  &  Co.  Mrs.  Hibbard  dying- 
October  11.  1843.  Mr.  Hibbard  was 
again  married,  November  4,  1844,  to 
Miss  Nancy  J.  Ackley,  sister  of  the 
first  Mrs.  H.,  who  bore  hitn  four 
children— Frank  Jewett  and  Thomas 
Allen,  deceased;  William  Grant,  now 
a  farmer  in  Kansas,  and  Charles  M., 
now  a  jeweler  in  Akron.  Mr.  Hib- 
bard was  a  life-long-  consistent  mem- 


ALLEN   HIBUAKI). 

ber  of  the  Congregational  Church; 
member  of  Village  Covmcil  1840,  '47 
and  18r>4,  and  Recorder  for  1859.  He 
died  March  6,  1889,  aged  7o  years,  5, 
months  and  19  days.  The  last  Mrs. 
H,  still  survives. 


These  discussions  were  spirited,  and  cohsiderable  tact  and  tal- 
ent displayed,  not  only  by  the  regularly  appointed  disputants,  but 
by  others,  while  the  essays  and  addresses,  by  home  talent,  were 
often  able  and  instructive.  This  Association  maintained  a  fairly 
prosperous  existence  for  about  ten  years,  when,  by  reason  of  deaths, 
removals  and  the  advent  of  other  sources  of  amusement  and 
social  pastime,  it  was  disbanded, 'its  books  being  sold  at  auction  in 
November,  1844,  and  the  proceeds  distributed  pro  rata,  among  the 
stockholders. 

"AKRON  PHILO  LEXION  SOCIETY." 

In  the  Winter  of  1836-37,  the  younger  business  men  of  Akron 
established  a  literary  and  oratorical  society,  under  the  above  rather 
stilted  title,  suggested  by  some  one  who  had   perhaps   officiated  as 


170 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


janitor  in  some  eastern  college.  In  addition  to  its  rhetorical  and 
declamatory  exploits,  and  its  profound  disquisitions  and  essays 
upon  political,  scientific  and  metaphysical  topics,  the  society  dur- 
ing the  Winter  months,  maintained  a  literary  weekly  (manuscript) 
periodical,  entitled  the  "Akron  Mirror,"  spicy  contributions  to 
which,  from  both  male  and  female  members,  together  with  edi- 
torial comments,  'were  read  by  the  editor  for  the  time  being — 
elected  monthly — the  honors  of  which  position  were  about  equallj^ 
divided  between  the  writer  and  the  late  Hiram  Bo\ven,  founder  of 
the  Beacon. 


TAMES  B.  TAPLIN,— born  in  Clare- 
J      mont,  N.  H.,  August  12,   1812;  at 

5  years  of  age  moved  with  parents  to 
New  Haven,  Vermont,  and  three 
years  later  to  Franklin  County,  N. 
y.;  in  boyhood  worked  on  farm  and 
attended  school,  the  lavst  six  months 
at  Franklin  Academy,  in  Malone,  N. 
Y.;  at  20  learned  trade  of  carpenter 
and  millwrig-ht;  in  fall  of  18.34  came 
to  Akron,  Ohio,  by  canal  and  on  foot, 
following  carpentering-  and  mill- 
wrighting  until  1848,  when  in  com- 
pany with  Geo.  D.  Bates  and  Charles 
Webster  he  started  the  Globe 
Foundry  and  Machine  shop,  under 
the  firm  name  of  G.  D.  Bates  &  Co. 
Mr.  Bates  retiring  two  or  three  years 
later,  business  was  continued  bj^ 
Webster  &  Taplin,  with  some  slight 
changes,  until  the  works  were 
destroyed  by  fire  in  1860,  when  Mr. 
Taplin  retired  and  in  connection 
with  Alvin  Rice  and  Hobart  Ford, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Taplin,  Rice 

6  Co..  established  new^  works  on 
South  Broadway,  a  stock  company, 
under  the  same  title,  being  organ- 
ized in  1867,  with  Mr.  Taplin^as  presi- 
dent and  manager,  which  position 
he  still  holds.  In  October,  1839,  Mr. 
Taplin  was  married  to  Miss  Rachel 
Grandy,  of  Port  Bj^ron,  N.  Y.,  who 
had  for  some  time  been  a  teacher  in 
Akron  schools.  Six  children  were 
born  to  them,  two  dying  in  infancy, 
one,  James  F.,  at  seven  years  of  age; 
the    survivors    being    John    L.,    for 


JAMES  B.   TAFLIX. 

many  years  superintendent  of 
machine  works  of  Taplin,  Rice  &  Co.. 
now  superintendent  of  Circleville 
branch  of  the  Portage  Strawboard 
Works;  Charles  G.,  book-keeper  for 
Standard  Oil  Company,  of  Cleveland; 
and  Ella  G.,  who  is  still  at  home.  In 
religion  Mr.  Taplin  is  a  Congrega- 
tionalist;  in  politics  a  Republican, 
being  elected  Councilman  of  the 
Incorporated  Village  of  Akron  in 
April,  185.5,  but  resigning-  the  posi- 
tion before  entering  upon  its  duties. 


Besides  the  writer  and  Mr.  Bowen,  members  of  the  organiza- 
tion are  recalled  as  follows:  Allen  Hibbard,  Dr.  James  R.  Miltimore, 
James  B.  Taplin,  William  H.  Dewey,  Henry  Clay  Crosbj^,  Russell 
Gale,  Grove  N.  Abbey,  Henry  Converse,  Solomon  Coloney,  Francis 
Dexter,  Nahum  Fay,  William  Pitt  Carpender,  John  Tooker,  Milo 
Fuller,  Samuel  Manning,  etc. 

The  "Philo  Lexion  Society,"  had  an  existence,  under  that  dis- 
tinctive appellation,  of  only  four  or  five  years,  though  in  some 
form,  debating  and  literary  societies,  maintained  by  home  talent, 
long  continued  in  vogue  during  the  Winter  months—  often  eliciting 
intense  interest,  and  attracting  large  audiences,  in  Militar3^  Hall, 
Tappan  Hall,  Trussell  Hall,  etc.,  one  of  the  most  successful  of 
which,  from  1855  to  1861,  Avas 


MECHANICS    AND    LITERATURE. 


171 


HON.  NATHANIEL  W.  GOOD- 
HUE,— born  in  Lincoln  County, 
Me.,  December  20,  1818;  from  3  to  i7 
years  lived  with  parents  in  Lower 
Canada  ;  in  18.37  removed  to  Wayne 
County,  Ohio,  teaching-  school  Win- 
ters and  peddling  Summers  ;  in 
Summer  of  1840  taught  in  Greens- 
burg-,  Summit  Countj^  and  the  next 
Winter  in  Greentown,  Stark  County, 
Hon.  Lewis  Miller  being  one  of  his 
pupils  ;  in  1841  clerked  for  Johnston 
&  Irvin,  in  Middlebury,  and  after- 
wards for  Kent  &  Co.;  taught  school 
in  Middlebury,  in  Winter  of  184.0, '40, 
studying  law  in  office  of  Hand  & 
Nash  ;  was  engrossing  clerk  of  House 
of  Representatives  at  Columbus  in 
Winter  of  1846,  '47  ;  admitted  to  bar  in 
1847;  elected  County  Auditor  in  1848 
and  re-elected  in  18,tO,  holding  the 
office  four  years  ;  was  canal  collector 
from  18.t6  to  1858;  collector  of  inter- 
nal revenue  for  Summit  County  from 
September  1862  to  September  18W) ; 
State  Senator  for  Summit  and  Port- 
age district,  1873-75 ;  Republican 
elector  for  18th  congressional  dis- 
trict in  1880  and  president  of  Ol::o 
Electoral  College  ;  was  elected  Pro- 
bate Jvxdge  of  Summit  County  in 
October,  1881,  ably  filling  that  posi- 
tion until  his  death,  Septetnber  12, 
1883,  aged  64  j^ears,  8  inonths  and  22 
days.  Judge  Goodhue  was  married 
to  Miss    Nancy  Johnston,  of    Green 


HON.   NATHANIEL   W.   GOODHUE. 

township,  December  20,  1841,  who 
bore  him  four  children — James  P., 
died  in  infanc}'  ;  Allan  J.,  a  member 
of  the  104th  O.  V.  I.  during  the  late 
war,  now  residing  in  Cleveland ; 
Mary  H.,  wife  of  Rev.  Samuel  Max- 
well, of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
chvxrch,  and  Nathaniel  P.,  from  1882 
to  1891  Deputy  Clerk  in  office  of 
Probate  Judge  and  now  Clerk  of 
Courts  for  Summit  County, 


"  THE  AKRON  LITERARY  ASSOCIATION." 

This  society  AAras  composed  of  such  men  as  Nathaniel  W, 
Goodhue,  Charles  B.  Bernard,  Newell  I).  Tibbals,  Dudley  C.  Carr, 
Daniel  B.  Hadley,  Edward  Oviatt,  Edwin  P.  Green,  William  H. 
Upson,  David  L.  King,  Wilbur  F.  Sanders,  Henry  Ward  Ingersoll, 
Samuel  C.  Williamson,  Arthur  F.  Bartges,  John  J.  Hall,  Augustus 
N.  Bernard,  Geo.  W.  Grouse,  Dudley  Seward,  Dr.  Daniel  A.  Scott, 
Dr.  Elias  W.  Howiard,  Dr.  William  Bowen,  Dr.  Thomas  Earl,  Alvin 
C.  Voris,  Jacob  A.  Kohler,  Joseph  E.  Wesener,  Henry  W.  Howe,  J. 
Park  Alexander,  Homer  C.  Ayres,  Thomas  Brownless,  Israel  P. 
Hole,  S.  A.  Lane,  etc. 

The  war  coming  on  absorbed  the  public  attention  for  the  next 
four  or  five  years,  amid  the  dread  realities  of  which  rhetoricals 
were  suspended,  since  \vhich  they  have  largely  been  superseded 
by  the  innumerable  civic,  social  and  beneficial  associations  that 
have  come  into  existence  in  later  years,  though  it  is  questionable 
whether  a  well-conducted  debating  society,  with  original  essays 
and  lectures,  by  members,  and  other  home  talent,  w^ould  not  be 
more  profitable — mentally,  morally  and  financially — than  some  of 
the  devices  now  in  vogue  for  social  pastime  and  recreation. 

MECHANICS'  LIBRARY. 

Allusion  has  been  made,  elsew^here,  to  the  Mechanics'  Associa- 
tion of  Akron,  organized  in  1846,  and  of  the  liberal  contributions- 
made  by  Judge  James  R.  Ford  and  Col.  Simon  Perki/is,  ($30  each). 


172 


AKKON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


and  others,  for  the  purchase  of  books  and  periodicals  for  the 
benefit  of  the  association  and  their  families,  which,  under  the 
fostering  care  of  Messrs.  James  M.  Hale,  David  G.  Sanford,  Joshua 
C.  Berry,  James  Holmes,  and  other  active  members  of  the  associa- 
tion, was  successfully  maintained  for  some  ten  or  twelve  years. 


HON.  WILLIAM  H.  UPSON,— born 
at  W  o  r  t  h  i  11  g"ton,  Franklin 
County,  Ohio,  January  11,  1823; 
moved  with  parents  toTallniadge,  in 
1832  ;  graduated  f r  o  ni  Western 
Reserve  Colleg-e  in  1842 ;  read  law 
with  Judge  Reuben  Hitchcock,  in 
Painesville,  followed  by  one  year's 
study  in  law  department  of  Yale 
College  ;  admitted  to  bar  September, 
1845;  opened  law  office  in  Akron, 
January.  1846,  in  partnership,  suc- 
cessively, for  mail)-  years,  with  Hons. 
Sidney  Edgerton  and  Christopher  P. 
Wolcott;  Prosecuting  Attorney  for 
Summit  CouiVty,  1848  to  185() ;  State 
Senator,  1853  to  1855 ;  member  of 
Congress,  18th  district,  1869  to  1873; 
delegate  to  Republican  National 
C  o  11  V  e  n  t  i  on,  which  renominated 
Abraham  Lincoln  in  1864  ;  delegate 
at  large  to  the  convention  which 
nominated  Rutherford  B.  Haj^es,  in 
1876  ;  many  years  trustee  of  Western 
Reserve  College,  Oberlin  College 
and  Lake  Erie  Female  Seminary ; 
first  president  Summit  Count}'  Bar 
Association  and  member  State  Bar 
Association  Executive  Committee; 
from  March  to  December,  1883,  by 
appointment  of  Gov.  Foster,  Judge 
of  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio  ;  in  1884 
•elected  Judge  of  Circuit  Court,  draw- 
ing two  years'  term,  and  re-elected 


HON.   WILLIAM  H.   UPSON. 

in  1886,  for  full  term  of  six  years. 
May  20,  1856,  was  married  to  Miss 
Julia  A.  Ford,  of  Akron,  four  child- 
ren having  been  born  to  them — 
William  Ford  Upson,  now  practicing- 
law  in  New  York  Cit}^ ;  Henry  Swift 
Upson,  now  practicing  medicine  in 
Cleveland  ;  Anna  Perkins,  now  wife 
of  Lieut.  G.  J.  Fiebeger,  U.  S.  Corps 
Engineers;  and  Julia  Ford  Upson. 


THE  AKRON  SCHOOL  LIBRARY. 


In  the  meantime,  in  1853,  the  State  of  Ohio  had  adopted  a 
public  school  library  system,  by  which  all  the  school  districts  of 
the  State,  through  general  taxation,  w^ere  supplied  Avith  choicely 
selected  libraries  proportioned  to  size  of  school,  "Ohio  School 
Library,"  being  embossed,  in  plain  letters,  upon  both  covers 
of  each  of  the  substantial  leather-bound  books  thus  provided. 
The  superintendent  of  the  Akron  Public  Schools  was  constituted 
librarian,  as  w^ell  as  custodian  of  the  astronomical,  chemical  and 
other  apparatus  provided  by  the  State,  the  library  being  kept  in  a 
small  room,  between  the  two  stairways  on  the  upper  floor  of  the 
old  High  (now  Jennings)  school  building. 

After  the  establishment  of  this  library,  which,  by  the  terms  of 
the  law,  was  accessible  to  every  family  in  the  district,  w^hether  having 
children  in  the  schools  or  not,  the  Mechanics'  Association  gener- 
ously donated  their  books  to  the  Board  of  Education  to  be  added 
thereto,  though  the  association  maintained  its  reading  and  club 
room  for  several  vears  thereafter. 


SUCCESSFUL   LITERARY    VENTURE. 


17S 


pHARLES  B.  BERNARD,-son  of 
^  Rev.  David  Bernard,  a  former 
Baptist  clergyman  in  Akron  ;  born 
in  Western  New  York ;  came  to  Ohio 
in  1845  and  to  Akron  in  1846  ;  taug'ht 
school  four  winters,  last  two  in  Mid- 
dleburj',  workini^  on  farm  in  Suin- 
mer  ;  March,  1849,  entered  Auditor's 
office  as  deputy,  serving-  six  years- - 
four  under  N.  W.  Goodhue,  and  two 
under  Henry  Newberry ;  elected 
Auditor,  October,  1854,  and  re-elected 
in  1856,  serving  four  years  ;  first  rail- 
road ticket  agent  in  Akron  ;  entered 
law  office  of  Wolcott  &  Upson  in  1859  ; 
admitted  to  bar  and  to  partnership 
with  W.  &  U.in  1861— afterwards  with 
Mr.  Upson ;  City  Solicitor  in  1862- 
186)3;  member  of  Board  of  Education 
— president,  secretar}^,  treasurer,  etc., 
some  seven  j-ears  ;  treasurer  Akron 
and  Portage  township  Soldiers' 
Bounty  Fund  during  the  war ;  in 
1864,  served  100  da3'S  in  front  of  Wash- 
ington, as  adjutant  of  164th  regiment, 
O.  N.  G.,  and  A.  A.  A.  General ;  in 
April,  1867,  moved  to  Cleveland — sec- 
retarj^  Cleveland  Stove  Co.  20  years 
(actively  about  two  years);  chief  clerk 
Internal  Revenue  two  j^ears ;  first 
appraiser  of  merchandise  at  port 
of  Cleveland  two  j^ears;  ineinber  of 
City  Council  two  years  ;  meinber  of 
Board  of  Education  two  years  ; 
since  resigning-  appraisership  has 
practiced   his    profession,  in    a  case 


CHARLES  B.   BERNARD. 


referred  to  him,  writing  out  an  orig- 
inal opinion  as  to  the  liability  of 
stockholders  under  the  Ohio  law, 
which  the  Ohio  Supreme  Court,  in 
another  case,  sustained  in  everj-  par- 
ticular, and  is  now  the  law.  October 
27,  1858,  Mr.  B.  was  married  in  Akron, 
to  Miss  Mary  E.  Gardiner.  Thej^ 
have  two  davighters — Grace  and  BelU 
still  with  their  parents. 


AKRON   LECTURE    ASSOCIATION. 


As  time  sped  on,  Akron  outgrew  the  school  library  system,  as 
liberal  as  had  been  its  provisions,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  1865,  a 
number  of  gentlemen  effected  an  organization,  under  the  name  of 
the  "Akron  Lecture  Association,"  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a 
reading  room,  together  with  a  series  of  popular  lectures  upon 
literary  and  scientific  subjects. 

The  first  course  of  eleven  lectures  (one  more  than  promised), 
in  the  Winter  of  1865-6,  were  by  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  George 
Alfred  Townsend,  R.  J.  De  Cordova,  New  York  humorist;  Prof. 
Anson  J.  Upson,  of  Hamilton  College,  N.  Y.;  Prof.  E.  L,  Youmans, 
of  New  York  City,  on  the  "Dj'namics  of  Life;"  James  E.  Murdoch, 
dramatic  readings;  Rev.  W.  H.  Milburn,  the  eloquent  blind 
preacher;  Hon.  George  Thompson,  of  England;  Rev.  A.  A.  Willitts, 
of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.;  John  B.  Gough,  and  C.  Oscanj'un,  Turk.  The 
terms  for  the  course:  Gentleman  and  lady,  $5.(X);  gentleman 
without  lady,  $3.00;  lady  alone,  $2.00;  single  admission,  50  cents. 
In  the  Spring  the  lecture  committee  reported  receipts  from  season 
tickets,  $867.50,  at  door  $917.10— total,  $1,784.60;  paid  lecturers 
$1,225.00,  incidentals  $310.35— total,  $1,5^5.35;  balance  in  treasur3% 
$249.25.  Lecture  committee:  William  H.  Upson,  chairman; 
William  H.  Huntington,  corresponding  secretary;  George  W. 
Crouse,  treasurer;  Israel  P.  Hole,  Charles  B.  Bernard,  James  H. 
Peterson. 


174 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


DR.  ELIAS  W.  HOWARD— born 
in  Andover.  V^t.,  April  14,  1816; 
raised  on  farm  ;  common  school  edu- 
cation, with  (One  term  in  Chester 
Academy ;  in  1835  began  studj"  of 
medicine  with  cousin,  Prof.  R.  L. 
Howard,  at  Elyria,  Ohio  ;  afterwards 
attending-  lectures  at  Berkshire  Col- 
lege, Pittsfield,  Mass.,  completing  his 
studies  with  Dr.  L.  G.  Whiting,  in 
Windsor  Co.,  Vt.,  and  graduating 
from  Berkshire  College  in  1838;  same 
year  began  practice  with  cousin,  in 
Elyria,  0-,  a  j^ear  later,  1839,  reinoving 
to  Akron,  where  he  was  in  continu- 
ous practice  over  half  a  centurj^;  after 
battle  of  Antietam  was  sent  b}'  Gov. 
Tod  to  assist  in  caring  for  wounded 
Union  soldiers,  serving  in  hospital 
at  Frederick  Citj^,  one  month ;  the 
Winter  following  devoting  several 
months  to  hospital  dutj^  at  Nashville, 
Tenn.  Dr.  Howard  served  several 
years  on  Board  of  Education,  and 
four  years  in  City  Council --1871,  '72, 
'74,  '7o,  the  last  year  as  president  pro 
tem.\  member  and  president  of 
Board  of  Health  ;  helped  to  organize 
the  Summit  County  Medical  Society 
and  several  years  its  president ;  was 
member  of  Union  Medical  Associa- 
tion of  Northeastern  Ohio,  two  terms 
its  president ;  member  of  Ohio  State 
Medical  Association  and  of  American 
Medical  Association,  being  a  dele- 
gate   to    the     International    Medical 


DK.  ELIAS  W.   HOWAKI). 

Congress  in  1876.  June  16,  1840,  Dr. 
Howard  was  married  to  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Chittenden,  of  Middlebury,  who 
bore  him  two  sons — Dr.  Henr^^  C, 
who  died  April  23,  1887,  aged  44  years, 
10  months  and  14  daj'^s,  Frank  D., 
inanufacturer  of  agricultural  imple- 
ments, still  residing  with  his  mother. 
Dr.  Howard  died  August  9,  1890,  aged 
74  j^ears,  3  months,  and  25  daj'S. 


THF:  "AKRON   LIBRARY  ASSOCIATION." 


So  successful  veas  this  initial  course  of  popular  lectures — 
evincing  that  the  people  would  relish  more  of  the  same  sort — that 
at  a  meeting  of  the  association,  held  March  3, 1866,  a  resolution  w^as 
passed,  formally  adopting  the  title  of  the  "Akron  Library  Associa- 
tion," and  instructing  the  secretary  to  duly  prepare  and  have 
recorded  the  necessary  papers  of  incorporation,  which  w^as  accord- 
ingly done. 

In  addition  to  the  quite  extensive  reading  room  already 
estal^lished,  in  the  room  now  occupied  by  Newton  Chalker,  Esq.,  a 
circulating  library  was  now  determined  upon,  and  a  committee, 
consisting  of  David  L.  King,  Stephen  H.  Pitkin,  William  H.  Upson, 
Charles  B.  Bernard,  James  H.  Peterson,  Julius  S.  Lane  and  George 
W.  Crouse,  w^as  appointed  to  prepare  a  constitution  and  by-law^s, 
which  "were  duly  reported  and  adopted  on  the  evening  of  June  11, 
1866,  the  first  section  thereof  being  as  follows: 

"  Sec.  I.  The  Association  shall  be  known  as  the 'Akron  Librarj^  Associa- 
tion,' having  for  its  object  the  diffusion  of  useful  knowledge  and  the 
acquirement  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  bj'  the  estsblishment  of  a  library  of 
scientific  and  miscellaneous  books,  for  general  circulation,  and  a  reading 
room,  cabinet,  lectures  and  such  other  measures  as  maj'  be  deemed 
expedient." 

The  annual  membership  fee  was  fixed  at  $2.00,  the  foUow^ing 
eight  persons  paying  $2.00  each,  and  subscribing  their  names  to 
the  constitution,  on  the  night  of  its  adoption:     Julian    H.  Pitkin, 


UNSTINTED    LIBERALITY. 


175 


David  Iv.  King,  Stephen  H.  Pitkin,  William  H.  Upson,  Charles  B. 
Bernard,  James  H.  Peterson,  Julius  S.  Lane,  Samuel  A.  Lane, 
George  W.  Crouse. 


pHARlvKS  A.  COLLINS,— born  in 
^  Richmond,  Berkshire  County, 
Mass.,  Jnly  26.  1816 ;  father  dying- 
August  4,  1817,  removed  with 
mother  to  Tioga  County,  N.  Y.,  in 
1827  ;  in  both  Massachusetts  and  New 
York,  working  on  farm  suminers 
and  attending  dis  trie  t  school 
winters.  In  18iX)  removed  with  mother 
to  Ohio,  settling  in  Tallmadge,  where 
he  served  an  apprenticeship  with  his 
brother-in-law,  Mr.  Amos  Avery,  at 
carriage  making;  in  1838,  in  partner- 
ship with  Mr.  jlimes  M.  Hale,  under 
the  firm  name  of  Collins  &  Hale, 
established  a  carriage  manufactory 
in  Middlebury,  now  Akron,  Sixth 
Ward.  Mr.  Hale  retiring  in  1841,  Mr. 
Collins  continued  until  the  burning 
of  the  shops  in  18(>0,  when,  in  com- 
pany with  Mr.  John  E.  Bell,  works 
were  established  in  May's  Block 
(now  Clarendon  Hotel),  corner  South 
Main  and  Exchange  streets.  In  Feb- 
ruary, 1870,  C.  A.  Collins  &  Son' 
erected  shops  corner  Main  and 
Church  streets,  where  the  business  is 
still  carried  on  by  the  Collins  Buggy 
Companj^  of  which  Mr.  Charles  A. 
Collins  is  president  and  Mr.  George 
A.  Collins  manager.  January  16,  1839, 
Mr.  Collins  was  married  to  Miss 
Louisa  Hine,  of  Tallmadge,  who  has 
borne  him  seven  children,  four  only 
now  living — Georg-e  A.,  of  Akron  ; 
Mrs.  Josephine  A.  Kent,  of  Kent ; 
•Charles  E.,  of  Cleveland;  and  Nettie 
E.,  now  Mrs.  C.  D.  Hatch,of  Cleveland. 


CHARLES  A.  COLLINS. 

While  a  resident  of  Middlebury  Mr. 
Collins  served  for  many  years  as 
member  of  Village  Council  and  on 
Board  of  Education  ;  was  also  Mayor 
of  Akron  in  1862  and  1863  and  mein- 
ber  of  City  Council  1877-1879,  the  first 
year  as  president  pro  tern. 


Subsequentl}^  the  annual  membership  fee  was  increased  to 
$3.00,  entitling  the  member  and  his  family  to  the  privileges  of  the 
library  and  reading  room  during  the  time  for  which  he  had  thus 
paid,  and  an  amendment  adopted  by  which  the  payment  of  $50.00, 
at  one  time,  constituted  the  person  thus  paying,  a  life  member, 
■entitled  to  such  privileges  in  perpetuity,  w^ithout  further  payinent, 
and  in  case  of  the  decease  of  such  life  member,  the  privilege  to 
descend  to  the  survivor,  husband  or  w^ife,  and  minor  children,  such 
privilege,  as  to  such  minors,  to  cease  on  attaining  their  majority. 

The  first  officers  of  the  Association,  under  the  charter,  w^ere: 
William  H.  Upson,  president;  Stephen  H.  Pitkin,  vice  president; 
Charles.  B.  Bernard,  corresponding  secretary;  James  H.  Peterson, 
recording  secretary;  George  W.  Crouse,  treasurer;  David  L.  King, 
Julius  S.  Lane,  Julian  H.  Pitkin  and  Israel  P.  Hole,  directors. 

As  an  indication  of  the  popular  feeling  in  regard  to  the  project, 
on  being  inade  known  to  the  public  that  a  considerable  sum  of 
money  was  immediately^  desirable  for  the  purchase  of  a  library 
commensurate    to    the    public    needs,    life    memberships,    at   fifty 


176 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


dollars  each,  were  taken  to  the  number  of  at  least  one  hundred 
within  the  first  three  or  four  years,  besides  the  large  list  of  yearh' 
memberships  at  three  dollars  each. 

The  funds  thus  raised,  together  with  the  surplus,  (w^hen  there 
was  a  surplus),  from  the  annual  lecture  courses,  enabled  the 
Association  to  at  once  establish  a  highly  creditable  circulating 
library,  and  one  in  which  all  the  people  of  Akron,  during  the  inter- 
vening quarter  of  a  century,  have  ever  justly  been  proud. 


JUDGE  STEPHEN  H.  PITKIN,— 
J  born  in  Old  Milford,  Conn., 
October  5,  1810.  At  7  years  of  age 
came  with  parents  to  Ohio,  settling  in 
Charlestown,  Portage  County,  remov- 
ing to  Hudson  in  1827,  his  father.  Rev. 
Caleb  Pitkin,  being  one  of  the  found- 
ers of  Western  Reserve  College, 
Stephen  being  one  of  its  earliest 
students,  graduating  in  June,  1834, 
the  following  October  going  to 
Fulton  County,  111.,  teaching  and 
studj'ing  law,  being  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1836 ;  was  elected  County  Sur- 
veyor and  in  1838  elected  Probate 
Judge,  holding-  the  office  four  years  ; 
in  1852  returned  to  Hudson,  taking 
charge  of  home  farm  and  the  care  of 
his  aged  parents  ;  in  1861  was  elected 
Probate  Judge  of  Summit  County, 
serving  eight  j^ears  ;  member  of  Vil- 
lage Council  in  1864  ;  served  on 
Akron  School  Board  several  3'ear8  ; 
was  secretary  of  Summit  County 
Agricultural  Society  from  1871  to 
1880  and  president  for  1880 ;  was 
presidential -elector  for  the  Eigh- 
teenth Congressional  District  in  1868, 
voting  in  the  Electoral  College  for 
Ulysses  S.  Grant  for  President  and 
Schuyler  Colfax  for  Vice-President. 
He  was  married  in  October,  1834,  to 
Miss  Julia  Lusk,  of  Hudson,  a  sister 
of  the  first  wife  of  John  Brown,  of 
Harper's  Ferry  fame.  Mrs.  Pitkin 
died  October  7, 1873,  two  of  their  five 


JUDGE  STEPHEN   H.   PITKIN. 

children  only  surviving — Julian  H.,. 
now  living  in  Chicago,  and  Mary  A., 
wife  of  Mr.  Abner  L.  Caldwell,  of 
Portage  township.  September  24, 
1879,  Judge  Pitkin  was  again  married, 
to  Miss  Helen  B.  Bill,  of  Cuj-ahoga 
Falls,  who  still  survives,  the  Judge 
himself  dying  February  25,  1882,  at 
the  age  of  71  years,  4  months  and  20 
days. 


SURPLUS  SOLDIERS'  BOUNTY  FUND. 


In  later  years,  as  money  was  needed  to  replenish  and  increase 
the  books  and  periodicals,  it  was  from  time  to  time  liberally  con- 
tributed by  our  citizens,  besides  which,  on  the  recurrence  of  the 
question  as  to  what  should  be  done  with  the  surplus  soldiers' 
bounty  fund  in  the  hands  of  Treasurer  Charles  B.  Bernard  at  the 
close  of  the  w^ar,  it  v^ras,  by  general  consent,  turned  over  to  the 
Association,  in  December,  1869,  on  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolution,  and  the  execution  of  the  accompaning  bond  ol 
indemnity  to  the  custodians  of  said  fund: 

"Resolved,  by  the  directors  of  ^the  Akron  Library  Association,  that  the 
president  and  secretary  of  said  Association  be  and  are  herebj^  authorized  to 
sign  a  document  presented  to  them  by  a  committee  consisting  of  John  R. 
Buchtel,  J.  Park  Alexander,  George  W.  Crovise  and  Charles  B.  Bernard, 
which  document  is  in  the  following  words,  to-wit: 


AKRON    LIBRARY   ASSOCIATION. 


177 


WILLIAM  T.  ALLEN,-born  in 
Montreal,  Canada,  September 
16,  1814;  at  8  or  9  removed  with  par- 
ents to  Hudson,  N.  Y,;  on  death  of 
father,  at  14,  removed  with  mother  to 
Albany;  common  school  education; 
read  law  and  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
Albany,  but  did  not  enter  into  prac- 
tice; engaged  with  Ralph  P.  Myers 
in  the  dry  goods  trade  in  Albany, 
the  firm  of  Allen  &  Myers  removing 
to  Akron  in  1844;  a  year  or  two  later 
changing  to  the  stove  business,  soon 
afterwards,  with  others,  establishing 
the  Akron  Stove  Company,  which, 
after  a  successful  career  in  Akron, 
for  many  years,  removed  to  Cleve- 
land, under  the  corporate  name  of 
the  Cleveland  Stove  Company.  In 
addition  to  holding  a  continuous 
directorship  in  the  companies 
nained,  Mr.  Allen  conducted  a  stove 
store  upon  his  own  account,  in  Fort 
Wayne,  Ind.,  from  1857  to  1864;  also 
for  a  time,  in  connection  with  Mr. 
James  M.  Hale,  under  the  firm  name 
of  Allen  &  Hale,  carried  on  a 
machine  shop  at  Lock  Seven; 
later  becoming  a  stockholder, 
director  and  treasurer  in  the  Web- 
ster, Camp  &  Lane  Machine  Com- 
pany, and  a  stockholder  and  director 
in  the  First  National  Bank,  of  Akron. 
Mr.  Allen  was  a  member  of  Village 
Council  in  1853;  Mayor  in  1854;  mem- 


WILLIAM  T.  ALLEN. 

ber  of  City  Council.  1870,  '71,  '72,  '73, 
'74,  '75,  '81,  '82,  '83  and  '84  and  several 
years  Chairman  of  its  Finance  Com- 
mittee. July  31,  1852,  at  Milwaukee, 
Wis.,  Mr.  Allen  was  married  to  Miss 
Laura  McCartey,  a  native  of  Romu- 
lus, N.  Y..  then  teaching  music  in 
Akron,  Mr.  Allen  dying  November 
13,  1886,  aged  72  years,  1  month  and 
27  days. 


I)K.  JAMES  H.   PETERSON. 

T)R.  JAMES  H.  PETERSON,— was 
-*-^  born  at  St.  Johns,  New  Bruns- 
wick, July  9,  1830;  removing  in  early 
life  with  his  parents  to  Buffalo,  N.  Y., 
and  afterwards  to   Portage  County, 

12 


Ohio.  Here,  on  entering  his  major- 
ity, with  such  education  as  the 
schools  of  the  vicinity  afforded,  he 
began  the  study  of  medicine,  finally 
changing  to  dentistrj^  completing 
his  course  of  study  with  Dr.  B.  T.. 
Spelman,  of  Ravenna.  Practicing  one 
year  in  Cleveland,  in  1854,  he  came  to 
Akron,  where  he  has  been  in  contin- 
uous and  successful  practice  ever 
since,  at  the  same  time  devoting 
much  time  to  other  matters — busi- 
ness, political,  social,  etc..  officiating 
as  secretary  of  the  Republican 
Union  Central  Committee  of  Summit 
County  during  the  war;  is  a  member 
of  Akron  Lodge  No.  83  and  Wash- 
ington Chapter  No.  25  of  A.  F.  and 
A.  M.,  and  of  the  Masonic  Relief 
Association.  November  29,  1855,  Dr. 
Peterson  was  married  to  Miss  Caro- 
line Van  Evra,  of  Akron,  a  native  of 
Cherry  Valley,  N.  Y.,  who  has  borne 
him  three  children — Carrie  M.,  now 
wife  of  Charles  W.  F.  Dick,  present 
Auditor  of  Summit  County;  John 
Edward,  now  a  member  of  the  pro- 
duce firm  of  Dick  &  Peterson,  and 
Grace  C,  student  in  Conservatory  of 
of  Music  at  Oberlin  College. 


178  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

"  Whereas,  there  remains  in  the  hands  of  Charles  B.  Bernard,  as  Treas- 
urer of  a  committee  consisting'  of  John  R.  Buchtel,  Georg-e  W.  Crouse,  J. 
Park  Alexander  and  the  said  Charles  B.  Bernard,  styled  '  Portage  Township 
Recruiting  Committee,'  a  balance  of  money  contributed  bj^  citizens  of 
Portage  township  to  fill  the  quota  of  said  township,  at  the  last  call  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States;  and 

"  Whereas,  a  large  number  of  the  subscribers  to  said  fund  have  requested 
and  directed  said  Bernard,  acting  as  treasurer  of  said  committee,  to  pay 
over  said  balance  remaining  in  his  hands  to  the  directors  of  the  Akron 
Librar^^  Association,  an  association  having  for  its  object  the  improvement 
and  general  good  of  the  citizens  of  Akron  ;  and 

"  Whereas,  the  balance  of  said  committee,  consisting  of  John  R.  Buchtel, 
George  W.  Crouse  and  J.  Park  Alexander,  have  requested  and  directed,  in 
writing,  the  said  treasurer  to  pay  over  said  balance,  now  amounting  to  over 
three  thousand  dollars  [exact  amount  $3,211.26]  to  said  Akron  Librarj^  Associ- 
ation, 

"  Now,  Therefore,  Know  All  Men  by  these  Presents,  that  the  Akron 
Library  Association,  of  the  City  of  Akron,  Summit  Coxinty  and  State  of  Ohio, 
an  Association  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  said  State,  in  consideration 
of  the  donation  to  said  Association  of  said  sum  of  money,  do  hereby  obligate 
and  promise  to  use  said  monej-  for  the  purchase  of  books  for  said  Associ- 
ation, and  for  such  purposes  as  will  carry  out  the  objects  of  said  Associa- 
tion, and  said  Association  further  binds  itself  to  pay  to  any  subscriber  to 
said  fund  his  pro  rata  share  of  said  balance  reinaining  in  said  treasurer's 
hands  and  paid  over  to  said  Association,  and  to  save  harmless  from  all  costs 
damages  and  claims,  said  Committee  and  said  Bernard  as  treasurer  of  said 
Committee,  by  virtue  of  any  claim  which  may  be  set  up  by  any  subscriber 
to  the  fund  aforesaid. 

"  In  witness  whereof  said  Akron  Librarj'-  Association  has  caused  these 
presents  to  be  signed  by  its  president  and  secretary,  by  a  resolution  of  the 
directors  passed  December  11, 1869. 

[Signed]  GEO.  P.  AsHMUN,  President. 

A.  L.  Conger,  Secretary." 

Down  to  this  time,  1870,  the  Association  had  occupied  the 
room  now^  occupied  by  Newton  Chalker,  Esq.,  on  the  ^vest  side  of 
Howard  street,  which  was  now  found  to  be  altogether  too  small 
for  the  uses  of  the  Association,  and  a  committee  w^as  appointed  to 
secure  more  commodious  quarters.  At  this  time  two  large  new 
buildings  were  approaching  completion — the  Academy  of  Music, 
on  East  Market  street,  by  John  F.  Seiberling,  Esq.,  and  Masonic 
Temple,  corner  Howard  and  Mill  streets,  by  Capt.  Aaron  P. 
Baldwin,  both  of  which  localities  found  spirited  advocates  among 
the  life  members  of  the  Association. 

Liberal  propositions  were  made  by  both  parties,  and  the 
rivalry  waxed  warm  and  somew^hat  bitter,  but  was  finally  termi- 
nated by  the  friends  of  that  locality  purchasing  from  Capt. 
Baldw^in,  for  the  sum  of  $3,500,  the  rooms  under  consideration  in 
the  second  story  of  the  Masonic  Temple  building,  and  making  a 
free  gift  of  the  same,  by  deed,  to  the  Association — an  arrangement 
w^hich,  in  view  of  the  subsequent  tendency  of  business  in  that 
direction,  and  of  the  location  of  the  postoffice  in  the  same  building 
about  the  same  time,  has  been  generally  very  satisfactory  indeed. 

FREE  CITY  PUBLIC   LIBRARY. 

In  the  meantime,  in  1869,  cities  of  the  grade  of  Akron  had  been 
empo^vered  to  establish  and,  by  taxation,  maintain  free  libraries 
and  reading  rooms,  and  on  April  14,  1873,  a  committee  consisting 
of  Edwin  P.  Green,  Sidney  Edgerton  and  John  R.  Buchtel,  was 
appointed  to  confer  with  the  City  Council  on  the  subject,  and  after 


FREE    PUBLIC    LIBRARY. 


179 


DR.  DANIEL  ARNOLD  SCOTT,— 
eldest  son  of  James  and  Harriet 
Penning-ton  (Arnold)  Scott,  was  born 
^t  Cadiz,  Harrison  County,  Maj"-  4, 
1821;  educated  at  Cadiz  schools, 
being-  at  one  time  a  pupil  of  the  late 
Bishop  Simpson  ;  read  medicine  with 
Dr.  William  F.Poole, and  was  a  grad- 
uate of  both  the  Eclectic  and  the  Allo- 
pathic schools  of  medicine.  June  15, 
1842,  was  married  to  Miss  Mary 
Burnett  Phipps,  of  Smithfield,  Jeffer- 
son County,  who  bore  hitn  three 
daughters — Harriet  Rebecca,  Emma 
Virginia,  and  Mary  Bell.  In  1848,  Dr. 
Scott  came  to  Akron,  successfully 
practicing  his  profession  here  till  his 
sudden  death  from  heart  failure,  Janu- 
ary 23, 1890.  in  several  instances  minis- 
tering to  five  generations  in  the  same 
familj'.  Though  repeatedlj^  declin- 
ing political  preferinent.  Dr.  Scott 
was  an  efficient  and  conscientious 
member  of  the  Akron  Board  of 
Health  from  1886  until  his  death.  He 
was  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Masonic  Order,  holding  the  office  of 
Grand  High  Priest  of  the  Grand 
Chapter  of  Ohio  for  two  terms, 
High  Priest  of  Washington  Chapter, 
No.  25,  R.  A.  M.  for  14  consecutive 
years,  was  a  member  of  the  Grand 
Chapter  of  the  United  States,  and  a 
member  of  Akron  Commandery,  No. 
25.  Knights  Templar,  from  its  organ- 
ization.     As    husband     and    father. 


DR.  DANIEL  ARNOLD  SCOTT. 

tenderly  affectionate ;  as  a  citizen, 
modest,  warm-hearted  and  sincere ; 
as  a  physician,  honest,  faithful  and 
sympathetic.  Dr.  Scott  was  truly 
beloved  by  all  who  knew  him.  He 
died  at  the  age  of  68  years,  8  months 
and  19  days. 


DR.   BYRON  S.   CHASE. 

DR.  BYRON  S.  CHASE,— born  in 
Jamaica,  Vt.,  January  9,  1834; 
raised  on  farm  ;  educated  in  common 
schools  and  Chester  Academy ;  at 
21  engaged  in  sale  of  maps,  in  Michi- 
g^an ;  later  studying  medicine  with 
his  uncle.  Dr.  E.  W.  Howard,  in  Akron, 
^aduating    at    Ann  Arbor,    Mich., 


beg-inning-  practice  with  Dr.  Howard 
in  Akron  ;  in  1862,  entered  the  army 
as  assistant  surgeon  of  16th  Reg't. 
O.  V.  I.;  in  June,  1863,  was  transferred 
to  53rd  Mississippi  (colored)  Regt.  as 
surgeon,  serving  till  close  of  the  war, 
acting  on  operating  board  at  Chicka- 
saw Bayou  and  during-  the  siege  of 
Vicksburg.  At  close  of  the  war 
resumed  practice  in  Akron,  continu- 
ing with  marked  success  until  his 
death,  February  23,  1878,  at  the  ag-e  of 
44  years,  1  month  and  14  days.  Janu- 
ary 26,  1863,  Dr.  Chase  was  married 
to  Miss  Henrietta  Sabin,  daughter  of 
the  late  Joseph  W.  and  Prudence 
(Brown)  Sabin,  born  in  Akron  Decem- 
ber 17, 1842,  who  bore  him  four  chil- 
dren— William  Sabin,  born  December 
9,  1866,  now  city  editor  Akron  Dailjr 
Beacon  and  Republican ;  Charles 
Hibbard,  born  June  2,  1869,  now  clerk 
for  the  E.  H.  Merrill  Stoneware  Com- 
pany ;  Martha,  born  November  25, 
1874,  and  Byron  Samuel,  born  Octo- 
ber 12,  1877  ;  Doctor  and  Mrs  Chase 
also  having  adopted  and  raised  a 
nephew,  Sabin  Ford,  son  of  Hobart 
and  Martha  (riabin)  Ford,  now  in  the 
employ  of  The  Diamond  Match  Com- 
pany, at  Ontonagon,  Mich. 


180 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


several  interviews  with  a  corresponding  committee  from  the 
Council,  consisting  of  Councilmen  Milton  W,  Henry  and  William 
T.  Allen  and  City  Solicitor  Edward  W.  Stuart,  on  December  30, 
1873,  the  committee  reported  that  they  had  tendered  to  the  Council 
all  the  books  and  property  of  the  Association,  Avith  a  perpetual 
lease  of  its  rooms,  on  condition  that  the  city  w^ould  establish  a 
Public  Library,  for  the  free  use  of  all  its  citizens  who  might 
choose  to  avail  themselves  of  its  privileges,  which  proposition  had. 
been  accepted. 


HON.  SIDNEY  EDGERTON,  — 
born  in  Cazenovia,  N.  Y., 
August  17,  1819;  thrown  vipon  his 
own  resources  at  eight  years  of  age, 
he  managed  to  secure  a  fair  common 
school  education  ;  at  17  began  teach- 
ing ;  at  18  entered  Wesley  Seminary 
at  Liina,  N.  Y.,  where,  after  spending 
two  terms,  he  w^as  employed  as 
teacher ;  in  April,  1844,  came  to  Ak- 
ron, a  stranger  with  but  $3.00  in  his 
pocket ;  entering  the  office  of  Judge 
Rufus  P.  Spalding  as  a  law  student, 
in  the  Winter  season  teaching  in 
Tallmadge  Academy  ;  in  1846  gradu- 
ated from  Cincinnati  Law^  School, 
and  admitted  to  the  bar  in  that  city, 
opening  a  law  office  in  Akron  ;  in 
1852  elected  Prosecuting  Attornej^ 
serving  four  years  ;  in  1858  elected  to 
Congress  and  re-elected  in  1860,  serv- 
ing four  years  ;  in  1863  was  appointed 
bj'  President  Lincoln  Chief  Justice 
of  Idaho,  transporting  his  family 
and  effects  from  Omaha  to  Bannock 
City  in  wagons ;  in  1864,  traveled  on 
horseback  to  Salt  Lake  Citj^  (sleep- 
ing on  the  ground),  thence  by  stage 
to  the  Mississippi,  en  route  to  Wash- 
ington, where,  by  a  bill  prepared  bj^ 
himself,  he  secured  the  organization 
of  Montana,  of  which  he  was  made 
Governor  by  President  Lincoln. 
Getting  the  territorial  machinery  into 
running     order,     he      tendered     his 


HON.  SIDNEY  EDGERTON. 

resignation  Februarj^  23,  1865,  whiclr 
was  accepted  in  July.  Returned 
with  familj^  to  Akron  in  Januar5% 
1866  and  resuined  the  practice  of 
law.  Mr.  Edgerton  was  married  tO' 
Miss  Mary  Wright,  of  Tallmadge,. 
May  18,  1849,  who  bore  him  nine 
children — four  sons  and  five  daugh- 
ters, seven  of  whom  are  still  living. 
Mrs.  Edgerton  dying  August  3, 1883.- 


This  action  ^vas  approved  and  the  committee  authorized  to 
execute  the  lease,  on  the  part  of  the  Association,  the  proposition 
being  formally  accepted  by  the  Council,  by  resolution  adopted 
January  5,  and  by  ordinance  passed  January  26,  1874.  The  lease 
"was  conditioned  upon  the  pa3^ment  of  the  then  existing  indebted- 
ness of  the  Association;  that  said  library  should  be  free  to  all  the 
citizens  of  Akron;  that  the  Boardof  Control  should  consist  of  two 
members  of  the  Association,  one  member  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, and  two  members  of  the  Council,  the  lease  to  run  three  years, 
with  a  stipulation  that  "at  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  said  lease, 
said  Library  Association  agrees  to  convey  said  property  to  said 
city,  by  perpetual  lease,  provided  said  city  shall  have  complied 
with  the  conditions  herein  expressed,  on  its  part,  and  provided, 
further,  that  said  city  shall  faithfully  care  for  said  library,  under 
said  perpetual  lease,  and  maintain  the  library  for  the  free  use  of 
the  inhabitants  of  said  city  and  the  members  of  this  Association."" 


FREE    PUBLIC    LIBRARY. 


181 


JULIUS  SHERMAN  LANE— eld- 
J  est  son  of  Samuel  Alanson  and 
Paulina  (Potter)  Lane,  was  born  in 
Akron,  November  19,  1841 ;  educated 
in  Akron  public  schools ;  learned 
the  machinist's  trade  at  the  Newark 
Machine  Works  and  with  Webster, 
Camp  &  Co.,  in  Akron  ;  in  1866  was 
elected  chief  eng^ineer  of  the  Akron 
Fire  Department,  in  charg-e  of  its 
first  steamer,  "  City  of  Akron,  No.  1." 
In  1867,  occupied  the  position  of  chief 
eng-ineer  of  the  Lake  Superior  Com- 

Sany's  iron  mines,  at  Ishpeming, 
[ich.;  in  1868,  returned  to  Akron,  as 
superintendent  of  the  newly  organiz- 
ed Webster,  Camp  &  Lane  Machine 
Company,  which  position  he  success- 
fully filled  for  17  years,  having  mean- 
time invented  "  Lane's  Band  Fric- 
tion Hoist"  and  other  valuable 
mining  devices,  now  so  largely  in 
vogue  in  the  mining  districts  of  the 
United  States,  Mexico,  and  Central 
and  South  America.  Since  1885  Mr. 
Lane  has  been  the  general  superin- 
tendent of  the  M.  C.  Bullock  Manufac- 
turing Company,  of  Chicago,  mining 
machinery,  including  the  celebrated 
Bullock  Diamond  Drill,  being  a 
specialty.  August  21,  1867,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Julia  E.  Pitkin, 
daughter  of  the  late  Rev.  Caleb 
Johnson  Pitkin,  at  Cerro  Gordo,   111. 


JULIUS  SHERMAN  LANE. 

They  have  six  children  —  Henry 
Marquette  Lane,  born  at  Ishpeming, 
Mich.,  May  14,  1868;  Pauline  Eliza- 
beth, born  at  Akron,  November  20, 
1869;  Frank  Pitkin,  August  19,  1871 
Albert  Alanson,  September  22,  1873 
Florence  Maria,  Decembers,  1876;  and 
George  Comfort,  October  28,  1882. 


JOHN   WOLF. 


TOHN  WOLF,— born  in  Selb,  Bav. 
J  aria,  Germany,  January  25,  1837, 
attended  German  schools  till  14 
years  of  age  ;  in  1851  came  to  United 
States,  clerking  in  store  in  Aurora, 
Ind.,  until  September,  1853,  when  he 
came  to  Akron  ;  here  he  clerked  two 


years  for  George  T.  McCurdy  and 
seven  years  for  Milton  W.  Henry, 
when,  in  1862,  he  became  a  memberof 
the  firm  of  M.  W.  Henrj^  &  Co,  con- 
tinuing there  until  1869,  seven  j^ears. 
In  Spring  of  1870  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  his  half-brother,  J.  Martin 
Beck,  and  Mr.  Harry  J.  Church,  under 
the  firm  name  of  Wolf,  Church  & 
Beck,  establishing  a  dry  goods  store 
in  the  Academy  of  Music  building, 
remaining  there  five  j^ears,  when 
they  removed  to  the  southeast  corner 
of  Main  and  Market  streets,  where 
Mr.  Wolf  still  remains.  Mr.  Beck 
withdrawing  in  1878  and  Mr.  Church 
in  1886,  Mr.  Wolf  is  now  sole  pro- 
prietor and  one  of  the  leading  and 
most  prosperous  of  Akron's  many 
enterprising  and  successfiil  mer- 
chants. October  25,  1864,  Mr.  Wolf 
was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Anna 
Howe,  daughter  of  Captain  Richard 
Howe,  one  of  Akron's  pioneer  set- 
tlers. They  have  two  children  — 
Charles  R.,  born  November  2,  1869, 
and  Harry  H.,born  May  28,  1874.  Mr. 
W.  was  one  of  the  founders  and  is 
still  a  stockholder  and  director  of  the 
Citizens'  Savings  and  Loan  Associa- 
tion, and  also  a  stockholder  and 
director  of  the  incorporated  firm  of 
Taplin,  Rice  &  Co. 


182 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


The  Library  ordinance,  as  revised  and  codified  July  1,  1886,  i» 
as  follows: 

Sec.  279.  The  City  of  Akron  shall  maintain,  at  the  public  expense,  the 
library  deeded  and  conveyed  to  said  city  by  deed  from  the  Akron  Library 
Association,  of  the  date  of  January  15, 1877. 

Sec.  280.  In  accordance  with  the  terms  of  said  deed  a  Board  of  Control 
for  said  library  shall  be  and  is  hereby  provided,  to  be  constittited  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner:  It  shall  consist  of  six  members— resident  electors  of  said 
city. 

Sec.  281.  The  members  of  said  board  shall  be  chosen  by  ballot,  by  a 
majority  of  all  the  members  of  the  City  Council,  who  shall  annually  at  the 
first  meeting'  in  May,  choose  two  members  of  said  board  for  the  term  of  three 
years.  All  members  shall  serve  for  said  term  and  until  their  successors  are 
duly  chosen. 

Sec.  282.  Said  Board  of  Control  shall  make  its  own  by-laws,  and  hold  its 
meetings  at  such  times  as  they  may  decide  upon,  and  shall  have  the  power  to- 
make  such  rules  and  regulations  for  the  care  of  said  library  as  they  deem 
necessary  faithfullj^  to  carry  out  the  terms  of  said  deed.  That  the  board 
shall  have  power  to  appoint  a  librarian  and  such  other  officers  as  they 
maj^  require  for  the  proper  care  of  the  librarj'-,  and  shall  report  semi- 
annually to  the  Council  the  condition  of  said  library. 

Sec.  283.  All  moneys  used  by  said  board  for  library  purposes  shall  first 
be  appropriated  for  such  use  by  said  City  Council,  and  no  expenses  shall  be 
incurred,  chargeable  to  the  city,  other  than  as  covered  by  appropriations 
made  therefor  by  the  City  Council. 

Sec.  284.  The  use  of  said  library  shall  be  free  of  all  charge  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  said  city,  the  life  members  of  the  Akron  Library  Association  and 
their  families,  except  such  fines  as  may  be  imposed  for  the  infractions  of  the 
rules  regulating  the  use  of  the  same: 


DR.  WILLIAM  C.  JACOBS,— born 
at  Lima,  Ohio,  February  26,  1840; 
educated  in  Lima  public  schools  ;  at 
16  was  appointed  to  National  Naval 
School,  at  Annapolis,  Md.,  but 
resigned  in  1859,  and  began  the  study 
of  medicine  with  Dr.  William  Carson, 
of  Cincinnati,  graduating  from  the 
Ohio  Medical  College,  in  that  city,  in 
1862.  In  April,  1862,  was  appointed 
assistant  surgeon  of  the  4th  O.  V.  C, 
serving  with  that  regiment  until 
Deceinber,  1862,  when  he  was  pro- 
moted to  surgeon  and  assigned  to 
the  81st  O.  V.  I.,  with  which  he  served 
till  close  of  war  ;  during  the  Atlanta 
campaign  serving  on  the  Operating 
Board  of  Second  Division  of  Six- 
teenth Army  Corps.  In  October,  1865, 
Dr.  Jacobs  located  in  Akron,  where 
he  has  since  been  in  continuous 
practice,  from  1870  to  1873  with  the 
late  Dr.  William  Bowen,  and  after- 
wards with  Dr.  Albert  C.  Belden.  Dr. 
Jacobs  is  a  member  of  Summit 
County  Medical  Society,  Union  Medi- 
cal Association  of  North  Eastern 
Ohio,  State  Medical  Society,  and 
American  Medical  Association  ;  was 
the  first  secretary  of  the  second 
named  society,  and  has  held  official 


DR.  WILLIAM  C.  JACOBS. 

positions  in  others.  September  10, 
1863,  Dr.  Jacobs  was  married  to  Miss 
Huldah  M.  Hill,  a  native  of  Knox 
County,  O.  They  have  one  child, 
Harold  H.,  born  February  10,  1866. 
now^  practicing  medicine  incompati}" 
with  his  father. 


The  officers  and  directors  of  the  Akron  Library  Association,  in 
its  corporate  capacity,  were  as  follows:  Presidents:  William  H. 
Upson,  1866,  '67,  '68;  George  P.  Ashmun,  1869;  Lewis  Miller,   1870; 


FREE    PUBLIC    LIBRARY. 


183 


JOHN  W.  BAKER,-  born  in 
J  Auburn,  Cayuga  County,  N.  Y., 
January  27,  1827,  common  school 
education;  in  1843,  came  with  parents 
to  Akron;  a  year  later  went  to  Col- 
umbus to  learn  cabinet  making-, 
serving  three  years,  worked  at  trade 
in  Akron  till  1850,  when  he  went  over- 
land to  California  and  engaged  in 
mining,  remaining  two  years; 
returning  home,  via  Panama  and 
New  York,  worked  for  a  musical 
instrument  firm  until  1857,  when  he 
became  a  member  of  the  Akron 
Melopean  Company,  continuing  ten 
years;  then  engaged  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  cigar  boxes,  gradually  adding 
wood-turning  and  japanning,  about 
1870  forming  a  partnership  with  Mr. 
John  C.  McMillen,  a  few  years  later 
Mr.  John  P.  Teeple  being  added, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Baker, 
McMillen  &  Co.,  which  in  the  spring 
of  1890  was  organized  into  a  stock 
compan}^,  with  Mr.  McMillen  as 
president,  Mr.  Baker  as  superintend- 
ent and  Mr.  Teeple  as  secretary  and 
treasurer,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
prosperous  industries  in  the  city. 
Politically  a  stanch  Democrat,  in 
1876  and  1877  Mr.  Baker  represented 


JOHN   W.    BAKEK. 

the  Second  Ward  in  the  Cit)^  Council. 
May  6,  1853,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Caroline  M.  Thayer,  a  native  of  New 
York,  who  has  borne  him  three 
children,  two  of  whom  are  now  liv- 
ing— Frank  E.  and  Alice.,  both  still 
at  home. 


CARL  WILHELM   BONSTEDT. 

pARL  WILHELM  BONSTEDT,— 
^  son  of  Carl  Frederic  a  n  d 
Augusta  Wilhelmina  (Peschau)  Bon- 
etedt,  was  born  at  Clausthal,  on  the 
Hartz,  Kingdom  of  Hanover,  Ger- 
many, January  11,  1825;  common 
school  education;  at  14  apprenticed 
to  grocery  trade,  serving  four  years; 
then  superintendent  of  the  large 
cigar  factory  of  Landsmith  &  Co., 
at  Engter,  near  Osnabruck,  for  several 
years,    when    he   came   to    America, 


having  charge  of  a  large  tobacco 
business  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  until 
1855,  when  he  came  to  Akron,  as  clerk 
in  the  grocery  store  of  F'erdinand 
Schumacher,  later  being  proinoted 
to  book-keeper;  in  1863  bought  out 
Mr.  S.,  continuing  the  business  till 
1875,  when  he  sold  out  to  his  book- 
keeper, Mr.  John  Terrass.  After  a 
short  engagement  in  the  limestone 
business,  near  Sandusky,  again 
embarked  in  the  grocerj-  trade  in 
Akron,  with  Mr.  John  Kreuder,  at  210 
East  Market  Street,  the  partnership 
continuing  six  j-ears,  on  the  with- 
drawal of  Mr.  K.,  Mr.  B.  continuing 
on  his  own  account,  until  his  death, 
October  19.  18tK).  the  business  being 
still  carried  on  by  his  sons.  Mr. 
Bonstedt  was  one  of  the  organizers 
and  most  active  members  of  the 
Akron  Liedertafel;  was  first  president 
of  Retail  Grocers'  Association,  mem- 
ber of  Akron  Mercantile  Associa- 
tion, Board  of  Trade,  and  of  City 
Council  1864-65.  March  15,  1857,  Mr. 
Bonstedt  was  married,  in  Akron,  to 
Miss  Augusta  F.  Beyer,  a  native  of 
Germany,  w^ho  bore  him  eight  sons 
and  one  daughter  Charles  W..  of 
Greentown;  Adolph;  Victor  E.; 
Ferdinand,  of  Lincoln,  Neb.;  Her- 
man; William  H.;  Frank;  Louis,  and 
Augusta  F.  Mrs  Bonstedt  still  sur- 
vives. 


184 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


David  L.  King,  1871,  '72;  Edwin  P.  Green,  1873.  Vice  Presidents: 
Stephen  H.  Pitkin,  1866;  Lewis  Miller,  1867,  '68;  John  J.  Wagoner, 
1869,  '70,  '71,  '72;  Thomas  Rhodes,  1873.  Corresponding  Secre- 
taries: Charles  B.  Bernard,  1866;  Stephen  H.  Pitkin,  1867,  '68,  '69, 
'70,  '71;  George  W.  Crouse,  1872;  Byron  S.  Chase,  1873.  Recording 
Secretaries:  James  H.  Peterson,  1866;  John  E.  Miller,  1867,  '68; 
Arthur  L.  Conger,  1869,  '70;  William  T.  Allen,  1871,  '72,  '73.  Treas- 
urers: George  W.  Crouse,  1866,  '67,  '68,  '69,  '70;  John  H.  Christy, 
1871;  WilUam  B.  Raymond,  1872,  '73.  Directors:  1866,  David  E. 
King,  Julius  S.  Lane,  Julian  H.  Pitkin,  Israel  P.  Hole;  1867,  George 
P.  Ashmun,  George  T.  Perkins,  New^ell  D.  Tibbals,  Edwin  P, 
Green;  1868,  Ferdinand  Schumacher,  David  L.  King,  George 
T.  Perkins,  Edwin  P.  Green;  1869,  Edwin  P.  Green,  James  H. 
Peterson,  Thomas  Rhodes,  Robert  L.  Collett;  1870,  Jeremiah  A. 
Long,  Byron  S.  Chase,  Edwin  P.  Green,  Ferdinand  Schumacher; 
1871,  Sidney  Edgerton,  James  H.  Peterson,  John  Wolf,  John  H. 
How^er;  1872,  Sidney  Edgerton,  John  H.  Hower,  George  T.  Perkins, 
A^illiam  C.  Jacobs;  1873,  John  R.  Buchtel,  John  H.  Hower,  George 
T.  Perkins,  William  C.  Jacobs. 


DR.  MASON  CHAPMAN,— son  of 
Lucius  and  Sally  B.  (Mason) 
Chapman,  was  born  in  Copley,  June 
28,  1838  ;  in  1857  went  with  parents  to 
Wisconsin,  and  later  to  Iowa,  work- 
ing on  father's  farm,  except  for  a  time 
clerking:  in  grocery  and  boot  and 
shoe  store,  while  living  in  Wiscon- 
sin, till  December,  1864 ;  meantime 
having  attended  Cornell  College  at 
Mt.  Vernon,  Iowa,  two  years  ;  taught 
school  two  terms  and  studied  den- 
tistry two  years  with  Dr.  Matson,  of 
Anamosa,  Iowa.  After  a  short  visit 
to  the  State  of  New  York,  in  the 
Spring  of  186.5,  caine  to  Akron  and 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession with  Dr.  C.  H.  BoUes,  later 
buying  him  out,  and  continuing  the 
business  with  phenomenal  success  to 
the  present  time,  having  fitted  up  in 
his  own  new  building,  erected  in  1887, 
corner  Broadway  and  Mill,  the  finest 
suite  of  dental  parlors  in  the  city. 
An  earnest  Republican,  though  not 
an  office-seeker,  Dr.  Chapman  ably 
represented  the  Third  Ward  in  the 
City  Council  from  April,  1878,  to 
April,    1880.      November    3,    1867,   Dr. 


DR.  MASON  CHAPMAN. 

Chapman  was  married  to  Miss  Alice 
L.  Randall,  a  native  of  Copley  town- 
ship. They  have  one  son,  Cloyd  M, 
Chapinan,  born  November  5,  1874, 
now  a  student  in  Akron  High  School. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  life  members  of  the  Library  Association, 
January  9,  1877,  David  L.  King,  Edwin  P.  Green,  John  R.  Buchtel 
and  Sidney  Edgerton  were  constituted  a  committee  to  convey,  by 
deed,  with  proper  stipulation  for  its  perpetual  care,  the  library  and 
property  of  the  Association  to  the  city,  concluding  its  labors  by  the 
adoption  of  the  following  resolution: 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  the  Akron  Library  Association 
are  extremely  gratified  by  the  success  of  the  movement  to  transfer 
their  library  to  the  City  of  Akron,  and  have  full  faith  that  the  true 
interests  of  the  Library  Association  will  be  promoted  by  such 
transfer. 


FREE    PUBLIC    LIBRARY. 


185 


ANDREW  H.  NOAH— son  of  Elmer 
and  Esther  Noah,  was  born  in 
Bath,  February  15,  1858,  his  father 
dyino^  in  the  war  when  he  was  quite 
small ;  was  raised  in  Peninsula,  edu- 
cated at  Oberlin  College ;  taught 
school  four  3^ears  at  Steele's  Corners, 
Boston  Village  and  Chittenden's  Cor- 
ners ;  worked  for  the  Daj'ton  (Ohio), 
Hedge  Company  five  years,  in  the 
capacit}'  of  general  agent,  traveling 
through  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee;  December  29, 
1880,  was  married  to  Miss  Kittie  B, 
McGill,  youngest  daughter  of  James 
and  Susan  McGill,  of  Urbana,  Ohio  ; 
they  have  no  children  ;  August  1, 1885, 
bought  half  interest  in  real  estate 
busitiess  with  Frank  A.  Wilcox  ;  May, 
1888  was  elected  member  of  Board  of 
Control  of  Akron  Public  Library,  and 
made  secretary  of  the  board,  serving 
two  years  and  declining  a  re-election; 
charter  member  of  The  Akron  Build- 
ing and  Loan  Association,  on  organ- 
ization, in  1888,  being  elected  secre- 
tary, which  position  he  still  holds  ; 
Past  Grand  of  Akron  Lodge,  No.  547, 


JOSEPH  ALVrN   BEEBE. 

JOSEPH  ALVIN  BEEBE,— born  in 
J  New  London,  Conn.,  September 
18,  1810;  removed  with  parents,  in 
infancy,  to  Middletown,  Conn.;  com- 
mon school  education  ;  from  14  to  21 
clerk  in  postoffice,  under  Postmaster 
Joshua  Stow  ;  in  1832  came  to  Cuya- 
hoga Falls,  and  engaged  in  book- 
binding with  his  brother,  the  late 
Oliver  B.  Beebe  ;  in  1838  established 
Akron's  pioneer  book  store,  on  pres- 
ent site  of  Houghton's  grocery  store 


ANDREW   H.   NOAH. 

I.  O.  O.  F.;  member  of  Akron  Encamp- 
ment and  one  of  the  five  directors 
of  the  Akron  Underwriters'  Asso- 
ciation. 

on  East  Market  street ;  in  1839  with  Mr. 
William  E.  Wright  established  the 
Center  Mill,  near  the  present  site  of 
the  Allen  Mill,  continuing  two  or 
three  j^ears  ;  in  1841,  in  partnership 
with  Dr.  Perkins  Wallace,  added 
drugs  to  book  trade  in  the  old  stone 
block,  later  having  Dr.  Dana  D. 
Evans  for  a  partner,  and  still  later 
(1848)  Mr.  Richard  S.  Elkins,  after- 
wards adding  to  their  business  the 
publication  of  the  Summit  County 
Beacon,  the  firm  of  Beebe  &  Elkins 
continuing  until  1879,  over  30  j'ears. 
October,  1880,  Mr.  Beebe  was  elected 
a  director  of  Count}^  Infirmar3'  and 
re-elected  in  1883,  serving  six  years, 
most  of  the  time  clerk  of  the  board  ; 
also  occupied  the  position  of  City 
Librarian  seven  j^ears,  from  1882  to 
1889.  May  19,  1840,  Mr.  Beebe  was 
married,  at  Edinburg,  Portage 
County,  to  Miss  Cornelia  E.  Wads- 
worth  (daughter  of  the  late  Frederick 
Wadsworth).  who  bore  him  three 
children — Helen,  born  August  16, 
1841,  now  Mrs.  William  B.  Rajnnond  ; 
Frederick  Wadsworth,  now  of  Paige 
Brothers  &'Co.'s  hardware  corpora- 
tion, Akron;  and  Charles  Joseph, 
now  of  Philadelphia.  Mrs.  Beebe 
died  December  21,  1884,  aged  65  j^ears, 
10  months  and  2  days,  Mr.  Beebe 
dying  May  16,  1891,  aged  80  years,  7 
months,  28  days. 


The  Board  of  Control  consists  of  six  members  elected  by  the 
Council,  two  each  year,  to  serve  three  years,  the  Board  maintaining 
its  own  separate  organization  for  the  management  of  the  affairs  of 


186 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


the  library,  subject  only  to  the  control  of  the  Council  in  the  matter 
of  its  money  expenditures,  the  authorized  tax  levy  for  its  support 
being  limited  by  law  to  half  a  mill  on  the  dollar,  three-tenths  of  a 
mill  being  about  the  average  yearly  levy  for  library  purposes,  the 
expenditures  for  the  year  ending  March  12,  1887,  being  $2,023.36, 
and  for  the  years  ending  March  15, 1888,  $2,325.82;  1889,  $2,500;  1890, 
$3,700;  1891,  $1,600,  the  Hbrary  at  the  present  time  (1891)  containing 
about  12,000  volumes. 

Members  of  the  Board  of  Control,  since  the  organization  of  the 
Akron  Public  Library,  have  been:  John  R.  Buchtel,  J.  Park  Alex- 
ander,Milton  W.Henry,  Edwin  P.  Green,  George  Tod  Ford,  William 
T.  Allen,  William  C.  Allen,  John  W.  Baker,  Paul  E.  Werner,  David 
L.  King,  Charles  A,  Collins,  Adams  Emerson,  Mason  Chapman^ 
Noah  A.  Carter,  Lewis  Miller,  Thomas  E.  Monroe,  Frank  M.  Atter- 
holt,  Charles  W.  Bonstedt,  C.  P.  Humphrey,  Olin  L.  Sadler,  Kalph 
P.  Burnett,  Charles  R.  Grant,  Elias  Fraunfelter,  Andrew  H.  Xoah,. 
Louis  Seybold,  Louis  D.  Seward,  Charles  S.  Hart. 


JUDGE  CHARLES  R.  GRANT,  - 
born  October  23,  1846,  in  Orange, 
New  Haven  County,  Conn.;  at  15 
enlisted  in  12th  Connecticut  V.  I.,  and 
held  the  extremely  perilous  position 
of  dispatch  bearer  on  Gen.  Butler's 
Staff,  in  the  Department  of  the  Gulf, 
and  continued  on  the  staff  of  Gen. 
Banks  until  October,  1863,  when  he 
was  discharg-ed.  In  April,  1864,  locat- 
ed at  Cuj^ahoga  Falls,  where  he  was 
engaged  in  farming  and  study  until 
September,  1868,  when  he  entered 
.the  freshman  class  at  Western 
Reserve  College,  graduating  in  1872 
as  valedictorian  of  his  class  of  eigh- 
teen students.  After  a  year  spent  in 
Colorado,  recruiting  his  health,  he 
entered  the  office  of  Judge  N.  D. 
Tibbals  as  a  law  student,  being 
admitted  to  the  bar,  at  Akron,  in 
September,  1874.  Health  a^ain  fail- 
ing, he  engaged  in  farming  until 
January,  1876,  when  he  formed  a 
partnership  with  H.  B.  Foster,  Esq., 
of  Hudson,  in  November  of  that  year 
locating  in  Akron,  as  a  member  of 
the  law  firm  of  Foster,  Marvin  & 
Grant,  which  arrangement  continued 
until  his  appointment  by  Gov. 
Foster,  September  16,  1883,  Probate 
Judge  of  Summit  County,  on  the 
death  of  Judge  Goodhue,  being 
elected  to  the  office  in  1884,  and 
again  in  1887,  giving  to  the  office 
over  seven  years  of  able  and  faithful 


JUDGE  CHARLES  R.  GRANT. 

service.  October,  9,  1873,  Judge 
Grant  was  married  to  Miss  Frances 
J.  Wadhams,  of  Boston  township, 
who  died  September  14,  1874.  Nov- 
ember 9,  1876,  he  was  again  married, 
to  Miss  Lucy  J.  Alexander,  of  Akron, 
who  died  June  8,  1880,  leaving  one 
child — Frances  Virginia,  born  Sep- 
tember 24,  1877.  August,  19, 1891,  was 
again  ijiarried  to  Miss  Ida  Shick,  of 
Akron. 


Presidents  of  the  Board  have  been  as  follows:  Hon.  John  R, 
Buchtel,  1874-77;  Milton  W.  Henry,  1877-79;  Edwin  P.  Green, 
1879-82;  Rev.  Thomas  E.  Monroe,  1882,  '83;  Noah  A.  Carter,  1883,  '84? 
C.  P.  Humphrev,  1884-86;  Frank  M.  Atterholt,  1886,  '87;  Charles  R. 
Grant,  1887,'88;  "OHn  L.  Sadler,  1888, '89;  Charles  R.  Grant,  1890,  '9K 


POPULAR    ENTERTAINMENTS.  187 

Secretaries:  George  Tod  Ford,  1874,  '75;  William  T.  Allen,  1875, 
'76;  William  C.  Allen,  1876,  '77;  Paul  E.Werner,  1877-82;  Dr.  Mason 
Chapman,  1882-84;  Paul  E.Werner,  1884,  '85;  Olin  L.  Sadler,  1885,'89. 
Louis  D.  Seward,  1890,  '91. 

Treasurers:  Previous  to  1882,  the  Secretary  also  officiated  as 
Treasurer  of  the  Board,  since  \^rhich  time  the  treasurers  have  been: 
Frank  M.  Atterholt,  1882-85;  Ralph  P.  Burnett,  1885  to  present  time. 

Librarians:  Theron  A.  Noble,  from  beginning  to  1875;  Horton 
Wright,  1875-82;  Joseph  A.  Beebe,  1882-89;  Mary  Pauline  Edgerton, 
1889  to  present  time. 

Assistant  Librarians:  Mary  Vosburg  and  Anna  M.  Kuinmer, 
to  December,  1875;  Bessie  Willis,  1875-85;  Mary  Pauline  Edgerton, 
1885-89;  Mrs.  Jennie  M.  Proehl,  1889  to  present  time. 

Akronians  are  justly  proud  of  Akron's  Free  Public  Library, 
which  it  is  conceded  is  not  only  one  of  the  very  best  equipped,  in 
point  of  the  extent  and  arrangement  of  its  alcoves,  and  the  judi- 
cious selection  of  its  books  and  periodicals,  but  also  one  of  the  best 
managed  institutions  of  its  class  in  the  State.  t 

CHEAP  POPULAR  ENTERTAINMENTS. 

Besides  the  frequently  recurring  popular  lectures  and  other 
entertainments — literary  and  scientific — given  under  the  auspices 
of  Buchtel  College,  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  the 
various  church  and  other  organizations  of  the  city,  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  has,  during  two  decades,  not  only 
maintained  a  Avell  supplied  reading  room,  to  which  has  recently 
been  added  an  extensive  gymnasium,  but  for  several  years  past 
has  given  to  the  public,  during  the  winter  season,  courses  of  ten 
lectures  and  musical  entertainments  by  the  very  best  talent  of  the 
country,  at  the  extremely  low  figure  of  one  dollar  per  course,  their 
popularity  not  only  rendering  them  self-sustaining,  but  affording  a 
handsome  surplus  for  the  carrying  forw^ard  of  the  other  branches 
of  the  beneficent  work  of  the  association. 

Long  may  Akron  continue  to  cherish  and  liberally  sustain  her 
magnificent  educational,  literary,  benevolent  and  Christian 
institutions. 


CHAPTER  X. 

AKRON  CHURCHES  — FULLY  ABREAST  WITH  HER  BUSINESS  ENTERPRISES, 
SCHOOLS,  ETC. — PIONEER  RELIGIOUS  ORGANIZATIONS— STRIVINGS,  STRUG- 
GUNGS,  ADVANCES,  REVERSES,  ETC.— THE  SECTS  VERY  LARGELY  REPRE- 
SENTED— HARMONIOUSLY  WORKING  TOGETHER  FOR  THE  GENERAL  GOOD 
—MODERN  CHURCH  STRUCTURES,  SOME  OF  THE  FINEST  IN  THE  COUNTRY 
—PRESENT  STATUS  OF  ALL  THE  CHURCHES— MINISTERIAL  ASSOCIATION, 
ETC. 

AKRON  CHURCHES. 

'T^^HIS  chapter,  giving  an  epitome  of  Akron's  church  history,  is 
^  largely  compiled  from  the  more  elaborate  sketches  furnished 
by  pastors  or  prominent  members  of  the  several  societies,  with 
such  emendations  as  the  personal  recollections  of  the  wrriter  furnish, 
and  such  statistical  information  obtained  from  official  sources  as 
to  bring  the  matters  written  of  down  to  the  present  date. 

FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

This  society,  whose  present  church  edifice  is  located  on  Kent 
street,  near  Arlington,  in  the  Sixth  Ward,  is  undoubtedly  the  oldest 
church  organization  in  w^hat  is  now^  the  city  of  Akron.  It  was 
organized  on  the  15th  day  of  December,  1831;  by  Revs.  Benson  C. 
Baldw^in  and  John  Hughes, with  twenty-six  members,  one  of  w^hom, 
only,  Mr.  Kdgar  T.  Chapman,  now  survives,  though  not  now  a 
member  of  the  congregation;  but  we  are  w^ithout  definite  data  as 
to  when  their  house  of  worship  was  erected.  Successive  pastors 
for  tw^enty-four  years  were:  Rev.  Benson  C.  Baldw^in,  December 
1831  to  September  1838;  Rev.  Abraham  Sanders,  October  1838  to 
October  1839;  Rev.  H.  A.  Sackett,  July  1840  to  June  1841;  Rev.  James 
Shaw,  1841  to  1845. 

About  this  time,  by  reason  of  differences  growing  out  of  the 
slavery  question,  quite  a  number  withdrew  from  the  society,  and 
organized  the  Congregational  Church  of  Middlebury,  the  parent 
church  being  ministered  to  by  Rev.  William  Hanford  in  1846;  Rev. 
Horace  Foote  in  1847;  Rev.  Elroy  Curtis,  1848  to  1854.  Having 
harmonized  their  differences  on  the  slavery  question,  the  two 
societies  re-united,  as  an  independent  church,  in  1860,  under  Rev. 
William  Dempsey,  who  continued  to  officiate  as  pastor  until  1863, 
followed  by  Rev.  Mr.  Hicks  for  three  years;  Rev.  G.  Hall,  three 
years;  and  Rev.  Henry  Avery  three  years. 

In  1874,  largely  through  the  influence  of  the  late  Ambrose  L. 
Cotter,  one  of  the  original  members,  the  society  returned  to  the 
fold  of  the  Presbytery,  under  w^hose  auspices  it  has  since  remained. 
Late  pastors:  Rev.  C.  Barnes,  1874  to  1877;  Rev.  J.  H.  Jones,  1877  to 
1881;  Rev.  D wight  L.  Chapin,  September  1883  to  1889;  Rev.  Kdward 
Ivayport,  May  1,  1889,  to  present  time.  Membership  in  1883,  thirty- 
five;  present  membership  of  145;  number  scholars  in  Sunday 
School,  150.  About  1885  the  present  fine  brick  church,  with  hand- 
somely decorated  interior,  Sunday  School  rooms  in  basement,  etc., 
was  .erected,  at  a  cost,  for  house  and  lot,  of  some  $10,000;  the  old 


AKRON  S   CHURCH    HISTORY. 


18& 


well-known  and  w^ell-w^orn  brick  church,  south  of  the  present  fire 
station,  after  half  a  century's  faithful  public  service,  for  religious 
meetings,  political  meetings,  temperance  meetings,  lectures,  con- 
certs, festivals,  etc.,  having  been  razed  to  the  ground. 

FIRST  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH. 


In  the  earlier  years  of  its 
existence,  the  few  Presby- 
terians and  Congregational- 
ists  of  the  new  village  of 
Akron,  used  to  meet  from 
week  to  w^eek  for  conference^ 
prayer  and  praise  at  private 
residences,  school  houses,  etc. 
In  1834  a  Congregational 
church,  amenable  to  Pres- 
bytery, w^as  organized  by 
Rev.  John  Pettit,  and  in  1835 
a  small  house  of  w^orship,  a 
cut  of  which  is  here  given,  was  erected  on  the  present  Court 
House  grounds,  but,  on  the  location  of  the  Court  House  at  that 
point,  in  1840,  was  removed  to  the  corner  of  Quarry  and  High 
streets,  and,  after  doing  service  for  several  churches,  as  elsewhere 
detailed  until  1877,  w^as  removed  to  the  rear  of  the  present  German 
Lutheran  Church  and  used  for  the  parochial  school  of  that 
Society  until  1889,  when  it  was  torn  down  to  make  room  for  the 
nice  brick  house  now  standing  there. 

The  pulpit  was  supplied  by  Mr.  Pettit,  members  of  Western 
Reserve  College  and  others,  until  1836,  when  Rev.  James  B. 
Walker,  a  theological  graduate  from  the  college  named,  w^as  called 
to  the  pastorate,  erecting  for  himself  a  dwelling  house  in  the 
woods,  which  house  for  many  years  was  owned  and  occupied  by 
Richard  S.  Klkins,  Ksq.,  late  of  Ravenna,  and  is  still  standing 
immediately  north  of  the  Windsor  Hotel.  In  1839,  Mr.  Walker 
resigned  and  w^as  succeeded  by  Rev.  James  D.  Pickands,  who, 
unfortunately,  embraced  and  preached  the  Second  Advent  doc- 
trines which  so  greatly  agitated  the  religious  w^orld  from  1840  to 
1846,  as  fully  detailed  in  another  chapter. 

In  consequence  of  these  heresies,  22  members  withdrew  from 
the  church  in  the  Spring  of  1842,  and  on  the  2nd  day  of  January,. 
1843,  were  formally  organized,  by  a  council  convened  for  that 
purpose,  consisting  of  Rev.  Seagrove  Magill,  of  Tallmadge,  Rev. 
Joseph  Merriam,  of  Randolph,  Rev.  Mason  Grosvenor,  of  Hudson, 
and  Rev.  William  Clark,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  under  the  title  of  the 
"Second  Congregational  Church  of  Akron." 

July  3,  1843,  nine  others  from  the  old,  joined  the  new  church, 
and  the  31  members  proceeded  to  organize  by  the  appointment  of 
Mr.  Harvey  B.  Spelman,  as  Deacon,  and  Mr.  Allen  Hibbard,  as 
Clerk. 

Meantime,  the  embryo  society,  holding  regular  services  in 
what  was  then  known  as  the  "Court  Room,"  in  the  third  story  of 
the  large  stone  block  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Howard  and 
Market  streets,  had  been  ministered  to  by  a  young  eastern  theo- 
logian by  the  name  of  Isaac  Jennings,  w^ho  was  ordained  as  the 


190 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


first  pastor  of  the  new  church,  on  the  14th  day  of  June,  1843. 
Measures  were  soon  afterwards  taken  for  the  erection  of  a  church 
edifice,  which  was  accordingly  built  at  the  corner  of  North  Main 
and  Tallmadge  streets,  at  a  cost  of  $1,800,  w^hich  ^vas  dedicated  in 
June,  1845.  [This  building  in  more  recent  years  w^as  purchased  by 
Mr.  George  WuUe,  and  used  as  a  livery  stable  until  destroyed  by 
fire  in  1887.] 

The  pastorate  of  Mr.  Jennings  ceased  in  February,  1847,  by 
resignation,  being  followed  by  Rev.  W.  R.  Stevens,  as  stated 
supply,  from  November,  1847,  until  May,  1849,  when  Rev. 
Nathaniel  P.  Bailey,  now  of  Massillon,  assumed  the  pastorate, 
being  ordained  October  7,  1849.  Mr.  Bailey  served  until  May  3, 
1856,  and  >vas  followed  by  Rev.  A.  Duncasson,  from  February,  1857, 
to  November,  1858;  Rev.  Abraham  E.  Baldwin,  from  1858  to  1861 
(ordained  in  February,  1860);  Rev.  Carlos  Smith,  December  30,  1861, 
till  the  Winter  of  1873;  Rev.  Thomas  E.  Monroe  1873  to  the 
present  time. 

By  reason  of  the  Second  Advent  delusions,  the  original  First 
Congregational  Church  had  gone  to  pieces,  and  its  house  of 
worship  sold  to  the  Disciples,  so  that  the  Second  naturally  became 
the  First,  by  which  title  it  is  now  known. 


REV.  CARLOS  SMITH,  D.  D.,— 
born  in  Hopkinton,  N.  H.,  July 
17,  1801 ;  married  to  Miss  Susan 
Saxton,  of  Hanover,  N.  H.,  February 
20,  1827 ;  inducted  into  the  ministry 
at  Utica,  N.  Y.,  b}^  the  Oneida  Pres- 
tery  in  1832 ;  was  pastor  at  Manlius, 
N.  Y.,  four  j^ears ;  Painesville,  Ohio, 
eig"ht  jears  ;  Massillon,  three  years  ; 
Tallmadg-e,  14  years ;  and  of  First 
Congreg^ational  Church  in  Akron  12 
years— 1861  to  1873.  "  Father  Smith, " 
was  a  general  favorite  Avith  all 
classes — genial  in  his  manner,  and 
earnest  in  his  pietj",  but  remarkably 
liberal  and  tolerant  of  the  views  and 
feeling's  of  others.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Smith  were  the  parents  of  twelve 
children,  four  of  whom  died  in 
infancy  and  one — Eliza  Mygatt — 
dying  at  16  years  of  age  in  Tallmadge, 
the  seven  survivors  being:  Louisa 
J.,  now  Mrs.  George  Carter,  of  Jack- 
sonville, 111.;  Charles  Edward,  a  ph)^- 
sician  in  Palmyra,  111. ;  Sarah  Porter, 
now  Mrs.  Leavitt  Bissell,  of  New 
York  City  ;  Harriet  Sanford,  at  home, 
in  Akron ;  Mary  Clark,  now  Mrs. 
Robert  McKee,  of  Waverly,  111.; 
Ellen  Chase,  at  home ;  and  Ethan 
Sanford,  attorney  in  Minnesota.     Mr. 


REV.  CARLOS  SMITH,  D.  D. 

and  Mrs.  Smith  celebrated  their 
golden  wedding  anniversary,  Feb- 
ruary 20,  1877,  Mr.  S.  dying  April  22, 
1877,  aged  75  years,  9  months  and  5 
days,  and  Mrs.  S,  December  21,  1889, 
aged  84  years,  3  months  and  24  days. 


At  the  beginning  of  Mr.  Smith's  pastorate  there  was  a  mem- 
bership of  about  60,  at  its  close  268,  during  which  time  a  new 
house  of  worship,  a  fine  brick  structure,  on  High  street,  had  been 
erected  at  a  cost  of  some  $40,000. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Monroe's  accession,  a  gallery  was  added  to  the 
seating  capacity  of  the  auditorium,  and  additional  Sunday  School 
facilities  provided  in  the  basement,  at  a  cost  of  $5,000.     The  house 


AKRON  S   CHURCH    HISTORY. 


191 


being  partially  destroyed  by  fire,  on  February  2,  1881,  additions 
and  repairs  were  made  to  the  extent  of  about  $10,000,  with  a  large 
new  organ,  there  being  a  fine-toned  bell  in  the  tower,  and  a  first- 
class  clock,  donated  by  one  of  Akron's  best-known  business  men 
for  nearly  half  a  century,  Mr.  Joseph  K.  Wesener. 


REV.  THOMAS  E.  MONROE,— 
son  of  Job  and  Phtebe  (Collins) 
Monroe,  of  Scotch  descent,  was  born 
at  Plainfield,  Conn.,  April  28,  1829; 
raised  on  farm  with  common  school 
and  academical  education;  at  17 
beg-an  teaching  in  Rhode  Island, 
continiiingthree  years  ;  then  entered 
a  preparator}^  school  in  Providence, 
the  3-ear  following  entering  Oberlin 
College,  graduating  from  the  clas- 
sical coarse  in  I806  and  from  the 
theological  course  in  1858  ;  ordained 
as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  in  1859  by 
the  Cleveland  Conference.  Preaching- 
one  year  in  Amherst,  Lorain  County, 
in  1860  Mr.  Monroe  became  the  pastor 
of  the  First  Congregational  Church 
in  Mount  Vernon,  the  church  mem- 
bership increasing  during  his 
thirteen  years  pastorate  from  150  to 
457  and  the  society  building  a  new 
church  edifice  at  a  cost  of  $38,0(X). 
April  1,  1873,  Mr.  Monroe  became  the 
pastor  of  the  First  Congregational 
Church  of  Akron,  which  position  he 
still  retains;  the  society  in  the  inter- 
vening 18  years,be8idesmakingexten- 
sive  improvements  on  its  house  of 
worship,  having  increased  its  inem- 
bership  from  268  to  903,  besides  con- 
tributing- 100  of  its  members  to  the 
West  Congregational  Church,  organ- 


First  Congregational  Church,  South  High 
Street. 


KEV.  THOMAS  E.  MONKOE. 

ized  in  1888.  June  3,  1859,  Mr.  Monroe 
was  married  to  Miss  Hannah  Marj' 
Bernard,  of  Philadelphia,  who  has 
borne  him  one  child — Pauline,  now  a 
teacher  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 

The  church  has  now  nearly 
1,000  sittings,  a  roll  of  903  mem- 
bers, 746  of  whom  are  residing 
here  at  this  time,  besides  having 
recently  transferred  65  members, 
and  a  corresponding  number  from 
the  Sunday  School,  to  the  West 
Congregational  Chu^-ch,  spoken 
of  elsewhere.  Members  of  Sun- 
day School,  officers,  teachers  and 
scholars  in  1887,  before  division, 
600;  after  division,  510;  now,  1891, 
572. 

FIRST     METHODIST     EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH. 

Perhaps  as  early  as  1830,  a 
small  M.  E.  class  was  organized 
in  South  Akron,  and  meetings 
held  ^vith  such  occasional  mini- 
strations as  could  be  secured, 
Rev.    John    Janes,  of  the   North 


192 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Ohio  Conference,  among  the  number.  Just  w^hen  a  church  organ- 
ization was  effected  is  not- now  ascertainable,  though  it  was  some- 
time previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  writer  in  the  village,  in  the 
Summer  of  1835,  its  meetings  being  then  held  in  the  school  house,, 
corner  of  South  Broadway  and  Middlebury  streets. 

In  1836  the  erection  of  a  house  of  worship,  40x50  feet  in  size, 
was  commenced  immediately  east  of  the  present  brick  structure, 
corner  of  Church  street  and  Broadway,  >vhich  was  completed  and 
occupied  the  latter  part  of  the  following  year.  In  the  latter  part  of 
the  Winter  of  1840-41  a  protracted  meeting  of  several  >;veeks' 
duration,  was  held,  during  which,  on  the  morning  of  March  17,. 
1841,  the  house  was  destroyed  by  fire,  presumably  from  a  defective 
flue,  or  from  ignition  of  some  portion  of  the  woodw^ork,  from  the 
superheated  stoves,  the  -weather  of  the  night  before,  Avhile  the  ser- 
vices were  in  progress,  having  been  intensely  cold,  though  it  was 
uncharitably  and  unchristianly  insinuated  by  each  of  the  tw^o 
factions  who  were  at  loggerheads  on  questions  connected  with  the 
building  of  the  church,  that  the  house  had  been  purposely  fired  by 
the  other  faction. 


REV.  WILLIAM  FARNHAM  DAY, 
D.  D., — son  of  Rev.  David  Day, 
was  born  in  West  Springfield,  Mass., 
November  11,  1821,  when  a  boy  re- 
moving- with  parents  to  Franklin 
Mills  (now  Kent),  Ohio;  educated  in 
part  at  home,  in  part  independently 
and  in  part  under  a  tutor,  but  never 
attended  college  though  later  in  life 
honored  by  Allegheny  College  in 
1865  with  the  degree  of  Master  of 
Art-s,  and  by  Baldwin  University  in 
1869,  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity.  He  was  a  man  of  deep 
learning,  a  thorough  master  of 
Greek,  a  devoted  student  of  historj- 
and  a  great  lover  of  scientific 
research,  his  large  library  embracing 
the  whole  range  of  literature,  with 
every  department  of  which  he  was 
thoroughly  familiar.  He  was 
licensed  to  exhort  in  1843,  and  to 
preach  in  1845,  receiving  elders'  orders 
in  1849.  Among  the  nearly-  two  score 
appointments  filled  during  a  min- 
istry of  nearly  forty  years,  he 
was  twice  stationed  in  Akron  as 
pastor  of  the  First  M.  E.  Church,— 
1855,  '56  and  1868-'70,  in  all,  five  years, 
his  last  charge  being  Titusville,  Pa., 
where  he  died  October  23,  1882,  his 
remains  being  interred  in  Akron 
Rural  Cemetery.  Dr.  Day  was  for 
27  years  Secretary  of  the  Erie  Con- 
ference, and  was  twice  honored  with 


REV.  WILLIAM  FARNHAM  DAY,  D.  D. 

an  election  to  the  General  Confer- 
ence— 1863  and  1872,  his  fidelitj-  to  his 
own  Conference,  however,  leading- 
him  to  decline  many  tempting  calls 
to  prominent  localities  in  other  Con- 
ferences. Dr.  Day  was  married  in 
1847  to  Miss  Ann  Delia  Grover,  of 
Poland,  O.;  of  their  four  children  two 
only  survive — Wilson  M,  now  Presi- 
dent of  Cleveland  Printing  and  Pub- 
lishing Co.,  and  Harriet,  now  Mrs. 
John  H.  Auble,  of  Akron. 


The  house  was  soon  afterwards  rebuilt,  upon  the  same  founda- 
tion, facing  west,  as  before,  but  in  1861,  under  the  pastorate  of 
Rev.  J.  D.  Norton,  the  house  was  enlarged  and  remodeled,  and 
made  to  front  on  Broadway,  at  a  cost  of  $3,500,  During  the  Cen- 
tennial 3^ear  of  Methodism  in  America,  1866,  the  sum  of  $30,000  was 
contributed  towards  the  erection  of  a  new  house   of  worship  that 


AKRON  S   CHURCH    HISTORY. 


193 


should  be  commensurate  with  the  rapidly  increasing  needs  of  the 
society,  and  a  fitting  memorial  to  the  beneficent  aims  and  objects 
of  the  denomination  and  a  credit  to  the  city. 

The  newT  structure  was  commenced  in  the  Spring  of  1867, 
immediately  west  of  the  old,  the  Sunday  School  room,  lecture 
room,  etc.,  being  dedicated  on  the  15th  day  of  April,  1875,  the  old 
building  being  at  this  time  sold  to  Mr.  Ferd.  Schumacher,  who, 
moving  it  to  the  corner  of  Mill  and  Summit  streets,  fitted  it  up  into 
a  hotel  called  the  "  Cascade  House,  "  subsequently  removing  it  to 
the  corner  of  Mill  and  Broadway,  where  it  is  still  doing  duty  as  a 
part  of  the  "  Windsor  Hotel, "  though  so  disguised  by  its  bi"ick 
veneering  as  to  be  altogether  unrecognizable  by  the  former  wor- 
shippers therein. 

The  auditorium  of  the  new 
structure  was  completed  in  the 
Autumn  of  1871,  and  dedicated  in 
January,  1872,  at  which  time  over 
$32,000  was  subscribed  to  clear 
the  church  from  debt,  the  total 
cost  of  the  new  structure,  fur- 
nishing, etc.,  being  about  $128,- 
000.  It  is  a  fine  building,  both 
externally  and  internally,  and  its 
Sunda3'  School  rooms, planned  by 
Messrs.  Le^vis  Miller  and  Jacob 
Snyder,  pronounced  at  the  time 
to  be  the  best  in  the  world,  though 
many  others  have  since  been 
modeled  therefrom,  both  in  the 
cities  of  the  United  States  and 
Europe. 

Successive  ministers  to  t  h  e 
church  have  been  as  follows: 
1836,  Thomas  Carr  and  John  F. 
Holmes;  1837,  Daniel  M.  Stearns 

I'irst    Methodist  Episcopal    Church,    cor-    and  Thottias    Graham;    1838,    Hor- 
ner South  Broadway  and  Church  ..       -vx      oj.  -I  oor»      XI  T^     t 

Streets.  atio  N.  Stearns;  1839,  John   Rob- 

\  inson     and    Caleb  Brown;    1840, 

John  Robinson  and  Beajamin  K.  Maltby ;  1841,  Ira  Eddy  and  James 
O.  Wood;  1842,  Dr.  Timothy  Goodwin;  1843,  William  H.  Hunter; 
1844^5,  Edwin  J.  Kinney;  1846,  Samuel  Gregg;  1847,  James  R. 
Locke;  1848,  Martin  C.  Briggs:  1849,  Reuben  J.  Edwards;  1850-51, 
Ezra  Jones;  1852-53,  John  Tribby;  1854,  Gaylord  B.  Hawkins; 
1855-56,  William  F.  Day;  1857-58,  George  W.  Clarke;  1859,  Thomas 
Stubbs;  1860-61,  John  D.  Norton;  1862-63,  John  Peate;  1864,  E.  A. 
Johnson;  1865,  '66,  '67,  D.  C.  Osborne;  1868,  '69,  '70,  and  till  August, 
1871,  Dr.  William  F.  Day;  1871  to  1874,  W.  W.  Ramsay;  1874  to  1877, 
Henry  Baker;  1877,  I.  A.  Pierce;  1878  to  1881,  W.  W.  Case;  1881  to 
1884,  W.  H.  Pearce;  1884  to  1887,  E.  K.  Young;  1887  to  1889,  B.  T. 
Vincent;  1889  to  present  time.  Dr.  Gilbert  De  La  Matyr. 

Present  membership,  1149;  scholars  in  Sunday  School,  1069; 
Lewis  Miller,  Superintendent.  Without  disparagement  to  other 
faithful  workers  and  liberal  givers  in  this  church,  it  may  justly  be 
said,  that  to  the  munificence  of  Mr.  Miller  is  the  society  very 
largely  indebted  for  its  present  handsome  church  edifice,  and.  to- 
18 


194 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


his   wise   management,  for   the    unprecedented    success  and  pros- 
perity of  its  model  Sunday  School. 

THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH  OF  AKRON. 


April  19,  1834,  at  the  school  house,  corner  of  South  Broadway 
and  Middlebury  streets,  was  organized  the  "Akron  and  Middlebury 
Baptist  Church,"  Elder  Caleb  Green  officiating  as  Moderator  and 
Elder  Amasa  Clark  as  Scribe,  the  members  of  the  new  organiza- 
tion being:  Horace  Barton,  Daniel  B.  Stewart,  Henry  H.  Smoke, 
Mrs.  Thirza  J.  Smoke,  Miss  C.  Barton,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Burton,  Mrs. 
Sally  Smith,  Miss  Amanda  Smith,  Miss  Elizabeth  Stewart.  March 
5,  1836,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  Legislature,  authorizing  the 
incorporation  of  religious  societies,  this  church  being  among  the 
very  earliest  to  avail  themselves  of  its  provisions,  as  will  be  seen 
by  the  following  notice  published  in  Akron's  first  newspaper,  the 
IFeeklr  Post,  June  10,  1836:  "To  All  Whom  it  May  Concern.  A 
meeting  of  the  members  of  the  Akron  and  Middlebury  Baptist 
Church  and  Society  will  be  held  at  the  School  House  in  South 
Akron,  on  Wednesday,  the  16th  inst.,  at  4  o'clock  p.  m.,  for  the 
purpose  of  organizing  under  their  charter." 

Arrangements  were  immedi- 
ately made  for  the  erection  of  a 
house  of  worship,  corner  of  South 
Broadway  and  Center  streets,  a 
cut  of  which  is  here  given. 
Elder  Eber  Crane  was  regularly 
installed  as  pastor,  and  the  house 
was  built  under  his  management, 
as  the,  agent  of  the  trustees; 
though  considerable  ill-feeling 
was  engendered,  by  the  trustees 
facing  the  building  south, 
instead  of  west,  as  the  other 
churches  had  been,  and  by  alleged 
mismanagement  on  the  part  of 
I'vlder  Crane  and  the  building 
committee,  resulting  in  a  heated 
newspaper  controversy,  covering 
six  or  seven  columns  in  the 
American  Balance,  and  the 
holding  of  a  church  council,  with 
Elder  Levi  Tucker,  of  Cleveland, 
as  Moderator,  on  the  6th  day  of 
October,  1837.  Though  the  dis- 
sensions alluded  to  were  not 
entirely  cured  by  the  action  of 
the  council,  the  church  w^as  dedi- 
cated on  the  26th  day  of  October, 
1837,  Elder  Tucker  preaching  the  dedicatory  sermon. 

In  1853  the  society  sold  its  original  church  structure  to  the 
German  Reformed  Society  and  purchased  the  original  Universalist 
stone  church,  on  North  High  street,  which  was  dedicated  to  the 
uses  of  its  new  owners  June  17,  1853,  where  they  continuously 
■worshipped  for  over  a  third  of  a  century. 


Original    Baptist,     late    German    Re- 
formed   Church,   corner   of    South 
Broadway  and  Center  vStreets. 
Erected  in  1836-37.    Torn 
down  in  1890 


Akron's  church  history. 


195 


p  K  V.  NATHAN  S.  BURTON,  D.  D., 
AV  —born  in  Manlius,  N.  Y.,  Feb- 
ruary 5,  1821,  in  infancy  removing- 
with  parents  to  Elbridg-e,  N.  Y.,  and 
in  1831,  to  Middle  bury,  Ohio; 
attended  Village  School  winters  and 
worked  in  father's  sash  factory  sum- 
mers; taught  Southwest  "Six  Cor- 
ners" school,  in  Tallmadg-e,  two 
winters;  in  1841  entered  Western 
Reserve  College,  graduating  in  1846, 
delivering  the  valedictory  oration; 
taug-ht  one  j^ear  in  Norwalk  (O.)  Insti- 
tute; in  1847  entered  Theological 
department  W.  R.  CoUeg-e,  also 
acting-  as  assistant  editor  of  "Ohio 
Observ^er;"  in  1848  attended  Newton 
(Mass.)  Theological  Institute;  in 
1849  returned  to  Hudson  to  com- 
plete studies  and  fill  the  chair 
of  Latin  and  Greek  in  Colleg-e; 
on  g-raduating-,  in  185(),  became  pas- 
tor of  Elyria  Baptist  Church;  in 
1853  first  pastor  of  the  Third  Baptist 
Church  in  Cleveland;  in  1854  pastor 
of  the  Granville  Baptist  Church,  dur- 
ing his  eight  years  pastorate  there 
establishing  a  Young  Ladies'  School 
now  Shepardson  College,  its  princi- 
pal building-  being-  named  "Burton 
Hall";  in  1^2  became  pastor  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church  in  Akron;  dur- 
ing the  rebellion  serving-  for  a  time 
on  the  Christian  Commission  at 
Grant's  Headquarters,  City  Point, 
Va.;  in  1866  pastor  of  Ann  Arbor 
(Mich.)  Baptist  Church;  in  1871  pastor 
of  Calvary  Baptist  Church,  Daven- 
port, Iowa;  in  1877  accepted  Chair  of 
Philosophy  in  Kalamazoo  (Mich.) 
College;  in  1877  resumed  the  pastor- 
ate of  the  Church  in  Akron,  remain- 
ing- ten  years,  during  that  time 
officiating-  six  months   as  President 


REV.  NATHAN   S.   BURTON,  D.  I). 

of  Dennison  University  at  Granville; 
in  1887  visited  Europe,  and  on  his 
return  became  pastor  of  the  Need- 
ham  (Mass.)  Baptist  Church,  where 
he  still  continues.  October  14,  1850, 
was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  J.  Fair- 
field, of  Spring-  Arbor,  Mich.  They 
have  live  children — Henr}'^  F.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Latin  in  the  University  of 
Rochester;  Charles  S.,  lawyer  in 
Chicago;  Nellie,  wife  of  Prof.  W.  W. 
Beman,  University  of  Mich.;  Ernest 
D.,  Prof,  of  Greek,  Newton  Theolog-i- 
cal  Institute,  and  Edward  F.,  Iaw5'er 
in  Chicago. 


Successive  Pastors,  previous  to 
first  removal:  Revs.  Eber  Crane, 
Henry  Carr,  Stephen  Van  Voris, 
C.  A.  Clark,  J.  Hall,  David  Ber- 
nard, Lewis  Kansted,  J,  M.  Greg- 
ory, J.  C.  Courtney,  A.Joy.  Since 
removal:  Mr.  Joy  continued  until 
1855,  followed  by  Rev.  J,  W.  Ham- 
mond, one  year;  in  1856,  by  Samuel 
Williams,  five  years;  in  1862,  by 
Nathan  S.  Burton,  four  years;  in 
1866,  by  Frank  Adkins,  two  years; 
in  1869,  by  C.  T.  Chaffee,  three 
years;  1872,  by  J.  P.  Agenbroad, 
one  year;  1873,  by  Charles  A. 
Hayden,  three  years;  1877,  by  Dr. 
Nathan  S.  Burton,  ten  years;  in 
1887,  by  Rev.  A.  M,  Waxman, 
whose  pastorate  terminated  by  voluntary  resignation  June  14,  1891. 


First   Baptist   Church,  South    Broad- 
•way.    Erected  in  1889-90. 


196  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

At  length,  feeling  the  need  of  a  more  commodious  house  of 
worship  in  a  more  convenient  locality,  in  1888  the  society  pur- 
chased a  handsome  site  on  South  Broadway,  between  Market  and 
Mill  streets,  and  in  1889  erected  thereon  a  fine  brick  edifice  with 
auditorium  and  Sunday  School  room  on  the  same  floor,  and  a  light,, 
airy  basement  for  social  meetings  and  other  church  purposes. 
The  building  is  76x106  in  size  and  of  handsome  design,  as  will  be 
seen  by  the  fine  engraving  given  herewith,  the  entire  cost  of  lot, 
building  and  furnishing  being  about  $40,000. 

Present  membership  of  church  290.  Present  number  of 
scholars  in  Sunday  School,  250. 

THE  UNIVERSALIST  CHURCH. 

Sundry  Universalist  ministers  held  religious  services  in 
Akron,  from  time  to  time,  during  the  years  1835  and  1836,  and 
during  the  early  Summer  of  1837  Rev.  Freeman  Loring  organized 
a  society  of  believers  in  that  faith,  holding  his  meetings  in  the 
third  story  of  a  building  erected  by  Mr.  Benjamin  W.  Stephens, 
corner  of  Main  and  State  streets,  present  site  of  Merrill's  potter3^. 

Among  the  members  of  that  congregation  -were  Dr.  Kliakim 
Crosby  and  family.  Major  Miner  Spicer  and  family,  Henry 
Chittenden  and  family,  Watrous  Mather  and  family,  Jesse  and 
Jacob  Allen,  and  quite  a  number  of  other  prominent  business 
men  of  Akron  and  Middlebur^^;  the  choir,  composed  largely  of  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  the  families  above  named,  being  one  of  the 
most  attractive  of  any  of  the  church  choirs  of  the  town  or  vicinity. 

Steps  were  immediately  taken  for  the  erection  of  a  suitable 
church  edifice.  Dr.  Crosby  furnishing  a  lot  on  North  High  street, 
and  very  largely  defraying  the  cost  of  the  building,  the  writer 
doing  the  glazing  and  general  painting,  to  the  extent  of  some  $200, 
in  part  payment  for  t\^o  acres  of  ground  on  West  Market  street; 
our  venerable  fellow  citizen,  Mr.  Curtis  C.  Wilcox,  of  216  South 
Union  street,  then  living  in  Middlebury,  gilding  and  varnishing 
the  balusters  of  the  gallery,  settees,  etc.,  this  being  the  first 
church  in  Akron  to  have  anything  but  stiff  board  pews  and  slips 
for  the  seating  of  its  worshippers. 

The  church  was  built  of  stone,  and  was  then  one  of  the  hand- 
somest structures  of  the  kind  in  Ohio.  The  belfry  w^as  sur- 
mounted by  a  tall  spire  on  the  top  of  which,  above  100  feet  from 
the  ground,  was  a  gilded  ball,  two  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter,  in 
the  center  of  which  \vere  deposited  such  articles  as  are  usually 
placed  in  the  corner  stones  of  similar  edifices — church  history,, 
newspapers,  coins,  etc. 

Some  thirty  years  later  the  belfry  timbers  had  become  so 
decayed  that,  on  Sunday,  August  5,  1868,  the  steeple  being  likely 
to  fall,  to  prevent  possible  serious  accident,  by  attaching  ropes  to- 
the  lightning-rod  connected  therewith,  it  w^as  pulled  down,  and  in 
falling  the  ball  was  broken  to  pieces.  Such  of  the  contents  as 
were  found  were  in  a  fair  state  preservation,  the  copj^  of  the 
Akron  Buzzard  encased  by  the  writer  in  a  sealed  quinine  bottle, 
being  as  clean  and  legible  as  when  first  printed,  thirty-one  years 
before. 


AKRON  S   CHURCH    HISTORY. 


197 


Surmounting  the  ball  was  an 
immense  sheet-iron  weather  vane 
in  the  shape  of  an  angel,  w^ith 
soaring  wings,  proclaiming  to 
the  whole  world  through  a  golden 
trumpet,  the  Glad  Tidings  of  Uni- 
versal Salvation;  the  entire  cost 
of  the  structure  being  about 
$8,000.  A  line-toned  bell,  pro- 
cured by  subscription  of  citizens, 
was  placed  in  the  tower,  and  also, 
a  year  or  tw^o  later  a  clock,  man- 
ufactured, and  for  many  years 
kept  in  repair,  by  the  late  Henry 
S.  Abbey.  The  society  was  also 
presented  w^ith  a  most  excellent 
organ,  by  the  late  Jesse  Allen — 
probably  the  pioneer  church 
organ  of  Summit  County. 

The  society  w^as  incorporated 
by  Act  of  the  Legislature,  Feb- 
ruary 4,  1839,  the  incorporators 
t)eing  Eliakim  Crosby,  Miner  Spicer,  Watrous  Mather,  Henry 
Chittenden  and  Jesse  Allen.  The  house  was  dedicated  in  Novem- 
ber, 1839,  the  installation  of  Mr.  Loring,  as  pastor,  being  included 
in  the  dedicatory  services;  the  membership  at  this  time  being  about 

one  hundred  persons.  Though 
Mr.  Loring  had  taken  almost 
entire  charge  of  the  building  of 
the  church,  laboring  incessantly 
with  his  ow^n  hands,  his  pastor- 
ate, after  its  dedication,  was  of 
short  duration,  a  feeling  prevail- 
ing that  though  sound  in  doc- 
trine, and  earnest  in  its  promul- 
gation, he  was  not  sufficiently 
cultured  for  so  "metropolitan"  a 
position,  realizing  which  he  tend- 
ered his  resignation  and  removed 
to  Suffield,  Portage  County,  where, 
after  serving  the  church  there  for 
a  number  of  years,  he  finally 
died. 

Mr.  Loring  was  succeeded  by 
Kev.  Nelson  Doolittle,  for  several 
years,  foUow^ed  by  Rev.  J.  G. 
Foreman,  the  latter  part  of  1845, 
and  in  1849  by  Kev.  Z.  Baker. 
This  latter  gentleman  leaning 
strongly  towards  the  Spiritual- 
ist icfaith,  w^hich  was  then  a  prev- 
alent belief  w^ith  many,  alienated 
several   members   of  the  society 

First  Univer.alist  Church,  corner  of  ^^^^he    true  faith,  begetting   an 

South  Broadway  and  Mill  vStreets.  indifference  which,  couplcd  with 


198 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


the  serious  financial  embarrassment  of  its  principal  promoter, 
Dr.  Crosby,  caused  the  society  to  go  to  pieces,,  and  in  1853  its  house 
of  worship  was  sold  to  the  Baptists,  as  elsewhere  stated. 

After  an  interregnum  of  nearly  thirty  years,  a  new  organization 
was  effected  in  November,  1872,  with  twenty  members,  Hon.  John 
R.  Buchtel,  Moderator;  Sanford  M.  Burnham,  Clerk;  Avery  Spicer 
and  Talmon  Beardsley,  Deacons.  Rev.  G.  S.  Weaver  was  chosen 
pastor,  in  April,  1873,  the  meetings  of  the  society  being  held  in 
the  chapel  of  Buchtel  College,  then  just  completed.  Mr.  Weaver 
was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Henry  L,  Canfield,  in  1876,  followed  by 
Rev.  Kverett  L.  Rexford,  president  of  College,  in  1878,  and  in  Sep- 
tember, 1880,  by  Rev.  Richard  Eddy  until  July,  1881,  and  again  by 
Rev.  Dr.  G.  S.  Weaver,  from  December,  1881,  to  December,  1883, 
followed  by  Rev.  C.  Ellwood  Nash,  from  May  1,  1884  to  May  1, 
1891,  succeeded  June  7,  1891,  by  Rev.  J.  F.  Thompson,  of  Jersev 
City,  N.  J. 


REV.  C.  ELLWOOD  NASH,  D.  D., 
son  of  Rev.  C.  P.  Nash,  Univer- 
salist  clerg^^man  at  Conneautville, 
Pa.,  was  born  in  Warren  County,  N.  J., 
March  31, 1855  ;  removed  to  Michig'an 
in  1856,  and  to  Iowa  in  1870  ;  prepared 
for  college  at  Prof.  W.  W.  Curry's 
priyate  school,  Newton,  Iowa; 
entered  Lombard  LTniversity,  Gales- 
burg-,  111.,  as  a  sophomore,  in  1872, 
graduating  as  A.  B.  in  1875,  in  college 
belonging  to  the  Phi  Delta  Theta 
fraternity;  in  September,  1875, 
entered  Tuft's  Divinitj^  School,  Tuft's 
College,  Mass.,  graduating  as  B.  D. 
in  1878  ;  delivered  Master's  Oration 
and  received  honorary  degree  of  A. 
M.  at  Lombard  University,  in  June, 
1878 ;  was  engaged  as  pastor  at 
Abington,  Mass.,  during  divinity 
course,  from  March,  1877,  to  March, 
1878  ;  called  to  and  accepted  pastor- 
ate of  church  at  Stamford,  Conn.. 
December,  1878,  assuming  pastorate 
there  in  July,  1878;  was  married  to 
Miss  Clara  M.  Sawtelle,  of  Auburn, 
Me.,  December  31.  1878  ;  went  to  New- 
ton, Mass.  as  pastor  in  June,  1881, 
and  came  to  Akron  as  pastor  of  the 
First  Universalist  Church,  May  1, 
1884,  continuing  until  May  1,  1891,  his 
seven    years    pastorate    here     being 


RSV.  C.  ELLWOOB  NASH,  D.  D. 


highly  satisfactory  to  the  meniber-s 
of  that  societj',  resigning  to  accept 
the  pastorate  of  the  Church  of  Our 
Father,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Nash  are  parents  of  four 
daughters. 


During  Mr.  Rexford's  pastorate,  the  rapidly  growing  congre- 
gation rendering  such  a  step  absolutely  necessary,  the  fine  new 
house  of  worship,  corner  of  Mill  and  Broadway,  was  erected  at  a 
cost  of  about  $40,000,  Mr.  Ferd.  Schumacher  generously  donating 
the  lot,  besides  liberally  contributing  to  the  building  and  fur- 
nishing fund,  Hon.  John  R.  Buchtel  also  subscribing  liberall}'  to 
the  various  funds  of  the  society.  The  present  membership  of  the 
church  is  about  350;  scholars  in  Sunday  School  325;  teachers,  24, 

ST.  PAUL'S  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

Though  an  occasional  Episcopal  family  resided  in  the  neigh- 
borhood,  and   though   occasional  services   were  earlier  held,  both 


AKRON  S   CHURCH   HISTORY. 


199 


St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Chapel,  corner  East 
Market  and  South  Forge  Streets. 


in  Middlebury  and  Akron,  it  was  not  until  1836  that  a  parish  of  that 
denomination  was  organized  in  Akron,  under  the  auspices  of 
Rev.  William  H.  Newman,  rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  at  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  (originally  organized  in  Stow  in  1830),  Rev.  T.  J.  Davis 
assuming  charge  of  the  new  church  in  1838.  The  meetings  of 
St.  t*aurs  Church  and  society,  like  those  of  the  other  early 
churches  named,  w^ereat  first  held  in  private    houses   and    school 

houses,    or,    by   courtesy,    in  the 


other  churches  of  the  village,  and 
afterwards  for  some  three  or  four 
years,  in  the  second  story  of  the 
"Old  Stone  Block"  so  often 
referred  to  in  this  work,  on  the 
southeast  corner  of  Howard  and 
Market  streets. 

This  building  was  rather  shab- 
bilj^  constructed,  and  one  Sunday, 
in  the  latter  part  of  1840,  when 
services  were  in  progress,  a  sud- 
den storm,  accompanied  by  high 
wind,  toppled  over  one  of  the 
huge  stone  chimneys,  with  a  por- 
tion of  the  heavy  battlement, 
which  Avent  crashing  through  the 
roof  and  the  third,  second  and 
first  floors  to  the  cellar.  The 
congregation,  fortunately,  were 
not  within  the  direct  range  of  the  falling  mass,  but,  by  the  tilting 
of  the  floor  a  number  of  seats,  w^ith  their  occupants,  were  precip- 
itated into  the  cellar,  and  Mrs.  Stephen  Willard  Powers  and  her 
mother,  Mrs.  Bush,  Mr.  George  T,  Ray,  a  young  man  named  Morris 
L3^on,  then  working  for  the  writer,  and  perhaps  one  or  two  others, 
w^ere  somewhat  bruised,  but  none  of  them  were  seriously  injured. 
At  this  time  the  erection  ^f  a  house  of  worship  was  under- 
taken, donations  for  the  purpose,  to  the  extent  of  $900,  being  made 
by  friends  of  the  church  in  Philadelphia,  the  balance  of  the  cost 
of  the  structure  to  be  raised  by  local  subscriptions,  principally  of 
materials  and  labor — money  being  decidedly  a  cash  article  in  Ohio 
in  those  days.  The  "chuckery"  project,  elsewhere  alluded  to,  was 
then  on  the  boom,  several  of  its  promoters  being  zealous  Episco- 
palians, notably  Dr.  E.  W.  Crittenden,  and  with  the  expectation 
that  a  fair  proportion  of  the  prospective  inhabitants  of  "Sum- 
mit City,"  would  be  of  that  faith,  it  was  resolved  to  locate  the  new 
church  so  as  to  acommodate  both  said  "city"  and  the  "village"  of 
Akron.  Consequently  the  house  was  erected  on  North  Maple  street, 
below  Hickory  street,  overlooking  the  Ohio  Canal,  facing  North. 

Before  this  house  was  fully  completed  a  contract  was  made 
Avith  Mr.  Lyman  Cobb,  then  an  enterprising  business  man  of 
Akron,  for  the  erection  of  a  church  edifice  on  South  High  street, 
Mr.  Cobb  taking  the  first  named  house  and  lot  in  part  payment, 
which  w^as  at  once  converted  into  a  tenement  house,  ever  since, 
until  recently  torn  down,  well,  and  sometitnes  notoriously,  known 
as  the  "  Cobb  House."  Besides  the  turning  in  of  this  propert3^,  and 
quite  liberal  contributions  from  citizens,  the  sum  of  $1,770  was 
contributed  by  outside  parties. 


200 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


This  new  house,  40x60  feet  in  size,  was  dedicated  June  27,  1844, 
the  parish  then  numbering  sixty  communicants.  In  1870  the  house 
"was  greatly  enlarged  and  a  newr  organ  provided,  and  also  a  hand- 
some parsonage  erected  on  North  Summit  street.  In  1872,  '73,  new 
Sunday  School  rooms  Avere  added,  at  a  cost  of  $4,000.  Finding 
that  this  structure  was  inadequate  to  the  rapidly  growing  needs 
of  the  society,  a  commodious  triangular  lot,  bounded  on  Kast  Mar- 
ket, Forge  and  Fir  streets,  was  purchased,  in  1884,  at  a  cost  of 
$10,000,  on  which  was  erected  a  fine  stone  parish  and  Sunday 
School  house,  72x88  feet,  at  a  cost  of  $35,000,  which  was  dedicated 
on  the  "Feast  of  Epiphany,"  January  6,  1885,  the  High  street  edi- 
fice being  sold  to  the  Hebrews,  in  1885,  for  a  synagogue,  as  else- 
where stated. 

It  is  the  intention  of  the  parish  to  erect,  at  an  early  day,  an 
elegant  and  commodious  church  structure,  and  eventually  a 
handsome  rectory  upon  the  same  lot.  Successive  rectors  of  St. 
Paul's  during  the  52  vears  of  its  existence,  have  been  as  follows: 
1836,  '37,  Rev.  Mr.  Barrow;  1838-40,  Rev.  T.  J.  Davis;  1841-44, 
Rev.  Lyman  Freeman;  1844-47,  Rev.  Robert  G.  Cox;  1847,  Rev. 
Mr.  McElhinney;  184S,  Rev.  J.  K.  Stuart;  1850,  Rev.  E.  H.  Gum- 
ming; followed  a  year  or  tw^o  later,  by  Rev.  R.  S.  Nash,  and  in  1854, 
by  Rev.  D.  G.  Maybin;  1855  to  1859,  Rev.  Edward  Meyer;  1860,  Rev. 
Henry  Adams;  1863,  Rev.  Samuel  Maxwell;  1866,  Rev.  W.  T.  Fitch; 
1869,  Rev.  Henry  Gregory;  1870,  the  present  incumbent.  Rev.  Dr. 
R.  Iv.  Ganter,  twenty-one  full  years,  and  still  popular  and  efficient. 


"pEV.  RICHARD  L.  GANTER,  D. 
•*^^  D.,  —  born  in  Alleg'heny,  Pa., 
July  23,  1835;  primary  education  in 
Catholic  schools  of  Pittsburg-; 
entered  Kenyon  Grammar  School, 
•Gambler,  Ohio,  in  Spring-  of  1851; 
g-raduated  from  Kenyon  College 
Classical  Course,  Jtily,  1856,  and  from 
Bexley  Hall  Theological  Seminar}^ 
in  1859  ;  ordained  deacon  of  Episco- 
pal Church  the  same  year  ;  Presbyter 
in  1860,  then  in  charge  of  Grace 
Church,  Mansfield,  O.;  entered  army 
as  private  in  1861,  and  elected  Chap- 
lin of  15th  O.  V.  I.;  in  1863  took  charge 
of  Trinity  Church,  Michigan  City, 
Ind.;  in  1865  called  and  accepted 
pastorate  of  Trinitj^  Church,  Iowa 
Citj',  Iowa  ;  1867  to  1870  superinten- 
dent of  Johnson  County  (Iowa)  public 
schools ;  in  October,  1870,  on  call, 
accepted  Rectorship  of  St.  Paul's 
Church,  in  Akron,  which  position  he 
still  holds,  being  now,  in  point  of 
incumbency,  the  oldest  minister  in 
Akron.  During  his  pastorate  the 
Parish  has  grown  from  80  communi- 
cants to  370,  with  four  distinct  eras  of 
church  improvement  and  building 
during  that  time,  the  last  being  the 
fine  stone  chapel,  at  intersection  of 
East  Market  and  Forge  streets,  a 
handsome  engraving  of  which  is 
herewith  given.  September  27,  1865, 
Dr.  Ganter  was  married  to  Miss 
Henrietta  D.  Sanford,  at  Painesville, 


REV.   KICHAKl)   L.  GANTER,   D.  D. 

Ohio.  They  have  four  children  liv- 
ing— Anna  S.;  Leo  S.,  at  Warren,  O., 
Charles  R.  and  Maxwell.  The  Doc- 
tor is  at  present  atrustee  of  his  Alma 
Mater,  and  President  of  the  Diocese 
of  Ohio. 


Akron's  church  history.  201 

Membership:  1836,  five  communicants;  1837,  nine;  1839, 
fifteen;  1844,  sixty;  1888,  250  families,  370  communicants,  300  Sun- 
day School  scholars,  36  teachers. 

HIGH  STREET  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST. 

The  Disciples  of  Christ,  or  as  they  were  then  popularly,  or  per- 
haps derisively,  called,  "Campbellites,"  from  the  founder  of  the 
sect,  Rev.  Alexander  Campbell,  as  early  as  1830  began  to  teach 
their  peculiar  doctrines  in  this  vicinity,  and  in  1339,  organized  a 
church  in  Akron,  the  meetings  at  first  being  held  in  private  houses, 
school  houses,  halls,  etc.,  the  earlier  preachers  of  the  sect  now 
recalled  by  the  w^riter  being  Klders  William  Hayden,  E.  B.  Hub- 
bard, O.  Newcomb,  M.  S.  Wilcox,  A.  S.  Hayden,  Almon  B.  Green, 
R.  Moffat,  J.  H.  Jones  Benjamin  Franklin,  Jasper  J.  Moss,  etc. 

At  the  organization  of  the  society,  by  Klders  Bently  and 
Bosworth,  in  1839,  there  were  thirty-two  members,  Levi  Allen  and 
Samuel  C.  Bangs  being  elected  elders,  and  Webster  B.  Storer  and 
Jonah  Allen  deacons.  In  1843,  a  protracted  meeting,  conducted  by 
Elders  John  Cochrane  and  John  Henry,  resulted  in  49  accessions 
to  the  church.  About  1845,  the  church  property  originally  belong- 
ing to  the  Congregational  society,  corner  of  Quarry  and  -High 
streets,  w^as  purchased,  which  was  occupied  until  1857,  when  it 
was  sold  to  the  German  Lutheran  society,  who  later  removed  the 
house  to  the  rear  of  the  lot  for  school  purposes,  erecting  in  its  place 
their  present  handsome  brick  structure. 

Tappan  Hall,  on  East  Market  street,  was  now  used  for  church 
purposes  for  about  six  years.  In  1863  the  present  site,  on  South 
High  street,  was  purchased  and  a  handsome  frame  edifice  was 
erected  thereon,  at  a  cost  of  $6,000,  to  which  quite  extensive  and 
expensive  improvements,  from  time  to  time,  have  since  been 
made. 

Officiating  pastors  since  1845:  ])r.  William  F.  Pool,  M.  J. 
Streator,  W.  S.  Gray,  Warren  Belding,  J.  Carroll  Stark,  J.  G. 
Encell,  J.  O.  Beardsley,  L.  R.  Norton,  R.  L.  Howe,  Lathrop  Cooley, 
John  L.  Rowe,  R.  G.  White,  Frank  M,  Green,  C.  C.  Smith  and  Levi 
Marshall,  the  pastorate  of  the  latter  commencing  October  29,  1885; 
F.  A.  Morgan,  February  1,  1890  to  December  1, 1890;  E.  A.  Bosworth, 
April  1,  1891  to  present  time. 

In  1875,  80  members  of*  the  church,  residing  in  that  vicinity, 
withdreAV  from  the  society  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  mis- 
sion in  the  Sixth  Ward,  vt^hich  was  later  organized  into  the  Sixth 
Ward  Church  of  Christ,  as  elsewhere  noted.  Present  membership 
of  High  street  Church  of  Christ,  about  500;  scholars  in  Sunday 
School,  330;  teachers,  29. 

GRACE   METHODIST   EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

The  original  of  the  church  now  organized  under  the  above 
title,  was  one  of  the  earliest  church  organizations  of  this  vicinity 
— ^the  Old  Middlebury  Methodist  Church — and  part  of  the  ancient 
circuit,  composed  of  Tallmadge,  Brimfield,  Mogadore,  Pleasant 
Valley  and  Middlebury.  It  was  made  a  separate  charge  in  1870, 
and  in  1878  the  old  church  edifice,  corner  Arlington  and  Exchange 
streets,  was  neatly  remodeled,  under  the  superintendence  of  Archi- 
tect Jacob  Snyder,  at  a  cost  of  $3,000.     Among  the  earliest  preachers 


202 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


in  this  church  were  Revs.  Mr.  Monck,  and  the  present  venerable 
Dr.  George  W.  Clarke.  Since,  and  including,  1869,  the  pastors  of  the 
church  have  been  as  follows:  M.  Williams,  George  Elliott,  W. 
W.  Painter,  James  Greer,  J.  H.  Merchant,  W.  H.  Wilson,  J.  B. 
Cory,  R.  F.  Randolph,  A.  W.  Arundel,  W.  L.  Slutz,  R.  M.  Fresh- 
water, M.  W.  Dallas,  Rev.  J.  H.  Conkle,  September  1887  to  Septem- 
ber, 1890;  Rev.  J.  K.  Rader,  September,  1890,  to  the  present  time. 
The  present  membership  of  the  church  is  150;  Sunday  School 
scholars  250.  The  society  has  recently  constructed  a  comfortable 
parsonage,  at  1016  East  Market  street. 

FIRST   GERMAN   REFORMED  CHURCH. 

About  1842,  the  German  Evangelical  Protestant  Congregation 
w^as  organized,  erecting  a  small  house  of  worship,  of  stone,  on  the 
side  of  the  hill  north  of  Doctor  Scott's  residence,  on  North  High 
street,  Avhich  building,  devoted  to  secular  purposes,  is  still  stand- 
ing. In  1852,  the  Lutheran  element  withdre^r  and  organized  a 
separate  congregation,  and  in  1855,  the  German  Reformed  element 
consolidated  with  the  German  Reformed  Church,  the  latter  having 
previously  purchased  the  original  Baptist  Church  structure, 
northwest  corner  of  South  Broadway  and  East  Center  streets,  the 
t^vo  branches  mutually  "working  for  the  cancellation  of  the  debt 
against  the  church  property. 


REV.  JACOB  DAHEMAN,  D.  D,~ 
born  at  Barmen,  Rhenish  Prus- 
sia, April  11,  1831  ;  in  Spring-  of  1846 
entered  counting'  house  in  Elberfield, 
two  years  later  emigrating  with  par- 
entsto  Wooster,  Ohio  ;  here  he  served 
a  three  years'  apprenticeship  to  trade 
of  tanner  and  currier,  at  which  he 
worked  several  years  as  journeyman 
in  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  New  York  and 
Michigan;  in  1855,  entered  Marshall 
College,  at  Lancaster,  Pa.,  graduating- 
in  18w ;  then  for  two  years  attended 
the  thelog-ical  seminary  at  Mercers- 
burg-,  Pa.,  graduating  therefrom  in 
1862;  ordained  to  the  ministry  by  the 
Philadelphia  Classis  of  the  Reformed 
Church  June  15,  1862,  immediate]5' 
organized  a  congregation  in  West 
Philadelphia,  known  as  the  German 
Evangelical  Reforined  Emanuel's 
Church,  building  a  fine  house  of 
worship  and  parsonage,  with  a  inem- 
bership  of  245  communicants ;  also 
officiating  as  stated  clerk  of  Philadel- 
phia Classis  10  years,  clerk  of  Synod, 
etc.,  receiving- the  degree  of  D.  D.  from 
Ursinus  College,  CoUegeville,  Pa.,  in 
1880.  November,  1880,  Dr.  Dahlman 
was  called  to  the  pastorate  of  the 
First  German  Reformed  Church  in 
Akron,  which,  as  will  be  seen  else- 
where, he  has  served   with  eminent 


KEV.  JACOB  DAHLMAN,  D.  D. 

success  to  the  present  time,  replacing- 
the  original  frame  church  structure, 
erected  in  1836,  '37,  with  a  fine  brick 
edifice  in  1890,  '91.  September  23, 1862, 
Mr.  Dahlman  was  married  to  Miss 
Catharine  M.  Kopp,  of  Lancaster,  Pa., 
who  still  survives.  They  have  no 
children. 


Services  were  held  on  alternate  Sundays  in  German  and 
English,  by  their  talented  young  minister.  Rev.  L.  C.  Edmunds, 
but  after  his  rcvsignation,  services  in  the  German  language,  only. 


Akron's  church  history. 


203 


were  maintained,  with  Rev.  John  F.  Engelbach,  as  pastor.  April 
27,  1857,  articles  of  incorporation  were  filed  under  the  name  of  the 
"First  German  Reformed  Church  of  Akron,  Summit  County, 
Ohio."  In  the  Fall  of  1858,  the  German  portion  of  the  congrega- 
tion, bought  the  interest  of  the  English  portion  in  the  church 
property,  and  are  now   the  sole  owners  thereof. 

Mr.  Engelbach  resigned  as  pastor  in  1860,  follo>ved  bj^  Rev. 
Robert  Koehler,  in  1861;  Rev.  J.  D.  Leeman,  in  1864;  Rev.  John 
Baumgartner,  in  1866;  Rev.  Christoph  Schiller,  in  1870;  Rev.  Julius 
Herold,  in  1876;  and  Rev.  Jacob  Dahlman,  D.  D.,  the  present 
incumbent,  in  1880. 

In  the  tow^er  of.  the  church  was  a  fine-toned  1200  pound  bell, 
purchased  by  the  citizens  of  Akron,  in  1837,  on  condition  that  the 
then  owners,  the  Baptists,  should  permit  the  "Town  Council  of 
Akron,  and  their  successors  in  office,  or  their  agents,  thereunto 
lawfully  authorized,  to  go  in  and  out  of  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Akron,  free  and  unmolested  forever,  for  the  purpose  of  using  said 
bell,"  said  arrangement  being  ratified  by  the  trustees  of  the  church, 
Smith  Burton,  J.  Rockwell,  Robert  K.  DuBois,  Richard  Howe  and 
Joseph  Cole,  November  15,  1837,  and  by  the  Town  Council  of 
Akron,  November  23,  1837;  and  for  many  years  this  bell  was  rung 
morning,  noon  and  night,  at  stated  hours,  in  sounding  fire  alarms, 
announcing  public  meetings,  times  of  holding  court,  etc. 

The  society  finally  feeling  the 
need  of  more  room,  in  1890,  '91 
replaced  the  old  frame  structure 
with  an  elegant  brick  edifice,  of 
which  a  finely  executed  engrav- 
ing is  here  given,  the  old  "Town 
Bell"  ringing  as  clearly  from  its 
lofty  tower,  as  it  did  from  the 
belfry  of  the  oi^  house  when  first 
suspended  therein  54  years  ago. 
The  cost  of  the  new  building, 
with  fixtures,  organ  and  furniture 
complete,  being  $27,000.  Dedi- 
cated May  3,  1891. 

The  present  membership  of  the 
church  is  575;  Sunday  School 
scholars,  200;  teachers  25.  The 
society  formerly,  for  several  years, 
sustained  a  separate  parochial 
school,  but  at  present  only  main- 
tains said  school  during  the 
vacation  of  the  public  schools, 
teachers  being  paid  by  tuition 
fees  from  the  pupils  in  attend- 
ance. Church  services  are  in  the 
German  language,  though  the 
pastor  conducts  missionary  ser- 
vices every  month  in  English. 
This  society  has  fine  cemetery 
grounds  (seven  acres)  of  its  own,  "Mount  Peace,"  on  Aqueduct 
street,  north  of  West  Market  street,  one  of  the  finest  locations  for 
burial  purposes  in  the  vicinity. 


New  German  Reformed  Church— corner 

South  Broadway  and  East  Center 

Streets— 1891. 


204 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 


GRACE  REFORMED  CHURCH. 

This  society  was  org;anized  in  the  original  Universalist  Church, 
March  5,  1853,  by  Rev.  N.  Gher.  In  1863  its  first  house  of  worship 
w^as  established,  by  the  purchase  of  the  Congregational  Church, 
of  Middlebury,  and  removing  it  to  a  lot  purchased  for  that  pur- 
pose on  South  BroadAvay,  south  of  Mill  street.  This  building, 
comfortably  fitted  up,  served  the  purposes  of  the  society  until  1881, 
when  the  present  fine  brick  structure,  52x80  feet  in  size,  -was 
erected  on  the  same  site  at  a  cost  of  $15,000.  Successive  pastors 
from  one  to  three  years  each:  Revs.  N.  Gher,  P.  J.  Spangler,  L. 
Bdmunds,  J.  Schlosser,  J.  F.  Helm,  William  McCaughey,  W.  H. 
H.  Snyder,  S.  S.  Miller,  J.  M,  Mickley,  and  I.  E.  Graff.  In  1868  Rev. 
Edw^ard  Herbruck  assumed  the  pastorate,  remaining  four  years, 
followed  by  Rev.  M.  Laucks,  about  two  years,  and  by  Rev.  Emil  P. 
Herbruck  from  April  1876,  to  September,  1886,  Rev.  J.  B.  Shontz 
succeeding  January  1,  1887,  to  May  1,  1888  succeeded  in  turn,  Octo- 
ber 1,  1888,  by  Rev.  R.  C.  Zartman,  to  April  12,  1891,  succeeded  by 
Rev.  E.  R.  Williard,  from  Tiffin,  July  1,  1891.  Present  member- 
ship 640;  Sunday  School  scholars  and  teachers  600. 


GERMAN   ZIONS  LUTHERAN   CHURCH. 


REV.  WILLIAM  H.  LOTHMAN,— 
eldest  son  of  Ernest  and  Clara 
Elizabeth  Lothnian,  was  born  in  the 
village  of  Buer,  Kingdom  of  Han- 
over, January  31,  1845,  at  two  and  a 
half  5'ears  of  age  removing  with  par- 
ents to  Cleveland,  Ohio ;  attended 
Cleveland  parochial  schools  until 
confirmed,  in  1858,  when  he  entered 
Concordia  College,  at  Fort  Wayne, 
Ind.,  graduating  thCTefrom  in  1862  ; 
then  entered  Concordia  Univer- 
sity, at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  from  which 
he  was  graduated  in  June,  1866 ; 
August  19,  of  that  5"ear,  ordained  into 
the  ministry,  preaching  in  the  Ger- 
man Lutheran  Church,  of  Elyria, 
Lorain  County,  and  Liverpool, 
Medina  Countj^,  on  alternate  Sab- 
baths, six  years ;  in  August,  1872, 
became  pastor  of  Zion's  Lutheran 
Church,  in  Akron,  a  fine  new  church 
edifice,  and  a  commodious  parish 
school  building  having  been  erected 
by  the  society^  during  his  pastorate. 
The  sketch  of  the  church  here  given 
will  show  the  success  of  his  nearl}^ 
twentj'  years'  pastorate  in  Akron. 
June  20,  1867,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Betty  Husmann,  daughter  of 
Rev.  F.  W.  Husmann,  of  Euclid,  Ohio, 
who  has  borne  hiin  six  children — 
Emma,  Lydia,  Ida,  Edwin,  Gertrude, 


KEV.   WILLIAM  H.  LOTHMAN. 

and  Clara,  all  still  living  at  home. 
August  19,  1891,  the  silver  anniver- 
sary of  Mr.  Lothinan's  ministry  was 
duly  celebrated  by  his  parishoners, 
a  number  of  his  brother  ministers 
from  Cleveland  and  other  points 
participating. 


This  society  was  organized  August  6,  1854,  by  Rev.  P.  J.  Buehl. 
In  1855  the  society  purchased  from  the  Disciples,  the  house  and 
lot  forrnerly  belonging   to   the   Congregationalists,    corner   South 


AKRON  S   CHURCH    HISTORY. 


205 


High  and  Quarry  streets.  Rev.  G.  Th.  Gotsch  succeeded  Mr, 
Buehl,  in  1864,  the  present  incumbent,  Rev.  H.  W.  Lothman  assum- 
ing the  pastorate  in  1872.  The 
rapidly  increasing  membership 
making  more  room  absolutely  nec- 
essary, a  fine  ncAV  brick  church, 
50x100  feet  in  size,  with  a  150  feet 
spire,  was  erected  on  the  site 
named,  the  old  house  being  re- 
moved to  the  rear  of  the  lot  and 
relegated  to  the  purposes  of  a  Par- 
ish School. 

The  cost  of  the  new  edifice  was 
$16,000.  The  house  was  dedicated 
on  the  16th  day  of  September, 
1877,  with  impressive  ceremonies. 
The  society  is  composed  of  250 
families  and  about  700  com- 
municants. Sunday  afternoons 
the  pastor  gives  catechetical 
instruction  to  young  and  old. 
Society  maintains  a  parish  week 
day  school,  which  children  of 
members  attend  until  confirmed, 
at  the  age  of  13  or  14  years,  when 
they  are  sent  to  the  public  schools. 
A  new  parish  school  house,  a 
handsome  two  story  brick  build- 
ing, was  erected  in  1889,  the  old  frame  house  after  continuous 
service  for  church  and  school  purposes  for  54  years,  being  razed 
to  the  ground. 


German    Lutheran    Church,    corner 
South  High  and  Quarry  Streets. 


THE  SIXTH   WARD   CHURCH   OF  CHRIST. 


This  society  is  an  off-shoot  from  the  High  street  Church  of 
Christ,  as  elsewhere  intimated.  At  a  meeting  held  at  Mershon'& 
Hall,  March  30,  1875,  a  letter  of  dismissal  from  the  parent  church 
was  asked  for,  in  which  the  memorialists  said:  "We  are  moved  to 
take  this  step  by  one  motive,  viz.,  for  the  greater  usefulness  in  the 
cause  of  our  Lord  and  Master.  With  many  of  us  this  is  a  painful 
duty,  but  a  duty  we  think  we  owe  to  the  community  in  which  we 
reside,  in  order  to  a  proper  upholding  and  advancement  of  that 
cause  we  all  profess  to  desire  to  see  prosper." 

The  letter  was  granted,  and  the  new  church  was  duly  organ- 
ized, to  be  known  as  the  "Church  of  Christ  in  Middlebury,"  with 
80  members,  and  the  following  officers:  H.  T.  White,  Mendal 
Jewett  and  Almon  Brown,  elders;  Geo,  F.  Kent,  and  Thaddeus  H. 
Botsford,  deacons;  F.  W.  Inman,  C.  H.  Palmer,  and  R.  Whitmore, 
financial  committee;  S.  C.  Inman,  clerk;  A.  Thompson  and  William 
Youmans,  ushers;  F.  W.  Inman,  Geo.  F.  Kent,  R.  Whitmore,  M. 
Jewett  and  T.  H.  Botsford,  trustees. 

In  1878  and  1879,  a  handsome  brick  church  edifice  was  erected 
on  Broad  street  at  a  cost  of  $6,000.  Successive  pastors  of  the 
church  have  been  as  follows:  Elder  H.  J.  White,  two  years;  Elder 
Frank  M.  Green,  half  time  from  July,  1877,  to  April,  1888;     Elder  J. 


206 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


W.  James,  April,  1878,  one  year;  Elder  W.  H.  Rogers,  November, 
1879,  six  month;  Elder  T.  D.  Butler,  one  year;  Elder  Jasper  J.  Moss, 
three  months;  Elder  S.  A.  Wurts,  six  months,  ending  September 
20,  1882;  Elder  A.  B.  Williams,  April  1,  1883,  to  April  1,  1887;  Elder 
J.  J.  Moss,  three  months;  Elder  Frank  W.  Norton,  July  1,  1887,  to 
February  1,  1890;  S.  C.  Humphrey,  June  1,  1890,  to  present  time. 
The  society  was  duly  incorporated  as  the  "Second  Church  of 
Christ,  Akron,  Ohio,"  September  1,  1887.  Present  officers:  Elder, 
Charles  T.  Inman;  clerk,  Edwin  Corl;  deacons:  John  Harrison, 
Sidney  C.  Inman,  John  B.  DeHaven,  George  Viall,  John  Roberts, 
George  F.  Kent,  Present  membership,  150;  scholars  in  Sunday 
School,  90;  teachers,  10. 

TRINITY  LUTHERAN  CHURCH. 

The  English  Evangelical  Luth- 
eran Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity 
was  organized  in  the  Spring  of 
1870,  through  the  efforts  of  Rev. 
W.  A.  Passavant,  D.  D.,  of  Pitts- 
burg, and  Rev.  S.  Laird,  with 
about  thirty  members.  The  first 
regular  pastor  was  Rev.  U.  P. 
Ruthrauff,  during  w^hose  pastor- 
ate the  beautiful  gothic  brick 
church  edifice,  on  Prospect  street, 
w^as  erected,  at  a  cost,  including 
parsonage,  of  $45,000.  The 
church  was  dedicated  in  June, 
1872,  soon  after  which  Mr.  Ruth- 
rauff resigned,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Rev.  J.  F.  Fahs,  Octo- 
ber 2,  1872.  After  a  service  of 
nearly  ten  years,  Mr.  Fahs  was 
succeeded  by  Rev.  Dr.  J.  B.  Hel- 
wig,  four  years,  the  present 
incumbent,  Rev.  M.  J.  Fiery, 
commencing     his      pastorate 

December  1,  1886. 

The  present  membership  of  the  Church   is  425;    scholars    in 

Sunday  School,  450;  teachers,  25. 

GERMAN  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

This  society  was  organized  in  1887,  by  Rev.  A.  J.  Bucher,  a 
small  but  neat  and  convenient  house  of  worship  having  previously 
been  erected  on  the  corner  of  East  Exchange  and  Pearl  streets 
which  was  dedicated  December  12,  1886,  Rev.  J.  C.  Gerlach,  the 
present  Pastor,  succeeding  Mr.  Bucher,  October  6,  1888.  Present 
membership,  55;  Sunday  School  scholars,  60;  teachers,  12.  All 
services  in  German. 


Trinitj'  Lutheran  Church  and  Parson- 
sonage— Prospect  Street. 


THE  UNITED  BRETHREN  CHURCH. 

This  society  was  organized  in  October,  1882,  by  Rev.  J.  Excell, 
with  12  members  and  one  Sunday  School  scholar.  A  snug  little 
house  of  worship,  30x45  feet  in  size,  was  built  on  the  corner  of  Hill 


Akron's  church  history.  207 

and  James  streets  in  1884,  at  a  cost  for  lot  and  building,  of  $3,2(X). 
Successiv^e  Pastors  :  J.  Excell,  one  3'^ear ;  S  Castorline,  two  years  ; 
H.  J.  Becker,  one  year  ;  C.  Whitney,  t>vo  years :  C.  N.  Queen  1888, 
1889;  Rev.  Vernon  L.  Fry,  September  1889  to  September  1890;  Rev. 
J.  F.  Shepard,  September  1890  to  present  time.  Present  member- 
ship, 230;  Sunday  School  scholars,  150;  teachers  and  officers  14. 

CALVARY  EVANGELICAL  CHURCH. 

This  society  was  organized  in  1866,  by  Rev.  H.  F.  S.  Sichley, 
Avith  14  members,  Benjamin  Stahl,  leader.  In  1867  it  was  made  a 
Mission,  by  Conference,  under  charge  of  Mr.  Sichle}'^.  A  church 
edifice  w^as  commenced  the  same  j^ear,  and  the  basement  com- 
pleted and  dedicated  October  6,  1867,  by«Presiding  Elder,  Rev. 
John  StuU,  the  main  audience  room  being  dedicated  May  3,  1868, 
by  Bishop  Joseph  Long;  the  structure,  outside  of  considerable 
work  and  material  contributed  by  individual  members,  costing 
about  $4,000. 

This  house  though  considerably  enlarged  and  improved,  being 
still  inadequate  to  the  rapidly  grooving  needs  of  the  society,  an 
entirely  new^  church  edifice  ^vas  erected  in  1888-'89  on  the  front  end 
of  the  lot,  corner  of  Bartges  and  Coburn  streets.  Size  of  building 
(frame)  54x100  feet,  its  cost  being  $12,340;  seating  capacity  1,000. 

Successive  Pastors  since  organization:  Revs.  Jesse  Lerch,  A. 
Swartz,  H.  E.  Strauch,  A.  E.  Driesbach,  S.  S.  Condo,  A.  Vander- 
soll,  L.  W.  Hankey,  J.  B.  Kanaga,  S.  S.  Condo,  D.  C.  Eckerman,  J. 
A.  Hensel,  and  E.  M.  Spreng,  the  latter  assuming  the  pastorate  in 
September  1890.  Present  members  of  Church,  390;  teachers  and 
scholars  in  Sunday  School,  500, 

ST.  VINCENT  DE  PAUL'S  CHURCH. 

At  quite  an  early  day,  the  construction  of  the  Public  Works  of 
Ohio  centering  a  large  Catholic  element  at  this  point.  Catholic 
services  were  occasionally  held  in  the  private  houses  of  the  mem- 
bers of  that  faith.  Father  Henni,  afterwards  Archbishop  of  Mil- 
waukee, 1835,  coming  on  horseback  from  Cincinnati  and  saying 
mass  in  the  cabin  of  the  late  James  McAllister,  then  living  in  the 
village  of  Akron;  Rev.  J.  B.  Purcell,  afterwards  Archbishop  of 
Cincinnati,  Rev.  Louis  De  Groesbriand,  Father  McLaughlin, 
Father  Basil  Short  and  others,  holding  services  from  time  to  time, 
the  latter  attending  to  the  baptising  of  children,  etc.,  from  1837 
to  1842. 

A  small  frame  house  \^as  commenced  on  Green  street,  in  1843, 
by  Father  M.  Howard,  who  retained  charge  of  the  congregation  to 
1844.  Father  Cornelius  Daly  in  charge  from  1845  to  1848,  enlarged 
and  finished  the  house  begun  by  Father  Howard,  Father  Daly 
being  the  first  resident  pastor.  Succceeding  pastors  have  been 
Rev.  Cassina  Moavet,  October  1848  to  June  1850;  Father  Goodwin, 
June  to  December,  1850;  Rev.  Francis  McGann,  December,  1850  to 
August  1855;  Rev.  L.  Molon,  January,  1856,  followed  by  Rev. 
Thomas  Walsh  and  Rev.  W.  O'Connor  for  about  three  3^ears;  Rev. 
M.  A.  Scanlon  from  July,  1859  to  November,  1873;  Rev. 
Timothy  Mahoney  from  November,  1873,  to  August  1,  1880,  at 
which  time  the  present  incumbent.  Rev.  T.  F.  Mahar,  assumed  the 
pastorate  of  the  congregation. 


208 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


REV.  THOMAS  F.  MAHAR,  D.  D., 
— son  of  Thomas  and  Ann 
(Hart)  Mahar,  both  natives  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  at  Scranton, 
Pa.,  September  28,  1851,  in  1862  entered 
St.  Mary's  College,  in  Cleveland, 
where  he  remained  four  years,  then 
attended  St.  Louis  College,  at  Louis- 
ville, Stark  County,  three  years.  In 
1869  he  went  to  Rome,  Italy,  where 
he  pursued  his  ecclesiastical  studies 
six  years,  there  receiving-  the  degrees 
of  Ph.  D.  and  D.  D.  In  1875  came  to 
Cleveland,  where  he  was  made 
Assistant  Pastor  in  St.  John's  Cathe- 
dral, serving  in  that  capacitj^  five 
years.  August  1,  1880,  by  appoint- 
ment of  Bishop  Gilmour,  Father 
Mahar  becaine  the  Pastor  of  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul's  Church,  of  Akron, 
his  ministrations  having  been 
attended  with  signal  success  to  the 
present  time,  as  will  be  seen  by  the 
history  of  the  church,  given  else- 
where, not  only  having  charge  of  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul's  Church  proper, 
on  West  Market  Street,  with  a  mem- 
bership of  275  fainilies,  but  of  St. 
Mary's  division,  on  South  Main 
Street,  with  a  membership  of  nearlj^ 


REV.   THOMAS  F.'  MAHAK. 

100' families,  (soon  to  be  erected  into 
an  independent  parish),  with  his 
brother.  Rev.  William  G.  Mahar,  as 
his  assistant. 


On  St.  Patrick's  Day,  1864,  the  present  imposing  stone  church 
edifice,  50x100  feet  in  size,  corner  of  West  Market  and  Maple  streets 
was  begun,  the  exact  date  of  its  dedication  not  being  remembered 
by  the  writer.  The  architecture  is  of  the  Roman  order,  the 
interior  being  handsomely  stuccoed,  and  its  twelve  large  windows 
being  of  elaborately  stained  glass,  emblematical  of  sacred  Bible 
characters  and  scenes,  the  keystone  of  each  Avindo^w  arch,  upon 
the  outside,  being  the  finely  carved  head  of  some  of  the  more 
prominent  Saints  of  the  Koman  Calendar.  The  tower,  and  the 
furnishing  have  not  yet  been  fully  completed,  though  the  tower 
now  contains  a  large,  fine-toned  bell,  placed  there  by  the  congrega- 
tion, and  a  first-class  clock,  procured  by  general  contributions  of 
citizens.  The  estimated  cost  of  building,  -when  complete  is  $50,000. 
This  society  has  a  handsomely  laid-out  cemetery,  fronting  on 
West  Market  street,  opposite  Portage  road,  consisting  of  about 
seven  acres  of  ground,  the  original  cost  of  which  Avas  not  far  from 
$2,500. 

The  society  also  in  1887  erected,  immediately  east  of  the 
church,  an  elegant  brick  parsonage,  at  a  cost  of  $5,000.  The  con- 
gregation consists  of  275  families,  or  1,500  souls. 

ST.  VINCENT  DE  PAUL'S  CHAPEL  OF  EASE. 


To  accommodate  the  rapidly  increasing  "South  End"  member- 
ship of  the  above  named  society,  St.  Mary's  Division  was  organ- 
ized and  a  fine  brick  building,  36x62  feet  in  size,  two  stories  high, 
viras  erected  in  1887,  on  South  Main  Street,  opposite  McCoy  Street, 
in  wrhich,  besides  being  used  for  a  parish  school,  as  elsewhere 
stated,  Father  Mahar  has  hitherto  held  regular  services  every 
Sunday  afternoon,  but  is  now  assisted  in  his  ministrations  to  that 


AKRON  S   CHURCH    HISTORY. 


209 


branch  of  the  Church,  by  his  brother,  Rev.  William  G.  Mahar. 
There  are  at  present  connected  Avith  this  division  100  families,  or 
about  500  souls.  It  is  the  intention  to  erect  a  commodious  brick 
church  edifice  upon  the  same  lot  at  an  early  day. 

ST.  BERNARD'S  CHURCH. 

Originally  all  of  the  different  nationalities  subscribing  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  faith,  residing  here,  were  embodied  in  the  one 
church  organization  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul.  Owing  to  the  rapidly 
increasing  German  element  in  that  denomination,  an  amicable 
separation  was  effected  in  1861,  tAventy-three  families,  of  the  Ger- 
man-speaking portion,  at  that  time  forming  a  new  society,  under 
the  title  of  "  St.  Bernard's  Catholic  Church.  "  The  new  society  was 
placed  in  charge  of  Rev.  Father  Loure,  of  St.  Peter's  Church, 
Cleveland,  by  whom  the  corner-stone  of  a  new  church,  northeast 
corner  of  South  Broadway  and  Center  streets,  was  laid  in  1862. 
The  new  church  was  completed  and  occupied  in  January,  1863. 


REV.  JOHN  B.  BROUN,  D.  D.,— 
born  in  Rening,  France,  March 
2,  1834,  moving  with  parents  to  Mon- 
roe, Mich.,  in  1847;  at  20  entered 
Assumption  College,  at  fcandwich, 
Ontario,  remaining  there  three  years; 
then  entered  St.  Thomas  College, 
near  Bardstown,  Ky.,  from  which  he 
graduated  in  1859;  then  spent  one 
year  in  St.  Mary's  College,  Cleveland, 
studied  Theology  at  Assumption 
College  three  j^ears,  ordained  priest 
in  1863,  and  located  at  Eagle  Harbor, 
Mich.,  with  a  territory  55  miles  in 
length,  embracing  three  churches, 
sixteen  missions  and  over  1,000 
families,  in  making  his  semi- 
monthly visits  to  the  churches  and 
inonthly  visits  to  the  missions  often 
traveling  long  distances  on  foot.  In 
1866,  Father  Broun  assumed  the  pas- 
torate of  St.  Bernard's  Church,  in 
Akron,  in  whose  spiritual  and  tem- 
poral interests,  for  over  a  quarter  of 
a  century,  with  the  exception  of  two 
brief  visits  to  Europe,  in  1873  and  1890, 
he    has    labored    with    phenomenal 


REV.  JOHN  B.  BROUN,  DD. 

success,  as  fully  set  forth  in  the  his- 
torj^  of  that  church,  elsewhere  given. 


First  cost  of  structure  not  remembered,  but  accessions  and 
improvements  to  the  church  property  have  since  been  made  as 
follow^s:  1865,  residence  of  pastor,  $2,200;  1866,  cemetery,  4i/2  acres, 
$2,500;  1867,  school  house,  $1,400;  1868,  renovation  of  church,  $1,150; 
1870,  two  bells,  $1,350;  1874,  necessary  improvements,  $1,200;  1877, 
bell  tower,  $2,600  ;  frescoing  church,  $400  ;  large  bell,  $946  ; 
other  improvements,  $200;  1880,  addition  to  the  church,  $12,000; 
enlargement,  heating,  etc.,  of  parsonage,  $4,000;  interior  of  church — 
altars,  statues,  candelabra,  etc.,  $3,000.  As  w^ill  be  seen  by  an  item 
in  a  preceding. chapter,  the  society  has  recently  purchased  tw^o 
large  lots  abutting  on  South  Broadway,  Center  and  State  streets, 
at  a  cost  of  $9,000,  on  which  it  has  erected  a  parish  school  building 

14 


210  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

costing  $35,000,  and  on  the  south  part  of  which  it  is  the  intention 
of  the  society  to  build  an  imposing  church  edifice,  or  cathedral,  in 
the  near  future. 

Pastors  of  church  since  Father  Loure:  1862,  Rev.  Louis  Shiele, 
the  first  regular  pastor;  1863,  Rev.  Peter  Donnerhoffe;  1866,  the 
present  incumbent,  Rev.  John  Broun.  Present  membership 
between  400  and  500  families  or  nearly  2000  souls.  Children  in 
schools  about  500. 

AKRON  HEBREW  CONGREGATION. 

Though  a  number  of  Hebrew^  merchants  commenced  doing 
business  in  Akron  as  early  as  1845,  and  that  class  of  our  population 
increased  from  year  to  year,  no  steps  were  taken  towards  the 
organization  of  a  congregation  of  that  faith  until  1865.  April  2,  of 
that  3^ear,  a  legal  organization  was  effected,  with  Michael  Joseph, 
Theo.  Rice,  J.  L.Joseph,  S.  B.  Hopfman, Simon  Joseph,  H.  W.  Moss, 
Isaac  Levi,  S.  M.  Ziesel,  Moses  Joseph,  Herman  F.  Hahn,  J.  N. 
Leopold,  D.  Leopold,  Louis  Calish,  Caufman  Koch  and  Jacob 
Koch,  as  charter  members.  Being  reluctant  to  call  upon  other 
denominations,  or  the  public  generally,  in  providing  for  them- 
selves a  house  of  worship,  for  four  years  after  its  organization  the 
association  had  no  fixed  place  for  holding  its  meetings,  but  in  1869 
fitted  up  a  room  in  the  third  story  of  Allen's  block  for  synagogue 
and  school  purposes.  This  ^vas  occupied  until  1874,  when  new 
rooms  were  fitted  up  in  Clark's  block,  on  the  opposite  side  of 
Howard  street,  \vhich,  in  turn,  gave  place  to  still  more  commo- 
dious quarters  in  the  third  story  of  the  new  Barber  block,  cor- 
ner, of  Howard  and  Cherry  streets,  in  1880,  over  $1,000  being 
expended  in  fitting  up  the  latter,  nearly  as  much  more,  probably, 
being  expended  upon  the  two  former. 

In  1885  the  former  house  of  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Church,  on 
South  High  street,  was  purchased  for  the  sum  of  $4,500,  and  refitted 
for  a  Jewish  Temple,  at  an  additional  cost  of  $2,000.  In  this  pur- 
chase and  improvement,  outside  aid  to  the  extent  of  $2,500  was 
accepted  from  citizens  generally,  the  members  of  this  societ3^  ever 
doing  their  full  share  in  the  business  and  benevolent  enterprises 
of  the  day.  The  congregation  some  time  ago  purchased  land  for 
burial  purposes,  adjoining  the  Akron  Rural  Cemetery,  on  the  w^est, 
but  afterwards  transferred  the  same  to  the  Cemetery  Association, 
in  exchange  for  a  section  of  the  southeast  corner  of  the  cemetery 
grounds,  paying  the  association  $1,000  additional  in  money. 

The  Jewish  population  in  Akron  is  probably  about  300  souls, 
175  of  whom  are  adherents  of  this  branch  of  the  church,  the 
remainder,  composed  mostly  of  other  nationalities  than  the  Ger- 
man, being  know^n  as  "  Orthodox  Je^vs, "  which  has  no  Rabinical 
head  at  the  present  time. 

The  number  of  paying  members — heads  of  families — of  the 
High  Street  Society  is  about  125,  with  about  40  Sabbath  School 
scholars,  the  children  attending  the  public  schools  during  the 
week,  the  Rabbi  giving  them  lessons  in  German  and  Hebrew  four 
times  a  week,  the  regular  religious  services  of  the  congregation 
being  held  on  Friday  evening  of  each  week.  Successive  ministers 
to  the  congregation  have  been:     Revs.  N.  Hirsch,  N.  L.  Holstein, 


Akron's  church  history. 


211 


J.  Jesselson,  A.  Suhler,  A.  Schreier,  A.  Burgheim,  S.  M.  Fleisch- 
niari,  B.  Rabbino  and  Rabbi  Joseph  Wassertnan,  the  present 
incumbent. 

WEST  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH. 

About  1885,  owing  to  the  rapid  increase  of  the  protestant 
population  in  the  west  part  of  the  cit}^,  and  especially  in  view  of 
the  somewhat  plethoric  status  of  the  First  Congregational  Society- 
worshipping  on  South  High 
street,  a  new  society  upon  the 
West  Side  began  to  be  talked  of, 
when  Mr.  Lorenzo  Hall  gener- 
ously proposed  to  donate  a  lot 
for  the  proposed  new  church,  on 
the  northwest  corner  of  West 
Market  and  North  Balch  streets. 
The  proposition  was  accepted, 
and  a  tasty  frame  structure, 
50x50  feet  in  size,  with  light  and 
airy  Sunday  School  rooms  in 
basement,  vt^  a  s  completed  i  n 
December,  1887,  at  a  cost  of  $6,300. 
The  church  was  duly  organ- 
ized April  12,  1888,  with  65  mem- 
bers from  the  parent  society,  and 
others,  the  present  membership 
of  the  new  society  (August,  1891), 
being  225;  Sunday  School  teach- 
ers and  scholars,  400. 

May   13,    1888,   Rev.    David    T. 
Thomas,    a    graduate     of    Lane 


yir^f^fC  r  ifc^  Of 


West   Congregational    Cliurch,    corner 
West  Market  and  North  Balch 
Streets. 


RE\^  DAVID  T.  THOMAS,— second 
son  of  Thomas  E.  and  Margaret 
Thomas,  was  born  in  Penycae,  Mon- 
mouthshire, Soixth  Wales,  July  20, 
1857,  emigrating-  with  parents  to  Min- 
•eral  Ridge,  Mahoning  County,  Ohio, 
in  1864,  three  years  later  moving  to 
Brookfield,  TrnmbtiU  County,  work- 
ing at  coal  mining;  in  1876  worked  on 
farm  near  West  Farmington  ;  in  1877 
attended  commercial  college  in 
Youngstown  ;  then  clerked  in  grocery 
store  in  Sharon,  Pa.,  fifteen  inonths  ; 
in  1879  entered  preparatory  depart- 
ment of  Western  Reserve  College,  at 
Hudson,  going  to  Cleveland  on 
removal  ofcollege  thither,  and  g-radu- 
ating  from  Adelbert  University  in 
June,  1885.  In  Fall  of  that  year 
■entered  Lane  Theological  Seminar}^, 
at  Citicinnati,  graduating  therefrom 
in  May,  1888,  previous  to  graduation 
accepting  call  to  the  pastorate  of  the 
West  Congregational  Church  of 
Akron,  entering  upon  his  ministerial 
labors  May  13, 1888,  and  continuing  to 
the  present  time.  January  .5,  1889, 
Mr.  Thomas  was  married  to  Miss 
Millie  H.  Alexander,  daughter  of  the 
late  David  S.  and  Sarah  (Hale)  Alex- 


REV.   I>AVID  T.  THOMAS. 

ander.    Thej^  have  one  child — Ruth 
born  June  19,  1891. 


212  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Theological  Seminary,  at  Cincinnati,  became  the  pastor  of  the  new- 
church  (his  first  regular  charge,)  though  not  as  yet  regularly' 
installed.  Taken  all  in  all,  the  West  Congregational  Church  is 
one  of  the  most  prosperous  of  the  younger  religious  societies  in 
the  city. 

AFRICAN  M.  E.  ZION  CHURCH. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  colored  people  of  Akron  have  main- 
tained, "with  more  or  less  vigor,  distinct  religious  organizations, 
the  present  society  knowrn  as  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion 
Church,  having  been  in  existence  some  twelve  or  fifteen  years.- 
At  first  meetings  were  held  in  private  houses  and  halls,  but  after 
the  erection  of  the  present  Perkins  School  building,  the  old  frame 
school  house  was  purchased  and  removed  to  the  present  site  of 
Andrew  Jackson's  lumber  office,  on  Exchange  street,  east  of  Ohio 
Canal.  This  point  being  needed  for  business  purposes,  about  1882, 
through  the  aid  and  under  the  auspices  of  the  Ladies'  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society,  a  lot  was  purchased  on  South  High  street,  between 
Cedar  and  Chestnut  streets,  and  the  house  in  question  removed 
thereto  and  duly  fitted  up  and  furnished.  For  some  time  church 
and  Sunday  School  services  were  conducted  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Avhite  ladies  of  the  Missionary  Society,  but  now  wholl}^  by  the 
colored  people  themselves — regular  morning  and  evening  services 
every  Sunday,  with  Sunday  School  in  the  afternoon.  Among  the 
pastors  of  this  church  have  been  Rev.  P.  R.  Anderson,  five  j'^ears; 
Rev.  Charles  H.  Docket,  one  year;  Rev.  A.  B.  Mathews,  two  years; 
Rev.  P.  R.  Anderson  (second  time),  one  year;  Rev.  J.  H.  McMuUen,. 
one  year,  and  present  incumbent,  Rev.  George  Cliff.  Present 
trustees  (1891):  Isham  Smith,  Milton  Taylor,  Richard  Jones, 
James  Morrison,  Wilson  Gross.  Present  membership,  25;  Sunday 
School  scholars,  25;  teachers,  5. 

SHILOH  BAPTIST  CHURCH  (COLORED). 

This  society  has  been  organized  about  10  years,  but  having  no 
house  of  worship  of  its  o\vn,  meetings  are  at  present  held  in  a 
hall  on  Howard  street.  Rev.  Cheatham,  of  Cleveland,  officiating 
every  other  Sunday.  Membership,  25;  Sunday  School  scholars 
and  teachers,  40. 

TRINITY  REFORMED  CHURCH. 

The  rapidly  increasing  population  of  the  region  known  as 
"North  Hill,"  rendering  better  church  and  Sunday  School  facili- 
ties an  imperative  necessity,  a  Union  Sabbath  School  wras  organ- 
ized, and  a  suitable  building  for  general  religious  services  erected 
on  North  Howard  street  extension  in  1889.  The  interest  manifested 
in  this  enterprise  by  the  people  of  that  vicinity,  soon  created  a 
demand  for  distinctive  church  privileges,  and  on  October  1,  1890, 
Rev.  E.  D.  Wettach  organized  Trinity  Reformed  Church,  with  a 
present  membership  of  150,  and  a  Sunday  School  of  270  scholars  and 
teachers,  a  Sunday  School  building,  with  seating  capacity  for  350, 
having  been  erected  at  a  cost  of  $3,800  with  the  intention  of  adding 
thereto  a  more  commodious  church  structure  at  an  early  day. 

NORTH  HILL  M.  E.  CHURCH. 

February  1,  1891,  Rev.  O.  A.  Curry  organized,  in  the  Union 
Sunday  School  House,  a  new  M.  E.  Church,  under  the  above  title,. 


Akron's  church  history.  213 

the  present  pastor  being  Rev.  Mark  G.  McCaslin,  of  Kent. 
Present  membership,  60:  Sunday  School  scholars  (union)  75  to  100. 
This  new  society  have  secured  a  lot  at  corner  of  North  Howard 
street  and  Tallmadge  avenue  and  have  already  (July,  1891)  a  fund 
of  $3,000  towards  the  erection  of  a  house  of  worship.  Trustees: 
Wilson  Treash,  George  L.  Hanks,  George  Rittenhouse,  Henry 
Zink,  Robert  Turner,  Andrew^  Jackson  and  B.  C.  Herrick — Treash 
and  Zink,  leaders. 

WABASH  AVENUE  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST. 

The  young  people  of  the  High  Street  Church  of  Christ,  feeling 
the  necessity  of  Missionary  work  in  the  southwestern  portion  of 
the  city,  in  June,  1889,  organized  a  Mission  Sunday  School  in  that 
locality,  \\rith  such  marked  success  that  on  Sunday,  July  12,  1891, 
a  handsome  chapel,  corner  of  Wabash  and  Euclid  avenues,  costing 
^2,400,  ^vas  dedicated.  The  Sunday  School  membership  is  now 
(July,  1891)  140  vsrith  12  teachers  and  officers.  Church  organiza- 
tion, proper,  not  yet  perfected. 

SOUTH  MAIN  STREET  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST. 

This  is  also  a  Mission  enterprise,  organized  in  March,  1891, 
tinder  the  auspices  of  the  High  Street  Church  of  Christ,  services 
thus  far  having  been  held  in  the  Falor  school  house,  though  the 
erection  of  a  house  of  Avorship  at  an  early  day  is  in  contemplation. 
Present  membership  (July,  1891)  58;  Sunday  School  scholars 
^union)  91;  teachers  and  officers,  15. 

SHERBONDY  HILL  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST. 

Organized  February  1,  1891;  present  place  of  worship 
Sherbondy  Hill  school  house,  Rev.  Wellington  Besaw;  present 
membership  (July,  1891),  21;  Sunday  School  scholars,  100. 

EVANGELICAL  LUTHERAN  CHURCH. 

Organized  under  the  auspices  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Synod,  by  Rev.  E.  M.  Engers,  of  Defiance,  in  Germania  Hall,  on 
Sunday,  July  12,  1891,  with  a  membership  of  14.  Temporary 
officers;  Frank  Werner,  president;  Fred  Albright,  secretary; 
•Christian  Reinhard,  treasurer. 

OLD  FORGE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

Under  the  auspices  of  the  First  Congregational  Church,  in 
which  a  union  Sunday  School  is  maintained  with  about  180 
scholars,  and  regular  preaching  by  Rev.  Clinton  W.  Wilson. 

CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  CHURCH. 

Organized  May,  1890,  in  hall,  200  East  Market  street;  Rev. 
George  E.  Burnell,  pastor;  Trustees:  Herbert  P.  Hitchcock,  chair- 
man, Charles  M.  Huntley,  Earl  D.  Shepard;  membership  50; 
Sunday  School  50. 


214  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


SWEDISH  EVANGELICAL  LUTHERAN  BETHANY  CHURCH. 

Organized  January  29,  1889:  Services  every  other  Sundaj^  by 
Rev.  G.  M.  Nilseneus,  of  Cleveland;  deacons,  John  Petterson,  Nels 
Nelson,  Nels  Bengtson;  trustees,  Gustof  Carlson,  Gustof  Johnson, 
John  Olson;  church  edifice  on  Roswell  street,  28x45,  two  stories 
and  basement,  erected  in  1891;  membership  75;  Sunday  School  78, 

CENTRAL  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Cleveland  Presbytery,  in  1891,  a 
committee,  consisting  of  Revs.  KdwardLayport,  A.  J.  Hall,  Charles 
S.  Pomeroy  and  John  C.  Klliott,  were  appointed  to  look  over  the 
ground,  with  the  view  of  organizing  a  new  Presbyterian' Church  in 
the  central  portion  of  the  city.  It  is  understood  that  the  com- 
mittee is  meeting  w^ith  such  encouragement,  in  the  way  of  pledges, 
that  an  organization  w^ill  soon  be  effected,  and  a  commodious 
house  of  worship  erected,  though  the  exact  location  has  not  yet 
been  definitely  decided  upon. 

AKRON  MINISTERIAL  ASSOCIATION. 

This  Association  has  been  in  existence  several  years,  its  aim 
and  object  tersely  stated  in  article  2,  of  its  Constitution,  as  fol- 
lows: "To  cultivate  mutual  acquaintance  and  the  social  element; 
to  discuss  local  and  social  problems,  and  to  secure,  as  far  as  possi- 
ble, harmony  and  united  action  on  questions  of  public  expediency." 

At  first  the  constitution  provided  that  all  resident  ministers, 
in  good  and  regular  standing  in  their  respective  denominations, 
might  become  members  by  invitation  of  the  Association,  through 
its  Secretary,  but  an  amendment,  passed  September  8,  1885, 
extended  the  privileges  of  the  Association  to  all  clergymen  resi- 
dent in  Summit  County. 

The  officers  are:  president,  vice  president  and  secretary, 
elected  annually.  Regular  meetings  are  held  every  two  weeks, 
except  during  the  months  of  July  and  August,  with  such  special 
meeting  as  the  best  interests  of  the  Associati(>n  may  seem  to 
demand. 

The  meetings  of  the  Association  are  open  to  all,  and  its  pro- 
ceedings are  participated  in  by  the  ministers  of  the  religious 
denominations  of  the  city  and  county,  and  is  a  very  useful  organi- 
zation, not  only  in  a  social  and  fraternal  point  of  view,  but  in 
securing  unity  of  action  in  regard  to  the  promotion  of  the  relig- 
ious and  moral  questions  and  reforms  of  the  day. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

AKRON'S  NEWSPAPERS— A  TRULY  LITERARY  CENTER— ANCIENT  MIDDLEBURY 
THE  PIONEER,  IN  1825— THE  "PORTAGE  JOURNAL"— HUDSON  AND  CUYAHOGA 
FALLS  SOON  FOLLOW— AKRON  ALSO  EARLY  ON  THE  TAPIS— THE  "AKRON 
POST,"  ESTABLISHED  IN  1836— THE  "AKRON  JOURNAL"— THE  "AMERICAN 
BALANCE"— THE  CELEBRATED  "AKRON  BUZZARD"— THE  "SUMMIT  BEACON," 
ITS  STRUGGLES,  REVERSES  AND  .  SUCCESSES  FOR  HALF  A  CENTURY— THE 
"AMERICAN  DEMOCRAT"  AND  ITS  NUMEROUS  PROGENY— THE  "CASCADE 
ROARER"— THE  "SUMMIT  COUxNTY  JOURNAL  "—THE  "AKRON  CITY  TIMES," 
AND  SCORES  OF  OTHER  NEWSPAPER  VENTURES,  BOTH  SUCCESSFUL  AND 
UNSUCCESSFUL— AN  ENTERTAINING  AND  INSTRUCTIVE  CHAPTER. 

SUMMIT  COUNTY'S  NEWSPAPERS. 

THE  first  newspaper  venture  in  what  is  now  Summit  County, 
was  in  the  village  of  Middlebury,  no-w  the  flourishing  Sixth 
Ward  of  Akron,  in  1825.  The  Ohio  Canal  project  was  then 
agitating  the  local  public  mind,  it  being  thought  that  if  that  great 
water  highway  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Ohio  Kiver,  could  be  brought 
through,  or  ^vithin  a  mile  and  a  half  of,  that  ancient  emporium, 
fortunes  for  its  inhabitants  ^'ould  speedily  be  made. 

Hence  an  active  and  intelligent  young  printer  from  Ravenna, 
by  the  name  of  Laurin  Dewey,  proposed  to  boom  the  project  by 
the  publication  of  the  Ohio  Canal  Advocate,  if  the  people  of  the 
village  would  aid  him  in  procuring  the  necessarj^  outfit.  Accord- 
ingly, a  subscription  paper  \v^as  started,  w^orded  as  follows:  "We, 
the  subscribers,  being  anxious  for  the  prosperity  of  this  section  of 
the  country,  and  for  the  dissemination  of  useful  information  gen- 
erally, do  severally  agree  to  pay  the  sums  set  opposite  our  respec- 
tive names,  for  the  purchase  of  a  printing  press,  types,  etc.,  and 
the  erection  of  a  printing  establishment  in  the  village  of 
Middlebury,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Laurin  Dewej^,  who  will 
edit  a  weekly  paper  devoted  to  the  general  interests  of  the  country, 
advertising,  etc.,  the  columns  to  be  enriched  by  foreign  and 
domestic  news,  religious  intelligence,  poetry,  etc;  the  sums  so  paid 
by  us  to  be  considered  in  the  light  of  a  loan,  to  be  repaid  whenever 
the  editor  shall  consider  himself  able  to  do  so." 

Signatures  to  above,  and  amounts  paid  by  each  are  as  follows 
Charles  Sumner,  $10;  Erastus  Torrey,  $10;  Henry  Chittenden,  $5 
Nathan    Gillett,   Jr.,   $5;    Rufus    Hart,   $3;    Edward    Sumner,   $10 
Samuel  Newton,  $10;  Charles  W.  Brown,  5;  Benajah  A.  Allen,  $3 
Phineas    Pettis,    5;    Elijah    Mason,   $5;    John    McMillen,   Jr.,   $10 
Spencer    &    Morgan,   $15;     Alexander    C.    Lawson,   $2;     William 
McGallard,  $2;    I).  W.  Williams,  $5;    Thomas  C.  Viall,  $2;    Jacob 
Kaufman,  $5;    Jesse   Allen,  $4;    Ithiel   Mills,  $3;  Amos  Spicer,  $4 
William    Bell,  $3;    Roswell,   Kent  &   Co.,  $5;    Henry  Squires.  $5 
Elisha   Farnam,  $5;   Joseph    W.   Brown,  $5;  Horatio  Howard,  $5 
Ambrose    Cotter,    $5;     Henry    Rhodes,    $3;     William    Phelps,   $2 
William  J.  Hart,  $3;  R.  and  S.  McClure,  $5;  Theophilus  Potter,  $2 
J(^shua  Richards,  $2;  Bagley  &  Humphrey,  $10;  Leonard  Chatfield 
$2;    David    Jones,    $2;    Julius   A.    Sumner,   $3;    Miner   Spicer,   $4 
Alpheus  Hart,  $1 ;  Paul  Williams  $2;  Guerdon  Geer,  $5.     Total  .)?2(M 


216  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

With  this  fund  an  old  style  Ramage  press,  and  a  quantity  of 
second-hand  materials  were  purchased  from  the  Cleveland  Herald, 
the  entire  outfit  being  transported  overland  in  a  couple  of  two- 
horse  wagons. 

In  the  meantime  Mr.  Ozias  Bowen,  (uncle  of  the  late  Hiram 
Bowen,  founder  of  the  Beacon,  as  hereinafter  detailed),  for  many 
years  Common  Pleas  Judge  of  Marion  County,  became  associated 
w^ith  Mr.  De^vey  in  the  enterprise;  and  the  canal  question  having 
already  been  settled,  the  name  of  the  projected  paper  was  changed 
to  the  Portage  Journal. 

The  first  number  was  issued  September  28,  1825,  Mr.  Dewey 
having  meantime  transferred  his  interest  to  Elijah  Mason.  The 
size  of  the  Journal  was  19x24,  an  inch  less  each  way  than  one-half 
the  size  of  the  Daily  Beacon.  The  price  was  "two  dollars  per 
annum,  (exclusive  of  postage)  if  payment  be  made  w^ithin  a  year, 
or  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  if  payment  be  delayed  until  the  year 
expires.  No  paper  ivill  be  discon  tin  ued  un  til  all  arrearages  are 
paid." 

In  politics  the  Journal  w^as  independent,  w^ith  strong  anti- 
Jackson  proclivities.  October  27,  1826,  Mr.  Bowen  transferred 
his  interest  to  Mr.  John  McMillen,  Jr.,  the  new  firm  of  McMillen 
&  Mason  changing  the  name  of  the  paper  to  the  Portage  Journal 
and  Weekly  Adi^ertiser. 

This  vvas  a  pretty  long  name  for  so  small  a  paper.  A  year 
later,  with  number  109,  Mr.  Mason  transferred  his  interest  to 
Alvah  Hand,  Esq.,  then  practicing  law  in  Middlebury.  McMillen 
&  Hand  continued  the  paper  until  January  or  February,  1829,  when, 
finding  that  it  could  not  be  rnade  self-supporting,  it  was  discon- 
tinued, the  materials  being  sold  to  parties  in  Massillon. 

In  subsequent  chapters  upon  Hudson  and  Cuyahoga  Falls,  will 
be  found  brief  histories  of  the  Western  Intelligencer  (1827);  the 
Ohio  Observer  (1832);  the  Familj^  Visitor  {18dO);  Hudson  Gazette 
(1857);  College  Citj^  Venture  (1866);  Hudson  Enterprise  (1875); 
and  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  of  the  Ohio  Re i^ien^  (1833);  True  American 
(1840);  the  Cuj^ahoga  Falls  Reporter  (1870);  IVeeklj^  Journal 
(1881);  Hudson  Ejcpress  (1888),  etc.,  which  need  not  be  further 
alluded  to  here. 

Previous  to  its  incorporation,  in  March,  1836,  Akron  was 
entirely  destitute  of  local  newspaper  facilities,  being  entirely 
dependent  upon  the  papers  of  Ravenna,  Hudson  and  Cuj'^ahoga 
Falls,  for  such  legal  or  business  notices  as  were  required  to  be 
published.  The  act  of  incorporation  was  passed  March  12,  1836, 
and  immediately  thereafter  a  practical  printer  from  Medina,  Mr. 
Madison  H.  White,  removed  his  Ramage  press  and  types  to  Akron, 
and  on  March  23  issued  the  first  number  of  the  Akron  Post. 

The  Post  was  a  five  column  w^eekly.  Democratic  in  politics, 
and,  considering  that  its  proprietor  was  editor,  compositor, 
reporter,  pressman,  job  printer  and  "  devil,"  it  was  a  very  fair  expo- 
nent of  the  business  and  local  interests  of  the  village  at  that  time. 

But  as  all  official  advertising  had  to  be  done  in  the  papers  at 
the  county  seat,  the  local  paper  did  not  receive  the  support  antici- 
pated; and  the  Post  was  suspended  November  15,  1836. 

7'he  Akron  Journal. — Deeming  the  continuance  of  a  Demo- 
cratic paper  essential  to  the  interests  of  the  Democratic  party,  the 
late  Judge  Constant  Bryan,  then  an  ambitious  young  lawyer,  and, 


Akron's  newspapers.  217 

like  the  Avriter,  a  sonieAvhat  active  Democratic  politician,  bought 
the  out-fit  of  the  defunct  Post,  and  on  the  1st  day  of  December, 
1836,  revived  the  paper  under  the  name  of  the  Akron  Journal. 

While  of  the  same  general  make-up  as  the  Post,  the  Journal 
"was  far  more  ably  conducted,  but  the  proper  business  and  pecun- 
iary support  was  not  forthcoming,  and  the  Journal,  too,  after  an 
existence  of  about  six  months,  was  discontinued  June  15,  1837. 

The  American  Balance.  —  In  so  stirring  and  promising, 
and  w^ithal  so  strongly  Whig  a  town  as  Akron,  it  would,  of  course, 
never  do  to  let  the  Democrats  enjoy  a  monopoly  of  the  newspaper 
business,  and  so  Horace  K.  Smith,  an  educated  business  man  of 
Akron,  and  Gideon  G.  Gallovv^ay,  of  Northampton,  a  practical 
printer,  procured  a  second-hand  out-fit  in  Cleveland,  purchased 
and  repaired  the  crippled  Ohio  Observ^er  press,  alluded  to  in  the 
chapter  on  Hudson,  and  issued  the  first  number  of  the  American 
Balance  on  the  19th  day  of  August,  1837. 

In  February,  Mr.  Hiram  Bowen,  a  vigorous  w^riter,  and  a 
practical  printer,  purchased  Mr.  Galloway's  interest  in  the  paper. 
Messrs.  Stnith  &  Bowen  made  the  Balance  a  paper  that  ought  to 
have  succeeded,  but  it,  too,  soon  met  an  adverse  fate,  owing 
doubtless  to  the  monetary  panic  then  on,  and  the  failure-inviting 
custom  then  in  vogue  among  ne\vspaper  men,  of  giving  universal 
credit  for  both  subscriptions  and  advertising,  and  the  Balance 
■was  suspended  at  the  end  of  the  first  year,  August  9,  1838. 

TAe  Akron  Buzzard. — ^The  history  of  this  curiously  named 
and,  in  its  day,  quite  notorious  little  paper  is  thus  briefly  stated: 
A  young  Connecticut  Yankee,  by  the  name  of  Samuel  Alanson 
Lane,  then  a  recent  comer  to  Akron,  seeing  the  great  amount  of 
crookedness  so  prevalent  along  the  line  of  the  canal,  at  that  early 
day,  and  especially  in  and  about  Akron,  conceived  the  idea  that  a 
paper  devoted  especially  to  that  end  would  greatly  aid  the 
authorities  in  ridding  the  town  and  county  from  the  hordes  of 
blacklegs,  counterfeiters  and  thieves  infesting  and  disgracing  the 
community. 

Though  follow^ing  the  business  of  a  sign  and  ornamental 
painter,  Mr.  Lane  had  previously  acquired  a  smattering  of  the  art 
of  printing,  and  obtaining  from  the  late  Judge  Bryan  permission 
to  use  the  press  and  types  of  the  defunct /owri^a/,  on  the  7th  day 
of  September,  1837,  issued,  as  a  feeler,  the  first  number  of  the 
Akron  Buzzard. 

It  was  a  three  column  folio,  12x17  inches,  published  every  tw^o 
weeks  at  75  cents  per  year,  doubled  in  size  and  price  raised  to  one 
dollar  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  year.  The  editorial  nom  de 
plume  w^as  "Jedediah  Brownbread,  Esq.,"  its  orthography  being 
of  the  Yankee  dialect  order,  of  w^hich  the  abominable  styles  of 
"Artemas  Ward,"  "Josh  Billings,"  "Petroleum  V.  Nasby,"  "Judge 
Waxem,"  etc.,  are  fairly  good  imitations,  and  to  this  day  Mr.  Lane 
is  more  frequently  saluted  as  "Jedediah,"  by  his  old-time  asso- 
ciates, than  by  his  own  proper  cognomen. 

The  Buzzard's  Platform. — Translated  into  ordinary  lan- 
guage, the  following  extract  from  its  salutatory  fully  sets  forth 
the  aims  and  objects  of  the  paper:  "The  Buzzard  will  be  a  real 
jolly,  nothing- to-do-^vith-politics,  anti-blackleg  paper,  devoted  to 
news,  popular  tales,  iniscellany,  anecdotes,  satire,  poetry,  humor, 
the  correction  of  public  morals,  etc.     It  will  strike  at  the  vices  of 


218  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

mankind  with  an  occasional  brush  at  its  folHes.  It  will  expose 
crime  whether  committed  by  the  great  or  small,  and  applaud  vir- 
tuous and  noble  actions  whether  performed  by  the  rich  or  poor. 
It  w^ill  encourage  the  honest  man  in  well-doing  and  make  a  trans- 
parency of  the  breast  of  the  hypocrite.  In  short,  it  will  be  to 
society  what  the  common  buzzard  is  to  our  Southern  cities,  viz.:  It 
will  pounce  upon,  and  bj'  its  influence  endeavor  to  reform,  or 
remove,  such  loafers  as  are  nuisances  in  the  community,  b}'  hold- 
ing them  up  to  the  gaze  of  a  virtuous  public." 

The  Buzzard  made  things  lively  for  the  "b'hoys"  and  the 
"b'hoys"  sometimes  made  things  pretty  lively  for  the  Buzzard — - 
or  rather  its  editor — visiting  him  with  threatenings  dire,  vindic- 
tive lyings-in-wait  and  frequent  assaults.  But  though  literal!}" 
carrying  his  life  in  his  hand,  in  his  editorial  onslaught  upon  crime 
and  vice,  "Jedediah"  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  his  way  from  day 
to  day,  and  from  month  to  month,  for  a  year  and  a  half,  Avhen, 
having  accomplished  the  object  of  its  mission,  the  Buzzard  was 
discontinued  on  the  25th  day  of  February,  1839 — not  for  want  of 
patronage,  for  it  was  self-sustaining  from  the  start — its  subscrip- 
tion list  being  transferred  to  Hiram  Bowen,  Esq.,  who  was  thus 
able  to  resuscitate  his  own  paper,  under  the  title  of  the  Summit 
Beacon,  a  full  historj^  of  which  will  be  found  further  on. 

T/je  Pestalozzian.  —  From  the  start,  Akron  was  weW  sup- 
plied with  enthusiastic  educators,  among  them  being  our  vener- 
able fellow  citizen,  Nahum  Fay,  Esq.,  the  late  Horace  K.  Smith, 
and  a  very  proficent  teacher  by  the  name  of  S.  L.  Sawtell.  For 
the  purpose  of  enthusing  the  people  with  their  own  advanced 
ideas  upon  the  subject  of  education,  and  of  systematizing  the 
methods  of  imparting  knowledge  and  conducting  public  schools, 
the  tw^o  latter  gentlemen,  on  the  14th  day  of  April,  1838,  commenced 
the  publication  of  a  neat  monthly  quarto  under  the  above  title. 
Though  ably  edited,  being  in  advance  of  the  times,  and  by  reason 
of  the  monetary  stringency  then  on,  it  failed  to  secure  a  paying 
circulation,  and  was  discontinued  with  the  issue  of  its  sixth  num- 
ber; September  30,  1838. 

The  Ohian  and  A^ew^  Era.  —  The  question  of  finance  and 
banking  was  one  of  the  absorbing  subjects  of  discussion  and 
legislative  tinkering  of  50  jears  ago.  To  ventilate  his  own  pecu- 
liar views  upon  the  subject,  and  doubtless  with  an  honest  desire 
to  ameliorate  the  financial  embarassments  of  the  people,  the  late 
Jonathan  F.  Fenn,  an  early  business  man  of  Akron,  (who  died  of 
cholera  at  Sacramento,  Cal.,  in  the  fall  of  1850),  for  a  short  time 
in  1838,  published  a  small  semi-monthly  paper  in  Akron,  under  the 
above  title,  devoted  to  Free  Banking,  but  though  ably  (from  its 
standpoint)  handling  the  financial  questions  of  the  day,  it  failed  of 
financial  success,  and  quietlj^  expired. 

Glad  Tidings  and  Ladies'  Universalist  Magazine.  —  This 
w^as  a  sprightly  semi-monthly  quarto,  published  in  Akron,  in  the 
interest  of  the  Universalist  faith,  during  the  .years  1838,  1839  and 
1840.  It  was  ably  edited  by  S.  A.  Davis,  N.  Doolittle  and  J.  Whit- 
ney, and  besides  being  a  vigorous  and  aggressive  exponent  of  the 
doctrine  of  universal  salvation,  was  a  most  excellent  literarj^  and 
general  local  newspaper.  At  the  close  of  1840,  the  paper  was 
transferred  to  Cincinnati  and  its  name  changed  to  "The  Star  in 
the  West,"  where   it  continued    to  shine,  in  the  interest  f)f  that 


Akron's  newspapers. 


219 


denomination,    until    about    the    year     1881, 
unknown  to  the  w^riter,  it  was  discontinued. 


when,    for    reasons 


HON.  HIRAM  BOWEN,— born  in 
Strobridg-e,  Mass.,  April  29,  1815, 
removing'  with  parents  to  Ohio,  when 
young,  settling'  at  "Old  Forg-e;"  in 
1825,  entered  the  printing  office  of 
his  uncle,  Judge  Ozias  Bowen,  pub- 
lisher of  Middlebury's  pipneeer 
paper,  the  Portage  Journal,  herein 
alluded  to,  as  an  apprentice.  In  1838, 
in  company  with  Horace  K.  Smith, 
published  the  American  Balance  in 
Akron,  and  in  April  1839,  on  his  own 
account,  established  the  Summit 
Beacon,  which  he  ably  conducted 
nntil  its  sale  to  other  parties,  in  1815, 
though  continuing-  to  officiate  as  its 
editor  one  or  two  years  longer.  Mr. 
Bowen  represented  Summit  Count}- 
in  the  Ohio  Legislature  during  the 
session  of  1815,  '46.  In  1849  Mr.  Bowen 
removed  to  Janesville,  Wisconsin, 
where  he  edited  the  Janesville 
Gazette  for  se\^eral  years,  afterwards 
becoming'  manager  of  extensive 
Agricultural  Works  in  that  city. 
His  health  becoming  seriously 
impaired  Mr.  Bowen  finally  retired  to 
a  large  farm  in  South  Dakota.  Early 
in  1886,  he  went  to  Los  Angeles,  Cal., 
to  visit  his  son,  Mr.  W.  P.  Bowen,  a 
postal  clerk  on  the  Southern  Pacific 
R.  R.,  where  he  died  March  20,  1886,  at 
the  age  of  70  years  and  11  months. 
Another  son,  W.  S.  Bowen,  is  one  of 
the  proprietors  of  the  Daily  Press 
and  Dakotian,  at  Yankton,  Dakota. 


HON.   HIKAM   BOWEN. 


The  Summit  Beacon.  —  This  paper,  the  direct  and  leg^iti- 
mate  successor  of  the  American  Balance,  was  started  on  the  loth 
day  of  April,  1839,  on  a  pledge  of  adequate  support  from  the  busi- 
ness men  of  Akron,  and  the  leaders  of  the  Whig  party  within  the 
limits  of  the  prospective  new^  county  of  Summit,  for  the  erection 
of  which  it  at  once  became  a  vigorous  and  successful  advocate. 

But  notwithstanding  the  pledges  of  support,  and  of  official 
patronage,  after  the  organization  of  the  new^  county,  the  Beacon 
in  common  with  the  new^spapers  of  the  county,  generally,  had  a 
hard  struggle  for  existence  for  several  years,  yet  though  three 
times  totally  destroyed  by  fire,  and  hampered  w^ith  pecuniary 
embarassments,  the  Reliable  Old  Weekly  Beacon,  has  never 
missed  an  issue  during  the  fifty-tw^o  years  of  its  existence,  though 
slightly  diminished  in  dimensions,  Avhile  recovering  from  its  disas- 
ters, and  is  to-day  at  the  very  head  of  the  weekly  papers  in  Ohio. 

In  May,  1844,  Mr.  Bowen  sold  the  Beacon  to  Mr.  Richards  S. 
Klkins,  previously  connected  with  the  Ohio  Star,  at  Ravenna. 
Mr.  Bowen  continued  to  act  as  editor,  until  April,  1845,  when  he 
was  succeded  by  Laurin  Dewey,  Esq.,  a  brother-in-law^  o.f  Mr. 
Elkins,  who  also  purchased  a  half  interest  in  the  concern.  Mr. 
Dewey,  it  will   be   recollected,  was  the  originator  of  Middlebur3"'s 


220 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


first  ne'wspaper  scheme,  as  above  set  forth;  having  in  the  mean- 
time been  connected  with  the  Ohio  Star,  as  proprietor  and  editor, 
and  also  served  two  terms  as  sheriff  of  Portage  County. 

April  2,  1846,  Mr,  Dewey  was  elected  warden  of  the  Ohio 
penitentiary,  but  retained  his  interest  in  the  Beacon  until  its 
recovery  from  the  fire  of  June  9,  1848,  w^hen  the  establishment  was 
sold  by  Messrs.  Dewey  &  Elkins  to  John  Teesdale,  Esq.,  former 
editor  of  the  Ohio  State  Journal,  at  Columbus,  Mr.  Dewey  remov- 
ing to  Iowa,  (where  he  died  September  10,  1868),  and  Mr.  Elkins 
forming  a  partnership  with  Mr.  Joseph  A.  Beebe  in  the  book  and 
■drug  business. 

Under  the  able  management  of  Mr.  Teesdale  the  Beacon 
became  the  organ  of  the  newly  formed  Republican  party,  in  1855, 
a  partnership  having  in  the  meantime  been  formed  betw^een  Mr. 
Teesdale  and  Beebe  &  Elkins,  the  new  book,  drug  and  printing 
firm  being  Elkins,  Teesdale  &  Co.  February  27,  1856,  Mr.  Teesdale 
sold  his  interest  to  his  co-partners,  Beebe  &  Elkins,  but  continued 
to  act  as  editor  until  his  removal  to  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  w^here  he 
was  elected  State  printer,  postmaster,  etc..  May  1,  1856,  and  w^as 
succeeded  in  the  editorial  chair  by  Hon.  James  Carpenter  until  his 
accession  to  the  Common  Pleas  Judgship,  October,  1856,  when 
ex-Senator  Ashel  H.  Le^vis,  of  Ravenna,  assumed^  the  position 
w^hich  he  ably  filled,  with  Mr.  R.  S.  Elkins  as  associate  editor, 
about  four  years. 


HON.  ASAHEL  HOOKER  LEWIS, 
— a  native  of  Farming-ton,  Conn., 
and  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  soon 
after  graduating  coming-  to  Ohio ; 
for  a  time  associated  with  J.  A. 
Harris  in  the  editorial  manageinent 
of  the  Cleveland  Herald,  and  later 
editing  the  Ohio  Star  at  Ravenna. 
Mr.  Lewis  was  also  a  lawyer  of  con- 
siderable ability,  for  a  time  practic- 
ing in  Cincinnati.  While  a  resident 
of  Ravenna,  in  October,  1846,  Mr.- 
Lewis  was  elected  State  Senator  for 
Portage  and  Summit  Counties,  serv- 
ing- two  years.  In  1856,  he  removed 
to  Akron,  and  became  the  editor-in- 
chief  of  the  Summit  County  Beacon, 
then  published  by  loseph  A.  Beebe 
and  Richard  S.  Elkins,  holding  the 
positon  until  1861.  In  July,  1861,  he 
was  appointed,  by  Gov.  William 
Dennison,  Probate  Judge  of  Summit 
Coixnty,  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasion- 
ed b3^  the  death  of  Judg^e  William  M. 
Dodge,  holding  the  position  until 
the  following  October.  Mr.  Lewis 
then  removed  to  St.  Louis,  where  he 
was  given  a  prominent  position 
upon   the    editorial   staff  of  the    St. 


HON.  ASAHEL  hooker  LEWIS. 

Louis  Democrat,  then  the  only 
Republican  paper  in  the  South,  ably 
sustaining  the  government  against 
the  slave-holders'  rebellion,  until  his 
death  in  September,  1862. 


On  retiring  from  the  office  of  sheriff,  in  January,  1861,  Mr. 
Samuel  A.  Lane,  superseded  Mr.  Lewis  as  editor  of  the  Beacon. 
Mr.  Lane,  by  giving  more  attention  to  local  matters  than  his  pre- 
decessors had  done,  and  by  the  large  amount  of  space  devoted  to 
the    writings    and    doings    of    Summit   County's    "boys   in   blue," 


Akron's  newspapers. 


221 


during  the  war,  increased  the  circulation  of  the  paper  from  1,300  to- 
2,500  copies  weekly,  the  first  two  years. 

In  January,  1865,  Mr.  Lane  and  Mr.  Horace  G.  Canfield  each 
bought  a  one-third  interest  from  Messrs.  Beebe  &  Elkins,  the 
name  of  the  firm  being  Elkins,  Lane  &  Co.  In  January,  1867, 
Albertis  L.  Paine  and  Denis  J.  Long,  two  former  Beacon  boys, 
who,  on  being  mustered  out  of  the  army,  had  established  the 
Summit  County  Journal,  as  elsewhere  noted,  bought  the  remain- 
ing one-third  interest  in  the  Beacon  from  Messrs.  Beebe  &  Elkins, 
the  firm  noAV  being  changed  to  Lane,  Canfield  &  Co. 

In  the  Winter  of  1868,  Thomas  C.  Raynolds,  then  just  gradu- 
ated from  the  Michigan  University,  was  employed  as  assistant 
editor,  and  vrith  the  exception  of  a  brief  interruption,  from  1870  to 
1872,  has  been  connected  with  the  establishment  ever  since. 

The  Akron  Dailx  Beacon.— In  the  meantime  Akron  had 
increased  from  a  village  of  5,500  inhabitants  to  a  city  of  10,000  in 
1869,  with  manufacturing  and  commercial  activities  to  match. 
Something  faster  than  a  ^weekly  local  paper  was  demanded,  and 
on  the  6th  day  of  December  1869,  the  first  number  of  the  Akron 
Daily  Beacon  was  issued  by  Messrs.  Lane,  Canfield  &  Co.,  with 
Mr.  Lane  as  editor-in-chief,  Mr.  Raynolds  as  assistant  editor,  Mr. 
Canfield  as  business  manager,  and  superintendent  of  machinerj^, 
and  Messrs.  Long  and  Paine,  superintendents  of  job  departments- 
respectively. 


DENIS  J.  LONG,-born  in  Albany, 
N.  Y.,  November  28,  1844 ;  at  15, 
came  to  Akron  with  his  brother,  J.  A. 
Long- ;  in  1859,  entered  BEACON  office, 
as  an  apprentice,  serving  between 
three  and  four  years  ;  in  August,  1862, 
enlisted  in  Co.  H.,  104th  O.  V.  I.,  serv- 
ing as  a  private  soldier,  until  Febrvi- 
ary,  1864,  when  he  was  appointed  to  a 
clerkship  in  the  office  of  Gen.  Scho- 
field,  in  the  Department  of  the  Ohio, 
serving-  tiJl  the  close  of  the  war, 
being  mustered  out  at  Greensboro, 
N.  C,  June  28,  1865.  On  his  return  to 
Akron,  in  companj^  with  Mr.  Albertis 
L.  Paine,  started  the  Summit  County 
Journal,  with  Judge  James  S. 
Carpenter  as  editor.  January  1, 1867, 
the  Journal  was  discontinued,  Mr. 
Long  and  Mr.  Paine  each  buying-  a 
one-sixth  interest  in  the  BEACON, 
Mr.  Long  retaining-  his  interest  as 
partner  and  stockholder  (at  its  organ- 
zation  as  a  stock  company,  being 
elected  secretary),  until  1875,  when  he 
entered  the  office  of  the  Akron  Iron 
Company,  as  book-keeper,  continuing 
two  years.  March  1,  1877,  he  was 
appointed  agent  of  the  Union 
Express  Company,  afterwards  of  the 
Union.  American  and  Adams  Com- 


DENIS  J.  LONG. 

panics,  which  responsible  position 
he  held  until  his  death,  Januarj'  17, 
1883,  at  the  age  of  38  years,  1  month 
and  20  days.  In  May,  1870,  Mr.  Long 
was  married  to  Miss  Eliza  A.  Potter, 
of  Akron,  who  died  May  13,  1891,  aged 
48  years,  3  months  and  9  days. 


In  December,  1871,  the  Beacon  Publishing  Company  was 
organized  with  a  capital  of  $25,000,  Messrs.  Lane  and  Long  retain- 
ing their  one-third  and  one-sixth  interests,  respectively,  Messrs. 
Canfield  and  Paine  retiring,  the  balance  of  the  stock  being  taken 


222  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

by  a  number  of  prominent  business  men  of  the  city,  with  Mr.  Lane 
as  business  manager,  Mr.  Raynolds  as  editor-in-chief,  and  Mr. 
Wilson  M.  Day  as  associate  editor 

The  business  of  the  concern  rapidly  increassd  in  all  its  depart- 
ments, but  unfortunately,  in  the  very  height  of  its  business  season, 
in  the  job  printing  and  binding  line  for  the  several  manufacturing 
concerns  of  the  city,  on  the  27th  day  of  April,  1872,  the  establish- 
ment was  totally  destroyed  by  fire,  with  a  loss,  over  and  above 
insurance,  of  fully  one-half  of  its  capital. 

The  burned  building  w^as  immediately  replaced,  greatly 
enlarged,  and  filled  Avith  a  full  complement  of  first-class  machinery 
and  material,  and  a  large  stock  of  general  and  fancy  stationery. 
This  rel)uilding  and  refitting  of  the  establishment,  on  a  greatly 
enlarged  scale,  and  with  far  better  machinery  and  material,  and 
especially  w^ith  its  impaired  capital,  and  several  months  interrup- 
tion to  its  most  profitable  departments,  while  subjected  to  extra- 
ordinary running  expenses,  piled  up  an  indebtedness,  that  with 
the  almost  immediately  recurring  monetary  and  commercial  panic 
of  1873,  brought  the  company  into  very  serious  pecuniary 
embarrassment. 

To  such  an  extent  did  this  embarrassment  press  upon  the 
stockholders,  though  still  nominally  solvent,  that  it  Avas  at  length 
deemed  advisable  to  transfer  its  propertj^,  fanchise  and  good  will 
to  any  responsible  party  that  would  assume  its  liabilities.  Accord- 
ingly, in  January,  1875,  the  entire  property  was  sold  to  Thomas  C. 
Raynolds,  Frank  J.  Staral  and  John  H.  Auble,  on  that  basis,  a 
sufficient  number  of  the  old  stockholders  retaining  a  nominal 
interest  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the  corporate  organization 
intact. 

This  arrangement  continued  about  two  years,  when  Mr.  Auble 
withdrew,  leaving  Messrs.  Raynolds  and  Staral  sole  owners, 
which  relation  was  continued,  with  signal  success,  until  May  16, 
1887,  when  Mr.  Staral  sold  his  interest  to  Mr.  Hermon  Bronson,Mr. 
Bronson,  in  turn,  transferring  his  interest  to  Mr.  Raynolds,  April 
14,  1889,  and  in  its  inagnificent  new  home  in  the  handsome  six- 
story  brick  block,  erected  especially  for  its  use,  by  Hon.  George 
W.  Crouse,  corner  of  Mill  and  Main  streets,  the  Daily  Beacon 
establishment,  with  its  extensive  news,  job  printing,  book-binding 
and  stationery  departments,  all  fully  equipped  with  first-class 
machinery  and  material,  being  one  of  the  most  complete  and 
prosperous  of  its  class  in  Ohio,  its  daily  circulation  having 
increased  from  600  in  1869,  '70,  to  a  present  daily  average  of  3,500 
copies;  while  the  reliable  old  Summit  County  Weekly  Beacon, 
correspondingly  improved  and  prospered,  duly  celebrated  its 
golden  anniversity  on  the  15th  day  of  April,  1889. 

Beacon  and  Republican. — As  hereinafter  detailed,  the  Daily 
Telegram  and  Sunday  Gazette,  in  1889,  passed  into  the  hands  of 
the  new^ly  organized  Republican  Publishing  Compan^^  with  Mr, 
Kenyon  B.  Conger  as  its  president,  its  name  being  changed  to  the 
Akron  Daily  Republican,  w^hich  had  a  successful  run  until 
January  1, 1891,  when  a  consolidation  w^as  effected  with  the  Beacon. 
The  name  and  style  of  the  consolidated  organization,  ^vith  a  capi- 
tal of  $100,000,  is  The  Akron  Printing  and  Publishing  Company, 
with  Hon.  George  W.  Crouse  as  president,  Kenyon  B.  Conger  as 
vice  president  and  Thomas  C.  Raynolds  as  business  manager,  the 


AKRON  S   NEWSPAPERS, 


223 


several  editions  of  the  paper  being:  The  Akron  Beacon  and 
Republican,  (daily),  The  Summit  Countv  Beacon,  (weekly),  and 
the  Sundaj^  Republican.  The  American  Farm  News  is  now^ 
also  owned  and  published  by  this  company. 


a^HOMAS  CRAIGHEAD  RAY- 
-^  NOLDS,T-yon  of  George  and 
Jane  L.  (Craighead)  Raynolds, — born 
near  Canton,  Ohio,  June  18,  1848 ; 
educated  in  public  schools  of  Canton 
and  Akron  and  at  Western  Reserve 
College  and  Michigan  University, 
graduating  from  the  classical  course 
of  the  latter  institution,  January  24, 
1868,  his  long-  vacations  being  spent 
upon  the  United  States  survey  of  the 
northwestern  lakes,  under  the  super- 
intendence of  his  uncle.  Gen.  W.  F. 
Raynolds,  of  the  U.  S.  Engineers ; 
July  14,  1868,  began  journalistic  work 
as  a  reporter  on  Detroit  Post,  six 
months  later,  in  January,  1869,  com- 
mencing work  upon  the  BEACON,  as 
its  first  reporter ;  in  1870  became 
paragraph  editor  of  Pittsburg  Com- 
mercial;  in  1871  did  editorial  work 
on  an  insurance  and  inanufacturing 
journal,  in  Cincinnati  ;  in  November, 
1871,  on  organization  of  the  Beacon 
Publishing  Compan}-,  became  editor 
of  the  Dail}^  and  Weekly  BEACON, 
continuing  three  j'ears  ;  from  1873  to 
1875  did  editorial  work  successivel3^ 
on  Cleveland  Sunday  Voice,  Cleve- 
land Leader,  and  Toledo  Commer- 
cial ;  in  January,  1875,  on  reorganiza- 
tion of  Company,  returned  to  the 
Beacon,  as  its  Editor-in-chief,  which 
position  he  maintained  until  January 
1.  1891,  when,  on  consolidation  of  the 
Daily  BEACON  with  the  Dailj^  REPUB- 
LICAN,    he     became      the     Business 


THOMAS  CRAIGHEAD   RAYNOLDS. 

Manager  of  the  newly  organized 
Akron  Printing  and  Publishing- 
Company,  which  position  he  still 
holds.  January  3,  1873,  he  married 
Miss  Lillian  Alice  Waggoner,  of 
Akron  (only  daughter  of  John  H.  and 
Laura  A.  Waggoner),  who  died  Octo- 
ber 4,  1883,  leaving  one  son,  Willie 
Waggoner  Raynolds.  September  14, 
1886,  Mr.  Raynolds  was  again  inarried, 
to  Miss  Ida  B.  Foote,  only  daughter 
of  Daniel  S.  and  Mary  A.  Foote,  of 
Akron. 


The  American  Democrat. — August  10,  1842,  Mr.  Horace  Can- 
iield,  who  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Ohio  Review,  at 
Cuyahoga  Falls,  in  1833,  as  elsewhere  noted,  issued  in  Akron  the 
first  number  of  the  American  Democrat.  The  paper,  as  its  name 
indicates,  was  politically  democratic.  The  Democrat  was  ably 
conducted,  as  a  party  organ,  until  December  14,  1848,  when  it  was 
discontinued  for  reasons  thus  alluded  to  in  Mr.  Canfield's  parting 
editorial: 

'•In  performing  what  he  has  thought  a  duty,  in  advocating  Democratic 
principles,  he  has  too  much  neglected  his  duty  to  himself  and  family,  and 
he  is  often  roughly  reminded  of  this  neglect  by  the  empty  state  of  the 
doinestic  treasury,  when  calls  oti  it  are  only  for  the  simplest  necessaries  for 
family  use.  It  is  of  no  avail  that  the  books  shdw  a  prosperous  state  of 
finances,  if  the  larder  and  meal  bag-  are  filled  with  emptiness.  However  pre- 
valent the  doctrine  may  be  that  editors  can  live  on  air,  we  can  testify,  from 
experience,  that  it  is  a  fallacy,  so  far  as  regards  the  editor's  farailj^" 

The  Akron  Eagle. — A  week  later^  December  21,  1848,  the  first 
number  of  an  "Independent  Miscellaneous  Family  Newspaper," 
uuder  the  above  head,  was  issued  by  Mr.  Canfield.  This  was  con- 
tinued just  six  months,  the  last  issue  appearing  on  the  14th  day  of 


224 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


June,   1849,   but   without   any   statement   as   to    the  cause   of  its 
suspension, 

Akron  Free  Democrat. — July  4,  1849,  number  one,  volume 
one,  of  a  paper  under  the  above  title,  with  Horace  Canfield  as  pub- 
lisher and  Sidney  Edgerton  as  editor,  was  issued,  Mr.  Edgerton.  in 
his  initial  editorial  saying:  "The  political  character  of  this  paper 
is  indicated  by  its  title,  and,  ivhile  we  stand  as  its  editor,  it  shall 
conform  to  the  title  it  bears.  No  party  prejudice  shall  induce  u  s 
to  support  what  we  know  to  be  w^rong;  neither  shall  party  pre- 
dilections restrain  us  from  condemning  what  we  believe  to  be 
error.  *  *  *  We  are  firm  believers  in  human  progress,  and  that 
belief  is  founded  upon  the  recorded  truths  of  history,  which  most 
clearly  point  to  'a  good  time  coming.'  *  *  *  Strike  the  chains 
from  the  bondman  w^herever  the  power  of  the  general  government 
extends,  and  give  us  a  sure  guaranty  that  slavery  shall  extend  no 
further,  then  w^e  are  ready  to  discuss  and  act  in  reference  to  minor 
matters." 


HORACE  CANFIELD,  — born  in 
Middletown,  Conn.,  July  4,  1803  ; 
learned  the  printing  business  with 
his  uncle,  Pholenion  Canfield,  in 
Hartford,  serving  seven  j^ears ; 
March  24,  1824,  was  married  to  Miss 
Julia  Ann  Everard ;  worked  at  trade 
in  Hartford  and  Cambridge,  Mass., 
till  1833,  when  he  came  to  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  where  he  established  the  Ohio 
Review,  as  eleswhere  stated.  In  the 
Fall  of  1834,  went  to  Cleveland  where 
he  published  the  Cleveland  Adver- 
tiser (Democratic)  about  four  3'ears  ; 
in  ■  1838  going  to  Medina,  where  he 
published  The  Watchman  (Demo- 
cratic) four  years,  coming  to  Akron 
in  August,  1842,  and  establishing  the 
American  Democrat,  which  he 
published  and  edited  inost  of  the 
time  till  his  death,  December  28,  1853, 
at  the  age  of  50  years,  5  months  and 
24  days.  Mr.  Canfield  served  in 
Cleveland  City  Council,  on  Akron 
Board  of  Education,  and  at  the  tiine 
of  his  death  was  Recorder  of  the 
Incorporated  Village  of  Akron  ;  was 
a  zealous  Mason  and  a  highly  honor- 
ed citizen.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Canfield 
were  the  parents  of  six  children — 
Henry  E.,  (now  residing  in  Akron, 
and  engraver  of  the   accompanj'ing- 


HORACE  CANFIELD. 

potrait  of  his  father);  Thomas,  who 
died  in  April,  1860 ;  Horace  G.,  one 
of  the  best  kno^vn  printers  of  Akron  ; 
Julia  Ann  (now  Mrs.  I.  B.  Hargett, 
of  Alexandria,  Ohio),  and  William 
and  Caroline  who  died  young.  Mrs. 
Canfield  died  August  9,  1882,  aged  80 
years  and  3  months. 


Free  Democratic  Standard. — The  Free  Democrat  continued 
until  after  the  October  electron  of  1849,  when  the  name  was  changed 
as  above,  with  Lyman  W.  Hall,  a  well-known  anti-slavery  w^riterof 
Ravenna,  as  editor  and  proprietor,  the  first  number  of  which 
appeared  November  8,  1849.  This  arrangement  was  continued 
until  March  6,  1851,  when  the  names  of  H.  Canfield  and  W.  O. 
Viers  appear  as  publishers,  "assisted  editorially  by  an  association." 
In  November,  1851,  Mr.  Canfield  resumed  entire  control,  in  August, 
1852,  dropping  the  "Free,"  though  retaining  the  motto,  "Freedom 
and    Equality,"    and    continuing    to     publish     the     Democratic 


Akron's  newspapers.  225 

Standard  until  his  death,  December  29,  1853,  after  which  it  was 
published  for  some  time  by  his  two   sous,  Thomas  and  Horace  G. 

In  the  Spring  of  1855  the  office  was  sold  to  H.  P.  Abel,  and  the 
Standard  re-established,  issuing  a  small  daily.  The  experiment 
was  not  successful,  and  both  the  daily  and  the  weekly  were  soon 
suspended.  In  the  Winter  of  1855,  '56,  Mr.  W.  D.  Bien  bought  the 
office  and  revived  the  paper  under  the  name  of  the  Summit 
Denjocrat.  In  the  Winter  of  1859,  '60  the  office  passed  into  the 
hands  of  J.  Hays  Webb,  w^ho,  just  before  the  Presidential  election 
of  1860  removed  the  materials  to  Canton,  where,  under  the  title  of 
the  True  Democrat,  it  was  run  until  the  Spring  of  1864,  when  it 
returned  to  Akron,  and,  under  the  title  of  Summit  Union,  run 
until  the  close  of  the  Brough-Vallandigham  campaign,  in  1863, 
when  the  paper  ^ras  discontinued  and  the  office  taken  to  Ravenna. 

The  Cascade  Roarer. — March  15,  1844,  while  the  Washing- 
tonian  temperance  reform  movement  was  at  its  height,  the  Buz- 
zard w^as  revived  as  a  temperance  paper  by  the  writer  and  Mr. 
Isaac  Chamberlin,  Jr.,  Mr.  Chamberlin  a  few  wrecks  later  trans- 
ferring his  interest  to  Mr.  William  T,  Coggeshall,  afterwards  a 
literary  -writer  of  considerable  repute.  State  Librarian  under  Gov- 
ernors Chase  and  Dennison,  from  1856  to  1862,  and  minister  to 
Ecuador,  South  America,  under  President  Johnson  until  his  death, 
from  consumption,  in  the  Summer  of  1867. 

The  name  of  the  paper  was  changed  by  Messrs.  Lane  &  Cog- 
geshall to  the  Cascade  Roarer,  partly  because  that  portion  of 
Akron  in  which  it  was  pul)lished  was  still  know^n  by  its  original 
name  of  "  Cascade,"  but  more  particularly  because  of  its  radical 
cold  water  signification.  Through  the  vigorous  and  incisive 
writings  of  Mr.  Coggeshall,  and  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Lane,  as  a  travel- 
ing temperance  lecturer  and  solicitor,  the  Cascade  Roarer  attained 
a  w^eekly  circulation  of  about  2,500  and  a  considerable  general  as 
well  as  local  repute. 

Tee-Total  Mechanic— July  21st,  1846,  Mr.  Lane  sold  his 
interest  in  the  Cascade  Roarer  to  Mr.  James  S.  Drew,  a  practical 
printer  of  Massillon,  and  as  there  was  at  that  time  considerable 
agitation  among  the  mechanics  of  the  country  for  the  establish- 
ment of  10  hours  as  a  day's  labor  (instead  of  the  12  to  14  hour  day 
day  then  in  vogue),  and  for  cash  payments,  instead  of  the  order 
and  "truck  and  dicker"  system  described  in  a  former  chapter,  the 
name  of  the  paper  was  changed  as  above  by  Messrs.  Drew^  &  Cog- 
geshall. The  7^ee-Total  Mechanic  w^as  successfully  published  for 
about  three  months,  when  it  w^as  merged  with  a  larger  paper, 
similar  in  character,  published  in  Cleveland,  under  the  name  of 
•  the  Temperance  Artisan,  the  last  issue  in  Akron  being  under 
date  of  October  24,  1846. 

The  Free  School  Clarion. — In  1846,  our  late  well-known 
citizen,  Dr.  William  Bowen,  then  a  resident  of  Massillon,  com- 
menced the  publication  of  a  ringing  educational  journal  in  that 
village — a  four  column  quarto — under  the  above  title.  The  latter 
part  of  1847,  Dr.  Bowen  was  succeeded  in  the  publication  of  the 
Clarion  by  the  well-known  educator,  Lorin  Andrews,  of  Massillon, 
and  M.  D.  Leggett,  Akron's  fiirst  school  superintendent,  under  the 
Akron  school  law,  and  its  publication  continued  simultaneously 
at  Massillon  and  Akron.  This  arrangement  continued  a  few 
months  only,  Mr.    Leggett's  connection   with    the   Akron  schools 

16 


226  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

« 

ceasing  some  time  in  1849,  when  the  conduct  of  the  Clarion  was 
relegated  entirely  to  Mr.  Andrews,  at  Massillon,  its  subscription 
list  being  afterwards  transferred  to  the  Ohio  Journal  of  Education 
at  Columbus,  now  the  Ohio  Educational  Monthlj^,  published  by 
Dr.  S.  Findley,  in  Akron.  * 

2 he  Summit  Countjr  Journal. — At  the  close  of  the  'war,  two 
former  Beacon  boys,  Albertis  Iv.  Paine  and  Denis  J.  Long,  in 
September,  1865,  established  a  Republican  weekly  newspaper 
under  the  above  title,  with  Judge  James  S.  Carpenter  as  editor. 
Ably  edited  and  neatly  printed,  the  Journal  was  reasonably  suc- 
cessful, but  on  the  purchase  from  Messrs.  Beebe  &  Elkins  of  their 
remaining  one-third  interest  in  the  Beacon,  as  above  stated,  in 
January,  1867,  the  Journal  was  discontinued  and  its  subscription 
list,  good-will,  etc.,  transferred  to  the  Beacon. 

The  Akron  Citj-  Times. — January  20,  1867,  a  nine  column 
\sreekly  Democratic  paper,  under  the  above  title  Avas  started  in 
Akron,  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Loveland,  that  gentleman  being  fresh  from  the 
editorial  chair  of  the  Clyde,  (Ohio)  Times,  a  radical  Republican 
paper,  which  he  had  published  during  the  war.  Mr.  Loveland, 
besides  his  recent  political  somersault,  had  the  bad  taste  to 
immediately  commence  a  bitter  personal  w^arfare  against  the 
editor  of  the  Beacon,  moving  his  antagonist  to  obtain  the  loan 
from  its  then  proprietor,  of  the  files  of  the  Clyde  Times,  during 
Mr.  Loveland's  conduct  of  that  paper,  from  which  copious 
extracts  were  made  from  Aveek  to  week,  dealing  such  vigorous 
bloAVS  upon  the  heads  of  his  new  political  backers,  that  they  incon- 
tinently threw  him  overboard,  and  in  August,  1867,  the  office  was 
transferred  to  Mr.  George  C.  Crain. 

.  April  28, 1868,  R,  S.  Bean  &  Co.,  succeeded  Mr.  Crain,  who  in 
turn  transferred  the  Times  to  S.  L.  Everett  &  Son,  in  October  of 
the  same  year.  The  father  dying  some  two  or  three  years  later, 
the  son,  Sebastian  L.  Everett,  ("Don,"  as  he  was  familiarly  called), 
continued  the  publication  with  considerable  vigor  until  1873,  when 
it  was  transferred  to  Mr.  Richard  H,  Knight,  ^th  his  son  Clarence 
R.  Knight,  as  editor. 

November  23,  1882,  Edwin  Myers,  a  practical  printer  from 
Wooster,  entered  into  partnership  with  the  elder  Knight,  the 
younger  Knight  still  in  the  editorial  chair.  Februar^^  23,  1882, 
that  veteran  editor  and  publisher,  of  Wooster,  E.  B.  Eshelman, 
Esq.,  purchased  Mr.  Knight's  remaining  interest  and  assumed  edi- 
torial control  of  the  Times,  March  1,  1885,  Mr.  O.  D.  Capron 
succeeded  Mr.  Eshelman  to  a  half  interest  in  the  concern,  the  firm 
name  of  Messrs.  Myers  &  Capron  being  "  The  Times  Printing 
Company,"  Capt.  W.  B.  Taneyhill  being  employed  as  editor,  in  • 
'which  position  he  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Frank  S.  Pixley. 
February  24,  1886. 

July  6,  1887,  Mr.  Capron  sold  his  interest  to  Mr.  Pixley,  and 
May  8,  1888,  Messrs.  Myers  &  Pixley  sold  the  concern  to  "The 
Akron  Publishing  Company,"  of  Avhich  Mr.  J.  M.  H.  Frederick  was 
president  and  Mr,  M.  J.  Gilbo  secretary  and  treasurer,  Mr.  Pixley 
officiating  as  editor  until  the  organization  of  the  Republican  Pub- 
lishing Company  in  1889,  when  Melville  Wright  and  Frederick  G. 
Frease  became  its  proprietors,  with  Mr.  Wright  as  business  man- 
ager and  William  B.  Taneyhill  as  editor.  The  Citv  Times,  besides 
vigorously  supporting  the  political  party  in  whose  interest  it  is 


Akron's  newspapers.  227 

published,  is  a  most  excellent  family  newspaper,  and    enjoys   a 
healthy  circulation  and  a  liberal  advertising  patronage. 

The  Akron  Geriiiania. — This  paper,  as  its  name  indicates,  is 
published  in  the  interest  of  the  German  speaking  population  of 
Akron  and  vicinity.  It  was  founded  in  the  Fall  of  1868,  by  Mr.  H. 
Oentz,  but  transferred  to  Prof.  C.  F.  Kolbe  early  in  the  following 
year.  In  September,  lS72,  it  was  transferred  to  the  "Akron  Paper 
and  Printing  Company,"  with  Stephen  Ginther  as  business  man- 
ager and  Paul  E.  Werner  as  editor.  In  October,  1875,  Mr.  Louis 
Seybold  was  employed  as  editor,  and  in  1880,  the  "  Germania 
Printing  Company"  was  formed,  with  Mr.  Paul  E.  Werner  as  bus- 
iness manager.  In  November,  1881,  the  paper  was  again  trans- 
ferred to  Prof.  Kolbe,  and  in  April,  1882,  leased  by  Prof.  K.  to  Louis 
Seybold,  who  conducted  it  till  January  1,  1884,  when  it  was  sold  to 
Hans  Otto  Beck  and  George  Billow.  In  July,  1887,  the  "  Germania 
Publishing  Company"  was  incorporoted  with  a  capital  of  $15,000. 
which  company  was  reorganized  September  27,  1887,  with  Paul  E. 
Werner  as  president;  Louis  Seybold,  secretary;  Hans  Otto  Beck, 
business  manager  and  treasurer. 

The  Freie  Presse. — A  new  candidate  for  popular  German  and 
business  favor,  was  started  in  December,  1836,  by  the  "  Freie 
Presse  Publishing  Company,"  with  Albert  Fernitz  as  president; 
Julius  Kroffke,  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  Louis  Seybold  as 
editor.  Mr.  Seybold  vacated  the  editorial  chair  in  September, 
1887,  after  which  time,  the  Freie  Presse  was  under  the  editorial 
control  of  Mr,  Kroffke,  until  it  was  merged  in  the  Germania,  May 
15,  1889,  the  present  officers  of  the  reorganized  Germania  Print- 
ing Company  being:  Paul  E.  Werner,  president;  Kenyon  B. 
Conger,  treasurer;  Louis  Seybold,  editor;  Julius  Kroffke,  business 
manager. 

The  Akron  Dailj^  Argus. — In  March,  1874,  the  Akron  Daily- 
Argus  was  started  by  H.  G.  Canfield  &  Co.,  with  Elder  John  F. 
Rowe  as  editor,  a  semi-weekly  edition  also  being  issued.  It  w^as 
iin  independent  paper  and  ably  edited,  securing  a  fair  circulation 
and  a  liberal  share  of  advertisements.  The  paper  passing  to  the 
subsequently  formed  "Argus  Printing  Company,"  by  a  majority 
vote  of  the  stockholders,  was,  in  September,  1874,  changed  into  a 
Democratic  sheet,  with  "Don"  Everett,  formerly  of  the  City- Times, 
as  editor. 

March  20,  1875,  the  Argus  passed  into  the  hands  of  its  former 
editor,  Elder  John  F.  Rowe  and  his  brother,  Frank  M.  Rowe,  a 
practical  printer,  who,  under  the  firm  name  of  Rowe  Brothers, 
again  changed  its  character  from  a  political  to  an  independent 
paper.  This  arrangement  continued  until  December  25, 1876,  when 
the  concern  >vas  purchased  by  Mr.  Carson  Lake,  by  w^hom  it  w^as 
again  given  a  Democratic  bias,  thus  continuing  under  Mr.  Lake's 
lively  management,  until  July  1,  1879,  when  the  office  and  fixtures 
w^ere  purchased  by  Messrs.  Paul  E.  Werner  and  B.  F.  Nelson,  by 
whom  the  Argus  w^as  discontinued. 

The  Sunday-  Gazette. — This  was  a  six-column  quarto,  devoted 
to  general  and  local  news,  literature,  miscellany,  religious  intelli- 
gence, society  matters,  etc.  It  w^as  started  in  December,  1878,  by 
Mr.  Paul  E.  Werner,  as  publisher  and  proprietor,  Carl  F.  Kolbe,  as 
editor.  July  26,  1879,  it  was  consolidated  with  the  daily  and 
iveekly  Tribune  established  at  that  time  by  Werner  &  Nelson,  as 


228  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

stated  below,  and  the  name  changed  to  the  Sunduj^  Tribune,  but 
after  two  or  three  issues  again  changed  to  the  Sundaj^-  Gazette. 
After  the  dissolution  of  the  firm  of  Werner  &  Nelson,  and  the  dis- 
continuance of  the  Tribune,  February  2,  1880,  the  Gazette  was 
continued  by  Mr.  Werner,  in  connection  with  the  Gerniania  until 
September  25,  1880,  when  it  w^as  purchased  by  Mr.  Carson  Lake. 

January  8, 1883,  the  paper  was  transferred  to  Fred  C.  and  Isaac 
Jennings  Bryan,  w^ho,  under  the  name  and  style  of  the  "  Sundaj^ 
Gazette  Company,"  successfully  edited  and  published  the  same 
until  May  10,  1885,  -when  I.  J.  Bryan  became  its  sole  proprietor, 
under  whose  editorial  control  it  \Nras  equally  successful.  June  23, 
1887,  Mr.  Bryan  sold  the  Gazette  to  Mr.  Frank  S.  Pixley,  and  on  the 
7th  of  July,  1887,  it  was  transferred  by  Mr.  Pixley  to  the  Times 
Printing  Company  of  w^hich  he  was  then  a  member.  May  8,  1888, 
the  Gazette  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  "Akron  Publishing 
Company,"  w^ith  the  Akron  Citj^  Times,  as  above  set  forth,  the 
name  being  changed  by  the  new  proprietors  to  the  Sundaj" 
Telegram,  and  subsequently  to  the  Sundav  Republican,  which 
title,  under  the  proprietorship  of  The  Akron  Printing  and  Pub- 
lishing Company  it  still,  bears. 

Dailj^  Telegrani-Dailv  Republican. — The  Akron  Publish- 
ing Company,  then  proprietors  of  the  Akron  Citj^  Times,  and  the 
Sundaj^  Telegram,  as  above  stated,  in  1889,  commenced  the  pub- 
lication of  the  Dailjr  Telegram,  later  the  same  year,  changing  it 
to  the  Daily  Republican,  by  the  newly  organized  Republican 
Printing  Company,  of  which  Mr.  Kenyon  B.  Conger  was  president, 
later  being  consolidated  with  the  Beacon  Publishing  Company,  as 
already  stated,  under  the  corporate  name  of  The  Akron  Printing 
and  Publishing  Company. 

The  Akron  Commercial. — This  w^as  a  nine  column  folio 
monthly,  commenced  in  the  Spring  of  1874,  by  Capt.  J.  J.  Wright, 
formerly,  for  several  years  Akron's  efficient  Marshal,  as  well  as  a 
plucky  and  faithful  soldier  during  the  entire  w^ar- — 1861-65.  The 
Commercial,  as  indicated  by  its  name,  was  principally  devoted  to 
advertising  and  commercial  matters,  though  giving  with  each 
issue  a  large  amount  of  interesting  miscellaneous  and  local  read- 
ing matter.  With  the  intention  of  removing  to  Dakota,  about  1884, 
Mr.  Wright  disposed  of  his  printing  material,  and  the  paper  was 
discontinued. 

The  People^ s  Monthljr. — This  was  a  five  column  quarto 
monthly.  It  was  started  in  May,  1883,  by  Robert  H.  Behan,  a 
practical  printer,  as  an  "Independent  Home  Journal  for  Family 
Reading."  Under  Mr.  Behan's  management  it  w^as  fast  working 
its  way  into  popular  favor,  until  failing  health  compelled  its  relin- 
quishment, the  i\fo/2^/2/r  being  transferred  to  F.  C.  and  I.  J.  Br3"an, 
publishers  of  the  Sundaj^  Gazette,  by  whom  it  w^as  continued 
until  the  Spring  of  1885,  w^hen  it  was  sold  to  Capt.  J.  J.  Wright,  late 
publisher  of  the  Commercial  (w^ho  had,  in  the  meantime,  changed 
his  mind  about  going  to  Dakota),  by  w^hom  it  Avas  published  until 
the  Summer  of  1889,  when,  by  reason  of  ill  health  of  the  proprietor, 
it  w^as  discontinued. 

The  Akron  Dailj^  Neivs. — This  was  an  independent  Republi- 
can paper,  published  by  Walter  E.  and  Frank  Wellman,  from  about 
1881  to  1883.  It  was  an  ably  conducted  and  spicy  sheet,  and  will 
chiefly  be  remembered  for  the  part  it  took  in  the  Congressional 


Akron's  newspapers.  229 

campaign  of  1882,  in  w^hich  it  opposed  the  election  of  the  regularlj'^ 
n')ininated  Republican  candidate,  Hon.  A.  S.  McClure,  and  sup- 
ported the  Democratic  candidate,  Hon.  David  R.  Paige,  ^^^ho  was 
elected.  Though  securing  quite  a  large  advertising  patronage  and 
circulation,  it  fell  into  financial  embarrassment,  and  after  one  or 
two  changes  of  proprietors,  was  discontinued. 

South  End  News.— In  September,  1884,  John  M.  Sauder  &  Co. 
coinmenced  the  publication  of  a  six  column  monthly  folio,  under 
the  above  title,  with  Mr.  P.  P.  Cherry  as  editor.  It  was  non- 
political,  especially  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  "South  End," 
and  attained  a  circulation  of  2,000  copies,  at  25  cents  per  year,  and 
though  self-sustaining,  other  duties  claiming  the  attention  of  the 
proprietors,  the  paper  w^as  discontinued  in  April,  1886,  and  the 
material  sold  to  Cleveland  parties,  and  removed  thither. 

Trade  and  Labor  Journal. — About  1884,  Frank  R.  Newell  and 
Irving  C.  Tomlinson,  practical  printers,  opened  a  book  and  job 
•office,  at  112  Howard  street,  (second  floor),  from  which  office  there 
was  published,  for  the  period  of  about  one  year,  a  spirited  labor 
paper,  w^hich  attained  quite  a  large  circulation,  but  not  proving 
remunerative  to  its  publishers  was  discontinued,  and  the  materials 
transferred  to  other  parties. 

The  Issue. — During  the  political  campaign  of  1885,  L.  B.  Logan 
published  a  small  Prohibition  paper  under  the  title  of  "The  Cam- 
paigner," w^hich,  after  the  election,  w^as  continued  as  the  organ  of 
the  Prohibition  party,  under  the  name  of  "The  Issue,"  one  year 
and  two  months,  when  it  w^as  suspended,  but  afterwards  resumed 
for  a  short  time  in  Youngstow^n. 

Daily  Star-Iteniizer,  etc. — In  the  Spring  of  1888,  George  W. 
Orames  commenced  the  publication,  in  Akron,  of  a  small  Demo- 
cratic daily,  under  the  name  of  the  Daily  Star,  which  continued 
to  scintillate  with  considerable  brilliancy  for  a  month  or  so,  when , 
its  name  was  changed  to  the  Itemizer,  but  though  conducted 
w^ith  fair  ability,  the  principal  "item  "  necessary  to  its  permanence 
- — cash — was  lacking,  and  it,  too,  departed  hence,  "to  be  with  us 
no  more  forever." 

Dailj^ Illuminator. — During  the  political  campaign  of  1886,  a 
small  daily  paper,  bearing  the  above  title,  with  Mr.  William  Cub- 
bison  as  editor,  was  published  in  the  interest  of  certain  of  the  labor 
organizations  of  Akron,  but  after  the  close  of  the  campaign,  it  was 
found  to  be  both  politically  and  financiallj''  non-profitable,  and  its 
"luminosity"  suddenly  ceased. 

Ohio  Educational  Monthlv. — In  Januarj',  1852,  The  Ohio 
Journal  of  Education  was  inaugurated  by  the  Ohio  Teachers' 
Association,  with  a  committee  of  six  of  the  well-know^n  Ohio 
teachers  as  editors.  Dr.  A.  D.  Lord,  of  Columbus,  being  the  local 
manager.  The  journal  Avas  a  32-page  monthly,  quarto  in  form, 
price  one  dollar  per  year,  and  became  the  official  organ  of  the  State 
School  Commissioner  on  the  creation  of  that  office  in  1853.  In  1855 
Rev.  Anson  Smyth  became  the  manager  and  editor  in  chief,  suc- 
ceeded, on  his  election  to  the  commissionership,  a  year  later,  by 
Mr.  J.  D.  Caldwell.  In  1858  the  late  William  T.  Coggeshall  (form- 
erly of  Akron),  then  State  Librarian,  w^as  appointed  editor,  with 
Mr.  John  Ogden  as  canvassing  agent,  Hon.  E.  E.  White  succeeding 
Mr.  Coggeshall,  as  editor,  in  1861.  Though  ably  edited  and  acquir- 
ing quite  a  large  circulation,  the  losses  from  credits  on  subscriptions 


230  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

and  advertising,  and  the  expense  of  canvassing  and  collecting,, 
rendering  the  management  by  the  association  undesirable,  the 
Journal  was  transferred  to  Dr,  D.  W.  Henkle,  the  name  having 
previously  been  changed  to  the  Ohio  Educational  Monthlv  and 
the  price  advanced  to  $1.50. 

Dr.  Henkel  removed  the  Monthly^  from  Columbus  to  Salem, 
Columbiana  County,  and  at  his  death  it  was  bought  by  Dr,  Samuel 
Findley,  late  superintendent  of  Akron  Public  Schools,  and,  com- 
mencing -with  the  February  number,  1882,  the  office  of  publication 
has  since  been  in  Akron. 

Dr,  Findley  at  once  so  popularized  the  Monthlj^  that  its  circu- 
lation doubled  in  a  year  and  a  half,  moving  the  Doctor  to  increase 
its  size  from  32  to  48  pages,  and  the  Ohio  Educational  Monthlv, 
now  on  a  sound  financial  basis,  is  not  only  the  oldest,  but  probably 
the  best  educational  journal  in  America. 

American  Farm  Neivs. — This,  "A  Journal  Devoted  to  Farm- 
ing and  Manufacturing,"  is  a  four  column  16  page  monthly,  richly 
illustrated  and  handsomely  printed,  started  by  the  American 
Farm  News  Company,  >vith  Solon  L.  Goode  as  manager  and  W.  A, 
Connor  as  advertising  manager.  The  Farm  Neivs  was  com- 
menced in  January,  1888,  and,  at  the  extraordinary  low  price  of  25 
cents  per  year,  it  has  already  (July,  1891)  attained  to  a  circulation 
of  about  100,000  copies,  monthly,  with  a  very  liberal  share  of  live 
and  profitable  advertising.  The  Farm  News  is  now  owned  and 
published  by  The  Akron  Printing  and  Publishing  Company. 

The  Advance. — June  7,  1877,  Robert  Shilling  commenced  the 
publication,  in  Cleveland,  of  a  small  daily,  with  a  five-column 
weekly  edition,  under  the  above  title,  as  an  organ  of  the  National 
Greenback  Labor  Party.  In  May,  1880,  the  daily  edition  was  sus- 
pended, the  weekly  being  transferred  to  Salem,  Columbiana 
County.  An  Akron  edition  was  also  printed  at  the  Salem  office. 
In  August,  1880,  Mr.  John  P.  Burns  became  its  editor  and  pro- 
prietor, and  in  January,  1881,  removed  the  Advance  to  Akron, 
w^here  it  was  published  for  a  year,  and  finally  discontinued. 

OTHER  LITERARY  VENTURES. 

Almost  innumerable  other  nevirspaper  experiments  have  been 
tried  in  Akron,  Avith  greater  or  less  literary  and  pecuniary  success, 
during  the  past  half  century,  which  we  cannot  here  notice,  in 
detail,  even  could  we  remember  them  all;  but  as  showing  their 
variety,  and  general  character,  we  briefiy  mention  the  following; 
Rose  of  the  Vallej^,  by  Abraham  Allison  and  Asa  S.  Marriner;^ 
Akron  Offering,  by  Miss  Calista  Cummings;  The  True  Kindred^ 
devoted  to  Science  and  Reform,  by  Mrs.  Rebecca  M.  M.  Sanford; 
Flower  of  the  West,  by  Allison  «&  Rumrix;  The  Flail,  a  Demo- 
cratic campaigner,  in  1840,  by  Leander  L.  Howard;  the  Free-Soil 
Platform,  in  1848,  by  Hiram  Bowen;  the  Sentinel  of  Libertv, 
1855,  printed  by  H.  G.  Canfield  for  an  association  of  young  Repub- 
licans; the  Wide- Awake,  Republican  campaigner,  1860,  by  D,  C. 
Carr,  S.  A.  Lane  and  others;  the  Summitonian.  literary  monthly, 
1873,  by  H.  G.  Canfield;  Beacon  Magazine,  premium  for  Weeklv 
Beacon,  1873;  the  Independent,  Greenback-Democratic  cam- 
paigner, 1878,  by  H,  G.  Canfield,  and  others  remembered  by  name 
only,  the  Whip,  the  Sockdolager,  the  Casket,  the  Sunny  Side,  the 


Akron's  newspapers. 


231 


School  Mistress, the  Chui:ch  Journal, the  Fair  Org'an, the  Buchtel 
College  Record,  the  Bachtelite,  the  Akron  Herald,  etc. 

THE  GRAND  "ROUND-UP." 

It  will  thus  be  seen,  by  the  returns  now  in,  that  if  not  the 
exact  center  of  the  newspaper  world,  Sumtnit  County  has  been 
untiring  in  her  efforts  to  become  such.  While  some  of  the  pub- 
lications named  were,  perhaps,  of  doubtful  utility  or  propriety-,  the 
projectors  thereof  were  unquestionably  fully  impressed  with  their 
importance  and  necessity.  Though  scarcely  a  man,  or  woman, 
connected  with  the  periodicals  named,  has  directly  made  any 
money  out  of  the  publication  thereof,  while  many  were  consider- 
ably out  of  pocket  thereby,  their  general  influence  for  good  upon 
the  community  admits  of  not  a  question.  But  for  its  neAyspapers, 
where  would  Akron  and  Summit  County  have  been  to-day?  The 
liberal  use  of  printers'  ink,  in  advertising  to  the  world  our  manifold 
advantages,  in  advocacy  of  canals,  railroads  and  other  public 
improvements,  in  encouragement  to  trade  and  manufactures,  in 
the  promotion  of  the  cause  of  education  and  morality,  has  hitherto 
been,  and  will  continue  to  be,  a  most  potent  factor  in  the  advance- 
ment and  prosperity  of  the  community  at  large  and  of  the  indi- 
vidual citizen. 


View  of  Akron,  Sixth  Ward,  from  Talhnadge  Road,  1891. 
From  photo  by  George  E.  Hltclicock. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

AKRON'S  BURIAL  PLACES— THE  OLD  SIXTH  WARD  CEMETERY,  DEDICATED  IN 
1808— SPICER  HILL  CEMETERY  IN  1813— "  DUBLIN "  CEMETERY,  IN  1825— 
AKRON  PUBLIC  BURYING  GROUND  IN  1838— AKRON  RURAL  CEMETERY 
ASSOCIATION  chartered' IN  1839— NEW  SIXTH  WARD  CEMETERY  IN  1853 
— REMOVAL  OF  SPICER  CEMETERY,  TO  GIVE  PLACE  TO  BUCHTEL  COLLEGE 
IN  1871— REMARKABLE  PRESERVATION  OF  MAJOR  SPICER'S  BODY— NATURAL 
AS  LIFE  AFTER  SIXTEEN  YEARS'  INTERMENT — PURCHASE  OF  ADDITIONAL 
LANDS— EXTENSIVE  AND  COSTLY  IMPROVEMENTS— LIBERALITY  OF  THE 
PEOPLE  —  LADIES'  CEMETERY  ASSOCIATION  AND  THEIR  WONDERFUL 
ACHIEVEMExVTS  — SUPERINTENDENT'S  LODGE  AND  OTHER  SIMILAR  PRO- 
JECTS— MEMORIAL  CHAPEL,  THE  MOST  SUPERB  TRIBUTE  TO  BRAVERY  AND 
PATRIOTISM  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES— "  GLENDALE  "  (SO  CALLED  BY  COMMON 
CONSENT)  TRULY  A  "  THING  OF  BEAUTY  AND  A  JOY  FOREVER  !  "—AKRON'S 
PUBLIC  PARKS,   ETC. 

AKRON'S  BURIAL  PLACES. 

THE  first  public  burial  ground  within  the  present  limits  of  the 
city  of  Akron,  was  w^hat  is  now^  known  as  the  "Old  Cemetery," 
in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Sixth  ward,  the  land  for  which,  about 
half  an  acre,  in  about  1808,  was  donated  by  Deacon  Titus 
Chapman,  the  grandfather  of  the  present  venerable  Edgar  T. 
Chapman  of  the  Sixth  w^ard,  the  donor  himself,  who  died 
November  18,  1808,  being  probably  the  first  person  buried  therein. 
The  use  of  this  cemetery  w^as  superseded  in  1853  by  the  purchase 
of  some  three  acres  of  ground  on  East  Market  street,  by  a  number 
of  the  public  spirited  citizens  of  Middlebury,  under  the  corporate 
name  of  the  "  Middlebury  Cemetery  Association,"  by  whom  the 
grounds  w^ere  surrounded  by  a  substantial  fence,  planted  to  ever- 
greens, and  tastefully  laid  out  into  driveways,  avenues  and  lots 
18x21  feet  in  size,  which  are  sold  at  from  $25  to  $50,  according  to 
location,  the  Association  also  keeping  in  order,  and  caring  for, 
the  "Old  Cemetery"  above  spoken  of. 

THE  SPICER  CEMETERY. 

Akron's  second  burial  place  was  what  w^as  know^n  as  "Spicer 
Cemetery,"  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  Akron^s  educational 
glory  and  pride,  Buchtel  College,  the  land  for  which,  fronting  on 
Middlebury  street,  about  one  acre,  was  jointly  dedicated  to  the 
purpose  by  Akron's  first  pioneer  settlers,  Messrs.  Miner  Spicer  and 
Paul  Williams,  probably  about  1813, 

This  ground  was  used  for  such  occasional  burials  as  occurred 
in  the  neighborhood  from  year  to  year,  during  the  early  settlement 
of  Portage  township,  and  after  the  building  of  the  Ohio  Canal  and 
la3ang  out  of  the  new  village  of  Akron,  in  1825,  by  the  people  of 
the  village,  also,  for  the  burial  of  its  dead,  until  the  establishment 
of  the  Akron  Rural  Cemetery,  as  hereinafter  set  forth,  in  1838. 

To  this  ground  was  added,  by  donation  from  Mr.  Spicer,  and 
the  purchase  from  Mr.  Nathan  B.  Dodge,  of  88-lOOth  of  an  acre,  in 


Akron's  burial  places,  233 

1854,  at  a  cost  of  $200,  making  a  total  of  two  67-lOOth  acres,  both 
increasing  the  grounds  in  width  and  extending  them  through  to 
Carroll  street,  under  the  auspices  of  the  "  Spicer  Hill  Burial  Place 
Association,"  w^ho  neatly  enclosed,  laid  out  and  beautified  the 
grounds  for  the  benefit  of  those  \srho  already  had  friends  buried 
there,  and  such  others  as  chose  to  purchase  lots  therein. 

The  site  of  Spicer  Hill  Burial  Place  was  one  of  the  most  com- 
manding in  the  city  of  Akron,  and  when  it  was  decided  to  locate 
that  splendid  educational  institution  now  known  as  Buchtel 
College,  here,  an  arrangement  was  made  by  -which  the  graves  were 
removed  to  the  Akron  Rural  Cemetery,  and,  in  March,  1871,  for  the 
consideration  of  one  dollar,  Messrs,  Charles  W,  Brow^n,  Avery 
Spicer,  Talmon  Beardsley,  Hiram  J,  Spicer,  and  Levi  Allen,  as 
trustees  of  the  Spicer  Hill  Burial  Place  Association,  together  with 
the  several  heirs  of  Miner  Spicer,  deeded  the  lands  in  question  to 
the  trustees  of  Buchtel  College. 

The  sub-soil  of  the  Spicer  burial  gfound  was  a  species  of  rock, 
similar  to  w^hat  is  known  as  sewer-pipe  clay,  excavations  having 
to  be  made  almost  wholly  with  the  pick,  so  that  surface  water, 
percolating  through  the  loose  earth  above  the  coffin,  would  be 
largely  retained  in  the  substantially  w^ater-tight  grave.  Major 
Miner  Spicer,  the  original  donor  of  the  ground,  died  in  1855,  being 
buried  in  a  metallic  coffin.  On  the  transfer  of  his  remains  to  the 
Akron  Rural  Cemetery,  in  1871,  on  removing  the  slide  from  over 
the  glass  at  the  head  of  the  casket,  the  friends  were  greeted  writh  a 
view  of  the  features  of  the  old  Major,  in  a  perfect  state  of  preser- 
vation, and  looking  as  natural  as  when  deposited  in  the  grave 
nearly  16  years  before. 

During  the  building  of  the  Ohio  Canal,  the  territory  north  of 
Tallmadge  street,  and  east  of  Main  street,  was  largely  covered  by 
the  cabins  of  the  Irish  laborers  upon  the  canal,  giving  to  the 
locality  the  name  of  ''Dublin,"  which  it  retained  for  many  years, 
and  by  which  it  is  still  called  by  many  of  the  older  residents  of  the 
city.  To  meet  the  mortuary  necessities  of  those  early  days,  the 
plateau  north  of  Furnace  street,  and  west  of  North  High,  on  the 
bluff  overlooking  the  Little  Cuyahoga  river,  was  appropriated  for 
l^urial  purposes,  which  was  used  by  the  people  of  North  Akron 
from  its  commencement,  in  1832,  until  the  establishment  of  the 
Akron  Rural  Cemetery  in  1838,  A  portion,  only,  of  the  remains 
buried  at  the  point  named  were  removed  to  the  new  grounds,  the 
others  remaining  undisturbed,  Avhere  they  were  originally  buried, 
until  they  were  unearthed  by  the  cutting  away  of  the  bluff  in 
question,  in  grading  for  the  Valley  Railway,  in  1873,  to  the  great 
surprise  of  those  who  were  not  aware  of  the  sacred  nature  of  the 
ground  they  were  plowing  through;  it  even  being  reported  that  a 
pretty  well  preserved  skull  thus  brought  to  light  was  the  missing 
head  of  William  Beatson,  the  Englishman  murdered  at  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  in  1853,  it  being  known  that  James  Parks,  the  murderer, 
must  have  passed  near  the  place  in  his  flight  westward,  after 
leaving  the  canal  boat  near  the  Old  Forge,  on  the  night  of  the 
murder,  as  elsewhere  detailed. 

The  Spicer  burial  ground  being  private  property,  and  the  North 
Akron  ground  having  been  hitherto  used  by  mere  sufferance,  soon 
after  the  incorporation  of  the  village,  the  question  of  establishing 
a  public  burying  ground  began  to  be  agitated.     No  official  action 


234  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

was  had  however,  until  June  17,  1837,  when  a  committee  was 
appointed  by  the  Council  to  confer  with  Gen.  Simon  Perkins,  of 
Warren,  about  the  purchase  of  land  for  the  purpose  named,  on 
what  was  then  known  as  the  "Oak  Openings,"  west  of  the  Lower 
Village,  the  ground  in  question  being  densely  covered  with  a 
thick  growth  of  oak  bushes,  interspersed  with  an  occasional  good 
sized  oak  tree. 

Gen.  Perkins,  when  interviewed,  proposed  to  sell  to  the  village 
four  acres  of  ground  at  one  hundred  dollars  per  acre,  and  to 
donate  one  acre  additional,  or  to  give  the  one  acre  whether  the 
four  acres  Avere  purchased  or  not.  November  7,  the  Council 
resolved  to  accept  the  General's  proposition,  provided  he  would 
divide  the  purchase  money  into  six  annual  payments  of  $6(166| 
each,  which  terms  being  acceded  to,  on  November  13,  1837,  the 
committee  was  authorized  to  make  contract,  plat,  etc.,  but  for 
reasons  which  do  not  appear,  only  three  42-lOOth  acres  were  pur- 
chased and  platted.  October  27,  1838,  the  Council  purchased  from 
Judge  Leicester  King  three  acres  additional  upon  the  west  side  of 
the  plat  described,  for  the  consideration  of  $250,  which  was  soon 
afterwards  platted  and  made  a  part  of  the  cemetery  grounds. 

The  grounds  were  laid  out  into  four  blocks,  1,  2,  3  and  4, 
with  central  latitudinal  and  longitudinal  drivew^ays,  20  feet  in 
width,  with  entrance  on  South  Maple  street,  the  lots  being  of  uni- 
form size,  10  by  15  feet,  w^ith  intersecting  five  and  six  foot  ave- 
nues between,  the  price  of  lots  at  first  being  $3,  or  at  the  rate  of 
two  cents  per  square  foot.  For  many  years  the  grounds  remained 
unfenced  and  unimproved,  except  the  staking  out  of  the  lots  and 
the  grubbing  out  of  a  part  of  the  bushes,  and,  without  superin- 
tendent or  special  care-taker,  from  its  isolated  location,  extremel}^ 
favorable  to  the  nocturnal  operations  of  both  professional  and 
non-professional  "resurrectionists",  though  in  one  instance  at 
least,  they  failed  to  get  away  with  their  booty — the  body  of  Benja- 
min Tuells,  a  somewhat  dissipated  jevt^eler,  v^reighing  225  pounds, 
being  found  on  the  margin  of  his  grave  a  morning  or  two  after  his 
original  interment,  in  December,  1847. 

For  many  years  the  persons  w^ho  officiated  as  sextons  were, 
successively,  Alexander  Williams,  John  Taplin,  C.  S.  W.  Brow^n, 
Arza  Kellogg,  etc.,  for  the  North  Village  and  Peter  Hendrick 
Centaurus  for  the  South  Village,  to  one  of  ^vhom  application  for 
burial  had  to  be  made,  ihe  applicant  usually  being  required  to 
produce  a  certificate  of  payment  for  lot,  from  the  Village  Recorder, 
before  interment  could  be  legally  made,  though  in  the  general 
stringency  of  the  times,  and  the  consequent  poverty  of  the  people, 
this  rule  was  not  always  strictly  enforced,  the  delinquencies 
resulting  therefrom  causing  the  authorities  much  trouble,  and  in 
many  instances  necessitating  the  removal  of  graves  to  the 
pottersfield,  and  the  sale  of  lots  to  other  parties. 

There  were  no  "undertakers"  nor  professional  "funeral  direc- 
tors" in  those  days,  the  village  cabinet-maker,  from  measurement 
of  the  subject,  making  the  coffin  to  order,  of  white^vood,  pine, 
cherry,  black  w^alnut,  etc.,  stained  or  varnished,  vsrithout  name- 
plate  or  ornament,  at  a  total  cost  of  from  $2.00  to  $3,00;  the  sexton's 
fee,  including  conveyance  of  remains  by  wagon,  (there  was  no 
hearse  until  1840),  being  from  $1.50  to  $2.00;  the  total  expense  of 
burying  a  deceased  friend,  including  lot,    being  less  than  $10.00; 


AKRON    RURAL   CEMETERY. 


235 


many  times,  indeed,  the  coffin  was  borne  upon  the  bier,  by  hands 
of  sympathetic  neighbors,  followed  by  relatives  and  friends  from 
the  house  of  mourning  to  the  burial  place  on  foot. 


DR.  JEDEDIAH  D.  COMMINS,— 
born  in  Charlotte,  Vt,  July  9, 
1790 ;  academic  education  ;  married 
to  Miss  Sophia  Field,  of  Wethersfield, 
Vt.,  soon  removing^  to  western  New 
York,  and  from  thence  to  Akron,  in 
1832  opening-  the  first  drug-  store  in 
the  village,  his  original  store  and 
dwelling  both  still  standing  on 
South  Main  street.  Dr.  Comniins 
was  not  only  a  careful  and  succesful 
merchant,  but  was  largely  instru- 
mental in  securing  the  erection  of 
the  new  county  of  Summit  and  the 
location  of  the  seat  of  justice  at 
Akron,  and  in  many  other  ways 
advancing-  the  interests  of  the  town 
and  county,  and  to  him  is  especially 
due  the  credit  of  inaugurating 
Akron's  beautiful  Rural  Cemetery, 
as  elsewhere  fully  described  in  these 
pages.  Dr.  Commins  was  well  versed 
in  literature  and  the  sciences,  in 
which,  as  well  as  on  political  topics, 
he  was  a  fluent  debater  and  a  ready 
writer.  In  politics  he  was  a  stanch 
Democrat  and  highly  influential  in 
the  councils  of  his  party,  both 
county,  state  and  national.  He  was 
the  father  of  two  sons— the  youngest, 
Augustus  J.  dying  October  27,  1837, 
at    the    age    of    20;    the    eldest. 


DK.  JEDEDIAH   D.   COMMINS. 

Alexander  Hamilton,  surviving  his 
father  some  13  years,  as  elsewhere 
stated.  Mrs.  Commins  died  Febru- 
ary 11,  1865,  aged  78  years,  9  months, 
the  doctor  himself  dying,  universally 
respected,  November  4,  1867,  aged  77 
years,  3  months  and  25  days. 


AKRON  RURAL  CEMETERY. 

At  an  early  day,  however,  there  were  those  among  our  citizens 
w^ho  had  a  fine  sense  of  appreciation  of  what  was  due  from  the 
living  to  the  dead,  as  well  as  to  the  better  nature  of  the  survivors 
themselves. 

In  the  archives  of  the  present  Cemetery  Association,  is  the 
folloAving  pencil  memorandum,  in  the  hand  w^riting  of  the  late  Dr. 
Jedediah  I).  Commins,  written  over  forty  years  ago,  w^hich  not 
only  explains  itself,  but  much  that  follows: 

"PRELIMINARY    REMARKS." 

"If  the  Akron  Rural  Cemetery  should  succeed  and  become 
w^hat  its  founders  hope,  trifling  incidents  relating  to  its  origin  and 
establishment  may  be  sought  for  with  avidity,  in  after  ages,  by 
those  whose  ancestors  have  long  been  entombed  in  this  cemetery, 
and  it  is  with  a  view  to  gratify  this  desire  that  the  following 
remarks  are  made: 

"During  the  year  1837,  Akron,  although  at  the  time  an  incor- 
porated town,  had  no  public  burying  ground,  and  the  one  thereto- 
fore occupied  was  unsuited  to  the  purpose,  on  account  of  its  being 
w^et  land,  the  Avater  frequently  standing  in  the  graves  to  the  depth 
of  six  inches  before  the  body  w^as  deposited,  and,  besides,  the 
ground  was  private  property. 


236  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

"In  this  state  of  things  one  of  our  citizens,  Mr.  C.  [Mr. 
Commins,  himself],  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  a  son  of  much 
promise,  just  entering  the  threshold  of  manhood.  Mr.  C.  could  not 
endure  the  thought  of  making  this  a  last  resting  place  for  the 
remains  of  one  Avho  had  been  so  dear  to  him,  and  as  there  was  no 
other,  he  caused  the  remains  of  his  deceased  son  to  be  inclosed  in 
spirit,  and  kept  them  in  his  own  dwelling  for  more  than  a  year. 

"In  the  course  of  the  Summer  of  1838,  he  visited  the  cemetery 
of  Mount  Auburn,  near  Boston,  originally  w^ith  the  \^iew  of  fixing 
on  the  form  of  a  tomb;  but  -while  viewing  the  beauties  of  that  rural 
cemetery,  it  occurred  to  him  that  a  similar  establishment  might  be 
founded  at  Akron,  and  with  that  view  possessed  himself  with  such 
information  as  was  within  his  reach,  and  on  his  return — having 
visited  a  similar  establishment  at  Rochester,  on  the  way — laid  the 
matter  before  such  of  the  citizens  of  Akron  as  he  supposed  would 
take  an  interest  in  the  subject,  and  w^as  gratified  to  find  their  feel- 
ings harmonizing  with  his  o^vn.  Afterwards  it  became  a  subject 
of  frequent  conversation.  It  w^as  at  once  perceived  that  we  had 
localities  every  way  suited  to  this  interesting  object,  and  it  w^as 
considered  most  proper  to  ask  the  Legislature  for  an  act  of  incor- 
poration and  therefore, 

"At  an  informal  meeting  of  a  few  citizens  of  Akron,  in  the 
Autumn  of  1838,  J.  D.  Commins  was  appointed  to  draw  up  a 
charter  for  the  purpose  of  incorporating  a  company  for  the  pur- 
pose of  establishing  a  rural  cemetery  at  Akron,  and  also  a  me- 
morial to  accompan}^  it  to  the  Legislature.  Whereupon  the  f  ollo\ving 
petition  and  charter  were  drawn  up,  and  being  approved,  were 
forwarded  to  the  General  Assembly,  by  Gregory  Powers,  Ksq., 
member  of  the  Senate,  and  the  charter  being  sanctioned  by  both 
Houses,  became  the  law  of  the  State." 

The  petition,  as  draw^n  by  Mr.  Commins,  and  duly  presented 
to  the  Legislature  by  Senator  Powers,  January  10,  1839,  was  signed 
by  Jedediah  D.  Commins,  Krastus  Torrey,  Ithiel  Mills,  Joseph  Cole, 
George  Babcock,  Ebenezer  Martin.  David  K.  Cartter,  Richard 
Howe,  Dana  D.  Evans,  Philo  Chamberlin  and  Miner  Spicer,  the 
petition  containing,  among  others  equal  cogent,  these  paragraphs: 

"The  interment  of  the  dead  is  a  subject  of  great  and  growing  import- 
ance, and  one  deeply  interesting  to  everj^  well  regulated  community,  and 
can  not  too  early  engagfe  their  serious  consideration. 

"  In  our  eastern  cities  corporations  have  been  authorized  to  establish 
rural  ceiueteries  on  a  scale  commensurate  with  the  wants  of  manj^  genera- 
tions, combining  the  objects  of  beauty  and  health,  which,  instead  of  being' 
shunned  in  consequence  of  their  melancholy  associations,  have  become  the 
most  desirable  promenades,  where,  retiring  from  the  busy  scenes  of  life, 
they  can  at  the  same  time  enjoj^  the  beauties  of  the  garden  and  rural  scenery, 
inhaling  the  pure  air  of  the  country,  and,  as  it  were,  commune  with  those 
who  had  once  been  dear  to  them,  in  these  cities  of  the  dead. 

"The  situation  of  our  village  and  neighborhood  now  admits  of  a 
selection  of  ground  sufficiently  extensive  and  beautifully  romantic,  which  a 
few  years  will  render  it  difficult,  and  perhaps  impossible,  to  obtain. 

"  We  do  therefore  pray,  etc." 

THE  CHARTER  GRANTED. 

On  March  18,  1839,  an  Act  ^^as  passed,  containing  thirteen 
sections,  which  we  condense  as  follows: 

Section  I.  Be  it  enacted  hj-  the  General  Assernblj-  of  the  State  of 
Ohio,  That  Simon  Perkins,  Jr.,  Samuel  A.  Wheeler,  Erastus  Torre}-,  Ithiel 
Mills,  Joseph  Cole,  Richard  Howe  and  Jedediah  D  Commins,  and  such  other 


AKRON    RURAL   CEMETERY.  237 

persons  as  may  hereafter  be  associated  with  them,  their  successors  and 
assigns,  be  and  they  hereby  are  created  a  body  politic  and  corporate,  by  the 
name  of  "  The  Proprietors  of  the  Akron  Rural  Cemetery,"  etc. 

Sec.  II.  The  capital  stock  of  this  company  shall  be  twenty  thousand 
dollars,  which  shall  be  divided  into  shares  of  twenty  dollars  each,  ten  per 
cent,  of  which  shall  be  paid  at  the  time  of  subscribing-,  and  the  residue 
thereof  in  such  installments  as  the  directors  of  said  corporation  shall  judg-e 
necessary,  etc. 

Sec.  III.  Provided  for  the  election,  annually,  of  seven  directors,  all 
stockholders,  fotir  of  whom  shall  be  residents  of  the  town  of  Akron,  each 
stockholder  to  have  one  vote  for  each  share  of  stock  owned,  and  every  lot 
owner  to  have  one  vote,  in  the  choice  of  said  directors,  the  directors,  until  the 
first  election,  to  be  Satnuel  A.  Wheeler,  Erastus  Torrey,  Ithiel  Mills,  Richard 
Howe,  Simon  Perkins,  Jr.,  Joseph  Cole,  and  Jedediah  D.  Commins  ;  also  giv- 
ing- the  directors  power  "  to  purchase  and  hold  such  quantity  of  latid  as  thej" 
tjiay  deem  proper  for  the  purjiose  of  a  rural  cemetery,  not  exceeding-  fifty 
acres,  and  to  dispose  of  the  same  in  such  manner  as  they  shall  judge  proper, 
having  regard  to  the  full  objects  of  said  charter,"  a  subseqvient  section 
empowering  the  directors  to  purchase  lands  on  a  credit  not  to  exceed  ten 
years,  and  to  mortgage  the  same  to  secure  the  purchase  monej',  with  inter- 
est, but  for  no  other  purpose  ;  said  lands  being  declared  exempt  from  all 
public  taxes  so  long  as  they  shall  remain  dedicated  to  cemetery  purposes. 

Sec.  VI.  Provides  that  the  money  arising  from  the  sale  of  lots,  after 
reimbursing  the  stockholders,  both  principal  and  interest  for  money 
expended  in  the  purchase  of  land  and  improvements,  "  shall  be  laid  out  in, 
and  forever  devoted  to,  the  preservation,  improvement,  planting  and  embel- 
lishing said  cemetery,  in  such  a  manner  as  may  be  deemed  most  expedi- 
ent by  the  directors,  and  for  the  incidental  expenses  of  said  cemeterj^,  but 
for  no  olher  purpose  whatever,"  and  thiit  "  after  the  stockholders  shall  have 
been  reimbursed  as  aforesaid,  their  stock  shall  be  canceled,  and  none  of  said 
stockholders  shall  be  members  of  said  corporation  except  such  as  own  lots 
in  said  cemetery  and  have  paid  for  the  same." 

Sec.  IX.  Authorizes  the  corporation  to  receive  and  hold  "any  grant, 
donation  or  bequest  of  propery  upon  trust,  and  to  apply  the  income  thereof 
for  the  improvement  of  said  cemetery,  or  of  any  building-s,  fences  or  struct- 
ures erected  or  to  be  erected  upon  the  lands  of  said  corporation,  or  of  anj^ 
individual  proprietor  of  a  lot  in  said  cemetery,  or  for  the  repair,  preservation, 
or  renewal  of  any  tomb,  monument,  gravestone,  fence  or  railing,  or  other 
erection  in  or  around  any  cemeterj^  lot,  or  for  the  planting  and  cultivation 
of  trees,  shrubs,  flowers  or  plants  in  or  around  any  cemetery  lot,  according- 
to  the  terms  of  such  grant,  donation  or  bequest." 

ORGANIZATION  OF  ASSOCIA  TION. 

The  original  stockholders  were:  Simon  Perkins,  Jr.,  Joseph 
Cole,  Jedediah  D.  Commins,  Erastus  Torrey,  Philo  Chamberlin, 
Ithiel  Mills,  Richard  Howe,  Miner  Spicer,  James  K.  Ford,  Samuel 
A.  Wheeler,  William  T.  Mather,  Lucian  Swift,  five  shares  each; 
Frank  Adams,  four  shares;  Alvah  Hand,  Warren  Clark,  David  L. 
King,  Henry  W.  King,  three  shares  each;  David  K.  Cartter,  George 
Howe,  Dana  D.  Evans,  Warren  H,  Smith,  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  Arad 
Kent,  Nathaniel  Finch,  Rufus  P.  Spalding,  Philander  D.  Hall, 
Henry  S.  Abbey,  two  shares  each;  William  M.  Dodge,  Henry  Howe, 
Heman  A.  Bradley,  Ansel  Miller,  Gibbons  J.  Ackley,  Milton  W. 
Henry,  James  M.  Hale,  Hiram  Viele,  Ezra  Leonard,  James  Sawyer, 
Harvey  B.  Spelman,  James  M.  Edson,  John  H.  Chamberlin,  Myers, 
Coburn  &  Co.,  Beebe  &  Elkins,  Henry  H.  Wheeler,  Edwin  Angel, 
Lucius  S.  Peck,  one  share  each.  Of  the  forty-seven  subscribers 
to  the  stock  of  the  association  only  live  are  believed  to  be  now  liv- 
ing, (September  1,  1891). 


238 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


pOL.  SIMON  PERKINS— born  at 
V->  Warren,  February  6,  1815; 
September,  1832,  married  Miss  Grace 
I.  Tod,  daughter  of  Judge  Georg-e 
Tod,  and  sister  of  the  late  Governor 
David  Tod ;  removed  to  Akron  in 
1835,  engaging  in  farming  and  grow- 
ing fine  stock ;  State  Senator  for 
Portage  County,  1839,  '40,  and  largely 
instrumental  in  securing  the  erec- 
tion of  the  new  countj^  of  Summit ; 
Representative  from  Summit  1841, '42, 
securing  passage  of  bill  svibmitting 
question  of  location  of  county  seat  to 
popular  vote ;  trustee  of  Portage 
township  ten  years  between  1839  and 
1877 ;  charter  meinber  of  Akron 
Rural  Cemeterjr  Association,  and  its 
president  and  inost  active  promoter 
from  April,  1839,  until  his  voluntary 
resignation,  April,  1880—41  j^ears ; 
president  of  Akron's  pioneer  railroad 
— the  Cleveland,  Zanesville  &  Cin- 
cinnati (now  Cleveland,  Akron  & 
Columbus)  from  March  11,  1851,  t-^ 
November  3,  1864,  and  general  super- 
intendent till  November  4,  1869, 
sacrificing  nearlj^  his  entire  private 
fortune  in  its  promotion ;  a  liberal 
contributor  of  lands  for  parks  and 
public  purposes,  and  of  money  for  all 
industrial,  educational  and  benevo- 
lent enterprises,  his  death,  at  the 
age  of  82  years,  5  months  and  15  daj^s. 


COL.  SIMON  PERKINS. 

July  21,  1887,  was  universally 
lamented,  Mrs.  Perkins  having  died 
April  6,  1867,  aged  56  years  and  6 
days,  seven  of  their  eleven  children 
surviving  thern. 


■  At  a  meeting  of  the  directors  named  in  the  charter,  April  9, 
1839,  Simon  Perkins,  Jr.,  \sras  eleced  president;  Jedediah  D.  Com- 
mins,  secretay,  and  Samuel  A.  Wheeler,  treasurer.  October  17, 
1839,  a  code  of  by-laws  to  regulate  elections  was  adopted,  and 
Messrs.  Perkins  and  Commins  were  empowered  to  purchase 
twenty  acres  of  land  from  Gen.  Perkins  and  Judge  King,  and  to 
negotiate  with  the  Council  for  a  portion  of  the  grounds  belonging 
to  the  town  of  Akron. 

November  13,  1830,  council  committee  on  burying  ground 
reported  adversely  to  the  application  of  the  association  for  part  of 
its  grounds,  which  was  adopted.  Thus  matters  stood — the  council 
continuing  to  manage  its  grounds  as  named,  with  perhaps  some 
slight  additions,  and  the  association,  besides  purchasing  lands, 
doing  little  more  than  to  keep  its  organization  intact,  until  the 
beginning  of  1850,  when  the  negotiations  w^ere  renewed,  resulting 
in  a  proposition  to  transfer  the  grounds  to  the  association  on  con- 
sideration that  the  association  assume  the  liabilities  of  the  town 
for  lands  and  improvements,  make  good  its  obligations  to  lot  hold- 
ers, pay  $60  for  its  hearse,  and  transfer  to  the  town  stock  of  the 
association  to  the  amount  of  $200,  reimbursable  as  other  stock  in 
said  company,  the  transfer  being  made  by  Mayor  Lucius  V.  Bierce, 
February  16,  1850. 

SUBSEQUENT  HISTORY,  GROWTH,  ETC. 

We  cannot  minutely  trace,  step  by  by  step,  the  progress  which, 
in  the  intervening  forty-two  years,  nearly,  has  been  made  by  the  asso- 
ciation, now  pleasurably  visible  to  all.     From  its  first  organization 


AKRON    RURAL   CEMETERY. 


239 


in  April,  1839,  until  his  greatly  regretted  final  resignation  in 
April,  1880, — 41  years — Col.  Simon  Perkins  was  the  president  of  the 
association,  the  secretary  from  the  beginning,  until  his  death,  in 
1867 — 26  years — being  the  late  Dr.  Jedediah  D.  Commins,  both  of 
the  gentlemen  named  being  unwearied  in  their  efforts  to  make  the 
Akron  Rural  Cemetery  truly  "a  thing  of  beauty  and  a  joy  forever." 
Lands  have  been  added  from  time  to  time,  until  now,  (1891)  at 
the  total  original  cost  of  $18,940,16,  the  grounds  cover  an  area  of 
57  25-100  acres,  beautifully  laid  out  into  romantic  drives  and  walks, 
w^ith  nicely  graded  lots  of  diversified  shapes  and  sizes,  the  whole 
centrally  bi-sected  by  meandering  and  sparkling  Willow^  Brook, 
with  its  cascades,  ponds,  bridges,  etc.  Tastefully  arranged  shrub- 
bery ornaments  nearly  every  portion  of  the  grounds,  \\rhile  upon 
private  lots  are  attractive  monuments  and  tablets  erected  by  lov- 
ing hands  in  memory  of  the  dear  ones  there  reposing.  Approach- 
ing the  grounds  from  the  city,  through  Glendale  Avenue,  following 
the  tortuous  course  of  Willo^v  Brook,  with  high  bluffs  and  over- 
hanging trees  on  either  side,  with  the  superintendent's  handsome 
stone  lodge  upon  the  right,  the  high  stone  bell-tower  on  the'left 
and  Akron's  splendid  Memorial  Chapel,  in  honor  of  her  deceased 
soldiers,  in  front,  nothing  can  be  more  sublimely  beautiful  than 
the  entrance  to  this  truly  magnificent  city  of  the  dead,  with  fresh 
surprises  at  almost  every  turn  while  driving  or  walking  through 
the  grounds. 


npHOMAS  WILLS,— born  at  North- 
^  anipton,  England,  April  23,  1822; 
learned  the  trade  of  florist;  at  21  was 
married  to  Miss  Eliza  Martin,  and  in 
1851  they  came  to  America,  settling- 
at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  where  he  worked 
12  years  as  florist  and  landscape 
gardener  for  the  late  Hon.  Elisha  N. 
Sill.  During  the  war  Mr.  Wills  held  an 
appointment  under  the  Government 
as  sanitary  gardener  at  Chattanooga, 
remaining  there  vxntil  May  19,  1868, 
when  he  was  appointed  superinten- 
dent of  the  Akron  Rural  Cemetery, 
which  position  he  ably,  filled  until 
October  27,  1879,  when  he  resigned  to 
devote  his  whole  attention  to  his 
Park  Place  green  house,  which  he 
had  meantime  established,  the 
Board  of  Trustees  unanimously 
passing  a  highlj^'  laudatory  resolu- 
tion on  his  retirement  from  the  posi- 
tion. He  did  an  extensive  and  suc- 
cessful business,  until  his  death,  from 
cancer  of  the  stomach,  Augvxst  14, 
1886.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wills  were  the 
parents  of  seven  children,  four  of 
whom  survived  him — ^Alice  Amelia, 
wife  of  Mr.  Hugo  Schumacher,  treas- 
urer of  the  Schumacher  Milling 
Company;  Bert  T.,  successor  to 
father    in    Park    Place    greenhouse; 


THOMAS  WILLS. 


Hannah  May,  stenographer  with 
Schumacher  Milling  Co.,  and  Arthur 
J.,  clerk  in  office  of  The  B.  F.  Good- 
rich Company.  Mrs.  Wills  is  still 
living. 


THE  SUPERINTENDENCY. 

On  first  assuming  control,  Mr.  John  M.  Martin  (father  of  our 
present   citizen,   Henry   O.  Martin,    of    415    West   Center  street), 


2-^0  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Akron's  pioneer  tombstone  manufacturer,  was  appointed  superin- 
tendent, being  succeeded,  in  1857,  by  Akron's  pioneer  cabinet- 
maker, the  late  Mr.  David  G.  Sanford.  These  early  superin- 
tendents gave  but  little,  if  any,  attention  to  improving  the 
grounds,  which  matters  were  looked  after  chiefly  by  President 
Perkins  and  Secretary  Commins,  the  superintendents  aiding  pur- 
chasers in  the  selection  of  lots,  overlooking  burials,  etc. 

The  first  regularly  salaried  superintendent,  to  devote  his  w^hole 
time  to  the  interests  of  the  association,  and  the  beautifying  of  its 
grounds,  was  Mr.  Thomas  Wills,  theretofore  for  several  years  a 
resident  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  and  a  thoroughly  trained  gardener  and 
florist,  appointed  May  19,  1868,  at  a  salary  of  $1,000  per  year. 

The  value  of  Mr.  Wills'  services  to  the  association  and  the 
community,  is  evinced  by  the  action  of  the  board  in  accepting  his 
resignation,  October  27,  1879,  after  an  incumbency  of  over  eleven 
years,  in  the  unanimous  adoption  of  the  following  resolution: 

"  Resolved,  That  in  thus  terininating  the  connection  of  Mr.  Wills  with 
our  cemetery,  we  desire  to  express  our  high  regard  for  him  and  our  warm 
appreciation  of  the  uniform  courtesy  and  zeal  with  which  he  has,  during  the 
long  period  of  his  superintendency,  discharged  the  duties  of  his  position." 

At  the  same  meeting,  October  27,1879,  the  superintendency  was 
tendered  to  Mr.  Albert  H.  Sargent,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  at  the  same 
salary  which  had  been  paid  to  Mr.  Wills,  $1,000  per  year,  and  the 
use  of  the  lodge  as  a  family  residence,  free  of  rent.  Mr.  Sargent 
accepted,  and  on  February  1,  1870,  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the 
position,  which  have  been  so  faithfully  and  efficiently  discharged, 
that  at  the  annual  meeting,  July  7,  1884,  his  salary  was  voluntarily 
and  unanimously  increased,  by  the  directors,  to  $1,250  per  annum. 

TESTIMONIAL  TO  COL.  SIMON  PERKINS. 

After  the  peremptory  resignation  of  Col.  Perkins,  as  presidentr 
as  above  stated,  the  Board,  on  reluctantly  accepting  the  resigna- 
tion, April  17,  1880,  unanimously  adopted  the  following  testimonial: 

"Sincerely  regretting  the  action  of  our  late  President,  Col.  Simon 
Perkins,  in  se  veering  his  coiuiection  with  the  association,  as  an  expression  of 
the  views  of  the  board,  be  it 

"Resolved,  That  to  the  devoted  attention  and  unwearied  care  of  Col. 
Simon  Perkins,  Akron  is  greatly  indebted  for  our  beautiful  cemeterj-,  the 
source  of  so  much  pride  and  pleasure  to  all  our  citizens." 

A  cordial  invitation  was  also  extended  to  Col.  Perkins  to  still 
aid  the  superintendent  in  carrying  out  the  plans  and  designs  he 
had  originated,  and  also  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  board  and 
favor  the  members  with  his  advice,  at  a  later  meeting  July  6, 
1880,  the  Colonel  being  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the  board, 
with  an  urgent  request  to  attend  its  rheetings. 

David  Iv.  King,  Esq.,  was  elected  as  Col.  Perkins'  successor  to 
the  presidency,  April  17,  1880,  which  position  he  continuouslj^ 
filled,  with  eminent  zeal  and  fidelity,  till  July,  1891,  when  he  was 
succeeded  by  Mr.  Ferd.  Schumacher. 

Board  of  Directors,  elected  July  6,  1891:  Ferd.  Schumacher, 
John  R.  Buchtel,  Jeremiah  A.  Long,  Alvin  C.  Voris,  Edwin  P. 
Green,  John  Wolf. 

After  the  death  of  the  original  secretary.  Dr.  Jerediah  D.  Com- 
mins,  November  4,   1867,   Charles   R.   Howe   was   elected   as  his 


AKRON    RURAL   CEMETERY. 


241 


successor  in  July,  1868,  not  only  giving  to  the  position  the  most 
faithful  attention  during  his  life-time,  but  also  on  his  death, 
December  7,  1875,  bequeathing  to  the  association  the  sum  of  $5,000 
to  be  held  in  trust,  on  interest,  the  income  from  which  w^as  to  be 
devoted  to  the  perpetual  care  of  his  own  lot  and  other  portions 
of  the  cemetery  grounds. 


DAVID  L.  KING,-~son  of  Judge 
Leicester  King^,  born  at  Warren, 
December  24,  1825  ;  graduated  at  Har- 
vard 1846 ;  read  law  with  King  & 
Tayler  in  Akron;  1849  with  his 
brother,  Henry  W.,  formed  laAv  firm 
of  King  &  King  ;  May  1,  1849,  married 
to  Miss  Bettie  Washington  Steele, 
(grand-niece  of  President  George 
Washington),  who  has  borne  him 
five  children,  three  of  whom  survive  ; 
1851  located  in  Cleveland,  but  returned 
to  Akron  in  1855,  in  addition  to  his 
law  practice,  as  executor  managing 
his  deceased  father's  large  landed 
estate;  abandoning  the  law  in  1867, 
took  an  interest  in,  and  the  secretary- 
ship of,  the  Akron  Sewer  Pipe  Com- 
pany, retaining  his  connection  there- 
with ten  or  twelve  years ;  1882-88 
president  King  Varnish  Company, 
an  enterprise  resulting  in  pecuniary 
disaster ;  active  in  all  public  enter- 
prises, his  energy  and  liberality  have 
largely  inured  to  the  benefit  of  the 
city  of  Akron,  the  Valley  Railway 
especially  being  a  substantial  monu- 
ment of  his  indomitable  persever- 
ance, while  our  public  schools,  our 
free  library,  our  benevolent  associa- 


DAVID  L.   KING. 

tions  and  our  beautiful  Glendale 
Cemetery  have  all  received  his  foster- 
ing care,  Mr.  King  having  served  as 
president  of  the  last  named  organiza- 
tion after  the  resignation  of  Presi- 
dent Perkins,  in  1880,  until  July,  1891. 


Albert  J.  McNeil  followed  Mr.  Howe,  as  secretary,  July  3, 1876, 
being  superseded  by  Albert  B.  Tinker  in  July,  1879,  followed,  in 
1880,  by  Edwin  P.  Green,  with  A.  H.  Sargent  as  assistant.  Mr. 
Sargent  succeeded  to  the  secretaryship  in  July,  1884,  which  posi- 
tion, in  addition  to  the  superintendency,  he  has  ably  filled  to  the 
present  time. 

The  treasurers  of  the  association,  from  the  beginning,  have 
been  Samuel  A.  Wheeler,  1839-50;  Arad  Kent,  1850-55;  George  D. 
Bates,  1855-76;  William  B.Raymond,  1876-88;  Erhard  Steinbacher, 
1888  to  present  time. 

THE   LADIES'    CEMETERY    ASSOCIATION. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  w^ar,  in  which  the  ladies,  every- 
w^here,  had  borne  so  conspicuous  a  part,  by  their  incessant  and 
self-sacrificing  labors  for  the  care  and  comfort  of  our  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers,  as  detailed  in  another  chapter  of  this  'work, 
ladies  of  Akron,  feeling  that  the  home  resting  place  of  their  loved 
ones  needed  better  care  and  protection,  devised  the  scheme  of 
aiding  the  cemetery  authorities  in  the  employment  of  a  competent 
person  to  devote  his  w^hole  time  to  the  care  and  improvement  of 
the  grounds,  and  the  erection  of  a  suitable  home  upon  the  grounds- 
for  the  use  of  the  person  so  employed. 


242 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


MRS.  MARY  INGERSOLIv  TOD 
EVANS,  — daughter  of  Judge 
Georg-e  Tod,  of  Youngstown,was  born 
December  8,  1802 ;  was  married  to 
John  L.  McCurdy,  of  Warren,  Decem- 
ber 25,  1822,  who  died  at  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  in  1830,  leaving-  three  children 
— William,  still  living  inYoungstown, 
George  Tod,  late  of  Akron,  deceased, 
and  Sarah,  afterwards  Mrs.  Parks; 
also  deceased.  In  1836,  Mrs.  McCurdy 
was  married  to  Dr.  Dana  D.  Evans, 
of  Akron,  bearing  him  three  children 
— all  deceased.  Dr.  Evans  dying 
from  blood  poisoning  in  Deceinber 
1849,  in  the  39th  year  of  his  age. 
Mrs.  Evans  was  active  in  all  public 
and  private  benevolent  enterprises,  a 
leading  member  of  the  Soldiers'  Aid 
Society  during  the  war,  and  after 
several  years  of  highly  acceptable 
service  as  matron  of  the  Northern 
Ohio  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  at 
Newburg,  she  organized  the  Akron 
Ladies'  Cemeterj-  Association,  and 
bent  all  her  energ^ies  towards  the 
erection  of  the  Sttperintendent's 
Lodge,  at  the  entrance  to  Glendale 
Cemetery,  which  .  was  nearing  com- 


MKS.    MARY  INGERSOLL  TOD  EVAN.S. 

pletion  at  the  titne  of  her  death,  Feb- 
ruarj^  2,  1869,  at  the  age  of  66  years,  2 
months  and  6  days.  Mrs.  Evans  was 
a  sister  of  the  late  Mrs.  Judge  Jaijies 
R.  Ford,  Mrs.  Col.  Simon  Perkins  and 
ex-Governor  David  Tod. 


To  the  late  Mrs.  Mary  I.  T.  Evans,  is  undoubtedly  due  the 
credit  of  originating  the  plan  whose  munificent  and  beneficent 
results  we  are  about  to  trace.  In  the  Beacon  of  July  12,  1866,  is  a 
note  from  Mrs.  Evans,  invoking  the  aid  of  the  writer,  as  editor  of 
the  paper,  in  favor  of  the  project.     Mrs.  Evans  said: 

"  Some  of  us,  whose  friends  sleep  their  last  sleep  in  those 
beautifully  situated  grounds,  caqnot  afford  costly  monuments  to 
mark  the  spot;  but  none  are  too  poor  to  pl^nt  flowers  and  shrubs, 
and  we  must  have  these  trifling  proofs  of  undying  love  guarded 
and  protected  from  the  rude  hand  of  the  careless  passer-by,  or  the 
determined  one  of  some  who  delight  in  wanton  destruction  of 
everything  offering  pleasure  to  the  eye. 

"The  Akron  Rural  Cemetery  Company  are  expending  all  their 
present  means  in  constructing  bridges,  improving  avenues,  etc., 
and  it  will  probably  require  all  the  revenue  they  may  have  from 
the  sale  of  lots  for  some  time  to  come.  Shall  we  not  give  them  a 
little  help? 

"It  is  proposed  to  offer  to  the  public  a  series  of  weekly  enter- 
tainments, such  as  promise  pleasure  to  those  who  are  willing  to 
patronize  us.  The  first  will  be  a  musical  entertainment  on  Tuesday 
evening  next.  Mr.  Cutter,  Mr.  Ingersoll  and  Miss  Ashmun  have 
kindly  consented  to  use  their  best  efforts  in  getting  up  a  musical 
treat  on  said  evening,  and  some  of  our  best  singers  have  promised 
their  valuable  aid. 

"  We  have  musical  talent  of  a  high  order  in  our  city,  and  I  have 
no  doubt  that  a  succession  of  concerts,  varied  in  character,  and 
interspersed  with  other  pleasing  performances,  will  call  out  a  little 
money  from  the  plethoric  pockets  of  our  favored  citizens,  and  also 
aw^ake  in  all  a  sense  of  the  worthiness  of  the  object  sought. 

"In  the  absence  of  the  gentlemen  who  have  promised  their 
hearty   co-operation,    it   seems    to    devolve  on   me,  as    the    'oldest 


AKRON   RURAL  CEMETERY. 


243 


inhabitant,'  to  present  this  subject  to  3^ou.  Will  you  have  the 
kindness  to  give  such  a  notice  in  the  Beacon  this  week  as  will 
serve  to  call  attention  to  this  subject  and  elicit  a  hearty  response?" 


Akron  Rural  Cemetery  Superintendent's  Lodge,  1891.— From  jihoto  by 
George  E.  Hitchcock. 


At  first  Mrs.  Bvans  met  w^ith  much  discouraging  opposition — 
let  the  sexton  build  or  hire  his  OAvn  house  as  other  people  did — 
a  burying  ground  was  not  a  proper  place  in  which  to  erect  a  resi- 
dence for  the  living — raising  money  by  such  worldly  and 
amusement-seeking  means  for  so  sacred  a  purpose  was  ouf  of 
character,  any  ^vay,  if  not  absolutely  sacrilegious — let  the  Cemetery 
Association  make  their  own  improvements,  etc.  But  her  plans 
were  heartily  approved  and  ably  seconded  by  her  two  sisters,  Mrs. 
Grace  T.  Perkins  and  Mrs.  Julia  Ford,  and  such  other  public- 
spirited  ladies  as  Mrs.  Sarah  Gale,  Mrs.  S.  H.  Coburn,  Mrs.  J.  T. 
Balch,  Mrs.  David  L.  King,  Mrs.  Sarah  T,  Peck,  Mrs.  William  H. 
Payne,  Miss  Anna  Perkins,  Miss  Emma  G.  T^w^nsend,  Mrs.  George 
Raynolds,  Mrs.  N.  D.  Tibbals,  Mrs.  G.  T.  McCurdy,  Mrs.  George  T. 
Perkins,  Mrs.  Henry  H.  Brown,  Mrs.  Henry  Gale,  Mrs.  Charles 
Rawson,  Mrs.  Hiram  G.  Fuller,  Mrs.  Henry  S.  Abbey,  Mrs.  Dr.  E. 
Angel,  Mrs.  L.  K.  Miles,  Mrs.  Alden  Gage,  Miss  Grace  Perkins, 
Miss  Abby  Sloat,  Miss  Laura  Balch,  Miss  Abby  Carpenter,  Miss 
Nellie   Smith,   Mrs.   James  Christy,    Mrs.    John    H.   Christy,    Mrs. 

D.  E.  Hill,  Mrs.  Frank  Adams,  Mrs.  A.  H.  Commins,  Mrs. 
Philip    P.  Bock,  Mrs.  F.  Schumacher,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Chamberlin,  Mrs. 

E.  Steinbacher,  Mrs.  O.  C.  Barber,  Mrs.  Thomas  Wills,  Mrs.  W.  B. 
Raymond,  Mrs.  Edward  Buckingham,  Miss  Elma  C.  Bowen  and 
many  others  not  now  recalled,  the  earlier  records  of  the  associa- 
tion not  now  being  accessible.  The  officers  elected  March  25,  1871, 
were:  Mrs.  Henry  H.  Brown,  president;  Mrs,  George  T.  McCurdy, 
vice  president:  Mrs.  Alden  Gage,  secretary  and  tre?isurer. 


24i 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


So  enthusiastically  did  the  ladies  enter  into  the  good  work 
that  the  movement  soon  became  immensely  popular  and  their 
entertainments  triumphant  successes.  The  concert,  by  volunteer 
home  talent,  above  alluded  to,  yielded  $159.35;  a  picnic  excursion 
to  Gaylord's  Grove,  a  week  later,  $149.76;  concert,  Augusts,  $247.81; 
repetition  next  night,  $84.30;  "  Woodland  Fete,"  on  fair  grounds, 
including  promenade  concert,  (which  the  opposition  designated  as 
a  dance),  August  23,  $312.40;  tableaux,  September  18  and  20, 
$126.50;  dinners  during  fair,  $357.23;  amateur  minstrel  perform- 
ance, by  Henry  K.  Abbey  and  other  theatrically  inclined  young 
men,  $200.19;  total  gross  receipts,  $1,631.54;  expenses,  $344.52;  net 
proceeds,  reported  by  Mrs.  Bvans,  as  president,  and  Emma  G. 
Townsend,  as  secretary,  October  25,  1866,  during  the  first  three 
months, being  $1,287. 02^  which  was  duly  turned  over  to  Col.  Simon 
Perkins,  president  of  the  Akron  Rural  Cemetery,  to  be  used  for  the 
purpose  designated. 


pHARLES  R.  HOWE, —  son  of 
v-^  Richard  and  Roxana  (Jones) 
Howe,  was  born  in  Akron  January  7, 
1831 ;  educated  in  Akron  public 
schools ;  in  1856  engaged  in  shoe 
trade  in  partnership  with  Morrill  T. 
Cutter,  the  latter  retiring-  in  1872  and 
Mr.  Howe  in  1874.  Mr.  Howe  was 
a  liberal,  enterprising  and  patriotic 
citizen ;  was  first  lieutenant  of  Capt. 
Storer's  company  of  "  Squirrel  Hunt- 
ers "  in  1862  ;  first  lieutenant  of  Co.  A, 
51th  Battalion,  O.  N.  G..  Co.  F,  161th 
Regiment  O.  V.  I.,  in  the  hundred 
days'  service  before  Washington  in 
1864 ;  foreman  of  Eagle  Hose  Com- 
pany; memberof  City  Council  1869-71  ; 
Park  Commissioner  from  organiza- 
zation  of  board  until  his  death  ; 
secretary  of  Cemetery  Association 
from  1869  until  his  death,  in  his  will 
bequeathing  $5,000  to  the  Perpetual 
Care  Fund  of  the  association  ;  mem- 
ber of  Summit  Lodge,  No.  50,  I.  O.  O. 
F.;  its  secretary  1855  ;  presiding  officer 
1857;  representative  to  Grand  Lodge 
two  years ;  District  Deputy  Grand 
Master  two  years;  member  of 
Encampment  and  Chief  Patriarch  in 
1861,  and  at  time  of  his  death  repre- 
sentative to  Grand  Encampment. 
August  30,  1850,  Mr.  Howe  was  mar- 
ried    to     Miss     Mary     C.     Webster, 


CHARLES  R.   HOWE. 

daughter  of  the  late  Charles  Web- 
ster, who  died  March  14,  1865,  aged  30 
j-ears,  5  months  and  5  days,  Mr.  Howe 
dying  December  7, 1875,  aged  44  j^ears, 
10  months  and  11  days,  leaving  one 
child — Annabel,  who  died  August  27,. 
1876,  aged  17  years,  1  month  and  2' 
days. 


By  similar  means  the  fund  w^as  gradually  augmented,  a  Bazar, 
held  in  April,  1868,  netting  over  $2,000,  Aultman,  Miller  &  Co.  con- 
tributing a  Buckeye  Mower,  J.  F.  Seiberling  &  Co.  an  Excelsior 
Reaper, to  be  sold  on  the  ticket  plan;  and  Herrick  &  Cannon  a  silver 
pitcher,  to  be  presented  to  the  handsomest  man,  on  the  voting 
plan — John  R.  Buchtel  receiving  700  votes,  Joy  H.  Pendleton  200 
and  the  writer  one! 

The  total  fund  at  this  time,  April,  1868,  Avas  nearly  $4,000,  suf- 
ficient to  warrant  the  Cemetery  Association  in  proceeding  w^ith 
the  work,  resulting  in  the  completion,  in  fall  of  1869,  of  the  hand- 
some stone  cottage,  near  the  entrance  to  the  grounds,  since  known 


AKRON   RURAL  CEMETERY. 


245 


as  the  Cemetery  Lodge,  though  two  of  its  most  earnest  promoters 
did  not  live  to  witness  the  fruition  of  their  unselfish  labors — Mrs. 
Orace  T.  Perkins  dying  April  6,  1867,  and- Mrs.  Mary  I.  T.  Evans, 
February  2,  1869. 

To  add  to  their  resources,  the  ladies  established,  and  for  sev- 
eral years  maintained,  under  the  care  of  Superintendent  Thomas 
Wills,  an  extensive  greenhouse  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  plants 
and  flowers  to  such  as  desired  them  for  the  decoration  of  the 
graves  of  their  deceased  friencte  or  the  ornamentation  of  their 
homes.  We  have  not  space  for  a^detailed  report  of  the  operations 
■of  the  Ladies'  Cemetery  Association,  during  the  intervening  23 
years,  during  all  of  which  time  it  has  maintained  not  only  an 
active  but  a  progressive  existence,  its  truly  gigantic  labors  being 
represented  by  the  following  figures:  Original  cost  of  Lodge 
$12,000;  subsequent  addition  of  kitchen,  etc.,  $1,400;  heating 
apparatus,  $300;  bridge  near  lodge,  $500;  gate  posts,  $150;  Win- 
dow in  Memorial  Chapel,  $500;  furniture  for  Chapel,  $210;  improv- 
ing old  portion  of  Cemetery  grounds,  $1,000;  head-stone  to  grave  of 
Mrs.  Evans,  $50;  bell  tower,  $1,000;  making  a  grand  total  of  $17,150, 
besides  many  incidentals  for  repairs  of  the  Lodge,  etc.,  that  would 
doubtless  swell  the  amount  to  very  near,  if  not  quite,  $20,000. 

Present  officers  of  the  Association:  Mrs.  David  E.  Hill, 
president;  Mrs.  Dr.  William  C.  Jacobs,  vice  president;  Miss  Hattie 
S.  Phillips,  secretary;  Mrs.  William  B.  Kaymond,  treasurer. 


ALBERT  H.  SARGKNT,— son  of 
-^  George  A.  and  Lydia  (Blount) 
Sargent,  born  in  Prince  Edward 
Coiinty,  Ontario,  Canada,  October  31, 
1845;  raised  on  farm;  educated  in 
common  schools  and  at  Montreal 
■College,  teaching  two  years  before 
Wintering  college;  removed  to  Roches- 
ter, N.  Y.,  in  1867;  studied  law  four 
years  with  his  uncle,  Henry  Sargent, 
Esq.;  was  then  for  ten  years  book- 
keeper for  the  celebrated  seedsman, 
James  Vick;  then  studied  landscape 
•engineering  under  Charles  W. 
Seelye,  of  Rochester;  and  was  en- 
gaged upon  the  parks  of  that  cit}' 
until  called  to  the  siiperintendenc}- 
-of  the  Akron  Rural  Cemetery,  Feb- 
ruary 1,  1880,  which  responsible  posi- 
tion he  is  still  ably  filling;  in  1882 
was  appointed  bj'  Council  on  com- 
mittee to  organize  the  Akron  Board 
of  Health,  officiating  as  clerk  of  that 
body  three  years;  was  elected  mem- 
ber of  Board  of  Education  from  the 
Third  ward  in  spring  of  188o,  hold- 
ing the  office  six  j^eare,  the  last  two 
years  as  president  of  the  board;  in 
188(>  was  elected  coroner  of  Summit 
■countJ^  and  re-elected  in  1888,  serv-, 
ing  four  years.  June  2(5,  1873,  Mr. 
Sargent  was  married  to  Miss  Sue  S. 


ALBEKT   H.  SAKGENT. 

Sargent,  daughter  of  John  and  Lucy 
(Seelye)  Sargent,  of  Jefferson  county, 
N.  Y.,  two  children  having  been  born 
to  them— Albert  H.,  born  March  4, 
1877,  dying  in  infancy,  and  Jennie  L., 
born  March  3,  1878. 


MEMORIAL  CHAPEL. 

•         But  the  crowning  glory  of  Akron's  beautiful  Rural  Cemetery, 
is  Memorial  Chapel,  near  the  Glendale  entrance,  on  the  left,  at  the 


246 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


foot    of  "Ordnance  hill,"    and    overlooking   Willow  brook  on    the 
north. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  the  subject  of 
erecting,  upon  the  court  house  grounds,  a  suitable  monument  ta 
the  memory  of  such  of  Summit  county's  gallant  sons  as  had  laid 
doA^^n  their  lives  in  defense  of  the  Union,  during  that  fearful  con- 
flict, began  to  be  agitated,  but  with  no  definite  result  until  several 
of  the  townships  of  the  county  had  erected  similar  monuments  in 
their  respective  local  cemeteries  arid  public  parks. 


View  in  Glendale  Avenue,  looking  towards  Akron  Rural  Cemetery  Lodge. 
From  photo  by  E.  J.  Howard. 

Soon  after  the  organization  of  Buckley  Post,  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic,  in  March,  1867,  that  patriotic  body  took  hold  of  the 
project  of  erecting  a  suitable  monument  to  the  memory  of  the 
deceased  soldiers  of  Portage  township  and  the  City  of  Akron.  By 
a  series  of  dramatic  and  other  entertainments,  considerable  sums 
of  money  were  realized,  aggregating  something  over  three  thous- 
and dollars  in  the  course  of  three  or  four  years,  which  w^as  placed 
on  interest. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1871,  the  Akron  Rural  Cemetery  Associa- 
tion tendered  to  Buckley  Post,  a  suitable  site  on  which  to  erect 
the  contemplated  monument,  w^hich  proposition  was  formally 
accepted  by  the  Post  December  7,  1871,  and  on  December  11,  1871, 
a  board  of  nine  trustees,  consisting  of  three  members  of  the  Post 
and  six  citizens,  was  appointed  by  the  Post  as  follow^s:  Col. 
Simon  Perkins,  Lewis  Miller,  John  F.  Seiberling,  David  L.  King, 
George  W.  Crouse,  George  D.  Bates,  Alvin  C.  Voris,  Arthur  L. 
Conger  and  David  W.  Thomas. 

The  board  by  resolution  of  the  Post,  was  to  take  charge  of  the 
funds  already  raised,  receive  donations,  procure  plans,  and  pro- 
ceed to  erect  a  monument  at  a  cost  of  not  less  than  Ten  Thousand 
Dollars.  The  board  was  organized  December  30,  1871,  as  follows: 
Col.  Simon  Perkins,  president;  Arthur  L.  Conger,  secretary; 
George  W.  Crouse,  treasurer;  finance  committee,  John  F.  Seiber-* 
ling,  George    D.    Bates,  David  W.  Thomas,    Thomas    W.  Cornell; 


AKRON    RURAL   CEMETERY. 


'2^1 


committee  on  design,  David  L.  King,  Alvin  C.  Voris,  Col.  Simon 
Perkins;  statistician,  George  W.  Crouse. 

Small  additions  to  the  fund  were  made  from  time  to  time,  in 
various  ways,  but  no  active  steps  were  taken  for  the  erection  of 
the  monument  until  the  beginning  of  1874,  w^hen  it  was  resolved, 
by  the  board,  after  consultation  with  other  prominent  citizens, 
and  the  cemetery  authorities,  to  build,  instead  of  a  monument,  a 
Memorial  Chapel,  w^ith  a  receiving  vault,  and  to  raise  for  that 
purpose  $25,000  l)y  subscription,  payable  in  six,  twelve  and  eigh- 
teen months. 


View  in  Akron  Rural  Cenietety,  looking  out,  1874,  before  Memorial  Chapel  and 
Stone  Arch  over  Willow  Brook  were  constructed. 


This  plan  proved  to  be  immensly  popular  w^ith  all  classes,  and 
at  a  concert  held  at  the  Academy  of  Music,  February  14,  1874,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Chapel  Fund,  in  addition  to  the  receipts  for 
admission  to  the  concert,  after  an  explanation  of  the  plans  of  the 
board,  by  Col.  Perkins,  and  stirring  speeches  by  David  L.  King, 
George  W.  Crouse,  John  R.  Buchtel,  Rev.  Richard  L.  Ganter  and 
others,  subscriptions  were  promptly  made  aggregating  over 
$10,000,  and  on  the  foUow^ing  fourth  day  of  July  the  committee 
reported  $20,000  in  the  fund  and  subscribed,  with  a  good  prospect 
for  speedily  securing  the  balance. 

Pursuant  to  invitation  several  plans  w^ere  submitted  by  well- 
know^n  competent  architects,  that  of  Frank  O.  Weary  being  unani- 
mously adopted  by  the  committee  on  designs,  and  duly  approved 
by  Buckley  Post.  Col.  Simon  Perkins,  George  W.  Crouse,  Lewis 
Miller  and  David  W.  Thomas,  w^ere  constituted  a  building  com- 
mittee and  empowered  to  proceed  at  once  to  erect  the  building  in 
accordance  with  the  design  adopted,  and  a  contract  was  entered 
into  w^ith  Messrs.  George  Wohlwend  and  Frank  Lukesh  for  the 
erection  of  the  entire  structure,  exclusive  of  w^indows,  for  the  sum 
of  $22,300,  other  necessary  expenditures  bringing  the  entire  cost  of 
the  completed  structure  up  to  a  little  over  $25,000. 


248 


AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


View  in  Akron  Rural  Cemetery  from  near  Robinson  and  Howard  Monuments, 
looking  West.— From  plioto  b>   George  E.  Hitchcock,  1891. 


Saturday,  May  29,  1875 — being  Memorial  Day  for  that  3^ear^ 
was  thought  to  be  a  fitting  occasion  for  the  breaking  of  the 
ground  for  an  edifice  w^hich  was  to  be  erected  to  the  memory  and 
valor  of  deceased  soldiers,  and  arrangements  to  that  end  w^ere 
made  accordingly,  the  programme  adopted  being  briefly  as  foUowrs: 
<'"««? \t  2:30  p.  M,  the  procession  formed  on  Howard  street,  under 
the  direction  of  Major  Thomas  McEbright,  assisted  by  Emanuel 
P.  HoUoway,  Capt.  William  C.  Jacobs,  Henry  Young,  Hugo  Schu- 
macher and  George  M.  Wright,  in  the  following  order:  Babcock's 
band,  15  men;  Buckley  Post,  50  men;  Marble's  band,  18  men; 
Akron  Liedertafel,  40  men;  St.  -Vincent  de  Paul's  band,  18  men; 


AKRON    RURAL   CEMETERY.  249 

soldiers  of  1812,  in  carriages,  5;  Mayor  Levi  S.  Herrold  and  Acting 
Mayor  Richard  P.  Marvin,  Jr.;  members  of  City  Council;  poet, 
orator,  citizens,  etc.;  Col.  Simon  Perkins  officiating  as  president  of 
the  da}^ 

The  exercises  opened  with  a  solemn  dirge,  by  Marble's  band, 
followed  by  an  earnest  and  pathetic  prayer  by  Rev.  G.  S.  Weaver, 
of  the  Universalist  Church,  after  which  a  male  quartette,  com- 
posed of  Messrs.  Byron  S.  Chase,  Amasa  F.  Chandler,  Harvey  F. 
Miller  and  W,  Milton  Clarke,  sang  an  appropriate  son?g.  Messrs. 
George  H.  Payne  and  Albert  A.  Bartlett,  two  one-armed  veterans 
of  the  late  war,  with  pick  and  shovel,  then  formally  broke  ground 
for  the  foundation  of  the  contemplated  new  structure. 

Gen.  Alvin  C.  Voris,  of  Akron,  delivered  the  oration,  ^vritten 
in  his  ow^n  terse  but  fervid  style,  and  spoken  in  his  own  earnest 
and  impressive  manner,  closing  with  this  eloquent  paragraph: 

"May  this  inonument  be  fruitful  of  instruction  to  those  who  come  after 
us,  as  well  as  an  honored  memorial  to  our  departed  heroes,  givinjr  evidence 
that  this  g-eneration  possesses  the  spirit  of  our  ancestors  in  sufficient  degree 
to  defend  the  institutions  they  transmitted  to  us.  AH  praise  to  the  liberality 
iind  good  taste  of  the  citizens  of  Akron  who  thus  honor  the  memory  of  our 
heroes.  May  we  go  hence  resolutely  determined  to  make,  preserve  and 
transmit  to  the  future  the  best  human  institutions  that  ever  inankind 
devised,  and  blessed  will  be  our  memory." 

After  the  rendition  of  an  appropriate  song,  in  German,  by  the 
Akron  Liedertafel,  Mr.  Will.  M.  Carleton,  of  Hillsdale,  Mich.,  recited 
an  original  poem,  composed  for  the  occasion,  too  lengthy  to  be 
reproduced  here,  but  which,  after  portraying  the  patriotic  upris- 
ing in  defense  of  the  Union,  the  sacrifices  and  sufferings  of  the 
soldiers  on  battle  fields  and  in  prison  pens,  the  tearful  and  prayer- 
ful anxieties  and  sorrow^s  of  the  dear  ones  at  home,  in  allusion  to 
the  annual  Decoration  Day  observances,  and  the  memorial  structure 
about  to  be  erected,  said: 

"  And  so  once  more  we  gather  here,  to-day. 
To  honor  those  who  jfave  their  lives  away; 
And  so,  with  offering  heart-felt  and  s>incere, 
We  speak  the  tender  words  and  drop  a  tear. 

********* 
When  the  sweet  air  holds  out  the  touch  of  health, 
And  silvery  blossoms  promise  golden  wealth, 
A  fair  and  "goodly  portion  here  we  save. 
To  mark  the  memory  of  the  fallen  brave. 

********* 
And  when  this  structure  rises  through  the  air. 
And  mingles  with  its  memories  words  of  prayer, 
So  let  our  hearts  ring  out  the  prayerful  strain. 
That  those  who  sleep  here  slutnber  not  in  vain." 

A  patriotic  selection  by  Babcock's  band,  and  the  benediction 
"by  Rev.  Henry  Baker,  of  the  first  M.  E.  Church,  closed  the  exer- 
cises of  the  day,  the  strewing  of  flowers  upon  the  graves  of  their 
fallen  comrades  having  been  performed  earlier  in  the  day  by  the 
members  of  Buckley  Post. 

The  w^ork  ivas  prosecuted  with  such  vigor  that  the  foundation 
was  ready  for  the  superstructure  early  in  July,  and  on  Sunday, 
July  11, 1875,  under  the  auspices  of  Buckley  Post,  the  pleasant  but 
solemn  ceremony  of  laying  the  corner-stone  was  performed  at  5 
o'clock  p.  M.  Prayer  was  offered  by  Rev.  Carlos  Smith,  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church.  Gen.  Alvin  C.  Voris  deposited  in  the  cavity 
of  the  stone  resolutions  of  Buckley  Post  leading  to  erection  of 
Chapel  and  of  building  committee  in  regard  to  design  of  structure; 
roster  of  Buckley  Post;    names  of  building  committee;    copies  of 


250 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


Daily  Beacon,  containing  account  of  breaking  ground  and  other 
matters  pertaining  to  Chapel;  a  confederate  bank-note;  a  Ten- 
nessee ten-cent  bank-note;  various  coins  and  pieces  of  United 
States  currency,  and  the  Roll  of  Honor,  containing  the  names  of 
soldiers  buried  in  the  several  cemeteries  of  the  city. 


View  in  Akron  Rural  Cemetery,  from  liead  of  Upper  Duclt  Pond, 
looking  East.-  -From  photo  by  George  E.  Hitchcock,  1891. 


Appropriate  addresses  were  made  by  Rev.  G.  S.  Weaver,  and 
Newell  D.  Tibbals,  the  latter,  after  alluding  to  the  patriotic  going 
forth  to  do  battle  for  the  Union,  sadness  of  parting,  the  sacrifice 
of  life  and  treasure,  and  the  triumphant  and  glorious  ending  of  the 
most  gigantic  struggle  in  the  world's  history,  closing  as  follows: 

"And  what  was  the  lesson  taught?  It  was  that  this  great  nation  was 
more  precious  than  the  lives  of  its  citizens  ;  that  the  rights  of  the  people 
must  be  protected  ;  that  the  unity  of  our  country  be  maintained,  and  that 
henceforth  our  glorious  flag,  the  emblem  of  our  national  greatness,  shall 
float  at  the  masthead  of  our  vessels,  on  every  sea,  in  every  harbor  of  every 
civilized  nation. 

"Then,  with  feelings  of  gratitude  to  the  noble  dead,  assembled  here  in 
the  eventide  of  the  first  century  of  our  glorious  national  life,  in  the  harvest 
time  of  the  year,  in  this  beautiful  home  of  the  dead,  and  with  the  going  down 
of  the  sun  of  this  quiet,  lovely  Sabbath  day,  let  us  lay  the  corner-stone  of  this 
splendid  structure,  in  memory  of  the  loved  ones  who  died  for  such  a 
noble  cause.  Let  us  inscribe  with  their  names,  as  the  sentiment  of  the  prin- 
ciple for  which  they  fought  and  gave  their  lives — '  Union  and  Libert}',  now 
and  forever,  one  and  inseparable  ! '  " 

The  chapel  is  built  on  the  cruciform  plan,  the  nave  being 
30x48  feet,  the  width  of  the  transepts  42  feet,  giving  a  ground  area 
,  of  1,800  square  feet.  The  entrance  is  at  the  east  end,  by  five  stone 
steps  at  either  end  of  the  broad  porch,  the  entrance  to  the  receiving 
vault,  in  the  basement,  being  at  the  west  end  and  on  a  level  with 
the  surface  of  the  ground  in  the  rear  of  the  chapel. 

The  entire  structure  is  of  fine  sandstone,  constructed  in  the 
most  substantial  manner,  the  roof  covered  with  slate,  floor  of  the 
chapel  with    tile,  and  roof  of  the  receiving  vault  with  stone    atid 


AKRON    KURAL   CEMETERY. 


251 


cement,  with  iron  joists,  copper  roof  protections,  etc.;  the  interior 
finish  of  chapel,  from  floor  to  ridge  of  roof,  being  both  substantial 
and  handsome. 


Soldiers'  Memorial  Chapel  in  Akron  Rural  Cemetery,  erected  in  1875-6. 
From  a  photo  by  George  E.  Hitchcock,  1891. 

The  most  interesting  features  of  the  chapel  are  its  memorial 
windows,  the  glass  for  which  was  imported  from  Scotland.  The 
large  chancel  window  at  the  west  end,  10x25  feet,  contains  a  full 
length  representation  of  Col.  Lewis  P.  Buckley,  contributed  by  the 
members  of  the  29th  Regiment,  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  with  a 
brief  history  of  that  regiment  during  the  w^ar.  The  large  three- 
panel  transept  window  on  the  north  side  represents  the  labors  of 
the  Sanitary  Commission  and  Soldiers'  Aid  Society — the  heroic 
sacrifice  and  suffering  of  the  loyal  women  of  America,  both  at 
home,  on  the  field  of  battle  and  in  the  hospital — contributed  by  the 
Ladies'  Cemetery  Association,  as  elsewhere  stated. 


252  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

The  three-panel  transept  window  on  the  south  side,  placed  by 
the  Board  of  Memorial  Trustees,  on  the  Centennial  Anni versa r}^  of 
American  Independence,  is  a  fitting  conclusion  of  their  unselfish 
and  patriotic  labors;  the  center  panel  contains  a  full  length  repre- 
sentation of  Washington,  with  the  legend:  "Observe  good  faith 
and  justice  with  all  nations;"  the  easterly  panel,  the  figure  of  the 
hero  of  Lake  Erie  in  the  war  of  1812,  Pommodore  Oliver  Hazzard 
Perry,  and  his  triumphant  message  to  Gen.  Harrison,  September 
10,  1813:  "We  have  met  the  enemy  and  they  are  ours;"  the  west- 
erly panel,  the  martyred  Lincoln,  w^ith  his  iminortal  utterance  in 
closing  his  second  brief  inaugural  address,  March  4,  1865:  "With 
malice  toward  none,  and  with  charity  for  all." 

Smaller  windo'ws,  ^vith  appropriate  designs  and  mottoes  were 
contributed  by  individual  citizens  as  follows:  Gen.  A.  C.  Voris,  in 
memory  of  his  three  brothers  who  died  in  the  service;  Judge 
Samuel  C.  Williamson,  in  memory  of  his  brother,  William  Palmer 
Williamson,  the  first  soldier  killed  in  battle  from  Summit  county; 
Frank  O.  Weary,  in  inemory  of  his  two  young  friends,  Henry  H. 
and  Eugene  D.  Smith;  friends,  to  the  memory  of  Capt.  Walter  B, 
Scott;  Gen.  Thomas  F.  Wildes  to  the  memory  of  his  brother,  John 
C.  Wildes;  Theodore  Robinson  and  other  members  of  the  family  to 
the  memory  of  Virgil  J.  Robinson  and  his  brother-in-law,  Benjamin 
F.  Weary,  the  latter  being  the  first  to  enlist  in  Akron,  and  the  last 
from  Summit  county  killed,  in  the  battle  Appomattox,  after  the 
surrender  of  Gen.  Lee,  April  9,  1865;  the  east  window^  being  placed 
by  members  of  the  "Sixth  Battery  in  memory  of  our  fallen  com- 
rades"— the  two  Louvre  windows,  representing  a  piece  of  field 
artillery  and  a  Siblej^  tent,  and  the  large  ornamental  rose  window^ 
in  front  being  contributed  by  architect  Frank  O.  Weary. 

There  are  fourteen  marble  slabs,  eight  feet  in  height  by  three 
feet  in  width,  upon  which  were  inscribed,  previous  to  dedication, 
the  names  of  all  of  Akron  and  Portage  township's  soldiers  killed 
in  battle,  or  >vho  had  died,  either  during  or  after  the  close  of  the 
w^ar,  regardless  of  the  place  of  their  decease,  or  burial,  and  of  all 
other  know^n  ex-soldiers  from  other  localities  who  had  died  in 
Akron,  to  which  has  since  been,  and  will  continue  to  be,  added  those 
w^ho  are  constantly  being  transferred  from  the  ranks  of  Life  to  the 
grand  and  ever  augmenting  Army  of  the  Dead. 

Tw^o  twelve-pound  brass  cannon,  donated  to  Buckley  Post  by 
the  War  Department,  for  monumental  purposes,  properly  mounted 
on  carriages  are  stationed  in  close  proximity  to  the  chapel — one  on 
''Ordnance  Hill,"  upon  the  south,  and  the  other  on  a  slight  mound 
upon  the  west. 

DEDICATION  OF  CHAPEL. 

The  chapel,  complete  in  all  its  appointments,  w^as  duly  dedi- 
cated on  Decoration  Day,  Tuesday,  May  30,  1876,  with  imposing 
ceremonies,  briefly  as  follows: 

Besides  the  usual  decoration  services  earlier  in  the  day,  a 
large  procession  of  soldiers,  ex-soldiers,  citizens,  civic  societies, 
bands  of  music,  etc.,  forming  on  Howard  street,  reached  the  chapel 
at  2  o'clock  p.  m.  After  the  usual  preliminary  exercises  of  prayer, 
music,  etc.,  Mr.  Lewis  Miller,  on  behalf  of  the  Building  Committee, 
presented  the  structure  to  Buckley  Post  in  a  brief  but  exceedingly 
appropriate  address,  w^hich  was  received  on  behalf  of  the  Post,  in 


AKRON    RURAL   CEMETERY.  253 

elocjuent  and  fitting  words  by  Capt.  Samuel  C.  Williamson,  who,  in 
turn,  in  behalf  of  the  Post,  transferred  the  building  to  the  care  and 
custody  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Akron  Rural  Cemetery  Association, 
in  closing  addressing  Col.  Simon  Perkins,  president  of  the  associa- 
tion, as  follows: 

"  To  yoiir  hands,  then,  O,  venerable  patriarch  of  the  past — the  representa- 
tive of  the  earlier,  and  perhaps  better,  days  of  the  Republic—in  the  presence 
of  these  white-haired  veterans  of  1812,  in  whom,  to-day,  we  span  the  chasm  of 
a  century,  and  shake  hands  with  the  heroes  of  the  Revolution  who  fell  at 
Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill,  and  in  their  names,  the  founders  of  our  govern- 
ment, and  in  the  names  of  those  who  died  to  preserve  it,  we  now  confide  to 
.you  these  keys,  the  symbol  of  possession,  in  token  of  the  transfer  which  is 
hereby  made." 

COL.  PERKINS'  RESPONSE. 

On  receiving  the  keys  of  the  chapel  from  Judge  Williamson, 
Col.  Perkins  said: 

"Sir:  In  behalf  of  the  Akron  Rural  Cemeterj^  we  accept  the  beautiful 
and  sacred  trust,  through  you  confided  to  us  by  the  members  of  Bixckley 
Post,  Grand  Armj^  of  the  Republic,  of  this  fitting-  memorial  erected  to  the 
memory  of  loved  ones  who  were  offered  as  a  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  our 
country,  that  those  who  survive  may  transmit  the  legacj^  confided  to  us,  bj^ 
our  patriotic  fathers,  in  spotless  purity  for  generations  to  come. 

"  The  Cemetery  Association  will  treasure  the  invaluable  trust  you  now 
confide  to  us,  and  will  preserve  it  as  a  sacred  and  loving  tribute  to  our  sons,^ 
whose  sacrifice  was  made  for  us  and  for  our  children  after  us.  Allow  me,  in 
the  name  of  the  Akron  Rural  Cemeterj'  Association  to  tender,  through  j'ou,. 
to  Buckley  Post,  our  grateful  thanks  for  the  confidence  and  honor  reposed  in 
VIS,  and  give  them  our  assurance  that  the  trust  shall  be  preserved  and  pro- 
tected in  love  and  brotherly  regard  for  our  sons." 

Ex-Governor  Edward  F.  Noyes,  the  orator  of  the  day,  delivered 
one  of  the  most  eloquently  impressive  addresses  ever  listened  to  in 
Akron,  but  its  length  precludes  its  repetition  here.  A  few  brief 
excerpts  must  suffice: 

"The  occasion  which  calls  us  together  to-day,"  said  the  Governor, 
"obliterates  all  distinctions  of  creed  and  platform,  all  inequalities  of  fortune 
and  of  social  life.  We  come,  indulging  in  a  common  sorrow  for  our  beloved 
dead,  to  dedicate  to  the  niemorj^  of  departed  heroes  this  Memorial  Chapel-— 
the  work  of  willing  hands,  the  offering  of  grateful  and  patriotic  hearts.  *  * 
*  There  is  something  in  the  death  of  a  patriot  soldier  which  makes  it  more 
touching  and  honorable  than  any  other.  *  *  *  We  realize  that  the}^  have 
died  for  us  and  for  that  which  is  dear  to  us  ;  that  their  immeasurable  sacri- 
fice has  made  life,  happiness  and  prosperitj^  possible  for  us  and  for  our  chil- 
dren. *  *  *  Ag  a  token  of  our  appreciation  and  grateful  remembrance, 
this  beautiful  edifice  has  been  erected — an  honor  alike  to  the  living  and  the 
dead.  *  *  *  A.  hundred  years  have  passed  since  the  Declaration  of 
American  Independence.  What  the  coming  century  may  have  in  store 
for  us  will  depend  upon  our  own  deserts.  A  glorious  future  can  only  be 
secured  to  the  people  whose  intelligence,  virtue  and  patriotism  makes  them 
worthy  to  enjoy  it.  *  *  *  Looking  forward,  then,  over  the  hundred  years 
before  us,  to  the  time  when  our  nation  shall  number  300,000,000  souls — when 
the  prairies  shall  be  changed  into  gardens,  and  the  hills  shall  be  fragrant 
with  orchards  and  vineyards — when  the  waste  places  shall  give  wa}-  to  10,000 
cities,  throbbing  with  active  life  when  our  commerce  shall  whiten  everj'^ 
sea,  and  bear  to  distant  lands  the  varied  products  of  our  ingenuity  and  skill, 
of  labor  and  of  thought,  shall  we  not  be  incited  to  nobler  aims  and  efforts 
than  we  have  yet  attained?  So  best  shall  we  honor  those  whose  virtues  we 
commemorate  to-day." 

"THIS  IS  YOUR  TEMPLE  TO-DAY." 

At  the  conclusion  of  Gov.  Noyes'  address,  after  a  song  by  the 
Akron  Liedertafel,Will  M.  Carleton  recited  an  appropriate  original 
poem,  under  the  above  title,  the  exercises  closing  with  a  song  by 


254 


AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


the  Apollo  Club,  the  benediction  by  Rev.  G.  S.  Weaver,  and  music 
by  Akron  Junior  Band;  and  Memorial  Chapel  has  for  the  past 
decade  and  a  half  been,  as  it  must  long  continue  to  be,  an  honor  to 
Akron's  soldiery,  living  as  vsrell  as  dead,  an  inestimable  public  con- 
venience, an  ornament  to  our  beautiful  Kural  Cemeter^^,  and  a 
source  of  perpetual  pride  to  all  our  people. 


Lewis  Miller's  Duck  Pond,  looking  East  from  Akron  Rural  Cemetery,  previous 
to  the  Extension  of  Park  Place  to  Glendale  Avenue. 


On  finally  closing  up  his  accounts,  it  was  found  that  in  conse- 
quence of  the  panic  of  1873,  and  the  financial  reverses  resulting 
therefrom,  a  portion  of  the  subscriptions  were  non-collectable,  and 
that  in  settling  v^^ith  the  contractors,  and  the  liquidation  of  other 
claims,  Treasurer  Crouse,  in  addition  to  his  own  liberal  contribu- 
tion, ^vas  out  of  pocket  just  $3,500,.  for  wrhich  sum,  by  special  act  of 
the  Legislature,  the  Council  w^as  authorized  to  issue  the  city's 
bonds  on  which  to  raise  the  money  for  his  reimbursement,  which 
was  accordingly  done;  the  entire  cost  of  the  structure,  outside  of 
individual  contributions  of  memorial  windows,  being  $25,294.64. 

Aside  from  its  preciousness,  as  the  hallowed  resting  place  of 
Akron's  departed  loved  ones  of  the  past  half  century,  in  a  money 
point  of  view^,  besides  the  nearly  $20,000 paid  for  the  land;  the  $20,- 
000  raised  and  expended  by  the  ladies  for  the  lodge  and  other 
improvements  made  by  them;  the  $25,000  and  overexpendedby  our 
patriotic  soldiers  and  liberal-handed  citizens  in  the  erection  of 
Memorial  Chapel,  there  has  been  expended  by  the  association,  at  a 
low^  estimate,  in  improvements  and  care  of  grounds,  $125,000,  w^hile 
private  expenditures,  for  lots  and  ornamentation,  head-stones, 
monuments,  etc.,  w^ill  undoubtedly  aggregate  fully  $300,000  more, 
making  a  grand  total  of  money  expended  to  the  present  time  of 
nearly,  if  not  fully,  half  a  million  of  dollars,  one  of  the  most  notable 
family  monuments  on  the  grounds,  being  the  life-like  statue  of 
Hon,  John  R.  Buchtel,  erected  under  his  own  supervision,  after 
becoming  an  invalid,  as  elsewhere  stated. 


AKRON  S    PUBLIC    PARKS. 


255 


Bell  Tower,  Akron  Rural  Cemetery. 


Lots  are  now  held  at  fifty  cents 
per  square  foot,  in"  sizes  to  suit 
purchasers,  in  the  newer  portion 
of  the  grounds,  in  which  portion 
an  additional  payment  of  twenty- 
five  cents  per  foot  is  required,  as 
a  contribution  to  the  Perpetual 
Care  Fund,  for  the  purpose  of  for- 
ever, by  accruing  interest,  keep- 
ing said  lots  in  order.  As  the 
object  of  this  fund  becomes  better 
known,  it  grows  in  favor,  many 
owners  of  lots  in  the  older  portion 
of  the  grounds,  either  contribu- 
ting outright  thereto,  or  provid- 
ing by  will  for  that  purpose,  the 
fund  at  the  present  time  (Sep- 
tember, 1891),  amounting  to  nearly  $10,000. 

This  fund  should  be  rapidly  augmented,  so  that,  in  the  not 
ver}^  distant  future,  when  the  income  from  the  sale  of  lots  shall 
comparatively  cease,  and  other  and  more  distant  grounds  have  to 
]>e  resorted  to,  the  care  and  beauty  of  our  present  attractive  City 
of  the  Dead,  by  common  consent  called  "Glendale  Cemetery,"  may 
be  forever  assured,  without  a  contingencj'^  or  peradventure. 

AKRON'S    PUBLIC  PARKS. 

In  addition  to  Akron's  beautiful  Rural  Cemetery,  of  fifty-sev^en 
acres,  artistically  laid  out  into  romantic  drives  and  walks,  and 
always  open  to  the  public,  court  house  square,  donated  by  Gen. 
Simon  Perkins  to  Summit  county,  for  public  purposes,  in  1840,  and 
no\v  covered  with  umbrageous  trees,  and  traversed  by  substantial 
walks,  and  Fountain  Park,  of  some  50  acres,  the  present  attractive 
fair  grounds  of  the  Summit  County  Agricultural  Society,  also 
constantly  available  to  the  public  as  a  pleasure  resort,  the  city 
itself  is  the  owner  of  quite  a  number  of  -not  very  extensive  but 
extremely  pleasant,  "breathing  places"  in  the  Avay  of  public  parks, 
iis  follows: 

SOUTH  AKRON  OR  PERKINS  PARK. 

The  original  proprietor  of  the  land,  Gen.  Simon  Perkins,  of 
Warren,  in  platting  his  nevsr  village  of  Akron,  in  1825,  laid  out  a 
"  public  square,"  on  the  western  part  of  his  plat,  embracing  what 
is  now  known  as  Perkins  P*ark,  bounded  by  West  Exchange  street 
on  the  south,  Middlebury  street  on  the  north,  Bowery  street  on 
the  east  and  Locust  street  on  the  west,  and  also  including  the 
capacious  grounds  on  which  the  Perkins  school  building  now 
stands,  on  the  south  side  of  Exchange  street,  the  whole  containing 
al)out  five  acres  of  ground.  The  larger  portion,  north  of  Exchange 
street,  is  surrounded  by  a  substantial  fence,  thoroughly  sodded, 
planted  to  thrift}^  shade  trees,  evergreens,  etc.,  and  tastefully  laid 
out  into  walks,  with  seats,  etc.,  and  is  greatly  enjoyed  by  the 
inhabitants  of  that  portion  of  the  city. 

GRACE  AND  UNION  PARKS. 

June  20,  1846,  in  Council  proceedings,  it  is  recorded  that  a 
motion    w^as    unanimously    adopted    authorizing   the    Mayor   "to 


256  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

receive  any  donation  that  Mr.  Simon  Perkins  might  make  to  the 
Town  of  Akron,  and  give  the  necessary  assurance  that  his  views 
and  directions  would  be  appreciated  and  carried  out,"  and,  on 
August  25,  1847,  the  Committee  on  PubHc  Grounds  were  "author- 
ized to  take  charge  of  that  part  of  the  same  lying  northeast  of 
Doctor  Evans's,  being  a  lot  of  about  eight  acres  given  to  the  town 
by  Mr.  Simon  Perkins,  as  he  will  deed  the  same  soon." 

March  11, 1848,  a  deed  was  executed  by  Simon  Perkins,  his  w^ife,. 
Grace  T.  Perkins,  Joseph  Perkins,  his  wife,  Martha  E.  Perkins,. 
Jacob  Perkins  and  Henry  B.  Perkins,  "in  consideration  of  our 
desire  to  provide  for  the  health  and  convenience  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Town  of  Akron,"  conveying  to  the  Town  Council  of  said 
town,  "the  whole  of  Block  number  thirty,  (30),  containing  seven 
and  seven  one-hundredths  of  an  acre  of  land,  and  the  whole  of 
Block  number  six  (6)  in  Perkins'  Addition,  containing  one  and 
eighty-live  one-hundredths  of  an  acre  of  land,  "for  the  purpose  of 
public  squares,  or  grounds,  and  for  no  other  purpose  whatsoever, 
and  subject  to  these  further  limitations;  that  good  and  sufficient 
fences  around  the  same  shall  be  erected  within  nine  months  from 
this  date,  and  forever  maintained  at  the  proper  cost  of  the  Town  of 
Akron;  and  that  no  buildings  or  structures  of  any  kind  shall  be 
erected  on  the  same,  and  on  failure  of  said  Council  to  erect  said 
fences,  or,  after  their  erection,  to  keep  them  in  repair,  or  on  the 
erection  of  any  building  or  structure  theron,  by  said  Council  or 
their  successors  in  office,  or  by  any  other  person  or  persons,  then, 
and  in  either  of  these  cases,  or  contingences,  all  of  said  lands,  shall 
revert  and  revest  in  the  said  grantors,  their  heirs  or  assigns,  as 
fully  as  if  this  deed  had  not  been  made,  and  the  said  grantors, 
their  heirs  or  assigns  may  re-enter  and  take  possession  of  the 
same,  and  enjoy  it  in  as  full  and  ample  a  manner  as  if  this  con- 
veyance had  never  been  made." 

The  larger  of  the  two  parcels  of  ground  thus  conveyed^ 
bounded  by  Prospect  street  on  the  west.  Park  street  on  the  south,^ 
Perkins  street  on  the  north  and  Elm  street  on  the  east,  was,  by 
common  consent,  named  "Grace  Park,"  in  honor  of  Mrs.  Grace  T. 
Perkins,  the  amiable  w^ife  of  the  donor  of  the  land  in  question,  for 
though  his  three  brothers,  Joseph,  Jacob  and  Henry  B.,  joined  in 
making  the  conveyance,  it  was  understood  that  Col.  Simon 
Perkins  was  alone  the  giver. 

Grace  Park  was  fenced  within  the  time  specified,  in  December 
1848,  with  lumber  at  $8.00  per  thousand  feet  and  labor  at  thirty-one 
cents  per  rod,  or  a  grand  total  cost  of  $189.02.  Subsequently  in 
1875,  the  city  purchased  from  Joseph  Perkins  for  $2,000  the  strip  of 
land  lying  between  Elm  (now  North  College)  street  and  the  rail- 
roads, east  and  west,  and  Perkins  and  Park  streets,  north  and 
south,  a  portion  of  w|iich,  including  that  portion  of  College  street 
lying  between  the  tw^o  parcels,  has  recently  been  added  to  the 
main  park,  and  the  whole,  nearly  ten  acres,  surrounded  by  a  hand- 
some and  substantial  iron  fence,  leaving  a  narrow  driveway 
between  the  park  and  the  railway  embankment,  on  the  east  side. 
This  park,  with  a  large  number  of  the  original  forest  trees — grand 
old  oaks — still  standing  thereon,  interspersed  with  evergreens  and 
ornamental  shrubs,  surrounded  by  rowrs  of  thrifty  young  maples, 
w^ith  its  well-kept  w^alks  and  comfortable  lawn  settees,  is  a  con- 
stant reminder  to  our  people  of  the  generosity  and  foresight  of  the 


akkon's  public  parks.  257 

donor,  and  of  his  expressed  desire,  as  above  quoted,  "  to  promote 
the  health  and  convenience  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Town  of 
Akron." 

That  region  of  the  town  east  of  the  railroads,  and  bet\v^eeii 
East  Market  and  Middlebury  streets,  was  for  many  years  an  open 
common,  or  public  cow-pasture,  and  the  triangular  block  now^ 
known  as  "Union  Park,"  included  in  the  above  named  donation, 
remained  unfenced  and  unimproved  until  a  comparatively  recent 
period.  Indeed,  both  parcels  were  many  times  forfeited  by  the 
carelessness  and  neglect  of  the  town  officials,  had  the  generous- 
hearted  donor  seen  fit  to  enforce  the  stipulations  of  the  deed  as 
above  given,  Edward  Oviatt,  Esq.,  attorney  for  the  town,  in  a 
report  submitted  by  him  February  21,  1858,  admonishing  the 
Council  that  "a  failure  to  keep  up  the  fences,  or  to  permit  any 
permanent  structure  to  be  erected  on  Grace  or  Flat-iron  Parks 
would  Avork  a  forfeiture  of  title  and  a  reversion  of  the  same  to  the 
original  grantors,  or  their  heirs." 

This  triangular  ground,  designated  as  "Union  Park,"  is  now 
flanked  on  the  w^est  and  north  by  handsome  private  residences, 
and  on  the  southeasterly  side  by  like  structures,  with  Akron's 
magnificent  high  school  building  about  midway.  Like  Grace 
Park,  it  is  inclosed  by  a  handsome  iron  post  and  rail  fence,  nicely 
graded  and  sodded  and  planted  to  shade  trees,  both  inside  and  out, 
and  most  highly  appreciated  by  both  teachers,  scholars  and 
people. 

"Pleasant  Park"  is  in  the  extreme  south  end  of  the  cit3% 
east  of  the  railroads,  bounded  north  by  Thornton  street,  east  by 
Grant  street,  south  by  Eagle  street,  and  west  by  Washington  street, 
and  contains  about  five  acres  of  land.  It  was  dedicated  to  the 
public  use  by  the  late  Samuel  Thornton,  as  a  part  of  Thornton's 
addition  to  the  City  of  Akron,  and  with  the  care  that  is  being 
bestowed  upon  it  by  the  park  commissioners,  being  fenced,  graded 
and  liberally  provided  with  trees,  walks,  etc.,  is  in  reality  a  very 
great  boon  to  the  rapidly  increasing  population  of  that  portion  of 
the  city. 

At  the  junction  of  West  Market  and  North  streets,  and 
bounded  on  the  east  by  Valley  street,  is  a  triangular  park  contain- 
ing about  three-fourths  of  at  acre,  the  eastern  portion  of  which, 
lots  five  and  six,  or  Wolf's  sub-division,  being  purchased  by  the 
city,  July  19,  1880,  from  the  Lock  Slate  Company,  of  Philadelphia, 
for  the  consideration  of  $475,  and  the  apex,  30-100  of  an  acre,  from 
George  Flower,  executor  of  George  Treen,  January  6,  1881,  for  the 
consideration  of  $800.  The  lot  has  been  properly  graded  and 
improved,  and  in  the  center — a  donation  from  Hon.  J.  Park 
Alexander — is  a  commodious  fountain,  whose  sparkling  waters 
gladden  and  refresh  not  only  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighborhood, 
but  the  hundreds  of  daily  passers-by. 

By  an  arrangement  with  the  Cemetery  Association,  in  the 
laying  out  of  Glendale  avenue,  the  triangle  formed  by  the  junction 
of  the  avenue  with  West  Market  and  Cherry  streets,  containing 
about  one-eighth  of  an  acre  was  dedicated  to  the  public,  and  a 
fountain  erected  thereon  by  the  city,  run  at  first  by  the  waters  of  a 
large  spring,  or  w^ell,  at  the  corner  of  West  Marke:t  and  Bates 
street,  but  in  more  recent  years  by  those  of  the  Akron  City  Water 
Works.     By    a    subsequent    adjustment   of    street  and   lot   lines,. 

17 


258  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

between  the  city  and  Col.  D.  W.  Thomas,  this  little  park  will 
finally  become  nearly,  if  not  quite  obliterated,  though  for  the 
present  it  is  being  cared  for  by  the  commissioners,  as  are  the 
other  parks  of  the  city.     It  is  called  the  "Oasis." 

The  handsome  and  conveniently  located  lot,  on  northeast 
corner  of  East  Market  and  High  streets,  is  the  original  lot  upon 
which  the  late  Gen.  Lucius  V.  Bierce  erected,  in  1835,  '36,  what  was 
then  the  finest  family  residence  in  the  new  village  of  North  Akron. 
On  the  13th  day  of  September,  1875,  the  Gen.  and  Mrs.  Bierce  con- 
veyed their  property  to  the  city,  on  the  consideration  that, 
commencing  on  the  15th  day  of  March,  1876,  the  city  should  pay  to 
them  the  sum  of  $1,500  per  annum  during  their  joint  lives,  and  on 
the  death  of  either,  the  sum  of  $1000peryear  to  the  survivor  during 
his  or  her  life,  with  the  stipulation  that  the  city  should  allow  them 
to  occupy  said  house  or  provide  them  with  rooms  in  the  new^ 
building  that  might  be  erected  thereon,  and  provided  further,  "  that 
the  lot  conveyed  shall  be  forever  known  as  '  Bierce  Park.' " 

Not  being  ready  to  erect  a  city  hall,  or  other  public  building 
on  said  lot,  the  grantors  were  permitted  to  occupy  the  premises 
until  their  respective  deaths — ^the  General,  November  11,  1876,  and 
Mrs.  Bierce,  April  24,  1882. 

The  cost  to  the  city  for  the  property  in  question  was  about 
$6,000.  For  a  time  after  the  death  of  Mrs.  Bierce,  the  house  was 
rented  to  various  parties,  for  domestic  purposes,  but  as  that  usage 
was  both  annoying  and  profitless,  besides  jeopardizing  the  title, 
the  building  was  sold  to  Mr.  Leroy  Munson,  and  by  him  removed 
to  Furnace  street,  where  it  is  now  doing  duty  as  a  tenement  house, 
and  the  most  substantial  house  on  that  street. 

"  Bierce  Park"  has  been  graded,  sodded  and  fenced,  and  will 
thus  be  kept  as  a  public  park  until  such  time  as  the  city  may 
desire  to  use  the  lot  for  the  erection  of  such  a  public  building — 
city  hall,  or  otherwise  —  as  its  convenient  and  commanding  loca- 
tion is  w^orthy  of. 

From  its  earliest  history  Middlebury  has  had  quite  an  exten- 
sive public  square,  contributed  by  Roswell  Kent,  and  other 
public-spirited  citizens,  on  the  southerly  side  of  what  is  now^  East 
Market  street,  and  on  which  the  original  school  house  of  the 
village  was  located,  and  in  later  years  the  high  school  building  of 
Middlebury  toAvnship.  Since  the  annexation  of  that  township  to 
the  cit}^,  and  the  erection  of  the  splendid  new  Sixth  Ward  school 
building,  on  South  Arlington  street,  the  old  school  building  has 
been  converted  into  Fire  Station  Number  Two,  and  the  old 
Middlebury  public  square,  w^ith  its  nicely  graveled  walks,  its  well- 
kept  lawn,  its  sparkling  fountain,  its  thrifty  shade  trees,  shrubbery, 
etc.,  is  now,  under  the  management  of  the  fire  laddies,  one  of  the 
very  pleasantest  parks  in  the  city. 

In  addition,  and  nearly  opposite,  in  the  acute  angle  formed  by 
the  junction  of  East  Market  and  Broad  streets,  also  a  contribution 
from  early  residents,  is  a  shady  lawn,  or  park,  of  perhaps  one-fourth 
of  an  acre,  which  is  both  a  great  convenience  and  a  source  of 
pleasure  to  the  inhabitants  of  that  portion  of  our  goodly  city. 

The  parks  of  the  city  are  under  the  care  and  control  of  a  board 
of  three  park  commissioners,  at  present  consisting  of  Christian 
Vogt,  John  Kreuder  and  David  Rittersbach,  all  of  whom,  without 
compensation,   yearl)^  devote  much  time    and    attention    to    their 


AKRON  S    PUBLIC    PARKS. 


259 


improvement,  the  annual  expenses  for  fencing,  grading  and  plant- 
ing, trimming,  mowing,  seating,  etc.,  averaging  about  $2,700,  for 
the  past  five  or  six  years,  the  expenditures  for  the  past  five  years, 
as  shown  by  city  clerk's  annual  report  to  City  Council  being, 
respectively,  $1,963.08;  $2,369.40;  $2,491.19;  $2,655.39;  $3,153.03;  the 
cost  of  fencing  Grace  and  Union  Parks  alone  being  respectively 
about  $3,000  and  $1,350;  the  fences,  however,  being  of  such  a  per- 
manent nature  that  no  further  expense  than  an  occasional  coat  of 
paint  will  be  required  for  many  years  to  come. 


View  on  Ohio  Canal,  below  Stone  Mill, 
looking  South. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

AKRON  AND  PORTAGE  TOWNSHIP  CIVIL  SERVICE— TOWN,  VILLAGE,  CITY  AND 
TOWNSHIP  LOCAL  AND  GENERAL  PUBLIC  OFFICERS  FOR  FIFTY-FIVE  YEARS 
—A  HIGHLY  HONORABLE  RECORD— HUNDREDS  OF  FAITHFUL  OFFICIALS  — 
NOT  A  SINGLE  CASE  OF  MALFEASANCE  KNOWN— A  VALUABLE  LIST  FOR 
FUTURE  REFERENCE. 

AKRON'S  CIVIL  SERVICE  RECORD. 

AS  in  subsequent  chapters,  under  their  respective  heads,  the  civil 
service  status  of  the  several  townships,  in  the  county,  state 
and  nation,  will  be  given,  it  is  here  in  order  to  show^  how 
far  the  citizens  of  the  shire  town  have  been  honored  with 
positions  of  public  trust,  by  the  people  of  the  town,  village,  countj^, 
and  state,  and  the  fidelity  with  which  each  and  all  have  discharged 
the  arduous  and  responsible  duties  thus  devolved  upon  them,  and 
it  may  here  be  parenthetically  observed,  that,  in  the  long  list  of 
names  w^hich  follow^s,  not  a  single  instance  of  malfeasance  in  office 
has  been  reported  or  suspected. 

As  elsewhere  stated  Akron  was  incoporated  as  a  "Town,"  b3^ 
act  of  the  Legislature,  passed  March  13, 1836,  the  municipal  officers 
provided  by  the  act,  to  be  elected  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  the 
ensuing  June,  by  the  "w^hite  male  inhabitants  Avho  have  resided 
within  the  aforesaid  limits  of  said  town  for  the  space  of  six  months 
next  preceding  said  election,"  being  "one  Mayor,  one  Recorder  and 
five  Trustees  who  together  shall  constitute  a  Town  Council,"  etc.; 
subsequent  elections  to  be  held  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  June  in 
each  year,  thus  involving  the  necessity  of  holding  three  elections 
each  year — township,  municipal  and  state,  w^ith  an  additional  elec- 
tion for  President  every  four  years. 

On  the  adoption  of  the  new  State  Constitution  of  1851,  the  legal 
title  of  Akron,  by  virtue  of  its  provisions,  became  "The  Incorpo- 
rated Village  of  Akron,"  w^hich  title  was  retained  until  its  advance- 
ment to  a  city  of  the  second-class  in  January,  1865,  as  heretofore 
stated. 

The  initial  election  of  town  officers  was  fully  described  in  the 
second  chapter  of  this  work  and  need  not  be  repeated  here,  the 
entire  roster  of  toAvn,  village,  city  and  township  officers,  during  the 
intervening  55  years,  being  as  follows: 

Town  and  Village  Trustees. — For  1836,  Erastus  Torre3^ 
Jedediah  D.  Commins,  William  B.  Mitchell,  William  E.  Wright, 
Noah  M.  Green;  Mr.  Mitchell  declining  to  serve.  Col.  Justus  Gale 
was  appointed  by  Council  to  fill  the  vacancy.  In  1837,  William  K. 
May,  William  T.  Mather,  Dana  D.  Evans,  Jesse  Allen,  Eber 
Blodgett;  Mr.  May  removing  from  town  in  September  1837,  Wil- 
liam Patterson  was  appointed  in  his  place.  In  1838,  Jesse  Allen, 
Ebenezer  Martin,  Justus  Gale,  James  W.  Phillips,  Ansel  Miller; 
1839,  Samuel  Manning,  Seth  Iredell,  James  W.  Phillips,  Lewis  P. 
Buckley,  Ebenezer  Martin;  Mr.  Martin  declining  to  serve,  Ansel 
Miller  w^as  appointed  in  his  place  and  Mr.  Phillips  resigning  in  July, 
Mr.  Ithiel  Mills  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy.  1840,  Seth  Ire- 
dell, Samuel  Manning,  Ithiel  Mills,  Samuel  A.  Wheeler,  William  E. 


AKRON  S   CIV'IL    SERVICE    RECORD. 


261 


WILLIAM  L.  CLARKE— son  of 
Judge  George  Clarke,  was  born 
in  Lewivsburg,  Pa.,  March  19,  1796; 
<:atne  with  parents  to  Stark  County, 
in  1810,  and  to  Springfield  in  1814 ; 
common  school  education,  receiving 
additional  instruction  from  father 
in  mathematics  and  surveying; 
raised  a  farmer,  early  manhood 
divided  between  farming  and  teach- 
ing, in  1833  removing  to  Middlebur3^ ; 
in  1848,  was  elected  Sheriff  of  Summit 
county,  and  re-elected  in  1850,  ably 
filling  that  responsible  position  four 
years,  meantime  moving  to  Akron  ; 
was  elected  justice  of  the  peace  for 
Portage  township,  in  1857,  and  re- 
elected in  1861,  '64  and  '67,  faithfully 
seving  twelve  years.  April  9,  1818, 
he  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  De 
Haven,  of  Springfield,  who  bore  hitn 
five  daughters  and  one  son — Martha, 
born  January  28, 1819,  married  to  Mr. 
James  Irvin,  November  2,  1842,  who 
died  September  4,  1863.  Mrs.  Irvin 
still  surviving;  Nancy  Cynthia, 
born  March  25,  1821,  married  to  Perry 
C.  Caruthers,  of  Tallmadge,  October 
122,  1840,  both  now  living ;  Sarah  Lois, 
born  July  2,  1823,  married  to  Dudley 
Seward,  whose  portrait  and  bio- 
graphy appear  elsewhere;  Maria 
Jane,  born  January  7,  1826,  married 
to    N.    D.   Furry,   November    12,   1845, 


NELSON    B.  STONE. 

NELSON  B.  STONE,-son  of  Milo 
and  Sarah  (Beardsley)  Stone, 
was  born  September  18,  1816,  in  Ma- 
honing County,  Ohio,  the  family  a 
5^ear  later  settling  in  Tallmadge ; 
educated  in  district  schools  and  at 
Tallmadge  Academ}"^ ;  after  several 
3'ears  spent  in  West  Bloomfield,  N. 
Y.,  Ravenna  and  Chardon,  O.,  and 
Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  as  clerk  and  book- 
keeper, in  December,  1840,  Mr.  Stone 


WILLIAM    L.   CLARKE. 

died  December,  1865 ;  Mary  H.,  born 
August  13,  1830,  married  to  Nelson  B. 
Stone,  May  19, 1852,  died  April  6,  1853  ; 
William  Milton,  born  March  7,  1834, 
died  January  22,  1878.  Mr.  Clarke 
died  August  9,  1876,  and  Mrs.  Clarke 
April  12,  1881. 


came  to  Akron,  clerking  in  store  for 
a  few  months,  when  he  accepted  the 
position  of  deputy,  under  cotinty 
clerk,  Lucian  Swift,  serviAg  under 
Clerk  Swift  and  Clerk  Lucius  S.  Peck, 
until  October,  1851,  when  he  Avas 
elected  Clerk  (the  first  under  the  new 
constitution,  clerks  theretofore  hav- 
ing been  appointed  by  the  court), 
which  position  he  held  three  years. 
Then,  though  still  residing  in  Akron, 
he  was  for  a  time  deputy  clerk*of 
Cxiyahoga  County  ;  then  after  a  short 
engagement  with  Aultman,  Miller  & 
Co.,  in  1865,  became  the  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  Weary,  Snyder  & 
Wilcox  Manufacturing  Co.,  which 
position  he  held  18  years,  having 
since  retired  from  active  business. 
Mr.  S.  has  been  an  efficient  and 
official  member  of  the  First  M.  E. 
church,  and  a  zealous  worker,  teacher, 
secretary,  etc.,  in  the  Sunday  school, 
since  its  organization.  May  19,  18,52, 
Mr.  Stone  was  married  to  Miss  Mary 
H.  Clarke,  of  Akron,  who  died  April 
6,18.53,  leaving  one  son  — Nelson  C, 
now  cashier  in  City  National  Bank 
of  Akron.  August  23,  1854,  Mr.  Stone 
was  again  married,  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
H.  Beardsley,  of  Akron,  who  has 
borne  him  two  children— Philip  C, 
who  died  March  24,  1872,  and  Dwight 
M.,  living  at  home. 


262 


AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


PHILIP  P.  BOCK— born  in  Mich- 
enbach,  Hessian  Haniburg-jPrus- 
eia,  February  10,  1830;  at  ten  years  of 
age  came  with  parents  to  America, 
settling- in  Akron;  educated  at  Akron 
Hig-h  School ;  clerked  for  various 
firms  in  Akron  several  j^ears ;  was 
employed  by  Countj'  Commissioners 
to  compile  complete  index  of  county 
records ;  in  1858,  was  elected  Count)' 
Recorder,  and  re-elected  in  1861,  ably 
filling-  that  important  position  six 
years,  and,  being-  a  firm  advocate  of 
the  doctrine  of  "  rotation  in  office," 
declining  an  assured  nomination 
for  a  third  term.  On  retiring  from 
office,  for  a  short  time  was  in  the  lum- 
ber trade,  after  which  he  embarked  in 
the  insurance  business,  later  estab- 
lishing a  real  estate  and  loan  agencj*. 
which  has  been  phenomenall)^  suc- 
cessful, being  the  pioneer  in  that 
line  of  business  in  the  cit3^  Mr. 
Bock  is  emphaticallj"  self-made,  an 
earnest  Republican,  a  stanch  tem- 
perance man  and  a  good  citizen.  He 
was  married  Julv  31,  1860,  to  Miss 
Ellen  Shultes,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  Five 
children  have  been   born  to  them — 


PHILIP  P.  BOCK. 

three  daughters,  Ada,  Mae  C.  and 
Annie,  and  two  sons,  Philip  Paul,  Jr., 
who  died  yoving,  and  Charles  S.,  a 
bright,  promising  j'oung  man.  who 
died  suddenly.  September  28,  1888,  at 
the  age  of  25  3^ears,  1  month  and  11 
days. 


Wright;  1841,  Seth  Iredell,  Webster  B.  Storer,  Jacob  Allen,  Ansel 
Miller,  Leverett  J.  Ives;  1842,  Ansel  Miller,  Seth  Iredell,  David 
Allen,  George  T.   Ray,  Horace  May;   Mr.  Allen  dying  in  Januar^^, 

1843,  James  Mathews  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacanc3';  1843,  Seth 
Iredell  James  Mathews,  George  T.  Ray,  Horace  May,  Ansel  Miller- 

1844,  .William  M.  Dodge,  Robert  K.  DuBois,  Nahum  Fay,  Jesse 
Allen,  Samuel  A.  Wheeler;  Mr.  Jesse  Allen,  resigning  in  September, 
his  brother,  Mr.  Jacob  Allen,  was  appointed  to  the  vacancy.  1845^ 
Robert  K.  DuBois,  Justus  Gale,  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  William  M, 
Dodge,  John  H.  Crawford;  Col.  Gale  declining  to  serve,  Samuel  A. 
Wheeler  was  appointed  for  the  term,  and  Judge  DuBois  dying^ 
in  November,  Horace  Canfield  was  appointed  for  remainder  of 
term;  1846,  Horace  Canfield,  Samuel  A.  Wheeler,  Allen  Hibbard,. 
Nicholas  Emmons  Vansickle,  Lucius  V.  Bierce;  1847,  Allen  Hib- 
bard,  Lucian  Swift,  Samuel  A.  Wheeler,  Joseph  A.  Beebe,  Ansel 
Miller;  1848,  Ansel  Miller,  Nathaniel  Finch,  Benjamin  McNaugh- 
ton,  John  M.  Cutler,  George  W.  Bloom;  1849,  Nathaniel  Finch, 
Ansel  Miller,  Charles  Webster,  George  W.  Bloom,  Milton  W.  Henrj'^; 
Mr.  Finch  resigning  in  October,  John  M.  Cutler  was  appointed  to 
the  vacancy;  1850,  Thomas  H.  Goodwin,  John  Howe,  Hiram  Viele, 
Robert  Jackson,  Lemuel  C.  Parker;  Mr.  Howe  removing  from  the 
town  in  October,  William  M.  Dodge  was  appointed  in  his  place; 
1851,  James  M.  Hale,  Benjamin  ^cNaughton,  William  O.  Sanford, 
Milton  W.  Henry,  David  T.  Bruner;  1852,  James  M.  Hale,  William 
O.  Sanford,  Ralph  P.  Myers,  Peter  Osborn,  Ansel  Miller;  1853, 
WilHam  T.  Allen,  Richard  S.  Elkins,  David  A.  Scott,  George 
Thomas,  Daniel  H.  Wheeler;  Mr.  Elkins  having  been  appointed 
Recorder,  in  January,  1854,  in  place  of  Recorder  Horace  Canfield, 
deceased  as  elsewhere  stated,  Samuel  A.  Lane  was  appointed  to  serve 
the  balance  of  Mr.  Elkins's  term  as  trustee;  1854,  James  B.  TapHn, 
Thomas  H.  Goodwin,  Richard  Howe,  David  Hanscom,  James   M. 


AKRON  S   CIVIL    SERVICE    RECORD. 


263 


Hale;  1855,  Richard  Howe,  Ansel  Miller,  James  B.  Taplin,  Cornelius 
Johnston,  David  A.  Scott;  Mr.  Taplin  resigning  April  18,  Kichard 
S.  Elkins  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy;  1856,  Henry  Purdy, 
David  A.  Scott,  Thomas  H.  Goodwin,  Henry  S.  Abbey,  Joseph 
Milligan;  1857,  George  Thomas,  Henry  Fisher,  Jr.,  Henry  S.  Abbey, 
Henry  Purdy,  Charles  Cranz;  1858,  Charles  Cranz,  Richard  B, 
Walker,  John  Cook,  Joseph  Milligan,  Job  Pierce;  1859,  William  L. 
Everett,  Job  Pierce,  Richard  B.  Walker,  Thoinas  H.  Goodwin, 
Joseph  Milligan;  Mr.  Pierce  resigning  in  October,  George  W. 
McNeil  was  appointed  in  his  place;  1860,  Richard  Howe,  Ferdinand 
Schumacher,  Robert  L.  Moffatt,  James  Christy,  William  S.  Painton, 
1861,  Robert  L.  Moffatt,  Ferdinand  Schumacher,  George  Buel,  John 
Douglas,  Henrj^  Fisher;  1862,  Charles  Webster,  John  E.  Bell,  John 
Douglas,  Isaac  Barter,  George  Buel;  1863,  Arad  Kent,  John  E.  Bell, 
John  H.  Waggoner;  1864,  Allen  Hibbard,  Stephen  H.  Pitkin,  William 
H.  Lapeus,  Charles  W.  Bonstedt  James  Christy. 

Town  and  Village  Mayors. — The  mayors  of  the  incorporatd 
town  and  village  of  Akron,  like  its  trustees,  were  elected  for  the 
term  of  one  year  only,  and  v^ere  successively  as  follows:  1836,  Seth 
Iredell,  (father  of  Charles  and  Robert  S.  Iredell,  now  both  residents 
of  Akron);  1837,  '38,  John  Curtis  Singletary,  (now  living  in  Streets- 
boro.  Portage  county);  1839,  '41,  '44,  '49,  Lucius  Verus  Bierce;  1840, 
Arad  Kent;  1842,  '43,  Harvey  H.Johnson;  1845,  '46,  '47.  Philo  Cham- 
berlin;  1848,  Israel  E.  Carter;  1850,  George  Bliss;  1851,  Charles  G. 
Ladd,  (father  of  the  present  Mrs.  A.  C.  Voris);  1852,  Frederick 
Wadsworth;  1853,  Philip  N.  Schuyler;  1854,  William  T.  Allen,  1855, 


HON.  JOHN  JOHNSTON,— born  in 
Center  County,  Pa.,  February 
11,  1813;  when  a  year  old  came  witli 
parents  to  Ohio,  settling-  in  Green 
Township ;  common  school  educa- 
tion ;  worked  on  father's  farm  till  18, 
when  he  entered  store  of  Hart, 
DuBois  &  Co.,  in  Middlebury  as 
clerk ;  about  1838  commenced  busi- 
ness for  himself  in  partnership  with 
Mr.  James  Irvin,  continuing-  till  1845  ; 
then  engaged  in  real  estate  busi- 
ness, loaning-  money,  etc.;  1864(50 
member  of  banking  firm  of  D.  P. 
Eberman  &  Co.;  1866-72,  member  of 
building-  and  lumber  firm  of  W.  B. 
Doyle  &  Co.  Mr.  Johnston  was  an 
active  Republican ;  elected  Re])re- 
sentative  to  State  Legislature  in  1861, 
and  re-elected  in  186;^,  ably  filling  the 
Speaker's  chair  in  adjourned  session 
of  1865 ;  a  warm  friend  of  Horace 
Greeley,  supported  him  for  Presi- 
dent in  1872,  but  soon  became  dia- 
g-usted  with  that  movement  and 
returned  to  Republican  ranks,  as 
chairman  of  Republican  Central 
Cominittee  ;  for  several  3'ears  justice 
of  the  peace  for  Middlebury  town- 
ship; and  for  28  consecutive  j^ears, 
save  one,  a  member  of  Middlebur3^ 
school  board.  February  4,  184(),  Mr. 
Johnston  was  married  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  R.  Newton,  of  Middlebury-, 
who     still     survives,     Mr.    Johnston 


HON.   JOHN    JOHNSTON. 

dj'ing  suddenlj',  of  apoplexv,  Jan- 
luiry  26,  1879.  Of  the  ten  children 
born  to  them,  eight  are  now  living — 
Frances  P.  (now  Mrs.  Edward  Buck- 
ingham, of  Akron) ;  Charles  N.;  Park 
B.,  (Deputy^  Auditor  of  Sumirit  Co.); 
Clara,  (Mrs.  K.  T.  Hall,  of  Titusville, 
Pa.) ;  William  E.,  of  Akron  ;  John  Jr., 
(lawyer  in  Chicago);  Lizzie  J.,  (now 
Mrs.  Robert  Watt,  of  Akron) ;  and 
Samuel  Newton,  of  Akron. 


264 


AKKOX    AND    SUMMIT    COUNTY. 


DR.  MENDAL  JEWETT  — of  Eng-- 
lish  descent,  was  born  in  Green- 
wich, Mass.,  September  4,  1815;  com- 
mon school  education  ;  at  '18  went  to 
Boston,  working  in  foundry  some 
two  j-ears  ;  then  visited  the  South, 
Avhere  personal  observation  gave 
him  his  subsequent  well-known  deep 
aversion  to  human  slavery;  in  the 
Spring-  of  1836  joined  an  older  brother 
in  Aurora,  Portage  County,  soon 
afterwards  entering  upon  the  study 
of  medicine  in  the  office  of  Drs.  Noble 
&  Town,  in  Hudson,  graduating  from 
Western  Reserve  Medical  College  in 
1839,  locating  and  coinmencing  prac- 
tice in  Mogadore  the  same  year;  in 
1850  made  the  tedious  and  perilous 
overland  journey  to  California, 
remaining  there  two  j^ears ;  repre- 
sented Summit  County  in  the  State 
Legislature  during  the  sessions  of 
1855,  '56  and  1856,  '57,  exerting  a  marked 
influence  in  that  body  on  the  subject 
of  human  rights,  temperance  and 
morality.  In  1858  Dr.  Jewett  removed 
to  Middlebury,  where  he  spent  the 
reinainder  of  his  life  in  the  sticcessf ul 
practice  of  his  profession;  in  practical 
scientific  pursuits,  of  which  he  was 
devotedly  fond  ;  in  improved  horti- 
cultural operations  and  in  the  pro- 
motion of  the  cause  of  education  and 
the  general  welfare.  June  14,  1839, 
Dr.    Jewett    was     married     to    Miss 


JOHN  PARK  ALEXANDER. 

JOHN  PARK  ALEXANDER,  son 
J  of  John  and  Mary  (Scott)  Alex- 
ander, born  in  Bath,  Axigust  1,  1834; 
educated  in  district  schools,  Rich- 
field Academy  and  Marlboro  Normal 
School,  in  latter  taking  a  course  in 
civil  engineering  under  Prof.  Hol- 
l^rook  ;  was  principal  of  Akron  Gram- 


DR.  MENDAL  JEWETT. 

Cordelia  H.  Kent,  of  Aurora,  who 
bore  him  10  children,  4  dying  in 
infancy  :  Noble  Mendal,  now  in 
Akron  ;  Florence  EmiU^  now  wife  of 
Dr.  Fred.  W.  Inman,  Whitehaven, 
Florida  ;  Eva  L.,  now  Mrs.  John 
DeHaven,  of  Akron  ;  Ford  E.,  now  of 
Canon  Citj',  Colorado  ;  Mary  B.,  pro- 
fessor in  Buchtel  College ;  Lillie 
May,  now  Mrs.  Charles  T.  Inman,  of 
Akron. 


mar  School  from  April,  1855,  to  July, 
1857  ;  in  1866  purchased  site  of  present 
fire  brick  works  and  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  stoneware;  also  con- 
tracting for  product  of  12  or  15  other 
potteries,  with  warehouses  in  Akron, 
Detroit  and  Chicago;  in  1867  estab- 
lished his  present  extensive  fire 
brick  works,  on  Canal  street ;  from 
1872  for  five  j^ears  proprietor  of  two 
oil  refineries,  till  1891  dealing  exten- 
sively in  illuminating  and  lubri- 
cating oils  ;  was  secretary  of  Summit 
County  Agricultural  Society  five 
years,  from  1858,  and  its  president 
seven  years  thereafter ;  treasurer 
State  Board  of  Agriculture  in  1872 ; 
member  of  Akron  Cit5'  Council  15 
years  between  1865  and  1888,  and 
eight  years  its  president ;  representa- 
tive to  State  Legislature  1882,  '83; 
State  Senator  for  Summit,  Portage, 
Geauga,  Lake  and  Ashtabula  coun- 
ties 1888-92.  September  4,  1860,  Mr. 
Alexander  was  tnarried  to  Miss 
Martha  D.  Wright,  of  Tallmadge, 
who  has  borne  him  eight  children — 
Clara  W.  (married  to  Prof.  Charles 
B.  Wright,  of  Middlebury,  Vt.,  Col- 
lege); Helen  B.  (now  Mrs.  Henrj^  B. 
Sperry,  of  Huntingdon,  Pa.,);  George 
Bates  (deceased),  Grace  F.,  Mattie  D., 
Bessie  H.,  John  Park,  Jr.,  and  Alice  B. 


AKRON  S   CIV^L    SERVICE    RECORD. 


265 


'56,  Nathaniel  Finch;  1857,  '58,  Frederick  A.  Nash;  1859,  George  W. 
McNeil;  1860,  '61,  Henry  Purdy;  1862,  '63,  Charles  A.  Collins;  1864, 
Oeorge  D.  Bates. 

Town  and  Village  Recorders. — Recorders  elected  by  the  peo- 
ple each  year:  1836,  Constant  Bryan;  1837,  '38,  William  E.  Wright; 
1839,  '40,  '41,  Robert  K.  DuBois;  1842,  '43,  '47,  Nahum  Fay;  1844,  '45, 
'46,  William  Harrison  Dewey;  1848,  '49,  '50,  '51,  Edward  W.  Perrin; 
1852,  '53,  Horace  Canfield;  Mr.  Canfield  dying  in  December,  1853, 
Richard  S.  Elkins  was  appointed  by  Council  for  balance  of  term, 
and  elected  for  1854;  followed  in  1855,  '56  by  Joseph  E.  Wesener; 
1857,  '58  by  Ralph  P.  Waterbury;  1859,  Allen  Hibbard;  1860,  62,  '63 
Alvin  Rice;  1861,  James  Holmes;  1864,  Henry  Ward  Ingersoll. 


DR.  ISRAEL  E.  CARTER,— born  in 
Concord,  N.  H.,  April  8,  1810; 
graduated  from  Vermont  Medical 
College,  at  Woodstock,  in  June,  1835; 
b}^  reason  of  impaired  health,  ex- 
<:hanged  practice  of  medicine  for 
dentistry,  opening  an  office  in 
Ravenna,  Ohio,  in  1836,  where  he  suc- 
<:essfully  practiced  until  1843,  when 
he  removed  to  Akron,  and  was  for 
many  years  the  leading  dentist  of 
the  town  and  county.  In  1862,  Dr. 
Carter  was  elected  to  the  office  of 
County  Treasurer,  and  re-elected  in 
1864,  ably  filling  the  office  two  full 
terms  of  two  j'ears  each,  having 
previously  held  the  office  of  Maj^or 
-of  the  incorporated  village  of  Akron 
during  the  years  1848,  '49,  and  mem- 
ber of  School  Board  two  terms.  Dr. 
Carter  was  married  to  Miss  Marj'- 
L.  Williamson,  of  Ravenna,  July  4, 
184(),  who  bore  him  four  children — 
Frances  L.,  wife  of  Capt.  T.  D.  McGil- 
licuddy,  of  Akron;  William  H.,  book- 
keeper for  J.  F.  Seiberling-  Companj^; 
Mary  Alice  died  in  her  fourth  year, 
in  18,o3,  and  Charles  E.,  jeweler,  late 
of  Doylestown,  Waj'ne  Co.,  Ohio,  now 
living  in  Akron.  Mrs.  Carter  dj'ing 
June  19,  1862,  in  her  43d  year,  Dr.  Car- 
ter    was     again     married,     to     Mrs. 


DR.  ISRAEL  E.  CARTER. 

Eunice  R.  Sherman,  in  1863.  Dr.  Car- 
ter was  a  charter  member  of  Summit 
Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  organized  in  1845, 
active  and  prominent  in  its  councils, 
and  Deputy  Grand  Master  one  term. 
Dr.  Carter  died  July  27,  1885,  aged  75 
years,  3  months  and  19  daj's. 


Town  axd  Village  Marshals. — This  officer  was,  under  the  old 
constitution,  an  appointee  of  the  Council,  for  one  year,  successive 
incumbents,  under  that  arrangement,  being  as  follows:  1836, 
Tthiel  Mills;  1837,  Moses  Cleveland;  1838,  '39,  Alfred  R.  Townsend; 
1840,  '41,  Caleb  G.  Gillett;  1842,  Alfred  R.  Townsend;  1843,  Caleb  G. 
Gillett;  1844,  '45,  Charles  G.  Ladd;  1846,  '47,  Cyrus  S.  Van  Orman; 
1848,  '49,  Merrick  Burton;  1850,  Jeremiah  Crissman;  1851,  Jacob 
Rice,  Mr.  Rice  resigning  March  14,  1852,  David  Croy  was 
appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy.  1852,  '53,  '54  (elected  by  the  people) 
Josiah  J.  Wright,  Hiram  S.  Falor,  assistant;  1855,  Josiah  J.  Wright; 
1856,  George  W.  Marriner;  1857,  Josiah  J.  Wright,  William  Fisher, 
assistant;  1858,  Josiah  J.  Wright,  Philip  A.  Bierwirth,  assistant; 
1*^59,  Josiah  J.  Wright,  George  W.  Smetts,  assistant;  1860,  Josiah  J. 
Wright,  Dudley  Seward,  assistant;  1861,  Joseph  Milligan,  William 


266 


Akron  and  j^ummit  county. 


Ward,  assistant;  1862,  George  W.  Marriner,  William  Ward,  assist- 
ant; 1863,  Josiah  J.  Wright,  David  A.  Scott,  assistant;  1864,  David 
A.  Scott,  William  Ward,  assistant. 


EDWARD  OVIATT,— born  in  Hud- 
son, May  19,  1822,  the  family 
later  removing'  to  Richfield;  raised 
on  farm;  educated  at  Richfield 
Academy,  Granville  Institute  and 
Western  Reserve  College;  in  May, 
1842,  came  to  Akron  and  entered  the 
office  of  the  late  Chief  Justice  David 
K.  Cartter,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  then 
practicing  law  in  Akron;  in  Septem- 
ber, 1844,  at  Medina,  admitted  to  prac- 
tice in  State  Courts,  and  in  Novein- 
ber  1846,  at  Cleveland,  to  practice  in 
United  States  Courts;  practiced  in 
partnership  with  Hon.  S.  W.  McClure 
from  1865  to  1870,  and  from  1876  to 
1891  with  his  son-in-law,  George  G. 
Allen,  Esq.,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Oviatt  &  Allen,  the  firm  now,  with 
Mr.  Charles  S.  Cobbs  added  thereto, 
being  Oviatt,  Allen  &  Cobbs.  Mr. 
Oviatt  was  a  member  of  the  Akron 
Board  of  Education  for  several  years. 
City  Attornej^  from  1853  to  1862,  and 
Prosecuting  Attorney  of  Summit 
County  from  1865  to  1869.  In  1864. 
served  100  days  at  Arlington  Heights, 
Va.,  as  a  member  of  the  164th  Regi- 
ment, O.  N.  G.,  under  Col.  John  C. 
Lee,  beiijg  appointed  Color  Bearer  of 
the  regiment,  on  its  organization  in 
Cleveland.  September  8,  1847,  Mr. 
Oviatt  was  married  to  Miss  Anna  M. 
Wadsworth,  of  Akron,  who  died 
August  9,    1854,    leaving   one    child. 


Dk.   LEOXIDAS  S.  EBRIGHT. 


EDWARD    OVIATT. 


Emma,  now  wife  of  Calvin  Edgerton, 
a  lawyer  in  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 
December  5,  1855,  was  married  t» 
Miss  Frances  A.  Lansing-,  of  vSara- 
toga  countj^,  N.  Y.,  who  died  August 
13,  1881,  leaving  two  children — Olivia 
F.,  wife  of  George  G.  Allen,  Esq.,  and 
Edward  Ailing,  book-keeper  in  the 
City  National  Bank  of  Akron. 


T^R.    LEONIDAS     S.    EBRIGHT, 
^-^      son     of     George     and     Rachel 
(Hathaway)  Ebright,  born  in  Fairfield 


County,  Ohio,  September  26,  1844 ; 
common  school  education ;  in  Maj-, 
1862,  enlisted  in  8.5th  Regt.,  O.  V.  I.;  dis- 
charged with  regiment  in  July,  1865, 
In  February,  1866,  came  to  Akron, 
studying  medicine  with  Drs.  William 
Bowen  and  Thomas  McEbright,. 
graduating  at  Charity  Hospital  Med- 
ical College  in  February,  1869.  After- 
wards spent  13  months  in  Germanjs 
then  settled  down  to  the  practice  of 
his  profession  in  Akron.  An  ardent 
Republican  in  politics,  Dr.  F/bright 
was  elected  to  the  State  Legislature,, 
in  1880,  abl3"  serving  his  constituents 
in  that  bod}'  two  years.  He  is  an 
active  member  of  the  variovis  ined- 
ical  associations  of  the  Count}',  State 
and  Nation,  has  served  four  years  as 
health  officer  of  the  Citj-  of  Akron, 
and  was  president  of  the  decennial 
real  estate  board  of  eqixalization  of 
the  city  for  1890.  November  15,  1883, 
Dr.  Ebright  was  married  to  Miss 
Julia  A.  Bissell  of  Sharon,  Medina 
County,  O.  They  have  two  children — 
Ruth  Bissell,  born  September  24, 1884, 
and  Mary  Rachel,  born  June  21,1889. 


AKRON  S   CIVIL   SERVICE    RECORD. 


267 


Town  and  Village  Treasurers. — Appointed  yearly  by  Coun- 
cil: 1836,  Samuel  A.  Wheeler;  1837,  '38,  Horace  K.  Smith:  1839, 
Russell  Abbey;  1840,  '41,  '42,  '43,  '44,  '45,  Gibbons  J.  Ackley;  1846,  '47, 
'48,  '49,  Grove  N.  Abbey;  1850,  '51,  '52,  '53,  '54,  Milton  \V.  Henry. 
Elected  by  the  people:  1855,  '56,  '57,  Milton  W.  Henry;  1858,  John 
T.  Good;  1859,  '60,  John  H.  Chamberlin;  1861,  '62,  '63,  '64,  Charles 
Cranz.  Since  advanced  to  second  class  city,  in  1865,  the  County 
Treasurer  has,  under  the  law,  been  ex-officio  City  Treasurer. 

Town  and  Village  ATTORNEvs.^Previous  to  1851  no  regular 
corporation  attorney  was  appointed  by  council,  though  L.  V. 
Bierce,  Constant  Bryan  and  others  were  employed  as  occasion 
required,  to  look  after  the  legal  interests  of  the  village.  In  1851 
Roland  O.  Hammond  was  regularly  designated,  by  Council,  as 
Corporation  Attorney,  followed  in  1852  and  a  part  of  1853  by  Wil- 
liam H.  Upson,  the  balance  of  1853  by  Kdward  Oviatt;  1854,  Philip 
N.  Schuyler;  1855,  '56,  '57,  '58,  '59,  '60,  Edward  Oviatt;  1861,  Henry 
Ward  Ingersoll;  1862,  '63,  Charles  B.  Bernard;  1864,  Henry  Ward 
IngersoU. 


HON.  JACOB  ADAMS  KOHLER, 
— son  of  Henry  and  Mary 
(Slanker)  Kohler,  was  born  near  Read- 
ing, Pa.,  Aug-ust  15,  1835,  when  fonr 
months  old  removing  with  parents  to 
Franklin  township,  this  count}';  edu- 
cated in  district  schools,  and  Lodi 
Acadeiny;  in  1853,  apprenticed  him- 
self to  Mr.  D.  G.  Sanford,  cabinet 
maker,  in  Akron,  later  reading-  law 
with  N.  W.  Goodhue,  Esq.,  and  admit- 
ted to  bar  in  1859;  Prosecuting  Attor- 
ney two  terms — 1868-72;  law  partner 
of  Hon.  Sidney  Edgerton  several 
years,  later  with  Rolin  W.  Sadler, 
Esq.,  and  now  with  Harvey  Mvisser, 
Esq.  Mr.  Kohler  represented  Sum- 
mit County  in  the  State  Legislature, 
1880  to  1885,  and  served  as  Attorney 
General  of  Ohio,  1886  to  1888;  was 
married  May  16, 1860,  to  Miss  Frances 
H.  Coburn,  only  child  of  the  late  Dr. 
Stephen  H,  Coburn,  who  has  borne 
him  two  sons — Hurlbut  Stephen,  born 
July  20,  1868,  and  George  Coburn, 
born  November  17,  1870,  both  grad- 
uates of  Yale  College.  In  connection 
with  Gov.  Russell  A.  Alger,  of 
Detroit,  Mich.,  (a  former  Akron  boy), 
Mr.  Kohler  in  1882  erected  Arcade 
block,  a  five-story  brick  building,  on 
Howard  street,  one  of  the  largest  and 
handsomest  business  blocks  in  the 


HON.  JACOB  ADAMS  KOHLER. 

city  ;  and  besides  his  fine  residence 
on  East  Market  street,  as  the  manager 
of  the  Coburn  estate,  has  large  land- 
ed interests  in  various  portions  of 
the  city,  being  also  one  of  the  incor- 
porators, and  president  of  the  Peo- 
ples Savings  Bank  on  South  Main 
street. 


CITY   MUNICIPAL  OFFICERS. 


The  incorporated  village  of  Akron  having  been  advanced  to  a 
city  of  the  second  class,  January  21,  1865,  in  the  manner  heretofore 
described,  the  tenure  of  municipal  office  was  changed  from  otie 
to  tw^o  years,  though  for  several  years,  under  a  misapprehension 
of  the  law^,  some  of  the  appointive  offices  w^ere  filled  from  year  to 
year. 


268 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


HON.  SAMUEL  W.  McCLURE  — 
born  at  Al^tead,  Cheshire  Co., 
N.  H.,  Novembers,  1812;  in  1815 moved 
with  parents  to  Worcester  county, 
Mass.,  four  years  later  to  Western 
New  York,  and  in  1828  to  Medina 
county,  Ohio,  meantime  having  pur- 
sued an  academical  education  with 
the  ministry  in  view;  at  18  taught 
school  at  Medina  two  j^ears;  then 
attended  AUeghenj^  College  three 
years,  afterwards  for  a  time  receiving 
private  theological  instruction  from 
Rev.  Lee,  of  Medina.  In  1837.  opened 
select  school  in  Medina,  at  same 
time  reading  law  with  Messrs.  Can- 
field  &  Camp;  in  1838  organized  Ash- 
land Academy,  which  he  successfully 
taught  about  two  years  while  con- 
tinuing- his  l{iw  studies  in  the  offices 
of  Silas  Robbins,  Esq.,  and  Hon. 
Charles  S.  Sherman,  also  part  of  the 
time  editing  the  Ashland  Phoenix. 
In  1840,  returned  to  Medina,  and  took 
editorial  charge  of  the  Constitution- 
alist, the  Whig  organ  of  that  county, 
which  he  conducted  during  the 
Harrison  campaign  with  great  spirit 
and  ability;  soon  afterwards  formed 
a  law  partnership  with  James  S. 
Carpenter,  Esq.,  then  of  Medina,  and 
Grant  B.  Turner,  Esq.,  of  Cuyahoga 
Falls;  in  Januarj^  1842,  married  Miss 
Matilda  E.  Deming,  of  Ashland,  the 
next  spring  inoving  to  Cuyahoga 
Falls;  was  elected  Prosecuting 
Attorney  in  1847,  and  in  1848  repre- 
sentative to  the  State  Legislature, 
serving  one  term  only;  18.tO  to   18(>4 


HON.  SAMUEL  W.  MCCLUKE. 

was  law  partner  of  Hon  Henry 
McKinney;  in  1865  moved  to  Akron, 
as  partner  of  Edward  Oviatt,  Esq.;  in 
1871,  elected  Judge  of  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas,  filling  the  office  the  full 
terin  of  five  years,  and  declining  a 
re-election,  thereafter  enjoying  an 
extensive  practice  until  his  death, 
June  8,  1883.  Two  children  were 
born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McClure,  Julia 
E.,  (afterwards  Mrs.  Henry  G.  Math- 
ews, now  deceased),  and  Ida  M.,  still 
residing  with  her  mother. 


Members  of  the  City  Council. — For  1865:  First  Ward,  Charles 
W.  Bonstedt,  George  W.  Crouse;  Second,  John  E.  Bell,  Henry  W. 
Howe;  Third,  Lewis  Miller,  J.  Park  Alexander;  1866:  First,  George 
W.  Crouse,  John  J.  Wagoner;  Second,  Henry  W.  Howe,  Joshua  H. 
Collins;  Third,  Lewis  Miller,  George  Sechrist;  1867,  First,  John  J. 
Wagoner,  George  W,  Crotise;  Second,  Joshua  H.  Collins,  William 
H.  Payne;  Third,  George  Sechrist,  Jeremiah  A.  Long;  1868,  First, 
George  W.  Crouse,  John  W,  Holloway;  Second,  Joshua  H.  Collins, 
William  H.  Payne;  Third,  J.  Park  Alexander,  Jeremiah  A.  Long; 
1869,  First,  Charles  R.  Howe,  John  W.  Holloway;  Second,  Joshua 
H.  Collins,  William  J.  Atwood;  Third,  Clement  J.  Kolb,  J.  Park 
Alexander;  1870,  First,  William  T.  Allen,  Charles  R.  Howe;  Second, 
William  P.  Cassidy,  William  J.  Atv^ood;  Third,  J.  Park  Alexander, 
Clement  J.  Kolb;  1871,  First,  David  R.  Paige,  Jr.,  William  T.  Allen; 
Second,  John  Memmer,  William  P.  Cassidy;  Third,  Elias  W.  How- 
ard, J.  Park  Alexander;  Fourth,  Robert  McElhinny,  George  Burk- 
hardt;  Fifth,  Richard  F.  Palmer,  Clement  J.  Kolb;  1872,  First, 
William  T.  Allen,  David  R.  Paige,  Jr.;  Second,  Ohio  C.  Barber, 
John  Memmer;  Third,  J,  Park  Alexander,  Elias  W.  Howard; 
Fourth,  Noah  N.  Leohner,  Robert  McElhinney;  Fifth,  James  A. 
Methn,  Richard  F.  Palmer;  1873,  First,  Milton  W.  Henry,  William 
T.  Allen;  Second,  James  Christy,  Edwin  H.  Merrill;  Third,  Henry 
L.  Carr,  J.  Park  Alexander;  Fourth,  David  Lamparter,  Noah  N. 


AKRON  S    CIVIL    SERVICE    RECORD. 


26^ 


Leohner;  Fifth;  Austin  J.  Hamlin,  James  A,  Metlin;  Sixth,  Joseph 
A.Baldwin,  Thomas  Johnson;  1874,  First,  Milton  W.  Henry,  Wil- 
liam T.  Allen;  Second,  James  Christy,  Edwin  H.  Merrill;  Third,^ 
Henry  L.  Carr,  Elias  W.  Howard;  Fourth,  David  Lamparter, 
Robert  McElhinney;  Fifth,  Austin  J.  Hamlin,  James  A.  Metlin,. 
[resigned  December  4,  1874,  and  Emanuel  P.  Holloway  appointed 
to  fill  vacancy];  Sixth,  Joseph  A.  Baldwin,  Enoch  Ro>vle3';  1875^ 
First,  Milton  W.  Henry,  William  T.  Allen;  Second,  Edwin  H. 
Merrill,  Alexander  Brewster;  Third,  Elias  W.  Howard,  Williarfi  A. 
McClellan;  Fourth,  Robert  McElhinnej^.  Joseph  H.  Derhammer; 
Fifth,  Emanuel  P.  Holloway,  Simon  Hankey;  Sixth,  Enoch  Row- 
ley, David  E.  Hill;  1876,  First,  Milton  \V.  Henry,  William  Buchtel;. 
Second,  Alexander  Bre\^ster,  John  W.  Baker;  Third,  William  A. 
McClellan,  John  J.  Cook;  Fourth,  Joseph  H.  Derhammer,  John 
Schott;  Fifth,  Simon  Hankey,  Christian  Vogt;  Sixth,  David  E^ 
Hill,  Enoch  Rowley;  1877,  First,  William  Buchtel,  Charles  A.  Col- 
lins; Second,  John  W.  Baker,  James  Christy;  Third,  John  J.  Cook, 
J.  Park  Alexander;  Fourth,  John  Schott,  David  W.  Morgan;  Fifth, 
Christian  Vogt,  Edward  A.  Lawton;  Sixth,  Enoch  Rowley,  David 
E.  Hill;  1878,  First,  Charles  A.  Collins,  Lucien  G.  Thorp;  Second, 
James  Christy,  Warren  J.  Underwood;  Third,  J.  Park  Alexander, 
Mason  Chapman;  Fourth,  David  W.  Morgan,  John  Schott;  Fifth, 
Edward     A.     Lawton,     Christian    Vogt;     Sixth,     David    E.     Hill, 


HOxN.  ULYSSES  L.  MARVIN,— 
born  in  Stow,  March  14,  1839; 
educated  in  district  schools.  Twins- 
burg  Institute,  and  Franklin  Insti- 
tute at  Kent,  interspersed  with  teach- 
ing- from  16  to  19;  in  1858  entered  law 
oflice  of  H.  B.  Foster,  in  Hudson,  the 
next  year  completing  his  studies 
with  Hon  Sidney  Edgerton  in  Akron; 
admitted  to  the  bar  May  2,  18(}().  In 
1861,  became  Principal  of  Kent 
Union  Schools;  married  to  Miss 
Dorena  Rockwell,  of  Kent,  Novem- 
ber 27,  1861.  August,  1862,  enlisted  as 
private  in  115th.  O.  V.  I.;  clerk  in 
office  of  Judge  Advocate  at  Cincin-- 
nati  till  August  1863,  when  he  was 
commissioned  as  First  Lieut,  of  5th 
U.  S.  Colored  Regiment;  promoted  to 
Captain  during  the  Siege  of  Rich- 
mond; wounded  at  New  Market 
Heights,  September  25, 1861,  disabling 
him  for  two  months;  on  return  to 
duty  was  assigned  as  Adjutant  on 
Gen.  Shurtliffs  staff,  ^oin^  to  Fort 
Fisher,  thence  to  Raleigh,  N.  C,  and 
being  present  at  the  surrender;  at 
close  of  war  was  brevetted  Major  for 
gallant  service  and  made  Judge 
Advocate  on  staff  of  General  Paine, 
serving  as  such  till  mustered  out  in 
October,  1865.  Returning  to  Kent, 
opened  law  office,  two  years  later 
removing  to  Akron.  In  1869  Mr.  M. 
was  elected  Probate  Judge,  serving 
six  years;  May  1,  1883,  was  appointed 
Common  Pleas  Judge  by  Governor 
Foster,   in    place    of  Judge   Tibbals, 


HOX.  ULYSSES  L.  MARVIxX. 

resigned,  serving  till  the  following- 
October;  in  1884  was  elected  Presi- 
dential Elector  for  the  20th  Con- 
g-ressional  District,  casting  his  vote 
in  the  Electoral  College  for  James 
G.  Blaine.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Marvin  have 
four  children— David  Leslie,  attorney 
in  Akroti;  George  Ulysses,  citj'-  editor 
Canton  Daily  Repository;  Charles 
Asahel,  local  editor  Canton  Weekly 
Roller,  and  Francis  Dorena,  student 
in  Akron  High  School. 


270 


AKKON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


WILLIAM  CHANDLER —born  in 
Preble,  Herkimer  Co.,  N.  Y., 
April  5,  1814  ;  common  school  educa- 
tion ;  came  to  Akron  in  1834,  and 
engaged  with  his  brother  John,  in 
the  manufacture  of  cards  for  carding- 
wool,  in  carding  machine  works  of 
Aliens  &  McMillan,  near  the  present 
site  of  the  Allen  Mills ;  October  17, 
1839,  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  Ann 
Taplin,  sister  of  Mr.  James  B.  Taplin, 
of  Akron  ;  soon  afterwards  removing 
to  Duqixesne,  111.,  where  he  w^as 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  card- 
ing machinery  nine  years,  when  he 
returned  to  Akron  ;  in  1855,  was 
appointed  Superintendent  of  Summit 
Country  Infirmar}^,  which  responsi- 
ble position  he  ably  filled  until  1861 
—six  years  ;  then  purchased  a  farm 
in  Wood  County,  where  he  remained 
until  1874,  when  he  again  returned 
to  Akron,  and  entered  the  employ  of 
Taplin,  Rice  &  Co.,  as "  a  stove 
mounter,  which  business  he  followed 
until  seized  with  the  illness  which 
terminated  his  life,  September  11, 
1883,  at  the  age  of  68  years,  5  months, 
and  6  days.  Five  children  were  born 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chandler — Alathea, 
now  Mrs.  Eli  Wilson,  of  Weston,  Ohio  ; 
Lucy  A.,  alsoof  Weston  ;  Fred.  W.,  for 
several  years  past  a  member  of  the 


WILLIAM  CHANDLER. 

police  force  of  Akron  ;  Mattie  B.,  and 
James  D.,  the  latter  '4  member  of  the 
book  and  stationerj^  firm  of  Chandler, 
Findley  &  Co.;  in  April,  1889,  elected 
to  the  City  Council  from  the  Second 
ward,  and  re-elected  in  1891.  Mrs. 
Chandler  still  survives,  and  resides 
with  her  son,  in  Akron. 


JUDGE   CHARLES  G.    LADD. 

JUDGE  CHARLES  G.  LADD,— 
J  born  in  Rutland,  Vt.,  June  22, 1822  ; 
in  Spring  of  1840,  came  to  Akron,  his 
sister  Sophronia,  a  teacher  here,  hav- 
ing a  short  time  before  married  the 
late  Gen.  Lucius  V,  Bierce ;  as  Dep- 


utj^  U.  S.  Marshal  aided  in  taking  the 
census  that  year,  with  the  means 
thus  acquired  completing  his  edu- 
cation at  Western  Reserve  College ; 
then  studied  law  with  his  brother-in- 
law,  with  whom,  on  being  admitted 
to  the  bar,  in  1845,  he  entered  into 
partnership,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Bierce  &  Ladd.  In  1850,  he  was 
elected  Mayor  of  Akron,  serving  one 
5'ear.  In  trie  Fall  of  1851,  he  was 
elected  as  Summit*  County's  first 
Probate  Judge,  but  by  reason  of  fail- 
ing health  was  unable  to  give  his 
personal  attention  to  the  duties  of 
the  office,  which  were  performed  by 
Alvin  C.  Voris,  as  deputy  clerk,  until 
the  death  of  Judge  Ladd,  from  con- 
siunption,  July  30, 1852.  July  12,  1845, 
was  married  to  Miss  Hannah  Ermina 
Williams,  daughter  of  Barnabas 
Williams,  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers 
of  Portage  township,  and  step- 
daughter of  the  late  Major  Miner 
Spicer,  who  died  October  3,  1868,  leav- 
ing three  children — Walter  C,  now 
of  Weeping  Water,  Neb.;  Lizzie,  the 
present  Mrs.  Gen.  A.  C.  Voris ;  and 
Emma  E.,  widow  of  the  late  Albert  J. 
McNeil. 


AKRON  S    CIVIL   SEKVICE    RECORD. 


271 


ROBERT  S.  PAUL— son  of  Hosea 
and  Ellen  (Gamble)  Paxil,  born 
at  Cuyahog-a  Falls,  O.,  October  3, 1842  ; 
educated  in  Cuyahoga  Falls  vmion 
schools  ;  meantiine  teaching  in  Stow 
and  New  Portage,  and  learning  civil 
engineering  with  his  father  ;  in  1862 
surveyed  narrow  gauge  railway  for 
Brewster  Coal  Co.;  1862-65,  served  on 
Topographical  Engineer  Corps  in 
the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  at  close 
of  war  attended  Lebanon,  O.,  College 
one  year  ;  then  followed  profession  in 
oil  region  a  year  and  a  half  and  in 
Cleveland  two  years ;  then  spent  a 
year  in  Pennsylvania  Polytechnic 
College  ;  then  came  to  Akron,  and  in 
June,  1870,  was  appointed  to  fill  the 
vacancy,  caused  by  the  death  of  his 
father,  as  County  Surveyor,  to  which 
office  he  was  elected  in  October,  of 
that  year,  by  appointment  and  elec- 
tion holding  that  office  over  ten 
years,  Mr.  Paul  also  having  served 
as  president  of  County  Survej^ors' 
Association  and  secretary  and  treas- 
urer of  Ohio  Institute  of  Mining- 
Engineers,  and  as  chief  engineer  of 
the  Valley  Railroad,  and  of  Ohio  & 
Toledo,  now  Cleveland  &  Canton  R. 
K.  July  25.  1872,  Mr.  Paul  was 
married  to  Miss  Sarah  M.  Roniig,  a 
native  of  Indiana,  who  has  borne 
him    seven    children  —  Ellen,    Ada, 


ROBERT    S.  PAUL. 

Laura,  Martha  (deceased),  Mary, 
Edward,  and  Rosa,  (deceased).  Mr. 
Paul  is  a  member  and  P.  G.  of  Akron 
Lodge  No.  547,  I.  O.  O.  F.;  member  of 
Akron  Encampment  .No.  18  I.  O.  O. 
F.;  McPherson  Lodge  No.  63,  K.  of  P. 
and  present  cominander  of  Castle 
Garfield  No.  14,  Knights  of  the  Golden 
Rule. 


HON.  DAVID  R.  PAIGE. 


HON.  DAVID  R.  PAIGE,  -born  at 
Madison,  Lake  County,  April  4. 
1844  ;  attended  Madison  high  school 
till  15.  preparatory  school  at  Hudson, 
two  years,  then  entered  Sophomore 
class  at  Union  College,  Schenectady, 
N.  Y.,  graduating  therefrom  in   1865  ; 


serving  two  3^ears  with  William 
Bingham  &  Co.,  Cleveland,  in 
December,  1867,  embarked  in  the 
hardware  business  in  Akron,  being 
at  present  one  of  the  stockholders  of 
The  Paige  Brothers  Co.;  principal 
owner  of  Varnish  Works  (late  King 
Varnish  Co.);  vice  president  Paige 
Tube  Co.,  at  Warren  ;  member  of  the 
contracting  firm  of  Paige,  Carey  & 
Company,  with  general  office  in  New 
York,  which  firm  is  nowbtiilding  the 
Sodom  dam  and  tunnel,  52  miles  in 
length,  for  suppljang  New  York  City 
with  water  ;  also  building  double- 
track  bridge  over  the  Ohio  river,  at 
Wheeling,  and  three  tunnels,  at  a  cost 
of  $1,250,000;  was  member  of  Akron 
cit)^  covmcil  1871,  '72;  treasurer  of 
Portage  township  1873  ;  treasurer  of 
Summit  County  two  terins.  1874-78  ; 
and  member  of  Congress,  20th  Dis- 
trict, one  term,  1882-84 ;  married  to 
Miss  Ellen  Lewis  King,  (daughter  of 
David  L.  King,  Esq.),  January  19,  1870, 
who  died  December  20.  1877,  leaving 
two  sons — Charles  Cutler  Paige,  born 
November  25,  1870,  and  David  King 
Paige,  born  May  20,  1872.  December 
22, 1884,  Mr.  Paige  was  again  married, 
to  Miss  Eva  Bell  Leek,  of  Cleveland. 


272 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Enoch  Rowley;  1879,  First,  Lucien  G.  Thorp,  Ulysses  L,  Marvin; 
Second,  Warren  J.  Underwood,  Noah  A.  Carter;  Third,  Mason 
Chapman,  J.  Park  Alexander;  Fourth,  John  Schott,  Edwin  Estep; 
Fifth,  Christian  Vogt,  Ed\vard  A.  Lawton;  Sixth,  Enoch  Rowley, 
Frederick  \V.  Inman;  1880,  First,  Ulysses  L.  Marvin,  Milton  W. 
Henry;  Second,  Noah  A,  Carter,  Henry  H.  Brown;  Third,  J.  Park 
Alexander,  Benjamin  F.  Goodrich;  Fourth,  Edwin  Estep,  John 
Schott;  Fifth,  Edward  A.  Lawton,  Charles  F.  Ingersoll;  Sixth, 
Frederick  W.  Inman,  Thomas  H.  Peckham;  1881,  First,  Milton  \V. 
Henry,  David  L.  King,  [Mr.  King  resigned  September  27,  1881, 
William  T.  Allen  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  October  17,  1881;] 
Second,  Henry  H.  Brow^n,  Noah  A,  Carter;  Third,  Benjamin  F. 
Goodrich,  J.  Park  Alexander;  Fourth,  John  Schott,  Philip  Weber; 
Fifth,  Charles  F.  Ingersoll,  Edward  A.  Lawton;  Sixth,  Thomas  H. 
Peckham,  James  Housel;  1882,  First,  William  T.  Allen,  Milton  W. 
Henry;  Second,  Noah  A.  Carter,  Henry  H.  Brown;  Third,  J.  Park 
Alexander,  Lew^is  C.  Parker;  Fourth,  Philip  Weber,  Andrew^ 
Kohler;  Fifth,  Edward  A.  Law^ton,  George  L.  W.  Edam;  Sixth. 
James  Housel,  John  P.  Richardson;  1883,  First,  Milton  W.  Henry, 
William  T.  Allen;  Second,  Henry  H.  Brown,  William  H.  Miller; 
Third,  Lewis  C.  Parker,  Henry  Young;  Fourth,  Andrew  Kohler, 
James  M.  Laffer;  Fifth,  George  L.  W.  Edam,  John  Schott;  Sixth, 
John  C.  Richardson,  James  Housel;  1884,  First,  William  T.  Allen, 
Thomas  H.  Peckham;  Second,  William  H.  Miller,  Henrj^  H. 
Brown;  Third,  Henry  Young,  Edward  C.  Simpson;  Fourth,  James 
M.  Laffer,  Thomas  S.  Bradford;  Fifth,  John  Schott,  Charles  I). 
Steese;    Sixth,   James   Housel,   John   C.    Richardson;    1885,    First, 


JUDGE  EDWARD  W.  STUART,- 
J  born  in  New  Preston,  Litchfield 
County,  Conn..  May  9,  1840;  when  two 
3'ears  old  removed  with  family  to 
Erie  County,  Ohio ;  raised  on  farm, 
attending'  district  school  and  Huron 
Institute  at  Milan,  till  18  years  of  age, 
entering  Western  Reserve  College  in 
1858,  from  which  he  graduated  in 
October,  1862,  graduation  of  class 
having  been  postponed  because  of 
enlistment  of  its  members  in  the  ser- 
vice, as  elsewhere  detailed.  After 
graduation  Mr.  S.  engaged  in  teach- 
ing- four  years,  two  years  as  principal 
of  Shaw  Academy,  at  Collamer,  Ohio, 
having  meantime  studied  law ;  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1866,  com- 
mencing practice  in  Kent,  w^ith  Hon. 
S.  P.  Wolcott,  continuing  there  until 
May,  1870,  when  he  came  to  Akron, 
forming  a  partnership  with  C.  P. 
Humphrey,  Esq.  In  April,  1871,  Mr. 
Stewart  was  elected  City  Solicitor, 
which  office  he  held  till  January, 
1877 ;  in  October,  1876,  was  elected 
Prosecuting  Attorney  for  Summit 
County,  and  re-elected  in  1878,  hold- 
ioig  the  office  four  years,  and  in  1890 
was  elected  Probate  Judge  of  Sum- 
mit County,  which  responsible  office 
he  is  now  ably  filling.  May  11, 1864, 
he  was  married  to   Miss  Harriet  E. 


JUDGE  EDWAKD   W.  STUART. 


Whedon,  of  Hudson,  daughter  of 
Harvey  Whedon,  Prosecuting  Attor- 
ney from  1850  to  1852.  They  have  one 
son — Fred.  H.,also  an  attorney  at  law, 
but  now  serving  as  deputy  clerk  in 
office  of  Probate  Judge,  tinder  his 
father. 


AKK(JN  S    CIVIL   SERVICE    KECORD, 


273 


ITON.  HENRY  C.  SANFORD,  — 
-n.  born  in  Portland,  Me.,  Septem- 
ber 11,  1833  ;  his  father  dying,  when 
nine  years  of  age,  he  went  to  live 
with  an  elder  brother  in  Manchester, 
N.  H.,  where,  besides  attending-  the 
common  school  and  the  Kendall 
Academy  one  year,  he  served  as  an 
apprentice  in  the  Manchester  Loco- 
motive Works  ;  at  the  age  of  18  he 
came  to  Ohio  and  engaged  in  rail- 
roading ;  from  fireman  being  rapidly 
promoted  to  engineer,  running  suc- 
cessively on  the  Sandusky,  Mansfield 
&  Newark  and  the  Cleveland  and 
Toledo  Railroads,  in  1855  going  to 
Quincy,  111.,  and  running-  upon  what 
is  now  the  Chicago,  Burlington  anc^ 
(juincy  Railroad  ;  six  years  later  tak- 
ing a  train  at  Augusta,  111.,  on  which 
road,  by  a  daring  act,  endangering- 
his  own  life,  in  running  into  and 
crippling  another  train,  which  was 
nearing  Crooked  River  crossing, 
where  the  bridge  had  been  washed 
away,  he  prevented  a  fearful  sacrifice 
of  hviman  life.  Procuring  some  law 
books  Mr.  S.  improved  his  spare 
moments  upon  the  foot-board,  and 
elsewhere,  in  study,  and  after  several 
years  spent  in  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio,  in  railroading  f^ and  other 
employment,  located  permanently  in 
Akron,  in  1870,  as  a  successful  1  a W3'er, 
having  ably  filled  the  offices  of  Pro- 
secuting Attorney  two  years,  1873,  li; 


HOX.   HENRY  C.  SAXFOKD. 

City  Solicitor  two  years,  1879,  '8() ; 
Representative  to  State  Legislature 
two  terms,  1888,  '89,  '9().  '91.  Mr.  San- 
ford  was  married  to  Miss  Emily  J. 
Fairchild,  of  Amherst,  Lorain 
County,  January  19,  1857,  who  bore 
him  three  children  -William  H.,  now 
practicing  law  with  his  father ; 
Burton  I.,  grocer,  and  May  F.  Mrs. 
Sanford  died  March  6,  1890,  aged  .52 
years. 


J 


JAMES  BUKLISON. 

AMES    BURLISON,--of    Scotch- 
Irish-Welsh  descent,  was  born  in 

18 


Hamburg,  Erie  County,  N.  Y.,  April 
7.  1828,  coming  with  his  parents  tO' 
Roscoe,  Coshocton  Countj^  Ohio,  in 
1837,  his  father  being  a  stone-mason, 
helping  to  build  the  locks  on  the 
Walhonding  canal ;  a  few  years  later 
coming  to  Middlebury,  (now  Akron 
Sixth  ward)  officiating  as  constable 
and  marshal  of  that  township  and 
village  from  about  1857  till  his  elec- 
tion as  Sheriff  of  Summit  count3%  in 
1865,  and  both  before,  and  during  his 
four  years  incumbency  as  Sheriff,  by 
appointment  of  United  States  Mar- 
shal Earl  Bill,  of  Cleveland,  serving 
as^  Deputy  United  States  Marshal  for 
Summit  county;  also  giving  especial 
attention  to  detective  operations,  a 
profession  which  he  has  since  con- 
tinuouslj'  and  successfully  followed, 
many  noted  criminals  having  been 
apprehended,convicted  and  punished 
through  his  skill  and  vigilance. 
August  22,  1848,  Mr.  Burlison  was 
married  to  Matilda  B.  Manning  of 
Middlebury.  Having  no  children  of 
their  own,  they  adopted  in  childhood 
May  C.  Lohr,  now  known  as  May 
Burlison. 


274 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


CHARLES  BAIRD,— born  in  Ak- 
ron, March  25,  1853;  graduated 
from  Akron  Hig-h  School  in  1872;  read 
law  with  Upson  &  Ford;  admitted  to 
practice  by  Supreme  Court,  at  Colum- 
bus, November  2,  1875,  forming  part- 
nership with  Hon.  William  H.Upson, 
on  the  return  of  Mr.  Ford  from 
Mexico,  the  firm  name  being  Upson, 
Ford  &  Baird  ;  by  appointment  and 
two  successive  elections,  held  the 
office  of  Clerk  of  Portage  township 
from  October,  1875,  to  April,  1878  ;  was 
canal  collector  for  the  port  of  Akron 
from  February  15,  1879,  till  Januar}- 
15,  1881,  resigning  to  take  the  office  of 
Prosecuting  Attorne}^  for  Summit 
Count}',  to  which  he  had  been  elected 
in  October,  1880;  re-elected  in  1882. 
holding  the  office  four  years,  and  is 
now  enjoying  a  large  and  lucrative 
law  practice,  giving  special  attention 
to  Corporation  Law;  also  being 
largely  interested  and  a  director  in 
several  important  industrial  enter- 
prises in  Akron  and  elsewhere. 
Februar)^  10,  1882,  Mr.  Baird  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Lucy  Allyn  Voris,  eldest 
daughter  of  Hon.  Alvin  C.  Voris, 
who  has  borne  him  five    children— 


CHARLES  BAIKl). 

Alvin  Voris,  born  December  3,  1882; 
Helen  F^lizabeth,  born  August  30, 
1884  ;  Betsey  Coe,  born  June  11,  1886  ; 
Charles,  born  October  15,  1888;  and 
Katharine,  born  November  19,  1890. 


DAVID   R.   BUNN. 

DAVID  R.  BUNN,  -born  in  Wells 
Co.,  Ind.,  May  23,  1842;  boyhood 
devoted  to  farming  and  attending- 
school  two  miles  distant ;  at  19  came 
to  Ohio,  working  at  farming  and  in 
coal  mines,  near  Doj^lestown  in 
Wayne  Co.;  August  20,  18(>2,  enlisted 
in  Company  G,  120th  Regt.  O.  V.  I., 


participating  in  trans-Mississippi  and 
Vicksburg-  campaigns  and  Red  River 
expedition  ;  captured  at  Snagg  Point, 
Red  River,  and  imprisoned  thirteen 
months  at  Camp  Ford,  being  at  one 
time  sentenced  to  be  shot  and  taken 
out  for  that  purpose,  but  for  some 
reason,  not  made  known  to  hiiu,  the 
sentence  was  not  carried  into  execu- 
tion ;  after  such  inhuman  treatment 
as  to  render  him  an  invalid  for  five 
3ears,  he  was  paroled  in  1865,  and 
returned  to  Dojdestown,  resuming' 
work  for  his  old  eiuployer,  as  clerk, 
on  farm,  and  in  coal  bank;  was  mar- 
ried October  11,  186(5,  to  Miss  Almira 
Springer,  of  Doylestown,  w^ho  has 
borne  him  three  children — two  sons 
and  one  daughter;  in  1866,  embarked 
in  the  grocerj'  business  and  after- 
Avards  in  the  drj^  goods  trade  in 
Doj'lestown ;  in  1875  removed  to 
Akron  and  opened  a  boot  and  shoe 
store  on  South  Howard  street,  con- 
tinuing three  years;  in  1878  was,  b}' 
Mayor  Scott,  placed  upon  the  cit)^ 
police  force,  and  was  one  of  the  most 
efficient  luembers  of  that  body  for 
six  j-ears ;  after  four  j-ears  efficient 
service  as  deputy,  under  Sheriff 
William  B.Gamble.was  elected  Sheriff 
of  Summit  County  in  October,  1888, 
renominated  bj^  acclamation  and 
re-elected  in  1890. 


AKRON  S   CIVIL   SERVICE    RECORD, 


275 


Thomas  H.  Peckham.  Wilson  B.  Cannon;  Second,  Henry  H. 
Brown,  Frank  A.  Wilcox;  Third,  Edward  C.  Simpson,  Albert  A. 
Bartlett;  Fourth,  Thomas  S.  Bradford,  Jacob  L.  Hall; 
Fifth,  Charles  D.  Steese,  Samuel  K.  Zwisler;  Sixth,  James  H. 
Case,  John  C.  Richardson,  [Mr.  Richardson  dying  October 
25,  1885,  Byron  M.  Allison  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy 
November  16,  1885];  1886,  First,  Wilson  B.  Cannon,  Robert 
L.  Andrew;  Second,  Frank  A.  Wilcox,  Henry  H.  Brown;  Third, 
Albert  A.  Bartlett,  Darius  Rowe;  Fourth,  Jacob  L.  Hall,  Wil- 
liam H.  McBarnes;  Fifth,  Samuel  K.  Zwisler,  James  W.  Stuver; 
Sixth,  James  H.  Case,  James  M.  Wills;  1887,  First,  Robert  L. 
Andrew,  Wilson  B.  Cannon;  Second,  Henry  H.  Brown,  Henry  M. 
Fisher;  [Mr,  Brown  resigned  October  24,  1887,  and  Erastus  R. 
Harper  was  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy  till  1888];  Third,  Darius 
Rowe,  J.  Park  Alexander;  Fourth,  William  H.  McBarnes,  Conrad 
Eckel;  Fifth,  James  W,  Stuver,  A.  Wesley  Hawkins;  Sixth,  James 
M,  Wills,  James  H,  Case;  1888,  First,  Wilson  B.  Cannon,  Robert  L. 
Andrew;  Second,  Henry  M.  Fisher,  Erastus  R.  Harper;  Third,  J. 
Park  Alexander,  William  Hardy;  Fourth,  Conrad  Eckel,  William 
H.  McBarnes;  Fifth,  A,  Wesley  Hawkins,  James  W.  Stuver;  Sixth, 
James  H.  Case,  James  M.  Wills;  1889,  First,  Robert  L/.  Andrew, 
John  Motz;  Second,  Erastus  R.  Harper, James  D.  Chandler;  Third, 
William  Hardy,  John  Kreuder;  Fourth,  Conrad  Eckel,  William 
McBarnes;  Fifth,  James  W,  Stuver,  Cornelius  Hallinan;  Sixth, 
James  M.  Wills,  Henry  W.  Hart;  1890,  First,  Aaron  Wagoner,  John 
Motz;  Second,  James  D,  Chandler,  Erastus  R.Harper;  Third,  John 
Kreuder,  Curtis  C,  Sherbondy;  Fourth,  Conrad   Eckel,  William   F. 


OUMNER  NASH,— born  in  Bath 
*-5  May  10,  1830;  raised  on  farm; 
common  school  and  academic  edu- 
cation ;  at  20  went  to  Wisconsin, 
working  at  clearing- way  throvig'h  for- 
est for  railroad,  driving-  stage,  clerk- 
ing, etc.;  in  1858  returned  to  Ohio, 
farming  Summers  and  teaching 
Winters ;  August  6,  1862,  enlisted  in 
lloth  O.  V.  I.,  being  successively  pro- 
moted to  rank  of  First  Lieutenant ; 
in  1863  commanded  military  forces  at 
Dayton  during  the  election  ;  in  1864 
was  detailed  as  Assistant  Inspector 
of  railroad  defences  under  Major 
Willet,  which  position  he  held  till 
close  of  the  war.  Returning  home  in 
July,  I860,  purchased  a  farm  in  Liv- 
ingston Co.,  111.;  March  8,  186(5,  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Rebecca  M.  Means,  of 
Northfield,  working  the  Illinois  farm 
till  1868,  when  he  returned  to  Summit 
Co.,  Mrs.  Nash  dying  July  18,  1869, 
leaving  one  child — Maud  M.  Spend- 
ing two  years  on  his  father-in-law's 
farin  in  Northfield,  and  one  season  in 
Illinois,  as  agent  for  a  lightning  rod 
company,  in  the  Winter  of  1872,  '73 
was  appointed  Deputy  Countj^  Clerk 
bj'  Clerk  John  A.  Means,  serving  the 
balance  of  the  term,  and  also  through 
two  terms  for  Clerk  George  W.  Weeks, 
being  himself  elected  Clerk  in  1878, 


SUMNER    NASH. 

and  holding  the  office  two  full  terms 
of  three  j'ears  each.  Mr.  Nash  is  now 
secretary-  and  treasurer  of  the  Akron 
Belting  Companj',  fully  written  of 
elsewhere.  June  23,  1874,  Mr.  Nash 
was  again  married,  to  Miss  Linnie  A. 
Cross,  of  Columbus,  Ohio. 


276 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


TAMES  MADISON  POULSON, — 
J  born  near  Holmesville,  Holines 
County,  Ohio,  March  27,  1842  ;  worked 
on  farm  and  attended  district  vschool 
during-  boj  hood ;  from  18  to  21 
worked  on  farm  summers  and  taught 
school  winters;  attended  private 
school  of  Prof.  B.  C.  Smith,  in  Fred- 
ericksburg, several  terms,  and  one 
year — 1864,  '65 — Ha3'esville  Academy  ; 
in  1865  entered  Princeton,  N.  J.,  Col- 
leg-e,  graduating-  therefrom  in  June, 
1868,  the  same  j^ear  that  Dr.  McCosh 
became  its  president;  in  1868  entered 
Columbia  Colleg-e  Law  School,  in 
New  York,  being-  admitted  to  bar  in 
New  York  City,  on  examination,  May 
12,  1869,  and  graduating  from  Law 
School  in  May,  1870;  came  to  Akron 
August  1,  1870,  and  throtigh  the  kind 
encouragement  of  John  J.  Hall,  Esq., 
was  induced  to  locate  here,  being 
admitted  to  the  bar  of  Svimmit 
county,  on  examination,  September 
9,  1870 ;  October  1,  1870,  formed  law 
partnership  jvith  Mr.  Hall,  which 
continued  till  January  1,  1877 ;  in 
October,  1874,  was  elected  Prosecuting 
Attorney  for  Suinmit  countj^  on  the 
Democratic  ticket,  which  office  he 
ably  filled  two  years,  from  Januarj'  1, 
1875,  to  January  1,  1877,  having  since 


JAMES    MADISON   POULSON. 

been  in  general  practice  on  his  own 
account.  September  28,  1875,  Mr. 
Poulson  was  married  to  Miss  Helen 
F.  Smag-g-,  onlj^  daughter  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  William  Smagg,  of  Akron.  Thej^ 
have  no  children. 


HENRY  C.   VIELE. 

HENRY  C.  VIELE,— son  of  Hiram 
and  Abbie  M.  (McFarland) 
Viele,  was  born  in  Washington 
County,     N.     Y.,     October     29,    1841; 


removed  Avith  parents  to  Akron  in 
Spring-  of  1842 ;  was  educated  in 
Akron  public  schools  ;  at  16  began 
clerking-  in  stone  mill,  of  which  his 
father  was  general  inanager,  con- 
tinuing nine  j'ears ;  then  became 
agent  for  the  Merchants'  Union 
Express  Company,  a  year  later  enter- 
ing- the  employ  of  the  C,  Z.  &  C,  now 
C,  A.  &  C.  railway,  serving  two  or 
three  years  as  ticket  agent;  then 
erlgag-ed  in  the  flour  and  feed  biisi- 
ness  in  partnership  with  his  father. 
In  February-,  1872,  was  appointed 
Count}'  Recorder,  bj'  the  Count}- 
Cominissioners,  to  fill  the  vacancy 
caused  b}'  the  death  of  Recorder 
Grenville  Thorp,  serving  till  the 
following  October;  then  served  as 
deputy  in  Treasurer's  office  till  1878,. 
when  he  was  elected  Countj-  Treas- 
urer and  re-elected  in  1880,  holding- 
the  office  four  j^ears;  teller  in  Citi- 
zens' Savings  and  Loan  Association 
to  July,  1887 ;  assistant  treasurer  to 
Jul}-,  1888,  and  since,  treasurer  of  the 
association.  October  16,  1873,  Mr. 
Viele  was  married,  at  Flatbush,Long 
Island,  to  Miss  Libbie  F.  Mack,  a 
native  of  New  York.  They  have  one 
child  only — Fanny  Mack.  I^orn  June 
2, 1876. 


AKKOX  S    CrVIL    SER\  ICK    RECORD, 


277 


A  LBERT  A.  BARTLETT  — born  in 
-^  Mina,  Chautaviqua  Count}',  N.  Y., 
June  22,  1840;  common  school  educa- 
tion ;  raised  on  farm  till  17,  then 
worked  in  saw-mill,  the  last  two 
years  on  shares,  until  July,  1861. 
when  he  enlisted  in  the  -lOth  N.  Y.  V. 
I.,  for  three  years  or  during  the  war  ; 
served  in  Army  of  Potoinac  until 
the  battle  of  Antietam,  when  he  was 
wounded,  occasioning  the  loss  of  left 
arm.  On  being-  discharged,  April  6. 
1863,  took  charge  of  a  small  place 
which  he  owned,  two  years  later 
eijgaged  as  engineer  in  a  steam  saw 
mill  at  Corry,  Pa.,  after  one  year  tak- 
ing charge  of  the  business  ;  came  to 
Akron  in  Spring  of  1867,  taking  a 
position  in  planing  mill  of  George 
Thomas  &  Son,  which,  under  suc- 
cessive firms,  he  held  until  1879,  the 
last  eight  years  as  foreman.  In 
October,  1878,  Mr.  Bartlett  was  elected, 
on  the  Republican  ticket.  Recorder 
of  Summit  County,  ably  filling  that 
important  office  two  full  terms  ;  was 
also  Third  ward  member  of  City 
Council  in  1885,  '86,  serving  as  chair- 
man of  light  and  of  fire  and  water 
committees.  As  senior  partner  of 
the  firm  of  A.  A.  Bartlett  &  Co.,  Mr. 
B.  is  now  conducting  a  planing'  mill 
on  West  State  street.  Mr.  B.  is  active 
and    enthusiastic    in    local  military 


ALBERT 


BARTLETT. 


affairs,  now  holding  the  position  of 
Adjutant  of  the  Eighth  Regiment  O. 
N.  G.;  was  married  November  29, 1860, 
to  Miss  Imogene  Jane  Travers,  of 
Chautauqua  Count)^,  N.  Y.;  of  the 
three  children  born  to  them,  two  only 
are  living — Mary,  now  Mrs.  George  J. 
Snook,  photographer,  and  Jennie, 
now  Mrs.  Dr.  W.  B.  Conner,  of  Akron. 


CHARLES    E.  PERKINS. 


pHARLES  E.  PERKINS,  -  sixth 
^  son  of  Col.  Simon  Perkins,  was 
born  at  Akron,  May  7,  1850 ;  edu- 
cated in  public  schools  and  in  pre- 
paratory department  of  Western 
Reserve  College  at  Hudson  ;  in  1868 
entered  Troy.  N.  Y.,  Polytechnic  Insti- 
tute, taking  a  three  j^ears'  course  in 
■  civil  and  mining  engineering,  and 
one  year  in  school  of  mines  in  Col- 
umbia (New  York  City)  College;  in 
1873,  was  elected  citj'  engineer  of 
Akron,  for  two  years,  and  on  change 
of  ordinance,  appointed  b}'  Mayor 
and  confirmed  by  Council,  for  the 
three  successive  years— 1875,  '76,  '77, 
liolding  the  position  in  all  five  j^ears. 
In  1878,  opened  an  agricultural  ware- 
liouse  on  Canal  street.  In  October, 
1S83.  Mr.  Perkins  was  elected  County 
Survej'or,  re-elected  in  1886.  and 
again  for  the  third  term  in  1889,  and 
is  still  ably  filling  the  position. 
January  14,  1880,  Mr.  Perkins  was 
married  to  Miss  Maj-  Adams, 
daughter  of  Mr.  Frank  Adams,  of 
Akron,  Sixth  ward. 


278 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


Gayer;  Fifth,  Cornelius  Hallinan,  Warren  Buckmaster;  Sixths 
Henry  W.  Hart,  Charles  S.  Hart;  1891,  First,  Aaron  Wagoner,. 
Harvey  F.  Miller;  Second,  James  D.  Chandler,  Erastus  R.  Harper;: 
Third,  Curtis  C.  Sherbondy,  Frank  Fiebeger;  Fourth,  Conrad  Eckel, 
William  F.  Gayer;  Fifth,  Warren  Buckmaster,  John  W.  J>unn;, 
Sixth,  Henry  W.  Hart,  Charles  S.  Hart. 

City  Mayors. — Official  term  two  years:  1865,  '66,  James 
Mathews;  1867,  '68,  Lucius  V.  Bierce;  1869,  '70  and  1871,  '72,  John 
L.  Robertson;  1873,  '74,  Henry  Purdy;  1875,  '76,  Levi  S.  Herrold; 
1877,  '78,  James  F.  Scott;  1879,  '80,  John  M.  Fraze;  1881,  '82,  Samuel 
A.  Lane;  1883, '84  and  1885,  '86,  Lorenzo  Dow  Watters;  1887.  '88, 
Louis  D.  Seward;  1889,  '90,  '91,  '92,  William  H.  Miller. 

City  Clerks. — This  officer  is  an  appointee  of  Council,  at  first, 
for  one  year  only,  but  now  for  the  term  of  tAvo  years:  1865, '66^ 
Teremiah  A.  Long;  1867,  '68,  '69,  '70,  '71,  '72  and  '76,  Mills  B.  Purdy; 
1873, '74,  '75,  John  A.  Means;  1877,  '78,  Adams  Emerson;  1879, '80, 
'81,  '82,  Newton  Ford;  1883,  John  M.  Fraze;  1884.  '85,  '86,  '87,  '88, 
'89,  Newton  Ford;  1891,  '92,  Edwin  Wagner. 

City  Marshals. — Elected  by  the  people — term  at  first  one  year^ 
now  two  years;  1865,  Williams  P.  Babcock;  1866,  George  W.  Fair- 
banks; 1867,  John  Chitty,  Jr.;  1868,  James  K.  Butler;  1869,  '70,  '71, 
'72,  Hart  A.  Parker;  1873,  '74,  '75,  '76,  Socrates  W.  Pike;  1877,  Jacot> 
Koplin;  Mr.  Koplin  resigning  at  end  of  first  year,  William  H.  Ragg 
w^as  elected  in  1878  to  fill  vacancj^  and  on  expiration  of  term 
re-elected  for  the  two  successive  terms  covering  1879.  '80,  '81, '82; 
followed  by  John  McCourt  two  terms,  1883,  '84.  '85,  '86;  l)y  Simon 
M.  Stone  in  1887,  '88,  '89,  '90,  and  Hughlin  Harrison,  1891,  '92^ 


pHARLES  \V.  F.  DICK,— son  of 
^  Gottleib  and  Mary  M.  (Handle) 
Dick,  was  born  in  Akron,  Ohio, 
November  3,  18.58;  educated  in  Akron 
Public  schools;  clerked  in  hat  store 
of  Chipnian  &  Barnes  two  j^ears; 
book-keeper  for  Citizens'  Saving's 
and  Loan  Association  Bank  six 
3'ears;  book-keeper  for  Empire 
Reaper  and  Mower  Company'  two 
years;  in  1881  formed  partnership 
with  Lucius  C.  Miles,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Dick  &  Miles,  in  a  g'eneral 
commission  and  grain  business,  J. 
Edward  Peterson  succeeding-  Mr. 
Miles  in  Februarjs  1890,  the  firm 
name  no^v  being  Dick  &  Peterson. 
In  November,  1886,  Mr.  Dick  was 
elected  Auditor  of  Summit  county 
on  the  Republican  ticket,  and 
re-elected  in  1889,  which  responsible 
position  he  is  now  ably  filling. 
Being  active  in  local  military  circles, 
Mr.  Dick  was,  in  1888  elected  Major  of 
the  Eighth  Regiment  Infantry  Ohio 
National  Guard,  having  previouslj^ 
served,  by  regular  proiuotion,  as 
Captain  of  Companj^  B,  Akron  City 
Guard.  June  30,  1881,  he  was  married 
to  Carrie  May  Peterson,  daughter  of 
Dr.  James  H.  Peterson,  of  Akron. 
Four  children,  all  boys,  have  been 
born    to    them,     the    first    dying-    in 


w 


CHARLES  \V.  F.  DICK. 

infancy;  Carl,  born  October  23,  1887; 
James  Edward,  born  Noveml^er  28, 
1888,  and  Lucius  Alfred,  born  Decem- 
ber 6,  1890. 


Akron's  civil  service  record. 


279' 


EMMON  S.  OVIATT  — born  in  Rich- 
field, October  20,  1842;  educated 
in  village  public  schools,  working 
on  farm,  after  twelve  years  of  age 
attending-  commercial  school  in 
Cleveland  winters;  at  18,  in  1861, 
enlisted  in  the  Second  O.  V.  C,  serv- 
ing in  this  and  the  12th  O.  V.  C, 
nearly  three  years.  On  his  dis- 
charge from  the  arm}-,  he  engaged 
in  the  drug  business,  also  serving  as 
township  treasurer  and  postmaster 
at  West  Richfield  until  1872,  when  he 
removed  to  Akron,  soon  afterwards 
engaging  in  the  carpet  business, 
with  William  H.  Diehl,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Diehl  &  Oviatt,  con- 
tinuing six  years;  in  1884,  entered 
the  office  of  O.  B.  Hardy  &  Co.,  deal- 
ers and  jobbers  in  mining  and  sport- 
ing powders,  continuing  one  jear, 
then  entered  the  county  teasurer's 
office  as  deputj-,  under  Treasurer  A. 
M.  Cole,  continuing  through  the 
administration  of  Treasurer  James 
H.  Seymour,  in  November,  18i)0,  being 
himself  elected  treasurer,  the  full 
duties  of  which  responsible  office  he 
assumed  September  ii,  1891.  Mr.  Oviatt 
is  also  a  director  of  the  City  Nalional 
Bank    and   president    of    the    Akron 


EMMON  S.  OVIATT. 

Hardware  Company.  Ma}-  1(3,  IHCAf 
Mr.  Oviatt  was  married  to  Miss 
Mary  A.  Waters,  of  Brecksville, 
Cuyahoga  count}-.  They  have  no 
children. 


HENRY   I-RKOEK'ICK. 

HKNRY  FREDERICK,  born  in 
Wayne  Coimty.  March  2(),  1834 ; 
educated  in  schools  of  Doylestown 
and  Copley ;   worked  on  his  father's 


farm  till  18o8 ;  May  2().  18,18.  married 
to  Miss  Ellen  Viers,  of  Norton  ;  Octo- 
ber, 1858,  rented  the  John  C.  Stearns 
farm,  and  three  years  later  the  Jona- 
than Spafford  farin,  purchasing  same 
at  the  end  of  18  months,  but  later  sell- 
ing it  and  in  186i5  removed  to  Norton; 
in  1866  returned  to  Copley,  and  rented 
the  24()  acre  farm  of  Peter  Weeks;  in 
1867,  in  connection  with  Roj-al  Brock- 
way,  purchased  546  acres  of  Rhodes 
brothers,  on  the  west  line  of  Portage 
townshij)  ;  a  division  being-  made, 
other  tracts  were  bought  so  that  Mr. 
Frederick's  present  finely  cultivated 
farm  consists  of  283  acres,  stock  rais- 
ing and  dairjing  being  specialties. 
Republican  in  politics,  Mr.  Frederick 
served  as  trustee  of  Portage  town- 
ship from  1874  to  1877;  as  Director  of 
County  Infirnuir}^  from  1876  to  1882, 
being  president  of  the  board  three 
}'ears,  and  clerk  two  years ;  1889 
elected  meml)er  Board  of  County 
Comissioners  for  three  jears.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Frederick  are  members  of 
the  First  Disciples'  Church  of  Akron. 
They  are  the  parents  of  three  chil- 
dren— Charlotte  F^liza,now  Mrs.  Harry 
N.  Sherbondy  ;  James  McHenrj-.  (now 
editor  of  the  Ainerictin  Farm  Ncivs, 
Akron);  and  Ulysses  Grant, secretary 
and  treasurer  of  T  h  e  T  h  o  m  a  s 
Lumber  Co. 


.280 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


NATHANIEL  PERKINS  GOOD- 
HUE,--son  of  Nathaniel  W.  and 
Nancy  (Johnston)  Goodliue,  was  born 
in  Akron,  August  6,  18o4  ;  educated  in 
city  public  schools  ;  from  September, 
1872,  to  December,  1878,  deputy  clerk  in 
United  States  Court  at  Cleveland ; 
from  1878  to  1880,  traveling-  salesman 
for  wholesale  boot  and  shoe  firm  of 
Keller  &  Goodhue  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.; 
from  1880  to  1882,  read  law  in  the  office 
of  his  father  in  Akron  ;  on  the  acces- 
sion of  the  latter  to  the  Probate  Judge- 
ship of  Summit  count)*,  February  9, 
1882,  entered  the  office  as  deput)^ 
clerk,  on  the  death  of  Judge  Goodhue, 
September  12,  1883,  continuing 
through  the  incumbency  of  Judge 
Charles  R.  Grant,  to  February  9, 1891. 
November  4,  1890,  Mr.  Goodhue  was 
elected,  on  the  Republican  ticket, 
Clerk  of  Courts  for  Summit  county  ; 
entering  upon  the  responsible  duties 
of  that  office,  February  9, 1891.  April 
4,  1883,  Mr.  Goodhue  w^as  married  to 
Miss  Mary  Kent  McNaughton, 
daughter  of  Finley  and  Ella  (Kent) 
McNaughton,     formerlj^   of     Akron, 


NATHANIEL  PERKINS  GOODHUE. 


now  of  Youngstown,  who  was  born 
in  Akron,  October  31,  1858.  They 
have  no  children. 


BENJAMIN    FKANKLIN     CLARK. 

T3ENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  CLARK, 
-L'  — born  in  New  Lisbon,  ().,  Jan- 
uarj'  24,  1841 ;  when  two  3'ears  old 
moved  with  parents  to  Munroe  Falls, 
and  later  to  Massillon,  at  16  graduat- 
ing from  public  schools  of  that  cit)^ ; 
then  read  medicine  three  years  with 
Dr.  Metz;  October  6,  1861,  enlisted  in 
Co.  H,  loth  O.  V.  I.,  for  three  years  ; 
was  severely  wounded  by  a  shell  at 


Chickasaw  Bayou,  near  Vicksburg, 
in  December,  1862,  and  discharged 
on  surgeon's  certificate  August  7, 1863. 
April,  18(j4,  re-enlisted  in  McLaugh- 
lin's cavalry,  in  John  Sherman's 
famous  brigade,  going  immediately 
into  the  Atlanta  campaign,  in  every 
battle  of  which  he  was  a  participant ; 
went  with  Gen.  Stoneman  on  an  ex- 
pedition into  Georgia  for  the  rescue 
of  Union  prisoners  ;  was  captured 
by  the  Confederates,  stripped  of  his 
boots  and  most  of  his  clothing,  and 
marched,  bare-foot,  over  fifty  miles 
to  Andersonville,  where  for  nine 
long  months  he  suffered  all  the 
horrors  of  that  infernal  prison  pen, 
on  his  discharge — a  mere  skeleton — 
for  many  months  lingering  upon  the 
verge  of  the  grave ;  before  fairlj'- 
recovering  he  again  sought  his  regi- 
ment, being  with  it  on  the  final 
surrender  of  Gen.  Joe  Johnston. 
After  the  war  Mr.  Clark  devoted  him- 
self to  newspaper  work — 16  years  on 
the  Akron  Daily  Beacon  and  one 
year  on  the  Daily  Republican  ;  in 
1890  was  elected  Count)*  Recorder, 
which  position  he  is  now  abl)^  filling. 
May  1,  186(j,  Mr.  Clark  was  married, 
to  Miss  Caroline  Foltz,  of  Wooster, 
who  has  borne  him  four  children — 
Harry  Walter,  died  in  infanc)*;  Cora 
A.  (now  Mrs.  Harr)-  S.  Brandon); 
George  K.  and  Willie  F. 


AKRON  S   CIVIL   SERVICE    RECORD. 


i81 


f^  EORGE  W.  SIEBER,  —  son  of 
VJ  Joseph  and  Sarah  S.  (Moyer) 
Sieber,  was  born  on  a  farm  near 
Freeburg-,  Snyder  count}',  Pa.,  Febru- 
ary 22,  1858  ;  removed  with  parents  to 
Akron  in  1868  ;  educated  in  Freeburg- 
and  Akron  public  schools,  graduat- 
ing' from  Akron  high  school  in  1876 ; 
attended  Buchtel  College  and  Cin- 
cinnati law  school,  graduating  from 
the  latter  in  1881,  with  first  honors  of 
class  ;  admitted  to  the  bar  the  same 
3'ear  and  entered  upon  a  successful 
practice,  in  1886  being  elected 
Prosecuting  Attorney  for  Summit 
county,  on  the  Republican  ticket, 
and  re-elected  in  1889,  ably  filling  that 
responsible  office  six  years  ;  April  1, 
1891,  associated  himself  with  ex- 
Judges  Edwin  P.  Green,  of  the  Com- 
mon Pleas  Court,  and  Charles  R. 
Grant,  of  the  Probate  Court,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Green,  Grant  &  Sieber, 
and  besides  his  law  practice,  is  quite 
largely  interested  in  several  indus- 
trial enterprises  in  Akron  and  else- 
where. September  1, 1883,  Mr.  Sieber 
was  married,  to  Miss  Elsie  C.  Moatz, 


GEORGE    W.  SIEBER. 

of  Middleburgh,  Pa.,  who  has  borne 
him  three  children  George  W.,  who 
died  at  eleven  months  of  age  ;  Joseph 
Byron  and  Florence. 


RICHARD    B.    WALKER. 

RICHARD  B.  WALKER.— born  in 
Belchertown,  Mass.,  August  11, 
1825;  common  school  education, 
reared  to  inercantile  life;  January  18, 
1852,  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  E. 
Jenney,   of   Ware,  Mass.;   same  year 


came  to  Akron,  opening  a  store  for 
the  sale  of  agricultural  implements 
and  supplies,  the  first  store  of  its 
class  in  Akron,  later  adding  tin  and 
hardware  to  his  stock  in  trade.  In 
1862  he  became  traveling  salesman 
and  general  agent  for  Aultman, 
Miller  &  Co.,  for  the  sale  of  the  cele- 
brated Buckeye  Reapers  and  Mowers, 
conducting  competitive  field  trials, 
etc.,  which  business,  with  eminent 
success  to  both  the  coijipany  and 
himself,  he  still  follows.  Politically 
Mr.  Walker  is  a  steadfast  Republican, 
and  though  not  an  office  seeker, 
was  honored  with  a  seat  in  the 
Council  of  the  Incorporated  Village 
of  Akron,  during  the  years  1858,  '59, 
and  in  1859  was  elected  director  of 
County  Infirinary,  which  office,  most 
of  the  time  as  clerk  of  the  board 
he  ably  filled  till  1868— nine  years- 
having  charge  of  Akron's  poor,  and 
efficiently  aiding  in  the  erection  of 
the  present  commodious  Infirmary 
buildings.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walker 
have  been  born  four  sons — William, 
book-keeper  for  Mack  Brothers, 
Cleveland;  George,  lawj^er  in  Chi- 
cago; Charles,  deceased;  and  Arthur 
H.,  also  practicing  law  in  Chicago. 


282 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


JACOB  KOPLIN— was  born  near 
I  Doylestown,  Wayne  county,  Ohio, 
July  24,  1828,  moving-  into  Norton 
township  with  parents  in  1833;  edu- 
cated in  district  schools  and  learned 
tailoring-  business;  in  1862,  moved  to 
Akron,  and  on  August  30th  of  that 
year  enlisted  in  Co.  D,  29th  Regiment 
O.  V.  I.,  serv^ing-  nearlj'  three  3^ears. 
being  inustered  out  June  8,  1865;  after 
close  o€  the  war  clerked  for  Barnes 
Brothers  nearlj^  ten  j^ears;  in  1875,  '76 
officiating  as  jailor  and  deputj- 
sheriff  under  Sheriff  Levi  J.  McMuf- 
ray;  in  1877  was  elected  Citj^  Marshal 
of  Akron,  serving-  one  j^ear,  when  he 
resigfned  and  opened  a  general  store 
at  Johnson's  Corners,  selling  out  a 
year  later  and  returning-  to  Akron,  as 
salesman  in  the  large  Clothing 
House  of  J.  Koch  &  Co.,  which  posi- 
tion he  has  since  continuouslj'  held. 
In  November,  1889,  Mr.  Koplin  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Summit 
Count}'  Infirtnary  Board  for  the  term 
of  three  years.  May  30,  1849,  Mr. 
Koplin  was  married  to  Miss  Mar- 
g^aret  Hile,  of  Norton,  who  bore  him 
six  children,  three  of  whom  died 
young,  the  three  survivors  being-: 
Jennie  M.,  (now  Mrs.  S.  G.  Williams); 
Frank  L.,   now  of  the   shoe  firm  of 


JACOB    KOPLIX. 

S.  E.  Phinney  &  Co.;  and  Or  in  P.,. 
machinist  with  Webster,  Camp  & 
I^ane.  Mrs.  Koplin  dying-  April  23, 
1889,  Mr.  Koplin  was  again  married, 
to  Mrs.  Linhie  L.  Bolich, — nee  Long 
— of  Wadsworth,  January  1,  1890. 


City  Solicitors. — Elected  bj^  the  people — term  two  j^ears: 
1865, '66, '67, '68,  Newell  D.  Tibbals;  1869, '70,  John  McGregor;  1871, 
'72,  '73,  '74,  '75, '76,  Edward  W.  Stuart;  1877,  '78,  Henry  C.  Sanford; 
1879,  '80,  Calvin  Pease  Humphrey;  1881,  '82,  '83,  '84,  Charles  S. 
Cobbs;  1885, '86,  '87,  '88,  Dayton  A.  Doyle;  1889,  '90,  '91,  '92,  George 
M.  Anderson. 

City  Civil  Engineers. — Previous  to  1869,  no  regular  civil  engi- 
neer, for  either  town,  village  or  city,  had  been  permanently'- 
employed,  but  such  surveying,  laying  of  grades,  etc.,  was  done  by 
old-time  local  surveyors — Joshua  Henshaw^,  Albert  G.  Mallison, 
Capt.  Richard  Howe,  Dwight  Newton,  Seth  Sackett,  Hosea  PauU 
and  others,  as  necessity  required.  Under  the  ordinance  of  1869,  P, 
H.  Dudley  vt^as  elected  City  Civil  Engineer  by  the  people  for  tw^o 
years,  and  re-elected  in  1871,  followed  by  the  election  in  the  same 
manner,  in  1873,  of  Charles  E.  Perkins  for  two  years.  In  1875  the 
office  was  made  appointive,  from  year  to  year,  by  the  Major,  sub- 
ject to  confirmation  by  Council,  under  which  arrangement  Charles 
E.  Perkins  was  successively  appointed  in  1875,  '76  and  '77,  and 
Omar  N.Gardner  in  1878,  '79,  '80,  '81,  '82  and  '83.  The  ordinance 
being  again  changed,  making  the  office  elective  bj^  the  Council  for 
two  years,  Mr.  Gardner  ^vas  again  elected  in  1884,  follow^ed  by 
Willis  D,  Chapman,  in  1886,  and  re-elected  in  1888.  Mr.  Chapman 
resigning  early  in  1889,  Assistant  Engineer  Samuel  W.  Parshall 
was  promoted  to  the  engineership  for  tw^o  years,  and  is  still 
serving. 

Street  Commissioner. — Prior  to  1869  work  upon  the  streets 
of  the  village  and  city  was  done  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Street    Committee,    or   some   person    specially  appointed  for    the 


AKKON  S   CIVIL   SERVICE    RECORD. 


283 


JOSEPH  E.  WESENER— born  in 
J  Frankfort,  Pa.,  May  7,  1827;  moved 
with  parents  to  Canton,  Ohio,  in  1840; 
served  as  clerk  in  store  of  H.  H. 
Myers  five  years;  came  to  Akron  in 
1846,  clerking  four  years,  and  in  part- 
nership two  years,  with  the  late 
Allen  Hibbard,  in  the  "Old  Green 
Store  "  on  Howard  street,  burned  Feb- 
ruary 17,  1851.  In  1852,  Mr.  W.  started 
in  business  for  himself,  and  indiffer- 
ent localities,  with  several  different 
partners,  (Mr.  C.  A.  Brouse  being-  as- 
sociated with  him  for  about  18  years) 
though  again  entirely  burned  out, 
March  11,  1869,  he  continued  to  do  a 
phenomenallj' successful  mercantile 
business  in  Akron  for  over  a  third  of 
a  century,  his  operations  for  the  last 
few  years,  in  addition  to  the  care  of 
his  fine  farm  adjoining  the  city,  and 
his  elegant  Summer  resort,  "Monte- 
bello,"  at  Newberr5%  Vt.,  being  con- 
fined to  agricultural  implements, 
giant  powder,  wool,  fruit,  etc.  Mr. 
Wesener  served  as  a  member  and 
clerk  of  the  Infirmary  board  in  1851, 
and  as  village  Recorder  in  1855,  '56. 
September  8,  1849,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Philura  Spalding,  daughter  of 
Judge  Rufus  p.  Spalding,  who  bore 
him  three  children,  all  of  whom  died 
in    iiitancj'.     Mrs.   W.   djing  July  6, 


JOSKPH    E.    VVKSE.NEK. 


18,52,  he  was  again  married,  to  Miss 
Anna  J.  Hopkins,  who  died  January 
1, 1876  ;  was  again  married,  September 
5,  1876,  to  Miss  Alphonsene  D.  C'e 
Chevrier,  who  has  V)orne  him  four 
children — Joseph  E.,  Mary  A.,  Anna 
J.  and  Henrj'  Huntington. 


JAMES  F.  ^COTT. 

TAMES  F.  SCOTT,— born  at  Cadiz, 
J  Ohio,  Februarj^  18.  1828;  conunon 
school  education  ;  learned  the  trade 
of  harness-maker  at  Scio,  Ohio  ;  June 
8,  1848,  married  Miss  Eunice  Jolley, 
who  died  February  28,   1849,   aged   21 


years  and  9  months  ;  in  1850  started 
overland  for  Oregon,  going  as  far  as 
Iowa,  but  on  account  of  illness 
returned  to  Ohio,  going  into  the 
music  business  in  Cincinnati ;  in 
Spring  of  1852.  went  to  New  Lisbon, 
and  in  Fall  of  same  year  came  to 
Akron,  engaging  with  Messrs, 
Blodgett  &  Horton  in  the  manufact- 
ure of  melopeans  ;  January  10,  1856, 
was  married  to  Miss  Bell  Carsom  who 
died  October  30,  the  same  j'ear,  aged 
24  years.  November  25,  1857,  was 
again  married,  to  Miss  Helen  Shaw,^ 
who  has  borne  him  four  children — 
Daniel  H.  Scott,  born  October  25, 18,58, 
now  private  secretary  to  the  presi- 
dent of  The  Richard  Grant  Company,, 
corner  Hudson  and  Vestrj'  streets. 
New  York  City  ;  James  \V.  Scott, 
born  February  22,  1860,  now  reading 
law  in  the  office  of  Cit)^  Solicitor 
George  M.Anderson  ;  Charles  Brown 
Scott,  born  August  30,  1861.  died 
March  26,  1864;  Nellie  Brown  Scott, 
born  January  2. 18()8,  died  February  16, 
1884.  Mr.  Scott  is  a  member  of  the  First 
Disciples'  Church  of  Akron,  and  an 
ardent  Republican,  ably  filling  the 
office  of  Maj'or  of  the  City  of  Akron, 
from  April  1877  to  April  1879;  occu- 
pation for  past  25  years,  piano-tuner. 


284 


AKKON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


purpose  by  Council.  By  the  ordinance  of  1869  the  office  of  Street 
Commissioner  was  created,  to  be  elected  by  the  people  for  the  term 
of  two  years,  the  successive  incumbents  of  which  have  been  as 
follows:  1869,  '70,  '71,  '72,  Thomas  H.  Goodwin;  1873,  '74,  '75,  '76, 
'77,  '78,  Benjamin  Frederick;  1879,  '80,  Joseph  D.  Ellis;  1881,  '82,  '83, 
'84,  James  Wildes;  1885, '86, '87,  '88,  Henry  Acker;  1889,  Henry  Van 
Hyning.  The  title  of  the  office  having  been  changed  to  Supervisor 
of  Streets,  and  from  an  elective  to  an  appointiv^e  office,  Mr.  Van 
Jiyning  is  still  serving  as  an  appointee  of  the  City  Council. 


T  ORENZO  DOW  WATTERS,— son 
-*-^  of  Hiram  and  Elizabeth  (Cron- 
inger)  Walters,  was  born  in  Carroll, 
Fairfield  county,  Ohio,  October  4, 
1855.  At  14  years  of  age  removed 
with  his  parents  to  Akron,  where  he 
attended  the  public  schools  until 
1872,  when,  at  its  opening-,  he  entered 
Buchtel  College,  remaining  three 
years.  On  leaving  college,  in  1875, 
he  spent  one  year  with  his  father  in 
the  construction  of  a  mill.  In  the 
Spring  of  1877  entered  the  office  of  J. 
J.  Hall,  Esq.,  as  a  law  student,  and  on 
his  admission  to  the  bar,  March  17, 
1879,  entered  into  partnership  with 
Mr.  Hall,  under  the  firm  name  of  Hall 
A  Watters,  which  continued  until  the 
election  of  Mr.  Watters  to  the  office 
of  Mayor  of  the  city  of  Akron,  in  the 
Spring  of  1883,  to  which  office  Mr. 
Watters  was  re-elected  in  1885,  serv- 
ing in  all  four  years.  On  the  expira- 
tion of  his  second  terin,  as  Mayor,  in 
the  Spring  of  1887,  Mr.  Watters 
resumed  the  practice  of  the  law  on 
his  own  account,  which  calling  he  is 


LORENZO  DOW   WATTERS. 


Still  successfully  pursuing.  Decem- 
ber 22, 1890.  Mr.  Watters  was  married 
to  Miss  Julia  E.  Lynn,  of  Akron. 


LOUIS   DUDLEY  SEWARD. 


T  OUIS  DUDLEY  SEWARD,~son 
^  of  Col.  Dudley  and  Lois  (Clarke) 
Seward,  was  born  in  Akron  Januarj^ 
3,  1852 ;  educated  in  Akron  public 
schools  and  under  the  private  tute- 
lage of  Judge  James  S.  Carjjenter ; 
studied  law  with  Messrs.  Edgerton 
&  Kohler,  and  in  office  of  Hon.  Henry 
C.  Sanford;  admitted  to  bar  in  April, 
1876.  comiuencing  practice  with  Olin 
L.  Sadler,  Esq.;  in  1886,  elected  justice 
of  the  peace  for  Middlebixry  town- 
ship and  continued  under  Akron 
township  ;  in  1887  elected  Mayor  of 
the  cit}^  of  Akron,  ably  serving  two 
3'ears,  in  Spring  of  1884  resuming  his 
law  practice,  Avhich  he  is  still  suc- 
cessfullj'  pursuing.  Mr.  Seward  is 
also  interested  in  several  of  the 
industrial  enterprises  of  Akron  and 
vicinity.  December  4,  18  90,  Mr. 
Seward  was  inarried  in  Akron  to  Miss 
Katharine  May  Johnston,  daughter 
of  County  Coinmissioner  Washing- 
ton G.  and  Mrs.  Anna  (Irvin)  John- 
v«ton,  of  Green  township,  w^ho  was 
born  March  19, 1870. 


Akron's  civil  service  record. 


285 


WILLIAM  H.  MILLER— born  in 
Perry  township,  Stark  county, 
Ohio,  April  17,  1843 ;  resided  on  farm 
with  parents  until  nearly  21  years  of 
Hge ;  educated  in  township  district 
schools,  supplemented  by  several 
terms  of  instruction  in  Canton 
Union  Schools ;  in  1862  moved  to 
Copley  township,  and  in  1864  to 
Akron,  working'  at  the  inachinist 
trade,  in  the  Buckeye  Reaper  and 
Mower  works,  of  Aultman,  Miller  & 
Co.,  for  twenty-five  years.  Demo- 
cratic in  politics,  Mr.  Miller  rep- 
resented the  Fourth  ward  in  the 
Akron  City  Council  from  April,  1883, 
to  April,  188o ;  April,  1889,  Mr.  Miller 
was  elected  Mayor  of  Akron,  which 
responsible  position  he  still  holds. 
Mr.  Miller  was  married  August  24, 
1865,  to  Miss  Harriet  E.  Manderbach, 
daughter  of  Jacob  Manderbach,  of 
Akron.  Three  children  have  been 
born  to  them,  two  of  whom  are  now 
living — George  H.,  25,  now  a  member 
of  the  Akron  Shoe  Company,  and  Ada 
A.,  16,  living  at  home.  In  society 
matters,  Mr.  Miller  has  borne  a  con- 
spicuous part;  initiated  in  Summit 
Lodge,  No.  50, 1. 0. 0.  F.,  October  6, 1873, 
became  P.  G.  of  Lodge  in  1880 ;  is  now 
P.  C.  P.  of  Akron  F^ncampment,  No.  18  ; 


WILLIAM    H.   MILLEK. 

commissioned  D.  D.  G.  P.  of  Encamp- 
ment, June  8,  188(5,  by  G.  P.  L.  A. 
Baldwin,  of  Findlay,  O.;  was  commis- 
sioned Captain  and  Aide-de-Camp, 
Brigade  Staff,  Patriarchs  Militant,  by 
Gen.  Franklin  Ellis,  Commander 
Dep't  of  Ohio,  January  15,  1886. 


CHARLES    S.  COBBS. 

pHARLES   S.  COBBS,-  born   near 
^     Alliance,    Columbiana     county, 


Ohio,  July  7,  1853;  lived  on  farm 
until  18,  when  he  entered  Mt.  Union 
College,  from  which  he  graduated 
in  Julj^  1877;  superintendent  of 
Malvern  Union  Schools  two  years, 
meantime  studying  law ;  in  May, 
1879,  entered  the  office  of  John  J.  Hall, 
Esq.,  in  Akron,  being  admitted  to 
the  bar,  in  May,  1879,  at  session  of 
Supreme  Court  in  Columbus,  enter- 
ing at  once  into  a  successful  law 
practice  in  Akron ;  in  April,  1881, 
was  elected  CitJ^  Solicitor,  and  re- 
elected in  1883,  serving  two  full  terms  ; 
and  has  since  acted  as  local  attorney 
for  the  Valle}'  Railway  Company,  in 
connection  with  his  general  law 
practice,  March  9,  1891,  forming  a 
partnership  with  Edward  Oviatt  and 
George  G.  Allen,  Esqs.,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Oviatt,  Allen  &  Cobbs. 
November  2,  1881,  Mr.  Cobbs  was 
married,  to  Miss  Margaret  S.  McCall, 
of  Malvern,  Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio,, 
who  has  borne  him  one  child — 
Charles  Walker  Cobbs— born  Feb- 
ruary 15,  1889. 


286 


AKROX    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


GEORGE  McCLUNG  ANDERSON, 
— son  of  Rev.  G.  W.  Anderson, 
Methodist  minister;  born  at  Prince- 
ton, Wis.,  June  29,  1857 ;  in  1859,  came 
with  parents  to  Ohio,  living-  in  vari- 
ous places,  and  attending-  common 
schools  until  Fall  of  1876,  when  he 
entered  Alleghenj^  College,  in  part 
defraying  the  expenses  of  his  four 
years'  course  bj'  manual  labor,  man- 
agement of  lectures,  etc.;  in  Fall  of 
1880;  came  to  Kruinroy ;  October  22, 
188(),  he  wcffe  married  to  Miss  Mary  E. 
Jobes,  of  Damascus,  Coluinbiana  Co.; 
remained  at  Krumroy  two  years, 
teaching-  school,  working-  at  painting, 
common  labor,  etc.,  leisure  hours 
being  devote(f  to  Blackstone  ;  in  Fall 
of  1882,  removed  to  Ann  Arbor,  Mich., 
and  entered  the  law  department  of 
the  Michigan  University,  working  in 
in  law  office  during  vacations ;  on 
g-raduating,  in  Spring  of  1884,  was 
admitted  to  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Michigan,  and  to  the  Courts  of  Ohio, 
June  3,  1884  ;  commenced  practice  in 
Akron  in  August,  1884,  and  elected 
City  Solicitor,  on  the  Republican 
ticket,  in  the  Spring  of  1889,  which 
responsible    position    he     still    fills. 


GEORGE   MCCLUNG    ANDERSON. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Anderson  have  had  two 
children— Mary  Belle,  born  at  Krum- 
ro3 %  October  25,  1881,  died  at  Ann 
Arbor  in  the  Fall  of  1882  ;  Jesse  May, 
born  in  Akron,  Januarj-  21,  1886. 


HENRY   WARD    INGERSOLL. 

HENRY  WARD  INGERSOLL,— 
born  in  Richfield,  October  23, 
1833,  moving  with  familj'  to  Hudson 
when  two  years  old  ;  in  1857,  gradu- 
ated from  Western  Reserve  College, 
studying    law    with   Jtidge    Van    R. 


Humphrey,  in  Hudson,  and  Wolcott 
&  Upson  in  Akron,  being  admitted  to 
the  bar  \)y  the  Supreme  Court,  at 
Columbus,  March  29.  18.59,  immedi- 
ately opening-  an  office  in  Akron, 
where  he  has  been  in  continuous 
practice  since,  except  during  his 
absence  in  the  ariny ;  in  September, 
1861,  enlisted  as  member  of  the 
Second  Ohio  Cavalry"  Regimental 
Band,  serving  in  the  division  of  Gen. 
Blount,  in  the  Western  cainpaign. 
After  discharge  of  band,  by  order  of 
War  Department,  he  was  commis- 
sioned by  Gov.  Tod,  in  1862,  as  cap- 
tain in  the  124th  O.  V.  I.,  but  by 
reason  of  consolidation  of  compan- 
ies, was  mustered  out  on  organiza- 
tion of  regiment;  in  1864,  at  the  call 
of  Gov.  Brough,  served  100  daj'S  in 
defense  of  the  National  Capitol,  as  a 
member  of  Compan)^  F\,  164th  O.  N. 
G.  In  1864  Mr.  IngersoU  was  elected 
Recorder  of  the  incorporated  village 
of  Akron,  and  took  the  census,  pre- 
pared the  necessary  papers,  and  pro- 
cured from  the  Secretarj^  of  State  the 
charter  constituting  Akron  a  city  of 
the  second  class.  Iii  addition  to  his 
legal  acquirements,  Mr.  IngersoU  is  a 
fine  inusician,  having  been  chorister 
in  the  Cong-regational  and  other 
churches  of  the  city  for  many  years. 
June  6,  186(),  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Sarah  A.  Boardman,  of  Newton  Falls, 
who  has  borne  him  two  children, 
Adelaide  B.  and  Harrj'. 


AKRON  S   CIVIL   SERVICE    RECORD. 


287 


NEWTON  FORD— sou  of  Marvin 
and  Lydia  (Cornwell)  Ford  was 
born  in  Northfield,  Ohio.  March  24, 
18r)2;  raised  on  farm  till  1863;  assisted 
his  father  in  postoffice  at  Macedonia 
from  18()3  to  18()S;  in  1870,  entered 
Western  Reserve  CoUeg'e,  at' Hudson, 
<-ontinuing-  until  1873,  when  he  beg-an 
teaching-  in  ptiblic  schools  of  this 
countj^;  in  1874,  began  reading  law 
under  Horace  B.  Foster,  Esq.,  in 
Hudson,  two  years  later  concluding- 
his  studies  in  office  of  Foster,  Mar- 
vin &  Grant,  in  Akron,  being 
admitted  to  the  bar,  here,  August  28, 
1870.  In  April,  1877,  located  in  Akron 
for  the  practice  of  his  profession,  in 
Februar}^  1878,  associating  himself 
with  Hon.  Henry  C.  Sanford,  the 
partnership  continuing  about  five 
years.  In  April,  1879,  Mr.  Ford  was 
elected  City  Clerk,  by  the  City  Coun- 
cil, and  successivelv  elected  for  the 
years  1880,  '81,  '82.  After  an  interreg- 
nvini  of  one  year,  he  was  again 
elected  Clerk,  in  April,  1884,  which 
position  he  continued  to  hold  until 
April,  1890,  making  an  aggregate  ser- 
vice of  ten  years.  November  26.  1879, 
he  was  married  to  Miss  Rosine 
McKinley,  of  Hudson,  who  has  borne 


NEVVTOX   FORD. 


him  three  children — Howard  C,  born 
August  14,  1882;  twins,  boy  and  girl, 
born  May  23,  1887— Bernice  N.,  and 
FIthel  Rosannah,  Bernice  dying  when 
two  months  and  a  half  old. 


PORTAGE  TOWNSHIP. 


We  are  unable  to  secure  a  full  record  of  the  earlier  local 
officers,  but  commencing  vv^ith  1836,  the  following  is  a  tolerably 
full  roster  of  Portage  township's  successive  trustees:  1836,  William 
B.  Mitchell,  Miner  Spicer,  John  Sherbondy;  1837,  '38,  same;  1839, 
William  B.  Mitchell,  John  Sherbondy,  Simon  Perkins,  Jr.;  1840, 
Charles  W.  Brown,  Jesse  Allen,  John  Ayres;  1841,  Simon  Perkins,  Jr. 
Jesse  Allen,  Charles  W.  Brown;  1842,  Simon  Perkins,  Jr.,  Eber 
Blodgett,  Charles  W.  Brown;  1843,  same;  1844,  Simon  Perkins,  Jr., 
Moses  Smith,  John  Sherbondy;  1845,  Simon  Perkins,  Lucius  V. 
Bierce,  Silas  W.  Wilder;  1846,  Silas  W.  Wilder,  Lucius  V.  Bierce, 
Justus  Gale;  1847,  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  Henry  Converse,  George 
Sherbondy;  1848,  Webster  B.  Storer,  David  Miller,  John  Ayres; 
1849,  David  Miller,  Nathaniel  Finch,  George  Sherbondy;  on  the 
death  of  Mr.  Miller,  in  October,  George  D.  Bates  was  appointed  to 
fill  the  vacancy.  1850,  Nathaniel  Finch,  George  Sherbondy,  Joseph 
F.  Gilbert;  1851,  Joseph  F.  Gilbert,  Ira  Hawkins,  Robert  Jackson; 
1852,  Rlias  W,  Howard,  George  Sherbondj",  Rol^ert  Jackson;  1853, 
Joseph  F.  Gilbert,  Robert  Jackson,  George  Sherbondy;  1854,  Ira 
Hawkins,  Elias  L.  Munger,  George  Sherbondy;  1855,  George  W, 
McNeil,  Elias  L.  Munger,  George  Sherbondy;  1856,  Benjamin 
McNaughton,  George  W.  McNeil,  Reuben  Sherbondy;  1857,  Charles 
Merriman,  Clement  J.  Kolb.  W^ebster  B.  Storer;  1858,  George 
Miller,  Melchiah  Sherbondy,  Jacob  Snyder;  1859,  Houston  Sisler, 
Clement  J.  Kolb,  John  R.  Buchtel;  1860,  same;  1861,  Houston 
Sisler,  John  R.  Buchtel,  Christopher  Oberholtz;  1862,  same;  Mr. 
Sisler  dying  in  June,  Roland  O.  Hammond  was  appointed  to  fill 
the  vacancy;     1863,  John    R.   Buchtel,   Simon   Perkins,  G.   F.    W. 


288 


AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Fisher;  1864,  same;  1865,  same;  1866,  John  K,  Buchtel,  James  F. 
Scott,  Clement  J.  Kolb;  1867,  John  K.  Buchtel,  Frank  T.  Husong, 
Joseph  Babb;  1868,  Joseph  Babb,  Frank  T.  Husong,  Abraham 
Sichley;  1869,  Frank  T.  Husong,  Joseph  Babb,  Millard  F.  Hamlin; 
1870,  Joseph  Babb,  Millard  F.  HamUn,  Nelson  C.  Hawkins;  1871, 
Millard  F.  Hamlin,  Nelson  C.  Hawkins,  Abner  L.  Caldwell;  1872, 
Nelson  C.  Hawkins,  Millard  F.  Hamlin,  Hiram  Sherbondj^;  1873, 
Hiram  Sherbondy,  Millard  F.  Hamlin,  Fred  Oberholtz;  1874,  Abner 
L.  Caldwell,  Abraham  Sichley,  IrLenry  Frederick;  1875,  same;  1876,. 
same;  1877,  Hiram  Sherbondy,  Simon  Perkins,  Abraham   Sichley; 

1878,  Stephen  H.  Pitkin,  Aver3-  S.  Beardsley,  John  McCausland; 

1879,  Stephen  H.  Pitkin,  Albert  H.  Mallison,  Ephraim  Erdley;  Mr. 
Erdley  dying  in  July,  Uriah  Sherbond}^  was  appointed  to  fill  the 
vacancy;  1880,  Jacob  Carpenter,  Albert  H.  Mallison,  Charles  \V. 
Brown;  1881,  Jacob  Carpenter,  Albert  H.  MalUson,  Millard  F. 
Hamlin;  1882,  Jacob  Carpenter,  Millard  F.  Hamlin,  \V.  E.  Waters; 
1883,  B.  M.  Boyer,  B.  F.  Buchtel,  T.  J.  Wise;  1884,  Jacob  Carpenter, 
B.  F.  Buchtel,  W.  E.  Waters;  1885,  B.  F.  Buchtel,  Jacob  Carpenter, 
M.  J.  Gilbo.  In  1886,  the  law  was  changed  making  the  term  three 
years,  one  trustee  to  be  elected  everj'  three  years,  since  which 
time  the  successive  boards  have  been  as  follows:  1886,  B.  F. 
Buchtel,  Eli  Smith,  Charles  T.  Parks;  1887,  same;  1888,  Charles  T. 
Parks,  Eli  Smith,  John  Leib.     Mr.  Leib  having  deceased,  Henry 


PLIMMON  H.  DUDLEY,  -born  in 
U  Freedom,  Ohio,  May  24,  1843; 
educated  at  Hiram  College;  elected 
Akron  City  Civil  Engineer,  in  18(59, 
re-elected  in  1871;  built  Mill  Street 
conduit,  1870,  and  West  Market  Street 
arch  and  bridge,  1871;  1872,  serv^ed  on 
commission  to  inspect  the  Pxiblic 
Works  of  Ohio;  same  year  elected 
Chief  Engineer  of  Valley  Railway, 
locating  road,  with  easy  curvature 
and  down  grade,  from  Summit 
Countj^  coal  fields  to  Cleveland;  1875, 
'76,  used  his  invention,  the  Dyna- 
graph,  (power  writer),  on  L.  S.  &  M.  S. 
Ry.,  demonstrating  that  18  to  20 
miles  for  freight  trains  was  more 
economical  than  the  10  to  12  miles 
per  hour  then  in  vogue;  1876,  '77,  '78, 
employed  as  expert,  by  the  Eastern 
Railwaj"  Association,  to  test  the 
comparative  merits  of  locomotive 
trucks;  1877,  awarded  the  Elliott  Cres- 
son  Gold  Medal,  bj'  the  Franklin  Insti- 
tute, of  Pennsylvania,  (the  sixth 
in  30  years),  for  his  invention  of  the 
Dynagraph;  1877,  invented  system  bj- 
which  each  clock  on  a  given  railway 
line  can  be  set  to  standard  time  bj- 
touching  electric  key  in  main  office; 
1878,  sent  Dynagraph  to  the  Victor- 
ian Railways  of  Australia,  and  built 
for  himself  a  car  for  his  enlarged 
Dynagraph;  1880,  invented  track- 
inspecting  system,  showing  the  con- 
dition of  any  rail  passed  over,  and 
ejecting  paint  where  repairs  are 
needed;  1883,  designed  new  type  of 


PUIMMON   H.   DUDLEY. 

rails;  1884,  announced  plan  for  pro- 
tecting timber  from  decay;  188o, 
elected  Fellow  of  the  New  York 
Academj'  of  Science;  1887,  was  sent 
to  inspect  the  Panama  Railroad;  1889, 
invented  sj^stem  of  trucks  for  heavy 
railwa}^  service;  1890,  elected  presi- 
dent New  York  Microscopical  Society. 
December  12,  1871,  Mr.  Dudley  was 
married  to  Miss  Lucy  M.,  eldest 
daughter  of  the  late  Hiram  V.  and 
Ruth  (Rannej')  Bronson,  of  Penin- 
sula, their  present  residence  beings 
New  York  City. 


akkon's  civil  serv^ice  record. 


289 


Zink  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  by  Justice  Solomon 
Koplin,  The  township  being  separated  from  Akron,  in  the  Spring 
of  1888,  thus  making  the  place  of  Mr.  Parks  vacant,  Reuben 
Sherbondy  was  appointed  to  the  place  by  Justice  Koplin.  Since 
its  separation  from  the  city.  Portage  township  has  been  divided 
into  two  election  precincts,  the  territory  north  of  city  limits,  and 
east  of  canal  being  designated  as  the  East  precinct,  and  that  west 
of  city  and  canal  as  the  West  precinct.  1889,  trustees:  Eli  Smith, 
Reuben  Sherbondy,  Abner  L.  Caldwell;  1890,  Thomas  W.  Ingalls, 
Reuben  Sherbondy,  A.  L.  Caldwell;  1891,  same. 


OMAR  N.  GARDNER, —  son  of 
•  James  and  Elvira  C.  Gardner, 
natives  of  Genessee  county,  N.  Y.,  was 
born  in  Akron,  December  2,  1854; 
educated  in  Akron  public  schools 
and  Buchtel  Colleg-e.  In  1870  beg:an 
work  with  Mr.  P.  H.  Dudley,  Akron's 
first  city  engineer,  also  assisting  Mr. 
Dvidley  on  the  surveys  for  the  B.  &  O. 
and  Valley  railways ;  in  1878  was 
elected  City  Engineer  of  Akron,  hold- 
ing- the  office  until  1886,  designing 
and  superintending  the  construction 
of  the  larger  portion  of  our  compre- 
hensive system  of  public  works — 
sewerage,  paving,  bridges,  viaducts, 
conduits,  sewer  tunnel,  etc.,  involv- 
ing an  expenditure  of  over  half  a 
million  dollars.  In  1887,  was  employed 
as  special  engineer  by  Nebraska's 
capital  citj',  Lincoln,  where  he 
designed  and  superintended  the  con- 
struction of  a  complete  system  of 
public  works  —  some  30  miles  of 
separate  storm  and  sanitary  sewers, 
many  miles  of  brick,  cedar  block 
and  granite  block  paving,  and  an 
important  extension  of  the  Lincoln 
water  works  system,  which  ranks 
among  the  finest  in  the  country.  Mr. 
G.  has  also  designed  a  sj^stem  of 
sewerage  for  West  Bay  City,  Mich., 
and  is  now  professionally  officiating 


OMAR   X.  GARDNER. 

as  consulting  engineer  for  all 
branches  of  sanitary  and  h3draulic 
works.  September  4, 1877,  Mr.  Gardner 
was  married  to  Miss  Ella  J.  Btish,  of 
Jamestown,  N.  Y,,who  hcis  borne  him 
two  children — a  daughter,  Alene, 
born  March  II,  1879,  and  a  son,  James 
A.,  born  March  20,  1881. 


Portage  Township  Clerks. — From  and  including  1836,  the 
duly^  elected  clerks  of  Portage  township  have  been  as  foUow^s: 
1836,  '37,  Franklin  C.  May;  1838,  Horace  K.  Smith;  1839,  Joseph 
Cole;  1840,  Nahum  Fay;  1841,  William  Harrison  Dewey;  1842, 
Henry  Clay  Crosby;  1843,  William  H.  Dewey;  1844,  Nahum  Fay; 
1845,  '46,  '47,  Charles  W.  Tappan;  1848,  '49,  Tilman  Wagner;  1850, 
'51,  Edward  W.  Perrin;  1852,  '53,  '54,  '55,  '56,  Roland  O.  Hammond; 
1857,  Newell  D.  Tibbals;  1858,  '59,  Jacob  A.  Kohler;  1860,  '61,  '62, 
George  T.  McCurdy;  1863,  '64,  '65,  '66,  '67,  William  C.  Allen;  1868, 
'69, '70, '71,  John  McGregor;  1872,  '73,  '74, '75,  George  Tod  Ford;  in 
September  Mr.  Ford  resigned  and  Charles  Baird  was  appointed  in 
his  place;  1876,  '77,  Charles  Baird;  1878,  '79,  '80,  '81,  '82,  '83,  Peter  J. 
Moersch;  1884,  '85,  William  H.  Sanford;  1886,  A.  K.  Fouser;  1887, 
Frank  G.  Treash;  1888,  '89,  '90,  '91,  John  W.  Frank. 

19 


290 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY 


WILLIS  D.  CHAPMAN— son  of 
Dr.  Bryon  and  Matilda  A. 
(Dills)  Chapman,  was  born  in  Copley, 
October  3,  1848;  edvicated  in  Coplej^ 
schools  and  Pennsjdvania  Polytech- 
nic College,  Philadelphia;  was  locat- 
ing engineer  on  Lake  Shore  and  I'us- 
carawas  Valley  R.  R.  in  1871 ;  same  on 
Canada  Southern  from  1872  to  1876 ; 
engaged  in  general  civil  engineering, 
with  headquarters  in  Toledo,  from 
1876  to  1878  ;  mining  engineer  and  U. 
S.  deputy  survej  or  in  Leadville,  Col., 
1879  to  1881 ;  U.  S.  deputy  surveyor  in 
Montana,  in  1882  ;  followed  railroad 
engineering  in  Michigan,  in  1883  and 
1884;  Akron  city  engineer  from  1886 
until  his  resignation  in  1889,  since 
which  time  he  has  been  engaged  in 
electric  street  railroad  construction 
in  Akron,  Canton  and  Zanesville, 
being  now  general  manager  of  the 
Akron  Electrical  Manufacturing 
Company  ;  has  been  a  meinber  of  the 
American  Societj'  of  Civil  Engineers 
since  1883,  and  also  of  the  Ohio 
Society  of  Civil  Engineers.  Februarj^ 
26,  1873,  Mr.  Chapman  was  married  to 
Miss  Ella  A.  Marriner,  born  in  Akron 
Mny  5,  1849,  who  has  borne  him  six 
children — Charles  A.,   born  Januarj^ 


WILLIS   I).   CHAPMAN. 

25,  1875  ;  Etha  Mav,  born  February  6, 
1877  ;  Willis  D.,  Jr.,  born  October  14, 
1878;  Ella  A.,  born  April  27,  1881; 
George  B.,  born  October  12, 1884,  and 
Fred.,  born  October  5, 1888. 


(Shugart)  Parshall,  was  born  at 
Tidioute,  Pa.,  May  11,1856;  educated 
in  common  schools,  Cornell  Univer- 
sity and  Buchtel  College  ;  married  in 
Akron,  Februarj-  5,  1880,  to  Miss 
Hattie  E.  Pardee,  daughter  of  the  late 
Jxidge  Williain  Pardee,  a  native  of 
Wads  worth ;  followed  a  variet}^  of 
occupations  till  27,  when,  in  1883,  he 
permanently  settled  in  Akron,  in  1884 
becoming  an  assistant  in  the  office 
of  City  Engineer  Omar  N.  Gardner, 
and  continuing  under  Engineer 
Willis  D.  Chapman,  until  the  resig- 
nation of  the  latter,  when,  on  March 
18,  1889,  he  was  appointed  by  the  Citj" 
Council  to  fill  the  vacancj^,  and  in 
May,  1890,  was  duly  elected,  by  Coun- 
cil, City  Engineer  for  the  term  of  two 
years,  which  position  he  is  now^  ably 
filling-.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parshall  are 
the  parents  of  five  children — Ina, 
born  January  19,  1881 ;  Gladys,  born 
October  11,  1882 ;  Edward,  born  July 
12,  1884  ;  Wallace  Dickey,  born  March 

SAMUEL     WILSON     PARSHALL.      14,   1889;    and   Samuel   Wilson,   born 
— son  of  Jaines  and  Henrietta  L-      September  1,  1890. 


SAMUEL  WILSON    PARSHALL. 


AKRON  S   CIVIL   SERVICE    RECORD. 


291 


Portage  Towxship  Treasurers.— From  and  including  1836, 
the  successive  treasurers  of  Portage  to\srnship  have  been  as 
follows:  1836,  '37,  '38,  Samuel  A.  Wheeler;  1839,  Lewis  P.  Buckley; 
1840,  '41,  '42,  '43,  '44,  '45,  '46,  '47,  Samuel  A.  Wheeler;  1848,  '49, 
Zebulon  Jones;  1850,  '51,  '52,  '53,  Benjamin  McNaughton;  1854,  '55, 
Ti6,  Edwin  W.  Perrin;  1857,  Houston  Sisler;  1858,  John  T.  Good; 
1859,  '60,  John  H.  Chamberlin;  1861,  '62,  '63,  '64,  '65,  '66,  '67,  '68,  '69, 
Charles  Cranz;  1870,  '71,  '72,  Arthur  L.  Conger;  1873,  David  R. 
Paige,  Jr.;  1874,  Jacob  H.  Wise;  1875,  '76,  B.  F.  Buchtel;  1877,  '78, 
^79,  '80,  '81,  '82,  '83,  John  McGregor;  1884,  Dayton  A.  Doyle;  1885,  '86, 
'87,  A.  J.  Williams;  1888,  '89,  '90,  '91,  John  McCausland. 


T7DWIN  WAGNER— son  of  Jacob 
^  and  Magdalena  Wagner,  young- 
est of  a  family  of  ten  children,  was 
born  near  Hartville,  Stark  Countj^, 
July  23,  1862;  raised  on  farm;  edu- 
cated in  district  school,  with  one  year 
at  Ada  (Ohio)  Normal  School  and  to 
junior  year  in  Buchtel  College,  teach- 
ing- Winters,  the  Winter  of  1885,  '86, 
and  all  of  the  year  1886,  '87,  in  Penin- 
«!xla  High  School.  Mr.  Wagner  is  a 
member  of  Grace  Reformed  Church  ; 
in  politics  a  Democrat,  and  after  four 
years'  service  as  deputy,  under  Clerk 
Newton  Ford,  was  elected  City  Clerk 
of  Akron,  in  April,  1890,  which  posi- 
tion he  is  still  ably  filling.  April  30, 
1889,  Mr.  Wagner  was  married  to  Miss 
Sarah  Grosenbach.  of  Hartville,  who 
bore  him  one  child — Jean  Marie, 
born  April  11,  '1890,  Mrs.  Wagner 
dying  June  29, 1891,  aged  29  years,  and 
6  davs. 


EDWIX    WAGNER. 


WILLIAM    Z.    MCI>0.\ALD. 

v^^iLLiAM  z.  Mcdonald,— born 

'' *       in     Wooster,    Wayne,  county, 
Ohio,  June  1.5,1858  ;  educated  in  pub- 


lic schools ;  learned  the  machinist 
trade,  with  his  father,  giving  especial 
attention  to  technical  mechanical 
construction,  working  successively^ 
in  Wooster,  Millersburg  and  Mans- 
field, until  September,  1884,  when  he 
came  to  Akron,  where  he  has  since 
continuously  resided ;  September  6, 
1885,  was  appointed  First  District 
Inspector  of  workshops  and  factories, 
to  fill  an  unexpired  term,  and  re-ap- 
pointed May  8,  1888,  discharging  the 
intricate  duties  of  the  position  with 
such  intelligence  and  fidelity,  that 
he  was  promoted  to  tbe  Chief  Inspec- 
torship  of  the  workshops  and 
factories  of  Ohio,  by  Governor  J.  B. 
Foraker,  for  four  years,  from  April 
29.  1889,  which  important  office  he  is 
still  ably  filling,  the  headquarters  of 
the  department  being  at  Columbus. 
October  12,  1882,  Mr.  McDonald  was 
married  to  Miss  Lillie  A.  Estill, 
daughier  of  Hon.  James  A.  Estill,  of 
Millersburg,  Ohio.  Thej'^  have  two 
children  living — James E.  and  Helen. 


292 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


eiMON  M.  STONE— born  in  Lock 
*->  Haven,  Pa.,  Januarj^  6,  18  44; 
educated  in  common  schools; 
clerked  in  father's  store  until  July 
10,  1861,  when,  at  17  years  of  age,  he 
enlisted  in  Co.  D,  7th  P.  V.  I.,  serving- 
two  years  and  a  half,  when  he  re- 
enlisted  for  the  war  ;  Maj^  7,  1864,  was 
captured  with  his  regiment,  in  the 
Battle  of  the  Wilderness,  spending 
seven  months  in  Ander  so  nvill  e 
prison.  At  the  close  of  the  war. 
again  enlisted  in  the  4th  U.  S. 
Artillery,  in  which  he  served  three 
years,  being  discharged  as  First 
Sergeant,  at  Richmond,  Va.,  May  29, 
1870,  having  given  seven  full  years 
to  the  service  of  his  country.  On 
returning  home,  followed  the  busi- 
ness of  photographer  for  two  years, 
when,  in  1872,  he  came  to  Akron, 
working  in  Akron  Rubber  Works 
nearly  10  years.  In  1882,  was 
appointed  on  Akron  police  force  by 
Mayor  Samuel  A.  Lane,  serving  until 
April,  1887,  when  he  was  elected  City 
Marshal,  to  which  responsible  posi- 
tion he  was  re-elected  in  April,  1889, 
serving  four  full  years.  October  21, 
1873,  Marshal  Stone  was  married,  to 
Miss    Laura    E.     Bittner,    of   Akron, 


SIMON    M.    STONE. 


who  has  borne  him  three  children  - 
Fred.  Louis,  born  December  23,  1874  ; 
Mabel  May,  born  October  3,  1877,  died 
February  22,  1879 ;  Laura  Gertrude, 
born  December  27, 1881. 


ALBERT  G.   MALLISON. 

ALBERT  G.  MALLISON,— second 
-^  son  of  Amos  and  Clarina  (New- 
ton) Mallison,  born  in  Groton,  Conn., 


June  13,  1797 ;  when  eleven  years  old, 
moved  with  his  parents  to  Rich- 
mond, Berkshire  county,  Mass.,  com- 
ing to  Akron  in  1832,  settling  on 
farm,  on  what  is  now  known  as 
Wooster  avenue.  In  addition  to  a 
good  district  school  education,  Mr. 
Mallison,  when  young,  learned  !#ur- 
vej^ing,  in  which  capacitj'  he  ran  the 
line  between  Massachusetts  and  New 
York,  and  also,  after  coming-  here,was 
emploj^ed  b}-  Perkins,  King  and 
Crosby  to  survej'  and  plat  the  North- 
ern portion  of  the  City  of  Akron,  his 
name  appearing  in  most  of  the  deeds 
of  conveyance  in  the  first,  second 
and  third  wards.  Mr.  Mallison  also 
taught  school  for  several  3-ears  in 
Massachusetts,  New  Jersey  and  Ohio, 
the  last  time  in  the  stone  school 
house  at  the  southwest  six-corners, 
in  Tallmadge.  June  22.  1843,  Mr.  Mal- 
lison was  married  to  Miss  Cornelia 
G.  Washburn,  of  Akron,  who  bore 
him  three  children — Eveline,  (now 
Mrs.  Horace  G.  Moon),  Albert  H, 
both  now  living  on  Wooster  avenue, 
and  Amos,  who  died  1886.  Mr.  Malli- 
son died  Februar}'  26,1879,  at  the  age 
of  81  years,  8  months,  13  da3'8,  Mrs. 
Mallison  d5"ing  December  8,  187o, 
aged  76  years,  5  months  and  6  da3^s» 


AKROX'S   CIVIL    vSERVICE    RECORD. 


293 


AMOS  MALLISON,— eldest  son  of 
-^  Amos  and  Clarina  (Newton) 
Mallison,  was  born  in  Groton,  Conn., 
Jvily  (>,  1795 ;  at  13,  moved  with  his 
parents  to  Richmond,  Berkshire 
county,  Mass.,  coming-  to  Ohio  in  1833, 
settling- on  the  farm  now  known  as 
Ba'^tges-Mallison  Addition  to  the 
Ci  ty  of  Akron.  Mr.  Mallison  received 
a  good  common  school  education, 
and  followed,  through  life,  the  calling- 
of  a  farmer.  June  6,  1840,  Mr.  Malli- 
son was  married  to  Mrs.  Marj^  Comp- 
ton,  a  widow  with  one  daug-hter, 
afterward  married  to  Mr.  John  M. 
Seidel,  now  of  Hudson,  Mrs.  Sei- 
del,  at  her  death  leaving  one  son, 
Theodore,  who  was  adopted  by  his 
grandparents  and  is  now  a  success- 
ful farmer  in  Western  New  York. 
After  the  sale  of  their  farm,  here,  to 
Dr.  S.  W.  Bart^es,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mal- 
lison, in  the  Spring  of  1870,  removed 
to  the  townof  Victor,  Ontario  county, 
N.  Y.,  where  Mr.  M.  died  January  25, 
1877,  aged  81  years,  6  months  and  19 
days.     Mrs.  M.  still  survives. 


AMOS   MALLISON. 


JACOB  ALLKX. 

JACOB  ALLKN,  — fourth  son  of 
J  Jesse  and  Catherine  (Teithrich) 
Allen,  was  born  in  Lansing-,  Tomp- 
kins county,  N.  Y.,  February  11,  1803, 
removing  with  parents  to  Coventry, 
Ohio,  in  1811  ;  educated  in  district 
schools  ;  learned  cloth-dressing- trade 
in  Middlebury  ;  at  18  went  to  State  of 
New  York  and  built  woolen  mill  near 
Ithaca  ;  returned  to  Ohio  in  1835,  in 
1837  building  woolen  mill  in  Ghent; 
in  1838  another  mill  in  Akron  tiear 
Cascade  mill ;  in  1840  another  on  the 


old  city  mill  site ;  in  1842  another, 
now  a  part  of  the  oat  meal  plant  of 
The  Hower  Co.,  and  in  1846,  with 
others,  a  satinet  factory  further  south 
on  Canal  street,  converted  into  a 
flouring-  mill  in  1856,  and  now  known 
as  the  Allen  Mills,  of  whjch  his  son 
Frank,  of  New  York,  is  now  one  of 
the  proprietors.  Mr.  Allen  was  a 
liberal  promoter  of  public  improve- 
ments, and  especiall}^  influential 
in  securing  the  location  of  the  A. 
&  G.  W.  (now  N.  Y.,  P.  &  O.)  railroad 
throug^h  Akron,  his  latest  private 
enterpise  being  the  erection  of  the 
three-stor}'  business  block  bearing- 
his  name  on  South  Howard  street. 
Though  not  an  office-seeker,  Mr. 
Allen  was  a  member  of  Akron  Vil- 
lag-e  Council  in  1841,  '42.  February 
16,  1830,  at  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Catharine  Vansickle, 
sister  of  the  late  N.  E.  Vansickle  and 
Mrs.  A.  M.  Barber,  who  bore  him 
five  children  —  Hiram,  deceased  ; 
Mary  Helen,  now  Mrs.  Rufus  Wright, 
of  Akron ;  Frank  H.,  now  of  New- 
York  City ;  Elnora,  who  died  in 
infancy;  and  Lizzie,  now  Mrs.  Charles 
W.  Kellogg,  of  Chicago.  Mr.  Allen 
died  November  25,  1879,  aged  76  years, 
9  months  and  14  days,  Mrs.  Allen 
dying-  September  20,  1887,  aged  73 
years,9inonths  and  10  days. 


294 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


NICHOLAS  EMMONS  VAN- 
SICKLE, — born  inGermantown, 
N.  J.,  November  10,  1816  ;  moved  with 
parents  to  Tompkins  county,  N.  Y., 
in  1825,  and  to  Bath,  Ohio,  in  1837  ; 
common  school  education  ;  during 
minority  worked  at  farming  and 
blacksmithing-  with  father  ;  then 
learned  to  make  cloth,  following  that 
business  in  connection  with  his 
brother-in-law,  Jacob  Allen,  from 
1838  to  1845,  being  co-proprietor  of  Cit}' 
Woolen  Factory,  afterwards  known 
as  the  City  Mills,  on  West  Market 
street.  September  3,  1844,  Avas  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Margaret  Mathews,  of 
Akron,  who  bore  hiin  two  children- 
Ella,  now  Mrs.  E.  R.  Grant,  and  Dora, 
now  Mrs.  N.  H.  Bassett,  both  now 
residents  of  Akron.  In  1848  engaged 
in  hotel  keeping  in  Bedford,  later,  for 
several  years,-  engaging  in  railroad 
building  in  Missouri  and  other  local- 
ities ;  was  master  of  transportation 
in  the  earlier  years  of  the  war  ;  later 
employed  on  public  works  of  Akron, 
and  in  1871,  in  connection  with  Col. 
A.  L.  Conger,  building  20  miles  of  the 
Valley  Railway.  In  1875  established 
cigar  and  tobacco  store  at  104  East 
Market  street,  following  that  bxisi- 
ness  several  years.  In  1846  Mr.  Van- 
sickle  served  as    a    inember    of  the 


XICHOLAS  EMMONS   VAXSICKLE. 

Town  Council,  and  was  for  manj^ 
years  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  of  the  Summit  Countj^ 
Agricultural  Society,  and  one  of  its 
most  active  promoters.  Mr.  Van- 
sickle  died  January'  4,  1888,  aged  71 
years,  1  month  and  24  daj-s. 


HIRAM    VIELE. 

TTIRAM  VIELE,  —  was  born  in 
-*-  A  Pittstown.  Rensselaer  county, 
N,  Y.,  September  5,  1813  ;  educated  in 
common  schools,  working  on  his 
father's  farm  till  20  years  old,  when 


he  engaged  as  clerk  in  stove  store  in 
Rochester,  two  3^ears  later  becoming 
a  partner  in  the  business,  which  con- 
tinued five  j^ears ;  then,  after  one 
5^ear's  residence  in  W  a  s  h  i  n  g  t  o  n 
county,  in  Julj^  1842,  came  to  ATcron, 
where  he  engaged  in  the  Stone  Mills, 
as  book-keeper,  afterwards  becoming 
manager,  continuing,  with  an  inter- 
mission of  two  or  three  years,  until 
August  1,  1871,  when  he  opened  a 
flour  and  feed  store,  where  the  Arcade 
block  now  stands,  in  which  business 
he  continued  until  his  death,  Julj'  25,. 
1874.  October  17,  1838,  Mr.  Viele  was 
married,  to  Miss  Abbie  M.  McFar- 
land,  a  native  of  Salem,  Washington 
county,  N.  Y.  Five  children  were 
born  to  them,  three  of  whom,  with 
their  inother,  are  still  living — Henry 
C,  now  treasurer  of  the  Citizens  Sav- 
ings and  Loan  Association,  in  Akron, 
and  Mary  J.  and  Fannie  G.  Mr. 
Viele  was  a  prominent  member  of 
Summit  Lodge,  No.  50,  I.  O.  O.  F..  and 
a  charter  member  and  high  official 
of  Akron  Encampment,  No.  18,  and 
also  acceptably  officiated  as  Deputy 
Grand  Master  of  the  State,  and  Grand 
Representative  to  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  the  United  States. 


Akron's  civil  sbrvick  record. 


295 


WILLIAM  G.  RAYMOND,  — born 
in  Adams,  Berkshire  county, 
Mass,,  October  4,  1811;  common 
school  education ;  learned  machin- 
ist's trade ;  came  to  Akron  in  1884, 
working-  in  carding  and  spinning 
miachine  works  of  Aliens  &  McMillan, 
elsewhere  written  of;  in  1838,  with 
his  brother  John,  leased  the  "Ohio 
Exchange"  hotel,  where  the  Woods 
block  now  stands,  keeping  it  about 
two  years  ;  in  184().  bought  the  woolen 
factory,  corner  Canal  and  Cherry 
streets,  successfully  conducting  it 
several  years;  soon,  in  addition, 
established  a  dry  goods  store,  under 
the  firm  name  of  J.  Ra3-mond  &  Co., 
on  Howard  street,  which  was  de- 
stroyed b3'fire  on  the  night  of  Decem- 
ber 27,  184tT,  also  for  many  years 
dealing  extensively  in  wool.  Maj'  1(5, 
184(),  Mr.  Raymond  was  married,  to 
Miss  Eliza  A.  Williams,  daughter  of 
Barnabas  Williams,  and  step-daugh- 
ter of  Major  Miner  Spicer,  pioneer 
settlers  of  Portage  township,  who 
bore  him  four  children — William  B., 
late  treasurer  of  the  Citizens'  Savings 
and  Loan  Association  of  Akron,  born 
April  5,  1841,  died  June  10,  1888;  John 
Gilbert,  born  Februarj^  23,  1840,  now 
treasurer  of  The  Diamond  Drill  and 
Tool  Company  of  Akron  ;  Charlie, 
who  died  February  7,  18.o4,  aged  3 
years  and  5  days;  and  Grace,  who 
died  March  20,  1873,  aged  10   years,  9 


WILLIAM  G.   RAYMOND. 


months  and  23  dnjs.  Mrs.  Rajniond 
dying  March  (5.  18(),i,  Mr.  R.  was  again 
married,  to  Mrs.  Martha  E.  Yosburg, 
September  3,  IHfKi.  Mr.  Raj^mond 
died  April  9,  1870,  aged  58  jears,  6 
montjis  and  5  da^s,  the  second  Mrs. 
R.  dying  October  12,  1890,  aged  (35 
years,  1  month  and  7  days. 


Justices  of  the  Peace. — In  an  early  day  justices  of  the  peace 
were  appointed  by  the  Governor,  and  after  the  office  became 
elective  by  the  people,  to  the  organization  of  the  new  county  of 
Summit,  in  1840,  the  election  returns  had  to  be  made  to  the  clerk 
of  common  pleas,  at  Ravenna,  and  cannot  now  be  conveniently 
traced.  Among  the  earliest,  if  not  the  earliest,  justices  of  the 
peace  in  Portage  tow^nship,  was  its  earliest  settler,  Major  Miner 
Spicer.  Though  perhaps  not  very  well  up  in  legal  learning,  the 
Maj(>r  Avas  possessed  of  good  strong  common  sense,  and  his 
decisions  were  very  seldom  reversed  by  the  higher  courts.  The 
Major,  also  had  a  decidedly  original  way  of  expressing  his  opin- 
ions, as  witness  the  following  incident:  A  dissolute  fellow  of 
the  vicinity  was  brought  before  His  Honor  on  the  charge  of 
stealing  a  hog.  The  witnesses  were  sworn  and  examined,  but  the 
evidence  being  a  little  obscure,  the  major,  who,  when  especially  in 
earnest,  had  a  slight  impediment  in  his  speech,  ordered  the 
accused  to  stand  up  and  in  stentorian  tones  exclaimed:  "T-t-there 
a-aint  q-quite  t-tes-testimony  e-enough  to  c-convict  you,  but  I 
b-believe  y-you're  g-guilty  as  a  d-dog — g-git  out  of  my  house !" 

Elijah  Mason,  Esq.,  of  Middlebury,  was  also  one  of  the  early 
justices  of  the  neighborhood.  Mr.  Wolsey  Wells,  Akron's  first 
postmaster  and  canal  collector,  also  officiated  as  justice  of  the 
peace  in  the  late  twenties  and  early  thirties,  while  Mr.  Jacob 
Brown,  at  the  South  End,  and  Mr.  John  H.  Cleveland,  in  "Cascade," 


296 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


w^ere  doing  magisterial  duty  in  their  respective  localities  on  the 
arrival  of  the  writer  in  Akron,  in  1835. 

Since  that  time  the  justices  of  the  peace  for  Portage  toAvnship, 
elected  for  the  term  of  three  years,  have  been  as  follows:  1836-39, 
Jacob  Brown  and  Seneca  L.  Hand;  1837-40,  Harvey  H.  Johnson; 
1839-42,  Leander  L.  Howard;  1839-42,  Ebenezer  Martin;  1840-43, 
Harvey  H.  Johnson;  1842-45,  William  M.  Dodge;  1842-45,  Lewis  P. 
Buckley;  1843-46,  Henry  Converse  and  Jacob  Brown;  1845-48, 
William  M.  Dodge;  1846^9,  George  Babcock;  1848-51,  Joshua  C. 
Berry;  1849-52,  George  Babcock  and  Noah  M.  Green;  1851-54,  Abel 
B.  Berry;  1852-55,  Daniel  B.  Hadley  and  Noah  M.  Green;  1854-57, 
Joseph  F,  Gilbert;  1855-58,  John  W.  Stephens  and  Noah  M.  Green; 
1857-60,  WiUiam  L.  Clarke;  1858-61,  John  W.  Stephens  and  John  L. 
Robertson;  1860, '61,  Edward  Allen  (died  in  June,  1861);  1861-63,John 
W.  Stephens  (died  in  March,  1863);  1861-64,  John  Lugenbeel  and 
William  L.  Clarke;  1863-66,  Lewis  M.  Janes  (died  in  July,  1865); 
1864-67,  William  L.Clarke;  1865-68,  WiUiam  M.  Cunningham;  1867- 
70,  William  L.  Clarke;  1868-71,  Henry  Purdy  and  William  M. 
Cunningham;  1871-74,  Henry  Purdy  and  Florence  Weber;  1873-76, 
Dudley  Seward;  1874-77,  Thomas  "^C,  Brandon  and  Thomas  H. 
Goodwin;  1876-79,  Dudley  Seward;  1877-80,  Henry  Purdy  and 
Thomas  C.  Brandon;  1879-82,  Dudley  Seward;  1880-83,  Henry 
Purdy  and  Thomas  C.  Brandon;  1882-85,  Peter  J.  Moersch;  1883-86, 
Henry  Purdy;  1886-88,  Alvin  Rice;  1885-88,  Peter  J.  Moersch;  1886- 
89,  Henry  Purdy  (resigned  February  22,  1888);  1888-91,  Solomon 
Koplin,  west  precinct  and  Edw^in  P.  Fouse  east  precinct,  1891-94, 
Solomon  Koplin  west  precinct  and  Joseph  M.  Byerly  east  precinct. 


r:;.EORGE  THOMAS,— born  in  Co- 
^J^  lumbiana  County,  O.,  March  12, 
1817 ;  common  school  education ; 
learned  trade  of  carpenter  and  joiner  ; 
worked  in  Millersburgf,  Holmes  Co., 
four  j^ears,  coming-  to  Akiron  in  1844  ; 
during-  the  war  establishing  himself 
in  the  building  and  luinber  business, 
on  the  present  site  of  the  Thomas 
IvUmber  and  Building  Company's 
works,  which  he  successfullj'  carried 
on  till  his  death,  October  28,  1872,  at 
the  age  of  55  years,  7  months,  16  days. 
In  1840,  Mr.  Thomas  was  tnarried  to 
Miss  Jane  Wilson,  of  Millersburg, 
Avho  bore  hini  one  son — Col.  David 
W.  Thomas,  his  successor  in  business 
and  now  president  of  the  above 
named  compan}-.  Mrs.  Thomas  dying 
in  1842,  Mr.  Thomas  was  again  mar- 
ried, September  25,  184.5,  to  Miss  Mary 
Caldwell,  of  Akron,  who  bore  him  six 
children,  three  dying  in  infancy;  of 
the  three  daiighters  living  to  adult 
age,  Carrie  F.,  the  first  wife  of  Mr. 
Daniel  A.  James,  dying  December  22, 
1S70;  Eva  Iv.,  married  to  Mr.  William 
F.  Picton  ;  and  Louisa  J.,  the  present 
Mrs.  D.  A.  Jame.s.  Mr.  Thomas  was 
active  in  all  public  afifairs,  foremost 
among  the  earlj-  firemen  of  the  vil- 
lage ;  a  member  of  the  villag-e  Coun- 
cil. 18.57,  '.58;    a  member  of  the  First 


GEOKGii    THOMAS. 

Baptist  Church  of  Akron,  and  of 
Akron  Lodge  No.  83,  F.  &  A.  M.,  the 
latter  organization  adopting  appro- 
priate memorial  resolutions  on  his 
death,  and  conducting  the  funeral 
services.  Mrs.  Thomas  died  Novem- 
ber 4,  1883,  aged  .56  years. 


Akron's  civ^il  serv^ice  record. 


297 


TAMES  CHRISTY —born  in  Sprin^- 
J  field  township,  Februarj^  4,  1820  ; 
worked  on  father's  farm  during- 
minority;  attended  district  school, 
and  from  16  to  19,  a  select  school  in 
Middlebviry  ;  at  20  taught  school  two 
terms  ;  at  21,  in  connection  with  his 
brother-in-law,  Mr.  James  Sawyer, 
established  tannery  on  North  Howard 
street,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Christy  &  Sawj^er,  together  with  shoe 
manufactory  and  store,  continuing 
until  1851 ;  in  1852,  formed  partner- 
ship with  his  brother,  John  H.,  in 
18.56,  erecting  more  commodious 
buildings,  the  partnership  continu- 
ing until  1879.  Mr.  C.  then  associated 
with  himself  his  two  sons,  James  Jr. 
and  William,  under  the  firm  name  of 
James  Christy  &  Sons,  manufactur- 
ing leather,  and  dealing  in  leather, 
hides,  furs  and  findings,  making  a 
speciality  of  harness  leather,  now 
exclusively  buying-  and  selling-. 
Republican  in  politics,  Mr.  Christy 
has  served  five  years  in  City  Council 
^1864,  '73,  '74,  '77,  '78.  In  October, 
1849,  Mr.  Christy  was  married  to  Miss 
Janette  Warner,  of  Akron,  who  has 
borne  him  six  children—  four  of  whom 
are  now  living-  —  Alice,  (now  Mrs. 
John  E.  Metlin) ;  James,  William  and 
Nettie,  still  at  home.  In  1850,  Mr. 
Christy  performed  the  overland  jour- 
ney to  California  with  ox-teams,  the 
journey  from  Akron  to  Sacrainento 
■occupying   nearly  five  months.     Re- 


JAMES  CHRISTY. 

maining  about  one  jear,  part  of  the 
tiine  in  the  mines,  and  part  of  the 
time  in  Sacrainento,  the  home  jour- 
ney was  made  via  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama,  occupying  nearly  a  month. 
Forty  years  later,  on  his  70th  birth- 
day, he  again  visited  the  Pacific 
Coast,  leisurely  visiting  every  por- 
tion of  California,  Oregon,  Washing-- 
ton,  Montana,  Dakota,  etc.,  the  entire 
journey  occupying-  less  than  two 
months. 


Middlebury  township:  1863-66,  John  Johnston  and  Harvey- 
Baldwin;  1866,  '72,  '75,  '80,  '83,  '86-89,  Mansfield  Sumner;  1867,  '70, 
'73,  '76,  '79,  '82,  '85,  '88,  '89,  Almon  Brown;  1885-88,  Louis  D.  Seward. 

Akron  township:  1888-91,  Alvin  Rice;  1888-91,  Peter  H. 
Hoffman;  1889-92,  William  Anderson;  1890-93,  Mansfield  Sumner; 
1891-94,  Ernest  C.  Housel. 

Portage  Township  Assessors. — The  duly  elected  assessors  of 
the  township,  since  and  including  1841,  have  been  as  follows:  1841, 
Miner  Spicer;  1842,  '43,  '44,  Justus  Gale;  Col.  Gale  declining  to 
serve  this  last  year  John  H.  Crawford  was  appointed  in  his  place. 
1845,  Albert  G.  Mallison;  1846,  Nahum  Fay;  1847,  Joseph  F.  Gilbert; 
1848,  John  Sherbondy;  1849,  Alfred  R.  Townsend;  1850,  Nahum 
Fay;  1851, '52,  George  Howe;  1853,  John  Sherbondy;  1854,  Nahum 
Fay;  1855,  Nelson  C.  Hawkins;  1856,  Ira  Hawkins,  with  Samuel 
A.  Lane,  appointed  by  Auditor,  as  assistant;  1857,  Alfred  R. 
Townsend;  1858,  Frank  Adams;  1859,  Alfred  R.  Townsend;  1860, 
Nahum  Fay;  1861,  '62.  Jacob  H.  Wise;  1863,  Nahum  Fay;  1864, 
Charles  C.  Hanscom;  1865,  '66,  Edward  A.  Barber;  1867,  Homer  C. 
Ay  res;  1868,  Augustus  Curtiss;  1869,  John  G.  Goble;  1870,  '71, 
Aaron  Teeple;  1872,  Albert  H.  Mallison;  1873,  George  Miller;  1874, 
Albert  H.  Mallison;  1875,  George  Miller;  1876,  Hiram  Sherbondy; 
1S77, '78,  '79,  Randall  McAllister;  1880,  Joseph  Schnee;  1881,  Hiram 
Sherbondy;  1882,  T.  J.  Wise;  1883, '84,  George  Botzum;  1885,  John 
W.    Frank;  1886,  '87,  Henry  Norton;  1888,  Charles  T.  Parks;  1889, 


298 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


east  precinct,  Joseph   Schnee;    \vest   precinct,    Charles    S.  Starks; 
1890,  same;    1891,  east    precinct,  George    Botzum;   west   precinct, 
.Jason  Bunker. 

AKRON  IN   COUNTY   OFFICE. 

Besides  such  county  officials  as  have  herein  been  credited 
to  the  several  townships  from  which  they  originally  came,  Akron 
(including  Middlebury  and  Portage  townships)  has  been  repre- 
sented in  county  office  as  follo>vs: 

County  Commissioners. — Hiram  Weston,  December,  1851,  to 
December,  1854;  George  Buell,  December,  1861,  to  May,  1864;  David 
E.  Hill,  December,  1862,  to  December,  1868;  George  D.  Bates,  May, 
1864  to  December,  1864;  John  C.  Hill,  December,  1886,  to  December,^ 
1887;  Henry  Frederick,  November,  1889,  to  present  time. 

Prosecuting  Attorneys. — William  M.  Dodge,  April,  1840  to 
October,  1842;  William  S.  C.  Otis,  1844,  to  1846;^Sidnev  Edgerton, 
1852  to  1856;  Newell  D.  Tibbals,  1860  to  1864;  Edwin  P.  Green,  ad 
interim,  while  prosecutor  Tibbals  w^as  in  the  hundred  dav  service 
in  the  army,  in  1864;  Henry  C.  Sanford,  1872  to  1874;  James  M. 
Poulson,  1874  to  1876;  Edward  W.  Stuart,  1876  to  1880;  Charles 
Baird,  1880  to  1884;  Edwin  F.  Voris,  appointed  by  court  on  death 
of  Prosecutor  John  C.  Means,  May,  1886,  to  October,  1886;  George 
W^.  Sieber,  1886  to  present  time. 

County  Sheriffs. — Other  than  those  named  in  the  several 
townships,  incumbents  of  the  sheriff's  office  of  Summit  county 
have  been  as  follows:  William  L.  Clarke,  1848  to  1852; 
Samuel  A.  Lane,  November,  1856,  to  January,  1861,  and  January, 
1887,  to  January,  1881;  James  Burlison.  1865  to  1869;  William  B, 
Gamble,  1885  to  1889;  David  R.  Bunn,  1889  to  1893. 


JOHN  COOK.—born  in  Bavaria, 
Germany,  AprillS,  1818;  educated 
in  German  schools,  learning  trade  of 
stone  mason;  came  to  United  States 
in  1839,  settling  in  Akron,  finding 
employment  in  vEtna  Mill  soon 
attaining-  to  foremanship  of  packing 
department;  in  18.tO  went  overland  to 
California,  engaging  in  the  provision 
business,  remaining  two  years,  and 
returning  via  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama;  in  1855,  started  a  grocery  on 
Market  street  in  connection  with  the 
late  Jacob  Dussell,  speedily  building- 
up  an  extensive  trade;  later,  on  the 
retirement  of  Mr.  Dussell,  associat- 
ing with  himself  his  two  sons,  John 
J.,  and  William  H.,  under  the  firm 
name  of  J.  Cook  &  Sons,  which  title 
is  still  retained  by  the  sons,  Mr. 
Cook  having  died  December  1,  1880. 
Mr.  Cook  and  Miss  Mary  Bills,  were 
married  in  Akron,  October  17,  1843, 
their  first-born  child,  Francis,  dj'ing 
at  two  years  of  age.  Mr.  Cook  was 
raised  in  the  Catholic  faith  and  for 
several  years  after  its  organization 
was  a  trustee  and  liberal  supporter 
of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul's  Church. 
Democratic  in  politics,  though  not 
a  seeker  after  office,   Mr,  Cook  was 


JOHN  COOK. 

elected  to  Council  of  the  Incorporated 
Village  of  Akron,  in  1858,  serving-  one 
term,  his  eldest  son,  John  J.  Cook, 
filling  that  i)osition  in  the  Citj^ 
Council  during  the  years  1876,  '77. 
Mrs.  Cook  still  survives. 


AKRON  S   CIVIL   SERVICE    RECORD. 


299 


ALVIN  RICE,  ESQ..'-  son  of  Eras- 
tus  and  Jerusha  (Brown)  Rice, 
was  born  in  Albion,  Erie  County, 
Pa.,  May  2,  1822;  educated  in  common 
schools  and  at  Vienna,  Trumbull 
County,  Ohio,  Academy;  tavig-ht 
school  three  winters,  meantime 
reading  law  with  H.  H.  Budd,  Esq., 
in  Sharon,  Pa.,  passing'  examination, 
but  never  admitted  to  Bar,  then 
learned  trade  of  moulder;  working 
for  a  time  in  Sharon,  Pa.,  came  to 
Akron,  March  1,  1846,  working  for 
Cobb  &  Farnam  and  later  for  the 
Akron  Stove  Co.;  in  1860,  in  connec- 
tion w^ith  Messrs.  Jaines  B.  Taplin  and 
Hobart  Ford,  established  the  firiu  of 
Taplin,  Rice  &  Co.,  one  of  the  pres- 
sent  prosperous  itistitutions  of  In- 
dustrial Akron.  Mr.  Rice  was  mar- 
ried, September  3,  18-18,  to  Miss  Jane 
Mustill,  of  Akron,  who  has  borne 
him  seven  children — Jerusha,  de- 
ceased; Alvin,  Jr.,  deceased;  Lillie, 
deceased;  Eva,  still  living  at  home; 
Ella,  now  wife  of  James  M.  Stafford, 
merchant  tailor  of  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.; 
Frank,  member  of  Akron  Fire 
Department  at  Central  Station,  and 
Alvin,  Jr.,  Shipping  Clerk  for  Taplin, 
Rice  &  Co.  Mr.  Rice  was  elected 
Recorder  of  the  Incorporated  Village 
of  Akron,  for  the  years  18(iO,  1862  and 


ALVIX   RICE,  ESQ. 

1863;  and  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Education  for  the  years  1867  and 
1869;  was  elected  justice  of  the 
peace  for  the  Township  of  Akron,  in 
188.5  and  re-elected  in  1888,  which 
responsible  position  he  ably  filled 
until  April  21,  1891— six  3'ears. 


JOHX    MEMMFK. 

JOHN  MEMMER,— son  of  David  and 
Margaret  (Arehart)  Memnier,  was 
born  in  Suffield,  Portage  county, 
June  14,  1839,  raised  on  farm ; 
educated  in  township  district  school 
and  in  public  schools  and  private 
school  of    Prof.  Fitzgerald  in  Cleve- 


land; clerked  in  grocery  store  three 
years,  and  in  confectionery  storetwo 
years,  in  Cleveland;  March  1,  1861. 
came  to  Akron  and  established  a 
confectionery  store  137  Howard  street, 
following  that  business  seven  and  a 
half  j-ears;  in  the  first  draft,  October 
1, 1862,  was  drafted  into  the  army,  but 
having  no  one  with  whom  to  leave 
his  business  furnished  a  substitute 
for  three  years;  in  1868  established 
an  insurance  agency  in  his  present 
quarters,  corner  Main  and  Market 
streets,  which  for  nearly  a  quarter  of 
a  centurj',  he  has  managed  with  emi- 
nent success.  Mr.  Mehimer  served 
as  member  of  City  Council,  from  the 
Second  ward,  for  the  j'ears  of  1871,  '72 
and  is  now  a  director  in  the  Akron 
Savings  Bank.  August  22,  1860,  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Louisa  Bo5'er.  of 
Cleveland,  who  has  borne  him  five 
children — Laura,  born  September  14, 
im\,  died  July  29.  1862;  Nellie  M,  born 
February'  14, 1863,  died  September  .1, 
1871  ;  Ida  May,  born  May  4,  1867,  now 
Mrs.  Alexander  W.  Maynes  of  Akron,- 
George  W.,  born  November  20,  1872, 
now  engaged  in  the  insurance  busi-' 
ness  in  Akron;  and  Ella  Louisa,  born 
September  19,  1877. 


300 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


A  LEXANDER  BREWSTER,~~born 
-^  in  Augusta,  Oneida  county,  N. 
Y.,  September  10,  18()8;  came  with  par- 
ents to  Ohio  in  1812,  settling  in  Coven- 
try ;  education,  in  earlj^  district 
schools,  limited  ;  learned  carpenter's 
trade  with  father,  but  mostly  follow- 
ed farming  until  1848,  when  he  turned 
his  attention  to  mining,  coal  having 
been  discovered  on  his  land;  in  18o0 
went  overland  to  California,  return- 
ing home  in  1851;  has  since  been 
engaged  in  mining  and  shipping 
coal,  a  stock  compan}^  being  formed 
in  1865,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $1(X),- 
<XX),  of  which,  under  the  name  of  the 
Brewster  Coal  Company,  Mr.  B.  is 
president,  and  his  two  sons,  Alfred 
A.  and  Austin  K.  are  respectively, 
general  agent,  and  secretary  and 
treasurer,  the  coinpany  mining  and 
handling  between  200,000  and  300,000 
tons  of  coal,  per  j^ear.  January  9, 
1830,  Mr.  B.  was  married  to  Miss  Mar- 
garet Ann  Kinney,  a  native  of 
Ontario  county,  N.  Y.,  w^ho  came  to 
Springfield  in  1813,  who  bore  him  five 
children,  four  of  whom  survive — the 
two  sons  above  named  ;  Louisa,  now 
Mrs.  J.  F.  Meacham,  and  Mary  M. 
now  Mrs.  Russell  H.  Kent;  all  living 
in  Akron.  Mrs.  B.  dying  in  Novem- 
ber, 1854,  Mr.  B.  in  December,  1857, 
was   again  married,  to  Mrs.  Minerva 


ALEXAXDEK   BREWSTER. 

A.  (Darrow)  Brown,  a  native  of  Cu3'a- 
hoga  county,  who  died  June  27,  1873. 
In  September,  1877,  was  again  mar- 
ried, to  Mrs.  Lucy  Jane  Chainberlin, 
widow  of  the  late  John  H.  Chamber- 
berlin,  and  daughter  of  Col.  Justus 
and  Mrs.  Sarah  Gale,  who  settled  in 
Akron  in  1831. 


CAPT.  HENRY  H.  BROWN. 

pAPT.  HENRY  H.  BROWN,— son 
^  of  Charles  W.  Brown,  one  of 
Akron's  pioneer  settlers,  was  born  in 
Middlebury,  (now  Akron's  Sixth  ward) 
October  23,  1828  ;    educated  in  Akron 


public  schools,  finishing  under 
Superintendent  Leggett,  in  the  Spring 
of  1848 ;  April  1,  1850.  was  married  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  D.  Hickcox,  of  Akron, 
who  bore  him  one  son — Charles  H. 
now  of  Denver,  Colorado  ;  raised  a 
farmer,  in  1855  went  to  Illinois  where 
he  remained  ten  years,  engaged  in 
farming;  returning  to  Akron,  in  the. 
Fall  of  1865,  Mr.  Brown  entered  the 
eniplo3'ment  of  the  Middleburj^  Coal 
Co.,  as  manager,  which  position  he 
held  20  years.  Mr.  Brown  repre- 
sented the  Second  Avard  in  the  City 
Council  for  the  years  1880,  '81,  '82,  '83, 
'84,  and  '85,  resigning  his  seat  on 
account  of  failing  health,  and  going 
to  Colorado,  where,  as  agent  for  the 
Thomson-Houston  Electric  Co.,  he  is 
still  operating  with  headquarters  at 
Denver.  Capt.  Brown  for  manj'  3'ears 
took  a  great  interest  in  local  mili- 
tary affairs,  having  been  captain  of 
Companj'  A.  Ninth  (now  Companj^ 
B.  Eighth)  Regiment  Ohio  National 
Guard,  from  July  23,  1877  to  Decem- 
ber 2,  1884,  being  a  thorough  disci- 
plinarian and  in  all  respects  a  model 
officer.  Mrs.  Brown  died  suddenlj^ 
of  apoplexy,  at  Denver,  April  20,  1891, 
aged  63  years. 


AKKON  S   CIVIL   SERVICE   RECORD, 


301 


County  Auditor.s. — Theron  A.  Noble,  1842  to  1848;  Nathaniel 
W.  Goodhue,  1848  to  1852;  Charles  B.  Bernard,  1854  to  1858;  Sanford 
M.  Burnham,  1863  to  1871;  Edward  Buckingham,  1872  to  1881; 
Charles  W.  F.  Dick,  the  present  incumbent,  elected  in  1886,  and 
re-elected  in  1889. 


pHARLES  F.  INGERSOLL  — 
^  young-est  child  of  Noah  and 
Mary  (Stickels)  Ingersoll,  was  born 
at  Albion,  Orleans  Co.,  N.  Y.,  October 
29,  1833;  came  to  Copley,  O.,  in  1836, 
and  a  few  years  later  to  Coventry'  ; 
educated  in  country  district  schools  ; 
at  20  entered  the  employ  of  Hiram 
Fuller,  who  kept  a  dry  goods  store, 
corner  of  Main  and  Exchange  streets. 
November  10,  1859,  Mr.  Ingersoll  was 
married  to  Miss  Olive  L.  Root, 
daughter  of  the  late  Rile)'  Root,  of 
Coventry,  who  has  borne  him  two 
children — Frank  Howard,  born  Sep- 
tember 11,  1860,  and  Hattie  May,  born 
March  5, 1868.  After  a  short  residence 
at  Kent,  Mr.  Ingersoll  accepted  an 
appointment  from  the  A.  &  G.  W. 
Railway  Company,  as  its  first  Pas- 
senger and  Freight  Agent  at  New 
Portage,  acceptably  filling  the  posi- 
tion about  three  j^ears.  In  1872,  Mr. 
Ingersoll  removed  his  family  to  116 
St.  Clair  street,  Akron,  where  he  still 
resides.  In  politics,  an  active  Repub- 
lican, in  1881,  '82,  Mr.  Ingersoll  repre- 
sented the  Fifth  ward  in  the  City 
Council,  serving  upon  some  of  its 
most  important  committees.     In  1883, 


CHAKLES  F.   IXGEKSOLL. 

he  opened  a  real  estate  and  insur- 
ance  office  in  Kaiser's  block,  South 
Main  street,  in  which  business  he 
still  continues. 


WILSON   B.  CANNON. 

WILSON  B.  CANNON,~born  in 
Streetsboro,  Portage  county, 
Ohio,  March  19,  1839;  educated  in 
common  schools  and  worked  on 
father's  farm  till  19,  when  he  entered 


a  country  store  at  a  salary  of  $4,t0  for 
three  years'  services ;  then  went  to 
Indianapolis  as  cashier  in  a  large 
store  where  he  remained  until  1868, 
when  he  came  to  Akron,  and  with  his 
brother-in-law,  established  the  well- 
known  crockery  firm  of  Herrick  & 
Cannon,  with  which  he  was  connected 
for  over  20  jears.  In  January,  1890, 
iJssisted  in  organizing  the  Akron 
Silver  Plate  Company,  now  in  suc- 
cessful operation,  of  which  he  is  the 
secretary  and  treasurer.  Mr.  Cannon 
represented  the  First  ward  in  the  City 
Council  two  terms — 1885  to  1889~three 
years  as  its  presiding  officer ;  was 
charter  member,  and  for  a  number  of 
years  president,  of  Summit  County 
Humane  Society  ;  a  prominent  mem- 
ber of  Akron  Lodge,  No.  547,  I.  O.  O. 
F.;  of  the  Akron  Board  of  Trade  and 
an  active  promoter  of  all  the  benevo- 
lent enterprises  of  the  day.  October 
29,  1865,  Mr.  Cannon  was  married  to 
Miss  Emerene  Lacey,  daug-hter  of 
Isaac  J.  Lacey,  one  of  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  Aurora,  three  children 
having  been  born  to  them,  one  of 
whom — Helena  May — is  now  living. 


302 


AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


pRANCIS  A.  WILCOX —son  of  Dr. 
-T  Jeremiah  C.  Wilcox,  born  in 
Richfield,  May  17, 1852  ;  raised  to  farm 
life,  in  boyhood  attending-  district 
school  and  Richfield  Academy,  2^2 
miles  distant,  in  winter  only ;  at  17 
commenced  teaching-  winters,  later 
entering-  Oberlin  Colleg-e,  from 
whence  he  g-raduated  in  the  classical 
course  in  1878.  He  then  read  law 
with  Hon.  T.  E.  Bvirton  of  Cleveland, 
until  March,  1879,  when  he  became 
principal  of  the  Glenville  schools, 
which  position  he  acceptablj^  filled 
four  years.  In  1881,  was  elected  mem- 
ber of  Glenville  Council  and  presi- 
dent of  the  Glenville  Union  Church 
Society.  In  1882,  purchased  of  W.  W. 
Warner  of  Akron,  a  half  interest  in 
abstract,  real  estate,  loan  and  insur- 
ance business,  and  in  February  1885, 
the  remaining  half-interest,  the  fol- 
lowing August  associating  with 
himself,  his  present  '  partner,  Mr. 
A.  H.  Noah.  In  1885,  was  elected 
member  of  City  Council,  serving  one 
term  and  declining  a  re-election  ;  is 
an  active  member  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  and  has  aided  in  organizing- 
the  Selle  Gear  Company,  the  Akron 
Savings  Bank,  the  Akron  Wholesale 
Grocery  Companj^,  the  Akron 
Building-  and  Loan  Association,  the 
Akron  Tool  Co.,  the  Loomis  Motor 
Co.,  and  the  Canton  and   Zanesville 


FRANCIS  A.   W1I.COX. 

Electric  Street  Railway  Cos.,  in  the 
first  four  of  which  he  is  director  and 
of  the  last  secretary ;  is  also  pecun- 
iarilj^  and  officiallj"  connected  with  a 
large  number  o  the  other  business 
enterprises  of  Akron  and  vicinity  ;  in 
religion  a  Con^reg-ationalist ;  in 
politics  a  Republican. 


JAMES  H.  CASE. 

TAMES  H.  CASE,— born  in  Middle- 
J  bury,  (now  Akron  Sixth  Ward), 
December  23,  1844;  educated  in  Mid- 
dlebury  public  schools,  at  17  appren- 
ticed himself  to  the  carriage-ironing 
trade  at  Greenville,  Penn.,  but  before 


completing^  his  apprenticeship  re- 
turned home  and  entered  the 
machine  shop  of  Kent,  Baldwin  & 
Co.,  in  Middlebur3^  In  1863  enlisted 
in  the  Second  Ohio  Cavalry,  partici- 
pating in  the  battles  of  the  Wilder- 
ness, Petersburg,  Shenandoah,  Cedar 
Creek,  Winchester,  Five  Forks,  and 
the  surrender  of  Lee.  After  the 
g-rand  review,  at  Washington,  moved 
with  the  regiment  to  the  West, 
remaining  at  Springfield,  Mo.,  until 
September,  1865,  when  the  regiment 
was  mustered  oixt  at  St.  Louis.  On 
his  return  home,  he  completed  his 
trade  at  which  he  worked  about 
four  years,  then  worked  in  the  Buck- 
eye  Reaper  and  Mower  Works,  until 
1876,  when  he  established  himself  in 
the  drug  business  in  the  Sixth  ward, 
which  he  has  since  successfully  car- 
ried on,  also  being  chemist  for  the 
Absolute  Chemical  Company,  writ- 
ten of  elsewhere;  served  as  member  of 
City  Council  two  terms — 1865  to  1869. 
January  1,  1872,  was  luarried  to  Miss 
Ella  S.  Farrar,  of  Akron,  who  bore 
him  one  son — Charles  F.  Case,  now 
a  student  in  Buchtel  Colleg-e.  April 
17,  1890,  Mr.  Case  was  again  married, 
to  Mrs.  Mag-g-ie  R.  Blocker,  of  Akron. 


AKKON  S   CIV^IL   SERVICE    RECORD. 


303 


ROBERT  L.  ANDREW,  born  in 
Boston  township,  Summit  Co., 
Ohio,  May  24,  1841;  in  boyhood 
attended  common  school  and  worked 
at  the  painter's  trade  with  his  father, 
from  1857  to  1862  clerking-  at  Penin- 
sula and  in  Hudson;  in  June,  1862, 
enlisted  in  85th  Reg-iment,  O.  V.  I., 
serving'  four  months  and  participat- 
ing in  engagements  at  Prentiss,  Miss., 
and  Vicksburg;  in  Axigust,  1864, 
re-enlisted  in  177th,  O.  V.  I.,  serving 
to  the  end  of  the  war,  with  the  rank  of 
sergeant,  participating  in  the  battles 
of  The  Cedars,  Shelbyville  Pike,  and 
Town  Creek,  and  being  present  at 
Johnston's  surrender.  On  being 
mustered  out,  clerked  in  store  of  E. 
H.  Cole,  at  Peninsula,  then  for  E.  B. 
Thompson  &  Sons,  successively  at 
lona,  Marshall  and  Ann  Arbor, 
Mich;  October  6,  1869,  removed  to 
Akron  and  resumed  his  trade,  in 
1873,  erecting  the  store  at  314  East 
Mill  street,  January  1,  1877,  associat- 
ing with  himself  his  brother,  Angelo, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Andrew 
Brothers,  which  arrangement  con- 
tinued until  September,  189(),  when 
he  sold  out  to  his  brother  and  estab- 
lished The  Paint  and  Color  Com- 
panJ^  elsewhere  alluded  to.  Sep- 
tember 6,  1866,  Mr.  Andrew  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Emerancy  Hall,  a  native 
of  Northampton,  who  died  April  3, 


ROBERT  L.  AiXDKEVV. 

1879,  their  two  children  also  being 
deceased.  Mr.  A.  was  again  married, 
to  Miss  Emma  Woods,  daughter  of 
Mr.  John  B.  Woods,  of  Akron,  Sept. 
27,  1881.  Though  an  earnest  and  act- 
ive Democrat,  Mr.  Andrew  for  two 
successive  terins  (1886-90)  represented 
the  usuallj^  Republican  l^irst  ward 
in  the  City  Council,  the  last  year  as 
its  President. 


County  Treasurers. — William  Harrison  Dewey,  1848  to  1850; 
Frederick  Wadsworth,  1850  to  1852;  Israel  E.  Carter,  1862  to  1866; 
David  R.  Paige,  Jr.,  1874  to  1878;  Henry  C.  Viele,  1878  to  1883; 
Emmon  S.  Oviatt,  1891  to  1893. 

County  Recorders. — Nahum  Fay,  1843  to  1849;  Philip  P.  Bock, 
1858  to  1864;  James  Alexander  Lantz,  1864  to  1870;  Henry  C.  Vi^le, 
(b3^  appointment),  February,  1872,  to  October,  1872;  George  H. 
Payne,  1872  to  1878;  Albert  A.  Bartlett,  1878  to  1884;  Benjamin  F. 
Clark,  1891  to  1894. 

County  Surveyors. — The  incumbents  of  this  office,  since  the 
organization  of  the  county,  have  nearly  all  been  "outsiders," 
D wight  Newton,  of  Akron,  being  elected  in  1849  for  three  years; 
Robert  S.  Paul,  of  Akron,  (see  also  Cuyahoga  Falls),  by  appoint- 
ment, filling  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  death  of  his  father, 
Hosea  Paul,  from  June  to  October,  1870,  and  by  election  for  the 
ensuing  three  years;  again  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned 
by  the  resignation  of  Surveyor  elect,  Jacob  Mishler,  from  February 
3,  to  October,  1884;  again  successively  elected  in  1877  and  1880, 
giving  to  the  position,  in  all,  about  ten  years  of  faithful  service. 
Charles  E.  Perkins,  of  Akron,  was  elected  in  October,  1883, 
re-elected  in  1886,  and  again  elected  in  1889. 

Infirmary     Directors. — Lucius    V,    Bierce,   July,    1849,    to 
October,    1849;    Roswell    Kent,    October,    1819,    to    October,    1851 
Gibbons  J.  Ackley,  October,  1849,  till  his  decease  in  August,  1851 
Joseph    E.    Wesener,  to   fill    vacancy,   August    to    October,    1851 


304 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


George  D.  Bates,  1851  to  1855;  Ira  Hawkins,   1851  to  1857;  George 
Sherbondy,  1853  to  1856;  Charles  C.  Hanscom,  1855  to  1858;  David 
A.  Scott,  1856  to  1859;  Richard  B.  Walker,  1859  to  1868;  Alfred  R. 
Townsend,  1861  to  1867,  1873  to  1876,  1877  till  his  resignation  in  1879 
Webster  B.  Storer,    1871    to    1874;  Levi    S.   Herrold,    1874   to    1877 
'Clement  J.   Kolb,    1875    to    1881;    Henry   Frederick,    1876    to    1882 
Joseph   A.  Beebe,  1881  to   1887;  Joseph   Moore,    1887  to    1893;    Eli 
Smith,  1888  to  1891;  Jacob  Koplin,  November,  1889,  to  present  time. 
Superintendents  of  Infirmary. — Abraham  Sichley,Jul3^  1849, 
to  March,  1855;  William  Chandler,  March,  1855,  to  January,  1861; 
Frank  T.  Husong,  (also  see  Copley),  January,  1861,  to  April,  1868; 
George   W.  Glines,   April,  1868,  till  death,  March   4,  1879;  George 
Feichter,  April  1,  1878,  to  March  1,  1879;  Julia  F.  Glines,  March  1, 
1879,  to  April  1,  1882;  Millard  F.  HamUn,  April  1,  1882,  to  April  1, 
1887;  Sherman  B.  Stottler,  April  1,  1887,  to  present  time. 


ERASTUS  R.  HARPER,  JK.,— son 
of  Erastus  R.  and  Amanda 
(McArthur)  Harper,  was  born  in  Oak- 
field,  Kent  county,  Mich.,  Julj^  14, 
1857,  when  three  years  old  removing 
with  parents  to  Independence,  Cuya- 
hoga countj^Ohio;  educated  in  Inde- 
pendence district  schools  and  Cuya- 
hoga Falls  high  school ;  raised  on 
farm;  at  22  went  to  Atchison,  Kansas, 
as  book-keeper  for  Gushing  &  McNeil, 
coal  and  grain  merchants ;  fifteen 
months  later  returned  to  Ohio  and 
w^orked  at  civil  engineering  on  Lake 
Shore,  and  Pittsburg,  Cleveland  and 
Toledo  railroads  about  one  year,  then 
came  to  Akron  and  entered  the  oflice 
of  J.  F.  Seiberling  &  Co., later  holding 
the  position  of  paymaster  for  Avxlt- 
man,  Miller  &  Co.,  seven  j^ears,  when 
he  accepted  the  secretaryship  of  the 
Akron  Vitrified  Pressed  Brick  Com- 
pan5%  which  he  still  holds  ;  Novem- 
ber, 1877,  was  elected  to  fill  vacancy 
in  City  Council,  in  place  of  Capt.  H. 
H.  Brown,  resigned,  re-elected  in 
April,  1888,  for  full  term  and  again 
in  1890.  June  21,  1882,  Mr.  Harper  was 
married  to  Miss  Alice  M.  Hitchcock, 


ERASTUS  K.  harper,  JR. 

of  Cujahoga  Falls.    They  have  one 
child  —  Lena   May,   born   August  31, 

1883. 


County  Coroners. — Col.  John  Nash,  of  Middleburj^  October, 
1852  to  September,  1853;  William  L.  Clarke,  1855  to  1857;  Almon 
Brown,  1872  to  1882;  Dr.  B.  B.  Brashear,  1882  to  1886;  Albert  H. 
Sargent,  1886,  and  re-elected  in  1888  for  the  second  term,  holding 
the  office  four  years. 

County  Clerks. — Previous  to  the  adoption  of  the  present  State 
Constitution,  in  1851,  Common  Pleas  Judges  appointed  their  own 
Clerks  of  Court,  the  appointment,  like  that  of  the  Judges  them- 
selves by  the  Legislature,  being  for  seven  years.  On  the  organi- 
zation of  Court  in  the  new  county  of  Summit,  in  April,  1840,  Hon. 
Rufus  P.  Spalding,  Avas  appointed  Clerk,  employing  for  his  deputy, 
Mr.  Lucian  Swift.  In  December,  1840,  Mr.  Spalding  resigned 
and  Mr.  Sivift  w^as  appointed,  serving  his  full  term  of  seven  years. 


AKRON  S   CIVIL,   SERVICE    RECORD. 


305 


Lucius  S.  Peck,  then  of  Akron,  was  appointed  as  Mr,  Swift's 
successor,  in  1847,  serving  until  the  election,  under  the  new  con- 
stitution, of  Nelson  B.  Stone,  Esq.,  in  1851,  as  stated  in  the  chapter 
on  Tallmadge.  In  1854,  Edwin  P.  Green,  Esq.,  of  Akron,  was 
elected  as  Mr.  Stone's  successor,  and  re-elected  in  1857,  serving 
two  full  terms  of  three  years  each,  with  Alden  Gage  as  deputy. 
Subsequent  incumbents  of  the  office  have  been:  Capt.  John  A. 
Means,  of  Northfield,  now  living  in  Tallmadge;  Charles  Rine- 
hart,  of  Franklin,  now  of  Colorado;  George  W.  Weeks,  of  Copley, 
now^  of  Akron;  Sumner  Nash,  of  Bath,  now  of  Akron;  Othello  W. 
Hale,  formerly  of  Bath,  but  at  the  time  of  his  election  a  resident  of 
Akron,  reference  being  had  to  the  several  townships  named  for 
particulars  as  to  date  of  election,  tenure  of  office,  etc.;  Nathaniel 
P.  Goodhue,  a  native  Akronian,  elected  November,  1890,  and  still 
ably  serving,  with  Mr.  Frank  J.  Libis,  after  six  years'  experience 
under  Clerk  Hale,  as  his  chief  deputy. 

WILLIAM  HARDY,— son  of  Nath- 
aniel  and  Rebecca  (Reed) 
Hardy,  was  born  in  Northampton 
township,  March  11, 1829;  educated  in 
district  schools  and  raised  a  farmer; 
active  in  all  public  affairs,  Mr.  Hardy 
served  as  township  trustee  for  15  con- 
secutive j-ears;  was  once  elected  and 
qualified  as  justice  of  the  peace,  but 
other  duties  requiring'  his  attention, 
after  a  few  months  service  he 
resigned  the  office.  During  the  war, 
Mr.  Hardy,  served  as  recruiting 
agent  of  18th  Congressional  district 
for  Summit  county,  and  has  operated 
as  general  agent  for  Aultman,  Miller 
'  &  Co.,  in  selling  Buckej^e  reapers 
and  mowers  in  Northern  Ohio,  for  a 
period  of  27  years.  Having  nroved 
to  Akron,  in  1872,  Mr.  Hardj'  repre- 
sented the  Third  ward  in  the  City 
Council  from  1888  to  1890 ;  was  one  of 
the  originators  of  the  electric  street 
railway  83'stem  in  Akron  and  is  still 
a  stockholder  in  the  company,  and 
besides  looking  after  the  manage- 
ment of  his  fine  farm  in  Northampton, 
is  associated  with  his  son,  Orlando  B. 
Hardy,  in  the  sale  of  Giant  and  Jud- 
son  mining  and  sporting  powders 
throughout  the  United  States.  Dec- 
ember 3,  1847,  Mr.  Hardy  was  married 
to  Miss  Marcia  Elvira  Dales,  daughter 


WILLIAM   HARDY. 


of  Mr.  Stephen  Dales,  of  Copley, 
born  November  3,  1829,  who  has 
borne  him  two  children — Orlando  B., 
born  September  19,1848,  now  residing 
in  Akron,  and  Clara  C,  afterwards 
Mrs.  Daniel  W.  Brown,  and  no^v 
deceased. 


Common  Pleas  Judges. — Robert  K.  DuBois,  of  the  early  blast- 
furnace firm  of  Hart,  DuBois  &  Co,  heretofore  spoken  of,  residing 
where  Mr.  William  H.  Payne  now^  lives,  number  200  Water  Street, 
was  appointed  by  the  Legislature  one  of  the  first  Associate  Judges 
for  the  new  County  of  Summit,  holding  the  position  from  April, 
1840,  till  his  death,  June  19,  1845.  James  R.  Ford,  by  appointment 
of  Gov.  Thomas  W.  Hartley,  succeeded  Judge  DuBois  upon  the 
bench,  from  1845  until  failing  health  compelled  his  resignation  in 
April,  1849,  when  Samuel  A.  Wheeler  was  appointed  by  Governor 
Seabury  Ford,  holding  the  position  until  his  resignation  to  go  to 
California,  in  March,  1850. 


20 


306 


AKKON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


On  the  resignation,  by  Judge  Benjamin  J.  Wade,  of  the  Presi- 
dent Judgeship  of  the  Third  Judicial  District,  under  the  old  con- 
stitution, on  his  election  as  United  States  Senator,  by  the  Legis- 
lature, in  March,  1851,  George  Bliss,  Esq.,  then  a  prominent  lawyer 
of  Akron,  was  appointed  Presiding  Judge,  -who  held  the  position 
until  February,  1852,  w^hen  he  was  superseded  by  Hon,  Samuel 
Humphreyville,  of  Medina,  the  first  regularl}^  elected  Judge  for  the 
Second  Sub-district.  Hon.  James  S.  Carpenter,  of  Akron,  was 
elected  as  Judge  Humphreyville's  successor  in  1856,  holding  the 
position  the  full  term  of  five  years,  when  the  office  went  to  Judge 
Stephenson  Burke,  of  Klyria.  An  extra  Judgeship  being  created 
in  1870,  Hon.  Samuel  W.  McClure  v^as  elected  to  the  position  in 
October  of  that  year,  holding  the  office  five  j^ears  and  declining  a 
re-election.  In  October,  1875,  Hon.  Newell  D.  Tibbals  was  elected 
as  Judge  McClure's  successor,  and  re-elected  in  1880.  May  1,  1883, 
Judge  Tibbals  resigned,  and  ex-Probate  Judge  Ulysses  L.  Marvin 
was  appointed  by  Gov.  Charles  Foster,  to  fill  the  vacancy,  serving 
until  the  accession  of  Hon.  Edw^in  P.  Green,  who  v^as  elected  in 
October,  1883,  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  of  Judge  Tibbals  (two 
years),  and  re-elected  for  the  full  term  of  five  years  in  October, 
1885;  Gen.  Alvin  C.  Voris,  1891-96. 


JOHN  KREUDER,— son  of  Henry 
J  and  Mary  D.  (Lippert)  Kreuder, 
was  born'  in  Vadenrod,  GreivS,  Als- 
feldt,  Hesse -Darmstadt,  Germany, 
June  24,  1839 ;  came  with  parents  to 
Ainerica  in  1851,  settling-  on  farm  in 
Chatham,  Medina  county  ;  six  years 
schooling-  in  German}^  and  three 
terms  in  Ohio  ;  in  1857  came  to  Akron 
as  general  utilitj^ man  in  "American 
House,"  kept  by  the  late  Florence 
Weber.  Esq..  on  North  Howard  street; 
1858  to  1872  (14  years)  clerk  in  store  of 
Hall  Brothers  ;  then  three  years  with 
G.  C.  Berry  &  Co.;  in  1876  engaged  in 
the  grocerj'  trade  with  the  late 
Charles  W.  Bonstedt,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Bonstedt  &  Kreuder,  con- 
tinuing six  5'ears  ;  in  1882  engaged  in 
g-rain  and  produce  trade  on  his  own 
account,  the  volume  of  his  business 
in  1890  reaching  nearly  $400,fX)0 ;  is 
also  a  stockholder  in  Schumacher 
Milling  Co.,  Jones  Wholesale  Grocer}- 
Co.,  Peoples'  Savings  Bank  and 
Akron  Paving  Brick  Co.;  was  Park 
Commissioner  17  years — 1872-89; 
member  of  City  Council  1889-91,  the 
last  3'ear  as  president ;  was  married 
December  31,  1863,  to  Miss  Lana 
Grohe,  of  Randolph  ;  children — Anna 


c.-^> 


JOHN    KKEUDEK. 

M.,  born  January  14,  1865,  died  Feb- 
ruary 5,  1866;  Minnnie  E.,  born  Nov- 
ember 14,  1867  ;  Ida  L.,  born  January 
2,  1870,  died  July  21,  1881 ;  X>ora  E., 
born  Noveinber  7,  1871,  died  January 
10, 1877  ;  William  J.,  born  April  2,  1874. 


Probate  Judges. — Previous  to  the  adoption  of  the  present 
constitution,  in  1851,  all  probate  business  -was  transacted  by  the 
Court  of  Cotnmon  Pleas.  In  October,  1851,  Charles  G.  Ladd,  Esq., 
father  of  the  present  Mrs.  Gen.  A.  C.  Voris,  then  a  promising  young 
member  of  the  Summit  County  Bar,  was  elected  to  the  office  of 
Probate  Judge  for  three  years.  Judge  Ladd's  rapidly  failing 
health  preventing  him  from  giving  his   personal  attention  to  the 


AKKON  S   CIVIL   SERVICE   RECORD. 


307 


duties  of  the  office,  the  business  was  organized  and  ably  performed 
by  his  deputy  clerk,  Alvin  C.  Voris,  Ksq.,  as  elsewhere  detailed, 
until  the  death  of  Judge  Ladd  in  August,  1852.  Judge  Constant 
Bryan  succeeded  Judge  Ladd  from  1852  to  1854.  In  1860  William 
M.  Dodge,  of  Akron,  was  elected,  serving  until  his  death,  in  July, 
1861.  Samuel  A.  Lane  \^as  commissioned  by  Governor  William 
Dennison  to  fill  the  vacancy,  but  declining  the  honor,  Ashael  H. 
Lewis  was  appointed  to  serve  until  the  ensuing  October  election, 
being  succeeded  by  Judge  Stephen  H.  Pitkin,  eight  years,  Ulysses 
L.  Marvin,  six  years,  and  Samuel  C.  Williamson,  six  years,  as 
already  detailed  in  the  chapters  on  Hudson  and  Stow. 


HENRY  W.  HART,— son  of  Adams 
and  Isabella  (Gangawer)  Hart, 
-was  born  in  Akron  September  19, 
1852,  his  father  doing-  faithful  service 
in  both  the  Mexican  war  and  the  war 
of  the  rebellion.  Mr.  Hart  was 
educated  in  the  Middlebury  public 
schools  ;  at  16  apprenticing-  himself 
to  the  potter's  trade,  at  which  he 
worked  17  years,  in  1882  embarking  in 
that  business  for  himself  in  partner- 
ship with  Mr.  Frank  W.  Rockwell, 
under  the  firm  name  of  F.  W.  Rock- 
well &  Co.,  the  arrang-ement  con- 
tinuing seven  years ;  February  19, 
1891,  became  one  of  the  incorporators 
of  the  Akron  Paving  Brick  Company, 
elsewhere  noticed,  of  which  he  is 
superintendent  and  manager.  In 
1888  Mr.  Hart  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Akron  City  Council  from  the 
Sixth  Ward,  and  re-elected  in  1890, 
becoming  the  president  of  that  body 
on  its  reorganization  in  April,  1891. 
June  15,1882,  Mr.  Hart  was  married  to 
Miss  Hattie  Johnson,  daughter  of  the 
late  Thomas  Johnson,  of  the  Sixth 
Ward,  who  has  borne  him  four  chil- 


HENKY  W.  HAKT.      ' 

dren,  all  living — Bessie,  born  January 
8,  1884;  Flossie,  born  June  1,  1885; 
Isabella,  born  November  15,  1888,  and 
Henry  Johnson,   born  December  29, 

1890. 


In  October,  1881,  Hon.  Nathaniel  W.  Goodhue  was  elected 
Probate  Judge,  acceptably  filling  the  position  until  his  sudden 
death  in  September,  1883,  his  son  and  deputy  clerk,  Nathaniel  P. 
Ooodhue,  continuing  to  act  in  that  capacity  under  his  father's  suc- 
cessor. Judge  Charles  R.  Grant,  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  by 
Oov^  Foster  September  16,  1883,  elected  for  three  years  in  1884  and 
re-elected  in  1887,  serving  nearly  seven  years  and  five  months; 
Edward  W.  Stuart  elected  November,  1890,  and  still  serving,  with 
his  son,  Fred.  H.  Stuart,  as  his  deputy  clerk. 

Representativ^es  to  State  Legislature. — At  the  time  of  the 
erection  of  Summit  county,  in  March,  1840,  Simon  Perkins,  Jr.,  of 
Akron,  was  State  Senator,  and  Rufus  P.  Spalding,  then  of 
Ravenna,  was  one  of  the  Representatives  for  Portage  county.  Mr. 
Spalding  immediately  thereafter  removing  to  Akron,  in  1841 
Messrs.  Perkins  and  Spalding  were  elected  as  the  Representatives 
of  the  new  county  for  the  session  of  1841,  '42;  John  H.  McMillen 
(Middlebury)  1842,  for  one  year;  Hiram  Bo  wen,  Akron,  1845,  one 
year;  Harvey  B.  Spelman,  1849,  one  year;  Nathaniel  Finch,  1850, 
one  year;  Alvin  C.  Voris,  1859,  two  years;  John  Johnston  (Middle- 
bury), 1861-63,  four  years;  Sanford  M.  Burnham,  1871,  two  years; 


308 


AKRON   AND    SUMMIT    COUNTY. 


Leonidas  S.  Kbright,  1879,  two  years;  J.  Park  Alexander,  (see  also 
Bath)  1881,  two  years;  Jacob  A.  Kohler  (see  also  Franklin)  1883,  two 
years;  Henry  C.  Sanford,  1887-91,  four  years. 

Akron  in  State  Senate. — Simon  Perkins,  Jr.,  in  office  on 
erection  of  Summit  county,  in  1840,  two  years;  Lucian  Swift,  1848, 
tw^o  years;  William  H.  Upson,  (see  also  Tallmadge),  1853,  two- 
years;  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  1861,  two  years;  New^ell  D.  Tibbals,  1865, 
tw^o  years;  Nathaniel  W.  Goodhue,  1873,  two  years;  George  W. 
Crouse,  (see  also  Green),  1885,  two  years;  J.  Park  Alexander  (see 
also  Bath),  1887-91,  four  years. 

Akron  in  Congress. — Hon.  George  Bliss,  1854  to  1856;  Hon> 
Sidney  Edgerton  (see  also  Tallmadge),  1858  to  1862,  four  years; 
Hon.  William  H.  Upson  (see  also  Tallmadge),  1869  to  1873,  four 
years;  David  R.  Paige,  Jr.,  1882  to  1884,  two  years;  Hon.  George  W. 
Crouse  (see  also  Green),  1886  to  1888,  two  years,  declining  a 
re-election. 


HARVEY  F.  MILLER,— son  of 
Charles  and  Hannah  (Bechtel) 
Miller,  was  born  in  Norton,  Feb.  18, 
1850;  in  boyhood  worked  on  farm 
and  attended  district  school ;'  in  1867 
moved  with  parents  to  Akron,  com- 
pleting his  education  in  the  Akron 
hig-h  school ;  in  1872,  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  lumber  and  building  firm 
of  Miller,  Thomas  &  Co.;  in  1879,  with 
Charles  Miller  and  Henry  D.  Miller, 
formed  the  Miller  Chain  Companj-, 
and  in  1883  became  one  of  the  incor- 
porators of  the  Miller  Match  Com 
pany,  of  which  he  was  the  secretary 
and  treasurer,  and  on  the  sale  of  tlu' 
works,  in  1890,  formed  a  partnei'shi]) 
with  Mr.  Samuel  C.  Dj^ke,  under  the 
firm  name  of  S.  C.  Dyke  &  Co.,  for  the 
manufacture  of  marbles,  miniature 
jugs  and  other  stoneware  novelties, 
retiring  therefrom,  Jul}^  30,  1891,  on 
the  organization  of  the  American 
Marble  and  Toy  Manufacturing  Co., 
elsewhere  fully  written  of ;  is  also 
director  of  Akron  Globe  Sign  Co.,  of 
Akron  Novelty  Manufacturing  Co., 
and  president  of  the  Akron  White 
Sand  and  Stone  Co.  Sept.  10,  1873, 
Mr.  Miller  was  married  to  Miss  Mary 


HARVEY  F.   MIIvLEK. 

Hays,  of  Medina,  who  has  borne  him 
two  sons — Charles  Hays,  born  June 
5,  1874,  now  student  in  Militar3^ 
Academy,  at  Gambler,  and  Edwin 
Cloyd,  born  Aug.  1,  1883. 


Akron's  Presidential  Electors. — In  1868,  Hon.  Stephen  H. 
Pitkin,  of  Akron  (see  also  Hudson),  \sras  Presidential  Elector  for 
the  Eighteenth  Congressional  District,  composed  of  Summit, 
Cuyahoga  and  Lake  counties,  and  voted  in  the  electoral  college  for 
Ulysses  S.  Grant,  of  Illinois,  for  President,  and  Schuyler  Colfax, 
for  Vice  President.  In  1872,  in  Eighteenth  District,  composed  of 
Summit,  Wayne,  Medina  and  Lorain  counties,  Hon.  John  R. 
Buchtel  was  Presidential  Elector,  and  voted  for  Ulysses  S.  Grant 
for  President,  and  Henry  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts,  for  Vice- 
President.  In  1880,  district  same  as  above,  Hon.  Nathaniel  W. 
Goodhue,  as  Presidential  Elector,  voted  for  James  A.  Garfield,  of 
Ohio,  for  President,  and  Chester  A.  Arthur,  of  New  York,  for  Vice 


AKRON  S   CIVIL    SERVICE    RECORD. 


309 


President,  Ulysses  L.  Marvin,  1884,  Twentieth  District,  composed 
of  Summit,  Medina,  Wayne  and  Stark,  voted  for  James  G.  Blaine  for 
President  and  John  A.  Logan  for  Vice  President. 

Delegates  to  Constitutional  Convention. — In  1850,  William 
S.  C.  Otis,  Esq.,  was  Summit  county's  delegate  to  the  Ohio  Consti- 
tutional  Convention.     The    convention    met   at  Columbus  May  6, 

1850,  and  July  9  adjourned  to  meet  in  Cincinnati,  closing  its  labors 
in  that  city  March  10,  1851,  the  ne^w  constitution  being  voted  upon 
and  adopted  June  21,  1851,  for  twenty  years;  Summit  county's  vote 
standing  2,025  for  and  2,013  against,  being  a  majority  of  twelve, 
only,  in  its  favor.  Gen.  Alvin  C.  Voris  w^as  delegate  to  the  Consti- 
tutional Convention  of  1873,  which  convened  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  at  Columbus,  May  13,  1873,  and  on  August  8, 
adjourned  to  meet  in  Cincinnati  December  2,  adjourning  sine  die 
JPebruary  3,  1874.  The  constitution  formulated  by  this  convention, 
though  regarded  by  many   as    a  great  improvement  over  that  of 

1851,  was  rejected  by  the  people  at  the  special  election  held  August 
18,  1874,  by  a  large  majority.  Summit  county's  vote  standing  2,112 
*'  for  "  and  2,774  "  against,"  or  an  adverse  majority  of  662.  In  1883, 
what  is  known  as  the  Judicial  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  was 
adopted,  and  in  1885  the  amendment  changing  the  general  election 
from  October  to  November;  the  so-called  "Second  Amendment," 
prohibiting  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  submitted  in  1883, 
being  voted  down. 


West  side  of  Howard  Street,  looking  North  from  near  Cherry  Street. 
From  photo  by  E.  J.  Howard,  1873. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


PUBLIC  ILLUMINATION — THE  OLD-TIME  "TALLOW  DIP" — SPERM  OIL,  GAS,  PETRO- 
LEUM AND  ELECTRIC  LIGHTS— LOCAL  TRANSPC»RTATION,  HEROICS,  HORSE- 
CARS,  ELECTRIC  STREET  RAILWAY— FUEL  GAS,  ETC. 

AKRON'S  ORIGINAL  GAS  WORKS. 

WITHIN  the  tnemor}^  of  the  writer,  the  only  method  of  either 
private  or  public  illumination,  w^as  by  the  use  of  candles  or 
sperm  oil,  for  though  some  experiments  had  been  made  with  gas, 
distilled  from  coal,  as  early  as  1810  or  1812,  its  use  as  an  illumina- 
tor did  not  become  general  in  the  United  States,  even  in  such  cities 
as  Boston,  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  until  about  1825. 

HENRY  STEPHEN  ABBEY,— born 
in  Portland,  Middlesex  county. 
Conn.,  November  5,  1808  ;  at  an  early 
age  removed  to  Glastenbury,  and  in 
1828  to  Bristol,  where  he  learned  the 
clock-making-  business.  October  30, 
1831,  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Smith,  of  Torrington,  Conn.,  immedi- 
ately removing  to  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and 
two  years  later  to  Niagara  Falls, 
finally  settling  in  Akron  in  1835. 
Here,  for  two  j^ears,  he  was  engaged 
in  cabinet-making  in  South  Akron, 
w^hen  he  embarked  in  the  jewelry 
business,  in  1841  forming  a  partner- 
ship with  Mr.  Hiram  Payne,  and 
removing  to  the  Stone  Block,  corner 
of  Howard  and  Market  streets,  later 
establishing  himself  at  120  Howard 
street,  where  he  was  continuously' 
and  successfully  in  business  until 
his  sudden  death,  from  heart  disease, 
October  25, 1873,  at  the  age  of  64  years, 
11  months  and  20  days.  Mr.  Abbey 
was  a  fine  musician,  organizing  and 
for  many  years  leading  Akron's 
pioneer  band ;  was  an  intelligent 
florist,establishing  the  pioneer  green- 
house of  the  village,  and  was  a  liberal 
promoter  of  all  public  improvements; 
was  a  member,  and  president,  of 
Akron's  pioneer  gas  company,  and 
served  as  a  member  of  the  Village 
Council    for    the   years  1856,  '57.     Of 


HENRY  STEPHEN  ABBEY. 


the  several  children  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Abbey,  Henr5^  E.  Abbe}^  now  of 
New  York,  only  survives,  though 
their  adopted  daughter,  Ellen  G.,. 
now  Mrs.  S.  E.  Phinney,  most  fully 
shared  their  confidence  and  love. 
Mrs.  Abbey  died  July  1, 1874,  aged  66 
years,  9  months  and  25  days. 


Previous  to  1855,  the  streets  of  Akron  v^ere  unlighted,  except 
at  private  expense,  in  front  of  the  hotels,  and  perhaps  half  a  dozen 
public  lamps  at  the  business  corners  of  the  two  villages,  with 
sperm  oil  at  first,  and  afterwards,  lard  oil;  coal  oil  not  then  having 
come  into  vogue,  and  petroleum,  for  illuminating  purposes,  never 
dreamed  of. 

But  about  the  latter  date  (1855)  largely  through  the  proprietary 
agency  of  the  late  Henry  S.  Abbey,  Thomas  H.  Goodwin,  Esq., 
and  others,  the  Akron  Gas  Company  was  organized,  the  works 
being  erected  on  South  Howard  street,  immediately  north  of  the- 


PUBLIC    ILLUMINATION. 


311 


\V.  B.  Doyle  planing  mill.  As  a  matter  of  supposed  economy,  vit- 
rified stone  waterpipe  was  used  for  mains,  but  it  was  soon  found 
that  while  the  glazed  pipe  itself  w^as  impervious,  the  cement  joints 
w^ere  porous,  besides  their  liability  to  disturbance  from  settling, 
entailing,  through  leakage,  a  heavy  percentage  of  loss  to  the  com- 
pany, and  considerable  annoyance  to  citizens,  by  the  offensive 
odor  arising  therefrom,  necessitating,  after  a  year  or  two,  the  sub- 
stitution of  iron  mains,  at  a  heavy  expense  for  material  and  la])or. 


T^HOMAS  H.  GOODWIN,— born  in 
J-  Province  of  New  Brunswick, 
Canada,  Oct.  10,1810;  common  school 
education;  worked  on  farm  till  21, 
then  served  three  years  at  carpen- 
ter's trade;  in  August,  1835,  caine  to 
United  States,  working-  in  Provi- 
dence, R.  I.,  and  New  York  City; 
came  to  Akron  in  October,  1837,  work- 
ing seven  years  as  pattern  maker  for 
Judg-e  James  R.  Ford,  in  old  ^^tna 
Furnace;  in  18-17  engaged  in  manu- 
facture of  plows  and  other  agricul- 
tural implements  on  South  Howard 
street;  on  its  organization  in  1855, 
was  secretary  and  superintendent  of 
the  Akron  Gas  Company  for  about 
eight  years;  an  original  stockholder, 
and  two  years  book-keeper  of  Weary, 
Snyder  and  Wilcox  Manufacturing 
Co.;  original  stockholder  and  direc- 
tor in  Akron  Cold  Spring  Co.;  an 
active  member  of  Akron's  second 
Fire  Company,  Niagara  No.  2,  orga- 
nized Dec.  1845;  member  of  Akron 
Village  Council,  1850,  '54,  '56  and  '59; 
Akron's  first  regularly  elected  City 
Street  Commissioner,  serving  from 
1869  to  1873;  for  many  years  acting  as 
chorister  and  filling  various  official 
positions  in  First  M.  E.  Church,  of 
Akron,  assisting  in  organizing  its 
first  Sabbath  School,  and  in  erecting 
three  church  edifices  on  the  site  of 
the  present  structure.  June,  1839,  was 
married  at  Troy,  Miami  Co.,  to  Miss 


THOMAS  H.  GOODWIX. 

Josephine  M.  Field  (teacher),  sister 
of  the  late  Mrs.  L.  J.  Ives.  Four 
children  were  born  to  them— Alfred 
Davison,  died  at  Baltimore,  Md.,  Jan. 
18,  1880,  aged  40  years;  Clara  Fidelia, 
died  Aug.  6,  1883,  aged  41  years; 
Pomeroy  Field,  died  in  infancy;  and 
Helen  Pamela,  now  Mrs.  William 
Retiwick,  of  Davenport,  Iowa.  Mrs. 
Goodwin  died  Oct.  6,  1888,  aged  79 
years. 


THE  PRESENT  COMPANY. 

After  quite  a  number  of  changes  of  ownership  and  manage- 
ment, the  ^vorks  in  1865,  were  purchased  by  Mr.  Thomas  W.  Cor- 
nell and  others,  with  Mr.  Cornell  as  president,  and  William  Mc- 
Farlin  secretary  and  treasurer,  under  a  very  liberal  franchise  from 
the  Council,  not  only  in  regard  to  the  use  of  streets,  alleys  and 
public  grounds,  but  also  in  regard  to  the  price  of  gas,  by  ordi- 
nance fixing  the  maximum  at  $3.30  per  thousand  feet,  to  both  the 
city  and  private  citizens. 

This,  it  w^ill  be  remembered,  w^as  during  the  reign  of  inflated 
war  values  of  every  description,  and  though,  as  other  values  de- 
creased, some  concessions  w^ere  made  on  the  price  of  gas,  the  then 
members  of  the  Council  thought  the  company  did  not  keep  pace 
w^ith  the  general  reduction,  and  not  only  substituted  petroleum 
oil  for  street  lighting  purposes,  but,  by  ordinance,  fixed  the  maxi- 
tt'-Jtn  price  of  gas  to  the  city  at  $1.25,  and  to  private  consumers  at 


312  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

$1.50  per  thousand  feet.  The  company  claiming  that  the  city,  by 
the  terms  of  its  ordinance,  was  under  a  contract  to  use  its  gas,  at 
least  to  the  extent  of  the  lamps  already  erected,  commenced  a  suit 
for  its  enforcement,  which,  after  protracted  litigation,  w^as  decided 
in  the  city's  favor.  The  Gas  Company,  acting  under  legal  advice, 
never  acceded  to  the  requirements  of  the  restricting  ordinance 
alluded  to,  its  bills  to  consumers,  for  several  years,  being  made 
out  at  the  rate  of  $2.00  per  thousand  feet,  with  a  small  rebate  on 
all  bills  of  $5.00  or  over  per  month,  later  reducing  the  price  to 
$1.40;  the  city,  as  above  intimated,  entirely  discontinuing  its  use. 
The  company,  meantime  had  removed  its  works  to  the  north  part 
of  the  city,  and  greatly  enlarged  its  facilities,  and  is  still  one  of  the 
substantial  institutions  of  the  city,  the  plant  being  sold  to  other 
parties,  August  1,  1891,  with  George  T.  Perkins,  F.  Adolph  Schu- 
macher, Ernest  F.  Lloyd,  Gordon  W.  Lloyd,  and  Charles  Stinch- 
field  as  directors — Gordon  W.  Lloyd,  president  and  treasurer; 
Ernest  F.  Lloyd,  secretary,  and  James  W.  Lane,  superintendent. 

ELECTRIC  LIGHT  EXPERIMENT. 

Soon  after  the  culmination  of  the  differences  between  the 
Council  and  the  gas  company,  as  above  briefly  outlined,  the  project 
of  lighting  cities  by  electricity,  began  to  be  mooted,  and  Akron 
w^as  the  very  first  of  the  smaller  cities  of  the  country  to  try  the  ex- 
periment. In  1880  an  arrangement  was  made  with  the  Brush 
Electric  Light  Company,  of  Cleveland,  by  which  the  necessary 
apparatus  w^as  purchased,  the  mast  system  being  adopted.  A  cen- 
tral mast,  composed  of  gradually  tapering  boiler  iron,  210  feet  in 
height  above  the  surface  of  the  ground,  w^as  erected  at  the  inter- 
section of  HoMrard  and  Market  streets,  from  the  head  of  ^vhich  was 
suspended  four  lamps  of  4,000  candle  power  each  ;  a  wooden  mast 
of  about  fifty  feet  in  height  elevated  upon  the  dome  of  Buchtel 
College,  furnished  with  four  equally  powerful  lamps,  and  a  like 
mast  upon  the  tower  of  the  Central  engine  house  with  one  4,000 
candle-power  lamp,  making  nine  in  all,  the  boiler,  engine,  dyna- 
mos, etc.,  owned  and  run  by  the  city,  being  placed  in  an  annex 
built  for  that  purpose  upon  the  north  side  of  the  Central  building, 
corner  of  Church  and  High  streets. 

So  far  as  tried,  the  system  worked  well,  but  before  being  ex- 
tended into  other  portions  of  the  city,  on  the  theory  that  the  city 
could  buy  its  light  cheaper  than  it  could  produce  it,  on  the  14th 
day  of  June,  1883,  an  ordinance  w^as  passed  leasing  the  plant  to 
the  Akron  Electric  Light  and  Power  Company — George  G.  Baker, 
president ;  Ira  M.  Miller,  vice  president ;  Hugo  Schumacher,  secre- 
tary and  treasurer,  and  W.  J.  Hillier,  manager — for  the  period  of 
one  year,  the  company  stipulating  to  furnish  the  necessary  car- 
bons, and  keep  the  lamps  upon  the  masts  lighted,  at  25  cents  per 
lamp  per  hour,  on  an  agreed  schedule,  during  the  continuance  of 
said  lease. 

July  21,  1884,  a  contract  was  entered  into,  by  ordinance,  with 
the  Citizen's  Electric  Light  Company — Henry  Robinson,  presi- 
dent; Dr.  O.  D.  Childs,  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  S.  E.  Phinney, 
superintendent — for  the  lighting  of  the  streets  and  public  build- 
ings of  the  city,  by  the  Thompson-Houston  system  ;  the  street 
lamps    being  suspended   from    poles   at   the    intersections    of  the 


Akron's  street  railway,  313 

streets,  there  being  at  the  present  time  210  lamps  in  use,  and  the 
arrangement  so  far  reasonably  satisfactory — the  masts,  meantime, 
having  been  taken  down,  and  the  engine  and  other  property  trans- 
ferred to  the  new  company.  The  present  street  lamps  have  a 
nominal  strength  of  2,000  candle-power  each,  the  contract  price 
being  three  and  a  half  cents  per  lamp,  per  hour,  w^ith  a  guarantee 
of  $84  per  lamp  per  year.  For  a  time  the  city  building  was  also 
lighted  by  this  company,  but  now,  from  dynamos  invented  and 
constructed  by  Chief  Engineer  Frank  F.  Loomis,  the  building  is 
lighted  by  the  city's  ow^n  incandescent  lamps  at  a  cost  of  one-half 
cent  per  lamp  per  hour. 

PIONEER  STREET  RAILROAD. 

April  16,  1883,  a  franchise  w^as  granted  to  the  Akron  Street 
Railw^ay  and  Herdic  Company— Ira  M.  Miller,  president,  Wm. 
Christy,  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  John  E.  Metlin,  superin- 
tendent— to  lay  a  railway  track  through  Howard  and  Main  streets, 
from  Furnace  street  to  the  south  corporation  line,  the  franchise  to 
continue  for  the  period  of  25  years.  The  line  was  constructed  the 
same  year,  and  successfully  operated  for  some  tim6,  with  an 
extension,  in  1887,  to  Lake  Side  Park,  on  the  east  side  of  Summit 
Lake,  about  one  mile  south  of  the  city  limits,  Mr.  John  Wilson,  of 
the  Sixth  Ward,  for  several  years,  having  run  a  half-hourly  line  of 
comfortable  Herdic  coaches,  on  Market  street,  between  How^ard 
street  and  Case  avenue  in  the  Sixth  Ward. 

ELECTRIC  STREET  RAILWAY. 

July  2,  1888,  Council,  by  ordinance,  granted  the  use  of  the 
streets  of  the  city  to  the  Akron  Street  Railw^ay  Company — Gen. 
John  S.  Casement,  of  Painesville,  president;  S.  T.  Everett,  of  Cleve- 
land, vice  president,  and  F.  C.  Bangs,  of  Cleveland,  secretary — its 
cars  to  be  run  by  electricity  instead  of  horse  power,  the  new  com- 
pany having  purchased  the  franchise  and  property  of  the  old  com- 
pany for  the  sum  of  $30,000  in  cash,  $15,000  in  the  stock  of  the  new- 
organization,  and  the  assumption  of  the  $20,000  bonded  indebted- 
ness of  the  old  company. 

The  new  company  erected  its  plant^ — a  substantial  brick  build- 
ing— a  short  distance  north  of  the  King  Varnish  Works,  on  Canal 
street,  and  had  its  cars  running  the  entire  length  of  Market  street 
early  in  the  Fall  of  1888,  since  extended  through  Main,  Mill, 
College,  Buchtel  avenue,  Spicer,  Exchange,  Grant,  Bowery, Wooster 
avenue,  etc.,  the  application  of  pow^er  being  by  the  trolley  system — 
a  wire  over  the  center  of  the  track  suspended  by  lateral  wires 
attached  to  poles  on  either  side  of  the  street,  and  capable  of  a 
speed  of  fourteen  to  fifteen  miles  per  hour. 

CHANGE   OF   PROPRIETORSHIP. 

November  1,  1889,  a  deal  was  made  between  Messrs.  S.  T. 
Everett,  of  Cleveland,  and  John  F.  Seiberling,  of  Akron,  by  w^hich 
the  former  became  the  o\\rner  of  the  Academy  of  Music  property, 
and  the  latter  of  a  controlling  interest  in  the  Electric  Street  Rail- 
way Company,  since  which  time  improvements  have  been  vigor- 
ously pushed,  so  that  no>v  (August,  1891), there  are  15  miles  of  track 


314  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

in  successful  operation,  w^ith  a,  roster  of  175  employes,  the  present 
officers  being:  John  F.  Seiberling,  president;  John  S.  Casement, 
vice  president;  Frank  A.  Seiberling,  secretary  and  treasurer,  and 
John  E.  Metlin,  superintendent;  directors,  John  F.,  Frank  A.  and 
Charles  W.  Seiberling,  John  S.  Casement  and  Willis  D.  Chapman. 

FUEL  GAS   COMPANY. 

The  experiment  of  boring  for  natural  gas,  in  and  near  the  city, 
having  failed  of  success,  the  attention  of  the  people  of  Akron  has 
naturally  been  turned  to'ward  the  several  systems  of  producing 
artificial  gas  for  heating  as  well  as  illuminating  purposes,  that 
have  recently  been  devised,  and  on  August  13,  1888,  a  franchise 
was  granted  to  the  Loomis  Gas  Company,  of  Michigan,  to  use  the 
streets,  alleys  and  public  grounds  of  the  city,  for  the  purpose  of 
supplying  the  inhabitants  thereof  with  fuel  and  illuminating  gas, 
which,  under  the  improved  process  of  manufacture,  it  was  believed 
would  place  Akron  fully  on  a  par  with  towns  at  present  supplied 
with  natural  gas,  with  far  greater  assurance  of  permanence  than 
those  some^vhat  uncertain  "holes  in  the  ground"  can  furnish  to 
those  whd  erect  costly  manufacturing  plants  on  the  strength 
thereof. 

In  October,  1888,  the  franchise  was  transferred  to  the  Akron 
Light,  Heat  &  Power  Company,  which  has  erected  a  substantial 
plant  in  the  Sixth  ward,  and  is  rapidly  extending  its  pipes  through 
the  city,  the  present  prices  of  gas  being:  fuel,  thirty  cents  per 
thousand  feet;  illuminating,  fifty  cents;  light  and  fuel,  thirty-five 
cents;  the  present  officers  of  the  company  being:  Gordon  W, 
Lloyd,  president;  Ferd.  Schumacher  vice  president;  Ernest  F. 
Lloyd,  secretary;  F.  Adolph  Schumacher,  treasurer;  James  W. 
Lane,  superintendent;  Olaf  L.  Guldlin,  engineer. 

The  above  array,  added  to  her  magnificent  Fire  Department, 
w^ith  three  first-class  steamers,  stationed  in  different  portions  of 
the  city;  hose  reels  and  other  apparatus,  with  well-trained  teams 
to  haul  them;  its  own  unsurpassed  system  of  automatic  electrical 
alarms,  and  its  thoroughly  organized  corps  of  engineers  and  fire- 
men, supplemented  by  the  splendid  system  of  water  works, 
herein  described,  a  largely  patronized  telephone  system,  and  free 
delivery  of  mail  matter  by  an  efficient  corps  of  letter  carriers, 
places  Akron  decidedly  in  the  van,  among  the  second-class  citie& 
of  the  State,  on  the  score  of  public  w^orks;  while  her  manufactur- 
ing, mechanical,  commercial  and  professional  status,  as  given  in 
the  succeeding  chapters,  gives  to  her,  fairly  and  honestly,  the  title 
accorded  to  her,  by  even  her  most  formidable  rivals,  of  "The 
Tip-Top  City.'' 


CHAPTER  XV. 

AKRON'S  POSTAL  HISTORY— ANCIENT  AxVD  MODERN  MIDDLEBURY'S  SUCCESSIVE 
POSTMASTERS— FIRST  POSTMASTER  OF  AKRON  PROPER — THE  PIONEER  MAIL 
CARRIER  .STILL  IN  A  GOOD  STATE  OF  PRESERVATION— SUCCESSIV^E  INCUM- 
BENTS FOR  SIXTY  YEARS— SCRAMBLE  FOR  THE  "SPOILS"  UNDER  SUCCES- 
SIVE ADMINISTRATIONS— WONDERFUL  GROWTH  OF  BUSINESS— THE  FREE 
DELIVERY  SYSTEM— CLOSING  REMARKS,  ETC. 

ANCIENT  MIDDLEBURY. 

A  S  elsewhere  stated,  what  is  now  the  Sixth  ward  of  Akron,  was, 
■^*-  under  the  name  of  Middlebury,  the  early  manufacturing  and 
commercial  center  for  this  region  of  the  country,  beginning,  in  1808, 
by  the  erection  of  a  grist  mill,  w^here  the  frame  sew^er  pipe  mill 
of  the  Akron  Sewer  Pipe  Company  now  stands,  on  Case  avenue, 
by  Judge  Aaron  Norton,  followed  soon  after-wards  by  the  erection 
of  Bagley's  wool-carding  and  cloth  dressing  mill  on  the  same 
stream,  and  a  few  years  later  (in  1817)  by  the  erection  of  the  Cuya- 
hoga Blast  Furnace,  by  Laird  &  Norton,  and  numerous  other  man- 
ufacturing and  mercantile  operations.  Just  when  the  Middlebury 
postoffice  was  established  is  not  no>v  ascertainable,  but  it  is  believed 
to  have  been  as  early  as  1810,  though  the  village  was  not  regularly 
laid  out  by  William  J.  Hart  until  1818. 

MIDDLEBURY  POSTMASTERS. 

It  is  not  definitely  certain  w^ho  was  Middlebury's  first  post- 
master, but  the  earliest  now  remembered  by  the  "  oldest  inhab- 
itant" -was  'Squire  Nathan  Gillett,  father-in-law  of  Akron's  well 
kno\\rn  citizen,  Mr.  Sidney  H.  Bass,  Mr.  Gillett  also  officiating  as 
justice  of  the  peace.  Mr.  Gillett  was  succeeded  by  'Squire  Elijah 
Mason,  foUow^ed  in  succession,  by  Roan  Clark,  Edgar  T.  Chapman, 
(still  living  at  84  years  of  age),  January  1,  1841  to  January  1,  1846; 
Phineas  Stevens,  Dr.  Elijah  Curtis,  George  Barber,  1852  to  1856, 
Roan  Clark  (again),  George  A.  Peckham,  and  on  his  decease,  tem- 
porarily by  Hiram  Weston,  until  the  accession  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to 
the  presidency,  in  1861,  when  'Squire  Mansfield  Sumner  was 
appointed  to  the  position  serving  ten  consecutive  years. 

February  17,  1871,  James  M.  Wills  was  appointed  under  Presi- 
dent Grant,  holding  the  office  until  November  16,  1885,  nearly  15 
years,  when  he  was  superseded  by  Mr.  Edward  Donohue,  the 
present  incumbent  being  Mr.  William  W.  Davidson. 

AKRON'S  POSTAL  OPERATIONS. 

As  already  stated,  Akron,  or  that  portion  afterw^ards  for  many 
years  know^n  as  South  Akron,  w^as  laid  out  by  Gen.  Simon  Perkins 
and  Paul  Williams  in  the  Summer  of  1825.  The  contracts  for  build- 
ing the  Ohio  canal,  from  Summit  Lake  to  Cleveland,  w^ere  let  in 
June,  and  excavations  for  locks  commenced  here,  .before  the  formal 
breaking  of  ground  at  the  Licking  Summit,  July  4,  1825,  by  Gov. 
DeWitt  Clinton,  of  New  York,  as  elsewhere  stated. 


316 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


The  concentration  of  contractors  and  laborers  at  this  point, 
and  the.rapid  influx  of  other  branches  of  business — hotels,  stores, 
mechanics,  doctors,  lawyers,  etc., — created  the  necessity  for  better 
postal  facilities  than  were  afforded  by  the  Middlebury  office,  nearly 
two  miles  distant,  and  earlj^  in  1826  President  John  Quincy 
Adams'  Ohio  Postmaster  General,  John  McLean,  instituted  the 
Akron  postoffice,  and  appointed  Wolsey  Wells,  Esq.,  postmaster  of 
the  new  office.  Mr.  Wells  was  a  law^yer  by  profession  and  w^as 
soon  afterwards  elected  justice  of  the  peace,  and  also,  on  the  opening 
of  the  canal  to  navigation,  July  4,  1827,  was  appointed  collector  of 
tolls  for  the  port  of  Akron. 

'Squire  Wells  had  built  for  himself  a  large  two-story  house,  on 
the  southwest  corner  of  West  Exchange  and  Water  streets,  after- 
wards converted  into  a  hotel,  for  many  years  known  as  the  "Sum- 
mit House,"  and  Avhich,  moved  to  the  rear,  is  still  standing.  In 
the  front  room  of  this  house — afterw^ard  the  hotel  bar-room — did 
'Squire  Wells  run  his  quadrangular  combination  of  law,  justice, 
letters  and  navigation.  As  showing  the  magnitude  of  the  mail 
service,  under  the  administration  of  Postmaster  Wells,  I  quote  from 
the  historical  reminiscences  of  Gen.  L.  V.  Bierce,  w^ritten  nearly 
forty  years  ago.  "I  have,"  said  the  General,  "  in  my  cabinet  of 
curiosities,  his  desk,  about  two  feet  by  eighteen  inches,  that  con- 
tained in  its  pigeon-holes  all  the  files  and  documents  of  his  multi- 
farious offices." 


TTIRAM  J.  SPICER— youngest  son 
-L -'■  of  Major  Miner  Spicer,  born  in 
Akron,  October  24,  1816,  within  about 
40  rods  of  his  present  residence, 
corner  of  Spicer  and  Carroll  streets; 
educated  in  early  district  schools;  at 
nine  years  of  age,  carried  mail,  on 
horseback,  once  a  week,  from  Akron 
to  Bolivar,  40  miles;  learned  carpen- 
ter's trade,  afterwards  working  as  a 
mill-wright  on  the  early  mills  of 
Akron  and  vicinity,  and  for  ten  con- 
secutive years  on  the  Austin  Powder 
Mills.  February  31, 1839,  married  Miss 
Marilla  A.  King,  daughter  of  Joshua 
King,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  North- 
ampton and  Portage  townships. 
Five  children  were  born  to  them, 
three  dying  young;  the  survivors 
iDeing  Aver}'  King-  Spicer,  of  Akron; 
and  Alice  M.,  now  Mrs.  Sevillian 
Payne,  of  Davis  count}-.  Mo.  Mrs. 
Spicer  dying  January  19, 1861,  August 
29,  of  the  same. year,  Mr.  S.  was  again 
married,  to  Mrs.  Cerenia  L.  Barnett,  of 
Akron.  For  20  years,  from  1865  to 
188.1,  Mr.  Spicer  was  in  the  employ  of 
Aultman,  Miller  &  Co.,  the  last  ten  or 
twelve  3'ears  in  charge  of  repairs 
of  shop  machinery.  Politically,  as  a 
Whig,  his  first  presidential  vote  was 
cast  for  Gen.  William  Henr}' Harrison, 
in  1840,  and  his  last,  as  a  Republican, 


if 


HIRAM  J.   SPICEK. 

for  Gen.  Benjamin  Harrison,  in  1888. 
Mr.  S.  has  been  a  member  of  the  First 
M.  E.  Church  of  Akron,  since  1872;  is 
now  retired  from  business,  and  is 
believed  to  be  the  oldest  native  born 
resident  of  Portage  township  now 
livinfif. 


POSTMASTER  LEWIS  HUMISTON. 

Notwithstanding  the  motto  of  President  Jackson,  that  "to  the 
victors  belong  the  spoils,"  Mr.  Wells,  though  a  Whig,  was  permitted 


Akron's  postal  service.  317 

to  hold  the  office  until  his  removal  from  the  town,  probably  about 
1833,  when  he  ^ras  succeeded  by  Mr.  Lewis  Humiston,  a  Democrat, 
then  keeper  the  Clark  Hotel,  (still  standing)  on  the  northeast  cor- 
ner of  Main  and  Kxchange  streets.  Mr.  Humiston  erected  a  small 
building  immediately  east  of  the  hotel,  about  12x15  feet  in  size,  in 
which,  on  the  arrival  of  the  vsrriter  in  Akron,  in  1835,  the  late  Arad 
Kent,  as  Mr.  Humiston's  deputy;  w^as  doing  the  mailing  and 
delivery  honors. 

A  YOUTHFUL  MAIL  CARRIER. 

On  the  establishment  of  the  Akron  office,  and  other  officer 
along  the  line  of  the  then  unfinished  canal,  in  the  Spring  of  1826, 
Major  Miner  Spicer  took  the  contract  for  carrying  the  mail,  weekly, 
between  Akron  and  Bolivar,  and  the  service  w^as  regularly  and 
faithfully  performed  by  Mr.  Spicer's  nine-and-a-half-year-old  son,. 
our  present  well-known  and  w^ell-preserved  75-year-old  fellow-citi- 
zen, Mr.  Hiram  J.  Spicer,  now  residing  within  a  few  rods  of  where 
he  w^as  born,  corner  Carroll  and  Spicer  streets. 

POSTMASTER  HARVEY  H.  JOHNSON. 

Removing  from  the  village,  in  the  Summer  of  1837,  Mr.  Hum- 
iston tendered  his  resignation,  whereupon  several  candidates  for 
the  succession  put  in  their  claims,  the  two  most  prominent  being 
the  late  Judge  Constant  Bryan,  and  another  young  law^yer,  by  the 
name  of  Harvey  H.  Johnson,  the  latter  being  also  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  mayor  of  Akron  in  1842, '43,  a  few  years  later  congressman  from 
the  Ashland  district,  and  still  later  a  Government  land  agent  in 
Minnesota. 

At  this  time.  North  Akron,  or,  as  it  w^as  at  first  called,  "  Cascade, "^ 
was  pressing  the  original  toAvn  hard,  in  a  business  point  of  view. 
Both  of  the  candidates  named  being  in  the  North  Village,  were 
opposed  by  the  South-enders,  while  the  fight  between  the  friends 
of  the  two  gentlemen  named  became  so  bitter  that  Postmaster 
General  Amos  Kendall  finally  intimated  that  unless  some  agree- 
ment was  arrived  at  between  the  contending  parties  he  w^ould  abol- 
ish the  office. 

Thereupon,  the  South-enders  threw^  their  influence  to  Mr.. 
Johnson,  as  they  afterward  claime  1  on  his  promise  that  he  w^ould 
not  remove  the  office  to  "Cascade,"  and  in  no  event  north  of  the 
"gore,"  a  wedge  of  unplatted  land  between  the  tw^o  rival  villages, 
betw^een  w^hat  are  now  known  as  Church  and  Center  streets,  and 
Mr.  Johnson  w^as  accordingly  appointed. 

But  notwithstanding  his  alleged  pledge,  Mr.  Johnson,  in 
December,  1837,  did  remove  the  office  to  "Cascade,"  into  the  north 
end  of  the  Buckley  building,  corner  of  Howard  and  Mill  streets,^ 
w^here  S.  K.  Allen's  drug  store  now  is,  in  Masonic  Block.  This 
action,  of  course,  drew  dow^n  upon  the  offending  postmaster'* 
devoted  head  the  direst  anathemas  of  the  irate  South-enders,  dis- 
played in  new^spaper  correspondence  and  through  pamphlets,  as 
fully  set  forth  in  Chapter  HI. 

POSTMASTER  DANA  D.  EVANS. 

Though  a  Democrat,  appointed  under  President  Van  Buren'& 
administration,  Mr.  Johnson  was  continued  in  office  under  "Tyler 
Too,"  his  successor,  Dr.  Dana  D.  Kvans,  also  an  ardent  Democrat,. 


318 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


husband  of  the  late  Mrs.  Mary  I.  T.  Kvans,  and  step-father  of  the 
late  George  T.  McCurdy,  on  Mr.  Johnson's  resignation,  being 
appointed,  by  President  Polk's  Postmaster  General,  Cave  Johnson, 
in  April,  1845, 

Dr.  Evans  removed  the  office  from  the  Buckley  building  to  a 
room  in  the  southwest  corner  of  the  Old  Stone  Block,  about  w^here 
the  counting-room  window  of  Byrider  &  Go's  hat  store  is  on  How^ard 
street,  two  years  later  removing  it  to  the  north  side  of  East  Market 
street,  about  where  Mr.  Jacob  Good's  handsome  stone  front, 
"Commerce  Block,"  now  stands. 

POSTMASTER  FRANK  ADAMS. 

Our  present  \eell-known,  and  still  active,  Frank  Adams,  of  the 
Sixth  ward,  though  an  ardent  young  Whig,  was  deputy  under 
Postmaster  Johnson,  one  year,  in  1841,  and  again  tw^o  years  from 
1843,  running  aAvhile  into  the  term  of  Dr.  Evans. 

On  the  accession  of  President  Zachary  Taylor,  the  Whigs,  of 
course  being  entitled  to  the  "plum,"  there  was  a  spirited  contest 
for  the  prize  between  Mr.  Adams  and  Dr.  Elias  W.  Howard,  Frank 
coming  in  ahead,  on  the  home  stretch,  entering  upon  his  duties 
April  1,  1849,  and  has  ever  since  been  known,  among  old  residents, 
by  the  cognomen  of  "Old  Zack,"  then  by  general  consent  bestow^ed 
upon  him. 

In  addition  to  his  postal  duties,  Mr.  Adams  was  also  consti- 
tuted Akron's  Electric  Telegraph  Agent,  our  late  postmaster, 
William  C.  Allen,  being  his  assistant  in  both  departments. 


FRANK  ADAMS,— born  in  Wind- 
sor County,  Vt,  July  5,  1819; 
common  school  education ;  came  to 
Ohio  in  1838  ;  in  1839,  '40,  printed  maps 
for  Samuel  and  Levi  Manning-  in 
Akron  ;  1841,  clerk  in  postoffice  ;  1843, 
printed  maps  ;  1843,  '44,  clerk  in  post- 
office  ;  1845,  partner  in  map  business 
with  Samuel  Manning-,  the  latter  sell- 
ing out  to  Lorenzo  Eggleston  in  1846  ; 
Adams  &  Eggleston  burned  out  June 
9,  1848 ;  postmaster,  by  appointment 
of  President  Zachary  Taylor,  from 
March,  1849  to  May,  18,53  ;  in  hat  trade 
on  Market  street  till  again  burned 
out  April  30,  1855 ;  manufacturer  of 
sewer-pipe,  and  for  many  years  pres- 
ident and  superintendent  of  Akron 
Sewer  Pipe  Company,  retiring  in 
1886 ;  during  the  war  was  a  member 
of  the  Middlebvir}'  military  commit- 
tee, and  treasurer  of  soldiers'  relief 
fund  ;  for  many  years  member  and 
treasurer  of  Middlebury  Council  and 
School  Board  ;  1872,  commissioner  on 
annexation  of  Middlebury  to  Akron  ; 
now  active  member  of  Akron  Board 
of  Trade,  president  of  Akron  Water 
Works  Company  and  financially  and 
officiallj'  connected  with  several 
other  industrial  enterprises  of  Akron 
and  vicinity.  January  21,  1846,  Mr. 
Adamswas  married  toMiss  SarahHyde 


FRANK  ADAMS. 

Gale,  of  Akron,  who  died  Januarj^  11, 
1863,  leaving  two  daughters  (now  Mrs. 
Julia  Latham  and  Mrs.  May  Perkins); 
September  12, 1863,was  again  married, 
to  Mrs.  Tanetta  L.  Murphy,  who  has 
borne  him  two  children — Frank  H., 
and  Belle  M.  Adams. 


AKRON  S    POSTAL   SERVICE. 


319 


Soon  after  taking  possession  of  the  office,  Mr.  Adams  bought 
the  property  now  known  as  Bennett's  Block,  and  removed  the 
office  to  the  room  now  occupied  by  Orson  H.  Remington,  the  jew^- 
eler,  Ho^ward  street  at  that  point  having  been  cut  dovirn,  after  the 
erection  of  the  building,  leaving  the  floor  of  the  office  about  four 
feet  higher  above  the  sidewalk  than  it  now  is. 

POSTMASTER  EDWARD  W.  PERRIN. 


On  the  accession  of  Franklin  Pierce  to  the 
Presidency,  in  1853,  in  those  ante-civil  service 
reform  days,  as  a  matter  of  course,  "off  went 
'Old  Zack's'  head  off,"  the  honor  this  time  falling 
upon  Mr.  Edward  W.  Perrin,  for  many  years  a 
salesman  and  book-keeper  for  P.  D.  Hall  &  Co., 
and  now  a  70-year-old  citizen  of  Toledo. 

Mr.  Perrin's  only  competitor  for  the  prize  was 
the  late  Dr.  Klias  L.  Munger,  a  brother-in-law  of 
ex-Postmaster  Johnson,  and  also  of  our  present 
well-known  citizen,  Nahum  Fay,  Esq.  The 
battle  waxed  warm  and  furious  between  the 
friends  of  the  two  contestants,  but  was  finally 
Perrin^s  favor  through   the  influence   of  the  late 

Judge    George    Bliss,    then    the    member   of    Congress    from    this 

District. 

Dr.  Munger  soon  afterward  removed  to  Shalersville,  Portage 

County,  subsequently,  through  softening  of   the  brain,  becoming 

an  inmate  of  the  Northern  Ohio  Hospital  for  the   Insane,  dying 

from  that  affection  some  ten  years  ago. 


E.  W.  PERRIX. 

decided  in  Mr. 


JUDGE  ROLAND  O.  HAMMOND, 
J  —born  in  Bath,  July  8,  1826  ;  edu- 
cated at  Oberlin  and  Western  Reserve 
CoUeg-es ;  read  law  with  Judg-es 
Carpenter  and  McClure  and  Judge 
Bliss  in  Akron  ;  admitted  to  bar,  in 
Painesville.  in  18.tO,  opening-  an  office 
in  Akron  the  same  year;  married  in 
Akron,  June  8,  1851,  to  Miss  Amanda 
M.  Harris,  their  onl}^  child,  Eleanor 
M.,  married  May  18,  1876,  to  Mr.  F.  A. 
Hilliard,  of  Cleveland,  her  mother, 
Mrs.  Hammond,  now  living  with  her. 
On  the  death  of  Judge  Charles  G. 
Ladd,  Summit  County's  first  Probate 
Judge,  in  Augvist,  1852,  Mr.  Hammond 
was  appointed  by  Gov.  Reuben  Wood, 
to  the  vacancy,  which  he  ably  filled 
until  the  ensuing  October  ;  was  clerk 
of  Portage  township,  1852-56  ;  trustee 
of  township,  1862,  '6.3 ;  postmaster 
at  Akron,  by  appointment  of  Presi- 
dent Buchanan,  1857-61;  during  the 
war,  by  appointment  of  Gov.  David 
Tod,  served  as  member  of  the  18th 
District  Militarj'  Committee,  and  was 
Deputy  Provost  Marshal  for  Summit 
County  in  1862,  '  63.  Mr.  Hammond 
was  a  successful  Uiwyer,  a  shrewd 
politician    and    talented    writer.     He 


JUDGE   ROI/AiVI)  O.   HAMMOND. 


died  Januarj^  12,  1867,  aged  40  years,  6 
months  and  4  days.'  his  remains 
being  interred  in  his  native  township 
of  Bath. 


320 


AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY, 


Mr.  Perrin  took  possession  of  the  office,  in  May,  1853,  after  a 
time  removing  it  to  the  Mathews  building,  a  fe^^  doors  further 
north,  where  it  remained  for  nearly  20  years.  In  May,  1857,  Mr. 
Perrin  was  re-appointed  by  President  James  Buchanan,  but 
resigned,  in  August  of  that  year,  to  go  into  the  stock-raising  busi- 
ness in  Texas,  with  Dr.  Isaac  Isbell,  but  failed  of  success,  Mr. 
Perrin,  in  a  late  letter  to  the  writer,  saying:  "Had  it  not  been  for 
the  financial  panic  of  1857,  I  should  now  live  without  work." 

POSTMASTER  ROLAND  O.  HAMMOND. 

On  tendering  his  resignation,  as  above  stated,  Mr.  Perrin  rec- 
ommended, as  his  successor,  the  well-remembered  Democratic 
politician  and  law^yer,  Roland  O.  Hammond,  Ksq.,  w^ho  was 
accordingly  appointed  by  Mr.  Buchanan,  though  Hon.  David  Tod, 
then  high  in  Democratic  councils,  and  a  few  years  later  known  as 
"Ohio's  Democratic  War  Governor,"  strongly  urged  the  appoint- 
ment of  his  nephew,  the  late  George  T.  McCurdy,  w^ho  was,  twenty 
years  later,  appointed  Collector  of  Tolls  upon  the  Ohio  Canal  for 
the   Port  of   Akron. 


RICHARD  S.  ELKINS,  — born  in 
Rutland,  Vt.,  January  30,  1818  ; 
common  school  education  ;  learned 
the  printing-  business  in  office  of 
Rutland  Herald;  in  1837,  came  to 
Akron,  working  in  office  of  Akron's 
pioneer  paper,  the  American  Bal- 
ance; in  1838,  worked  in  office  of 
Cleveland  Herald;  in  1839,  went  to 
Ravenna  as  publisher  of  the  Ohio 
Star;  in  1844,  removed  to  Akron  and 
eng-aged  in  publishing  the  Summit 
County  Beacon,  in  1845,  selling  a 
half  interest  to  Mr.  Laurin  Dewey  ;  in 
1848,  sold  office  to  John  Teesdale,  and 
entered  into  the  book  and  drug 
trade  with  Mr.  Joseph  A.  Beebe,  a 
year  later  taking  Mr.  Teesdale  into 
partnership  and  uniting-  the  two 
branches  under  the  firm  name  of 
Elkins,  Teesdale  &  Co. ;  in  1856,  Mr. 
Teesdale  retired,  the  firm  of  Beebe  & 
Elkins  continuing  the  printing  busi- 
ness until  January,  1867,  and  the  book 
and  drug  business  until  1880,  when 
Mr.  Elkins  retired  to  his  farm  near 
Ravenna,  where  Mrs.  Elkins  still 
resides.  In  1853,  Mr.  Elkins  was  a 
member  of  the  Akron  Village  Coun- 
cil ;  in  1854,  Village  Recorder  ;  in  1855, 
member  and  treasurer  of  Board  of 
Education ;  in  1861,  was  appointed 
by  President  Lincoln,  as  Akron's 
first  Republican  postmaster,  which 
responsible  position  he  ably  filled 
nine  years.  February  9, 1842,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Adeline  L.  De  Wolf, 
(daughter  of  Dr.  Joseph  De  Wolf,  a 


RICHARD  S.  EIvKINS. 

pioneer  of  Ravenna),  born  August  8, 
1823,  their  only  child,  Adelaide  E.. 
now  being  the  wife  of  Rev.  W.  K. 
Ingersoll,  a  Presbyterian  minister, 
now  located  in  Denver,  Col.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Elkins  were  .  both  prominent 
members  of  the  First  M.  E.  Church, 
in  Akron,  O.,  of  which  Mr.  E.  was 
treasurer  13  years,  and  for  the  last 
8  years  of  his  life  was  a  trustee  of 
Ravenna  township.  Mr.  Elkins  died 
March  5, 1891,  aged  73  years,  1  month 
and  5  days. 


POSTMASTER  RICHARD  S.  ELKINS. 

On  the  change  of  administration,  from  Democratic  to  Repub- 
lican, in   1861,  Mr.  Hammond  was  succeeded   by  Mr.   Richard  S. 


Akron's  postal  service.  321 

Elkins,  one  of  the  proprietors  and  Associate  Editor  of  the  Summit 
County  Beacon,  his  sole  competitor  being  Mr.  William  C.  Allen, 
the  late  highly  efficient  incumbent  of  the  office.  Mr.  Allen  had 
not  only  acted  as  deputy  for  Mr.  Adams,  under  the  Whig  adminis- 
tration of  Taylor  and  Fillmore,  but,  afterwards  affiliating  with  the 
newly  formed  Republican  party,  had  been  continued  as  deputy 
through  the  Democratic  administrations  of  Pierce  and  Buchanan, 
under  Postmasters  Perrin  and  Hammond. 

Our  then  member  of  Congress,  Hon.  Sidney  Edgerton,  recom- 
mended Mr.  Elkins  for  the  position,  but  the  popularity  of  "  Bill " 
Allen,  as  he  was  familiarly  called  by  everybody,  brought  to  him 
strong  backing  in  the  contest,  particularly  among  the  younger 
portion  of  the  Republicans  of  the  village  and  vicinity. 

As  an  offset  to  Congressman  Edgerton's  recommendation  and 
influence,  Mr.  Allen's  friends  adopted  the  plan  of  holding  an  elec- 
tion on  the  question  as  to  who  should  be  appointed  postmaster, 
w^hich  election  was  held  March  2,  1861,  with  Houston  Sisler,  John 
R.  Buchtel  and  Clement  J.  Kolb,  the  regular  trustees  of  Portage 
township,  as  judges,  and  Henry  W.  How^e  and  Mills  B.  Purdy,  as 
clerks  of  the  election.  Mr.  Elkins  and  his  friends  took  no  part  in 
the  election,  Mr.  Allen's  vote  being  430,  three  ballots  only  being 
cast  for  Mr.  Elkins.  As  the  highest  vote  for  any  Republican  can- 
didate on  the  State  ticket,  at  the  preceding  general  election  was 
only  630,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  vote  cast  for  Mr.  Allen  embraced, 
by  a  liberal  margin,  more  than  one-half  of  the  Republican  vote  of 
the  village  of  Akron  and  the  township  of  Portage. 

Armed  with  the  "  returns  "  ex- Attorney  General  Christopher 
P.  Wolcott  (afterwards  Assistant  Secretary  of  War)  proceeded  to 
Washington  to  lay  the  matter  before  Mr.  Lincoln's  Postmaster 
General,  Hon.  Montgomery  Blair. 

Mr.  Edgerton,  at  his  home  in  Tallmadge,  being  advised  of  Mr. 
Wolcott's  departure  for  Washington,  on  a  given  morning,  himself 
also  started  for  the  National  Capital  the  same  evening,  arriving  in 
time  to  be  present  at  Mr.  Wolcott's  interview  with  the  Postmaster 
General.  Mr.  Wolcott,  of  course,  urged  the  popular  will,  as 
expressed  at  the  ballot  box,  w^hile  Mr.  Edgerton  urged  the  influ- 
ence of  Mr.  Elkins  and  his  paper,  in  securing  the  Republican 
victory,  in  which,  though  an  admitted  Republican,  from  the  fact 
of  his  officiating  as  deputy  under  the  two  preceding  Democratic 
incumbents,  Mr.  Allen's  influence  w^as  necessarily  somewhat  cir- 
cumscribed. 

After  listening  to  the  arguments,  pro  and  con.  Gen.  Blair 
turning  to  Mr.  Wolcott,  said:  "What  the  Government  needs  in 
the  present  crisis,  Mr.  Walcott,  (giving  a  broad  pronunciation  to 
the  first  syllable,)  is  iron,  men— men  who  are  not  only  ardent 
Republicans  now  that  offices  are  to  be  filled  with  Republican 
incumbents,  but  men  who  were  outspoken  and  active  in  securing 
the  victory  w^hich  renders  such  appointments  possible — Mr.  Elkins 
w^ill  receive  the  appointment." 

To  say  that  considerable  bitter  feeling  was  engendered  by  this 
controversy  would  be  drawing  it  very  mild,  indeed,  the  bitterness 
by  no  means  confining  itself  to  political  circles,  but  infusing  itself 
into  social,  civic,  fraternal  and  possibly  religious  affairs  as  well,  its 
influence  being  felt  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  even  to  this  daj'^, 

21 


322 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


though  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  has  passed  over  the  heads 
of  the  participators  therein. 

Mr.  Klkins  held  the  office  nine  years,  his  second  appointment, 
by  President  Johnson,  by  some  inadvertence,  not  being  confirmed 
until  nearly  a  year  after  the  expiration  of  his  first  appointment,  as 
above  set  forth. 

Mr.  Klkins  was  assisted  in  the  office  by  his  partner,  Mr.  Joseph 
A.  Beebe,  and  their  faithful  book  and  drug  clerk,  the  late  Eli  T. 
Curtis,  the  office  being  connected  ^vith  the  store  of  Messrs.  Beebe 
&  Klkins,  by  a  door  in  the  rear,  Mr.  William  H.  Bowers  also 
officiating  as  mailing  and  delivery  clerk,  during  a  portion  of  Mr. 
Klkins'  term  and  for  about  six  months  under  his  successor. 

POSTMASTER  JAMES   B.   STORER. 

As  the  end  of  Mr.  Klkins'  second  term  drew  near.  Adjutant 
James  B.  Storer,  a  life  cripple,  from  w^ounds  received  in  battle; 
Captain  George  Billow^,  also  an  ex-soldier,  and  Mrs.  Henry  O. 
Hampson,  w^idow  of  a  deceased  soldier,  announced  themselves  as 
candidates  for  the  office.  The  contest  was  quite  spirited — Mr. 
Storer's  claims  being  w^armly  espoused  by  his  friends  on  account 
of  his  severe  physicial  infirmity,  Capt.  Billow,  besides  a  fair  gen- 
eral foUow^ing,  being  particularly  favored  by  the  German  element, 
Avhile  Mrs.  Hampson  had  quite  a  circle  of  s^^mpathizing  adherents 
also. 


TAMES  B.  STORER,— son  of  Web- 
J  ster  B.  Storer,  born  in  Akron, 
January  22,1839;  educated  in  Akron 
public  schools  ;  at  17  beg'an  learning- 
jewelry  trade  with  William  H.  Tall- 
man,  afterwards,  for  a  vShort  time, 
with  Henry  S.  Abbey ;  then  in  iron 
store  with  father  till  the  breaking-  out 
of  the  war ;  on  the  day  President 
Lincoln  issued  his  proclamation  for 
75,000  troops,  in  April,  1861,  enlisting 
in  Co.  G.,19th  O.  V.  I.,  during  its  three 
months'  service,  rising  to  the  rank  of 
sergeant ;  re-enlisted  in  Co.  H.,  29th 
O.  V.  I.,  for  three  years,  engaging  in 
the  battles  of  Winchester,  Port 
IRepublic,  Cedar  Mountain,  South 
Mountain,  Antietain,  Chancellors- 
ville,  Gettj^sburg,  Lookout  Mountain 
and  Mission  Ridge,  being  promoted 
from  sergeant  to  sergeant  -  major 
February  3, 1862  ;  to  second  lieutenant 
April  13,  1862  ;  to  first  lieutenant  and 
adjutant  Januar}^26,1863  ;  as  adjutant 
and  recrviiting  officer,  in  December, 

1863,  re-enlisting  nearly  the  entire 
regiment  as  veterans.  In  May,  1864, 
in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  in  first 
engagement  at  Dug  Gap,  in  Rocky 
Face  Ridge,  he  was  wounded  in 
spinal  column  by  a  minie-ball, 
paralyzing  his  legs,  and  has  since 
been  entirely  unable  to  walk  without 
the    aid  of  crutches ;  in    September, 

1864,  being  promoted  to  captain. 
After  his  discharge  from  the  ariuy 
Captain  Storer  engaged  in  the  jewelry 


JAMES  B.  STOKER. 


business  with  Mr.  Dwight  A.  Hib- 
bard  under  the  firm  name  of  J.  B. 
Storer  &  Co.,  which  arrangement 
still  continues.  In  June,  1870,  was 
appointed  postmaster  of  Akron,  hold- 
ing the  office  twelve  5^ears,  as  herein 
fully  written  of.  January  11,  1864, 
Captain  Storer  was  married  to  Miss 
Maria  L.  Acklej^  of  Akron,  who  has 
borne  him  one  child — Helen  A. 
Storer,  still  residing  with  her  parents. 


Akron's  postal  service.  223 

To  amicably  settle  the  matter,  at  the  suggestion  of  Congress- 
man William  H.  Upson,  an  election  was  held  on  Saturday,  May  7, 
1870,  at  which  1,186  Republican  ballots  Avere  cast,  as  follows: 
Storer,  858;  Billow,  266;  Mrs.  Hampson,  62.  This  decisive  vote,  in 
■due  time,  brought  to  Mr.  Storer  a  commission  signed  by  President 
Ulysses  S.  Grant,  under  which  he  took  possession  of  the  office  on 
the  1st  day  of  July,  1870,  the  new  incumbent  on  the  same  day 
removing  the  office  from  the  Mathews  building,  w^here  it  had  con- 
tinuously remained  for  seventeen  years,  to  Masonic  Block,  corner 
-of  Howard  and  Mill  streets,  where  it  now  is. 

For  the  second  term  Mr.  Storer  had  no  competition,  and  was 
•coTisequently  reappointed  by  President  Grant  in  1874,  for  four  years 
longer. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  second  term,  in  1878,  Mr.  Storer  was  con- 
fronted by  his  former  Captain  of  Company  H,  29th  O.  V.  I.,  and 
during  the  Avar  promoted  to  the  command  of  the  regiment.  Col. 
Jonas  Schoonover.  Though  the  Colonel's  backing  and  credentials 
were  first-class,  owing  to  the  excellent  service  which  had  been 
rendered  by  Mr.  Storer  during  his  eight  years'  incumbency,  the 
department  deemed  it  advisable  that  he  should  be  continued  for 
another  term,  his  third  commission  being  signed  by  President 
Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  Mr.  Storer  thus  holding  the  office  twelve  full 
years,  a  longer  period  than  any  other  incumbent  of  the  office  since 
its  establishment,  in  1826. 

THE  FREE  DELIVERY  SYSTEM. 

In  the  meantime  Akron,  by  reason  of  the  rapid  and  enormous 
increase  of  its  postal  business,  became  entitled  to  Free  Mail 
Delivery,  and  the  system  was  established  here,  under  the  auspices 
of  Postmaster  Storer,  in  March,  1879,  Mr.  Storer  himself  mapping 
out  the  routes,  and  under  the  directions  of  the  Special  Agent  of  the 
department,  personally  superintending  the  inauguration  of  the 
new  system. 

Mr.  Harry  J.  Shreffler  had  been  a  clerk  in  the  office  from  the 
commencement  of  Mr.  Storer's  administration,  and  had  become  so 
thoroughly  familiar  ^vith  the  duties  of  the  office,  that  on  Mr. 
Storer's  applying  to  the  department  for  several  months'  leave  of 
absence,  in  1875,  Mr.  Shreffler  was  formally  appointed  Assistant 
Postmaster,  Mr.  Storer's  bondsmen  signifying  their  assent  thereto 
by  indorsing  the  same  upon  Mr.  Storer's  bond,  w^hich  position  he 
held  to  the  end  of  Mr.  Storer's  term,  the  only  appointment  of  that 
character  in  the  history  of  the  office. 

Mr.  George  \V  Smetts  was  appointed  a  mail  route  agent  on 
the  recommendation  of  Congressman  Rufus  P.  Spalding,  in  Jan- 
uary, 1865,  and  again,  after  an  illness  of  six  months,  on  the  recom- 
mendation of  Congressman  William  H.  Upson,  at  once  becoming 
one  of  the  most  efficient  officers  in  the  service.  At  Mr.  Storer's 
request,  on  dispensing  with  the  services  of  Clerk  Williain  H. 
Bowers,  early  in  1871,  Special  Agent  Jamin  Strong  (late  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Northern  Ohio  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  at  Cleve- 
land,) transferred  Mr.  Smetts  to  the  Akron  office,  (Mr.  Storer  him- 
self being  sick  at  the  time),  as  chief  clerk,  which  position  he  ably 
filled  for  four  years,  when,  in  1875,  on  the  recommendation  of 
Congressman  James  Monroe,  he  Avas  reinstated  upon  the  road, 
from  w^hich   time  he  never  lost  a   day,  by  sickness  or  otherwise, 


324 


AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


until  his  resignation  of  the  position  in  November,  1889,  nearly  24 
years,  and  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  thoroughly  posted  and 
expert  mail  distributors  in  the  State,  his  first  work  being  upon  the 
C.  &  P.  Road,  betwreen  Cleveland  and  Pittsburg;  next,  for  many 
years,  on  the  N.  Y.,  P.  &  O.,  betw^een  Kent  and  Cincinnati,  and 
from  May,  1884,  on  the  Valley,  between  Cleveland  and  Zoar  Station. 
On  the  adoption  of  the  free  delivery  system,  Mr.  George  W. 
Schick  w^as  made  Superintendent  of  Carriers,  w^hich  position,  after 
twelve  years  of  most  efficient  service,  he  still  holds.  In  fact,  so 
perfect  w^ere  the  arrangements  made  by  Postmaster  Storer,  and 
his  efficient  aids.  Assistant  Postmaster  Shreffler  and  Superin- 
tendent Schick,  that,  whereas,  the  city  of  Chicago,  w^here  the  sys- 
tem had  been  in  vogue  for  several  years,  was  then  delivering,  by 
carrier,  90  per  cent,  of  the  mail  matter  received  at  that  office,  the 
Akron  office  attained  to  the  standard  of  93  per  cent,  the  first  year, 
the  matter  delivered  direct  from  the  office  being  mostly  to  parties 
living  beyond  the  city  liinits,  w^hich  ratio,  notwithstanding  the 
largely  increased  business  of  the  office  in  the  intervening  years,  is 
still  substantially  maintained. 


pAPTAIN  JAMES  H.  MORRISON, 
^  —born  in  Lawrence  county.  Pa., 
May  14,  1834;  in  1838  moved  with 
parents  to  Wayne  county,  Ohio ; 
worked  on  farm  summers,  attended 
school  winters ;  father  dying  at  15, 
ran  farm  two  years ;  clerk  in  West 
Salem  one  year  ;  back  to  farm  one 
year  ;  again  clerk  one  year  ;  in  Henry 
county,  111.,  one  year ;  clerk  in  West 
Salem  again  six  months;  in  Fall  of 
1856  went  to  IronCit5',  traded  team  for 
land,  returned  to  Ohio  and  engaged 
in  sheep  trade  ;  in  1859  engaged  in 
selling  "  Gunn's  Family  Medicine " 
in  the  South  ;  at  the  beginning  of  the 
w^ar  returned  to  Ohio;  November  1, 
1861,  entered  service  as  Corporal  in 
Co.  I,  16th  O.  V.  I.  ;  wounded  in 
shoulder  at  Tazewell.  Tenn.,  August 
2,  1862  ;  captured  in  hospital  at  Cum- 
berland Gap  in  September,  1862  ;  one 
week  in  Libby  Prison  ;  detailed  with 
9th  Independent  Battery  at  London, 
Ky.,  six  weeks  ;  discharged  for  wound 
January  12,  1863 ;  in  grocery  trade  at 
West  Salem  five  j^ears ;  traveled  for 
Cincinnati  cigar  house  12  years ; 
removed  to  Akron  in  1873  ;  appointed 
postmaster  by  President  Arthur  in 
1882,  retaining  the  ofBce  and  ably 
performing  its  duties  four  years ; 
now  again  on  the  road.     September 


CAPT.  JAMES  H.   MORRISON. 

25, 1857,  Captain  Morrison  was  married 
to  Miss  Elizabeth  B.  Einery,  of  West 
Salem.  They  have  four  children — Ira 
I.,  book  -  keeper,  with  Twine  and 
Cordage  Company,  Akron  ;  Mary  C, 
stenographer  in  office  of  Auditor  of 
State,  Columbus  ;  Emery  E.,  in  Reed 
and  Rattan  Works,  Akron  ;  Bessie  E.,. 
student  in  Akron  schools. 


POSTMASTER  JAMES  H.  MORRISON. 


At  the  expiration  of  his  third  term,  Mr.  Storer  making  no 
further  effort  to  retain  the  office,  several  ne"w  aspirants  for  the 
position  appeared  upon  the  tapis,  only  t-wo  of  whom.  Captain 
James  H.  Morrison  and  Hon.  L.  S.  Ebright,  seriously  entered  into 
the  contest.     Though  each  had  abundant  local  backing,  Captain 


AKRON  S   POSTAL   SERVICE. 


325 


Morrison,  being  himself  a  Wayne  county  man,  secured  the  influ- 
ence of  our  then  Member  of  Congress,  Hon.  A.  S.  McClure,  and 
thus  carried  off  the  prize.  Capt.  Morrison  retained  Mr.  Shreffler 
as  his  Chief  Clerk  for  three  years,  Mr.  George  Schick  also  remain- 
ing at  the  head  of  the  Carrier  Department,  ^while  the  Captain's 
son,  Mr.  Ira  I,  Morrison,  officiated  as  mailing  clerk  and  deputy 
postmaster. 

Not  because  of  any  dereliction  of  duty,  in  his  conduct  of  the 
office,  but  owing  to  the  little  circumstance  that  Grover  Cleveland, 
instead  of  James  G.  Blaine,  was  elected  President  of  the  United 
States,  in  1884,  Capt.  Morrison  failed  to  succeed  himself,  and  on 
the  expiration  of  his  four  years'  commission,  yielding  gracefully  to 
the  inevitable,  on  the  16th  day  of  August,  1886,  turned  the  office 
over  to  his  Democratic  successor. 


WILLIAM  CHAUNCEY  ALLEN, 
— sonof  Alvin  and  Mercy  (Hall) 
Allen,  was  born  in  Granger,  Ohio, 
August  10, 1828  ;  educated  in  Granger 
district  schools  and  Akron  select 
and  U^nion  schools,  coming  to  Akron 
in  1844  ;  in  1845  Avorked  at  map  print- 
ing and  finishing  for  Adams  & 
Eggleston  ;  taught  school  in  Grang'er 
in  Sumnler  of  1846  ;  in  Falor  district, 
Coventry,  in  Winter  of  1846,  '47  ;  Sum- 
mer of  1847  in  map  factory  ;  in  Winter 
of  1847,  '48  teaching  in  Bath;  in 
Spring  of  1848  resumed  work  in  map 
factor}',  continuing  till  burned  out, 
January  9,  1848 ;  then  worked  in  mill 
with  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Samuel 
Dunkle,  in  Williams  county,  till  Fall 
-of  1849 ;  clerk  for  Postmaster  Frank 
Adams,  and  telegraph  operator,  till 
Fall  of  1852,  when  he  went  to  Cali- 
fornia, remaining  there  one  year ; 
clerked  in  post  office  and  telegraph 
operator  under  Postmasters  E.  W. 
Perrin  and  Roland  O.  Hammond 
from  1854  to  1861 ;  manager  of  Union 
Telegraph  Office  from  1861  to  1885; 
postmaster  of  Akron  from  August, 
1886,  to  January  1,  1891.   Mr.  Allen  has 


WILLIAM  CHAUNCEY   ALLEN. 

served  two  terms  as  member  of  the 
Akron  Board  of  Education,  being 
secretary  of  the  board  for  the  years 
1858,  '59,  '60,  and  as  clerk  of  Portage 
township  for  the  years  1868,  '69,  '70,  '71. 


POSTMASTER  WILLIAM  C.  ALLEN. 

The  whirligig  of  time  and  politics  having,  after  an  interregnum 
of  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century,  again  placed  the  Democratic  party 
in  the  ascendency,  in  the  nation,  and  Mr.  William  C.  Allen,  having, 
in  the  intervening  years,  embraced  the  Democratic  faith,  w^as,  by 
the  almost  universal  assent  of  the  local  patrons  of  the  office,  both 
Democrats  and  Republicans,  very  proper  designated  as  Postmaster 
of  Akron,  by  President  Cleveland,  on  the  22d  day  of  July,  1886, 
being  confirmed  by  the  Senate  August  10th  and  entering  upon  his 
duties,  as  stated,  August  16th.  In  his  quest  for  the  office,  Mr.  Allen 
■was  confronted  by  tw^o  life-long  Democratic  politicians — William 
M^ers  and  Lewis  C.  Parker — but  owing  to  the  intimate  personal 
and  political  relations  existing  between  Mr.  Allen  and  ex-Congress- 
man David  K.  Paige,  and,  in  turn,  the  intimate  personal  and  polit- 
ical relations  existing  between  Mr.  Paige  and   Senator  Henry  B. 


326 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Payne,  who  dispensed  the  executive  patronage  of  this  district,, 
under  Mr,  Cleveland's  administration,  Mr.  Allen  readily  distanced 
his  competitors  and  -won  the  prize. 

THE  PRESENT  STATUS  OF  THE  OFFICE. 

That  Mr.  Allen  made  a  good  officer,  in  every  way,  goes  with- 
out saying,  the  clerical  force  of  the  office  under  his  administration 
— all  thoroughly  proficient  in  their  several  departments — being  as 
follows: 

William  C.  Allen,  Postmaster ;  Charles  W.  Taneyhill,  Deputy ;: 
George  W.  Schick,  Superintendent  of  Carriers ;  Edwin  P.  Humes, 
Mailing  Clerk ;  George  T,  McKean,  Assistant  Mailing  Clerk ; 
Frank  A,  Cummins,  General  Delivery  Clerk ;  Carriers  :  John  W. 
Sabin,  Arthur  E.  Limric,  William  H.  Kasch,  Charles  D.  Steese, 
James  K.  P.  Souers,  Frank  L.  Butler,  Harry  A.  Pardee,  Patrick 
Flanagan,  Harry  C.  Eichenlaub,  Fred  H.  O'Brien,  William  A, 
Caldwell,  Charles  C.  Pomeroy,  William  J.  Hoye,  substitute ;  John 
Garahan,  special  delivery. 


WILLIAM  B.  GAMBLE,— son  of 
Samuel  L.  and  Eliza  Jane 
Gamble,  was  born  in  Wabash,  Ind., 
October  3,  1850,  raiised  on  farm,  and 
educated  in  common  schools;  at  14, 
sought  to  enter  the  army,  but  pre- 
vented by  father,  as  being"  too  young; 
in  1873,  came  to  Akron  and  with  H.  A. 
Gibbs  and  V.  I.  Morton,  organized 
the  stoneware  firm  of  W.  B.  Gamble 
&  Co.,  in  the  Sixth  ward,  the  firm 
being  changed  to  Gamble  &  Morton, 
in  1875.  The  works,  being  soon  after- 
wards destroyed  by  fire,  with  no 
insurance  and  almost  total  loss,  were 
rebuilt  and  continued  until  1880, 
when  the  firm  sold  out;  Mr.  Gamble 
then  operating  as  traveling  jobber  of 
stoneware  until  the  organization  of 
the  Akron  Stoneware  Agency  in  1883. 
Having  been  an  active  Republican, 
since  attaining  his  majority,  Mr. 
Gamble  was  elected  Sheriff  of  Sum- 
mit county,  in  1884,  and  re-elected  in 
1886,  ably  filling  that  responsible 
office  four  years,  and  officiating  as 
deputy  under  his  successor  two  years 
longer;  is  a  director  in  Akron  Savings 
Bank,  vice  president  of  Globe  Sign 
Company;  director  and  vice  presi- 
dent of  Akron  Building  and  Loan 
Association;  director  in  D.  F.  Morgan 
Boiler    Co.;  etc.    In   December,  1890, 


WILLIAM  B.  GAMBLE. 

Mr.  Gamble  was  appointed,  by  Presi- 
dent Harrison,  postinaster  of  the 
City  of  Akron,  entering  upon  his 
official  duties  January  1,  1891.  Jan- 
uary 1,  1872,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Clara  S.  Boardman,  of  Akron,  who- 
has  borne  him  one  child — Eva  L.,  born 
January  14, 1874. 


POSTMASTER  WILLIAM  B.  GAMBLE. 

Another  political  revolution  bringing  the  Republicans  again 
into  power,  in  1889,  there  were,  as  a  matter  of  course,  a  number  of 
patriotic  gentlemen  of  that  faith  who  w^ere  w^illing  to  become  Mr. 
Allen's  successor,  the  most  spirited  contest  for  the  position  being^ 
between  ex-Sheriff  William  B.  Gamble  and  Major  Emmitt  F.  Tag- 
gart.     So  sharp  was  the  competition  that  the  appointment  hung 


Akron's  postal  service. 


327 


fire  nearly  six  months  after  the  expiration  of  Mr.  Allen's  commis- 
sion, Mr,  Gamble  finally  securing  the  prize,  his  commission  from 
President  Harrison  bearing  date  Jan.  8,  1891,  and  the  office  being 
formally  turned  over  to  him,  by  Mr.  Allen,  Jan.  10. 

A  few  changes,  only,  have  been  made  in  the  clerical  force,  the 
present  roster  (August,  1891)  being  as  follows  :  William  B.  Gamble, 
P.  M.;  Andrew  M.  Smith,  Assistant  P.  M.;  George  W.  Schick, 
Superintendent  of  Mails  ;  Edwin  P.  Humes,  Mailing  Clerk  ;  George 
F.  McKean,  assistant  mailing  clerk;  Arthur  L.  Northrup,  money 
order  clerk ;  William  H.  Sperling,  general  delivery  clerk ;  John 
Garahan,  stamper;  Letter  Carriers:  John  W.  Sabin,  Arthur  E. 
Limric,  William  H.  Kasch,  Charles  D.  Steese,  William  J.  Hoye, 
James  K.  P.  Souers,  Harry  A.  Pardee,  Patrick  Flanagan,  Harry  C. 
Eichenlaub,  Fred  H.  O'Brien,  William  H.  Caldvirell,  Charles  C. 
Pomeroy,  Fred  G.  Steese,  James  C.  Reherd  ;  Substitute  Carriers : 
Charles  E.  Gostlin,  John  W.  Breiner,  John  H.  Thomas. 


HARRY  C.  EICHENLAUB,  —  whose  full 
leng-th  portrait,  in  the  uniforin  of  a  g'ov- 
ernnient  letter  carrier,  is  given  herewith,  is  one 
of  Uncle  Sam's  hig'hly  popular  and  wide-awake 
postal  messengers  in  Akron.  He  is  a  son  of 
Alois  and  Catharine  (Waelde)  Eichenlaub,  was 
born  in  Cleveland  Feb.  14,  1859,  removing  with 
his  parents  to  Akron  about  1864,  his  father 
being  Akron's  pioneer  manufacturing  confec- 
tioner, prosecviting  that  business  on  Howard 
street,  until  within  a  few  months  of  his  death, 
March  4,  1873.  Harry  was  educated  in  Akron 
public  schools ;  striking  otxt  early  for  himself, 
for  a  time  clerked  in  saddlery  hardware  store 
of  George  S.  Scott,  102  North  Howard  street; 
later  as  key  clerk  at  Sherman  House,  Chicago, 
and  still  later  three  years  in  the  clothing  store 
of  Hoffman  &  Moss  in  Akron.  In  the  Fall  of 
1886,  Postmaster  William  C.  Allen  placed  him 
on  his  staff  of  letter  carriers,  the  duties  of  wh  ich 
position  he  so  faithfully  discharged  that  Mr. 
Allen's  successor.  Postmaster  William  B.  Gam- 
ble, re-appointed  him  thereto  in  1891,  Harry 
having  hosts  of  warm  personal  friends  among 
the  local  inembers  of  both  political  parties. 
He  is  also  a  meinber  of  one  of  Akron's  inost 
popular  business  and  social  institutions — The 
"Citizens'  Club." 


THEN  AND  NOW. 


In  the  early  days,  the  postmaster  received  as  compensation  a 
commission  on  the  amount  of  business  transacted,  amounting, 
during  Mr.  Frank  Adams'  administration — 1849  to  1853 — to  about 
$1,000  per  year — the  postmaster  fitting  up  his  ow^n  office,  paying  rent, 
clerk  hire,  etc.  Postal  rates,  in  those  days,  were  on  a  sliding  scale  : 
under  30  miles,  six  cents ;  30  to  150,  twelve  and  a  half  cents  ;  150  to 
400,  eighteen  and  three-fourths  cents;  over400,  twenty-five  cents,  and, 
as  late  as  1850,  the  postage  on  letters  between  Ohio  and  California 


328  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

was  40  cents.  This,  too,  be  it  remembered,  was  on  "single" 
letters,  without  regard  to  weight.  Thus,  a  letter  on  a  light  note 
sheet,  containing  a  dollar  bill,  or  check,  though  the  -whole  did  not 
weigh  over  one-fourth  of  an  ounce,  would  be  subject  to  double 
postage,  while  a  letter  written  on  a  single  piece  of  paper,  as  large 
as  a  bed  blanket,  and  -weighing  several  ounces,  called  for  single 
postage  only.  This,  of  course,  required  the  utmost  vigilance,  on 
the  part  of  postmasters,  to  prevent  frauds  upon  the  government. 
Commencing  about  1851,  postage  rates  have  been  gradually  re- 
duced, so  that  now  a  letter,  not  exceeding  one  ounce  in  weight,  no 
matter  how  many  pieces  of  paper  it  may  contain,  will  go  from 
Florida  to  Alaska  for  two  cents,  with  a  fair  prospect  that  a  one- 
cent  rate  will  soon  be  established. 

Now,  the  government  pays  for  fitting  up  office,  rent,  fuel, 
lights,  clerk  hire,  incidental  expenses,  etc.  The  present  net  salary 
of  the  postmaster,  based  upon  his  gross  receipts,  is  $3,100,  w^ith  an- 
other hundred  to  be  added  -when  the  gross  recipts  reach  $60,000 
per  year.  The  present  allowance  for  clerk  hire  is  $5,000  per  year, 
exclusive  of  the  carriers,  t-welve  of  Avhom  are  paid  $850  per  year, 
and  the  remaining  two  $600. 

A  FEW  INTERESTING  STATISTICS. 

The  Department  reports,  covering  the  seven  years  from  June 
30,  1884,  to  June  30,  1891  so  far  as  relates  to  the  Akron  office,  are  as 
follows:  Year  ending  June  30,  1885,  gross  receipts,  $31,056.81; 
salary,  $2,800  ;  clerk  hire,  $3,200  ;  rent,  light  and  fuel,  $998.75  ;  other 
incidental  expenses,  $29.00 ;  free  delivery,  $5,488.45  ;  total  expenses, 
$12,510.20 ;  net  revenue,  $18,539.61 ;  per  cent,  of  expenses  to  gross 
receipts,  40. 

Year  ending  June  30,  1886 :  gross  receipts,  $35,923.13 ;  salary, 
$2,800;  clerk  hire,  $3,200;  rent,  light  and  fuel,  $1,567;  other  inci- 
dental expenses,  $84.33 ;  free  delivery,  $5,900.89 ;  total  expenses, 
$13,552.20  ;  net  revenue,  $22,370.92 ;  per  cent  of  expenses  to  gross 
receipts,  37. 

Year  ending  June  30,  1887  :  gross  receipts,  $38,600.10 ;  salary, 
$2,800  ;  clerk  hire,  $3,333.15  ;  rent,  Ught  and  fuel,  $1,570 ;  other  inci- 
dental expenses,  $41.46 ;  free  delivery,  $7,010.72 ;  total  expenses, 
$14,755.33 ;  net  revenue,  $23,853,77 ;  per  cent,  of  expenses  to  gross 
receipts,  38. 

Year  ending  June  30,  1888:  gross  receipts,  $14,882.47;  salary, 
$2,900;  clerk  hire,  $3,400;  rent,  light  and  fuel,  $1,570;  other  inci- 
dental expenses,  $121.36;  free  delivery,  $7,885.69;  total  expenses, 
$15,877.05 ;  net  revenue,  $29,005.42 ;  per  cent,  of  expenses  to  gross 
receipts,  35. 

Year  ending  June  30,  1889 :  gross  receipts,  $49,018.48 ;  salary, 
$3,000;  clerk  hire,  $3,691  ;  rent,  fuel,  etc.,  $1,570;  incidentals,  $127.02  ; 
free  delivery,  $9,729.31;  total  expenses,  $18,117.33;  net  revenue, 
$30,901.15  ;  per  cent,  of  expenses  to  receipts,  37. 

Year  ending  June  30,  1890:  gross  receipts,  $50,394.84;  salary, 
$3,100;  clerk  hire,  $5,000;  rents,  etc.,  $1,380;  incidentals,  $148.63; 
free  delivery,  $10,522.15;  total  expenses,  $20,150.78;  net  revenue, 
$30,244.06 ;  per  cent,  of  expenses  to  receipts,  40. 


AKRON  S    POSTAL   SERVICE, 


329 


Year  ending  June  30,  1891  :  gross  receipts,  $58,178.56.  Total 
expenses  for  year  not  reported  at  date  of  compilation  of  this  arti- 
cle. From  the  figures  above  given,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  busi- 
ness of  the  office  is  rapidly  increasing,  year  by  year,  to  which  will 
undoubtedly  soon  be  added  that  of  the  Sixth  Ward,  so  that  more 
room  will,  in  the  near  future,  become  an  absolute  necessity,  and 
the  long  talked-of  Government  Building,  now  almost  in  sight,  a 
blessing  that  w^ill  be  duly  appreciated  by  both  the  entire  people  of 
Akron  and  the  local  government  officiials. 


i^tSjiS^  t3?JS>tS>iS>^S>iS>Sr 


East  side  of  Howard  Street,  looking  North  from  near  Cherrj'  Street. 
From  photo  by  E.  J.  Howard,  1873. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

AKRON'S  FIRES,  FROM  1839  TO  1891— HUNDREDS  OF  HOUSES,  SHOPS,  STORES,. 
MILLS,  CHURCHES,  ETC.,  DESTROYED— MILLIONS  OF  DOLLARS  WORTH  OF 
VALUABLE  PROPERTY  GIVEN  TO  THE  DEVOURING  FLAMES— INCENDIARISM 
RAMPANT— THE  BUCKET  BRIGADE,  THE  CRANK  AND  BRAKE  ENGINE  AND 
THE  TIRELESS  STEAMER— DISASTERS  AND  IMPROVEMENTS  OF  HALF  A 
CENTURY— A  CHAPTER  WORTHY  OF  PERUSAL. 

AKRON'S  EARLY  FIRE  COMPANIES. 

TDRKVIOUS  to  1839  there  was  no  definitely  organized  fire  depart- 
-•-  ment  in  Akron,  other  than  the  appointment,  by  the  Council,  of 
five  fire  w^ardens  to  look  after  the  safety  of  stoves,  chimneys,  etc.,. 
and  to  take  charge  of  the  "  bucket  brigade,"  on  the  occurrence  of  a 
fire,  alarms  being  sounded  by  passing  the  cry  of  fire  from  mouth  to 
mouth,  or  from  house  to  house,  and  by  the  ringing  of  the  bells  in 
the  towers  of  the  original  Baptist  and  Universalist  churches,  after 
1837,  '38. 

In  the  meantime  certain  public-spirited  citizens,  feeling  the 
need  of  some  more  efficient  mode  of  extinguishing  fires,  or  at  least 
of  checking  their  spread,  formed  a  stock  company,  and  in  1839,  pur- 
chased a  small  rotary  hand  engine,  at  a  cost  of  $600,  in  shares  of 
$25  each,  three  only  of  the  twenty-four  original  stock-holders  being 
now  (1891)  alive — Nahum  Fay,  Frank  Adams  and  Samuel  A.  Lane, 
The  "North  Akron  Fire  Company"  w^as  organized  December  11,. 
1839,  with  32  members  as  follows:  Nahuin  Fay,  Samuel  Manning,. 
Levi  Manning,  Sylvanus  G.  Gaylord,  Elias  L.  Munger,  Klisha  N, 
Bangs,  Charles  Bateman,  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  Harvey  H.  Johnson, 
Samuel  A.  Lane,  Arad  Kent,  Cyrus  Shumway,  S.  L.  Shaw,  John 
Kidder,  William  Tarble,  John  C.  Kidder,  Samuel  C.  Bangs,  Frank 
Adams,  Francis  Rattle,  Abram  Smith,  Leverett  J.  Ives,  Henry  L. 
Lane,  Alfred  R.  Tow^nsend,  William  E.  Wright,  Benjamin  R.  Man- 
chester, James  Baldwin,  John  G.  Darby,  Charles  Earl,  Norman 
Lewis,  Reuben  A.  Kinney. 

The  company,  furnished  itself  with  fifty  feet  of  leather  hose,, 
paid  its  own  running  expenses,  rent  of  room  for  housing  its  machine, 
meetings,  etc.,  until  the  erection  by  the  tow^n,  in  the  latter  part  of 
1841,  of  the  front  end  of  the  diminutive  building  shown  in  the 
accompaning  engraving,  just  10 x  15  feet  in  size,  and  located  over 
the  race  in  Mill  street,  fronting  on  Howard.  This  machine  was 
purchased  from  the  stockholders,  by  the  tow^n,  for  the  munificent 
sum  of  $200,  in  January,  1846,  on  a  credit  of  one  and  two  years. 

Niagara,  Number  Two. — In  1845,  the  village  had  purchased  a 
new  and  larger  engine,  run  by  side  brakes,  and  in  December,  1845, 
Niagara  Fire  Company,  No.  2,  w^ith  47  members,  \sras  presented  to 
the  Council  for  acceptance,  the  first  foreman  of  the  company  being 
the  late  Charles  Webster,  the  only  original  members  now^  living,, 
so  far  as  known,  being  James  Christy,  Thomas  H.  Goodwin   and 


EARLY   FIRE   COMPANIES.  331 

Levi  Allen,  Jr.  After  allowing  this  company  to  skirmish  for  quar- 
ters, for  a  year  or  t^vo,  in  the  latter  part  of  1848  the  Council  caused 
to  be  erected  for  its  use  the  small  two-story  brick  building,  after- 
w^ards  for  some  years  used  as  a  lock-up,  and  still  standing,  on 
Tallmadge  street,  between  Howard  and  Main. 

Tornado  NuiMBER  Three. — January  30,  1847,  a  hook  and  ladder 
company,  under  the  above  title,  was  accepted  by  the  Council;  of  its 
32  original  members  six  only  are  now  believed  to  be  living — James 
M.  Hale,  Robert  Baird, Webster  B.  Storer,  James  B.Taplin,  Ambrose 
Chapin,  George  Mather.  A  house  for  this  company,  12x30  feet,  was 
built  along  side  the  original  house  of  engine  company  Number  One, 
on  Mill  street. 

A  New  Number  One. — In  1852,  a  new  brake  engine  was  pur- 
chased, by  Council,  to  take  the  place  of  the  rotary,  and  a  new- 
engine  house  built  on  the  present  site  of  the  city  building,  the  old 
machine  and  house  being  turned  over  to  a  company  of  public- 
spirited  boys,  ranging  from  15  to  18  years  of  age,  who  organized 
themselves  into  "  Protective  Fire  Company,  Number  Four,"  w^hich 
continued  in  operation  about  two  years,  virhen  both  house  and 
engine  were  taken  to  the  West  Hill  and  planted  on  Myrtle  Place, 
where,  for  several  years,  it  w^as  maintained  by  an  independent  com- 
pany of  "  West  Hillers" — the  w^riter  among  the  number,  w^ho  now 
retains  as  a  relic,  the  two  pieces  of  siding,  on  which  was  originally 
painted,  by  his  own  hand,  in  1841,  "Fire  Co.  No.  1,"  the  "1"  after- 
w^ards  being  changed  to  "4." 

Various  Other  Volunteer  Companies. — Though  there  was  no 
pay,  a  vast  amount  of  hard  Avork,  and  a  very  great  lack  of  apprecia- 
tion, connected  w^ith  the  life  of  the  ancient  volunteer  fireman,  a 
service  of  five  years  working  exemption  from  poll-tax  and  local 
military  and  jury  duty,  organizations  of  this  character,  of  very 
great  efficiency,  were  kept  up  until  the  advent  of  the  steamer  era, 
and  the  adoption  of  the  pay  system.  Besides  those  mentioned, 
with  their  various  metamorphoses,  a  German  Hook  and  Ladder 
Company,  under  the  name  of  "Washington,  No.  3,"  with  Philip  A. 
Bierwirth  as  foreman,  succeeded  Tornado,  No.  3;  the  Germans 
being  in  turn  succeeded  by  Mechanics'  Hook  and  Ladder  Company, 
No.  3,  which,  with  Eagle  Hose  Company,  organized  in  June,  1866, 
after  the  purchase  of  the  first-steamer,  and  composed  of  the  verj'- 
best  young  business  men  of  the  city,  had  an  efficient  existence  of 
nearly  ten  years,  both  companies  being  disbanded  on  the  adoption 
of  the  pay  system,  in  1876. 

With  four  commodious  fire  stations,  three  provided  w^ith  first- 
class  steamers,  double  hose  reels  and  hook  and  ladder  apparatus, 
and  the  fourth  w^ith  a  fine  tw^o-horse  hose  carriage,  and  all  provided 
w^ith  fine  well-trained  horses,  and  experienced  men,  the  Akron  Fire 
Department  is  now  one  of  the  very  best  of  its  class  in  the  State. 

AKRON'S  FIRES. 

In  connection  with  the  old  Firemen's  Celebration,  in  May,  1888, 
the  w^riter  gave  a  brief  history  of  Akron's  fire  department, 
from  the  "bucket  brigade"  of  the  early  thirties,  the  crank  and 
brake  engines  of  the  forties,  to  the  splendid  equine-electro-steam- 
hydraulic-paid  system  of  the  present,  a  summary  of  which  is 
given  above. 


332 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


And  now,  as  a  part  of  this  work, 
though  details  cannot  be  largely 
indulged  in,  a  brief  review  of 
Akron's  most  destructive  fires 
during  the  past  half  century,  will 
not  be  out  of  order. 

Burning  of  the  M.  E.  Church. 
— Though  some  minor  fires  had 
previously  occurred,  the  burning 
of  Akron's  original  Methodist 
church,  a  frame  building  standing  on  the  site  of  the  present  brick 
structure,  but  facing  to  the  west,  was  the  first  public  calamity 
that  came  upon  the  good  people  of  Akron.  The  fire  occurred  at  2 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  March  17,  1841,  one  of  the  very  coldest  of 
that  w^inter,  there  being  fully  a  foot  of  snow  upon  the  ground. 
The  cold  -was  so  intense  that  in  the  slow^  process  of  supplying  our 
little  hand  engine  with  water,  by  draw^ing  it  w^ith  hook  and  bucket 
from  the  parsonage  cistern,  and  passing  it  from  hand  to  hand  by 
the  bucket  brigade,  we  soon  froze  up,  and  w^hile  nothing  could  be 
done  tow^ards  saving  the  church  itself,  w^e  did  save  the  parsonage, 
a  few  feet  distant,  by  throwing  snow  upon  the  roof  and  against  the 
sides.     Loss  $3,300— insurance  $2,200. 

MiDDLEBURY  CARRIAGE  WoRKS. — The  latter  part  of  March, 
1844,  the  carriage  factory  of  Collins  &  Co.,  in  Middlebury,  (now^ 
Akron's  prosperous  Sixth  ward),  corner  Kast  Market  and  Kent 
streets,  was  burned  at  a  total  loss  of  $5,000,  about  half  covered  by 
insurance. 

Hotel,  Barn  and  Eight  Horses  Burned.— One  of  Akron's 
early  hotels  ^vas  the  Ohio  Exchange,  a  three-story  brick,  on  the 
present  site  of  Woods'  block,  corner  Market  and  Main  streets.  Pas- 
sing into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Charles  B.  Cobb,  the  name  was  changed 
to  Cobb's  Exchange,  in  1844.  The  large  barn,  connected  >vith  the 
hotel,  about  w^here  Kryder's  feed-store  now  stands,  in  addition  to 
housing  the  horses  of  the  guests,  w^as  also  largely  devoted  to  livery 
purposes,  Mr.  Cobb  also  running  tri-w^eekly  lines  of  coaches  to 
Canton  and  Wooster,  for  the  transportation  of  the  mails,  passen- 
gers, etc. 

On  the  night  of  September  15,  1844,  this  barn,  containing  some 
50  horses,  a  large  number  of  carriages,  and  large  quantities  of 
hay,  stra^v,  grain,  etc.,  bet^veen  10  and  11  o'clock  was  found  to  be 
on  fire,  and  in  spite  of  the  heroic  exertions  of  firemen  and  citizens, 
eight  horses  perished  in  the  flames.  Nothing,  of  course,  could  be 
done  towards  saving  the  barn,  but  with  our  little  rotary,  and  only 
50  feet  of  hose,  through  the  alacrity  of  citizens  in  supplying  us 
w^ith  water  from  the  near-by  P.  &  O.  canal,  and  in  spelling  us  at 
the  cranks,  we  did  prevent  the  flames  from  igniting  the  hotel 
kitchen,  or  from  extending  across  the  alley,  to  the  rear  of  the  row 
of  frame  business  blocks  fronting  on  Howard  street.  Mr.  Cobb's 
loss,  $1,200;  insurance  $500.  [Building  materials,  horses,  hay,  oats, 
etc.,  were  far  less  expensive  then  than  now^.] 

Large  Distillery  Goes  up  in  Smoke. — On  the  night  of 
November  9,  1844,  the  large  distillery  of  Hiram  Payne  and  Edward 
Sumner,  Avest  of  Ohio  canal,  near  lock  21,  was  totally  destroyed, 
except  the  cattle  and  hog  pens,  saved  by  the  efforts  of  the  firemen. 
Loss  $2,800;  no  insurance. 


Akron's  early  fires.  333 

Jewelry  and  Crockery. — February  10,  1846,  the  jewelry  and 
crockery  store  of  Samuel  Gardiner,  Jr.,  on  the  north  side  of  East 
Market  street,  first  door  east  of  corner,  was  found  to  be  on  fire,  but 
the  hand  engine  companies  performed  such  execution  that  the  fire 
was  confined  to  the  bxiilding,  in  which  started,  with  a  loss  of  $500 
only. 

Large  Tannery  Consumed. — November  4,  1846,  the  tannery, 
located  east  of  Ohio  canal,  near  lock  16,  owned  and  operated  by 
Mr.  Frank  D.  Parmelee;  one  of  Akron's  most  enterprising  mer- 
chants at  that  time,  was  consumed,  though  the  adjoining  bark 
house  and  contents  were  saved  by  the  efforts  of  the  firemen,  there 
now^  being  two  companies  in  successful  operation.     Loss  $14,000. 

^TNA  Furnace  Destroyed.— ^January  13,  1847,  the  ^tna  Fur- 
nace, w^est  side  of  the  Ohio  canal,  opposite  lock  12,  owned  by  the 
late  Judge  James  R.  Ford,  but  operated  by  the  Akron  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  under  the  management  of  the  late  Arad  Kent,  w^as 
totally  destroyed,  excepting  the  most  valuable  portion  of  the 
machinery,  saved  by  the  efforts  of  the  firemen.     Loss  $2,000  to  $3,000, 

Northwest  Corner  of  Howard  and  Market. — June  9,  1848, 
the  entire  range  of  buildings  (all  frame)  from  present  site  of  Hotel 
Arlington,  corner  Canal  and  Market,  nearly  to  the  present  brick 
block  of  Mr.  John  Robb,  on  North  Howard  street,  w^as  consumed, 
with  much  of  the  contents  of  the  several  establishments.  Among 
other  sufferers  w^ere  Dewey  &  Elkins,  publishers  of  the  Summit 
Beacon,  $500;  J.  A.  Beebe  &  Co.,  books  and  drugs,  $1^000;  Horace 
Canfield,  American  Democrat,  $1,000;  Adams  &  Eggleston,  map 
publishers,  $8,000.  James  Baldwin,  father  of  Capt.  Aaron  P.  Bald- 
win, and  Lewis  Kilbourn,  father  of  William  W.  Kilbourn,  of  712 
East  Exchange  street,  w^ere  the  largest  losers,  (amount  not  stated), 
being  the  owners  of  the  corner  block  (the  old  Pavilion  Hotel)  and 
several  of  the  contiguous  buildings. 

WEvST  Side  of  South  Howard  Street. — September  16,  1848, 
the  west  side  of  How^ard  street,  from  the  Commins  Sc  Allen  brick 
block  (now  Star  clothing  house)  north  to  the  alley,  adjoining  Cut- 
ter's block,  on  the  south.  These  were  all  original  structures,  two- 
story  frame  buildings,  ow^ned  respectively  by  John  K.  Foster,  Henry 
S.  Abbey,  Alfred  R.  Townsend  and  Seth  Iredell.  The  losses  w^ere: 
H.  S.  Abbe*y,  building  $400,  jewelry  (partly  saved)  $500;  Oren  Beck- 
with,  harness,  $200;  E.  C.  Hurd,  dry  goods,  $7,000;  John  M.  Cutler, 
boots  and  shoes,  $4,000;  Asahel  H.  Pierson,  tailor,  $150;  Charles 
Leonard,  groceries,  $800;  Miss  Hamilton,  milliner,  $100;  Iredell  & 
Whetstone,  dry  goods,  building  and  stock  $8,000;  Timothy  Clark, 
groceries,  $100;  Messrs.  Foster  and  Townsend  probably  losing 
about  $1,000  each. 

Death  of  a  Brave  Fireman. — On  the  night  of  September  22dr 
1849,  the  new^  brick  dwelling  house  of  Mr.  Charles  Cranz,  on  Pros- 
pect street,  fronting  Grace  Park,  now  owned  by  ^ohn  McGregor, 
then  approaching  completion,  was  burned.  Though  working  to 
great  disadvantage  for  w^ant  of  water,  the  firemen  fought  the  fire 
vigorously,  and  while  at  work  on  the  back  porch,  Mr.  David  Miller, 
Akron's  pioneer  sash,  door  and  blind  manufacturer,  Avas  crushed 
to  death  by  the  falling  of  the  porch  roof,  through  the  thoughtless- 
ness, it  w^as  asserted,  of  some  person  in  knocking  out  one  of  the 
props  by  w^hich  it  was  temporarily  held  in  place.     Mr.  Miller  Avas 


334  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

a  member  of  Niagara  Fire  Co.,  No.  2,  and  one  of  its  most  energetic 
members.  The  brick  w^alls  of  the  house  remained  intact,  and  the 
building  was  immediately  rebuilt.  Mr.  Cranz's  loss  was  about 
$1,000,  the  builders,  Messrs.  B.  F.  and  J.  C.  Dickerman,  losing  about 
$800  worth  of  tools. 

The  Old  Stone  Block,  Etc—Ou  the  night  of  Dec.  27,  1849,  the 
territory  bet\sreen  the  famous  old  Stone  Block,  a  solid  three-story 
stone  building  covering  the  present  sites  of  the  Henry  and  Stein- 
bacher  blocks,  Ho^vard  and  Market  streets,  was  covered  as  far 
south  as  the  building  now^  occupied  by  Wilson  G.  Robinson,  by 
tw^o-story  (mostly  frame)  buildings  and  all  fully  occupied  by  mer- 
chants, mechanics,  lawyers,  doctors,  etc.  The  fire  commenced 
about  the  middle  and  spread  both  ways.  It  was  supposed  that 
the  solid  high  wall  of  the  stone  block  would  arrest  the  progress  of 
the  flames  in  that  direction  as  effectually  as  the  high  brick  wall  of 
the  Angel  block  upon  the  south  side  did. 

Unfortunately,  however,  there  Avas  a  heavy  over-hanging 
■wooden  cornice  on  that  side  of  the  block,  and  as  the  flames  drew^ 
near,  the  brisk  southwesterly  wind  sent  them  sheer  up  the  wall  to 
the  cornice.  The  intense  heat  keeping  the  engines  at  too  great  a 
distance  to  do  effective  service,  the  result  was  that  that  mammoth 
building,  too,  was  speedily  consumed.  The  solid  battlemented  wall 
upon  the  east  side  kept  the  flames  from  spreading  any  further  in 
that  direction,  but  after  the  roof  and  floors  had  gone  down,  the  w^all, 
losing  its  supports,  toppled  over,  falling  inward,  in  doing  which 
the  lower  poVtion  sprang  outward,  shoving  the  adjoining  tAvo-story 
frame  store  building  of  J.  D.  Ed  son  &  Co.  over  into  the  allej^,  com- 
pletety  demolishing  the  lower  story,  but  leaving  the  upper  story, 
including  the  roof,  doors,  wrindows,  etc.,  intact. 

The  sufferers  by  this  fire  vi^ere :  Milton  W,  Henry,  dry  goods ; 
Henry  Rattle,  dry  goods;  McCurd}'  &  Michener,  dry  goods;  the 
Akron  Bank  ;  Christy  &  Sawyer,  boots  and  shoes ;  J.  Raymond  & 
Co.,  dry  goods ;  George  \V.  Wyman,  clothing ;  Charles  Cranz, 
hardware  ;  George  \V.  Peart,  drugs  ;  Lander  &  Ward,  boots  and 
shoes  ;  Koch  &  Levi,  clothing ;  Sumner  &  Smith,  clothing  ;  Ne- 
ville &  Smith,  groceries;  C.  B.  Eells,  tailor;  Bennett  &  Smith, 
harness;  Benjamin  McNaughton,  cigars;  Dr.  E.  W.  How^ard  ;  Otis 
&  Wolcott,  Pleasants  &  Harris,  Upson  &  Edgerton,  Philip  N. 
Schu^'^ler,  law^yers.  The  individual  losses  were  not  given  in  the 
papers  of  the  day,  but  the  aggregate  loss  was  estimated  at  $50,000, 

Hall'vS  Corner  Next. — On  the  night  of  February  17,  1851,  the 
entire  block  bounded  by  How^ard,  Market  and  Canal  streets,  south 
to  the  alley,  was  burned  over,  including  the  dry  goods  stores  of  P. 
D.  Hall  &  Co.,  A,  Hibbard  &c  Co,,  Abbey  &  Rose,  and  Sumner  & 
Co.,  the  clothing  store  of  I.  P.  Sanford,  and  the  auction  store  of 
Johnson  &  Piatt.  The  buildings  were  all  of  wood,  the  Hall  block 
being  the  first  store  building  erected  in  North  Akron,  in  1832, 
Part  of  the  contents  of  the  several  stores  w^ere  saved,  the  total  loss 
being  estimated  from  $25,000  to  $30,000, 

Foundry  and  Stove  Works. — March  11,  1853,  the  extensive 
foundry  and  stove  works,  on  the  present  site  of  the  W,  B.  Doyle 
planing  mill,  owned  and  operated  by  P.  Tallman  &  Co.,  was  en- 
tirelj^  consumed.  The  structure  was  a  light  one,  but  the  patterns 
and  castings  destroyed  were  valuable.     Loss  $7,000. 


Akron's  early  fires.  335 

Flouring  Mill,  Furnace,  Planing  Mill,  Etc. — Nov.  1,  1853, 
the  ^tna  Mill,  owned  and  operated  by  Ra\srson,  Noble  &  Co.,  the 
^tna  Furnace,  belonging  to  the  estate  of  James  R.  Ford,  the  plan- 
ing mill  of  Dix  &  Finch,  and  the  grocery  store  of  John  T.  Good  & 
Co.  near  lock  12,  were  consumed,  the  fire  originating  in  the  -^tna 
Mill.     Total  loss  $40,000. 

Northeast  Corner  Howard  and  Market. — Dec.  8,  1854,  the 
northeast  corner  of  How^ard  and  Market  streets,  commencing  north 
on  the  present  site  of  Davis  &  Blocker's  drug  store  and  extending 
around  to  the  Empire  House,  all  wooden  structures,  one  and  two 
stories  only.  Total  losses  about  $25,000 — sufferers :  Gardner  & 
Walker,  agricultural  store ;  J.  H.  Christy  &  Co.,  leather ;  Cook  & 
Dussell,  groceries ;  G.  &  S.  Kempel,  boots  and  shoes ;  Sumner  & 
Pardee,  clothing ;  Peterson  &  Wetmore,  tin  and  hardware  ;  Morton, 
saloon;  W.  D.  Stevens,  barber;  John  Lander,  boots  and  shoes; 
Oren  Beckwith,  harness  ;  James  Gardner,  groceries. 

Ohio  Exchange,  Stores,  Etc. — April  30,  1855,  the  Ohio  Ex- 
change, three-story  brick,  on  the  present  site  of  Woods'  block,  with 
the  intervening  two-story  frame  buildings  west  to  Major  Stein- 
tacher's  brick  block,  -were  consumed,  with  a  loss  to  Rinear  Van 
Evra,  proprietor  of  Exchange,  of  $10,000;  Frank  Adams,  hats,  caps, 
furs,  etc.,  $3,000;  William  H.  Tallman,  jewelry,  $1,500;  Malcolm  & 
Co.,  (Arthur  Malcolm  and  Samuel  A.  Lane)  clothing,  $8,000 ;  Hor- 
ace S.  Weston,  restaurant,  j$900  ;  Koch  &  Levi,  building,  $1,000; 
Mrs.  Amanda  A.  Ackley,  building,  $500 ;  John  T.  Good,  building, 
$500.     Total,  .^24,900. 

^  Another  Mill  Destroyed. — The  merchant  and  custom  flour- 
ing mill,  belonging  to  Mr.  William  Thayer,  and  operated  by  Wese- 
ner  &  Richmond,  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  Pringle's  livery 
stable,  immediately  south  of  the  Schoeninger  block,  on  Main 
street,  was  burned  March  29,  1855,  at  a  loss  on-  mill  and  stock  of 
$11,000,  also  fully  covered  by  insurance. 

Mr.  Thayer  Again  "Unfortunate." — Having  leased  his  mill, 
as  above,  Mr.  Thayer  established  a  grain  warehouse  in  the  two- 
story  brick  building  corner  West  Market  and  Cherry  streets, 
which,  on  June  19,  1855,  was  "mysteriously"  burned,  at  an  alleged 
loss  of  $1,000,  also  fully  covered  by  insurance. 

Another  Fire  on  Howard  Street. — ^A  new  two-story  brick 
building,  near  the -present  site  of  Phoenix  block,  belonging  to 
Judge  Constant  Bryan,  and  occupied  by  Ayers  &  Beadle,  grocers, 
was  burned  on  the  night  of  March  26,  1856,  at  a  loss  to  Judge 
Bryan  of  $2,300  writh  $1,500  -worth  of  insurance,  and  to  the  occu- 
pants of  $1,500  with  $1,000  insurance. 

A  Second  Severe  Scorching. — After  the  disastrous  fire  of  June 
D,  1848,  at  the  northw^est  corner  of  Howard  and  Market  streets, 
Messrs.  Baldw^in  &  Kilbourn,  and  other  lot  owners,  immediately 
replaced  the  buildings  with  substantial  tw^o  and  three-story  brick 
blocks,  all  of  Mrhich  found  ready  occupation.  On  the  night  of  Dec. 
29,  1856,  the  Baldv^rin  &  Kilbourn  portion  of  the  block,  embracing 
four  store  rooms  on  Howard  street,  and  one  on  Market  street,  w^ere 
again  destroyed.  Among  the  losses  by  this  fire,  besides  the  tri- 
fling loss  the  parties,  in  w^hose  grocery  and  meat  market,  on 
Market  street,  the  fire  started,  Baldwin  &  Kilbourn's  loss  was 
probably  from  $10,000  to  $12,000 ;  Henry  W.  WetmorS,  agricultural 


336  AKROX    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

store,  $3,750 ;  Beebe  &  Elkins,  book  and  drug  store  on  ground  floor 
and  Beacon  office  in  the  second  story,  $15,000 ;  McNeil  &  Kempel, 
grocers,  $1,200 ;  James  S.  Carpenter  and  Henry  W.  Howe,  attorneys, 
$700 ;  Daniel  B.  Hadley  and  Newell  D.  Tibbals,  attorneys,  $550  ^ 
Henry  O.  Hampson,  tinware,  $100 ;  total,  about  $35,000. 

This  loss  fell  with  peculiar  hardship  on  Messrs.  Beebe  &  El- 
kins, not  only  being  the  second  time  they  had  been  thus  despoiled 
by  the  devouring  element,  but  losing  all  their  presses  and  types, 
and  even  their  subscription  books,  made  it  the  more  difficult  to 
pick  up  the  stitches  again  and  go  on  with  the  paper.  But  the  old 
Beacon  was  re-established,  and  on  April  5,  1889,  celebrated  its 
Golden,  or  Fiftieth,  Anniversary,  the  amount  of  matter  in  its  weekly 
edition  being  four  times  greater  than  in  the  earlier  years  of  it& 
existence,  while  its  tw^enty-year  old  daily,  with  fully  twice  as 
much  reading  matter  as  the  original  >veekly,  has  an  average  circu- 
lation of  over  3,000  copies  per  day. 

The  Incendiaries  Come  to  Grief. — Though  morally  certain 
that  several  of  the  fires  named  were  of  incendiary  origin,  nothing 
had  so  tangibly  implicated  the  perpetrators  thereof  as  the  circum- 
stances attending  this  case.  Two  young  men  from  the  contiguous 
townships  of  Copley  and  Bath,  tiring  of  farm  life,  purchased  a 
small  stock  of  groceries,  in  the  room  where  the  fire  originated,  in- 
voicing but  $250,  upon  which,  on  the  alleged  intention  of  largely 
replenishing,  they  had  secured  insurance  to  the  amount  of  $1,000. 
At  the  time  of  the  fire,  not  only  had  n6  addition  been  made  to  the 
stock,  but  considerable  sold  out,  ^vhile  on  the  morning  after  the 
fire  several  packages  of  goods  were  discovered  in  the  barn  jointly 
occupied  by  one  of  the  partners  and  a  neighbor.  Though  the' 
affair  w^as  partially  investigated  by  the  Grand  Jury,  then  in  ses- 
sion, nothing  was  done  about  it  until  nearly  a  year  afterwards, 
when,  through  the  detective  operations  of  Marshal  J.  J.  Wright, 
with  the  hearty  co-operation  of  Sheriff  S.  A.  Lane,  Deputy  Sheriff 
A.  R.  ToAvnsend,  and  Prosecuting  Attorney,  Henry  McKinney, 
a  chain  of  direct  and  circumstantial  evidence  >vas  forged  bj^  which 
not  only  the  principals  but  their  chief  confederate,  (a  hitherto 
respectable  young  farmer  from  the  township  of  Northampton) 
Avere  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  five  years  each,  and  the  tool,  w^ho 
applied  the  match,  one  year,  the  latter,  on  being  arrested,  making 
a  voluntary  confession  of  the  crime,  and  on  the  witness  stand,  dis- 
closing with  great  particularity  the  details  of  the  transaction  from 
beginning  to  end.  Serving  his  entire  term,  the  latter  soon  van- 
ished from  the  neighborhood ;  the  others  after  serving  about  half 
their  time  w^ere  pardoned  by  Governor  Dennison,  the  chief  spirit 
of  the  enterprise,  and  instigator  of  the  crime,  soon  floating  off  into 
the  western  country  Tvhere,  according  to  rumor,  he  speedily  went 
to  the  bad,  while  his  dupes  at  once  resumed  their  places  in  the 
society  of  their  respective  townships,  and  have  ever  since  con- 
ducted themselves  in  a  strictly  upright  and  industrious  manner. 

In  a  civil  suit,  Messrs.  Beebe  &  Elkins  obtained  a  judgment 
for  damages  against  the  incendiaries  for  $14,867.77  damages  at  the 
November  term  of  Court,  1858,  though  it  does  not  appear  from  the 
record  that  any  portion  of  said  judgment  has  ever  been  paid. 

West  Side  of  Howard  Street. — March  1,  1857,  the  west  side 
of  Howard  street,  from  the  Perkins  and  Allen  brick  block,  south  to 
the  brick  tavel-n,  part  of  w^hich,  now^  owned  by  Mr.  Israel  Isbell,  is 


Akron's  early  fires.  337 

still  standing,  was  devastated,  the  buildings,  mostly  cheap  wooden 
structures,  belonging  principally  to  Judge  Constant  Br\^an, 
William  G.  Kaymond,  of  Akron,  and  his  sister.  Miss  Raymond,  of 
Rochester,  N.  Y.  The  occupants  were:  David  Lebcher,  marble 
works;  Pierre  Schinbring,  furniture;  Lewis  Creveling,  restaurant; 
Mr.  Keiffer,  boots  and  shoes;  J.  B.  Martin,  saloon  and  residence. 
Total  loss  probably  $6,000. 

Another  Incendiary  Fire. — On  the  morning  of  October  7, 
1858,  the  extensive  w^orks  of  the  Akron  Barrel  Company,  on  the 
present  site  of  the  Miller  Chain  and  Match  Works,  w^ith  all  its  val- 
uable machinery  and  material  was  consumed,  presumably  the 
work  of  an  incendiary,  and  surmised  to  have  been  the  work  of 
local  coopers  \\rho  bitterly  antagonized  the  introduction  of  labor- 
saving  steam-driven  machinery  in  the  fabrication  of  the  immense 
quantity  of  barrels  then  yearly  used  by  the  mills  of  Akron  and 
vicinity,  the  manilla  sacking,  now  so  largely  used,  not  having  then 
come  in  vogue.  The  loss  to  the  company  was  $12,000.  A  reward 
of  $1,000  w^as  offered  lor  the  detection  and  conviction  of  the  incen- 
diary, but  though  one  or  two  slight  clues  were  struck  by 
detectives  J.  J.  Wright  and  James  Burlison,  the  perpetrator  of  the 
crime  was  never  definitely  discovered. 

Melopean  Factory  Burned.— Allusion  has  heretofore  been 
made  to  a  musical  instrument — the  melopean — invented  by  Mr. 
Horace  B.  Horton,  and  in  the  latter  forties  and  early  fifties  manu- 
factured by  himself  and  the  late  Bradbury  T.  Blodgett.  About 
1852,  William  O.  Sanford,  brother  of  Akron's  pioneer  cabinet 
maker,  Mr.  David  G.  Sanford,  bought  out  Mr.  Blodgett,  Mr.  Ira 
Rose,  late  of  California,  father  of  Akron's  w^ell-known  nurseryman 
Mr.  Lucius  Rose,  succeeding  to  the  business  in  1855,  purchasing 
for  that  purpose  "Central  Block,"  a  three-story  bri,ck  building  on 
the  present  site  of  Merrill's  Pottery,  corner  South  Main  and  State 
streets,  built  by  the  late  Benjamin  W.  Stephens,  in  1836.  On  the 
night  of  June  4,  1858;  this  establishment  with  all  its  contents  w^as 
burned,  with  a  loss  to  Mr.  Rose  of  from  $8,900  to  $10,000,  and  to  Mr. 
James  Holmes,  Mr.  John  C.  McMillen  and  several  other  workmen 
of  from  $75  to  $100  each  in  tools.  The  business  was  resumed  in 
the  Garrett  Block,  corner  of  South  Howard  and  Cherry  streets,  by 
a  stock  company  composed  of  Ira  Rose,  James  F.  Scott,  John  W. 
Baker,  John  C.  McMillen,  James  Holmes  and  Leopold  Swindeman,^ 
succeeded  by  James  F.  Scott  and  the  late  Alois  Straub,  Messrs, 
Horton  Wright  and  William  Smagg  also  being  employes  of  the 
establishment  for  several  years. 

Another  Hotel  Barn  Fire. — April  18,  1859,  three  barns — two 
in  the  rear  of,  and  belonging  to,  the  "  Bradford  House,"  a  two-story 
brick  hotel  on  South  Howard  street  (part  of  w^hich  is  still  standing 
there),  and  the  other  belonging  to  Mr.  William  G.  Raymond, 
together  with  the  frame  kitchen  to  the  hotel,  were  destroyed,  a  val- 
uable horse,  after  being  rescued,  rushing  back  into  his  stall 
already  on  fire  and  perishing  in  the  flames.  Total  loss  probably 
$1,000.     Origin  undoubtedly  incendiary. 

Foundry  and  Machine  Shop. — ^June  27,  1860,  at  1  o'clock  a.  m., 
the  foundry  and  machine  shop  of  Webster,  Taplin  &  Co.,  on  the 
present  site  of  the  Webster,  Camp  &  Lane  Machine  Company's 
w^orks,  corner  of  North  Main  and  Tallmadge  streets,  were  burned 
with  all  their  contents.     Loss,  $10,000, 

82 


338  AKKON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

MiDDLEBURY  CARRIAGE  WoRKS  Again.— January  2,  1860,  the 
carriage  works,  blacksmith  shop,  etc.,  of  Mr.  Charles  A.  Collins, 
corner  of  Kast  Market  and  Arlington  streets,  with  most  of  their 
contents,  w^ere  again  burned.     Loss  $10,000. 

Another  Mill  Burned. — ^Between  twelve  and  one  o'clock,  on 
Saturday  night,  February  24,  1866,  the  Variety  Mills,  previously 
sold  by  J.  Park  Alexander  to  Shewey,  McGillicuddy  &  Co.,  on  the 
present  site  of  Mr.  Alexander's  Fire  Brick  Works,  was  burned,  at  a 
loss,  on  building,  machinery  and  stock,  of  $13,000,  with  $8,000 
insurance. 

The  Chidester  House  Fire. — The  two  and  a  half  story  frame 
building,  on  the  present  site  of  Masonic  Temple,  built  by  the  late 
Col.  Le\^is  P.  Buckley  in  1836,  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
late  Conrad  Fink,  and  had  for  several  years  been  kept  as  a  hotel, 
by  Mr.  William  K.  Chidester.  The  house  being  then  vacant,  and 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  Mr.  Fink  himself  slept  there  for  "protec- 
tion," at  2  o'clock  A.  M.,  April  15,  1867,  the  building  was  discovered 
to  be  on  fire  and  past  salvation.  Three  or  four  other  one  and  two 
story  frame  buildings,  on  the  north,  were  also  totally  consumed 
and  the  upper  portion  of  the  corner  building  opposite  (still 
standing  there)  then  owned  by  William  G.  Raymond,  as  w^ell  as  a 
dwelling  owned  and  occupied  by  Capt.  George  Billo\v^,  across  the 
ravine  to  the  north,  and  on  the  present  site  of  the  Pendleton  block, 
Losses:  Conrad  Fink,  $5,000;  Joseph  X.  Laube,  $1,000;  Chambers, 
Appleton  &  Smagg,  $1,500;  Raymond,  $4,000;  Billow,  $1,125. 

Pottery  Warehouses  Burned. — At  9  o'clock  p.  m.,  August  28, 
1867,  the  stone-ware  shipping  houses  of  J.  I^ark  Alexander,  and  G. 
N.  Abbey  &  Co.,  near  the  Railroad  Repair  Shops,  were  burned. 
Mr.  Alexander's  loss  $5,000,  with  no  insurance.  Abbey  &  Co's  loss 
$12,000,  with  $2,pOO  insurance. 

Match  Factory  Destroyed. — August  25,  1867,  the  Akron 
Match  Company's  works,  on  North  Summit  street,  were  destroyed, 
at  a  loss,  on  building  and  stock,  of  $7,000,  and  $3,000  insurance. 

Both  Sides  of  ISast  Market  Street.— In  those  daj^s  the  ter- 
ritory on  East  Market  street,  from  Main  almost  to  High  on  the 
south  side,  and  from  Main  to  the  alley,  on  the  north  side,  -was  cov- 
ered with  two  story  frame  buildings,  all  teeming  with  business 
life  and  activity,  those  on  the  south  being  occupied  as  foUow^s: 
No.  200  (corner)  Storer,  Noble  &  Co.,  iron;  202,  J.  E.  Wesener  &  Co., 
dry  goods;  204,  Adams  &  Hawk,  clothing;  206,  C.  Vogt,  saloon; 
Joseph  Gonder  (basement)  painter,  and  Mrs.  M.  J.  Van  Fessler, 
(second  story)  residence;  208,  Charles  Teits,  tailor;  Joseph  Fritz, 
barber;  210,  J.  S,  Hawkins,  harness  maker,  Amos  Herman,  dw^ell- 
ing;  212,  G.  F.  Rentschler,  meat  market,  Louis  Cohn,  (second  story) 
tailor;  214,  Henry  McMasters,  baker,  Mrs.  McMasters,  (second 
story)  millinery,  William  H.  McMasters,  music;  216,  Hiram  J. 
Ayres,  meat  market;  218,  Jacob  Miller,  shoes;  220,  M.  Schware, 
je\sreler,  John  Byrider,  shoemaker;  222,  A.  Litchfield,  groceries; 
224,  J.  G.  Reif snider,  groceries;  the  buildings  being  o\\rned,  respec- 
tively by  Schoeninger  Brothers,  Samuel  Hawk,  G.  F.  Rentschler,  J. 
S.  Hawkins,  Henry  McMasters,  H.  J.  Ayres,  Jacob  Miller  and  John 
Byrider. 

On  the  north  side:  201,  203,  Dodge  &  Cole,  livery  stable;  205, 
Wright  &  Freer,  tinware,  stoves,  etc.;  207-209,  Bittman  Brothers, 
groceries;  John  Bakody,  jeweler,  Chas.  Teits,  residence;  211,  Adam 


Akron's  later  fires.  339 

Orth,  restaurant,  Mrs.  Sullivan,  residence;  the  buildings  belonged 
to  Robert  P.  Henry,  Wright  &  Freer,  Bittman  Brothers  and  Jacob 
Oood. 

The  fire  originated  in  the  saloon  of  C.  Vogt,  on  the  south  side, 
iit  2  o'clock  Sunday  morning,  March  11,  1869,  and  the  structures 
being  all  of  the  inost  inflammable  material,  and  the  wind  high,  the 
flames  spread  with  fearful  rapidity,  not  only  speedily  destroying 
tiie  buildings  named,  on  both  sides  of  the  street,  with  the  most  of 
their  contents,  but  also  imperiling  and  in  fact  igniting  many 
buildings  to  the  north  and  east,  w^hich  were  only  saved  from 
destruction  by  the  utmost  exertions  of  the  tirenien  and  citizens. 

The  losses,  by  this  fire  w^ere  respectively  as  follows:  Storer, 
Noble  &  Co.,  $1,000;  Schoeninger  Brothers,  $3,500;  J.  E.  Wesener  & 
Co.,  $15,000:  Adams  &  Hawk,  $9,000;  C.  Vogt,  $200;  Joseph  Gonder, 
$200;  Mrs.  Van  Fessler,  $200;  G.  F.  Rentschler,  $8,000;  Charles  Teits 
4)500;  Joseph  Fritz,  $250;  J.  S.  Hawkins,  $2,800;  Amos  Herman, 
^250;  Louis  Cohn,  $1,200;  Henry  and  Mrs.  McMaster,  $4,000;  Wm. 
H.  McMasters,  $100;  H.  J.  Ayres,  $2,000;  Jacob  Miller,  $4,000;  M. 
iSchware,  $1,000;  A.  Litchfield,  $500;  J.  G.  Reifsnider,  $500;  R.  A, 
Prior,  (barn)  $500;  Dodge  &  Cole,  $3(K);  R.  P.  Henry,  $3,500;  Wright 
&  Freer,  $4,5(X);  Bittman  Brothers,  $3,000;  John  Bakody,  $200; 
Adam  Orth;$l,600,  Jacob  Good,  $1,500;  Mrs.  Sullivan,  $100.  Total 
loss,  in  round  numbers,  $70,000.     Total  insurance,  $20,000. 

Mr.  Lours  Cohn's  Narrow  Escape. — During  the  progress  of 
the  fire,  Mr.  Louis  Cohn,  occupying  apartments  in  the  upper  story 
<if  the  old  Trussell  Hall  block,  after  getting  his  family  safely  out 
went  back  to  secure  some  of  his  valuables,  but  was  so  hard  pressed 
by  the  flames  and  stifling  smoke,  that  he  was  obliged  to  leap  from 
the  window  to  the  ground  in  the  alle}''  upon  the  east  side,  and  in 
doing  so  sustained  an  injury  to  one  of  his  ankles,  from  w^hich  he 
never  fully  recovered. 

Summit  Oil  Works. — On  Thanksgiving  morning,  November 
"25,  1869,  the  oil  refinery  of  John  T.  Good  &  Co.,  in  the  north  part  of 
the  city,  including  the  treating,  barreling,  shipping  and  receiving 
houses,  with  250  barrels,  in  process  of  refining  and  a  large 
quantity  ready  for  shipment,  was  destroyed,  with  a  loss  of  nearly 
$20,0(K),  and  with  no  insurance. 

Grocery  and  Saloon — Tried  for  Arson. — At  5  o'clock  a.  m., 
March  2,  1870,  the  grocery  store  and  saloon  of  William  Traver,  on 
Washington  street,  was  burned  with  an  alleged  loss  of  $3,900. 
This  property  was  heavily  covered  by  insurance,  and  the  owner 
-was  indicted  and  tried  for  arson,  but  w^as  finally  acquitted. 

Subsequent  Fires. — August  25,  1871,  the  Fire  Brick  Works  of 
J.  Park  Alexander,  on  South  Canal  street,  w^ere  burned,  at  a  loss 
of  $5,000,  with  $3,000  insurance.  February  27,  1872,  America's 
pioneer  oatmeal  mill— the  German  Mill — established  by  Mr.  Ferd. 
Schumacher  in  1859,  near  the  present  hominy  w^orks,  on  North 
Howard  street,  was  burned  with  all  its  machinery  and  stock,  at  a 
loss  of  $20,000,  with  but  $8,000  insurance.  The  turning  works  and 
hub  factory  of  Sidney  H.  Bass,  on  the  adjoining  lot,  north,  was  also 
bui-ned  at  a  loss  of  $500. 

THE  GREAT  BEACON  OFFICE  DISASTER. 

From  the  diminutive  affair  of  1839,  with  its  single  hand  press, 
iind  its  score  or  less  fonts  of  news  and  job   type,  all  told,  in  the 


340  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

early  Spring  of  1872  the  Beacon  establishment  was  occupying  the 
entire  four  stories  (including  basement)  22x60  feet  (except  a  small 
corner  on  the  ground  floor  occupied  by  Mr.  O.  H.  Remington  as  a 
jewelry  store)  at  118  South  Howard  street,  and  w^as  then  having 
the  building  extended  through  to  Canal  street,  to  accommodate  its 
rapidly  increasing  publishing  and  manufacturing  operations. 

Filled  with  valuable  machinery  and  printing  materials, 
stationery,  papers,  books,  etc.,  on  the  morning  of  April  27,  1872,  the 
entire  structure,  with  its  contents,  evidently  the  work  of  an 
incendiary,  \^ras  destroyed  by  lire,  with  a  loss  to  the  company  of 
$23,000  and  to  the  proprietor  of  the  building  of  $5,000,  Mr.  Reming- 
ton also  sustaining  a  loss  of  about  $4,000. 

The  adjoining  building  on  the  north,  owned  by  Hiram  Allen,, 
the  low^er  floor  of  \v^hich,  then,  as  now,  was  occupied  b}^  J.  B. 
Storer  &  Co.,  jewelers,  (also  considerable  losers)  was  injured  to  the 
extent  of  about  $2,000,  Avhile  in  the  jewelry  store  of  H.  S.  Abbey  & 
Co.,  adjoining  on  the  south,  an  explosion  occurred,  probably  from 
an  expansion  of  air  through  the  super-heated  wall  (the  room  being 
kept  tightly  closed),  blowing  out  the  entire  glass  front  and  the  rear 
windoTvs,  but  doing  no  further  very  serious  damage.  The  building 
of  G.  H.  Heifer  &  Son,  north  of  the  Allen  block,  w^as  also,  w^ith 
stock  of  drugs,  damaged  to  the  amount  of  about  $400.  ' 

An  Irreparable  Public  Loss. — Not  only  to  the  Beacon  Com- 
pany itself,  but  to  the  public  at  large,  the  loss  of  its  ne^^spaper 
files,  almost  from  the  beginning  of  the  county,  together  with  Mr. 
Lane's  private  files  for  ten  years,  and  his  large  cabinet  of  curiosities 
and  relics,  was  an  almost  irreparable  calamity,  though  through  the 
kindness  of  friends,  in  bringing  in  back  numbers,  the  preservation 
of  a  portion  of  the  volumes,  by  the  County  Auditor  and  City  Clerk, 
and  the  purchase  by  Mr.  Lane  from  Mr.  Hiram  Bo^sven,  and  ship- 
ment from  Dakota,  some  four  or  five  years  ago,  of  the  first  eight 
volumes  of  the  Beacon,  nearly  complete  files  from  April,  1839,  to 
the  present  time,  are  available  to  the  historian  and  antiquarian, 
and  should  be  preserved  with  the  utmost  security  and  care. 

Another  Close  Call. — After  its  total  annihilation,  April  27th, 
as  above  related,  the  Beacon  established  temporary  quarters  in 
the  second  and  third  stories  of  Cutter  &  HoAve's  block,  ordering 
type,  cases,  paper,  etc.,  by  express,  immediately  resuming  the  pub- 
lication of  the  paper,  with  its  own  material,  though  for  a  time 
dependent  upon  the  Citr  Times  presses  in  the  matter  of  printing. 

On  the  night  of  June  28,  1872,  the  Beacon  had  another  close 
call,  from  an  undoubtedly  incendiary  fire  in  the  adjoining  building 
on  the  north,  occupied  by  Mr.  Jonathan  Long,  as  a  clothing  store; 
not  only  destroying  the  entire  stock  of  clothing,  but  the  entire 
interior  and  roof  of  the  building  also,  besides  w^hich  the  flames 
crept  through  the  wall,  doing  considerable  damage  to  paper  and 
other  materials  in  the  Beacon  office,  and  also  setting  fire  to  the 
roof  of  the  building.  Losses:  Long,  on  clothing,  $20,000;  Israel 
Isbell  and  Charles  F.  Glasser,  on  building,  $6,000,  the  latter  being 
wholly  and  the  former  about  t^vo -thirds  covered  by  insurance. 

Mathews'  Splendid  Block. — At  12  o'clock,  on  the  night  of 
June  30,  1872,  the  newly  reconstructed  block,  owned  by  the  late 
James  Mathew^s,  w^as  discovered  to  be  on  fire  in  the  attic.  The 
lower  story  w^as  occupied  by  Beebe  &  Elkins,  books  and  drugs; 
Milton  H.  Hart,  cigar  store,  and  Beck  &  Herman,  boots  and  shoes.^ 


Akron's  later  fires.  341 

Second  story:  Mathews  &  Son,  insurance;  Western  Union  Tele- 
graph, G,  T.  Ford,  attorney,  and  for  sleeping  rooms  by  William  C. 
Allen,  G.  T.  Ford,  A.  C.  Lohmann,  M.  H.  Hart  and  Messrs.  Beck 
and  Herman.  The  third  floor  and  large  mansard  attic  were  occu- 
])ied  by  Cascade  Division,  Sons  of  Temperance.  Loss  on  building 
$10,000;  books  and  drugs,  $5,000;  boots  and  shoes,  $5,000;  other 
losses,  including  the  law  library  of  Judge  McClure,  then  in  Europe, 
probably  $5,000,  making  a  total  of  $25,000,  and  but  partially  covered 
by  insurance. 

Another  Midnight  "  Mystery." — ^August  22, 1872,  at  12  o'clock 
A.  M.,  the  photograph  gallery  of  Mr.  J.  J.  McFadden,  near  Masonic 
Temple,  was  discovered  to  be  on  fire,  the  flames  spreading  so 
rapidly  that  the  building  w^as  entirely  consumed,  with  an  alleged 
loss  of  $2,000  and  an  insurance  of  $1,000. 

Incendiarism  Still  Rampant. — At  12:30  a.  m.,  on  the  morning 
<if  August  23,  1872,  the  barns  of  Dr.  William  Bowen  and  Gen.  G. 
W.  McNeil,  on  the  alley  between  High  street  and  Broadway,  w^ere 
burned  at  a  loss  of  $300  and  $400  to  their  owners  respectively. 
Incendiary  without  doubt.  At  10:02  A.  m.,  August  23,  1872,  a  room 
in  the  rear  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  rooms,  in  the  Academy  of  Music 
building,  used  as  a  storage  room  by  the  Ladies'  Relief  Committee, 
w^as  found  to  be  on  fire,  the  impression  prevailing  that  a  box  of 
clothing  had  purposely  been  ignited  by  some  evil-disposed  person, 
who  had  by  some  means  gained  access  to  the  room.  About  this 
time,  also  in  the  day  time,  a  fire  w^as  discovered  in  one  of  the 
apartments  of  Phoenix  Block,  which  could  only  be  accounted  for 
upon  the  hypothesis  of  incendiarism.  Several  transient  suspects 
were  arrested,  but  nothing  could  be  proved  against  them,  and  one 
local  suspect  was  so  closely  interrogated  in  regard  to  his  intimate 
relations  to  the  several  fires  in  question  that  he  incontinently  left 
the  city,  and  has  never  returned,  and  for  nearly  a  year  and  a  half 
the  cit}^  enjoyed  comparative  immunity  from  that  class  of 
conflagrations. 

1873 — Rather  a  Light  Record. — April  30,  1873,  the  tin  and 
«tove  store  of  Wright  &  Freer,  a  story  and  a  half  frame  building, 
near  the  north  end  of  the  present  beautful  Arcade  Block,  South 
How^ard  street,  w^ith  a  considerable  portion  of  its  contents,  was 
destroyed.  Loss  on  building  and  stock  $2,000.  June  10,  1873,  the 
brewery  of  Fred  Oberholtz,  on  North  Forge  street,  was  burned  at 
3  o'clock  A.  m.  Loss  on  building  and  stock,  including  1,000  bushels 
of  grain  and  13  bales  of  hops,  $13,000  ;  insurance,  $5,000.  In  the 
cold  storage  room,  in  tanks  and  vats,  15,000  kegs  of  beer  w^ere  for- 
tunatel3^  or  unfortunately,  saved.  December  23,  1873,  at  1:30  a.  m., 
the  two-story  frame  grocery  store  of  Wm.  Fink,  corner  of  South 
Broadway  and  Exchange  streets,  with  nearly  all  its  contents,  was 
burned.     Loss  $5,000,  fully  insured. 

The  Fires  of  1874.— March  2,  1874,  for  the  second  time,  the 
Fire  Brick  works  of  J.  Park  Alexander,  on  Cannl  street,  greatly 
-enlarged  and  improved,  was  destroyed  at  a  loss  of  $10,000  with  an 
insurance  of  but  $3,500.  The  frame  building  on  the  north,  used  by 
Mr.  Alexander  as  machine  repair  shop,  was  saved  by  the  efforts  of 
the  fireinen,  Mr.  Alexander  the  next  day  presenting  the  depart- 
ment with  a  check  for  $50  for  the  benefit  of  the  Relief  Fund.  The 
three-story    brick    block    belonging  to    Mr.    Arthur  Malcolm,    119 


342  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Howard  street,  now  occupied  by  Chandler,  Findley  &  Co.,  station- 
ers, then  occupied  by  George  W.  Camp  &  Son,  clothiers  and  mer- 
chant tailors,  was  burned  at  midnight,  March  27,  1874.  Losses  : 
Camp  &  Son,  $12,500;  insurance  $10,000.  Malcolm  on  building  and 
personal  property,  $2,500;  insured.  On  the  night  of  April  20,  in 
the  building  owned  by  A.  Eichenlaub,  immediately  south  of  the 
present  furniture  store  of  Dodge  &  Plumer,  the  office  of  the  Dailv' 
Argus,  and  general  job  printing  works  of  H.  G.  Canfield  &  Co., 
was  burned,  the  next  day  the  fire  taking  a  fresh  start  and  involv- 
ing, in  partial  ruin,  the  buildings  of  D.  G.  Sanford  and  W.  B.  &  J, 
G.  Raymond,  (occupied  by  I.  Cohen  &  Co.)  on  either  side.  Losses : 
Canfield  &  Co.,  $10,000;  Eichenlaub,  $6,000;  Raymond,  $3,500;  San- 
ford, building  $500,  stock,  $4,500— total,  $24,500,  partly  covered  by 
insurance,  Mr.  Canfield's  net  loss  being  $3,000.  July  29,  "The 
Block,"  (in  an  early  day  known  as  Rhodes'  Hotel)  in  the  Sixth 
Ward,  owned  by  Samuel  Blackie,  Michael  Murphy  and  Henry 
Donohue,  and  occupied  by  seven  or  eight  families.  Total  loss 
$2,500.  September  8,  the  American  House,  a  large  frame  hotel,  for 
many  years  kept  by  the  late  Florence  Weber,  on  the  east  side  of 
North  Howard  street.  Loss  $6,CXX)  w^ith  $4,000  insurance.  Septem- 
cer  11,  Excelsior  Stone^vare  works  of  Shenkel  Brothers,  on  Foun- 
tain street.  Loss  $13,000;  insurance  $7,000.  October  30,  Lewis 
Miller's  fine  residence,  West  Side  Heights.  Loss  $12,000.  Decem- 
ber 15,  t>vo-story  frame  building  on  the  present  site  of  Barber's 
block,  South  Howard  street,  owned  and  occupied  as  a  clothing" 
store  by  Simon  Joseph.     Loss  $2,000. 

The  Disasters  of  1875. — April  18,  the  dwelling  house  of  Wash- 
ington Martin,  Akron's  veteran  barber,  102  James  street.  Los& 
$2,(X)0.  June  13,  the  carriage  works  and  blacksmith  shop  of  Harp- 
ham  Brothers,  Sixth  Ward.  Loss  $5,000.  Loss  to  ten  or  twelve 
customers  -whose  buggies  were  being  repaired,  painted,  etc.,  $1,000, 
August  12,  dw^elling  house  of  Theron  A.  Noble,  corner  Ash  and 
Bowery  streets.  Loss  $6,000.  August  20,  (Sunday)  bone-dust  and 
fertilizer  factory  of  Leopold  &  Hedeman,  foot  of  Sherbondy  hill, 
north  of  Wooster  avenue.     Loss  about  $4,000  with  no  insurance. 

1876 — Epidemic  Incendiarism.— February  13,  dwelling  house  of 
Ambrose  L.  Cotter,  junction  of  East  Market  and  Middlebury 
streets.  Loss  $4,000.  Accidental.  On  the  night  of  April  28,  about 
9  o'clock,  a  small  building  connected  with  the  cooper-shop  of  C.  B. 
Maurer,  corner  of  Church  street  and  Quarry  alley  and  extending 
around  to  High  street.  Being  of  the  most  inflammable  material,  the 
entire  establishment  was  at  once  enveloped  in  flames,  w^hich  were 
soon  communicated  to  the  carriage  w^orks  of  C.  A.  Collins  &  Son,, 
upon  the  west,  the  dwelling  house  of  Mr.  John  Prier,  on  the  eastr 
as  w^ell  as  to  several  buildings  on  the  north  side  of  Church  street, 
w^hich  were  all  destroyed,  with  nearlv  all  their  contents.  Losses: 
C.  B.  Maurer,  $10,000;  Collins,  $14,000;  John  Prier,  $2,500;  D.  A. 
Scott,  barn,  etc.,  $1,000;  Berg  &  Koch,  groceries,  $1,000;  sundry 
tenants,  $500.  On  the  same  night  the  pottery  works  of  W.  B. 
Gamble  &  Co.,  in  the  Sixth  Ward,  were  burned  with  a  loss  of  from 
$2,000  to  $3,000.  Two  days  later,  on  Sunday,  April  30,  between  twa 
and  three  o'clock  p.  m.,  the  box  and  variety  works  of  Baker  &  Mc- 
Millen,  west  of  canal,  on  BoAvery  street,  were  totally  destroyed,  at 
a  loss  of  $5,000,  immediately  followed  by  the  burning  of  the  office 
and  lumber  in  the  yard  of  S.  N.  Wilson,  east  of  postoffice,  $400,  and 


AKROX'S   LATER    FIRES.  343 

directly  afterwards  by  a  stubborn  fire  in  the  basement  of  the  rake 
factory,  immediately  north  of  the  jail,  with  a  loss  to  Col.  Simon 
Perkins,  owner  of  the  building,  of  $500,  and  an  additional  loss  to 
Collins  &  Son,  on  property  removed  thither  from  their  own  burn- 
ing building,  of  $100. 

Capture  of  the  Incendiaries. — Three  days  later  the  barn  of 
Matthew  Shouler,  on  Water  street,  was  burned  at  a  loss  of  $375, 
and  on  the  same  night  tw^o  young  men,  James  Peck  and  George 
Bates,  alias  "Scottie"  Moore,  were  arrested  on  suspicion  of  being 
the  incendiaries.  Both  were  indicted,  tried  and  convicted,  the  first 
being  sentenced  to  four,  and  the  latter,  three,  years  in  the  peni- 
tentiary. 

A  short  time  afterwards,  five  boys  ranging  from  15  to  17  years, 
William  Langendorf,  Frank  Glatthar,  George  Kimpflin,  Charles 
Ley  and  Jacob  L.  Steinel,  were  arrested  and  indicted  for  causing 
the  several  other  rapidly  succeeding  fires  above  alluded  to.  George 
Kimpflin,  on  trial  w^as  acquitted  ;  Langendorf  and  Ley  forfeited 
their  bonds,  $500  each  ;  and  Glatthar  and  Steinel  were  convicted 
and  each  sentenced  to  five  years  imprisonment.  The  lesson 
though  severe,  was  w^holesome,  not  only  to  the  boys  implicated 
but  to  other  mischievously  inclined  youngsters,  not  to  allovt^  their 
fun-loving  propensities  to  run  in  so  dangerous  a  direction. 

On  the  night  of  October  31,  1876,  Sumner's  Opera  House  and 
Hotel,  corner  of  North  Howard  and  Tallmadge  streets,  w^ere  con- 
sumed with  an  alleged  loss  of  $65,000  with  a  partial  insurance 
only. 

1877 — Record  Comparatively  Light. — The  Fire  Department 
report  39  fires  in  1877,  with  an  aggregate  loss  of  $77,135,  and  an 
aggregate  insurance  of  $43,075,  One  of  the  most  serious  fires  of 
the  year,  occurred  on  the  night  of  May  3rd,  occasioned  by  the 
breaking  of  a  lamp  in  the  basement  of  L.  H.-  Limbert  &  Son's 
furniture  store,  130,  132  and  134  North  Howard  street.  The  build- 
ing, two  stories  in  front  and  three  stories  in  the  rear,  with  its 
entire  contents,  was  consumed,  and  also  the  two-story  building  of 
John  Robb,  128,  and  the  one-story  building  of  P.  D.  and  Orlando 
Hall,  124  and  126 — the  barns  of  Limbert  and  Robb  in  the  rear,  with 
considerable  damage  to  other  nearby  buildings.  Losses  reported; 
Limbert,  $4,000  on  building,  $13,000  on  stock,  and  $8(X)  on  barn, 
with  $7,000  insurance  ;  Robb,  $3,000  on  stock,  $2,000  on  store  and 
barn,  with  $1,720  insurance  ;  Hall,  loss,  $1,000,  insurance  $500;  other 
losses  $400.  August  27,  the  planing  mill  of  Miller  &  Kratz  (now 
Thomas  Lumber  Co.)  west  of  Canal,  was  burned,  at  a  loss  to  the 
proprietors  on  building,  machinery  and  material,  of  $25,000,  and  an 
insurance  of  $10,500.  Mr.  D.  A.  James,  manufacturer  of  office 
and  church  furniture,  etc.,  occupying  the  second  story,  also  suf- 
fered a  loss  of  $1,200  with  no  insurance.  October  17,  agricultural 
warehouse  of  Mr.  David  S.  Alexander,  on  Canal  street  (now  elec- 
tric light  station)  was  consumed  with  a  loss  of  from  $10,000  to 
$12,000.     Insurance  on  building  $2,000,  on  contents  $6,0(X). 

1878 — Few  Fires — Heavy  Losses. — There  were  twenty-seven 
alarms  during  the  year,  with  losses  aggregating  $172,161,  and  an 
aggregate  insurance  of  $102,651.  May  31,  saloon  and  dwelling 
house  of  William  Doren,  corner  Mill  and  High  streets.  Loss, 
$1,500;  insurance,  $3,000.     The  most  formidable  fire  of  the  season 


344  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

occurred  at  1:30  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  June  18th,  when  Com- 
merce block,  belonging  to  Mr.  Jacob  Good,  and  the  Academy  of 
Music,  belonging  to  Mr.  John  F.  Seiberling,  w^ere  destroyed,  with  a 
loss  to  Mr.  Seiberling  of  $50,000,  with  $18,000  insurance  only,  Mr. 
Good's  loss  being  $40,000,  insured  for  $33,000.  The  two  store  rooms 
in  Commerce  block  were  occupied  respectively  by  Mr.  A.  C.  Loh- 
mann,  >vith  millinery  goods,  and  Mr.  John  vSebring,  w^ith  general 
dry  goods;  the  second  story  as  the  office  of  the  Western  Union 
Telegraph  Company,  sleeping  room  of  Mr.  William  C.  Allen,  etc. 
The  first  floor  of  the  Academy  of  Music  building  was  occupied  by 
the  Bank  of  Akron,  and  Auble,  Brown  Sc  Co.,  dry  goods;  the  sec- 
ond floor  by  Upson,  Ford  &c  Baird,  Foster,  Marvin  &  Grant,  and  S. 
W.  McClure,  attorneys,  Allen  &  Bock,  insurance,  and  others,  the 
basement  by  William  Besnecker,  billiard  room  and  saloon.  The 
fire  originated  in  the  store  room  of  Mr.  JohnSebring — a  new-comer 
to  Akron — and  as  it  began  with  a  loud  explosion,  and  as  it  was  soon 
learned  that  there  w^as  a  heavy  insurance  upon  the  stock,  it  was 
believed  that  Mr.  Sebring,  leaving  one  jet  burning,  had  purposely 
turned  on  all  the  other  burners,  thus  naturally  causing  ignition  in 
all  parts  of  the  nearly  air-tight  room,  as  soon  as  it  should  become 
filled  with  the  escaping  vapor. 

The  indignation  of  the  people  was  intense,  for  a  time  nearly 
reaching  the  lynching  point.  Mr.  Sebring  w^as  arrested  for  arson, 
and  lodged  in  jail,  but  exhibiting  duplicate  bills  of  purchase  to  a 
larger  amount  than  the  insurance  thereon,  he  was  not  proceeded 
against,  though  there  were  still  many  who  believed  there  w^as 
something  crooked  about  the  transaction. 

Losses  to  tenants  were:  Lohmann  (one-third  of  stock  saved) 
$8,(X)0,  insured;  Sebring  $16,000  to  $18,000;  insurance  $14,000; 
Western  Union  $400  to  $500,  no  insurance;  W.  C.  Allen,  furniture, 
carpets,  library,  etc.,  $1,500,  insurance  $1,000;  Auble,  Brown  &  Co., 
goods  mostly  removed,  loss  light;  Bank  of  Akron,  furniture  mostly 
removed,  books,  papers,  money,  etc.,  in  vault,  intact;  Besnecker, 
loss  $2,500,  insurance  $1,500;  contents  of  offices,  in  Academy  of 
Music,  mostly  removed,  miscellaneous  losses  being  about  31,000. 
August  31,  dwelling  house  of  Hugh  McFarland,  306  Perkins  street. 
Loss  $2,000;  no  insurance.  November  5,  Leopold's  Block,  South 
Akron.  Loss  $1,100;  insurance  $8,500.  December  24,  potterj'  of 
Gamble  &  Morton,  Sixth  Ward.     Loss  $2,000;  insurance,  $1,600. 

1879 — LossE-s  Light. — For  the  year  1879  there  were  39  alarms; 
total  value  of  property  imperiled,  $237,475;  total  insurance,  $81,750; 
total  losses,  $18,388.61.  March  4,  Buchtel  College— fire  in  attic, 
supposed  by  sparks  from  chimney.  Loss  $5,610.  Insured.  June 
20,  brewerj'  of  Burkhardt  &c  Gaessler,  Sherman  street.  Loss  $3,300. 
Insured.  July  1,  Catharine  Nehr,  dwelling  and  saloon,  corner 
Exchange  and  Pearl.  Loss  $1,100.  Insured.  November  5,  office 
L.  G.  Thorp,  118  North  Howard  street.  Loss  $2,000.  No  insurance. 
November  11,  three-story  brick  drug  store  of  J.  A.  Byrider,  218 
East  Market  street.     Loss  $1,419.60.     Insured. 

1880 — Losses  Lighter  Still. — There  were  50  alarms  in  1880, 
the  total  losses,  out  of  an  aggregate  insurance  of  $52,125,  being  but 
$12,503. 70,  those  of  $1,000  and  upwards  being  as  follows:  March  25, 
slip-shop  of  Whitmore,  Robinsons  «&  Co.,  Sixth  Ward.  $1,300.  May 
11,  factory  of  G.  Eberhard  &  Co.,  junction  of  Exchange  and  Carroll 


akkon's  later  fires.  345 

streets,  $3,426.44.  July  3,  livery  stable  of  John  Wilson,  Sixth  Ward, 
$2,01)0.  August  1,  brick  brewery  of  Fred.  Horix,  North  Forge 
street,  $2,454. 

1881 — ^IvOSSES  Proportionately  IvIGht,  —  Total  number  of 
alarms  during  the  year  52.  Losses  on  $138,465,  insurance  only 
$17,430,  the  more  important  being  as  follows:  February  17,  Con- 
gregational Church,  South  High  street.  Damage  to  building  and 
fixtures,  $4,667.  February  22,  factory  of  Baker  &  McMillen,  west  of 
canal  near  Ash  street  bridge,  $1,300.  July  30,  frame  dwelling 
house  ofF.  Horix,  North  Forge  street,  struck  by  lightning;  $1,600. 
September  28,  frame  planing  mill  of  Weary,  Snyder,  Wilcox  Manu- 
facturing Company.     Damage  to  building  and  stock,  $2,940. 

1882 — Slight  Increase  of  Losses. — In  1882  there  were  45 
alarms  and  out  of  a  total  insurance  of  $156,700  a  total  loss  of  $37,- 
636.45,  apportioned  as  follows:  February  28,  frame  dwelling  house 
of  Rev.  T.  E.  Monroe,  124  South  Broadway.  Damage  $1,300. 
March  22,  planing  mill  of  W.  B.  Doyle  &  Co.,  junction  Howard  and 
Main  streets,  $5,000.  August  14,  City  Mill,  West  Market  street, 
unoccupied,  the  property  of  Gen.  Philo  Chamberlin,  of  Cleveland. 
Alleged  loss,  $20,0(X),  fully  insured  and  well  sold.  Rinner  &  Lapp, 
coopers,  loss  on  barrels  stored  in  warehouse,  $1,120.  October  8, 
pottery  of  Knapp  &  Whitsell,  east  of  Fountain  street;  $6,650. 

1883 — Calls  Numerous — Losses  Heavy. — There  were  54  alarms 
in  1883,  with  a  total  loss  of  $164,155,  the  principal  sufferers  being: 
March  7,  the  clothing  house  of  Hopfman  &  Moss.  Loss  on  build- 
ing $700,  contents  $16,000.  Fully  insured.  March  25,  Carter  & 
Steward,  oat  meal  mill.  South  Main  street,  building  and  machinery 
$22,750,  contents  $17,250.  Partially  insured  only.  June  4,  confec- 
tionery store  of  Andrews  *&  Brenizer,  104  South  Hpward  street;  loss 
on  contents  $1,370.  E.  W.  Howard,  on  building,  $638.  Fully 
insured,  December  16,  strawboard  works  of  J.  F.  Seiberling&  Co., 
Sixth  Ward,  building  and  machinery,  $25,000;  contents  $8,000, 
insurance  $5,744.  December  31,  McNeil  &c  Baldwin,  ^tna  Mill, 
Beach  street,  building  $16,000,  contents  $49,000,  insurance  $32,422. 

1884 — Comparatively  Moderate, — The  total  number  of  calls 
was  58,  and  the  total  losses  but  $51,448,  the  more  important  being 
as  follows:  April  24,  the  Mathews  block,  114  to  118  South  Howard 
street,  lower  story,  basement  and  part  of  second  story,  occupied  by 
J.  Koch  &  Co.,  clothiers.  Loss  on  stock  $28,997,  building  $1,575; 
fully  insured.  May  29,  Stinehour  block,  and  saloon  building  of 
Felix  O'Neil,  West  Market  street.  Losses  on  buildings  $3,326, 
contents  $2,680;  fully  insured.  June  18,  dwelling  house  Eli 
Blocker,  176  Balch  street,  $1,000.  August  5,  one-story  frame  build- 
ings, west  side  of  South  Howard  street,  170  to  184,  east  side  171  to 
191,  occupied  by  James  Derrig  as  a  liquor  store,  and  others. 
Losses  on  buildings  $3,145,  contents^ $2,013;  fully  insured. 

1885.  The  Lightest  Losses  Yet.  —  Though  there  were  55 
silarms  in  1885,  the  total  losses  were  only  $19,977,  those  aggre- 
gating $1,000  and  upwards  being  as  follows:  March  9,  Mrs.  Mary 
M.  Stephens,  dwelling  house,  505  South  Broadway.  Loss  $1,400,  no 
insurance.  April  11,  saloon  of  Otto  Waelde,  Old  Forge.  Loss 
^2,200,  insurance,  $1,200.  April  23,  Haushalter  &  Tissot,  jewelers, 
South    Howard    street.      Loss    on    stock    $2,800,    building   (Henry 


346  AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Motz)  $1,080,  insured.  September  25,  J.  Park  Alexander,  Fire 
Brick  Works,  South  Canal  street.  Loss  on  building  and  contents,. 
$4,200.     Insured. 

1886.  Prolific  Fires — Heavy  Losses. — There  were  65  alarms 
in  1886,  and  an  aggregate  loss  of  $680,825,  and  an  aggregate  insur- 
ance of  $325,533.  The  first  serious  calamity  of  the  year  was  the 
destruction  of  the  mammoth  oat  meal  plant  of  Mr.  Ferd. 
Shumacher,  on  Mill,  Broadway  and  Summit  streets,  on  the  night 
of  March  6.  The  total  loss  on  the  several  buildings  destroyed, 
including  their  contents,  over  and  above  insurance,  was  about 
$600,000.  May  17,  Miller  Chain  Works  and  Match  Factory,  Rubber 
street.  Loss  $12,000.  Insurance  light.  October  23,  Greenhouse  of 
Bert  T.  Wills,  Park  Place.  Loss  on  building  $1,CX)0;  contents 
$1,500,  no  insurance,  December  31,  Empire  Harvester  Works  of  J. 
F.  Seiberling  &  Co.,  south  of  Mill  street,  east  of  railroad.  Boiler 
explosion  and  burning  of  building.  Loss  on  building  $10,0(X),  con 
tents,  $3,000,  insurance  recovered  $4,415.  William  Brown,  17-3^ear- 
old  son  of  Jatnes  Brown,  121  Arch  street,  was  killed  and  several 
others  seriously  wounded  by  the  explosion. 

1887.  Increased  Calls — Diminished  Losses. — Total  calls  88 — 
total  losses  $41,918  on  an  aggregate  insurance  of  $308,855.  April  1^ 
dAvelling  house  of  John  Ho^ve,  north  of  city  limits  $1,800,  insurance 
paid  $950.  May  30,  Lewis  Miller,  dwelling  house,  Oak  Place;  loss 
on  building  $1,200,  contents  $2(X).  Insured.  October  18,  two-story 
frame  building,  three  stores  on  South  Main  street,  building,  G. 
Eberhard  $1,585;  insurance  $1,280.  Loss  on  contents  $1,690,  insur- 
ance paid  $790.  November  19,  cooper-shop  of  J.  F.  Seiberling 
Milling  Co.,  Sixth  Ward.  Loss  $8,000,  covered  by  insurance. 
November  27,  livery  stable,  George  WuUe,  corner  of  North  Main 
and  Tallmadge  streets.  Loss  on  building  $2,000,  Qontents  $2,700 
insurance  paid  $4,000.  December  3,  Miller  Match  Works,  Rubber 
street.  Loss  on  building  $2,5(X),  contents  $4,000;  insurance  paid 
$5,000. 

1888 — Slightly  Increased  Losses. — The  alarms  for  1888,  were 
67,  with  $46,064  losses  on  $172,697  insurance.  May  8,  Enterprise 
Works  of  E.  F.  Pfleuger,  Ash  street.  Loss  on  building,  $170;  con- 
tents $4,530;  covered  by  insurance.  May  12,  Packing  House  of 
Jacob  Brodt,  616  to  620  South  Main  street.  Loss  on  building 
$1,844.50,  contents  $1,472.14,  fully  insured.  July  22,  Carpet  Store, 
William  H.  Diehl  &  Co.,  219  and  221  East  Market  street.  Loss  on 
stock  $2,700,  insurance  $2,500;  loss  on  building,  M.  H.  Crumrine, 
$574,  covered  by  insurance.  August  3,  Varnish  Works  of  Kubler 
&  Beck,  struck  by  lightning.  Loss  on  building  $2,3(X),  insured  for 
$1,300;  contents  $11,500;  insurance  $9,300.  September  5,  Stables  of 
Summit  County  Agricultural  Society,  Fountain  Park  Fair  Grounds. 
Loss  to  Society  $1,000,  no  insurance.  Three  valuable  horses 
belonging  respectively  to  A.  Q.  Eves,  of  Akron,  ($2,000)  parties  in 
Michigan,  ($500)  and  J.  H.  Carey,  of  Bedford,  (value  not  stated) 
were  destroyed  in  this  fire,  which,  in  the  terse  report  of  the  depart- 
ment was  caused  by  "^vhiskey."  October  8,  enameling  house  of 
Baker,  McMillen  &  Co.,  Ash  and  Bowery  streets,  by  explosion  of 
oven.  Loss  on  building  $2,500,  insurance  $2,820;  contents  $4,500, 
insurance  $3,002.80.  December  15,  stable  of  Thomas  W.  McCue, 
East  Mill  street;  building  $950,  insurance  paid  $550;  contents,, 
including  a  valuable  horse,  $811;  insurance  paid  $488. 


Akron's  later  fires.  347 

1889.  Increased  Calls — Heavier  Losses. — There  were  82  alarms 
in  1889,  with  a  total  loss  of  $293,173  on  a  total  insurance  of  $311,717. 
Losses  exceeding  $1,000  as  follows :  January  4,  John  Wilson's  livery 
stable,  Sixth  ward.  Loss  on  building  $2,181. 80,  contents,  including 
two  horses  $3,795.72;  insurance  paid  $5,973.22.  February  25, 
Summit  City  Oil  Company's  warelTouse,  near  union  depot.  Loss 
$3,000,  no  insurance.  April  7,  David  P.  Kidwell,  Carroll  street, 
dwelling.  Loss  on  house  $1,200,  contents  $350,  insurance  paid  $800. 
May  3,  James  Christy — tenement  block,  South  Howard  street. 
Loss  on  building  $500,  contents  $2,200;  insurance  paid  $1,307.12. 
May*  7,  Lewis  Miller,  Oak  Place,  barn.  Loss  on  building  $2,500, 
contents,  $500.  May  9,  Foltz  &  Frank,  jewelry  store.  South 
Howard  street.  Loss  on  building  $500,  on  contents  $6,100;  fully 
insured.  July  22,  William  Poole,  Thornton  street,  bakery.  Loss  on 
building  $3,300,  contents  $1,362;  insurance  paid  $2,625.  July  28,  J. 
M.  Flickinger,  Irvin  street,  paint  shop.  Loss  on  building  $150, 
contents  $850;  insurance  paid  $850.  September  4,  Akron  Stone- 
w^are  Company,  Sixth  ward.  Loss  on  building  $850,  contents 
$2,100;  insurance  paid  $2,700.  October  29,  O'Neil  &  Dyas'  store, 
South  Main  street.  Loss  on  building  $41,000,  contents  $177,000; 
insurance  paid  $109,000.  J,  Whitelaw,  Howard  street.  Loss  on 
building  $2,500,  contents,  J.  W.  Little,  $4,000;  insurance  paid  $3,870; 
estate,  Jacob  Allen.  Loss  on  building  $582.75,  contents,  Good  & 
Co.,  $650;  insurance  paid  $1,194;  J.  K.  Simmons,  loss  on  building 
$1500,  contents  $2,000;  insurance  paid  $2,800;  Clapsaddle  estate. 
Loss  on  building  $3,250,  contents.  Tiger  Hat  Store,  $3,250; 
Lamparter  &  Pfeiffer,  drugs  $120.50;  T.  H.  Wolfram,  photo- 
grapher, $3,700;  E.  B.  Cahoon,  $750;  A.  L.  Dyke,  $285;  H.  W.  Moss, 
$285;  Akron  Klectric  Co.,  $800;  total  insurance  paid  $10,841.83. 
November  6,  Bert  T.  W^ills,  Park  Place,  greenhouse.  Loss  on 
building  $1,700,  contents  $2,200;  insurance  paid  $990.  December 
28,  Budd  &  Lowrey,  Sixth  ward,  machine  shop.  Loss  on  building 
$3,000,  contents  $3,500;  insurance  paid  $3,388.50. 

1890 — Calls  Still  More  Numerous — Losses  Lighter. — Total 
alarms  118;  total  losses  $109,104  on  total  insurance  of  $466,600. 
Losses  exceeding  $1000:  January  7,  Alfred  M.  Barber,  brick  block, 
corner  Howard  and  Cherry  streets,  loss  $10,200;  John  Motz,  adjoin- 
ing building  on  the  north,  $1,800;  contents,  Myers  &  Polsky,  drv 
goods,  $34,000;  Weeks  &  Kingsbury,  crockery,  $4,000;  Buckley  Post, 
G.  A.  R.,  $1;500;  Woman's  Relief  Corps,  $500;  Sons  of  Veterans, 
-100;  J.  V.  Welsh,  $48;  J.  M.  Poulson;  $625;  John  Mack  $400,^total 
losses  $52,225;  total  insurance  paid  $41,128.  May8,  William  Schroeder, 
brick  block.  South  Howard  street,  building  $1,700;  contents,  Stanton 
&  Son,  photograph  gallery,  $1,300;  insurance  paid  $2,8(X).  June  4, 
Akron  Paper  Mill,  West  Exchange  street,  building,  $550;  contents, 
$3,0(K);  insurance  paid  $3,550.  Livery  stable.  West  Exchange  street,  F. 
Schumacher,  building,  $1,616.85;  John  T.  Adkins,  contents,  $4,9(X), 
insurance  paid  $5,065.86.  July  19,  Patrick  T.  McCourt,  Wabash 
avenue,  barn — building,$l,100;  contents,  $400,  insurance  paid  $1,115. 
August  16,  Akron  Iron  Co.,  South  High  street,  building  $500;  con- 
tents $1,072.80;  insurance  paid  $1,572.80.  October  4,  H.  E.  Merrill, 
South  Main  street,  building  $125,  contents,  C.  Rheinhold,  $650; 
Currycomb  Co.,  $1,100;  insurance  paid  $1,520.  November  2,  Mor- 
gan Boiler  Co.,  south  of  city  limits,  building,  $4,500,  contents,  $8,0(X), 
insurance  paid  $5,500.     December  10,  R.  Thomas,  corner  Broadwaj'^ 


348  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT    COUNTY. 

and  Thornton    streets,  building,    $314;    contents,    $700;    insurance 
paid  $788.46. 

THE  SUMMING  UP. 

It  has  not  been  attempted,,  in  this  sketch,  to  give  all  the  fires 
that  have  occurred  in  Akron,  in  the  sixty-six  years  of  its  existence, 
but  only  the  more  prominent,  few  being  included  where  the  losses 
were  under  one  thousand  dollars,  and,  in  the  absence  of  full  reli- 
able records,  it  is  quite. probable  that  some  of  even  the  moreimport- 
ant  early  fires  have  been  overlooked. 

But  enough  has  been  given  to  sho^r  the  immense  sacrifices 
which  the  people  of  Akron  have  made  to  the  Great  Moloch,  a  con- 
siderable proportion  of  the  sufferers,  too,  being  victims  to  the 
cupidity  and  rascality  of  their  immediate  neighbors.  Yet  as  great 
as  has  been  the  pecuniary  sacrifice  by  fire,  during  the  period 
written  of,  the  physical  sacrifice,  if  it  could  be  computed  by  dollars 
and  cents,  would  be  found  to  be  still  greater,  for  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that,  until  within  the  past  tw^enty-five  years,  every  drop  of 
-water  dra\vn  from  well,  cistern,  canal  or  creek,  and  thrown  upon 
a  fire  in  Akron,  had  to  be  done  by  an  almost  equal  expenditure  of 
human  sweat  and  muscle,  with  no  extrinsic  aid  of  steam  or 
hydraulic  pressure,  and  that,  too,  at  the  imminent  peril  of  health, 
limb  and  even  life  itself,  for  a  true  diagnosis  would  trace  many 
a  fatal  disease,  and  long  years  of  physical  suffering,  among  old 
volunteer  firemen,  to  exposure  and  over-exertion,  in  fighting  the 
■devouring  element  with  the  old  crank  or  brake  machines  herein 
described. 

Referring  to  the  records  of  the  Fire  Department,  from  1878  to 
1890,  both  years  inclusive,  it  is  found  that  in  the  thirteen  years,  792 
runs  were  made  by  the  department,  that  out  of  a  total  insurance, 
on  property  imperiled,  of  $2,702,314  (full  value  probably  $3,500,000), 
the  aggregate  loss  was  $1,619,965.  Though  there  is  now  no  available 
record,  it  is  safe  to  estimate  the  previous  average  yearly  fires  at 
twenty,  or  1100  for  the  55  years,  and  as  the  losses  herein  given, 
during  that  time,  foot  up  considerably  more  than  a  million,  esti- 
mating the  minor  losses,  not  given,  at  $300,000,  we  have  an  aggre- 
gate loss  of  $3,796,191. 

It  is  proper  to  remark,  in  closing,  that  while  Akron's  early 
Volunteer  Fire  Companies,  with  their  hand-drawn  and  hand- 
w^orked,  crank  and  brake  engines,  and  other  primitive  apparatus, 
are  entitled  to  every  possible  meed  of  praise,  for  their  untiring, 
unselfish  and  unrequited  labors,  in  saving  the  property  of  their 
neighbors  from  destruction,  modern  horse  and  steam  driven 
appliances,  w^ith  the  present  thoroughly  organized,  w^ell  housed, 
carefully  drilled  and  liberally  paid  department,  aided  by  its  instan- 
taneous alarm  devices,  and  the  improved  hydraulic  advantages, 
which  the  city  water  works  afford,  very  materially  diminishes  the 
risks  Avith  a  far  less  percentage  of  loss,  in  proportion  to  value,  on 
the  property  imperiled,  by  its  ability  to  promptly  extinguish,  or 
circumscribe  the  limits  of,  the  innumerable  fires,  that,  in  a  city  of 
the  size  and  character  of  Akron,  must  inevitably  constantly  occur. 
In  short,  though  somewhat  expensive, the  present  excellent  depart- 
ment, pays  the  cost  of  its  maintenance,  yearly,  many  thousand 
fold. 


PKKSENT    STATUS   OF   DEPARTMENT. 


341> 


The  Fire  Department,  in  charge  of  Chief  B.  F.  Manderbach, 
and  Mechanical  Engineer  Frank  F.  Loomis,  is  now  (August,  1891) 
as  follows: 

Station  No.  1 :  corner  High  and 
Church  streets ;  equipped  w^ith 
one  second  size  Ahrens  steamer; 
one  two-horse  hose  carriage;  one 
two-horse  hook  and  ladder  truck, 
and  1,2(X)  feet  of  best  quality  of 
white  anchor  hose,  with  the  fol- 
lowing roster:  Engineer,  Frank  F. 
Loomis ;  fireman,Chas.  E.  Hibbard ; 
driver  of  steamer,  John  Zimmer- 
man; driver  of  ladder  truck,  Nich- 
olas Wilhelm;  tillerman,  Warren 
Snyder;  driver  of  hose  carriage, 
Charles  Tryon;  pipemen,  Frank 
Rice,  AndrcAv  Boehmler,  and 
Charles  Jost;  with  twelve  call 
hosemen  and  three  call  steamer 
men. 


Central  Fire  Station,  corner  South 
High  and  Church  Streets. 


Station  No  2:  Corner  East 
Market  and  East  Exchange 
streets,  (Sixth  ward),  one  third 
size  Silsby  engine,  one  two-horse 
hose  carriage,  and  l,100feet  of  hose; 
James  Dunn,  engineer;  GusRyan, 
fireman;  George  Head,  driver  of 
steamer;  Harry  Wilson,  driver 
of  hose  carriage  ;  Charles  Smith, 
pipeman;  five  call  hosemen;  tw^o 
call  steamer  men. 

Station  No.  3:  Myrtle  Place, 
Third  ward;  one  two-horse  hose 
carriage,  and  1,000  feet  of  hose; 
John  Denious  and  George  D.  Fel- 
ton, pipemen;  Nathaniel  P.  Smith, 
driver  of  hose  carriage;  three  call 
hosemen. 


Fire  Station  No.  2,  Akron,  Sixtli  Ward. 


Station  No.  ♦4:  Corner  South 
Main  and  Fair  streets.  Fourth 
ward,  one  third  size  Button 
engine,  one  two-horse  hose  car- 
riage, and  1,200  feet  of  hose; 
Charles  V.  Criss,  engineer;  Frank 
A.  Myers,  fireman;  Peter  J.  Hoh- 
man,  driver  of  steamer;  Abe  L,. 
Eberly,  driv^er  of  hose  carriage; 
John  T.  Mertz,  pipeman  ;  five  call 
hosemen,  and  two  call  steamer 
men. 


Fire  Station  No.  4,  Soutli  Main  Street, 
Fourth  Ward. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

AKROX'S  MILITARY  HISTORY,  ANCIENT  AND  MODERN— OLD-TIHE  ARMY 
RATIONS,  PAY,  ETC. — EARLY  MILITARY  OPERATIONS— THE  WAR  OF  THE 
REBELLION  —  AKRON'S  FIRST  WAR  MEETING  —  POLITICAL  PARTY  LINES 
,  ABOLISHED— THE  POPULAR  UPRISING— RAPID  ENLISTMENTS— FLAG  AND 
REVOLVER  PRESENTATIONS— "  GOODIES "  FOR  THE  vSOLDIER  BOYS— OFF 
FOR  THE  FRONT —END  OF  THREE  MONTHS'  SERVICE— ENLISTING  FOR  THE 
WAR— NINETEENTH,  TWENTY-NINTH,  THIRTY-SEVENTH,  FORTY-SECOND, 
FIFTY-EIGHTH,  SIXTY-FOURTH,  SIXTY-SEVENTH,  EIGHTY-FOURTH,  ONE 
HUNDRED  AND  FOURTH,  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  SEVENTH,  ONE  HUNDRED 
AND  FIFTEENTH,  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY-NINTH,  ONE  HUNDRED  AND 
SEVENTY-SEVENTH,  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  EIGHTY-EIGHTH  REGIMENTS, 
OHIO  VOLUNTEER  INFANTRY — FIRST,  SECOND,  SIXTH  AND  TENTH  OHIO 
CAVALRY — FIRST,  SIXTH  AND  NINTH  OHIO  BATTERIES— THE  "SQUIRREL 
HUNTERS" — THE  "HOME  GUARD" — THE  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  SIXTY-FOURTH 
REGIMENT  OHIO  NATIONAL  GUARD,  OR  "HUNDRED  DAY"  MEN— COPPER- 
HEAD FIRE-IN-THE-REAR — A  "COLD-WATER"  VICTORY — COSTLY  OPPOSI- 
TION —  POST-WAR  OPERATIONS  —  THE  BIERCE  CADETS  —  COAL  MINE 
DISTURBANCES— THE  ASHLAND  EXECUTION  RIOT — COMPANY  B,  O.  N.  G. — 
AKRON  GERMAN  GUARDS  —  BATTERY  F,  AKRON  LIGHT  ARTILLERY  — 
BUCHTEL  CADETS,  ETC. 

ANCIENT  MILITARY  HISTORY. 

AKRON — including  Portage  and  Middlebury  townships — has 
quite  a  creditable  military  history,  but,  unfortunately,  the  early 
records  are  too  incomplete  for  a  full  representation  thereof  in  this 
w^ork.  That  among  the  earlier  settlers  of  Middlebury  and  Portage 
tow^nship  there  w^ere  some  Revolutionary  soldiers  is  quite  proba- 
ble, though  their  names  have  not  been  handed  dow^n,  except  those 
of  Daniel  Galpin  and  Elijah  Bryan  (father  of  the  late  Judge  Con- 
stant Bryan),  buried  in  the  Akron  Rural  Cemetery,  Of  soldiers  of 
the  w^ar  of  1812,  resting  in  the  several  cemeteries  of  the  city: 
Rural — George  Dunkle,  John  C.  De  La  Mater,  Asa  Field,  Timothy 
Clark,  Gideon  Hewitt,  William  Hardesdy,  James  Mills,  Andrews 
May,  William  Noland;  Middlebury — John  C.  Hart,  Henry  Spafford, 
James  Viall,  Sr, 

Soldiers'  Pay,  Rations,  Etc. — As  an  item  of  interest  to  the 
latter-day  soldier,  it  may  be  properly  noted  here,  that  in  the  w^ar 
of  1812  the  pay  of  privates  and  musicians  w^as  $6.00  per  month; 
corporals  $7.00;  sergeants  $8.00;  quarter-master  sergeants  and 
sergeant-majors  $9.00;  ensigns  and  second- lieutenants,  $20.00  and 
tw^o  rations;  first  lieutenants,  $30.00  and  two  rations;  captains, 
$40.00  and  three  rations;  majors,  $50.00  and  three  rations;  colonels, 
$75.00,  five  rations  and  $12.00  for  forage,  a  ration  consisting  of  I14 
lbs.  of  beef,  12  oz.  pork,  13  oz.  bread  or  flour,  one  gill  whislcy,  with 
tw^o  quarts  of  salt,  four  quarts  of  vinegar,  four  pounds  of  soap,  and 
1%  pounds  of  candles  to  every  100  rations. 

The  War  with  Mexico. — For  the  Mexican  war  of  1846-48, 
Akron  furnished  but  few^  soldiers,  the  bulk  of  that  army  being 
recruited  from  the  Southern  States,  but  among  w^ell-know^n  citi- 
zens of  Akron,  then  or  since,  who    served   in    that  war,   may  be 


EARLY    xMILITARY   OPERATIONS.  351 

mentioned  the  following:  Ezra  Tryon,  Adams  Hart,  Oliver  Perry 
Barney,  George  Dresher,  Joseph  Gonder,  Jereboam  B.  Creighton, 
Thomas  Thompson,  Cornelius  O.  Way  and  Valmore  Morris,  Of 
these,  Hart,  Barney,  Tryon  and  Creighton,  were  also  soldiers  in 
the  civil  war  of  1861-65.  In  the  Mexican  wrar  Barney  was  a  ser- 
geant, and  one  night,  Avhile  on  picket  duty  near  Monterey,  he  was 
lassoed  by  the  Mexicans  and  dragged  quite  a  distance,  but  was 
rescued  by  his  comrades  before  being  entirely  strangled  to  death, 
and  w^as  alw^ays  very  fond  of  showing  the  marks  made  upon  l^s 
neck  by  the  lariat.  He  afterwards  became  somewhat  dissipated, 
and  one  Winter  night,  from  exposure  w^hile  intoxicated,  had  both 
his  feet  frozen,  but  notwithstanding  his  semi-crippled  condition, 
he  pluckily  enlisted  in  the  regular  army  during  the  late  war,  later 
becoming  an  inmate  of  the  Soldiers'  Home  at  Dayton,  where  he 
subsequently  died. 

Early  L^cal  Military  Operations. — The  people  of  Summit 
county,  like  those  of  the  people  of  Ohio,  generally,  were  subject  to 
stated  military  duty  under  the  early  militia  laws  of  the  State,  and 
all  able-bodied  males,  of  military  age,  were  enrolled  into  com- 
panies, regiments,  brigades,  divisions,  etc.  Quite  a  number  of 
independent  companies  also  flourished  for  longer  or  shorter 
j^eriods,  among  which  the  "Summit  Guards"  with  the  late  Gen. 
Philo  Chamberlin  as  captain,  Arad  Kent  as  first  lieutenant  and 
Alexander  H.  Commins  second  lieutenant,  was  one  of  the  most 
prominent,  and  \^ith  their  nobby  blue  uniforms,  showy  epau- 
lettes and  waving  plumes,  thoroughly  drilled  as  they  were,  the 
Summit  Guards  were  the  just  pride  of  Ancient  Akron,  as  is  Com- 
pany B,  Ohio  National  Guard,  the  pride  of  modern  Akron  t(>-day. 

The  Battle  of  Fort  Meigs. — This  company  was  present  at 
the  great  Fort  Meigs  celebration,  during  the  Harrison-Van  Buren 
campaign  of  1840,  on  June  10  and  11,  in  giving  an  account  of  Avhich 
Hiram  Bowen,  Esq.,  founder  and  editor  of  the  Beacon,  said:  "We 
cannot  here  refrain  from  a  favorable  mention  of  the  *  Summit 
Guards.'  It  was  the  largest  company  present,  and  in  appearance 
Avas  the  admiration  of  all.  It  was  w^ith  pride  that  w^e  answrered  the 
numerous  questions,  'Where  is  that  fine  company  from?'  by  saying, 
'  They  are  from  Akron.'  The  Guards  had  the  honor  of  escorting 
Gen.  Harrison  to  and  from  the  fort." 

Grand  Officers'  Review  in  Akron. — In  1842,  Brig.  Gen. 
Oliver  E.  Gross,  and  Brigade  Inspector  Lewis  P.  Buckley,  notify 
the  commandants  of  regiments,  squadrons  and  battalions  to  meet 
in  Akron,  August  19  and  20,  for  inspection  and  drill,  with  prepara- 
tion for  camp  duty,  drum  and  fife  majors  to  bring  their  drums  and 
fifes  with  them,  the  Akron  and  Mogadore  bands  also  being 
requested  to  attend  on  the  second  day. 

"The  Akron  Rifles"  O.  V.  M.— The  Beacon  of  July  30,  1857, 
said:  "  The  military  law  of  last  Winter  seems  to  have  given  a  new 
impulse  to  the  organization  of  military  companies.  A  rifle  com- 
pany has  been  formed  here,  consisting  of  substantial  and  spirited 
young  men  w^ho  w^ill  be  ambitious  to  make  the  corps  equal  to  the 
foremost  in  appearance,  drill  and  discipline.  The  officers  are  as 
foUow^s: 

Capt.,  William  L.  Everett;  first  lieut.,  Henry  G.  Pow^ers;  second 
lieut.,  Dudley  Seward;  third  lieut.,  Augustus  Brothwell;  ensign, 
William  B.   Doyle;  judge  advocate,  Alvin  C.  Voris;  surgeon.  Dr. 


352  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Jacob  J.  Smith;  recording  secretary,  Oliver  Hazard  Perry  Ayres; 
financial  secretary,  R.  F.  Gibson;  treasurer,  John  H.  Christ3^" 

"Marrinek  Riflemen" — German. — In  January,  1861,  when 
signs  of  coming  civil  war  thickened  about  us,  the  patriotic 
Germans  of  Akron  organized  a  company,  under  above  title,  in 
honor  of  Militia  Major  General  Asa  S.  Marriner  and  his  chief  of 
staff,  George  \V.  Marriner,  with  the  following  named  officers: 
Capt.,  Baptist  Benkler;  first  lieut.,  John  Keller;  second  lieut.,  Peter 
Berra;  ensign,  John  Schaab;  orderly  sergt.,  Cornelius  Brown;  sec- 
ond sergt.,  John  Hans;  third  sergt.,  Aaron  Rut;  first  corp.,  Peter 
Taubermann;  second  corp.,  Joseph  Schmidt.  This  company,  under 
the  training  of  the  Messrs.  Marriner,  rapidly  attained  great  pro- 
ficiency of  drill,  and  on  March  4,  1861 — in  honor  of  the  inauguration 
of  President  Lincoln — gave  their  first  public  parade,  and  were 
reviewed  by  Brig.  Gen.  George  W.  McNeil  and  staff,  consisting  of 
Major  Erhard  Stembacher,  Capt.  John  T,  Good,  Capt.  Jacob  B. 
Dussell,  Capt.  A.  Zipperlin  (surgeon),  and  Capt.  Thomas  Earl 
(chaplain). 

The  tviTO  companies  above  named,  on  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war,  went  to  pieces,  the  most  of  their  number  entering  the  servace 
in  the  various  companies  and  regiments  then  organized  and  sent 
into  the  field. 

We  have  not  the  data  nor  the  space  to  further  trace  the  early 
military  "prowess"  of  Akron  and  vicinity,  except  to  say  that  at  the 
breaking  out  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  the  principal  active  local 
military  officers  were  Major  General  Asa  S.  Marriner,  Brigadier 
General  Geo.  W.  McNeil  and  Major  Erhard  Steinbacher. 

THE   WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War,  in  the  Spring  of  1861, 
the  people  of  Akron  and  Summit  county  were  found  to  be  patriotic 
to  the  core,  political  party  lines  being  abolished  and  Republicans 
and  Democrats  alike — with  a  few  dishonorable  exceptions — cor- 
dially united  in  a  solid  Union  organization,  sharing  equally  the 
civil  offices,  and  working  shoulder  to  shoulder  for  the  preservation 
of  the  Union. 

In  common  with  the  people  of  the  entire  North,  the  people  of 
Akron  had  w^atched  with  the  most  intense  interest,  the  proceedings 
at  Washington  and  elsew^here,  and  when,  in  lightning  flashes,  the 
news  was  received,  that  on  the  12th  day  of  April,  1861,  Fort  Sumter 
had  been  fired  upon,  by  armed  traitors,  the  excitement  instanta- 
neously rose  to  the  highest  point  of  patriotic  fervor. 

Immediately  following  Mr.  Lincoln's  call  for  troops,  a  meeting 
of  the  citizens  of  Akron  and  vicinity,  Avithout  regard  to  political 
party  predilections,  was  held  at  Union  Hall  (Henry's  block)  on 
Wednesday  evening,  April  17,  presided  over  by  Henry  Purdy  Esq., 
and  of  which  Hon.  Ira  P.  Sperry,  of  Tallmadge,  Dr.  Mendal  Jewett, 
of  Middlebury  (Republicans)  and  Gen.  George  W.  McNeil  and  Dr. 
JacobJ.  Smith  (Democrats)  were  vice  presidents,  and  Jacob  A.  Koh- 
ler,  Esq.,  Secretary,  Roland,  O.  Hammond,  then  the  leading  Demo- 
crat of  Summit  county,  taking  an  active  part  in  the  meeting,  and 
making  an  equally  patriotic  speech  with  Messrs.  N.  W.  Goodhue, 
Gen.  L.  V.  Bierce  and  other  prominent  Republicans  who  addressed 
the  meeting,  which  meeting  unanimously  adopted  ringing  resolu- 
tions, for  the  abolition  of  all  party  lines  and  a  vigorous  and  united 


MAG.N  IFICEXT    UPRISING. 


37)3 


effort  for  the  preserv^ation  and  perpetuation  of  the  government ; 
opposing  to  the  bitter  end  secession  and  rebellion,  and  all  kinds  of 
traitors,  whether  found  in  the  North  or  South;  that  the  requisition 
for  troops  should  be  at  once  responded  to,  and  doubled  and  trebled, 
if  necessary;  that  an  overwhelming  force  be  at  once  organized 
that,  "in  one  campaign,  shall  wipe  out  the  rebellion  of  petty 
tyrants,  and  restore  peace  and  prosperity  to  our  country." 


Kecrnifiny  Scene,  corner  Howard  and  Market  .Streets,  at  beiiinniiiji  of  the 
War  in  1861.— From  photo  by  «.  F.  Battels. 

Akron  Union  Light  Infantry. — To  the  first  call  for  75,()00  vol- 
unteers, issued  by  President  Lincoln  April  15,  1861,  Akron  and  vSum- 
mit  county  w^ere  among  the  very  first  to  respond.  The  first  com- 
panies recruited  here,  under  that  call,  were  Companies  A.  and  B,, 
Akron  Union  Light  Infantry,  afterwards  mustered  into  the  ser- 
vice as  Companies  G.  and  K.,  Nineteenth  Regiment,  Ohio  Volun- 
teer Infantry ;  and  Company  C,  Akron  Buckeye  Infantry,  the 
latter,  because  of  an  excess  of  enlistments,  being  disbanded  before 
being  mustered  into  the  United  States  service. 

The  original  officers  of  Company  A.  [G.J  were  Lewis  P.  Buck- 
ley, Capt.;  Andrew  J.  Fulkerson,  First  Lieut.;  Gilbert  S.  Carpen- 
ter, Second  Lieut.,  with  the  following  members  :  Charles  A,  Ackley, 
Frank C.Ackley,  William  G.  Alexander,  Henry  E.Bryan,  J. E.  Bruce, 
W.  W.  Buck,  N.  B.  Bigelow,  Gates  A.  Babcock,  Avery  S.  Beardsley, 
Charles  M.  Browri,  Jr.,  Cornelius  A.  Brouse,  Byron  S,  Chase, 
George  A.  Collins,  \V.  A.  Chamberlin,  William  Carl,  Frederick  F. 
Falk,  George  W.  Folsom,  Alden  Gage,  John  C.  Hanscom,  G.  W. 
Hart,  Charles  Henning,  Henry  O.  Hampson,  Charles  W.  Huse,  T. 
J.  Hudson,  J.  D.  Heathman,  Marcus  F.  C.  Humphrey,  Henr^'  Ward 
Ingersoll,  Oscar  C.  Jackson,  Hiram  A.  Kepler,  John  Kielj^,  Otto 
Kipps,  Charles  Keol,  T,  G.  Lane,  James  M.  Malone,  William  H, 
McMaster  (drummer),  George  A.  Purington,  Julian  H.  Pitkin,  Mills 
B.  Purdy,  S.    E.  Phinney,   John    Patterson,   Richard ^F.    Palmer,. 

23 


354  AKRON   AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Orson  H.  Remington,  Harrison  H.  Remington,  Walter  B.  Scott, 
Dudley  Seward,  James  B.  Storer,  Joseph  W.  Swaggard,  B.  Schil- 
ling, A.  H.  Thompson,  John  Jackson  Tate,  David  W,  Thomas, 
Samuel  C.  Williamson,  S.  P.  Watkins,  T.  Weckey,  Peter  Wagoner, 
L.  J.  Wagoner,  H.  M.  White,  S.  Washburn,  of  Akron  and  Middle- 
bury ;  John  Mason,  of  Copley;  Arthurton  H.  Farnum,  Elias  Sweet, 
Henry  Mack  and  G.  J.  Richmond,  of  Bath  ;  W,  P.  Williamson,  of 
Randolph  ;  J.  Alexander  Lantz,  of  Springfield  ;  Frank  Maranville* 
Levi  J.  McMurray,  D.  D.  HoUinger  and  J.  HoUinger,  of  Clinton  ; 
Peter  Carl  and  E.  Harrington,  of  East  Liberty ;  R.  H.  Morgan,  E. 
S.  Haskell  and  H.  L.  Risden,  of  Peninsula  ;  J.  A.  Kellogg,  Nathan 
Rose  and  William  B.  Richardson,  of  Boston  ;  Charles  A.  Miller, 
of  Hudson  ;  C.  G.  Jewell,  Gurley  G.  Crane  (drummer),  E.  L.  Hitch- 
cock, Christopher  Cook,  William  H.  Hinde  and  A.  C.  Holloway, 
of  Cuyahoga  Falls — a  total  of  88  men. 

Unfortunately  a  distinct  roster  of  Company  B,  Akron  Light 
Infantry,  has  not  been  preserved,  the  names  of  the  original  officers 
being  :  Andrew  J.  Konkle,  Captain ;  Paul  T.  Kirby,  First  Lieut, 
and  James  Nelson,  Second  Lieut.  The  roster  of  Company  C,  hon- 
orably discharged  May  17,  1861,  was  as  follows:  Pulaski  C.  Hard, 
Capt.;  Joshua  Hile,  First  Lieut.;  John  H.  Knox,  Second  Lieut.; 
Myron  T.  Wright,  First  Sergt.;  Francis  H.  Danforth,  Second  Sergt.; 
Ransom  J.  Ellsworth,  Third  Sergt.;  Samuel  Aue,  Fourth  Sergt.; 
Elisha  H.  Pursell,  First  Corporal;  Aaron  Betz,  Second  Corporal ; 
George  A.  Falor,  Third  Corporal;  William  Galbraith,  Fourth  Cor- 
poral. Privates:  Alonzo  Austin,  Albert  P.  Beitel,  Timothy  Bald- 
^vin,  Samuel  J.  Crawford,  Wellington  Cook,  Christian  Conrad, 
Mortimer  Danforth,  Isaac  D.  Dailey,  George  W.  Dice,  Joseph  C. 
Evans,  Abram  Fouser,  John  H.  FVancisco,  Thomas  J.  Falor,  Robert 
F'airbanks,  David  C.  Fisher,  Daniel  D.  Grim,  Bird  Green,  Andrew 
Hunsicker,  Harvey  Hull;  Horace  H.  Heath,  William  D.  Haj'^nes, 
Jacob  J.  Houseman,  Irvin  W.  Hull,  Francis  Huffman,  Hiram  Haring, 
A. W.  Kilbourn,  Stephen  Kissinger,  Jacob  Leopold,  Theophilus  Love- 
less, Jacob  A.  Miller,  Joseph  R.  Mell,,  James  H.  McDonald,  David 
Mclntyre,  William  McBride,  Lauren  Merriam,  John  A.  Osterstock, 
Samuel  W.  Parks,  Wesle}^  Powers,  Frank  D.  Paulus,  Clarence  M. 
Peck,  Charles  M.  Parker,  William  Peat,  Julius  Richards,  Charles 
D.  Steese,  Daniel  Shaaf,  James  W.  Stuver,  William  H.  Spidle,  San- 
born Searle,  Jacob  Symmen,  John  Scanlan,  Edward  Xj.  Smith, 
David  R.  Townsley,  William  Thompson,  Henry  F.  Waters,  George 
Weidman,  Harrison  Weeks,  Samuel  Winkleman,  Philip  Young. 

The  majority  of  the  Akron  and  Middlebury  members  of  the 
original  Nineteenth,  immediately,  6n  the  expiration  of  their  three 
months'  service,  enlisted  in  other  regiments  then  being  formed, 
and  in  subsequent  reports  were  credited  to  such  new  regiments, 
but  in  the  assessor's  reports  w^e  find  the  following  additional  names 
credited  to  the  Nineteenth  :  William  Bloomfield,  William  Beatty, 
A.  J.  Britton,  George  H.  Barber,  John  F.  Earl,"  James  H.  Grinnell, 
Michael  Hoy,  William  D.  Haynes,  S.  J.  lies,  Paul  T.  Kirby,  Louis 
Lods,  Henry  E.  Musser,  James  Nelson,  Jacob  Rhoderubaugh, 
Charles  Sherbondy,  George  Smith,  John  Welch,  George  Weber, 
Elbridge  E.  Wilcox. 

ENTHUSIASM  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 

In  speaking  of  the  local  patriotism  and  enthusiasm  of  those 
days,  the  writer,  as  editor  of  the  Beacon,  in  the  issue  of  April  25,, 


ENTHUSIASTIC    PATRIOTISM.  355 

1861,  said :  "For  the  past  week  our  town  has  been  in  a  constant 
«tate  of  enthusiasm  and  excitement.  Two  full  companies  have 
been  organized  and  the  third  nearly  completed.  National  flags, 
almost  without  number,  have  been  stretched  across  our  streets, 
and  displayed  upon  our  stores,  shops  and  dwellings.  The  muster- 
ing of  soldiers — the  sound  of  fife  and  drum — the  singing  of  the 
'Star  Spangled  Banner,'  'Hail  Columbia,'  and  other  patriotic 
songs,  the  presentation  of  banners,  side-arms,  etc.,  w^ith  appropriate 
addresses  and  responses,  and  cheers  for  the  Union,  have  been 
exciting  and  gratifying  beyond  expression." 

On  Monday,  April  22,  just  one  week  after  the  call  of  President 
Lincoln  for  75,000  men,  Company  A,  Akron  Light  Infantry  was 
formed  in  line,  on  Market  street,  between  Howard  and  Main,  the 
entire  street  being  thronged  ^vith  intensely  interested  specta- 
tors, when,  on  being  successively  called  from  the  ranks,  presenta- 
tions w^ere  made,  with  appropriate  speeches  and  responses,  as 
foUow^s  : 

William  H.  Upson,  Esq.,  to  Lieut.  Gilbert  S.  Carpenter,  a  Colt's 
rev^olver,  saying : 

"I  present  you  this  revolver  which  I  trust  may  be  useful  to 
A'ou.  I  know  you  will  always  be  true  to  the  noble  cause  in  which 
you  have  enlisted  and  may  the  blessing  of  God  go  ^th  you." 

Lieut.  Carpenter  responded  :  "I  receive  this  weapon  from  your 
hands,  Sir,  with  emotions  I  cannot  express.  I  \vill  endeavor  to  so 
use  it  that  it  will  never  speak  less  firmly  and  surely  for  the  right 
than  its  former  owner.     You  have  my  thanks,  Sir." 

Edward  Oviatt,  Esq.,  presented  a  revolver  on  his  own. account 
to  Walter  B.  Scott,  and  on  behalf  of  Mr.  Charles  Cranz,  a  revolver 
to  Henry  Ward  Ingersoll — ^to  Mr.  Scott  saying  :  "To  you,  Sir,  I 
present  this  weapon  believing  that  it  will  be  used  by  you  as  an 
<^ffective  argument  against  the  traitors  of  our  native  land  ;"  and  to 
Mr.  Ingersoll  saying  :  "In  behalf  of  Charles  Cranz,  the  Patriot, 
i^nd  at  his  request,  I  present  to  you  this  instrument  of  death,  fully 
believing  that  in  your  hands  it  w^ill  never  be  dishonored,  and  that 
when  the  time  arrives,  at  least  one  traitor  will  meet  his  just 
<leserts." 

Mr.  IngersoU's  response  was  as  follows: 

"My  friend,  for  this  gift  bear  ye  to  the  liberal  and  generous 
Cranz  the  gratitude  of  my  whole  heart,  and  say  to  him,  as  it  was 
given  to  be  used,  if  needs  be,  in  defense  of  my  person  and  of  our 
priceless  liberties,  for  the  defense  of  the  great  Magna  Charta  of 
Freedom,  under  which  we  have  loved  so  w^ell  to  live,  and  shield  it 
from  the  polluting  touch  of  traitors— the  enemies  of  Liberty  and 
Ood — say  to  him  that  w^ith  what  nerve,  skill  and  strength  I  pos- 
sess, it  shall  be  used  in  defense  of  those  interests;  and  if  occasion 
shall  arise,  it  shall  carry  destruction  and  confusion  to  our  foes. 
God  bless  you,  sir,  and  him;  shield  us  and  return  us  again  safely 
to  our  homes,  where  we  may  live  and  enjoy  the  blessings  of  peace 
iind  prosperity  together." 

Other  presentations  w^ere  made  with  equally  appropriate 
speeches  and  responses,  which  we  cannot  here  reproduce,  as 
follows:  Daniel  W,  Storer  to  his  brother,  James  B.  Storer,  a 
revolver;  William  H.  Tallman  to  Archibald  H.  Thompson,  a  vol- 
canic repeater;  Joseph  E.  Wesener  to  Cornelius  A.  Brouse,  a 
revolver;    Wilbur   F.    Sanders,    Esq.,    on   behalf    of   Gen.   Asa    S. 


356  AKRON    AND    SUMx^IIT   COUNTY. 

Marriner,  a  revolver  to  Joseph  W.  S-waggard;  on  behalf  of  hi» 
fellovi^  salesmen,  a  revolver  to  J.  E.  Bruce;  on  behalf  of  his  brother 
mechanics,  a  revolver  to  Mr.  T.  G.  Lane. 

Edwin  P.  Green,  Esq.,  also  presented  a  revolver  and  a  large 
dirk-knife  each,  to  Alden  Gage,  Henry  E.  Bryan  and  Arthur  H^ 
Farnam,  after  proper  responses  had  been  made,  saying  to  the 
company: 

"Gentlemen:  I  have  not  not  selected  these  three  young  men 
— my  especial  friends  —  because  I  do  not  believe  3^ou  will  all 
equally  do  your  duty,  and  that  I  Avould  not  with  the  same  pleasure 
do  the  same  for  each  one  of  you.  Not  at  all.  My  heart  reaches, 
but  my  pocket  falls  short.  Some  of  j^ou  have  families,  and  you  are 
anxious  to  know  if  they  wall  be  taken  care  of  during  your  absence. 
Let  us  know  where  your  families  are,  and  if,  on  3'^our  return,  they 
say  they  have  not  been  cared  for,  and  I  have  one  cent  remaining, 
that  I  have  not  divided  with  them,  shoot  me  as  a  traitor;  and 
now  I  say  you  will  onlj'^  then  have  done — as  3^0^^  will  do  during 
your  absence^ — your  duty." 

Ralph  P.  Waterbury,  for  the  Akron  Stove  Company,  presented 
a  revolver  to  N.  B.  Bigelow^,  an  emploj^e  of  the  company;  Charles 
Falk  a  like  weapon  and  a  bowie-knife  to  his  brother  Fred.  F.  Falk; 
George  Thomas,  a  revolver  to  his  son,  David  W.  Thomas;  Christy 
Sc  Co.,  a  revolver  to  John  Jackson  Tate;  J.  Baldwin  &  Co.,  a 
revolver  to  Charles  H.  Edgerly;  and  George  W.  Weeks,  Esq.,  on 
behalf  of  sundry  citizens  of  Copley,  made  donations  in  money  to 
C.  Conrad,  E.  H.  Pursell,  John  Mann,  S.  Fairbanks,  Charles 
Corbus,  E.  Hull,  E.  Capron  and  A.  Golden,  volunteers  from  that 
township. 

AT  CAMP  AKRON. 

As  soon  as  company  organizations  were  effected,  "Camp- 
Akron"  was  established  on  the  Fair  Grounds,  near  the  present 
residence  of  Col.  A.  L.  Conger,  over-looking  the  city  upon  the  west,, 
the  fair  buildings  being  utilized  as  barracks,  the  ladies  of  the  citj'' 
generously  supplying  the  boys  with  rations,  blankets,  etc. 

Here,  on  Monday,  April  29,  1861,  Philip  P.  Bock  presented 
Capt,  Buckley  w^ith  a  very  fine  revolver;  Mr.  C.  J.  Slocum,  on 
behalf  of  citizens  of  Middlebury,  presented  the  boj's  from  that 
village  w^ith  a  substantial  sum  of  money  each;  the  ladies  of  Akron 
presented  Company  A  with  a  fine  merino  banner  with  "Akron 
Union  Light  Infantry,  Company  A."  embroidered  on  its  folds r 
Rev.  Henry  Adams,  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  in  behalf  of  the  Christian 
people  of  Akron,  presented  each  member  of  the  several  companies 
w^ith  a  beautiful  pocket  edition  of  the  New  Testament,  with  a  per- 
tinent and  feeling  address,  Mr.  Adams  also  giving  a  prayer  book  to 
each  soldier  member  of  his  own  congregation. 

A  fine  stand  of  colors,  with  the  legend  "Akron  Union  Light 
Infantry,  Company  B,"  embroidered  upon  one.  of  its  w^hite  stripes 
in  blue  silk,  was  presented  to  that  company,  in  behalf  of  the  ladies 
of  Akron,  in  the  following  neat  address  by  Mrs.  S.  H.  Coburn: 
"In  behalf  of  the  patriotic  w^omen  of  this  place,  I  present  you  this 
flag  of  our  Union,  feeling  assured  that  there  is  need  of  no  Tvord 
of  ours  to  inspire  you  w^ith  courage  in  its  defense.  That  the  Ruler 
of  Battles  may  guard  and  protect  3'^ou,  and  after  giving  you  a 
victory  over  the  enemies  of  freedom,  bring  3'ou  in  safety  to  your 


"goodies"  for  the  boys  in  camp.  357 

homes,  will  be  the  daily  prayers  of  those  whose  fingers  have  fash- 
ioned this  emblem,  and  in  their  behalf  I  bid  you  God  speed  in  this 
your  glorious  undertaking." 

IN  CAMP  TAYLOR. 

So  immense  had  been  the  uprising  all  over  the  country,  that 
our  boys  were  beginning  to  feel  somewhat  "blue,"  lest  they  should 
not  be  permitted  to  go  to  the  front,  after  all,  but  on  Monday,  May 
lst,Gen.  George  \V.  McNeil,  received  orders  from  Gov.  Dennison  for 
the  Command  to  report  immediately  at  Camp  Taylor,  near 
Cleveland,  and  on  Tuesday  morning  the  three  companies  named 
marched  from  Camp  Akron  to  the  depot,  w^here  an  immense 
■crowd  of  joyful  yet  tearful  friends  had  assembled  to  witness  their 
departure.  At  the  depot,  Dr.  Thomas  Earl,  on  behalf  of  the  ladies 
of  Akron,  in  brief  but  fitting  words,  presented  to  Company  C  a 
beautiful  flag,  on  which  was  embroidered,  "Akron  Buckeye 
Infantry,  Company  C,"  Captain  Hard,  in  response,  expressing  the 
gratitude  of  his  company  for  the  beautiful  gift. 

Scores  of  our  citizens  daily  visited  Camp  Taylor,  the  great 
interest  felt  for  the  w^elfare  and  comfort  of  the  soldier  boys  being 
evidenced  by  the  fact  that  on  Wednesday,  May  16,  a  large  company 
of  the  ladies  of  Akron,  Cuyahoga  Falls  and  Hudson  visited  the 
<:amp,  armed  vsrith  heavily  charged  baskets  of  cold  chicken, 
biscuit  and  butter,  cakes,  pies,  canned  fruit,  etc.,  the  spread  being 
most  heartily  enjoyed  by  all,  w^hile  our  present  fellow-citizen,  Mr. 
John  J.  Wagoner,  then  doing  business  in  Manchester,  sent  them 
tw^o  barrels  of  roll  butter,  w^ith  the  promise  of  several  barrels  of 
eggs  should  they  remain  in  camp  until  they  could  be  provided. 

NINETEENTH  OHIO  VOLUNTEER  INFANTRY. 

The  quota  of  Ohio,  under  the  75,000  call  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  was 
only  about  18,0tX),  and  when  at  least  80,000  of  her  patriotic  sons 
were  not  only  offered  but  urged  upon  Governor  Dennison,  of 
■course  all  could  not  be  accepted,  and  many  companies  had  to  be 
disbanded  before  being  assigned  to  regiments  or  mustered  into  the 
service  of  the  United  States.  Among  those  thus  doomed  to  disap- 
pointment, were  the  members  of  Company  C,  a  portion  of  the  men 
however,  uniting  with  Captain  Buckley's  company,  or  re-enlisting 
under  the  first  three  years'  call  which  had  just  then  been  made,  in 
announcing  which  fact  Captain  Hard  said:  "To  the  citizens  of 
Akron,  and  to  the  ladies  especially,  we  extend  our  gratitude  for 
the  respect  they  have  show^n  us,  and  will  return  our  banner  to 
them  as  pure  as  w^hen  received,  hoping  ere  long  to  bring  it  forth 
to  a  more  honorable  position  in  the  field." 

Companies  A  and  B,  however,  were  accepted,  and  as  before 
intimatetl  attached  to  the  Nineteenth  Volunteer  Infantry  as  com- 
panies G  and  K,  which  regiment,  on  being  duly  organized  and 
mustered  in,  was  sent  to  Camp  Jackson,  at  Columbus,  May  27, 
1861.  Here  regimental  officers  were  elected,  with  Samuel  Beatty, 
of  Canton,  as  Col.,  Capt.  Buckley,  of  Company  G,  being  promoted 
to  Major. 

Companies  A  and  B  were  detailed  to  gqard  the  ferry  at  Bellaire, 
iind  the  balance  of  the  regiment  sent  to  Camp  Goddard,  at  Zanes- 
ville,  to  perfect  themselves,  under  that  strict  disciplinarian,  Major 


358  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Buckley,  in  military  drill.  June  20,  the  entire  regiment,  with 
others,  went  to  Parkersburg,  Va.,and  were  organized  into  a  brigade 
under  Brig.  Gen.  W.  S.  Rosecrans.  This  brigade  participated  in  the 
battle  of  Rich  Mountain,  on  July  7,  the  gallant  conduct  of  the  regi- 
ment dieting  from  Gen.  Rosecrans,  the  following:  "The  Nine- 
teenth Ohio  distinguished  itself  for  the  cool  and  handsome  manner 
in  which  it  held  its  post  against  a  flank  attack,  and  for  the  hand- 
some manner  it  w^hich  it  came  into  line  and  delivered  its  fire  near 
the  close  of  the  action." 

The  term  for  w^hich  the  members  of  the  original  Nineteenth 
had  enlisted  having  expired,  on  July  23, 1861,  the  regiment  returned 
to  Columbus  and  ^vas  mustered  out  of  service.  It  was,  however, 
immediately  reorganized — and  recruited  to  996  men,  for  three  years, 
including  many  of  the  original  Summit  county  members  of  Com- 
panies G  and  K. 

Leaving  Camp  Dennison  November  19,  the  newly  organized 
Nineteenth  participated  in  the  battle  of  Mill  Springs,  in  Avhich 
the  rebel  General  Zollicoffer  was  defeated;  Pittsburg  Landing;  the 
siege  of  Cornith;  marched  and  counter-marched  with  Gen.  Buell 
in  and  through  Kentucky, Tennessee,  Alabama,  etc.;  crossed  Stone 
River  and  received  the  rebel  charge  under  Breckenridge.on  June  2, 
1863,  losing  213  men,  killed,  w^ounded,  and  misusing;  participated  in 
the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  losing  100  men,  killed,  Avounded  and 
missing;  at  Orchard  Knob,  November  23, 1863,  losing  20  men,  killed 
and  wounded;  took  part  in  the  charge  on  rebel  works  at  foot  of 
Missionary  Ridge,  November  26,  with  a  loss  of  one  man  killed  and 
13  wounded. 

At  Strawberry  Plains,  January  1,  1864,  some  400  of  the  surviv- 
ing members  of  the  regiment  enlisted  as  Veterans  for  three  3'ears 
more,  and  were  sent' home  on  a  30  days'  furlough.  On  returning 
to  the  front,  the  regiment  engaged  in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  in 
the  Spring  of  1864;  fought  at  New  Hope  Church,  (with  a  loss  of  44 
men,  killed  and  Avounded),  at  Kenesaw,  at  Peach  Tree  Creek,  at 
the  crossing  of  the  Chattanooga,  and  was  dailj^  under  fire  until  the 
evacuation  of  Atlanta;  the  entire  loss  in  the  campaign  being  two 
commissioned  officers  and  13 men  killed;  six  commissioned  officers 
and  96  men  wounded,  and  13  men  missing — total  145. 

After  the  evacuation  of  Atlanta,  the  Nineteenth  formed  a  part 
of  Gen.  Thomas'  division  in  preventing  Hood  from  following  Sher- 
man in  his  celebrated  march  from  "Atlanta  to  the  Sea,"  partici- 
pating in  the  battle  of  Nashville,  with  a  slight  loss,  and  in  the 
Spring  of  1865  was  sent  to  Texas,  and  was  mustered  out  of  service 
on  the  21st  of  October,  1865. 

THE  TWENTY-NINTH  O.  V.  I. 

Immediately  on  the  mustering  out  of  the  original  Nineteenth,, 
as  above  set  forth,  the  Twenty-ninth  Regiment  was  recruited, 
under  the  auspices  of  that  grand  old  friend  of  freedom  and  justice, 
Hon.  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  of  Avhich,  on  its  organization  in  Camp 
Giddings,  at  Jefferson,  Ashtabula  county— the  home  of  its  patron 
saint — Major  Lewis  P.  Buckley,  of  Akron,  was  elected  Colonel. 

Companies  D,  G  and  H,  were  substantially  raised  in  Summit 
county;  Company  D,  with  Pulaski  C.  Hard  as  captain,  Myron  T. 
Wright,  first  lieutenant  and  James  H.  Grinnell  as  second  lieutenant^ 


TWENTY-NINTH    REGIMENT   O,    V.    I. 


359 


Company  G,  with  John  S.  Clemmer  captain,  James  Treen,  first  lieu- 
tenant, and  Josiah  J.  Wright  as  second  lieutenant;  Company  H,  with 
Jonas  Schoonover  as  captain,  Andrew  J.  Fulkerson,  first  lieutenant, 
and  Henry  Mack,  second  lieutenant. 

r^OL.  LEWIS  P.  BUCKLEY,  -born 
vv  at  Cayuga  Lake,  N.  Y.,  in  1804; 
at  17  entered  Military  Academy  at 
West  Point,  becoming- very  proficient 
in  both  literary,  scientific  and  mili- 
tary studies,  resigning  before  gradu- 
ation because  he  would  not  submit 
to  the  customary  insolence  of  the  pro- 
slaverj'  "F.  F.  V"-ism,  then  largel}' 
dominating  that  institution;  came  to 
Akron  about  1834,  opening  a  grocer}- 
storje  at  Lock  Eight,  Ohio  Canal,  in 
the  building  still  standing  there, 
,  with  his  family  residence  in  the  base- 
ment ;  in  1835  built  a  frame  block  on 
the  present  postoffice  site,  corner 
Howard  and  Mill  streets,  afterwards 
converted  into  a  hotel,  known  as  the 
Chidester  House,  a  year  later  erect- 
ing for  his  own  family  residence, 
the  house  now  occupied  by  Mrs. 
William  T.  Allen,  on  South  High 
street ;  was  member  of  Village  Coun- 
cil in  1839 ;  in  1840  established  foun- 
dry and  plow  works  at  Lock  Two, 
and  stove  and  tin  shop  on  Howard 
street ;  also  officiating  as  collector 
of  tolls  on  Ohio  Canal  during  1841, 
in  which,  through  the  alleged  rob- 
be»-y  of  his  deputy,  while  en  route  to 
Wooster,  to  deposit  the  monthl}^  col- 
lections for  October  of  that  year,  he 
became  an  apparent  defaulter  in  the 
sum  of  $3,985.45,  which,  after  the  ab- 
sorption of  the  residue  of  his  own 
means,  was  made  good  to  the  State 
by  his  bondsmen.  Though  thus  un- 
fortunate, the  majority  of  his  fellow- 
citizens  believing  in  his  personal 
integrity,  in  1842  elected  him  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  which  position  he  ably 
filled  three  years.  In  1849,  Mr.  Buck- 
ley -went  to  California,  where  he  re- 
mained about  three  years.  On  his 
return  to  Akron  followed  a  varietj'^ 
of  employments   until  the  breaking 


COL.   LEWIS   P.   BUCKLEY. 

out  of  the  war,  in  18(il,  when  he 
promptly  raised  a  company  for  the 
original  19th  O.  V.  I.,  of  which  regi- 
ment he  was  elected  major.  On  ex- 
piration of  three  months'  service, 
raised  a  company  for  the  29th  O.  V. 
I.,  of  which  he  was  made  colonel, 
ably  serving  until  failing  health  com- 
pelled his  resignation,  Jan.  26,  1863  ; 
was  then  assistant  doorkeeper  in 
House  of  Representatives  at  Wash- 
ington through  two  sessions  of  Con- 
gress, dying  in  Akron  June  25,  1868. 
universally'-  lamented,  his  memory 
being  perpetuated  in  Bucklej-  Post, 
G.  A.  R.,  and  his  full  length  portrait 
in  one  of  the  large  stained-glass  win- 
dows in  our  beautiful  soldiers'  me- 
morial chapel,  elsewhere  written  of. 


This  regiment  was  organized  August  26,  1861,  under  the  first 
three  years'  call,  but  owing  to  unavoidable  hindrances,  it  remained 
at  Camp  Giddings  until  December  25,  and  at  Camp  Chase,  Colum- 
bus, until  January  17,  1862.  But  the  time  was  by  no  means  lost,  as 
by  its  nearly  five  months'  constant  practice,  it  was  probably  as 
thoroughly  perfect  in  drill  as  any  regiment  in  the  service  during 
the  entire  war. 

NATIONAL  AND  REGIMENTAL  FLAGS. 

The  ladies  of  Summit  and  Ashtabula  counties  having  prepared 
beautiful  stands  of  national  and  regimental  colors,  on  November 
27,  the  flags  were  duly  presented  by  Mr.  Giddings  with  a  char- 
acteristic speech,  briefly  tracing  the  causes  that  led  to  the  rebellion. 


360  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

"Its  first  overt  acts^"  said  Mr.  Giddings,  "were  put  forth  in  Con- 
gress by  subjecting  the  people  of  the  free  States  to  gag  rules;  by 
striking  down  the  right  of  petition;  by  arraigning  and  publicly 
censuring  representatives  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  duty;  by 
annexing,  unconstitutionally,  slave  territory  and  extending  and 
strengthening  the  encroachments  of  slaver3^"  Continuingat  some 
length,  and  formally  presenting  the  banners  to  Col.  Buckley,  Mr. 
Giddings  said:  "Bear  in  mind  that  you  go  forth  to  fight  the  battles 
of  the  human  race  for  all  coming  time;  and  should  the  roar  of  can- 
non, the  rattling  of  muskets,  the  clashing  of  sabres,  the  din  and 
smoke  of  battle  surround  you,  remember  the  cause  in  which  you  are 
engaged,  and  be  assured  that  if  you  fall,  we  who  are  left  will  care 
for  your  widows  and  children.  Your  heroic  deeds  shall  be 
enshrined  in  our  memories,  recorded  in  our  history,  admired  by 
coming  generations  and  approved  by  a  holy  and  just  God."         • 

Col.  Buckley's  Response. — After  thanking  the  ladies  and  Mr. 
Giddings  for  the  beautiful  emblems,  Col.  Buckley,  said:  "Sir,  you 
have  spoken  in  high  commendation  of  my  command.  I  can  assure 
you  that  I  feel  honored  in  having  command  of  such  a  regiment.  It 
will  be  my  pride  and  ambition,  w^ith  my  fellow^  officers,  to  make  it, 
in  all  things  pertaining  to  a  well-drilled  and  well-disciplined  regi- 
ment, one  of  the  best  in  Ohio.  And  now,  fellow-soldiers,  in  the 
presence  of  this  assembly,  and  before  high  heaven,  let  us  sw^ear 
upon  the  altar  of  our  country,  to  defend  this  flag  so  long  as  there 
be  one  true  heart  and  strong  arm  to  hold  it  to  the  breeze." 

OFF  FOR  THE  FRONT. 

January  17,  1862,  the  regiment  was  sent  to  Cumberland,  Md., 
the  brigade  to  which  it  was  attached — commanded  by  Col.  K.  B. 
Tyler,  of  the  Seventh  Ohio  (a  Ravenna  boy) — was  assigned  to  Gen. 
Lander's  division,  which,  on  his  death,  March  1,  1862,  passed  to  the 
command  of  Gen.  Shields.  Being  a  part  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, the  29th  participated  in  the  battle  of  Washington,  March  23, 
1862,  defeating  the  rebels  under  Stonewall  Jackson;  the  battle  of 
Winchester,  Maj^  25,  the  battle  of  Port  Republic  June  9,  (several 
being  captured  by  the  rebels);  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain,  Au- 
gust 9,  1862;  second  battle  of  Bull  Run  August  30,  1862;  Antietam, 
September  17,  1862;  battle  of  Chancellorsville  May  1-4,  1863;  battle 
of  Gettysburg,  July  1-3,  1863. 

In  September,  1863,  after  aiding  in  quelling  the  New  York  draft 
riots,  the  Twenty-ninth  was  transferred  to  the  Army  of  the  Ten- 
nessee, and,  under  Gen.  Hooker,  participated  in  the  battles  of 
Lookout  Mountain,  November  24  and  25,  Mission  Ridge,  November 
26,  Ringold,  Ga.,  November  28.  Re-enlisting  as  veterans,  Decem- 
ber 11, 1863,  after  a  home  furlough  of  30  days,  the  regiment  returned 
to  the  front,  taking  an  active  part  in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  at  Dug 
Gap,  Ga.,  May  7,  1864;  at  Dallas,  Ga.,  May  29,  1864;  at  Pine  Knob, 
Ga..  June  19,  1864;  at  Peachtree  Creek,  Ga.,  July  20,  1864;  and,  after 
the  fall  of  Atlanta,  making  the  famous  march  from  "Atlanta  to 
the  Sea,"  and  after  the  capture  of  Savannah  and  Charleston, 
remaining  in  South  and  North  Carolina  (taking  a  hand  in  the  battle 
of  Averysville,  N.  C,  March  16,  1865),  until  the  close  of  the  war.  on 
April  29  proceeding  via  Richmond  to  Washington,  and  on  June  10, 
1865,  taking  part  in  the  grand  review,  in  the  capital  of  the  Nation 
it  had  lielped  to  save. 


AKRON    IN   THE    TWENTY-NINTH, 


361 


From  Washington  the  regiment  was  sent  to  Louisville,  Ky,, 
where,  Col.  Jonas  Schoonover  commanding,  it  remained  about  one 
month,  when  it  was  returned  to  Cleveland,  and  at  Camp  Taylor, 
July  22  and  23, 1865,  the  men,  428  in  number,  were  paid  off  and  duly 
mustered  out  of  serviceman}'  having  been  in  continuous  service  for 
over  four  years. 


r^OL.  DAVID  W.  THOMAS.-born 
V->  in  Millersburg-,  O.,  March  9, 1841  ; 
came  with  father  to  Akron  in  1843  ; 
educated  in  Akron  public  schools  ; 
at  16,  went  to  Tallniadge  and  learned 
the  carriag'e  blacksniithing-  trade 
with  Oviatt  &  Sperry  ;  in  April,  1861, 
enlisted  in  Co.  G,  19th  O,  V.  I.,  for 
three  months,  participating-  in  the 
battle  of  Rich  Mountain  and  serving 
till  end  ot  term.  In  October,  1861, 
enlisted  in  Co.  H,  29th  O.  V.  I.  for 
three  years,  taking-  part  in  the  battles 
of  Winchester,  Port  Republic,  Cedar 
Mountain,  Chancellorsville  (where 
he  was  slightly  wounded  by  a  frag- 
ment of  shell)  and  Gettysburg  ;  then 
went  to  New  York  City  to  quell  the 
draft  tiots  there ;  from  thence  to  the 
sovithwest,  being  at  Wauhatchie  and 
L/Ookout  Mountain.  Re-enlisting  as 
veterans,  in  December  1863,  reg-iment 
joined  Sherman  in  his  Atlanta  Cam- 
paign and  on  his  "March  to  the  Sea." 
Promoted  by  regular  g-radation,  at 
Savannah,  he  was  assigned  as  Cap- 
tain to  Co.  A,  (the  post  of  honor)  and 
as  such  mustered  out  at  Louisville, 
Ky.,  June  22,  1865.  Returning  home 
engaged  with  father  in  lumber  and 
building-  business,  and  on  death  of 
father,  in  1872,  with  Charles  Miller, 
R,  N.  Kratz  and  others,  now  being 
President  of  The  .Thomas  Lumber  & 
Building  Company,  organized  in  1887. 
In  1876  Capt.  Thomas  was  elected 
Colonel  of  the  9th  O.  N.  G.,  afterwards 
consolidated  with  the  8th  Regiment, 
as   elsewhere    related;  is    an    active 


COL.   DAVID   W.   THOMAS. 


meuiber  of  the  G.  A.  R.  organization, 
at  its  annual  encampment  in  188(), 
being  elected  Department  Command- 
er. Sept.  11, 1868,  was  married  to  Miss 
Alice  Hale— who  died  Jan.  4,  1880, 
leaving  four  children — George  H,, 
James  A.,  Frank  and  Elizabeth,  Dec. 
18,  1884,  Col,  T,  was  again  married,  to 
Mrs,  Isabella  Gage,  widow  of  the  late 
Alden  Gage,  and  daughter  of  the  late 
Charles  Webster,  founder  of  the  Web- 
ster, Camp  &  Lane  Machine  Com- 
pany. 


AKRON  IN  THE  TWENTY-NINTH. 


Following  is  a  list  of  the  soldiers  furnished  by  Akron,  Middle- 
bury  and  Portage  township,  so  far  as  the  present  available  docu- 
ments w^ill  furnish  them: 

Lewis  P,  Buckley,  Augustus  Belden,  S,  H,  Beatty,  Thomas  J. 
Bare,  Levi  J,  Baughman,  Solomon  J.  Baughman,  Lester  P.  Burke, 
Charles  Bedell,  Henry  Curtis,  Christian  Conrad,  John  Capen, 
Thomas  Cummings,  John  Cephas,  Charles  H,  Edgerly,  Alexander 
French,  Jacob  Fritz,  A,  J,  Fulkerson,  William  Fisher,  Charles 
Foster,  Dudley  Fisher,  Stephen  Griffith,  George  W.  Gibson,  John 


juiiii    xxugj^cLL,    i-'xanjus    jr.    \^,    jriuiiipiiicy ,  xvutswcn    ixuiiiiiciii,   jijiin 

Helfinger,   William  Hawk,  George    Hamilton,   S,  J,   lies,   Morgan 
Johnson,  John  Kelley,  John  A,  Kummer,  Jehial  Lane,  Jr.,  Joseph 


362  AKKON    AND    Sl'MMIT   COUNTY. 

Ivoomis,  Richard  Lewis,  Joseph  Litnric,  Byron  Lowe,  W.  C.  Lantz, 
W.  L.  Lowe,  William  Lane,  Jehial  Lane,  Sr.,  John  McNeil,  G.  F, 
Mest,  George  Montenyohl,  Frank  Metzler,  J.  H.  McDonald,  B.  F. 
Manderbach,  John  Madden,  Charles  H,  Paine,  Elisha  H,  PurselU 
Herman  Ridder,  Hiram  Root,  Jacob  Rhodenbaugh,  Orson  H, 
Remington,  John  Rowland,  Charles  A.  Rotart,  DeWitt  C.  Stephens,. 
George  Sherbondy,  James  B.  Storer,  James  K.  P.  Souers,  Ezra 
Spindle,  Daniel  Shaff,  John  Steese,  Charles  Sherbondy,  Jacob 
Scholberger,  James  Treen,  John  Treen,  George  Treen,  James  Treen, 
Jr.,  C.  T.  Tooker,  William  H.  Tooker,  David  W.  Thomas,  Charles 
Upham,  Valentine  Viers,  William  Wirt,  Carroll  W.  Wright,  John  F. 
Weidle,  Josiah  J.  Wright,  John  Watson,  Lewis  Wagner,  Samuel  S, 
Wood,  George  Wells,  William  Woodward,  J.  L.  Wagoner,  John  G. 
Wait,  John  Whitney,  George  Welch,  Samuel  Winkleman,  John  C 
Weidley,  Frank  O.  Weary,  musician  Co.  G,  Charles  Young,  Conrad 
Zittle. 

CASUALTIES  TO   TWENTY-NINTH. 

It  will  not  be  possible  to  give  all  the  casualties  to  Akron  and 
Summit  County  boys,  in  this  and  other  regiments,  but  the  fol- 
low^ing  in  regard  to  members  of  the  T^venty-Ninth,  may  properlj' 
be  given  here:  William  Palmer  Williamson,  brother  of  the  late 
Judge  Samuel  C.  Williamson,  then  second  lieutenant  of  Company 
G,  was  killed  at  Winchester,  Va.,  March  23,  1862,  being  the  first 
Summit  County  boy  to  lay  down  his  life  in  defense  of  the  Union. 
His  body  was  sent  home  by  his  comrades,  and  interred  in  Akron 
Rural  Cemetery.  Capt.  Myron  T.  Wright,  Company  D,  wounded 
in  same  battle;  again  wounded  at  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Ga.,  July  20, 
1864;  promoted  to  major,  October  29,  1864;  mortally  w^ounded  at 
Savannah,  Ga.,  December  19,  1864,  dying  January  7,  1865;  pro- 
moted to  lieutenant  colonel  January  18,  1865,  eleven  days  after 
his  decease.  Corporal  Augustus  Belden,  killed  by  guerrillas,  May 
30,  1862;  Lieut.  James  H.  Grinnell,  Company  D,  wounded  in  arm 
at  Port  Republic,  Va.,  June  9,  1862;  Capt.  Josiah  J.  Wright, 
Company  G,  w^ounded  in  shoulder,  at  Cedar  Mountain,  Va., 
August  9,  1862;  Capt.  Jonas  Schoonover,  Company  H,  w^ounded  at 
Cedar  Mountain,  August  9,  1862,  and  again  at  Chancellorsville,  Va., 
May  1,  1863,  promoted  to  major  at  Savannah,  January  18,  1865,  to 
lieutenant  colonel,  January  28,' 1865,  and  to  colonel,  July  25,  1865; 
James  B.  Storer,  promoted  from  sergeant  to  sergeant  major, 
March  14,  1862,  and  to  adjutant,  January  20,  1863,  wounded  at 
Rocky  Face  Ridge,  Ga.,  May  8,  1864,  by  minie  ball,  in  spinal 
column,  from  w^hich  ever  since  he  has  been  a  constant  sufferer; 
Valentine  Viers,  Company  D,  wounded  at  Winchester,  Va.,  March 
23,  1862;  John  F.  Weidle,  Company  G,  lost  a  leg  at  Chancellorsville, 
Va.,  May  2,  1863;  John  Rowland,  killed  by  guerrillas.  May  3,  1862; 
Alexander  C.  French,  Company  G,  killed  at  Cedar  Mountain,  Va., 
August  9,  1862;  John  A.  Kummer,  Company  G,  wounded  at 
Gettysburg,  July  2,  1863;  Thomas  C.  Bare  and  John  W.  Steese, 
Company  C,  Ellis  T.  Treen  and  William  C.  Lantz,  Company  G, 
killed  at  Dug  Gap,  Ga.,  May  8,  1864;  Lieut.  B.  F.  Manderbach, 
Company  G,  wounded  near  KenesaAv,  Ga.,  January  28,  1864. 
Corporal  Hammond  W.  Geer,  wounded  at  Dug  Gap,  Ga.,  Maj^  8, 
1864,  and  discharged  for  disability,  at  Nashville,  May  27,  1865. 

Among  the  Twenty-Ninth  boys  captured  by  the  rebels  at  Port 
Republic,  June  9,  1862,  were  Lieut.  Thomas  W.  Nash,  Company  H; 


CASUALTIES,    PROMOTIONS,   ETC. 


363 


Sergt.  W.  F.  Chamberlin,  Company  H;  Conrad  Zittle,  William 
Fisher,  John  A.  Kummer,  Hammond  W.  Geer,  William  Wirt,  John 
Gross,  DeWitt  C.  Stephens,  Company  G;  at  Strasburg,  Va.,  May 
25,  1862;  Ferris  Townsend  and  Newrton  P.  Humiston,  Company  G; 
at  Cedar  Mountain,  August  9,  1862,  Sergeant  Orson  H.  Reinington, 
Company  H. 


pAPT.  JOSIAH  J.  WRIGHT,- born 
^  in  Swanton,  Vt.,  September  19, 
1821 ;  educated  in  district  school  ;  in 
boyhood,  when  so  stnallas  to  reqinre 
a  block  to  stand  on  while  blowing- 
and  striking",  working  as  black- 
smith's assistant ;  at  15  became  clerk 
in  country  store ;  in  184()  came  to 
Ohio,  working  on  farin  at  50  cents 
per  day ;  for  a  time  attended  Twins- 
burg  Institute;  then  taught  school 
winters  and  worked  at  blacksmithing 
summers.  After  marriage  to  Miss 
Margaret  A.  Waite,  of  Brecksville, 
August  21,  1842,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wright 
jointly  taught  school  one  year  in 
SouthBloomfield,Pickawa)'COunty,0. 
For  many  years  Mr.  Wright  was  a 
successful  and  popular  auctioneer 
and  commission  merchant ;  in  1851 
removing  to  Akron,  where  for  several 
years  he  officiated  as  constable,  mar- 
shal and  general  detective.  In  the 
war  of  the  Rebellion  Capt.  Wright 
took  a  prominent  part,  serving  as 
captain  of  Co.  G,  29th  O.  V.  I.,  until 
discharged  October  1, 1862,  on  account 
of  wounds  received  at  Gedar  Moun- 
tain August  9,  1862;  on  partial 
recovery  engaged  in  recruiting  ser- 
vice ;  in  1863  again  entering  the  army 
as  second  lieutenant  of  Co.  K,  129th 
O.  V.  I.,  serving  till  discharged  for 
disability  in  March,  1864 ;  again 
engaged  in  recruiting,  and  again,  in 
Spring  of  1865,  entered  the  army,  first 
as    a   private,    soon    being   commis- 


CAPT.  JOSIAH   J.   WRIGHT. 


sioned  captain  of  Co.  D,  197th  O.  V.  I., 
serving  till  discharged,  at  close  of 
the  war,  August  6th,  1865.  After  the 
war  Capt.  Wright  officiated  for  some 
time  as  auctioneer  and  private  detec- 
tive, and  later,  for  several  years,  as- 
editor  and  publisher  of  the  ^Ikron 
Commercial  and  its  successor,  the 
People's  Monthly. 


Among  the  Twenty-Ninth  boys  who  died  in  the  service, 
besides  those  mentioned  above,  \vrere:  Stephen  J.  lies.  Company 
D,  at  Cleveland,  O.,  May  8,  1864;  George  Sherbondy,  Company  G, 
at  Aquia  Creek,  Va.,  April  23,  1863;  William  Wirt,  Company  G,  at 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  June  30,  1864;  Charles  D.  Hine,  Company  G,  died 
at  Middlebury,  O.,  March  31,  1863;  Newton  P.  Humiston,  Company 
G,  died  in  rebel  prison,  July  28,  1862;  Joseph  Loomis,  Company  G, 
died  at  Cumberland,  Md.,  February  26,  1862;  Morgan  Johnson 
Company  G,  died  February  26,  1864. 

PROMOTIONS  IN  TWENTY-NINTH. 


We  cannot  give  all  the  promotions  that  occurred,  from  time  to 
time,  during  the  war,  but  may  here  very  properly  mention  the 
following:  On  the  resignation  of  Capt.  Pulaski  C.  Hard,  of 
Company  D,  March  21,  1862,  First  Lieutenant  Myron  T.  Wright 
was  promoted  to  captain,  and  major,  on  the  resignation  of  Major 


364  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

John  S.  Cleiiinier,  December  25,  1862.  James  B.  Storer  was  pro- 
moted from  sergeant  of  Compan}'  H,  to  sergeant  major,  Februar}^ 
13,  1862;  to  second  lieutenant.  Company  F,  April  13,  1862;  to  first 
lieutenant  and  adjutant,  January  20,  1863.  On  the  promotion  of 
Captain  Clemmer,  of  Company  G,  to  major,  December  31,  1861, 
Second  Lieutenant  Josiah  J.  Wright  was  promoted  to  captain, 
over  First  Lieutenant  James  Treen,  Sergeant  Wilbur  F.  Chamberlin 
being  promoted  to  second  lieutenant.  On  the  discharge  of  Captain 
Wright,  on  account  of  w^ounds  received  at  the  battle  of  Cedar 
Mountain,  Va.,  August  8,  1862,  Lieutenant  James  Treen  \\ras  pro- 
moted to  captain,  and  on  his  resignation.  May  23,  1863,  Lieut. 
Wilbur  F.  Chamberlin  was  promoted  to  captain;  Benjamin 
F.  Manderbach,  of  Company  G,  being  appointed  corporal, 
December  22.  1863;  sergeant.  May  9,  1864,  first  sergeant  July  1,  1864, 
and  first  lieutenant,  April  4,  1865. 

As  soon  as  able,  after  his  discharge  as  captain  of  Company  G, 
29th  regiment,  Capt.  J.  J.  Wright  voluntarily  engaged  in  the 
recruiting  service,  in  the  Summer  of  1863  again  entering  the  army 
as  second  lieutenant  of  Company  K,  129th  O.  V.  I.,  serving  until 
-again  discharged  for  disability;  in  March,  1864,  again  recruited 
part  of  a  company,  but  on  account  of  the  sickness  and  death  of 
his  little  son,  yot  being  present  at  the  organization  of  the 
company,  in  Columbus,  failing  to  secure  a  commission,  he  pluckily 
re-entered  the  service  as  a  private,  but  on  account  of  his  experi- 
■ence  was  placed  on  detached  duty  under  Major  Skiles,  at  Tod 
barracks,  and  in  the  Spring,  1865,  w^as  commissioned  as  captain  of 
Company  D,  197th  O.  V.  I.,  in  w^liich  capacity  he  served  until  his 
final  discharge  at  the  close  of  the  war,  at  Columbus,  August  6, 
1865.  David  W.  Thomas,  from  first  sergeant  of  Company  C,  w^as 
promoted  to  sergeant  major  of  the  29th,  December  13,  1864;  to  first 
lieutenant  of  Company  H,  on  the  resignation  of  Lieut.  Andrew  J. 
Fulkerson,  January  6,  1865,  and  to  captain  of  Company  A,  April  10, 
1865.  Alvin  C.  Voris  was  elected  second  lieutenant  of  Company  H, 
on  its  organization,  but  promoted  by  Gov.  Dennison  to  lieutenant 
colonel  of  the  67th  regiment  O.  V.  I.,  October  2,  1861,  Henry  Mack, 
of  Bath,  succeeding  him  as  second  lieutenant.  Thomas  W.  Nash 
was  promoted  from  first  sergeant  of  Company  H,  to  second 
lieutenant,  October  2,  1862;  to  first  lieutenant  of  Company  E,  May 
25,  1864,  and  to  captain  of  Company  B,  October  12,  1864,  and  as 
such  mustered  out  of  service  July  13,  1865.  William  Palmer 
Williamson  was  promoted  from  sergeant  major  December  21,  1861, 
to  second  lieutenant  of  Company  G,  and  as  such  ^vas  killed  in 
the  battle  of  Winchester  as  elsewhere  stated,  March  23,  1862. 

THE  SIXTY-FOURTH  O.  V.  I. 

This  regiment  was  recruited  under  the  auspices  of  United 
States  Senator,  John  Sherman,  being  organized  at  Camp  Buck- 
ingham, near  Mansfield,  the  home  of  the  Senator,  in  November, 
1861,  and  was  a  part  of  what  was  knoAvn  among  Ohio  troops  as  the 
""Sherman  Brigade."  Company  G,  of  this  regiment,  was  largely 
composed  of  Summit  County  men,  whose  names  will  appear  in 
the  roster  of  the  several  towtiships  to  which  they  were  accredited, 
among  whom  were  Dr.  Samuel  Neeper,  of  Mogadore,  Dudley  C. 
Carr,  and  Robert  S.  Chamberlin,  of  Springfield;  Alonzo  Hancock, 
of  Boston;  Wilbur  F.   Sanders,  Esq.,  of  Akron,  now  of  Montana; 


THE    SIXTY-FOURTH    O.    V.    I.  365 

Newton  Atwood,  Homer  \V.  Bass,  Addison  M.  Bloom,  George 
Bargold,  Joseph  F.  Gilbert,  John  Huffman,  Shem  Lewis,  Joseph 
Osborn,  Alfred  Rhodes,  John  Schoenberger,  Duncan  Thon-pson 
and  Benjamin  WooUey,  all  of  Akron. 

Of  these,  Messrs.  Neeper  and  Hancock  were  successivel}' 
captain  of  the  company,  Messrs.  Carr  and  Chamberlin  succ-es- 
sively  sergeant  major  of  the  regiment,  w^hile  Mr.  Sanders  w^as 
adjutant  of  the  regiment  from  its  organization  until  his  resigna- 
tion August  10,  1862;  Addison  M.  Bloom  being  principal  musician 
from  organization  untilexpirationof  his  term  of  service,  June28, 1862. 

THE  SIXTY-FOURTH  IN  BATTLE. 

The  Sixtj' -Fourth  was  also  one  of  the  lighting  regiments  of  the 
w^ar,  having  participated  in  the  foUoAving  named  battles:  Shiloh, 
Tenn.,  April  6-7,  1862;  Siege  of  Corinth,  Miss.,  April  30,  1862;  Stone 
River,  Tenn.,  December  31,  1862,  January  1,  1863;  Chickamauga, 
Ga.,  September  19-20, 1863;  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  November  25,  1863; 
Rocky  Face  Ridge,  Ga.,  May  5-9,  1864;  Resaca,  Ga.,  May  13-16, 
1864;  Adairsville,  Ga.,  May  17-18,  1864;  Dallas,  Ga.,  May  25  to  June  4, 
1864;  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Ga.,  June  9-30,  1864;  Peach  Tree  Creek, 
Ga.,  July  30,  1864;  Siege  of  Atlanta,  Ga.,  Jul^^  28  to  September  2, 
1864;  Jonesboro,  Ga.,  August  31,  September  1,  1864;  Lovejoy 
Station,  Ga.,  September  2-6,  1864;  Spring  Hill,  Tenn.,  November  29, 
1864;  Franklin,  Tenn.,  November  30,  1864;  Nashville,  Tenn., 
December  15-16,  1864. 

The  regiment,  having  re-enlisted  as  veterans,  June  1,  1864, 
after  repulsing  Hood's  army  at  Franklin  and  Nashville,  and  engag- 
ing in  the  pursuit  of  the  rebel  army  through  Tennessee,  \vas 
assigned  to  duty  in  Texas,  w^here,  at  Victoria,  the  surviving  mem- 
bers of  the  regiment,  238  in  number,  were  paid  off  and  mustered 
out  of  service  December  3,  1865. 

CASUALTIES  AND  DEATHS  IN  CO.  "  G." 

Killed  in  battle:  Daniel  Bitterman,  at  Chickamauga,  Ga.,^ 
September  20,  1863;  Sergeant  Andrew  Tousley,  at  Lovejoy  Station, 
Ga.,  July  1,  1864;  James  Sammans,  at  Rocky  Face  Ridge,  Ga.,  May 
9,  1864.  Deaths  from  wounds  receii^ed  in  battle:  Corporal 
Jacob  Boone,  w^ounded  at  Chickamauga,  Ga.,  September  20,  1863, 
died  October  16,  1863;  Sergeant  Duncan  Thompson,  w^ounded  at 
Rocky  Face  Ridge,  Ga.,  May  9,  1864,  died  June  28;  Corporal  Benja- 
min McCoy,  wounded  in  same  battle,  died  May  9,  1864;  William 
Coulter,  wounded  at  Resaca,  Ga.,  May  14,  1864,  died  May  16;  Cor- 
poral Joseph  Wagner,  lost  by  explosion  of  steamer  Sultana,  near 
Memphis,  Tenn.,  April  27,  1865.  Wounded  in  battle:  Sergeant 
Thomas  L.  Thompson,  at  Pine  Knob,  Ga.,  September  20,  1863; 
Sergeant  Jonathan  Palmer,  at  -Kenesaw  Mountain,  Ga.,  June  27, 
1864;  Sergeant  Solomon  Babb,  Sergeant  James  L.  Hall  and  Henry 
Mellinger,  at  Rocky  Face  Ridge,  Ga.,  May  9,  1864;  Jacob  Jakes,  at 
Franklin,  Tenn.,  November  30,  1864;  Walter  Rambo  and  Sergeant 
Nathan  M.  Wells,  at  Spring  Hill,  Tenn.,  November  .29,  1864. 
Deaths  from  disease  ivhile  in  service:  Samuel  Moody,  at 
Lebanon,  Ky.,  January  19,  1862;  at  Bardstown,  Ky.,  February  9, 
1862,  Andrew^  Spencer;  February  22,  Luman  Bigelow;  March  4, 
Samuel  McCoy;  March  9,  Jonas    D.  Ingraham;  at  Lebanon,  Ky., 


366 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


March  9,  1862,  Sergeant  John  F.  Oviatt;  April  1,  Benjamin  WooUey; 
April  4,  Samuel  Lutz;  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  April  7,  1862,  Alexander 
Thomas;  May  20,  Joseph  F.  Gilbert;  December  11,  1864,  John  and 
William  Nash;  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  Tenn.,  May  7,  1862,  Michael 
Bower;  at  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  December  9,  1863,  Sergeant  Ransom 
J.  Ellsworth;  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  February  16,  1864,  James  Sanborn. 


/^APT.    AARON    P.    BALDWIN,— 

V^  born  in  Akron,  Jan.  28,  1838; 
educated  in  public  schools ;  at  14 
entered  store  of  P.  D.  Hall  &  Co.  as 
clerk  ;  in  1859,  with  father,  under  firm 
name  of  James  Baldwin  &  Son,  en- 
gaged in  hardware  business ;  in 
October,  1861,  enlisted  in  Sixth  Ohio 
Battery,  L.  A.,  organized  at  Mans- 
field, under  the  auspices  of  the  Hon, 
John  Sherman,  being  commissioned 
second  lieutenant;  served  through 
the  war  in  the  Army  of  the  Cumber- 
land ;  after  battle  of  Mission  Ridge, 
Nov.  24-25,  1863,  promoted  to  first 
lieutenant  and  to  captain  during  the 
Hood  campaign  in  Tennessee,  in  No- 
vember and  December,  1864.  After 
valiant  service  at  Pittsburg,  Shiloli, 
Perrysville,  Stone  River,  Chatta- 
nooga, Lookout  Mountain,  Atlanta, 
Jonesboro,  Spring  Hill  and  Nash- 
ville, was  inustered  out  at  Columbus, 
O.,  Sept.  1,  1865,  for  gallantry  at 
Spring  Hill,  being  tendered  a  coin- 
mission  in  the  regular  army,  bj- 
corps  commander.  Gen.  D.  S.  Stan- 
ley, which  he  declined.  On  return 
home  formed  partnership  with  the 
late  Henrj'  W.  Wetmore,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Wetmore  &  Baldwin,  in 
1867  being  joined  by  David  R.  Paige, 
Jr.,  under  firm  name  of  Wetmore, 
Baldwin  &  Paige.  Retiring  from 
firm  in  1869,  was  appointed  general 
agent  of  the  Akron  Iron  Companj-, 
serving  in  that  capacity'  till  April  1, 


CAPT.  AARON   P.   BALDWIN. 


1886,  since  which  tiine  he  has  been  its 
efficient  General  Superintendent. 
Capt.  Baldwin  is  a  prominent  mem- 
ber of  the  G.  A.  R.  having  officiated 
as  Post  Cominander;  Q.  M.  Gen. 
Dep't.  of  Ohio,  and  upon  staif  of 
National  Commander.  Nov.  10.  1863, 
was  married  to  Miss  Celia  Ayres, 
of  Akron,  Avho  has  borne  him  four 
children — James  A.,  John  Sherinan, 
Susie  and  Mary  Alice. 


THE  SIXTH  INDEPENDENT  BATTERY. 

One  of  the  most  efficient  light  artillery-  organizations  of  the 
w^ar  ^vas  the  Sixth  Ohio  Independent  Battery,  attached  to  the 
Sherman  Briga  le.  The  battery,  consisting  of  two  sections,  was 
provided  w^itli  four  ten-pound  Parrott  and  two  six-pound  bronze 
Rodman  guns,  w^ith  horses  and  other  equipage  to  match.  One  sec- 
tion of  this  battery  w^as  recruited  in  Akron,  the  roster,  on  organiza- 
tion, at  Camp  Buckingham,  November  20,  1861,  being  as  follows: 
Oliver  Hazard  Perry  Ayres,  Myron  Ayres, '  Aaron  P.  Baldw^in, 
Frederick  \V.  Beebe,  E.  J.  Baird,  Joseph  Bergdorf,  James  Brandon, 
Thomas  Creveling,  George  Chitty,  J.  R.  Cady,  Willard  Corey,  B. 
Curtis,  George  W.  De  Bell,  William  Dales,  Abner  Danforth,  James 
Earl,  D^vid  H.  Evans,  Elijah  Everett,  Henry  Frizzelle,  Joseph 
Fisher,  Peter  Field,  James  H.  Galbraith,  A.  K.  Goodrich,  Bird 
Green,  John  Hogan,  M.  S.  Hoskin,  Thomas  Huston,  John  Johnson, 
James  Irvin,  Ira  Jones,  Silas  O.  Kimberk,  Patrick  Kirwin,  John 
Kieley,  John    Limric,    George   Loomis,   James    A.    Mopdy,   James 


THE    SIXTH    OHIO   BATTERY. 


367 


McKnight,  W.  H.  Mathews,  Venning  McDonald,  J.  McBride, 
Daniel  McNaughton,  L.  J.  Mix,  Eleazer  H.  Neal,  Michael  Phenia, 
Henry  A.  Parker,  J.  K.  Rogers,  John  Randolph,  Henry  Randolph, 
William  Randolph,  Freeman  Robinson,  J.  W.  Reed,  George  W. 
Smetts,  Michael  Stephens,  L.  Swindeman,  Henry  Shewey,  John 
Smith,  James  Spelman,  Thomas  W.  Screen,  Benjamin  Stroker, 
Kzra  Trj^on,  Charles  Toy,  Elias  W,  Turner,  Gustave  Thrise,  Har- 
rison Trisselle,  Ezra  Whitney,  J.  M.  Walton,  Edgar  Whitney, 
Jonathan  Welker,  John  C.  Weber,  John  Wagoner,  George  Wey- 
gandt,  J,  A.  White,  J.  E.  Whitney,  C.  Weeks. 

The  following  Akron  and  Middlebury  boys  were  subsequently 
lidded  to  the  battery:  George  W.  Barber,  George  Boyd,  Samuel  T. 
Brandon,  George  Case,  Frank  C.  Chapman,  Seth  Coney,  George 
Chamberlin,  John  Earl,  B.  French,  Anselo  French,  Edward  Fitz- 
patrick,  Thomas  Fisher,  George  Hart,  Thomas  Irvin,  Patrick  Irvin, 
William  W.  Kilbourn,  Reese  Kidder,  John  Kramer,  Lucas  Libis, 
William  Morley,John  Madden,  Daniel  McGinnis,  Daniel  McGreevey, 
Henry  Morrill,  John  Peck,  William  Strapp,  Robert  Treen,  Newton 
Thayer,  Charles  M.  Waite,  John  Wilder,  Henry  Worden,  William 
P.  Warren. 


TOHx\  C.  WEBER,-son  of  Florence 
J  and  Margaret  (Stei  nbacher) 
Weber,  was  born  in  Monroeville,  Ohio, 
August  20,  1844,  removing-  with  par- 
ents to  Akron  the  following  October; 
educated  in  Akron  union  schools;  at 
17,  enlisted  in  Sixth  Ohio  Battery, 
organized  at  Camp  Buckingham, 
near  Mansfield,  October  9,  1861,  serv- 
ing till  October  24,  1864,  being  among 
the  j'oungest,  if  not  the  youngest 
soldier  sent  to  the  war  by  Summit 
count}-.  The  accompanying  portrait 
is  reproduced  from  an  ambrotype 
taken  on  the  field  of  Shiloh.  after  the 
battle,  and  its  youthful  lineaments 
can  scarcely  now  be  traced  in  the 
broad-faced,  middle-aged,  business 
man-  John  C.  Weber — of  the  present 
daj-.  Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war, 
Mr.  Weber  removed  to  Cleveland,  and 
engaged  in  brewing,  returning  to 
Akron  1885,  as  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Jahant  &  Weber,  in  the  stove  and 
furnace  trade.  June  11,  1874,  Mr. 
Weber  was  married  to  Miss  Emeline 
Oberholtz,  of  Akron,  who  has  borne 
him  four  daughters  and  one  son 
Eva  F..  born  April  11,  1875;  C.  Irene, 
born   September  25,   1876;    Susannah 


JOHN   C      W  EHLK 

M..  born  March  20,  1878;  Bertha  T., 
born  Januarj^  26,  1880,  and  Florence 
C,  born  September  11,  1882. 


In  the  organization  of  the  battery.  Captain  CuUen  Bradley,  an 
experienced  U.  S.  Army  Artillery  officer,  was  placed  in  command, 
w^ith  O.  H.  P.  Ayres  as  senior  first  lieutenant  and  Aaron  P.  Bald- 
win as  senior  second  lieutenant;  George  W.  Smetts  as  first  sergeant; 
George  W.  DeBell, third;  Edgar  Whitney,fifth;  Ezra  Tryon,  seventh; 
J.  K.  Rogers,  fourth  corporal;  James  Earl,  fifth;  J.  M.  Walton, 
seventh;  Henry  Frizzelle,  eighth;  E.  H.  Neal,  eleventh;  James^A. 
Moody,  blacksmith;  John  Kieley,  w^heelwright,  and  F.  W.  Beebe  as 
company  clerk. 


368  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

The  Sixth  Ohio  Battery  was  in  some  of  the  hardest  fought  bat- 
tles of  the  war-Stone  River  and  other  battles  about  Mufreesboro^ 
Chickamauga,  etc.;  re-enlisted  as  veterans  December  12,  1863, 
and  on  going  to  the  front  again,  after  a  short  visit  home,  took  an,, 
active  part  in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  being  almost  constantl}' 
engaged  during  the  120  days  of  that  sanguinary  contest,  and  being 
very  highly  complimented  by  Gen.  O.  O.  How^ard  for  its  accurate 
firing  before  Kenesaw.  The  battery  w^as  re-equipped  at  Atlanta^ 
afterguards,  under  the  command  of  Captain  A.  P.  Baldwin,  partic- 
ipated in  the  battles  of  Franklin  and  Nashville,  on  the  second  daj'' 
of  the  latter,  in  front  of  Overton's  Hill,  eight  miles  from  Nashville, 
silencing  Sandford's  Mississippi  rebel  battery.  Pursuing  the 
retreating  rebels  to  the  Tennessee  River,  the  batterj'^  marched  to 
Huntsville,  Ala.,  and  from  thence  started  for  Bastport,  Miss.,  but 
before  reaching  that  point  was  ordered  back  to  Huntsville,  where 
it  remained  until  the  close  of  the  war,  being  mustered  out  Sep- 
tember 1, 1865.  Losses  during  the  w^ar:  Deaths  from  wounds,  16; 
disease,  26;  discharged  for  w^ounds,  4;  disease,  30;  by  expiration 
of  term,  21;  re-enlisted  as  veterans,  66.  Among  the  deaths  was 
that  of  Lieut.  O.  H.  P.  Ayres,  July  8,  1864,  from  wounds  received  in 
the  Atlanta  campaign.  Lieut.  George  \V.  Smetts  was  severel}^ 
w^ounded  at  Chickamauga,  and  several  other  casualties  to  Akron 
boys  occurred  during  the  war,  of  which  we  cannot  here  definitely 
speak;  among  the  deaths  from  disease  while  in  the  service  being 
James  and  Samuel  T.  Brandon  and  Ezra  Whitnej^. 

THE  HUNDRED  AND  FOURTH  O.  V.  I. 

Company  H,  and  parts  of  several  other  companies  of  this  regi- 
ment, Avere  recruited  in  Akron,  the  regiment  being  organized  at 
Camp  Massillon,  August  30, 1862,  and  leaving  for  the  front  Septem- 
ber 1,1862.  Companj^  H  entered  the  service  w^ith  the  following 
Akron  and  Summit  county  boys  as  officers:  Captain,  Walter  B. 
Scott;  first  lieutenant,  Hobart  Ford;  second  lieutenant,  Samuel  F. 
Shaw;  hospital  steward,  Milton  C.  Wilcox;  orderly,  Benjamin  L. 
Robertson;  sergeants — first,  Abraham  Paulus;  second,  Oscar  C. 
Jackson;  third,  Lyman  J.  Adair;  fourth,  James  Gillingham;  cor- 
porals— first,  George  Q.  Folsom;  second,  Charles  M.  BroTvn; 
third,  Adolphus  French;  fourth,  William  Dunn;  fifth,  Louis 
Stair;  sixth,  William  Rinehart;  seventh,  Jacob  HoUinger;  eighth, 
Almeron  C.  Francisco;  fifer,  Thomas  E.  Robertson;  drummer, 
James  E.  Boardman;  teamster,  John  Mann;  Asa  S.  Marriner,  of 
Akron,  being  lieutent  colonel  of  the  regiment,  until  his  discharge, 
January  2,  1863. 

The  names  of  the  Akron,  Portage  and  Middlebury  boj's,  con- 
nected with  the  104th,  so  far  as  the  w^riter  has  been  able  to  compile 
them,  are  as  foUow^s:  Byron  Allen,  Daniel  Allen,  George  Arnold, 
James  E.  Boardman,  Charles  Brown,  Dennison  Babcock,  Samuel 
B.  Bailey,  John  Bellows,  Willard  H.  Bass,  James  Bean,  Rice 
Brockway,  Simon  Bonfield,  Frank  Buchtel,  P.  H.  Cahill,  Robert 
Cahill,  Thomas  Charlton,  Frank  C.  Chapman,  Albert  Coon,  James 
H.  Cassidy,  Henry  E.  Cahill,  Williain  Dunn,  Elbridge  Delong, 
Jacob  Denaple,  Delos  Doty,  Patrick  Dunn,  Adolphus  French, 
Hobart  Ford,  Paul  Field,  Edwin  A.  Farmer,  Silas  Fisher,  George 
W.  Folsom,  James  Gillingham,  Theodore  Gambie,  Allan  J.  Goodhue, 
John  HoUister,  Eli  Hope.  Oscar  C.  Jackson,  John  Jackson,  Noble 


THE    HUNDKKD    AND    FOURTH    O.    V.    I.  369 

M.  Jewett,  A.  Jackson,  Albert  Lepper,  Denis  J.  Long,  William 
Lambrecht,Jay  Maranville,  Perry  G.  Marshall,  Ithiel  J.  Mills,  Albert 
Malone,  John  McAllister,  Asa  S.  Marriner,  John  Mann,  Daniel 
McGreevey,  James  McNeal,  George  W.  Painton,  George  H.  Payne, 
Alburtis  Paine,  Abraham  Paulus,  Stephen  Palmer,  Benjamin  Post, 
Benjamin  F.  Putt,  Thomas  E.  Robertson,  Benjamin  L.  Robertson, 
William  Rinehart,  Joseph  Rhodes,  Krastus  N.  Root,  Joseph  Rothe, 
John  Stroker,  William  Schroeder,  Walter  B.  Scott,  Burtis  Smith, 
Samuel  F.  Shaw,  B.  W.  Smith,  Louis  Stair,  Theodore  Stearns, 
Matthew  Shouler,  Albert  Schultz,  William  Shouler,  Charles  Tifft, 
Enoch  Thompson,  George  W.  Viers,  Daniel  M.  Viers,  Milton  C. 
Wilcox,  Hugh  M.  White,  Jerome  Wellman,  J.  F.  Whitney,  Stephen. 
Washburn,  Jerome  Williams. 

HEADING  OFF  KIRBY  SMITH. 

The  first  active  duty  of  the  104th  was,  as  the  out-post  of  the 
Union  forces,  in  repelling  the  rebel  Gen.  Kirb}^  Smith's  attempted 
attack  on  Cincinnati,  in  September,  1862,  its  first  skirmish  with 
the  enemy  being  at  Fort  Mitchell,  near  Covington,  Ky.,  September 
10,  1862,  the  regiment  losing  one  man  killed  and  five  wounded,  the 
only  Union  blood  spilled  in  defense  of  Cincinnati.  September  12, 
the  regiment  started  on  its  first  march  in  pursuit  of  the  fleeing 
rebels,  reaching  Lexington  on  the  morning  of  October  15,  but  a 
few  minutes  after  the  rear  guard  of  the  rebel  forces  had  evacuated 
the  city. 

Remaining  in  Lexington,  resting  from  its  severe  march,  ^nd 
perfecting  itself  in  drill,  (carrying  off  the  honors  in  a  competitive 
drill  w^ith  other  regiments  there  concentrated),  on  the  morning  of 
December  6,  the  march  was  continued  towards  Richmond,  Ky., 
which  was  reached  in  the  evening  of  the  7th.  December  27  the 
march  viras  resumed,  its  objective  point  being  Danville,  where  it 
had  some  slight  skirmishes  with  the  enemj'  in  aiding  to  intercept 
Gen.  Morgan,  who  was  then  raiding  in  that  vicinity. 

From  Danville  the  regiment  \^as  transferred  to  the  State  capi- 
tal, Frankfort,  where  it  performed  provost  duty  until  February  21, 
1863,  when  it  returned  to  Danville,  in  which  vicinity  it  continued 
to  operate  until  September,  when  it  was  transferred  to  East  Ten- 
nessee, where  it  became  a  part  of  Gen.  Burnside's  army.  After  a 
brief  stay  at  Knoxville,  the  regiment  was  sent  to  Cumberland  Gap 
and  aided  in  compelling  the  surrender  of  the  rebel  forces  at  that 
point,  the  104th  being  the  first  regiment  to  enter  the  w^orks  and 
receive  the  arms  and  stores  of  the  surrendered  rebels. 

Returning  to  Knoxville,  the  104th  was  on  active  duty  during 
the  siege  of  that  city  by  Gen.  Longstreet,  from  November  17  to 
December  4,  1863,  suffering  greatly  from  short  rations  and  expo- 
sure, and  in  a  sortie  to  the  south  side  of  the  Holston  river,  repulsing^ 
the  enemy  with  great  loss.  Wintering  in  the  vicinity  of  Knoxville, 
the  104th  took  an  active  part  in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  in  1864,  in 
the  assault  at  Utoy  Creek,  August  6,  losing  26  men  and  officers, 
killed  and  w^ounded;  participated  in  the  battle  of  Jonesboro  the 
latter  part  of  August;  lost  several  men  in  its  almost  daily  skir- 
mishes w^ith  Hood's  forces  near  Nashville,  in  October  and  Novem- 
ber, 1864;  lost  60  men,  killed  and  wounded,  in  the  battle  of 
Frankfort,  November  30,  capturing  eleven  battle-flags  during  the 
engagement. 

24 


370  AKROX    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

After  much  hard  marching,  and  many  severe  skirmishes,  the 
104th  was  transferred  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  January,  1865, 
operating  at,  and  in  the  vicinity  of.  Federal  Point,  North  CaroUna, 
on  March  4,  making  a  forced  march  to  Kingston,  to  reHeve  Gen. 
Jacob  D.  Cox,  who  was  menaced  by  a  superior  force.  Proceeding 
from  Kingston  to  Goldsboro,  and  from  thence  to  Raleigh,  the  104th 
w^as  highly  complimented  by  Gen.  Sherman  for  its  soldi(5rly  bear- 
ing and  efficienc}^  in  drill,  and  on  May  2,  1865,  was  selected  by  Gen. 
Cox  to  proceed  to  Greensboro  to  receive  the  arms  and  stores  of  Gen. 
Johnston's  surrendered  rebel  army.  Remaining  in  Greensboro  as 
guard,  until  June  17,  the  regiment  w^as  sent  to  Camp  Taylor,  at 
Cleveland,  where,  on  June  27,  1865,  the  surviving  members,  640  in 
number,  were  paid  off  and  mustered  out. 

CASUALTIKS,  DEATHS,  ETC.,  IN  COMPANY  H. 

Killed:  Sergeant  Oscar  C.  Jackson,  by  accidental  discharge 
of  his  own  gun  while  advancing  towards  the  enemy  at  Nancy's 
Creek,  Ga.,  July  17,  1864;  Corporal  Albert  Schultz,  February  20, 
1865,  at  battle  of  Town  Creek,  N.  C;  Willard  H.  Bass,  Daniel 
Conrad  and  Burtis  W.  Smith,  at  battle  of  Utoy  Creek,  Ga,,  August 
6,  1864,  the  head  of  the  latter  being  severed  from  his  body  by  the 
explosion  of  a  rebel  shell. 

Wounded :  Andrew  A.  Adair,  wounded,  and  George  H.  Payne, 
lost  left  arm  at  battle  of  Cartersville,  Ga.,  May  21,  1864;  Solomon  J. 
Bucher,  November  28,  1864,  at  Columbia,  Tenn.;  Henry  Cahill, 
James  H.  Cassidy,  Hobart  Ford,  wounded  in  heel  at  battle  of  Utoy 
Creek,  Ga.,  August  6,  1854,  but  continued  on  duty  till  mustered  out 
as  captain  at  the  close  of  the  war,  June  17,  1865;  Curtis  Gingerj'- 
and  John  Kleckner,  at  battle  of  Town  Creek,  N.  C,  February  20, 
1865;  Lewis  Heath,  at  Dallas,  Ga.,  May  31,  1864;  John  Winklenian, 
wounded  and  captured  at  battle  of  Franklin,  Tenn.,  November 
30,  1864. 

Captured:  Cyrus  O.  Osborn  and  John  Stroker,  at  battle  of 
Danville,  Ky.,  March  24,  1863;   paroled   and  afterwards  exchanged. 

Deaths  from  disease:  Eli  Blocker,  at  Frankfort,  Ky.,  March 
4,  1863;  William  Conrad,  at  Beaufort,  N.  C,  May  15,  1865;  Eli  Hope, 
at  Franklin,  Ky.,  March  9,  1863;  Jay .  Maranville,  at  Strawberry 
Plains,  Tenn.,  June  12,  1864;  Joshua  Sellers,  at  Knoxville,  Tenn., 
April  2,  1864;  Captain  Walter  B.  Scott,  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  April 
24,  1863;  William  Rinehart,  at  Williamstown,  Ky.,  October  22,  1862. 

SOME  HARD  FOUGHT  BATTLES. 

Ohio's  official  Roster  gives  the  following  list  of  battles  partici- 
pated in  by  the  104th:  Covington,  Ky.,  September  10,  1862;  Dan- 
ville, Ky.,  March  24,  1863;  Siege  of  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  November  17 
to  December  4,  1863;  Resaca,  Ga.,  May  13-16,  1864;  Dallas,  Ga.,  May 
25  to  June  4,  1864;  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Ga.,  June  9  to  30,  1864;  Pine 
Mountain,  Ga.,  June  14,  1864;  Lost  Mountain,  Ga.,  June  16,  1864; 
Siege  of  Atlanta,  Ga.,  July  28  to  September  2,"  1864;  Utoy  Creek, 
Ga.,  August  5-6,  1864;  Columbia,  Tenn.,  November  24-29,  1864; 
Franklin,  Tenn.,  Novemh^er  30,  1864;  Nashville,  Tenn.,  December 
15-16,  1864;  Fort  Anderson,  N.  C,  February  18,  1865;  Town  Creek, 
N.  C,  February  20,  1865. 


ONE    HUNDRED    AND    FIFTEENTH   O.    V.    I.  *  371 

Companies  C  and  G,  and  a  portion  of  Company  I,  of  the  115th 
regiment,  were  composed  of  Summit  county  boys,  most  of  them 
being  from  the  northern  part  of  the  county,  and  w^hose  names  will 
duly  appear  in  the  rosters  of  their  respective  to^srnships,  as  given 
in  this  work. 

The  original  officers  of  Company  C  were  as  follow^s  :  John  A. 
Means,  of  Northfield,  (then*  in  the  midst  of  his  first  term  as  Clerk 
of  Courts  of  Summit  county).  Captain  ;  John  Eadie,  Jr.,  of  Cuya- 
hoga Falls,  first  lieutenant ;  George  L.  Waterman,  of  Peninsula, 
«econd  lieutenant ;  Robert  Sears,  of  Stow,  orderly  sergeant ;  Lewis 
F.  Derrick,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  second  sergeant ;  John  C.  Ely,  of 
■Cuyahoga  Falls,  third  sergeant ;  Alexander  Forbes,  of  Northfield, 
fdurth  sergeant :  Levi  Boody,  of  Boston,  fifth  sergeant ;  Arthur  A. 
Jones,  of  Stow,  first  corporal ;  Ulysses  L.  Marvin,  of  Stow,  second 
corporal ;  David  Castetter,  of  Bath,  third  corporal ;  Lucian  Bliss, 
■of  Northfield,  fourth  corporal ;  Charles  \V.  Way,  of  Northampton, 
fifth  corporal ;  John  Davis,  of  Tallmadge,  sixth  corporal ;  John  C. 
Smith,  of  Tw^insburg,  seventh  corporal ;  Frederick  Bois,  of  Boston, 
eighth  corporal,  the  original  muster  rolls  containing  the  names  of 
85  privates  ;  total,  with  officers,  101. 

The  original  officers  of  Company  G  were  as  follows  :  Deming 
N.  Lowrey,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  captain  ;  Arthur  L.  Conger,  of 
Peninsula,  first  lieutenant ;  Sumner  Nash,  of  Bath,  second  lieu- 
tenant ;  Merchant  S.  Hurd,  of  Bath,  first  sergeant ;  Eli  Thompson, 
of  Twinsburg,  second  sergeant;  Henry  Doncaster,  of  Hudson,  third 
sergeant ;  Marcus  C.  Tifft,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  fourth  sergeant ; 
Christopher  Cook,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  fifth  sergeant ;  Eben  ^A, 
Butterfield,  of  Northfield,  first  corporal  ;  James  Nesbit,  of  North- 
field,  second  corporal ;  James  McElroy,  of  Northfield,  third  cor- 
poral;  Daniel  Williams,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  fourth  corporal; 
Marcellus  Risden,  of  Richfield,  fifth  corporal;  Perry  H.  Alexan- 
der, of  Bath,  sixth  corporal;  Joseph  C.  Freeby,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls, 
seventh  corporal ;  William  McKinney,  of  Twinsburg,  eighth  cor- 
poral ;  the  original  roster  containing  the  names  of  80  privates — 
total,  w^ith  officers,  96  men. 

It  is  to  be  greatly  regretted  that  no  local  ret^ord  of  the  organi- 
zation of  Company  I  has  been  preserved,  though  it  is  believed  that 
the  only  officer  in  that  company  from  Sum:nit  county,  viras  Edward 
Buckingham,  late  auditor  of  the  county,  who  virent  out  as  first 
lieutenant,  but  w^as  promoted  to  captain, .  February  8,  1863,  which 
position  he  held  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

The  only  names,  found  upon  the  assessors'  returns,  accredited 
to  Portage  and  Middlebury  townships,  as  members  of  the  115th 
regiment,  were  :  George  Adkins,  Ed-svard  Buckingham,  George  B. 
Buckingham,  Simon  Bonfield,  Lewis  M.  Carpenter,  Michael  Doyle, 
Byron  Gifford,  Michael  Kirw^in,  William  Limric,  John  McAllister, 
Vincent  A.  Malone,  Mills  B.  Purdy,  Aaron  Pardee,  Jacob  Randall, 
Albert  Shenkel,  Harrison  Shaaf,  Enoch  Thompson,  John  Jackson 
T'ate,  John  Westerman,  Benjamin  K.  Yerrick. 

ORGANIZATION,  PROMOTIONS,  ETC. 

The  Hundred  and  Fifteenth  was  organized  in  Camp  Massillon, 
with  985  men,  August,  1862,  J.  A.  Lucy,  colonel  and  A.  W.  Fitch, 
major,  and  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United  States,  Sep- 
tember 18,  1862.     In  the  absence  of  official  records  we  are  unable 


372  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

to  give  the  promotions  in  Companies  C,  G  and  I,  though  we  learn 
from  private  sources  that  the  changes  were  comparatively  few, 
during  their  entire  term  of  service. 

October  4,  1862,  the  115th  w^as  ordered  to  Cincinnati,  not  being 
in  time  to  take  part  in  the  "  Squirrel  Hunters  "  defense  of  the  city^ 
but  on  its  arrival,  was  divided  by  General  Wright  into  two  battal- 
ions of  five  companies  each,  one  battalion,  under  Col.  Lucy  being 
assigned  to  provost  duty  at  Cincinnati,  and  the  other  battalion^ 
under  Lieutenant  Col.  Boone,  was  sent  to  Columbus  to  guard  the 
rebel  prisoners  confined  in  Camp  Chase. 

Karly  in  November,  1862,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Boone's  battalion 
w^as  ordered  from  Columbus  to  Maysville,  Ky.,  and  taken  charge 
of  by  Colonel  Lucy,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Boone  taking  command  of 
the  battalion  at  Cincinnati,  a  month  later  proceeding  to  Covington^ 
Ky.,  where  it  performed  provost  duty  until  October,  1863,  when  the 
entire  regiment  was  ordered  to  report  to  General  Rosecrans  at 
Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

On  reaching  Murfreesboro,  a  part  of  the  regiment  was  mounted 
and  sent  out  to  fight  the  rebel  guerrillas  then  operating  in  that 
portion  of  the  country,  the  unmounted  portion  of  the  regiment,  in 
the  Summer  of  1864,  being  stationed  in  block-houses  along  the  line 
of  the  Nashville  &  Chattanooga  Railroad  to  guard  against  its 
destruction  by  the  guerrillas. 

In  August,  1864,  Block-House  No.  4,  manned  by  part  of  Com- 
pany B,  w^as  captured  by  the  rebels.  Block-House  No.  5,  manned 
by  the  balance  of  Company  B,  was  attacked  at  the  same  time  but 
was  successfully  defended,  with  a  loss  of  three  men  killed  and 
seven  >vounded  out  of  a  total  of  40. 

THE  SULTANA  DISASTER. 

Soon  after  the  foregoing  affair,  Company  K,  (mounted)  sur- 
prised and  captured  a  large  squad  of  guerrillas,  w^ith  a  loss  of  one 
man  killed  and  three  w^ounded.  In  the  midst  of  the  Hood  demon- 
strations against  Nashville,  in  December,  1864,  the  rebel  General 
Forrest,  of  Fort  Pillow  notoriety,  captured  companies  C,  F  and  G^ 
respectively  in  charge  of  Block-Houses  1,  3  and  4,  who  were  con- 
fined as  prisoners,  at  Andersonville,  Ga.,  and  Meridian,  Miss.,  until 
the  beginning  of  the  following  April  w^hen,  w^ith  others,  they  Avere 
duly  exchanged,  at  Vicksburg,  Miss. 

On  the  25th  day  of  April,  1865,  when  final  victory  over  the 
rebels  was  just  perching  upon  our  banners,  some  2,000  of  these 
new^ly  exchanged  Union  prisoners,  and  about  200  refugees,  were 
packed  on  board  the  steamer  Sultana,  to  be  transported  to  Cincin- 
nati. Reaching  Memphis  during  the  night  of  the  26th,  a  few 
hours  Avere  spent  in  taking  on  a  supply  of  coal  and  after  proceed- 
ing on  her  way  some  eight  or  ten  miles,  between  one  and  two 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  27th,  an  explosion  of  one  of  her 
boilers  occurred  w^ith  terrible  havoc  to  the  boat  and  passengers, 
the  boat  also  taking  fire  and  burning  to  the  ^vater. 

It  -was  more  than  surmised  that  the  explosion  was  caused  by 
a  shell,  or  other  deadly  missile,  placed  among  the  coal  by  enemies 
of  the  Union,  and  of  the  brave  boys  who  had  fought  and  so  ter- 
ribly suffered  in  its  defense.  Be  this  as  it  may,  fully  one-half  of 
the  passengers  on  the  ill-fated  steamer  w^ere  either  blown  to  atoms 
by  the  explosion,  burned  to  death,  or  drowned,  among  whom  were 


UNSURPASSED  GALLANTRY. 


373 


idome  80  members  of  the  115th,  at  least  a  score  and  a  half  being 
Summit  county  men — ten  from  Cuyahoga  Falls,  including  Cap- 
tain Lowrey,  and  Lieutenants  John  Eadie  and  John  C.  Ely — but  so 
far  as  now  remembered  no  Akron  or  Middlebury  boys  were  lost  on 
that  occasion. 

After  the  capture  of  Block-Houses  1,  3  and  4  as  above  stated, 
t)y  order  of  General  George  H.  Thomas,  the  garrisons  were  trans- 
ferred from  5  and  6  to  Murfreesboro.  Number  7  'was  surrounded  and 
daily  assaulted  for  fifteen  days,  none  of  the  men  daring  to  appear 
outside,  though  no  casualities  to  its  defenders  w^ere  reported. 
December  9,  1864,  Block-House  Number  2,  w^as  attacked  and  a  con- 
tinuous lire  from  three  rifled  cannon  was  kept  up  from  early  morn- 
ing till  dark,  killing  two  and  wounding  five  men  on  the  inside. 
That  night  under  cover  of  darkness,  the  garrison  quietly  evacu- 
ated the  Station  and  reached  Nashville  in  safety. 

A  desperate  attack  on  Murfreesboro,  by  General  Buford,  was 
successfully  repulsed  after  five  hours  of  the  most  heroic  fighting, 
in  which  a  battalion  of  the  115th  played  a  conspicuous  part,  the 
rebels  sustaining  a  heavy  loss,  while  the  loss  upon  the  Union  side 
was  but  one  killed  and  three  wounded. 


y^APTAIN  JOHN  A.  MEANS,— 
^  born  near  Pittsburg-,  Pa.,  Febru- 
ary I,  1811  ;  coniiTJon  school  educa- 
tion ;  learned  trade  of  tanner  and 
currier ;  November,  1833,  came  to 
Ohio,  teaching-  school  in  Springiield; 
1834  engaged  in  farming-  in  North- 
field;  in  1837  was  deputy  surveyor  of 
Portage  county ;  February  9,  1838, 
as  captain  of  Northfield  Rifle  Com- 
pany, did  special  guard  duty  at  the 
execution  of  David  McKisson,  at 
Ravenna,  as  elsewhere  detailed,  being 
afterwards  promoted  to  colonel  of 
the  regiment ;  elected  clerk  of  Sum- 
mit county  in  1860 ;  August,  1862, 
leaving  office  in  charge  of  his  son 
Nathan,  entered  the  army,  as  captain 
of  Company  C,  115th  Reg-t.,  serving 
till  close  of  the  war;  detailed  as 
assistant  topographical  engineer, 
department  of  the  Cumberland,  sur- 
veying and  mapping-  a  large  district 
of  Middle  Tennessee  and  fitting  up 
Soldiers'  Cemetery,  on  Stone  River 
battlefield  ;  signal  officer  last  battle 
near  Murfreesboro,  Tenn.;  (other  mili- 
tary services  detailed  elsewhere); 
1869,  re-elected  clerk  of  courts,  serv- 
ing full  term ;  1873-77  Akron's  City 
•Clerk.  In  1837  Mr.  Means  was  married 
to  Miss  Eliza  Chapin.  who  bore  him 
six  children,  two  d3dng-  in  infancjs 
William  S.  drowned  while  father  was 
in  the  armj- ;  Rebecca  (the  first  Mrs. 


CAPTAIN  JOHN  A.   MEANS. 

Sumner  Nash),  died  1869;  Nathan 
(the  eldest),  died  in  Akron  1886 ; 
Fvlvira,  the  youngest,  married  to  Rev. 
W.  B.  Marsh,  now  of  Springfield, 
Ohio.  Mrs.  Means  dying  in  1879,  Capt 
Means  subsequently  married  Mrs. 
L.  C.  Walton,  with  whom,  in  the  81st 
year  of  his  age,  he  is  now  happily 
living-  in  Tallmag-e. 


On  being  relieved  from  garrison  and  guard  duty  at  Murfrees- 
boro, and  along  the  line  of  the  railroad,  between  Nashville  and 
'^ullahoma,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  the  survivors  of  the  115th  w^ere 
paid  off  and  mustered  out  of  the  service  of  the  United  States  they 


374 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


had  so  faithfully  served  for  three  full  years,  at  Camp  Taylor,  near 
Cleveland,  July  7,  1865,  630  officers  and  mien. 

THE  VALLANDIGHAM  EPISODE. 

Captain  Edward  Buckinghain,  of  Company  I,  during  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  his  term,  served  as  Provost  Marshal  of  Cincin- 
nati and  Murfreesboro,  acting  in  that  capacity  at  Cincinnati  during 
the  Vallandigham  episode  in  May  1873,  and  the  John  Morgan  raid 
through  Ohio,  in  July  of  the  same  year. 


pAPT.  EDWARD  BUCKINGHAM, 
^  — born  in  Watertown,  Conn.,  July 
15,  1835;  moved  with  parents  to 
Middlebnry  in  1844 ;  at  18,  engaged 
as  clerk  in  wholesale  house  in  Cleve- 
land, afterwards  serving  three  years 
as  clerk  in  postofficeat  Indianapolis, 
Ind.;  in  August,  1862, enlisted  in  lloth 
O.  V.  I.,  entering  the  service  as  First 
Lieutenant,  three  months  later  being 
promoted  to  Captain,  and  serving 
until  the  end  of  the  war,  being  for  a 
time  Provost  Marshal  of  Cincinnati 
and  of  Murfreesboro,  and  again  of 
Cincinnati  during  the  Morgan  raid. 
Returning  to  Akron,  at  the  close  of 
the  war,  he  was  appointed  Collector 
of  Internal  Revenue  for  Summit 
County,  which  position  he  held  until 
1872  when  he  entered  upon  the  duties 
of  Auditor  of  Summit  County,  to 
which  responsible  position  he  was 
three  times  successively  elected — 
1871,  '74,  and  '77,  serving  in  all  nine 
years.  In  politics,  Capt.  Buckingham 
was  an  uncompromising  Republican, 
but  extremely  tolerant  of  the  opin- 
ions of  others.  March  10, 1863,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Frances  Johnston, 
daughter  of  Hon.  John  Johnston  and 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  (Newton)  Johnston,  of 


CAPT.   EDWARD    BUCKIXCrHAN. 

Akron,  who  bore  him  six  children,, 
four  of  whom  are  living- George  E., 
John  S.,  William  J.,  and  Huldah. 
Capt.  Buckingham  died  August  30,. 
1881,  at  the  age  of  4(3  3-ears,  I  months 
and  15  days. 


Captain  John  A.  Means,  of  Company  C,  was  also  a  prominent 
actor  and  participant  in  those  stirring  scenes.  Mr.  Vallandigham, 
as  the  Representative  from  the  Dayton  district,  had  not  only 
vehemently  opposed  every  measure  introduced  in  Congress  for 
the  subjugation  of  the  rebels,  his  motto  being:  "Not  a  man,  not 
a  dollar  for  the  prosecution  of  the  unholy  abolition  war,"  but  was^ 
by  his  private  utterances  and  public  speeches,  very  greatly  re- 
tarding enlistments  and  encouraging  resistance  to  the  draft  under 
the  various  calls  of  President  Lincoln  for  troops. 

Major  General  Burnside,  commanding  in  the  Department  of 
Ohio,  in  view  of  the  aid  and  sympathy  that  was  being  extended  to 
the  rebels,  in  various  ways,  in  certain  portions  of  the  Department,, 
in  General  Orders,  No.  38,  among  other  things  said : 

"All  persons  found  w^ithin  our  lines  Tvho  commit  acts  for  the 
benefit  of  the  enemies  of  our  country,  will  be  tried  as  spies,  or 
traitors,  and,  if  convicted,  will  suffer  death.  *  *  *  The  habit 
of  declaring  sympathy  for  the  enemy  will  not  be  allowed  in  this 
Department.     Persons  coinmitting  such  offenses  will  at  once  be 


THE   MURDER   OF  LIEUTENANT  WATERMAN.  375 

arrested,  with  a  view  to  being  tried,  as  above  stated,  or  sent 
beyond  our  lines  into  the  Unes  of  their  friends.  It  must  be  distinctly 
understood  that  treason,  expressed  or  implied,  w^illnot  be  tolerated 
in  this  Department." 

Learning  that  Vallandigham  was  posted  for  a  public  speech 
at  Mount  Vernon,  Friday,  May  1,  1863,  Gen.  Burnside  detailed 
Capt.  Means  and  Capt.  Hill  to  attend  the  meeting,  in  citizens 
dress,  and  report  the  character  of  the  speech.  A  large  crowd  w^as 
in  attendance,  both  men  and  women  having  the  lapels  of  their 
coats  and  the  bosoms  of  their  dresses  ornamented  w^ith  that  rebel- 
sympathizing  emblem,  the  butternut  pin. 

Speaking  from  a  platform,  in  the  open  air,  Mr.  Vallandigham 
w^as  very  bitter  in  his  denunciation  of  the  Administration  and  the 
military  authorities,  and  w^as  especially  severe  in  his  remarks 
about  Gen.  Burnside's  order  above  quoted,  saying  that  he  despised 
and  defied  it  and  trampled  it  under  his  feet,  and  if  any  of  Burn- 
side's  minions  were  present,  let  them  go  and  tell  him  so. 

Captains  Means  and  Hill,  (the  latter  having  taken  full  notes  of 
the  treasonable  utterances),  having  made  their  report,  Capt.  Hut- 
ton,  of  Gen.  Burnside's  staff,  with  a  squad  of  regulars,  was  sent  to 
Dayton  to  make  the  arrest,  the  larger  part  of  Co.  C,  115th  O.  V.  I., 
accompanying  the  expedition  for  patrol  duty,  though  taking  no 
part  in  the  arrest. 

The  detachment  arrived  in  Dayton  betAveen  two  and  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  on  arousing  Mr.  Vallandigham  from 
his  slumbers  and  announcing  their  errand,  that  gentleman  not 
only  refused  to  surrender  but  from  his  second-story  bed-room 
w^indow,  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  shouted,  "Asa !  Asa !  Asa !" 
Avhich  was  evidently  a  pre-concerted  signal  for  advising  his  friends 
of  impending  danger,  for  presently  the  fire  bells  of  the  cit^^  began 
to  ring,  and  an  excited  throng  of  people  soon  made  its  appearance 
upon  the  streets. 

Capt.  Hutton,  fearful  of  an  attempt  at  rescue,  forced  the  doors, 
and  taking  Mr.  Vallandigham  into  custody',  hastened  to  the  station 
and  departed  with  him  for  Cincinnati,  before  the  rapidly  assembling 
crowd  was  large  enough  to  make  any  effective  show  of  resistance. 

Copperhead  Mob — Martial  Law. — Mr.  Vallandigham's  politi- 
cal organ,  the  Dayton  Empire,  the  following  evening,  gave  such  a 
bitterly  partisan,  and  highly  colored  version  of  the  arrest,  that 
early  in  the  evening  a  copperhead  mob  assaulted  the  office  of  the 
Dayton /owri3a7,  (Republican)  not  only  breaking  in  and  destroying 
everything  accessible,  but  finally  setting  fire  to  the  building  itself, 
resulting  in  the  destruction  of  several  other  buildings,  the  mob 
almost  wholly  thwarting  the  efforts  of  the  fire  department,  b}^  cut- 
ting hose,  crippling  the  engines  and  assaulting  the  firemen. 

Gen.  Burnside  immediately  proclaimed  martial  law  in  Mont- 
gomery county,  and  appointed  Major  Keith,  of  the  117th  O.  V.  I.,  as 
provost  marshal,  with  an  adequate  military  force  to  secure  order, 
and  conformity  to  law,  among  them  being  a  portion  of  Capt.  Means' 
command.  Company  C. 

A  Dastardly  Outrage. — While  on  dutj^  as  provost  guard  at 
Dayton,  the  "copperhead"  element  there  w^as  very  vindictive  and 
as  criminally  annoying  as  it  dared  to  be,  one  of  its  most  dastardly 
acts  being  the  shooting  of  Lieutenant  George  L.  Waterman,  of 
Peninsula,  from  the  effects  of  which  he  died,  September  9,  1863.    Of 


376  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Lieutenant  Waterman  Captain  Means  writes:  "I  want  to  say  of 
Lieutenant  Waterman  that  he  w^as  one  of  the  brightest  young  men 
in  our  regiment;  had  the  confidence  of  all  who  knew  him,  and  was 
a  favorite  in  the  company — his  death  being  the  result  of  just  such 
sentiments  as  Vallandigham  &  Co.,  taught  to  all  -who  would  listen 
to  them." 

Capt. Means  adds:  "Gen.  Burnsides'  Order,  No.  38,  did  much  to 
stop  the  treasonable  course  pursued  by  Northern  sympathizers  Avith 
treason,  and  the  conviction  of  Vallandigham  was  the  means  of 
bringing  those  people  to  respect  and  have  a  little  fear  of  the  lavr." 

THE  "SQIRREL  HUNTERS." 

In  the  Summer  of  1862,  the  fame  of  John  Morgan  and  Kirby 
Smith,  as  rebel  raiders,  began  to  manifest  itself  in  bold  and  success- 
ful dashes  into  Kentucky,  with  the  evident  design  of  attacking  and 
capturing  Cincinnati.  So  portentous  had  become  the  menace,  that 
not  only  was  Cincinnati  placed  under  martial  law,  and  ever}^  able- 
bodied  male  citizen  required  to  aid  in  building  and  manning 
defenses,  and  all  newly  formed  and  forming  regiments  in  Ohio 
ordered  to  the  point  of  danger,  (see  history  of  104th,  O.  V.  I.  above), 
but  Gov.  David  Tod  also  called  for  "minute  men"  from  the  border 
counties  to  aid  in  repelling  the  invaders,  saying:  "The  soil  of  Ohio 
must  not  be  invaded  by  the  enemies  of  our  glorious  Government." 

A  few^  days  later.  Gov.  Tod,  through  the  press,  appealed  to  the 
patriotism  of  Northern-Ohio,  as  follow^s: 

Columbus,  September  10,  1862. 

To  the  several  Military  Committees  in  Northern  Ohio: 

By  telegram  from  Major-General  Wright,  Commander-in-Chief  of 
Western  forces,  received  at  2  o'clock  this  morning,  I  am  directed  to  send  all 
armed  men  that  can  be  raised,  immediately  to  Cincinnati.  You  will  at  once 
exert  yourselves  to  execute  this  order.  The  men  should  be  armed,  each 
furnisned  with  a  blanket  and  at  least  two  days' rations.  Railroad  companies 
are  requested  to  furnish  transportation  for  troops  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
other  business. 

David   Tod,  Governor. 

A  Wonderful  Uprising. — To  this  appeal  thousands  of  farmers, 
mechanics  and  business  and  professional  men  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  State  as  promptly  responded  as  those  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  State  had  already  done,  the  writer  saying  editorially,  in  the 
Beacon  of  September  16,  1832:  "Among  the  tw^o  hundred,  or  more 
'sharp-shooters,'  -who  left  Akron  and  vicinity  for  Cincinnati,  on 
Wednesday  last,  was  a  fine  squad  from  Tallmadge,  among  whom 
we  noticed  Dr.  Amos  Wright  and  Hon.  Sidnej^  Bdgerton,"  the 
residence  of  the  latter — then  member  of  Congress  from  the  Kigh- 
teenth  District — being  at  that  time  in  Tallmadge. 

Continuing  the  Beacon  said:  "Other  towns  in  this  neighbor- 
hood, and  indeed  throughout  the  county,  responded  to  the  call  of 
the  Governor,  and  although  their  services  were  happily  not  required 
upon  the  'bloody  field  of  battle,'  the  expedition  will  have  taught 
the  rebels  the  salutary  lesson  that  after  the  '600,000  more'  have 
been  mustered  into  the  service  and  assigned  to  duty,  there  are, 
as  the  razor-strop  man  would  say,  'a  few  more  left  of  the  same 
sort,'  ready  to  take  a  hand  in,  if  necessary." 


THE    "SQUIRREL   HUNTERS "    OF    1862.  '  377 

A  portion  of  the  boys  from  here,  were  armed  w^ith  the  old-style 
Harper's  Ferry  muskets,  the  property  of  the  State,  then  in  posses- 
sion of  the  local  militia,  others  preferring  to  trust  to  their  squirrel 
rifles;  added  to  which  some  of  the  boys  buckled  on  the  old-fash- 
ioned sheath,  or  "cheese"  knife  furnished  by  the  State  to  the 
volunteer  militia,  in  those  "good  old  days." 

A  second  squad  of  men,  who  left  a  day  later,  only  proceeded  as 
far  as  Columbus,  where  they  were  ordered  to  "about  face,'*"  and^ 
return  home  until  further  orders.  Gov.  Tod,  telegraphing  to 
Secretary  of  War  Stanton,  under  date  of  September  13,  as  follows: 
"The  minute-men,  or  squirrel  hunters,  responded  gloriously  to  the 
call  for  the  defense  of  Cincinnati.  Thousands  reached  the  city, 
and  thousands  more  were  en  route  for  it.  The  enemy  having 
retreated  all  have  been  ordered  back.  This  uprising  of  the  people 
is  the  cause  of  the  retreat.  You  should  acknowledge,  publicly, 
this  gallant  conduct.  Please  order  Quartermaster  Burr  to  pay  all 
transportation  bills,  upon  my  approval. 

"David   Tod,  Governor." 

Organization,  Roster,  etc. — It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the 
muster  roll  of  the  Summit  County  "  Squirrel  Hunters,"  has  not 
been  preserved.  The  names  of  the  Tallmadge  contingent,  thirteen 
in  all  (including  our  present  well-known  citizen,  Hon.  Sidney 
Kdgerton),  is  published  in  connection  with  the  military  history  of 
that  township.  But  in  the  absence  of  authentic  record,  the 
memory  of  certain  of  the  "squirrels"  themselves — treacherous  at 
the  best — Avill  have  to  be  relied  upon  for  the  reproduction  of  the 
few"  others  that  can  here  be  given. 

So  sudden  was  the  departure,  that  there  was  no  opportunity 
for  organization  before  leaving  home.  But  on  the  cars,  betw^een 
Orrville  and  Crestline,  officers  were  elected  as  follows:  Daniel  W, 
Storer,  captain;  Charles  K.  Howe,  first  lieutenant;  Wilbur  F. 
Sanders,  second  lieutenant;  and  J.  Alexander  Lantz,  orderly 
sergeant — other  non-commissioned  officers  not  remembered. 

Among  the  Akron  members  of  the  "rank  and  file"  w^ere:  J. 
Park  Alexander,  Henry  E.  Abbey,  Milton  Abbey,  John  W.  Baker, 
William  Bell,  Mills  H.Beardsley,  Williams.  P.  Babcock,  William  E. 
Beardsley,  Ohio  C.  Barber,  Norman  H.  Barber,  David  Chambers, 
George  A.  Collins,  David  Dressier,  Henry  C.  Howard,  Henry  Hine, 
Jacob  Koch,  Hiram  A.  Kepler,  George  W.  Marriner,  William  B, 
Raymond,  James  Rinehart,  John  K.  Robinson,  Major  Erhard 
Steinbacher,  John  H.  K.  Sorrick,  George  S.  Storer,  Charles  Starr, 
William  Seiberling,  George  C.  Weimer,  Harvey  Wells,  John 
Zwisler,  Charles  W.  Huse,  Delos  Hart,  William  H.  H.  Welton, 
Henry  L.  Montenyohl,  Arthur  F.  Bartges.  A  number  of  persons 
from  neighboring  towns  responding  as  soon  as  the  exigency  w^as 
made  known  to  them,  did  not  reach  Akron  until  the  order  was 
countermanded  among  them  being  Mr.  Edward  H.  Viers  of 
Norton. 

Legislative  Testimonial.  —  At  the  following  session  of  the 
Legislature  the  appended  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted: 

Resolved  hy  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  State 
of  Ohio,  That  the  Governor  be  and  is  hereby  authorized  and  directed  to 
appropriate  out  of  his  conting-ent  fund,  a  sufficient  sum  to  pay  for  litho- 
j^raphing  and  printing  discharg-es  for  the  patriotic  men  of  the  State  who 


378  •  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

responded  to  the  call  of  the  Governor,  and  went  to  the  Southern  border  to 
repel  the  invader,  and  who  will  be  known  in  history  as  the  '  Squirrel  Hunters/ 

James  R.  Hubbell, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
Peter  Hitchcock, 

President  pro  tern  of  the  Senate. 

Pursuant  to  this  resolution,  a  handsome  lithographed  dis- 
charge, eight  by  ten  inches  in  size,  was  prepared,  bearing  upon 
the  upper  right-hand  corner  a  portrait  of  Gov.  David  Tod,  and 
upon  the  upper  left-hand  corner,  a  portrait  of  Adjutant  General 
Charles  W.  Hill,  while  upon  the  right-hand  lower  corner  is  the 
figure  of  a  hunter,  with  blanket  strapped  across  his  shoulders,  and 
powder  horn  on  his  right  side,  in  the  act  of  loading  his  gun  to 
shoot  at  a  squirrel  perched  upon  the  limb  of  a  tree  in  the  left- 
hand  lower  corner,  the  intermediate  space  showing  the  Great  seal 
of  Ohio  resting  upon  the  National  Flag.  The  document  reads  a& 
foUow^s: 

THE  SQUIRREL  HUNTER'S   DISCHARGE. 

Cincinnati  was  menaced  by  the  enemies  of  oiir  Union.     DAVID  TOD^ 
Governor  of  Ohio,  called  on  the  Minute-men  of  the  State,  and  the  Squirrel 
Hunters  came  by  thousands  to  the  rescue.     You,  J.  Park  Alexander,  were 
one  of  them,  and  this  is  your  HONORABLE  DISCHARGE. 
September,  1862. 

Chakles  W.  Hill,  Adj.  Gen.  of  Ohio. 
Approved  by 

David  Tod,  Governor. 

Malcolm  McDowell,  Major  &  A.  D.  C. 

Taxing  to  the  utmost  the  thinking  powers  of  some  eight  or  ten 
of  those  above  named,  only  recalls  about  one-third  of  Captain 
Storer's  company,  as  above  given,  which  is  much  to  be  regretted, 
for  the  Squirrel  Hunters  of  Ohio  are  entitled  to  high  honors  for 
the  prompt  and  prominent,  though  happily  bloodless,  part  they 
took — if  not  subduing  the  Great  Rebellion  itself,  at  least  pre- 
venting the  rebels  from  subduing  the  Great  State  of  Ohio. 

SECOND  OHIO  CAVALRY. 

This  regiment  was  one  of  Summit  county's  favorites.  Company 
A  being  wholly,  and  one  or  two  other  companies  partially,  made 
up  of  Summit  county  boys.  The  regiment  Avas  organized,  under 
special  authority  of  Secretary  of  War  Simon  Cameron,  in  the  Fall 
of  1861,  at  Camp  Wade,  near  Cleveland,  being  mustered  in  October 
10th  of  that  year,  w^ith  Charles  Doubleday  as  colonel,  and  wa& 
purely  a  Western  Reserve  regiment. 

Company  A  was  officered  as  follows:  George  A.  Purington, 
of  Akron,  captain;  Dudley  Seward,  of  Akron,  first  lieutenant; 
Miles  J.  Collier,  of  Peninsula,  second  lieutenant;  Henry  O.  Hamp- 
son,  of  Akron,  orderly  sergeant;  Augustus  N.  Bernard,  then  of 
Middlebury,  sergeant.  These  officers  were  subsequently  promoted, 
on  luerit,  as  follows:  Captain  Purington  promoted  to  major  Sep- 
tember 24, 1861,  to  lieutenant  colonel  June  25,  1863,  and  to  colonel, 
but  not  mustered  as  such,  retiring  from  the  volunteer  service  at 
the   end  of  the  three  years,    to    take   a   captaincy  in  the  Regular 


THE   SECOND   OHIO   CAVALRY. 


379 


Army,  being  now  major  of  the  Third  U.  S.  Cavalry,  and  after 
extensive  service  in  the  Indian  Territory,  stationed  at  Fort  Clark, 
Texas,  and  one  of  the  most  efficient  and  highly  honored  officers  in 
that  branch  of  the  service. 

/^OL.  DUDLEY  SEWARD,— born  in 
V^  Utica,  N.  Y.,  Jan.  14,  1819;  edu- 
cated in  common  schools  ;  in  18H5  en- 
tered general  store  in  Manchester,  N. 
Y.,  clerking-  four  years  ;  then  worked 
on  farm  Sixmniers  and  taught  school 
WiMers  till  1842,  when  he  came  to 
Ohio,  first  locating  in  Middlebur3-, 
then  Wadsworth,  then  Tallmadge 
and  finally  in  Akron.  In  Fall  of 
1847,  was  appointed  Deputy  by  Sher- 
iff Lewis  >I.  Janes,  continuing  also 
through  the  two  succeeding  terms 
of  Sheriff  William  L.  Clarke,  and  in 
1852  he  was  elected  Sheriff,  serving- 
two  terms;  in  April,  1861,  enlisted  in 
Co.  G,  19th  O.  V.  L,  of  which  he  was 
sergeant.  At  end  of  three  riionths' 
term  of  service,  with  Geo.  A.  Puring- 
ton  recruited  Co.  A.,  2d  O.  V.  C,  with 
Mr.  P.  as  Captain  and  Mr.  S.  as  First 
Lieutenant.  He  remained  in  the  ser- 
vice until  October,  1865,  being  pro- 
moted by  regular  gradation  to  col- 
onel of  the  regiment,  sharing  in  all 
its  marches  and  engagements,  as 
elsewhere  fully  detailed.  Two  years 
after  his  discharge  froin  the  volun- 
teer service — meanwhile  serving  as 
assistant  clerk  of  the  Ohio  State  Sen- 
ate one  term — he  was  appointed  cap- 
tain in  the  8th  U.  S.  Cavalry,  serving 
four  years  in  the  regular  army,  in 
California,  Oregon  and  the  Territo- 
ries.   In  1873  was  elected  Justice   of 


COL.   DUDLEY  SEVV^ARD. 


the  Peace,  which  office  he  held  until 
his  death  May  24,  1882.  Mr.  Seward 
was  married  Nov.  2.  1848,  to  Miss  Lois 
Clarke,  daughter  of  Sheriff  William 
L.  Clarke,  who  bore  him  three  chil- 
dren, two  of  whom  are  living — Louis 
D.,  now  practicing  law  in  Akron,  and 
Mary  C,  now  Mrs,  John  L.  Taplin,  of 
Circleville. 


First  Lieutenant  Dudley  Seward  w^as  promoted  to  captain 
September  30,  1861,  to  major  September  18,  1862,  to  lieutenant 
colonel  May  9,  1864,  to  colonel  June  20,  1865,  Second  lieutenant 
Miles  J.  Collier  was  promoted  to  first  lieutenant  May  10,  1862, 
afterwards  mustered  out,  on  consolidation,  and  commissioned  as 
major  of  the  Twelfth  Ohio  Cavalr3\  Orderly  Sergeant  Henry  O. 
Hampson  was  promoted  to  second  lieutenant  July  22,  1862,  and 
resigned  July  23,  1863.  Sergeant  A,  N.  Bernard  was  promoted  to 
second  lieutenant  December  20,  1861,  to  first  lieutenant  July  15, 
1862,  to  captain  February  17,  1863,  transferred  to  Company  K,  and 
mustered  out  November  29,  1864.  Levi  J.McMurray,  then  of  Frank- 
lin to\srnship,  afterw^ards  sheriff  of  Summit  county,  and  a  resident 
of  Akron,  appointed  sergeant  on  organization  of  the  company,  was 
promoted  to  second  lieutenant  May  9,  1863,  and  mustered  out  of 
the  service  at  the  end  of  three  years,  September  6,  1864.  The 
first  three  months  of  the  w^ar,  Messrs.  Purington  and  Seward 
w^ere  members  of  the  Nineteenth  O.  V.  L,  the  former  as  orderly 
sergeant  and  promoted  to  second  lieutenant  and  the  latter  as  third 
sergeant. 

Having  been  properly  equipped  and  drilled  at  Camps  Wade,  at 
Cleveland,  and  Dennison,  at  Columbus,  in  January,  1862,  the  regi- 
ment was  ordered  to  report  to  Gen.  Porter  at  Platte  City,  Mo.,  and 


380  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

at  once  proceeded  thither.  Scouting  on  the  Missouri  border,  its 
first  real  war  experience  was  a  brush  with  the  notorious  Quantrill, 
who  attacked  them  at  Independence  with  about  an  equal  force, 
and  whom  they  defeated  in  fifteen  minutes,  with  a  loss  of  five 
killed  and  four  wounded.  At  Fort  Scott,  Kansas,  March  1,  1862, 
the  regiment,  in  addition  to  its  sabers,  w^as  armed  with  navy 
pistols  and  Austrian  carbines. 

Moving  into  the  Indian  Territory  early  in  May,  at  Baxter 
Springs,  three  regiments  of  loyal  Indians,  mounted  on  ponies,  and 
armed  with  squirrel  rifles,  joined  the  cavalry  forces,  the  Se^nd 
forming  a  part  of  the  force  that  captured  Fort  Gibson  in  the  latter 
part  of  Jul3^  Early  in  August,  1862,  the  regiment  went  into  camp 
at  Fort  Scott,  many  men  being  on  the  sick  list,  and  many  of  their 
horses  unserviceable.  The  latter  part  of  August  a  forced  march  of 
ten  days  w^as  made  by  a  part  of  the  regiment,  in  pursuit  of  a  large 
force  of  rebel  raiders  and  guerrillas,  with  almost  constant 
skirmishing. 

Organizing  a  Battery. — About  this  time  two  officers  and  150 
men  of  the  Second  w^ere  placed  in  charge  of  a  light  battery,  and  by 
■order  of  the  War  Department  w^ere  afterwards  constituted  the 
Third  Kansas  Battery,  but  on  January  22,  1863,  were  organized  as 
the  Twenty-fifth  Ohio  Independent  Battery.  In  September,  1862, 
the  mounted  portion  of  the  Second,  w^ith  the  battery,  w^ent  with 
Gen.  Blount's  army  into  Missouri,  fighting  at  Carthage  and  New- 
tonia,  Mo.,  Cow  Hill,  Wolf  Creek,  White  River  and  Prairie  Grove, 
Ark.,  capturing  the  rebel  forces  at  the  latter  place  December  7, 
1862.  The  exploits  of  the  Second  Ohio  Cavalry,  during  its  first 
y^ear  of  service,  properly  written  out,  would  make  a  good-sized 
volume,  and  we  must  necessarily  condense. 

In  Camp  Chase  for  "Repairs." — Being  by  this  time  in  need 
of  recruits,  both  of  men  and  horses,  the  Second  was  ordered  to 
Camp  Chase,  w^here,  during  the  Winter  of  1862,  '63  it  was  fur- 
nished with  fresh  horses,  new  arms  and  equipments,  and  w^ith  60 
recruits.  Here  the  original  12  companies  were  consolidated  into 
eight,  and  four  companies  raised  for  the  Eighth,  w^ere  added  to  the 
Second. 

Early  in  April,  1863,  the  consolidated  regiment,  superbly 
mounted  and  drilled,  went  into  camp  at  Somerset,  Ky.  Early  in 
June  four  companies  accompanied  Gen.  Saunders  on  a  raid  into 
East  Tennessee,  destroying  a  large  amount  of  rebel  stores  and  a 
number  of  railroad  and  other  bridges. 

Chasing  the  Rebel  Raider,  John  Morgan. — July  1,  1863,  the 
Second,  as  a  part  of  Kautz's  brigade,  started  in  pursuit  of  the  rebel 
raider,  Gen.  Morgan,  following  him  twenty-six  days,  through  three 
states,  a  distance  of  over  a  thousand  miles,  and  sharing  in  the 
capture  of  the  rebel  raiders  in  Ohio,  near  Salineville,  in  Columbiana 
county,  July  26,  1863,  336  men  and  400  horses,  with  their  arms  and 
equipage. 

A  Well-earned  Furlough. — Returning  to  Cincinnati,  nearly 
the  entire  regiment  was  furloughed  by  Gen.  Burnside  in  recogni- 
tion of  its  "endurance  and  gallantr3^"  Reassembling  and  refitting 
at  Stanford,  Ky.,  on  September  5th  and  6th,  1863,  the  Second,  with 
other  cavalry  regiments,  made  a  forced  march  to  Cumberland  Gap, 
after  the  surrender  of  the  rebel  garrison   proceeding  to  K>ioxville, 


PART  OF  Sheridan's  cavalry  corps.  281 

and  from  thence   up  the   valley,  joined  the  army  at  Henderson's 
Station,  September  25. 

At  the  Siege  of  Knoxville. — Receiving  orders  to  report  to 
Gen.  Rosecrans,  in  charge  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  after 
marching  thirty  miles  towards  Knoxville,  the  Second  ^was  suddenly 
ordered  to  "about  face,"  on  its  return,  taking  part  in  an  engage- 
ment then  in  progress  and  soon  afterwards  participating  in  the 
battles  of  Blue  Springs,  Blountsville  and  Bristol.  On  Longstreet's 
advance,  the  latter  part  of  October,  the  Second  fell  back  to  Russell- 
ville,  and  then  to  near  Cumberland  Gap,  where  it  had  a  lively 
scrimmage  vsrith  Wheeler's  rebel  cavalry. 

During  the  siege  of  Knoxville,  the  Second  operated  upon  the 
flank  of  the  enemy,  and  w^hen  the  siege  w^as  raised  went  in  pursuit 
of  the  retreating  rebels.  December  2,  a  spirited  engagement  was 
had  with  Longstreet's  cavalry,  at  Morristown,  and  two  daj^s  later 
the  Second  was  the  advance  regiment  of  a  brigade  which  attacked 
and  for  two  hours  fought  eighteen  regiments  of  rebel  troops  at 
Russellville,  losing  forty  men,  killed  and  wounded. 

Re-enlisting  as  Veterans. — In  the  thickest  of  the  battle,  for 
five  hours,  at  Bean  Station,  on  December  6,  and  almost  constantly 
under  fire  for  the  next  five  days,  crossing  the  Holstein  river,  the 
Second  was  almost  continually  skirmishing  until  January  1,  1864,. 
when  220  out  of  470  men  then  composing  the  regiment,  re-enlisted 
as  veterans,  and  were  sent  home  on  veteran  furlough. 

In  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. — Reassembling  at  Cleveland, 
March  7,  1864,  w^ith  renewed  health  and  spirits  and  with  130  new 
recruits,  the  Second  was  again  ready  for  duty.  Going  first  to 
Mount  Sterling,  Ky.,  so  wide-spread  had  become  the  raiding  and 
fighting  fame  of  the  Second,  it  was  soon  afterwards  ordered  to 
Annapolis,  Md.,  where,  on  the  13th  day  of  April,  1864,  it  was^ 
reviewed  by  Lieut.  Gen.  Grant  and  other  prominent  officers. 

Remounted  and  newly  armed  and  equipped  at  Camp  Stone- 
man,  I).  C,  crossing  the  Potomac  and  the  Rapidan  with  Ninth 
Army  Corps,  under  Gen.  Burnside,  the  Second,  800  strong,  had  a 
sharp  engagement  with  Rosser's  rebel  cavalry,  with  slight  loss. 
In  the  Wilderness  campaign,  the  Second  covered  the  right  flank  of 
the  infantry,  constantly  on  picket  or  skirmish  duty,  on  May  28, 1864,. 
at  New^town,  capturing  rebel  commissary  stores  and  forage. 

Under  "Phighting"  Phil.  Sheridan. — By  order  of  Lieutenant 
General  Grant,  the  Second  w^as  transferred  to  Sheridan's  Cavalry 
Corps,  and  assigned  to  the  First  Brigade  of  the  Third  Division. 
Crossing  the  Pamunkey  river,  in  the  attack  on  the  rebel  fortifica- 
tions at  Hanover  Court  House,  after  a  desultory  fight,  the  brigade 
dismounted  for  a  charge.  The  Second  occupied  the  center,  sus- 
taining the  brunt  of  the  shock,  not  only  driving  the  rebels  from 
their  front,  but  attaining  and  holding  the  crest  and  the  court-house. 
The  next  day  a  portion  of  the  brigade,  sent  to  divert  the  attention 
of  the  enemy  while  the  balance  were  engaged  in  destroying  a  rail- 
road bridge  on  the  South  Anna  river,  on  arriving  at  Ashland  were 
surrounded  by  Fitzhugh  Lee's  rebel  cavalry,  and  after  fighting 
until  sundown,  our  men  withdrew,  the  Second  covering  the  retreat. 
Picketing  and  fighting  on  the  right  of  the  army  from  Hanover,  C, 
H.,  to  Cold  Harbor,  the  Second  crossed  the  James,  with  the  division 
June  17,  1864,  and  on  the  22nd  moved  on  a  raid  to  the  Danville 


382  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Railroad,  fighting  at  Nottaway,  C.  H.,  Stony  Creek  and  Ream  Sta- 
tion, with  a  loss  of  100  men  and  five  officers,  killed,  wounded  and 
missing.  Late  in  July  it  did  picket  duty  on  the  left  of  the  army, 
near  the  Weldon  Railroad;  early  in  August  went  to  Washington 
and  from  thence,  a  few  days  later,  to  the  Shenandoah  Valley. 

At  Winchester,  August  17,  at  three  o'clock  p.  m.,  the  Union 
troops  were  attacked  by  Early,  and  at  sundown  were  obliged  to  fall 
back,  the  second  battalion  and  t^vo  companies  of  the  third  battalion 
of  the  Second  Cavalry  acting  as  rear  guard  for  the  entire  division, 
fighting  the  enemy  in  the  streets  of  Winchester,  in  dense  darkness, 
for  three  hours.  In  the  fights  with  Earl}  on  the  19th,  22nd,  and 
tvsro  or  three  subsequent  sharp  encounters  with  the  impetuous  rebel, 
the  Second  bore  a  conspicuous  part,  going  with  the  division  to 
Boonesborough  on  the  26th,  camping  en  route,  on  the  battle-field  of 
South  Mountain,  and  marching  over  the  battle-field  of  Antie- 
tam. 

Plaudits  of  Secretary  Stanton. — August  30,  the  Second 
assisted  in  driving  the  enemy  from  Berrysville,  Va.;  in  September 
did  picket  duty  on  the  left  of  Sheridan's  army,  frequently  engaging 
the  enemy;  September  13  went  on  a  reconnoisance  to  Winchester, 
w^here  Early  had  his  headquarters,  drove  in  the  rebel  cavalry,  and 
w^ith  the  aid  of  a  Nevi^  Jersey  regiment,  captured  a  rebel  infantry 
regiment,  taking  them  to  Berrysville,  for  which  gallant  exploit 
the  Secretary  of  War  inade  special  commendatory  mention. 

The  Second  aided,  by  four  hours  hard  fighting,  in  carrying  a 
line  of  hills  between  Opequan  and  Winchester;  on  Early's  retreat, 
joined  in  the  pursuit;  on  the  20th  drove  Wickham's  cavalry  through 
Front  Royal;  inarched  and  skirmished  four  days  in  Luray  Valley; 
fought  against  Fitzhugh  Lee,  at  Waynesboro,  the  29th,  the  Second 
acting  as  rear  guard,  being  cut  off  by  rebel  infantry,  charging 
through  the  line;  fought  and  repulsed  Rosser's  cavalry  at  Bridge- 
'water,  and  during  Sheridan's  march  down  the  valley,  being  annoyed 
by  Rosser  in  the  rear,  turned  upon  hiin,  and  defeated  him,  captur- 
ing eleven  guns  and  eighty  wagons;  the  Second,  after  fighting 
from  eight  till  eleven  A.  m.,  pursuing  the  enemy  until  three  P.  m, 

Sheridan's  Winchester  Victory.^ — On  October  17,  the  Second 
shared  in  the  battle  of  Cedar  Creek,  being  in  the  saddle  from  daj''- 
break  until  nine  p.  m.;  occupied  the  center  on  the  Valley  Pike, 
near  Middletown,  and  aided  in  the  shout  of  w^elcome  to  Sheridan,  on 
his  arrival  at  the  front,  on  his  famous  ride  to  "  Winchester  town," 
and  participated  in  the  charges  w^hich  turned  defeat  into  victory, 
the  Second,  with  other  troops,  at  nine  o'clock  at  night,  bivouacking, 
supperless  on  the  field  of  battle.  Performing  routine  picket  duty 
for  several  w^eeks,  on  November  12,  the  Second  \^ras  attacked  by 
Rosser's  division  and  driven  in,  the  fight  lasting  all  day,  resulting 
in  the  entire  defeat  of  the  enemy;  was  hotly  engaged  w^ith  Early's 
force  at  New  Market,  November  20;  suffered  terribly  from  cold  en 
route  to  Winter  quarters,  near  Winchester,  (28  of  the  boys  having 
their  feet  frozen). 

The  Last  Raid  of  the  War. — Remaining  in  Winter  quarters 
from  December  23,  until  February  27,  (except  sending  out  an  occas- 
ional scouting  detachment),  the  Second,  w^ith  Sheridan's  other 
cavalry,  started  on  the  last  raid  of  the  w^ar,  on  March  2nd  capturing 
the  remains  of  Early's  army,  the  Second  alone  capturing  five  pieces 
of  artillery  w^ith  caissons,  thirteen  w^agons  and  ambulances,  seventy 


TWENTY-SEVEN    THOUSAND    MILES.  283 

horses  and  mules,  thirty  sets  of  harness,  350  stands  of  small  arm» 
and  650  prisoners,  for  which  magniticent  exploit  it  received  the 
thanks  of  the  commander  of  the  division.  Gen.  Custer,  on  the  field. 

Leading  the  advance,  at  Charlottesville,  the  Second  captured 
more  artillery;  in  the  campaign  that  closed  the  war,  from  March 
27,  until  Lee's  surrender,  April  9,  1865,  capturing  eighteen  pieces 
of  artillery,  180  horses,  70  wragons,  large  quantities  of  small  arms 
and  900  prisoners. 

Again  in  Missouri.— After  the  surrender  of  Gen.  Johnston  to 
Gen.  Sherman,  April  26,  1865,  the  Second,  with  Custer's  division, 
moved  to  the  vicinity  of  Washington,  and  after  the  grand  review, 
was  ordered  to  Missouri,  remaining  a  month  at  St.  Louis,  when 
it  w^ent  to  Springfield  to  relieve  State  troops.  Remaining  there 
until  September  1,  the  Second  was  transferred  to  Cainp  Chase, 
w^here,  on  September  11,  1865,  it  was  paid  off  and  disbanded. 

AKRON'S  ROLL  OF  HONOR. 

Following,  so  far  as  the  writer  has  been  able  to  compile  them, 
is  a  list  of  the  brave  boys  furnished  by  Middlebury  and  Portage 
townships  (including  Akron),  for  the  invincible  and  almost  omni- 
present Second  Ohio  Cavalry: 

Clinton  Allen,  Milton  F.  Abbey,  Watson  C.  Atwood,  Augustus 
N.  Bernard,  Christopher  Bartges,  C.  F.  H,  Biggs,  Townsend  C. 
Budd,  W.  F.  Ball,  W.  F.  Benedict, James  Brennan,  Frank  D.Bryan, 
Henry  E.  Bryan,  James  H,  Case,  Joseph  Cook,  Gurdon  Cook, 
Augustus  Curtiss,  Jordan  Cook,  John  W.  Crosier,  Lawson  B,  Doyle, 
Abner  Danforth,  Edmund  Foley,  James  B.  Foote,  Arthurton  H. 
Farnam,  George  H.  Falor,  John  W.  Gilpin,  Theodore  Gambie, 
Marion  Golden,  Henry  O.  Hampson,  George  W.  Hart,  James 
Housel,  George  Hanscoin,  John  Hanscom,  George  Hart,  George  H. 
Henry,  Carlton  Jackson,  James  Kerns,  Isaiah  McNeil,  Jackson 
Maple,  James  M.  Malone,  William  McCloud,  Dustin  Marble  (leader 
of  band)  David  C.  Mohtgomer}^  Daniel  McNaughton,  Eugene 
Pooler,  George  A.  Purington,  George  Richards,  F.  A.  Remington, 
John  Roahl,  Virgil  Robinson,  J.  Gilbert  Raymond,  (musician) 
Dudley  Sew^ard,  George  S.  Storer,  E.  W.  Spelman,  George  Spel- 
man,  Christian  Stroker,  Henry  H.  Smith,  Peter  J.  Smith,  William 
Shaffer,  John  Scanlan,  Charles  Tifft,  David  R.  Townley,  William 
Turner,  A.  H.  Thompson,  James  A.  Viall,  Benjamin  F.  Weary,  W. 
W.  Wise,  S.  B.  Watkins.  Other  Summit  county  boys,  connected 
with  the  Second,  so  far  as  they  can  now  be  ascertained,  will  be 
found  in  the  lists  of  their  respective  townships. 

A  GLOWING  TRIBUTE  TO  THE  SECOND. 

Whitelaw^  Reid,  late  editor-in-chief  of  the  New  York  Tribune, 
now  United  States  Minister  to  France,  upon  whose  "  Ohio  in  the 
War"  w^e  have  drawn  largely  for  the  data  for  this  chapter,  in 
speaking  of  the  glorious  achievements  of  the  Second  Ohio  Cavalry 
said:  "Its  horses  have  drunk  from,  and  its  troopers  have  bathed 
in,  the  waters  of  the  Arkansas,  Kaw,  Osage,  Cygnes,  Missouri, 
Mississippi,  Ohio,  Scioto,  Miami,  Cumberland,  Tennessee,  Holston, 
Potomac,  Shenandoah,  Rappahannock,  Rapidan,  Bull  Run,  Matta- 
pony,  Pamunkey,  Chickahominy,  James,  Appomatox,  Black  Water, 
Nottaway,  and  Chesapeake.     It  has  campaigned  through  thirteen 


384  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

States  and  one  Territory.  *  *  *  it  has  marched  an  aggregate 
distance  of  27,000  miles  and  has  fought  in  ninety-seven  battles  and 
engagements.  It  has  served  in  live  different  armies — the  Army  of 
the  Frontier,  of  the  Missouri,  of  the  Potomac,  of  the  Ohio  and  of 
the  Shenandoah — forming  a  continuous  line  of  armies  from  the 
head-waters  of  the  Arkansas  to  the  mouth  of  the  James,  and  its 
dead,  sleeping  where  they  fell,  form  a  vidette  line  half  across  the 
continent,  a  chain  of  prostrate  sentinels  two  thousand  miles  long. 
Even  in  their  graves,  may  not  these  patriot  dead  still  guard  the 
glory  and  integrity  of  the  Republic  for  which  they  fell?" 

FIRST  OHIO  LIGHT  ARTILLERY. 

This  regiment,  with  1,800  men  and  tw^elve  batteries,  w^as  organ- 
ized at  Cleveland,  under  the  militia  law  of  1860,  and  on  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  war.  Col.  James  Barnett  tendered  its  services  to  the 
Government,  under  the  three  ^nonths'  call,  w^hich  being  accepted,, 
the  regiment  reported  at  Columbus,  April  22,  1861,  and  was^ 
assigned  to  duty  in  West  Virginia.  On  the  expiration  of  three 
months,  the  regiment  was  reorganized  for  three  years,  Battery 
A,  with  Charles  S.  Cotter,  a  Middlebury  boj^,  as  captain,  and 
Battery  D,  with  Andrew  J.  Konkle,of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  as  captain. 

CAPTAIN  COTTER'S  BATTERY. 

As  before  stated,  Captain  Charles  S.  Cotter,  of  Middlebury,. 
recruited  Company  A,  First  Ohio  Light  Artillery,  for  the  three 
years'  service,  w^hich  was  mustered  in  at  Camp  Chase,  Columbus, 
September  6,  1861,  immediately  leaving  for  Louisville,  K^^.,  receiv- 
ing its  equipment  w^hile  en  route  at  Cincinnati,  and  was  the  first 
Ohio  Battery  to  report  in  that  department.  Moving  with  Gen. 
McCook's  Command  to  Green  River,  and  froin  thence  direct  to 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  it  proceeded  to  Pittsburg  Landing,  (too  late  to  be 
of  service  in  that  action,  April  7,  1862),  participated  in  the  advance 
on  Corinth;  marched  to  Florence,  Ala.,  to  Battle  Creek  and  Jasper, 
Tenn.,  to  Dechert,  to  Winchester,  TuUahoma,  Shelbyville,  and  back 
to  Nashville. 

Accompanying  Buell's  army  through  Kentucky,  a  detachment 
of  the  battery,  aiding  in  the  defense  of  Munfordsville,  September 
21,  1862,  was  captured  with  the  garrison  by  the  rebel  Gen.  Bragg. 
The  balance  of  the  battery  participated  in  numerous  skirmishes 
en  route  to  Perrysville,  Ky.;  was  actively  engaged  at  Dog  Walk; 
marched  through  Danville  to  Crabb  Orchard,  and  joined  the  retro- 
grade movement  of  Buell's  army,  reaching  Bow^ling  Green,  October 
31,  1862,  and  Louisville  November  7.  In  the  disaster  of  Stone 
River,  December  30,  1862,  the  battery  saved  two  of  its  guns  from 
capture,  after  reaching  the  Nashville  Pike  doing  effective  service 
during  the  remainder  of  the  battle,  until  the  last  gun  Avas  disabled, 
and  afterwards  aided  in  working  other  batteries  upon  the  field. 

Battery  A  Reorganized.  —  After  the  capture  of  Murfrees- 
boro,  by  the  Union  forces,  January  3, 1863,  the  battery  \\ras  re-or- 
ganized and  re-equipped,  and,  as  part  of  the  Second  Division  of 
the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  participated  in  the  movements  on 
TuUahoma,  Liberty  and  Hoover's  Gap,  in  June,  1863,  and  accom- 
panied McCook  over  Sand  Mountain.  At  Chickamauga,  Septem- 
ber 19-20,  1863,  the  battery  did  most  effective  service,  and  when 


cottkr's  and  konkle's  batteries.  385 

nearly  surrounded,  extricated  its  guns  by  a  sudden  change  of  front, 
its  loss  on  that  eventful  day  being  17  men  killed  and  w^ounded. 
Entering  Chattanooga  with  the  army,  it  aided  in  its  defense 
until  October  16,  1863,  when,  under  Gen.  Speer,it  marched  through 
East  Tennessee  to  Strawberry  Plains,  being  almost  constantly 
engaged  \vith  the  enemy's  cavalry  until  January  30,  1864. 

Re-enlisting  as  Veterans. — At  Strawberry  Plains,  the  bat- 
tery re-enlisted  as  veterans,  and  left  for  home  on  a  30  days'  fur- 
lough. On  again  reporting  at  the  fort,  Battery  A  participated  in 
the  entire  Atlanta  campaign,  at  the  close  of  w^hich  it  took  a  lively 
hand  in  the  several  engagements  with  Hood's  rebel  artny,  at 
Pulaski,  Columbia,  and  other  points,  arriving  at  Nashville  just  in  , 
time  to  haul  the  captured  rebel  artillery  off  from  that  hotly  con- 
tested field,  December  16,  1864. 

The  battery  was  now  sent  to  New  Orleans,  and  thence  to 
Texas,  being  at  Gallatin  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  was  mustered 
out  at  Cleveland,  134  men,  July  31,  1865.  Of  this  battery  Whitelaw 
Reid,  page  894  second  volume  "Ohio  in  the  War,"  said:  "Battery 
A  marched  in  the  States  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Mississippi, 
Alabama  and  Georgia,  4,500  miles,  and  was  transported  by  Govern- 
ment 1,500  miles,  making  a  total  of  6,000  traveled;  was  in  30 
skirmishes  and  nine  heavy  battles,  and  hurled  from  the  cannon's 
mouth  at  the  rebels,  30  tons  of  ammunition,  25  tons  of  -which  were 
fired  in  the  Georgia  campaign  of  1864,  under  Gen.  Sherman." 

Akron  in  Cotter's  Battery. — Besides  Captain  (afterwards 
Colonel)  Cotter,  Akron's  representatives  in  Battery  A,  First  Ohio 
Light  Artillery,  so  far  as  can  be  learned,  vt^ere:  Thomas  Corwin 
(or  Kirw^in),  James  Courtney  (mortally  wounded  at  Chickamauga 
September  20,  1863),  Henry  Geer  (^vounded  in  saine  battle),  William 
Hill,  Henry  O.  Martin,  Joseph  S.  Williams,  Morgan  M.  Whitney; 
the  Middlebury  assessor,  also  giving  the  names  of  Wellington 
Brown,  Jacob  Demass,  J.  S.  G.  Slocum  and  William  Yeomans,  as 
belonging  to  this  battery. 

Captain  Konkle's  Battery. — At  the  close  of  the  three  months 
servuce,  as  above  intimated.  Battery  D,  First  Ohio  Light  Artillery, 
was  recruited  for  the  three  years'  service  by  Andrew  J.  Konkle,  of 
Cuyahoga  Falls,  who  was  made  captain  of  the  battery,  w^ith  Wil- 
liam H.' Pease  as  first  lieutenant.  Captain  Konkle  afterwards  being 
promoted  to  major  of  the  regiment,  Lieut.  Pease  was  promoted  to 
captain  and  Henry  C.  Grant  to  second,  and  afterwards  to  first, 
lieutenant.  The  battery  was  mustered  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States  at  Camp  Dennison,  Columbus,  in  September,  1861, 
w^ith  150  men. 

Plucky  but  Unfortunate.— In  November,  1861,  the  battery 
went  to  Mount  Sterling,  Ky.,  and,  under  Gen.  William  Nelson, 
marched  up  the  Big  Sandy,  to  Piketon,  at  Joy  Mountain,  November 
9,  1861,  having  a  sharp  skirmish  w^ith  the  enemy  and  losing  one 
man,  killed,  going  from  thence,  by  steamer,  to  Louisville, 
November  25,  to  Munf ordsville,  November  29,  and  from  thence  to 
Nashville,  Pittsburg  Landing,  Tenn.,  Corinth,  Miss.,  and  on  June 
30,  1862,  to  Athens,  Ala. 

Leaving  Athens  July  30,  1862,  the  battery  went  with  General 
Nelson's  command,  Ha  Columbia,  Tenn.,  to  Lebanon,  Ky.  In  the 
battle  of  Munfordsville,  Ky.,  September  15-16, 1862,  the  batterj^  was 
overwhelmed  by  the  enemy,  and  all  its  men  and  material  captured. 

26 


C86  AKRON    AND    SUxHMIT   COUNTY. 

Though  unfortunate  in  this  regard,  they  were  more  fortunate  than 
thousands  of  their  fellow-soldiers,  in  that,  instead  of  being 
immured  in  a  rebel  prison,  they  were  then  and  there  paroled 
and  sent  home,  to  Camp  Chase,  where  they  remained  until 
exchanged,  in  January,  1863. 

After  being  dulj^  exchanged.  Battery  D,  was  re-organized  and 
newly  equipped,  going  to  Lexington,  Ky,,  the  latter  part  of 
January,  1863,  and  from  thence,  on  April  18,  to  Mount  Vernon,  Ky. 
June  13,  1863,  with  thirty-one  men,  thirty-four  horses  and  two  guns, 
Lieut.  H.  C.  Lloyd,  under  Col.  Saunders,  Chief  of  Cavalry,  Third 
Army  Corps,  went  on  a  raid  into  Kast  Tennessee,  and  though  the 
raid  was  generally  successful — important  bridges  burned,  a  large 
amount  of  ordnance  and  commissary  stores  destroyed  and  other 
serious  damage  done  to  the  enemy — the  detachment  from  Battery 
D  lost  both  its  guns  and  had  one  man  killed  by  guerrillas. 

In  July,  1863,  the  battery  marched  with  Gen.  Burnside's  army 
to  Cumberland  Gap,  and  participated  in  its  capture,  during  the 
following  two  months,  in  connection  with  Col.  Frank  Woolford's 
Cavalry,  raiding  through  Kentucky.  December  2, 1863,  seven  of  its 
men  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  rebels,  six  of  \ehom  died  in  the 
prison-pen  at  Andersonville,  Ga.  During  the  entire  siege  at 
Knoxville,  Battery  D  was  effectively  engaged,  and  immediately 
after  the  siege  was  raised,  the  men  re-enlisted  and  w^ere  sent  home 
on  a  thirty-days'  furlough.  On  the  expiration  of  its  veteran  fur- 
lough, its  ranks  were  filled  at  Cleveland  and  the  battery  returned 
to  Knoxville  early  in  1864,  moving  with  Sherman's  army  when  the 
march  on  Atlanta  began,  and  participating  in  all  the  engagements 
of  that  gloriously  successful  campaign;  afterwards  engaging  in 
the  battles  of  Franklin  and  Nashville,  and  after  driving  Hood's 
army  across  the  Tennessee  River,  went  with  the  Third  Army 
Corps  to  Wilmington,  N  C,  and  after  the  close  of  the  war  was  mus- 
tered out,  99  men  strong,  at  Cleveland,  July  15,  1865. 

Akron's  Members  of  Battery  D.  —  Attached  to  Battery 
D,  First  Ohio  Light  Artillery,  were  the  following  Akron  and 
Middlebury  boys:  Daniel  Ackerman,  George  H.  Brown,  William 
Delong,  V^ersel  Dreythaler,  William  Fink,  Amos  Griffith,  Aaron 
Hart,  William  Hill,  Zebulon  McAlpin,  George  Smith,  Charles 
Stair,  r  itiiel  Stair,  Timothy  R.  Sanford,  James  Sangster,  Jr.,  D.  R. 
Townl<  /. 

THE  FIFTY-EIGHTH    REGIMENT   O.  V.  I. 

Thi.3  was  a  German  regiment,  organized  by  Col.  Valentine 
Bausenwein,  at  Camp  Chase,  in  the  Fall  of  1861,  leaving  for  the 
front  in  February,  1862,  taking  part  in  the  Fort  Donelson,  Tenn., 
affair,  February  14,  15  and  16,  1862;  Shiloh,  Tenn.,  April  6-7,  1862; 
siege  of  Corinth,  Miss.,  April  30,  1862;  Milliken's  Bend,  La.,  August 
18,  1862;  Chickasaw  Bayou,  Miss.,  December  28-29,  1862;  Arkansas 
Post,  January  11,  1863;  Deer  Creek,  Miss.,  March  21,  1863;  Grand 
Gulf,  Miss.,  April  29,  1863;  Big  Black  River,  Miss.,  May  17,  1863; 
siege  of  Vicksburg,  Miss.,  May  18  to  July  4,  1863;  Lake  Providence, 
La.,  June  10,  1864;  Fort  Morgan,  Ala.,  August  5-23,  1864.  The 
surviving  original  members,  except  re-enlisted  veterans,  were 
mustered  out  January  14,  1865,  balance  September  16,  1865. 

In  this  regiment,  as  per  assessor's  returns,  Portage  township  is 
credited  with  the  following  members  of  Co.  B:     Joseph  Bergdorf, 


THEY    "FIT   MIT    SIGEL."  387 

Thomas  Dill,  George  Fry,  L.  F.  Grether,  Charles  Henning,  Henry 
Kinehart,  Joseph  Schmidt,  John  Stark,  Casper  Treitinger,  (Orderly 
Sergeant),  John  D.  Viers.  Philip  A.  Bierwirth,  recruited  part  of  a 
company  for  this  regiment  in  September  and  October,  1861,  and 
was  appointed  first  lieutenant  January  8,  1862,  but  resigned 
March  15,  1862,  afterwards  enlisted  in  the  107th,  as  elsewhere 
stated.  Of  the  others  Joseph  Schmidt  was  discharged  for  disability 
at  Camp  Chase,  August  8,  1862;  Joseph  Bergdorf,  appointed 
corporal,  transferred' to  Co.  C,  December  26,  1864,  appointed  ser- 
geant May  11,  1865,  mustered  out  September  16,  1865;  Thomas  Dill 
discharged  at  Louisville,  Ky,,  for  disability,  September  19,  1862; 
George  Fry,  mustered  out  on  expiration  of  enlistment,  January  14, 
1865;  Louis  F.  Grether,  discharged  for  disability,  at  Camp  Chase, 
July  1,  1862;  Charles  Henning,  mustered  out  at  expiration  of  term 
of  service,  January  14,  1865;  Casper  Treitinger,  discharged  for 
disability  at  Mound  City,  111.,  August  20,  1862;  John  D.  Viers,  trans- 
ferred to  Co.  C,  December  20,  1864 — veteran. 

THE   HUNDRED  AND   SEVENTH  O.  V.  I. 

This  was  also  a  German  regiment,  organized  in  August,  1862, 
under  a  special  order  from  Ohio's  Patriotic  Democratic  War 
Governor,  David  Tod,  to  "fight  mit  Sigel,"  Company  I  was  in 
part  composed  of  citizens  of  Summit  county,  Richard  Feederle,  of 
Akron,  being  «lected  captain,  W.  F.  Bechtel,  of  Akron,  second 
lieutenant,  Captain  George  Billow,  Akron's  present  Avell-known 
funeral  director,  enlisted  as  private,  being  promoted  the  following 
November  to  second  lieutenant  and  soon  after  to  first  lieutenant 
and  finally  to  captain,  in  which  capacity  he  served  to  the  close  of 
the  w^ar. 

As  show^ing  the  interest  taken  by  the  Germans  of  Akron,  in 
the  recruiting  of  this  regiment,  we  find  in  the  Beacon  of  July  31, 
1862,  an  announcement,  that  the  Akron  Liedertafel  will  give  a 
"War  Fund  Benefit  Concert"  on  the  evening  of  August  22,  the 
proceeds  to  be  applied  as  a  bounty  fund  to  assist  Lieut.  Richard 
Feederle  and  George  Billow  in  raising  their  company  for  the  107th 
regiment.     Tickets  $1.00  per  couple. 

Organized  at  Camp  Taylor,  near  Cleveland,  in  August,  1862, 
the  first  Avar  experience  of  the  107th,  was  ij^i  aiding  the  National 
forces  to  repel  the  threatened  attack  of  the  rebel  General  Kirby 
Smith  on  Cincinnati,  in  September.  In  November,  the  regiment 
was  transferred  to  Virginia  and  assigned  to  the  Eleventh  Army 
Corps,  commanded  by  Gen.  Franz  Sigel,  taking  part  in  the  battle 
of  Chancellorsville.  Being  flanked  in  that  battle,  the  107th  lost 
220  officers  and  men,  killed,  wounded  and  missing.  In  the 
Fredericksburg  campaign,  in  the  battles  of  Hagerstow^n,  Boones- 
borough,  and  other  hard-fought  contests  in  that  vicinity,  and  in  the 
Gettysburg  campaign,  the  107th  took  an  honorable  part,  losing 
according  to  official  report,  42  per  cent  of  its  men  in  the  latter 
sanguinary  struggle. 

Singular  Fatality, — As  w^ill  appear  elsew^here  in  this  chapter, 
at  a  public  meeting  held  at  East  Liberty  for  the  purpose  of 
encouraging  enlistments,  w^hile  the  107th  was  being  recruited,  in 
the  Summer  of  1862,  the  "copperhead"  element  of  the  neighbor- 
hood .undertook  to  break  up  the  meeting,  and  made  the  most 
persistent    efforts    to    discourage    enlistments — six   of    the   more 


388 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


prominent  offenders  being  taken  before  the  United  States  Commis- 
sioner at  Cleveland,  and  mulcted  in  fines  and  costs  to  the 
aggregate  amount  of  about  $600.  Three  of  the  younger  men 
implicated  in  the  affair,  being  unable  to  procure  bail,  were  placed 
in  "durance  vile,"  and  after  sleeping  over  the  matter  one  night  in 
jail,  concluded  that  the  quickest  and  safest  way  out  of  the  dilemma 
in  w^hich  they  had  unwittingly  placed  themselves,  w^ould  be  to 
enlist,  and  all  three  at  the  same  time  enrolled  themselves  in  the 
107th,  under  Capt.  Feederle  and  Lieutenant  Billow.  It  is  but 
simple  justice  to  the  memory  of  the  boys  in  question,  to  saj^  that 
they  all  made  brave  and  patriotic  soldiers,  as  is  evidenced  by  the 
fact  that  all  three  fell  by  rebel  bullets,  on  the  same  day,  two  killed 
and  one  mortally  w^ounded,  falling  almost  side  by  side,  at  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg,  July  1,  1863. 


pAPT.  GEORGE  BILLOW,— born 
^  in  Hesse-Darmstadt,  Germany, 
April  2,  1833 ;  came  to  United  States 
with  parents  in  1844,  settling  on  farm 
near  Sandixsky,  O.;  at  17  began  learn- 
ing Avagon-maker's  trade,  finishing 
in  Cleveland,  later  working  in  Akron 
and  Tallmadge,  until  August  1862, 
when  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the 
107th  O.  V.  I.,  a  German  regiinent,  of 
whose  services  a  full  account  rs  else- 
where given,  Mr.  Billow,  besides 
being  promoted  by  regular  grada- 
tion to  the  captaincy  of  Co.  I,  doing 
duty  as  brigade  commissary,  and  on 
the  staff  of  Gen.  Foster,  at  Fernan- 
dina,  Fla.,  and  later  as  local  provost 
marshal  at  Jacksonville.  On  being 
mustered  out,  July  10,  1865,  Ca'f)tain 
Billow^  returned  to  Akron,  engaging 
in  the  grocer}^  business  with  Mr.  C.J. 
Kolb  for  about  two  years  ;  then  took 
charge  of  the  co-operative  grocer}^, 
afterwards  for  a  j^ear  and  a  half 
traveling  and  selling  stoneware.  In 
1870,  Capt.  Billow  moved  to  Hunts- 
ville,  Ala.,  and  engaged  in  cotton 
planting,  but  finding  the  speculation 
unprofitable,  in  April,  187^,  returned 
to  Akron.  Here  he  established  him- 
self as  an  undertaker,  which  busi- 
ness he  is  still  successfully  pursuing, 
also  officiating  a's  Notary  and  agent 


CAPT.  GEORGE  BILLOW. 

for  ocean  steaiuship  transportation,.. 
dealer  in  foreign  exchange,  etc 
Sept.  19,  1854,  Capt.  Billow  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Marj-.Fink,  of  Akron,., 
who  has  borne  him  eight  children — 
Anna,  George  W.,  Charles  Fernando, 
Ida,  Albert  C,  Jacob  L.,  Edwin  M.,. 
and  Claire. 


Transferred  to  South  Carolina, — In  August,  1863,  the  107th 
was  transferred  to  South  Carolina,  from  thence,  in  February,  1864, 
to  Florida,  and  in  December,  1864,  back  to  South  Carolina,  where,, 
and  in  Georgia,  besides  being  for  a  w^hile  employed  in  provost 
duty,  it  took  a  lively  hand  in  the  closing  scenes  of  the  Avar,  in  that 
vicinity,  after  the  consummation  of  Gen,  Sherman's  celebrated 
march  from  "Atlanta  to  the  Sea,"  being  finally  mustered  out  July 
10,  1865,  at  Charleston,  480  men. 

The  Akron  contingent  in  the  107th,  so  far  as  is  now  ascertain- 
able was:  George  Billow,  William  F.  Bechtel,  Philip  A.  Bierwirth, 
Joseph  Bimler,  Joseph  Decovey,  Robert  Deitzhold,  Richard  Feed- 
erle, Frederick  Fischer,  Christian  Fischer,  Peter  Ginther,.  Theobold 


PROMOTIONS,    CASUALTIES,    ETC.  389 

Hassttian,  Frederick  Landenberger,  Simon  Lamprecht,  John  Laube, 
John  Ley,  Adam  Marsh,  Conrad  Metzler,  Charles  Remmy,  Gordian 
-Spreck,  Jacob  Weinert.  The  names  of  those  from  other  parts  of 
the  county  will  appear  in  connection  with  their  respective  town- 
ships. 

While  in  South  Carolina  and  Florida,  Capt.  Billow  had  a 
severe  attack  of  typhoid  fever  and  on  his  recovery  was  detailed  as 
brigade  commissary,  afterwards  serving  on  the  staff  of  Post  Com- 
missary Gen.  Foster,  at  Fernandina,  and  still  later  acting  as  local 
provost  marshal  at  Jacksonville,  afterwards  returning  to  Fernan- 
dina, where  he  remained  until  the  close  of  the  w^ar. 

Lieut.  William  F.  Bechtel,  transferred  to  Company  D,  Oct.  21, 
1862;  Sergeant  Philip  A.  Bierwirth,  transferred  to  16th  New  York 
Cavalry  as  first  sergeant;  Joseph  Decovey,  appointed  corporal, 
October  18,  1863,  promoted  to  sergeant  November  24,  1864;  Corporal 
Peter  Carl,  died  at  McDougal  hospital,  New  York  Harbor,  Septem- 
l)er  28,  1863,  of  wounds  received  at  Gettysburg,  July  1,  1863;  Jerome 
Ansbach,  appointed  corporal  December  12,  1862,  killed  at  Gettys- 
burg, July  1,  1863;  Simon  Lambrecht,  appointed  corporal,  January 
16,  1863;  killed  at  Gettysburg,  July  1,  1863;  Gordian  Spreck, 
appointed  corporal  April  18,  1863,  mustered  out  Avith  company; 
John  J.  Bussard,  killed  at  Gettysburg,  July  1,  1863;  Robert  Deitz- 
hold,  transferred  to  compan}^  K,  25th  O.  V.  I.,  July  10,  1865;  Chris- 
tian Fischer,  died  August  2,  1873,  at  Newark,  N.  J.,  of  wounds 
received  at  Gettysburg,  July  1,  1863;  Frederick  Fischer,  captured 
at  Gettysburg,  July  1,  1863,  returned  to  company  October  20,  1863, 
and  mustered  out  with  regiment;  Theobold  Hassman,  wounded  at 
Gettysburg,  July  1,  1863,  and  transferred  to  Veteran  Reserve  Corps, 
January  6,  1864;  Frederick  Landenberger,  captured  at  Enterprise, 
Fla.,  February  4,  1865,  exchanged  and  mustered  out  at  Camp 
Chase,  June  16,  1865;  John  Laube,  discharged  for  disability,  at  De 
Kamp  hospital.  New  York  Harbor,  November  11,  1864;  John  Ley, 
mustered  out  at  Cleveland,  August  2,  18G5;  Conrad  Metzler,  died 
at  Jacksonville,  Fla.,  May  10,  1864;  Charles  Remmy,  discharged  for 
disability,  at  Hilton  Head,  S.  C,  May  14,  1865;  Jacob  Weinert, 
discharged  for  disability,  at  Washington,  D.  C,  November  26,  1862. 

Besides  the  many  minor  engagements  and  skirmishes  in  which 
the  107th  participated,  following  is  the  official  list  of  battles  in 
which  the  regiment  Avas  engaged  during  the  war,  as  given  in  Ohio 
Roster:  Chancellorsville,  Va.,  May  1-4,  1863;  Gettysburg,  Pa.,  July 
1-3,  1863;  Hagerstown,  Md.,  July  11,  1863;  John's  Island,  S.  C,  July 
5-7,  1864;  Deveaux  Neck,  S.  C,  December  6-9,  1864;  Deveaux  Neck, 
S.  C.,  December  29,  1864;  Enterprise,  Fla.,  February  5,  1865;  Sum- 
terville,  S.  C,  March  23,  1865;  Swift  Creek,  S.  C,  April  19,  1865. 

THE  THIRTY-SEVENTH   O.  V.  I. 

This  was  the  third  German  regiment  organized  in  Ohio,  and 
was  principally  composed  of  patriotic  German  citizens  of  Cleve- 
land, Toledo,  and  Chillicothe,  w^ith  liberal  accessions  from  Summit 
and  other  counties  in  Northern  and  Western  Ohio.  October  1, 
1861,  at  Camp  Dennison,  near  Columbus,  the  regiment,  800  strong, 
was  mustered  into  service  and  duly  officered,  armed  and  equipped, 
and  placed  in  command  of  Col.  E.  Siber,  an  accomplished  German 
officer,    of  large    military  experience  in    Prussia   and  Brazil,    the 


390  AKRON    AXD    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

minor  officers  being  selected  from  those  who  had  seen  service 
under  the  three  months'  call. 

The  regiment  reported  to  Gen,  Rosecrans  in  West  Virginia, 
early  in  October,  1861,  operating  in  the  KanaAvha  Valley ;  in  January, 
1862,  went  on  a  raid  to  Logan,  C,  H.,  after  hard  lighting  capturing 
the  place  and  destroying  war  material — an  officer  and  one  private 
killed;  March,  1862,  in  a  raid  on  the  Virginia  and  Kast  Tennessee 
Railroad,  lost  one  officer  and  thirteen  men  killed,  tw^o  officers  and 
forty-six  men  wounded  and  fourteen  men  missing,  the  National 
forces  retreating  to  Flat  Top  Mountain.  At  Wj^oming,  C.  H.,  in 
April,  1862,  a  detachment  viras  ambuscaded  and  surrounded,  but 
fought  their  \vay  out  with  a  loss  of  two  men  killed  and  one  officer 
and  seven  men  captured  by  the  rebels;  fought  at  Cotton  Hill, 
September  11,  1862.  After  infinite  marchings  and  counter-march- 
ings, scoutings,  raidings,  etc.,  the  37th  participated  throughout  the 
entire  siege  of  Vicksburg — sharing  in  its  disasters  and  successes — 
from  May  18  until  Jul)'  4,  1863,  with  a  loss  of  19  men  killed  and  75 
w^ounded,  including  its  commander,  Lieut.  Col.  Louis  Von  Bles- 
singh;  and  taking  part  in  the  investment  and  capture  of  Jackson, 
Miss.,  July  9-17,  1863,  and  the  battle  of  Mission  Ridge,  November 
25,  1863. 

Re-enlisting  as  Veterans. — March  8,  1864,  three-fourths  of  all 
the  men  re-enlisted  for  another  three  years,  and  were  sent  home 
on  veteran  furlough.  Returning  to  the  field,  the  37th  took  part  in 
the  three  days'  battle  at  Resaca,  Ga.,  May  13-16,  1864;  Dallas,  Ga., 
May  25  June  4,  1864;  Kenesaw  Mountain,  June  9-30  (including  the 
general  assault,  June  27th);  successfully  defended  against  Hood's 
first  sortie  from  Atlanta,  July  22,  and  second  sortie,  July  28,  1864; 
siege  of  Atlanta,  Ga.,  July  28  to  September  2,1864;  Jonesborough,Ga., 
August  31  to  September  1,  1864;  marched  with  Sherman's  invin- 
cible army  from  Atlanta  to  Savannah,  encountering  several  sharp 
engagements  with  the  enemy  in  South  and  North  Carolina  in  the 
north w^ard  march  of  the  victorious  army;  after  the  surrender  of 
Lee  and  Johnston  marching  to  Washington  ria  Richmond,  Va.,  and 
participating  in  the  Grand  Review,  at  the  National  Capital,  ^lay 
25,  1865.  After  the  review,  the  regiment  was  transported  bj'  rail, 
to  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  from  thence,  the  latter  part  of  June,  to 
Little  Rock,  Ark.,  where  it  remained  until  August  7,  1865,  Avhen  it 
was  mustered  out,  and  transported  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  the 
men  were  paid  off  and  discharged. 

Akron  in  the  Thirty-Seventh. — Charles  Groff,  or  Gropf,  Co.  D, 
captured  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  July  22,  1864,  returned  to  company  Octo- 
ber 2,  1864 — Veteran;  Christian  Koehler,  mustered  out  with  com- 
pany, August  7,  1865 — Veteran;  Benjamin  Stroker,  died  at  Walnut 
Hills,  Miss.,  July  10,  1863;  William  Sampsey,  discharged  at  Flat- 
Top  Mountain,  W.  Va.,  for  disability,  July  1,  1862. 

NINTH   OHIO  INDEPENDENT  BATTERY. 

This  battery  w^as  organized  at  Camp  Wood,  near  Cleveland, 
October  11,  1861,  w^ith  Henry  S.  Wetmore,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  as 
captain,  John  M.  Hinde,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  as  second  lieutenant. 
Captain  Wetmore  resigning  December  12,  1862;  John  M,  Hinde 
promoted  to  first  lieutenant  August  3,  1862,  resigned  December  5, 
1862;  Henry  A.  Tallmadge,  of  Hudson,  promoted  to  second  lieuten- 
ant August  3,  1862,  to  first  lieutenant,  September  11,  1862,  resigned 


NINTH   INDEPENDENT  BATTERY.  391 

June  7,  1864;  William  H.  James,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  promoted  to 
second  lieutenant,  May  9,  1864,  to  first  lieutenant,  November  16, 
1864,  resigned  January  21,  1865;  George  W.  Church,  of  Hudson, 
promoted  to  second  lieutenant,  June  27,  1864,  to  first  lieutenant, 
February  10,  1865,  mustered  out  with  battery,  July  25,  1865, 

This  battery  was  one  of  the  most  effective  in  the  service, 
taking  part  in  the  battle  of  Mill  Springs,  January  19,  1862,  from  a 
hill  cominanding  the  ferry  on  the  Cumberland  River,  over  which 
rebel  troops  ^vere  being  transported,  by  its  well-directed  shots,  at 
a  range  of  nearly  two  miles,  setting  fire  to  the  steam  ferry-boat  and 
compelling  the  speedy  surrender  of  the  rebel  works.  For  this 
gallant  service  Gen.  George  H.  Thomas,  with  the  approval  of 
Major  Gen.  Buell,  presented  the  battery  with  two  captured  six- 
pound  bronze  guns,  fitted  out  with  captured  horses  and  harness. 
The  battery  participated  in  the  capture  of  Cumberland  Gap;  in 
the  retreat  of  the  United  States  forces  from  the  Gap,  in  September, 

1862,  the  Ninth  taking  the  advance  in  charge  of  a  train  of  one  hun- 
dred wagons  filled  Avith  ammunition,  having  several  sharp 
encounters  with  the  enemy  on  the  ^vay,  the  men  running  so  short 
of  provisions  as  to  be  obliged  to  gather  corn  from  adjacent  planta- 
tions for  food,  grating  it  by  means  of  perforations  in  the  bottoms  of 
their  tin  plates. 

The  Battery  Re-equipped. —  Arriving  at  Wheeling,  W.  Va., 
the  citizens  fed  and  treated  them  w^ith  every  kindness,  and  after 
arriving  at  Covington,  Ky.,  the  battery  was  reclothed  and 
re-equipped  with  a  complete  new  outfit  of  guns  and  horses,  the 
Ninth  now  being  recognized  by  the  War  Department  as  a  six-gun 
battery  and  entitled  to  a  full  complement  of  officers.  On  October 
19,  1862,  sixty-six  recruits  were  added  to  the  battery,  giving  it  a 
total  of  three  commissioned  officers  and  156  men. 

Going  from  Covington  to  Nicholasville,  Ky.,  in  December, 
after  considerable  scouting  after  John  Morgan,  and  other  rebel 
raiders,  the  battery  went  to  Nashville  the  latter  part  of  January, 

1863,  remaining  in  that  vicinity,  with  almost  daily  sharp  brushes 
with  the  enemy,  until  September  5,  1863,  when  it  marched  to 
Tullahoma. 

A  Villainous  Performance. — December  23,  1862,  four  mem- 
bers of  the  battery,  w^hile  on  a  foraging  expedition,  in  Lincoln 
County,  Tenn.,  were  captured  by  rebel  guerrillas,  avIio  tied  the 
hands  of  their  prisoners  behind  their  backs,  and  then  deliberately 
shot  them  and  threwr  their  bodies  into  Elk  River.  Tw^o  of 
the  men  not  being  killed  outright  by  the  miscreants,  managed  to 
loosen  their  bonds  and  swim  ashore,  one  of  them  dying  the  fol- 
lowing day — the  other,  James  W.  Foley,  of  Hudson,  being  perma- 
nently disabled  in  the  right  leg. 

This  barbarous  outrage  having  been  duly  reported  at  Head 
Quarters  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  General  Order  Number 
Six,  series  of  1864,  Avas  issued,  making  an  assessment  on  the  neigh- 
borhood in  the  sum  of  $30,00()  for  the  benefit  of  the  families  of  the 
three  men  thus  wantonly  and  inhumanly  murdered. 

February  22,  1864,  forty-one  members  of  the  original  organiza- 
tion re-enlisted  as  veterans,  and  with  Captain  H.  B.  York  and  First 
Lieut.  Henry  A.  Tallmadge,  were  sent  to  Cleveland  to  recruit  its 
ranks.  April  9,  1864,  the  battery  reported  at  Tullahoma,  Tenn., 
with  151  men  and  five  commissioned  officers,  in  May  starting  for 


392  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Atlanta  with  Gen.  Sherman,  and  after  the  fall  of  that  stronghold, 
participating  in  the  march  of  that  victorious  military  chieftain 
through  Georgia,  and  from  Savannah  through  the  Carolinas,  and 
from  thence,  on  the  final  collapse  of  the  rebellion,  to  Washington, 
being  mustered  out  at  Cleveland,  July  25,  1865. 

So  far  as  now  ascertainable,  Akron's  representatives  in  the 
Ninth  Battery  were  as  follows:  Robert  Cahill,  Adam  France, 
Charles  Gifford,  Martin  Heiser,  F.  A.  Patton,  Frederick  Potter, 
Caleb  Williams,  Thomas  Williams,  and  Camden  O.  Kockwell,  the 
latter  being  corporal  and  acting  clerk  of  the  battery,  afterwards  in 
1861,  being  commissioned  as  second  lieutenant  colonel  of  Heavy 
Artillery,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  examining  board  at 
Nashville. 

THE  SIXTY-SEVENTH  O.  V.  I. 

After  the  return  of  the  Nineteenth  O.  V.  I,  from  the  three 
months'  service,  1861,  Hon.  Alvin  C.  Voris,  then  one  of  Summit 
County's  Representatives  in  the  Ohio  General  Assembly,  enlisted 
as  a  private  in  the  Twenty-ninth  Regiment  O.  V.  I.,  then  being 
recruited  by  Major  Lew^is  P.  Buckley  for  the  three  year's  service. 
Before  the  organization  w^as  completed,  how^ever,  Governor 
William  Dennison  tendered  to  him  a  second  lieutenant's  com- 
mission >vith  authority  to  recruit  men  for  an  entirely  new^  regi- 
ment, the  recruits  secured  by  him  finally  being  consolidated  with 
others,  raised  in  other  portions  of  the  State,  into  the  Sixty- 
Seventh  Regiment,  Avith  Otto  Burstenbinder  as  colonel  and  A.  C. 
Voris  as  lieutenant  colonel. 

The  regiment  was  organized  at  Camp  Chase  and  mustered 
into  the  service  of  the  United"  States,  December  22,  1861.  With 
such  zeal  did  the  officers  and  men  enter  upon  the  task  of  pre- 
paring themselves  for  the  arduous  duties  before  them,  that  on  the 
19th  of  January,  1862,  the  Sixty-seventh  was  sent  into  the  field  in 
Western  Virginia.  After  several  weeks  of  desultory  service  in 
that  vicinity,  the  regiment  reported  to  Gen.  Banks,  at  Winchester, 
Va.,  March  22,  1862,  where,  on  the  23d,  (Lieutenant  Col.  Voris 
meantime  having  been  given  entire  command  of  the  regiment),  it 
had  its  first  brush  with  the  enemy,  driving  the  opposing  forces 
till  past  midnight  as  far  south  as  Kearnstown. 

Lying  all  night  on  its  arms,  the  Sixty-seventh  was  the  first 
regiment  to  engage  the  enemy,  commanded  by  Stonewall  Jackson, 
the  next  morning,  and  when  the  fight  was  fully  on,  being  ordered 
to  support  a  battery  of  artillery,  under  the  impetuous  lead  of  Col. 
Voris,  crossed  an  open  field,  three-four,ths  of  a  mile,  on  a  double- 
quick,  exposed  to  the  enemy's  fire,  forming  his  men  on  the  left  of 
Gen,  Tyler's  brigade,  within  point-blank  range  of  a  rebel  brigade, 
protected  by  a  stone-wall. 

In  the  effort  to  so  arrange  his  force  that  the  stone-w^all  would 
not  protect  the  enem3^  from  his  fire.  Col.  Voris,  himself,  was 
wounded  in  the  right  thigh,  notwithstanding  which  he  seized  the 
colors  from  his  hesitating  color-bearer  and,  supported  by  two  of 
his  men,  he  started  forward,  and  after  two  or  three  w^ell-directed 
volleys,  ordered  a  charge,  resulting  in  throwing  the  enemy  into 
disorder  and  compelling  his  precipitate  retreat — one  of  the  very 
few  instances  in  which  the  intrepid  rebel  leader,  Stonewall 
Jackson,  was  thus  discomfited  in  his  brief  but  brilliant  military 


THE    SrXTY-SEVENTH    REGIMENT   O.    V.    I.  393 

•career.     The   Sixty-seventh  lost  in  this  battle,  15  killed    and    32 
wounded. 

Perils  by  Sea  as  well  as  by  Land.  —  After  marching  up 
and  down  the  valleys  and  over  the  mountains,  from  the  Potomac 
to  Harrisonburg,  from  Front  Royal  to  Fredericksburg,  from 
Fredericksburg  to  Manassas,  from  thence  to  Port  Republic, 
Alexandria,  etc,,  on  the  26th  of  June  1862,  the  Sixty-seventh 
embarked  on  the  steamer  Herald,  and  the  barge  Delaware,  to 
re-enforce  the  army  of  Gen.  McClellan,  on  the  James.  During  the 
night  of  the  30th,  near  the  mouth  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  in  the 
midst  of  a  heavy  storm  and  gale,  the  hawser,  connecting  the  barge 
with  the  steamer,  parted,  leaving  the  barge  at  the  mercy  of  the 
wind  and  the  waves.  Men,  horses  and  camp  and  garrison 
■equipage,  were  washed  overboard  and  lost.  It  was  more  than  an 
hour  before  the  steamer,  in  the  darkness,  could  make  connection 
"W'ith  the  barge,  which  had,  by  this  time,  become  an  almost  perfect 
wreck. 

Col.  Voris  was  himself  upon  the  barge  at  the  time  of  the  catas- 
trophe, and  to  his  coolness  and  good  management  was  largely,  if 
not  wholly,  due  the  rescue  of  himself  and  the  survivors  of  his 
command,  the  Colonel  himself  losing  all  his  military  trappings, 
and — the  last  one  to  leave  the  ^vreck — boarding  the  steamer  sans 
«word,  sans  hat,  sans  coat,  sans  everything,  but  shoes,  stockings, 
shirt,  pants  and  vest. 

,  The  Assault  ox  Fort  Wagner,  S.  C.  —  Campaigning  with 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  until  the  evacuation  of  the  Peninsula 
the  last  of  December,  1862,  the  Sixty-seventh  was  transferred  to 
North  Carolina,  and  thence,  on  February  1,  1863,  to  Hilton  Head, 
South  Carolina,  and  for  several  months  endured  all  the  hardships, 
dangers  and  privations  of  that  prolonged  siege,  taking  a  com- 
manding part  in  the  disastrous  assault  upon  Fort  Wagner,  on 
the  night  of  July  18,  1863,  with  a  very  heavy  loss,  Col.  Voris 
himself  being  very  seriously  wounded  in  the  side,  necessitating 
his  return  home  for  "repairs." 

At  Bermuda  Hundred. — At  the  end  of  60  days,  Col.  Voris 
had  so  far  recovered  from  the  effects  of  his  wound  as  to  enable  him 
to  rejoin  his  regiment.  In  February,  1864,  the  regiment  re-enlisted 
as  veterans  and  returned  to  Ohio  on  furlough  and  to  recruit. 
Returning  to  the  front,  the  67th  joined  Gen.  Butler's  forces  at 
Bermuda  Hundred,  May  6,  1864.  May  8,  the  regiment  was  sent  to 
guard  the  left  flank  of  the  Tenth  Corps,  while  destroying  the  rail- 
road from  Chester  Station  to  Petersburg.  The  regiment,  with 
a  section  of  artiller3^  was  stationed  about  eleven  miles  from 
Petersburg,  on  the  Richmond  turnpike,  with  instructions  to  hold 
that  point  at  all  hazards.  On  the  morning  of  Maj^  10,  the  rebels 
made  a  general  attack  upon  them,  but  the  67th  maintained  a  solid 
front  against  four  successive  desperate  charges.  A  section  of 
artillery  inadvertently  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  w^as 
recaptured  by  a  portion  of  Company  F.  This  lOtli  day  of  May, 
1864,  was  both  a  glorious  and  a  sorrowful  day  for  the  Sixty-seventh, 
for  though  gallantly  maintaining  its  position  against  superior 
numbers,  seventy-six  officers  and  men  w^ere  killed  and  wounded 
during  the  battle. 

Col.  Voris,  still  suffering  from  his  Fort  Wagner  wound,  at  the 
close    of    the    exciting    conflicts    of    the    day    found    himself    so 


394  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

prostrated  that  he  sank  helpless,  and  almost  unconscious,  to  the 
ground,  and  had  to  be  assisted  to  his  headquarters.  Gen.  Terrj^ 
complimented  him  and  his  command,  by  saying  that  if  he  had 
10,000  such  men  as  Col.  Voris,  and  his  67th  Ohio  regiment,  he  could 
march  straight  into  Richmond  with  them.  For  this  day's  work^ 
also.  Col.  Voris  was  recommended  for  promotion  as  a  Brigadier 
General  of  Volunteers. 

Winning  a  Magnificent  Trophy.— May  20,  1863,  the  67th  was 
designated,  with  other  regiments,  to  recapture  a  portion  of  our  line& 
w^hich  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  rebels,  which  w^as  accom- 
plished by  a  charge  in  w^hich  the  67th  lost  sixty-nine  officers  and 
men,  killed  and  w^ounded.  In  this  engagement  the  rebel  General 
W,  H.  S.  Walker,  \iras  wounded  and  captured.  Col.  Voris  relieving 
him  of  his  sword,  which  he  still  retains  as  a  trophy.  August  16, 
at  Deep  River,  four  companies  of  the  67th  charged  the  rifle-pits  of 
the  enemy  w^ith  a  loss  of  nearly  one-third  of  their  men,  but  cap- 
turing the  pits  before  the  rebels  could  reload  their  guns.  During 
the  balance  of  the  Summer  and  Fall  of  1864,  the  67th  was  almost 
constantly  in  action,  "and  it  is  said,"  says  Whitelaw  Reid,  "bj^ 
officers  competent  to  judge,  that  during  the  year  it  was  under  fire 
two  hundred  times"  and  that  "out  of  600  muskets  taken  to  the 
front  in  the  Spring,  three-fifths  were  laid  aside  during  the  year  on 
account  of  casualties." 

In  at  the  Death  of  the  Rebellion. — We  cannot  follow  the 
67th  day  by  day,  for  want  of  space,  but  may  say,  briefly,  that  in  the 
Spring  of  1865,  it  w^as  actively  engaged  until  the  final  collapse^ 
leading  in  the  charge  upon  Fort  Gregg,  Petersburg,  on  April  2, 
Col.  Voris,  being  the  first  Union  officer  to  enter  the  fort,  nearly 
one-fourth  of  the  rebel  garrison  defending  the  fort  being  killed; 
Col.  Voris  and  the  remnant  of  his  regiment  also  sharing  in  the 
glory  of  Appomattox,  being  rew^arded  therefore  by  a  stinging 
w^ound  upon  his  left  arm  from  a  flying  fragment  of  a  rebel  shell. 

Politico-Military  Honors. — Brev.  Brigadier  General  in  1864,. 
and  Major  General  in  1865,  on  the  close  of  hostilities.  Gen.  Voris 
was  assigned  to  command  the  politico-military  district  of  South 
Anna,  Va.,  and,  with  his  regiment,  to  perform  garrison  and  police 
duty;  for  six  months  or  more  the  General  performed  the  arduous 
and  perplexing  duties  of  the  position  so  satisfactorily  to  all  parties 
as  to  call  forth  the  following  commendatory  notice  from  the 
Charlottesville  Daily  Chronicle,  of  strong  rebel  proclivities: 
"Gen.  Voris  has  conducted  himself  in  command  here  in  the  kind- 
est and  most  considerate  manner,  and  has  show^n  himself  an 
energetic,  faithful  and  just  officer.  He  leaves  Avith  the  best  wishes 
of  our  people." 

Akron  in  the  Sixty-Seventh. — Owing  to  the  fact  that  the 
29th  O.  V.  I.  was  being  recruited  here  at  the  time,  the  most  of  the 
recruits  furnished  by  Lieut.  Col.  Voris  for  the  67th,  were  raised 
elsew^here,  tw^o  Akron  boys,  only,  besides  the  general  himself,  being 
members  thereof — Charles  W.  Beecher  and  Jacob  Alexander  Lantz, 
of  Company  C,  commanded  by  Marcus  M.  Spiegel,  a  former 
merchant  of  East  Liberty,  with  relatives  and  friends  in  Akron, 
promoted  to  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  120th  O.  V.  I.,  October  2, 1862,^ 
to  colonel  February  18,  1863,  and  afterwards  killed  in  battle. 
Corporal  Jacob  A.  Lantz  lost  his  right  arm  at  the  battle  of  Win- 
chester, Va.,  March  23,  1862,  and  w^as  discharged  for  disability  June 


WONDERFUL   EXPERIENCE   OF  GENERAL  VORIS.  395 

30,    1862;  Charles  W.  Beecher  was  discharged   for  disability  Sep- 
tember 16,  1863. 

The  Most  Wonderful  Case  on  Record. — The  rifle  ball  by 
w^hich  Col.  Voris  was  wounded,  at  Fort  Wagner,  split  upon  the 
ring  of  his  sw^ord  belt,  and  as,  on  probing,  only  a  small  piece  of  the 
ball  was  found,  it  w^as  supposed  that  the  larger  portion  had  glanced 
off  without  penetrating  the  bod^-.  As  the  years  passed  by,  after 
the  close  *of  the  war,  and  his  return  to  his  professional  duties,  the 
general  began  to  experience  an  abdominal  trouble,  w^hich  finally 
developed  into  what  was  supposed  to  be  an  aggravated  case  of 
stone  in  the  bladder,  and  finally,  despairing  of  his  life,  unless  he 
could  get  speedy  relief,  in  the  Fall  of  1873  he  submitted  to  a  surgi- 
cal operation,  when,  to  the  surprise  of  the  surgeons,  his  friends 
and  himself,  instead  of  a  stone,  three-fourths  of  an  enfield  rifle 
leaden  ball,  weighing  an  ounce  and  one-eighth,  was  extracted  from 
the  bladder.  That  the  shot  did  not  instantl}'  kill  him  in  the  first 
place  was  simply  miraculous,  and  that  he  could  have  carried  that 
amount  of  lead  in  such  a  vital  position  for  over  ten  years  of  a  very 
active  life,  without  fatal  results,  and  finally  to  withstand  the  effects 
of  so  painful  and  critical  an  operation,  not  only  evinces  a  remark- 
able degree  of  pluck,  but  a  most  vigorous  constitution.  It  is 
supposed  that  the  leaden  missive,  being  checked  by  striking  the 
belt-ring,  lodged  in  the  integuments  of  the  upper  portion  of  the 
bladder,  gradually,  by  its  own  gravit}^  working  its  way  through 
into  the  cavity  of  the  bladder  itself,  from  whence  it  was,  happily, 
so  skillfully  and  safely  removed. 

HOME  GUARDS,  HUNDRED  DAY  MEN,  ETC. 

During  the  earlier  portion  of  the  war,  the  old  militia  s^'stem 
had  fallen  into  utter  neglect,  so  that  w^hile  tens  of  thousands  of  the 
patriotic  sons  of  Ohio  had  voluntarily  gone  to  the  front,  the  State 
itself  was  virtually  without  organized  military  protection.  Hence, 
in  many  of  the  cities  and  villages  of  the  State  unofficial  local 
organizations  were  effected,  composed  of  persons  past  military 
age,  and  others  w^ho,  for  any  reason,  had  not  entered  the  volunteer 
service,  who,  under  the  general  appellation  of  "  Home  Guards," 
took  lessons  in  military  tactics,  supplied  themselves  w^ith  weapons 
of  defense,  etc. — scores  of  the  Henry  sixteen-shooters  being  pur- 
chased by  citizens  of  Akron  about  those  days. 

The  "  Akron  Home  Guard." — There  is  no  available  roster  of 
the  "  Akron  Home  Guard,"  but  among  the  others,  besides  himself, 
the  writer  recalls  such  "  braves"  as  Arad  Kent,  James  Mathews, 
Joseph  E.  Wesener,  David  A.  Scott,  Charles  A,  Collins,  Charles 
Cranz,  Edwin  P.  Green,  Nathaniel  \V.  Goodhue,  Newell  D.  Tibbals, 
Jacob  A.  Kohler,  James  H.  Peterson,  J.  H.  Collins,  Ferdinand 
Schumacher,  John  H.  Chamberlin,  Allen  Hibbard,  Robert  P. 
Henry,  John  J.  Hall,  Charles  B.  Bernard,  Justus  Rockwell,  Alfred 
R.  Townsend,  Richard  S.  Elkins,  Joseph  A.  Beebe,  Henry  Purdy, 
George  W.  Manly,  Morrill  T.  Cutter,  Milton  W.  Henry,  Charles 
Webster,  Sanford  M.  Burnham,  Edward  Oviatt,  Samuel  G.  Wilson, 
William  L.  Everett,  Webster  B.  Storer,  James  B.  Taplin,  James  M. 
Hale,  Daniel  Farnam,  Enoch  Adams,  Stephen  H.  Pitkin,  George  H. 
Heifer,  John  W.  Sabin,  Jacob  Chisnell,  Emmit  D.  Dodge,  Linus 
Austin,  Charles  W.  Bonstedt,  Henry  W.  Howe,  Daniel  M.  Heifer, 


396  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

David  G.  Sanford,  George  L>.  Bates,  James  Christy,  Georgia 
Thomas,  Constant  Bryan,  ISrhard  Steinbacher,  George  W.  McNeil, 
John  L.  Robertson,  John  H.  Christy,  J,  Park  Alexander,  B.  F. 
Wheeler,  Henry  S.  Abbey,  John  R.  Buchtel,  etc. 

These,  and  others  not  now  remembered,  were  drilled  nightly, 
for  many  months,  in  Union  Hall  (Henry's  block),  by  Captain  Arad 
Kent  and  other  experienced  drill-masters,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
if  John  Morgan  had  extended  his  raid  into  Summit  county  while 
the  "Akron  Home  Guard"  was  in  existence,  not  a  man  would 
have  been  left  to  tell  the  tale — an  appropriate  motto,  for  some  of 
us,  being:     "  In  Peace,  Invincible — in  War,  Invisible." 

THE  HUNDRED  DAY  MEN. 

The  alarm  along  the  border,  in  1862,  especially  the  Kirby  Smith 
demonstration  against  Cincinnati  so  gallantly  thwarted  by  the 
"  Squirrel  Hunters,"  heretofore  spoken  of,  forced  upon  the  people 
of  the  State  the  necessity  of  a  thorough  revision  of  the  military 
laws  of  Ohio,  and,  on  the  recommendation  of  Governor  Tod,  the 
Legislature,  April  14,  1863,  enacted  a  law  not  only  requiring  a  full 
enrollment  and  organization  into  companies,  regiments,  brigades, 
etc.,  of  all  able-bodied  male  inhabitants,  between  the  ages  of  18  and 
45,  but  also  providing  for  the  organization  of  volunteer  companies, 
battalions  and  regiments,  w^ho  were  to  hold  themselves  ready  for 
immediate  call,  such  volunteer  organizations  to  be  armed  and 
equipped  at  the  expense  of  the  State,  the  members  to  provide 
themselves  with  regulation  U.  S.  uniforms,  each  company  to  draw 
$200  a  year  from  the  State  military  fund,  for  rent,  care  of  arms  and 
incidental  expenses;  to  serve  five  years,  and  after  that  to  be 
exempt  from  further  military  duty  in  time  of  peace;  such  volun- 
teer companies  to  be  first  called  out  by  the  sheriff  or  mayor,  in  case 
of  riot  or  insurrection,  or  by  the  governor,  in  case  of  invasion  or  to 
prev^ent  invasion;  in  case  of  call  by  the  governor,  to  be  paid  the 
same  as  volunteers  in  the  United  States  service,  when  thus  called 
out,  and  to  be  treated  as  deserters  >vhen  neglecting  or  refusing  to 
march  as  ordered,  and  when  called  by  sheriff  or  mayor,  to  suppress 
riot,  to  be  paid  by  county  or  city  one  dollar  per  man,  for  each  day, 
and  a  like  amount  for  each  night,  w^hile  performing  such  service. 

FiETY-FouRTH  BATTALION,  O.  N.  G.— Under  this  law  Summit 
county  furnished  three  volunteer  companies,  as  follows:  Akron, 
Company  A;  Springfield  and  Green,  Company  B;  Tallmadge, 
Company  C,  which  constituted  the  Fifty-fourth  Battalion,  Ohio 
National  Guard.  Gov.  Brough  authorized  the  military  committee 
to  recruit  a  full  regiment  in  Summit  county,  but  only  the  three 
independent  companies  named  w^ere  ever  organized. 

Company  A — Original  Roster. — The  Akron  Company  was 
organized  July  22,  1863,  with  one  hundred  members,  as  follows: 
J.  Park  Alexander,  Joseph  H.  Alexander,  Watson  C.  Atwood,  W,  E. 
Allen,  C.  P.  Allen,  F.  C.  Ackley,  Charles  B.  Bernard,  James  K. 
Butler,  Charles  W.  Bonstedt,  Mills  H.  Beardsley,  John  R.  Buchtel, 
John  Pv.  Bell,  George  H.  Bien,  N.  H.  Barber,  James  Burlison,  James 
N.  Baldwin,  C.  A,  Brouse,  C.  A.  Baldwin,  Williams  P.  Babcock, 
W.  G.  Britton,  Gates  A.  Babcock,  George  C.  Berry,  Morrill  T. 
Cutter,  George  W,  Crouse,  George  W.  Camp,  John  H.  Christy, 
Horace  G.  Canfield,  Orion  Church,  J.  M.  Cobb,  William  H.  Carter, 


THE    FIFTY-FOURTH    BATTALION.  397 

George  A.  Collins,  F.  C.  Chapman,  David  Dressier,  William  L, 
Everett,  H.  A.  Grubb.Gottleib  Geyer,  C.  W.  Gunther,  J.  Goldsmith, 
George  D.  Gardner,  Charles  R,  Howe,  Henry  C.  Howard,  George 
H.  Heifer,  John  W.  Hutton,  John  B.  Houghton,  Asa  S.  Hanscom, 
H.  Hine,  Dwight  A.  Hibbard,  Henry  \V.  Howe,  L.  A,  Hastings,  E.  M, 
Hastings,  H.  \V.  Hawkins,  H.  W.  IngersoU,  W.  H.  Jones,  Jacob 
Koch,  Hiram  A.  Kepler,  R.  Koehler,  Jacob  A.  Kohler,  A.  Kibling, 
William  W.  Kilbourn,  T.  G.  Lane,  Jehial  Lane,  Andrew  McNeil, 
Wells  E.  Merriman,  Henry  L.  Montenyohl,  Henry  G.  Mathews, 
Henry  E.  Merrill,  William  McMasters,  John  L.  Noble,  Jacob  Ober- 
holser,  N.  Osborn,  Edward  Oviatt,  S.  E.  Phinney,  D.  W.  Purdy,  J. 
W.  Rockwell,  William  B,  Raymond,  Wilson  G.  Robinson,  Janies^ 
Rinehart,  L.  L.  Risden,  Charles  P.  Starr,  George  S.  Storer,  F.  D. 
Shaffer,  D.  G.  Steese,  William  Sichley,  Daniel  W.  Storer,  George  H. 
Simmons,  David  Snyder,  Henry  M.  Sanford,  Newell  D.  Tibbals,^ 
John  L.  Taplin,  Robert  Turner,  George  Vogt,  Henry  C.  Viele, 
Andrew  T.  Wilson,  George  Wellhouse,  George  C.  Weimer,  John 
Wolf,  J.  K.  Weygandt,  Henry  W.  Wetmore,  A.  A.  Washburn,  Daniel 
Zeisloft. 

Officers,  Flag  Festival,  Etc. — ^The  commissioned  officers^ 
elected  at  the  time  of  organization,  Avere:  William  L.  Everett,  cap- 
tain; Daniel  W.  Storer,  first  lieutenant;  Chas.  R.  Howe,  second 
lieutenant,  ^vith  Edward  Oviatt,  as  ensign.  In  speaking  of  the 
organization  of  Co.  A,  election  of  officers,  etc.,  the  writer  said,  edi- 
torially, in  the  Beacon  of  July  23,  1863:  "The  company  is  com- 
posed of  good  fellows,  and  will  be  a  credit  to  the  town,  and  an 
honor  to  the  service,  should  it  ever  be  called  into  the  field."  On 
Friday  evening,  October  16,  1863,  the  young  ladies  of  Akron  held 
a  festival  at  Empire  Hall,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  funds  to  pur- 
chase a  flag  for  the  "Akron  Guards,"  realizing  the  munificent  sum 
of  $120.  On  Monday  evening,  October  26,  1863,  Empire  Hall  was- 
crow^ded  with  an  interested  audience,  to  w^itness  the  presentation 
ceremonies,  a  dime  admittance  fee,  for  the  benefit  of  soldiers'  fam- 
iliesy  realizing  over  $50. 

Presentation  and  Reception  Speeches. — Everything  being  in 
readiness.  Miss  Hattie  Henry  (then  but  nine  years  of  age,  now  Mrs. 
Clement  A.  Barnes)  addressing  the  officers  of  the  company,  said: 

Akron  Guards: — To  you  I  coxne,  in  the  name  of  the  young-  ladies  of 
Akron,  not  to  present  to  you  the  olive  wreath,  enibleniatic  of  peace,  but 
with  the  Flag-  of  Your  Countrj%  the  ensign  of  war.  To  j^ou  we  look  for  protec- 
tion while  our  fathers  and  brothers  are  fighting  on  the  bloody  field  for  the 
salvation  of  our  common  country.  *  *  *  To  you  I  present  this  flag  as  a 
token  of  respect  and  love  from  those  who  have  known  you  long  and  well.. 
Let  it  never  be  disgraced,  and  when  you  look  at  it  in  your  qviiet  drills  at  hoine, 
may  it  remind  you  of  your  country's  greatness,  and  also  of  its  present  peril.. 
And  should  you  be  called  to  the  tented  field,  may  it  be  your  pride  to  protect 
it  from  the  foul  touch  of  rebel  foes,  that  it  may,  with  you,  be  returned  to- 
greet  the  eyes  of  your  lady  friends.  Accept  it,  then  ;  be  faithful,  trusty  and 
true,  and  may  the  God  of  Heaven  bless  you  ! 

Captain  Everett's  Response.— Ladies  :  For  myself  and  in  behalf  of 
my  brother  officers  and  members  of  this  company,  I  return  you  our  sincere- 
thanks  for  this  honor  conferred,  and  for  this  beautiful  tribute  of  the  interest 
you  have  taken  in  us.  To  you  and  to  all  our  ladies,  are  we  and  our  country 
indebted  for  the  encouragement  you  have  given  our  soldiers,  and  for  j'our" 
untiring  labors  for  their  welfare.  Ensign,  to  you  belongs  the  honor  of  bear- 
ing this  glorious  emblem  of  our  nation's  liberty,  and  may  the  sight  of  its 
beautiful  folds  ever  inspire  you,  and  each  one  of  us,  with  a   higher  sense  of 


398  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

our  duty  to  our  country,  and  may  it  fill  our  hearts  with  the  spirit  of  resist- 
ance to  all  rebel  foes, — aye,  with  a  double  contempt  for  all  northern  traitors, 
till  thej"  are  haunted  south  of  the  line  by  the  ghost  of  their  own  grandfather, 
Benedict  Arnold. 

A  Genuine  but  Joyous  Surprise. — At  the  close  of  Captain 
Everett's  response,  Miss  Maria  Ackley,  (now  Mrs.  James  B.  Storer), 
confronted  the  three  principal  officers  of  the  company,  and  pre- 
sented each  of  them  with  a  beautiful  sword,  in  an  appropriate 
address,  from  w^hich  we  quote  as  follows: 

Officers  of  the  'Akron  Guarjj':— We  meet  you  to-night,  clothed  in 
the  habiliments  of  war,  with  words  of  greeting  and  good  cheer,  and  extend 
to  you  a  hearty  welcome  !  Selected  by  ^^our  compatriots,  as  well  for  your 
courage  as  your  noble  bearing,  to  instruct  and  educate  them  in  the  manual 
of  arms,  and  if  need  be,  to  lead  them  through  scenes  of  danger  and  death,  to 
victor}'  and  to  glory,  it  becomes  yovx  to  gird  yourselves  well  for  the  task  that 
you  maj'  acquit  5^ourselves  like  men.  Officers,  accept  from  us  these  swords. 
Let  them  be  drawn  only  in  defense  of  the  right,  and  may  the  God  of  Heaven 
ever  bless  you  and  your  command. 

Kach  oi  the  officers  named  briefly  expressed  his  thanks  for 
the  beautiful  weapons,  and  on  call.  Ensign  Edward  Oviatt  and 
Corporal  Newell  D.  Tibbals,  each  made  stirring  and  highly  patri- 
otic speeches.  James  M,  Hale  sang  an  original  song,  to  the  tune 
of  "Yankee  Doodle,"  with  several  capital  hits  at  "the  man  over  in 
Canada;"  the  Glee  Club  sang  the  "Star  Spangled  Banner"  and 
other  patriotic  songs,  etc. 

PATRIOTIC  ACTION  OF  WESTERN  GOVERNORS. 

Meantime  the  critical  point  of  the  war  was  rapidly  approaching. 
Grant's  plan  for  giving  the  rebellion  its  death-blow, -was  by  hurling 
against  Richmond  such  an  overwhelming  force  that  it  neither 
could  be  defeated  nor  driven  back.  This,  of  course,  with  the  large 
contingent  required  by  Sherman  to  reduce  Atlanta  and  accomplish 
his  contemplated  "march  through  Georgia,"  and  to  hold  Hood  and 
other  able  rebel  generals  in  check  in  the  West,  necessitated  the 
calling  into  the  field  every  available  experienced  soldier,  as  w^ell 
as  the  large  number  of  new  recruits  that  were  then  being  raised  all 
over  the  country  by  draft  and  enlistment. 

At  the  same  time,  of  course,  an  adequate  force  ^was  required  to 
garrison  the  forts  surrounding  Washington,  and  other  exposed 
points,  both  in  the  East  and  in  the  West,  and  to  give  the  great 
commander  the  benefit  of  the  experienced  soldiers  thus  occupied, 
Gov.  Brough  conceived  the  idea  of  temporarily  supplying  their 
places  with  the  volunteer  militia  of  Ohio  and  other  w^estern  states. 

To  this  end,  at  his  suggestion,  a  meeting  of  the  governors  of 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Wisconsin  and  low^a,  was  held  at  Washing- 
ton, and  on  April  21,  1864,  a  tender  w^as  made  to  President  Lincoln 
as  follows:  Ohio,  30,000;  Indiana,  20,000;  Illinois,  20,000;  Iowa, 
10,000;  Wisconsin,  5,000— total,  85,000  men— for  the  term  of  100  days 
from  date  of  muster  into  the  service  of  the  United  States;  to  be 
clothed,  armed  and  equipped,  subsisted,  transported  and  paid  as 
other  United  States  volunteers;  to  serve  in  fortifications,  or 
wherever  their  services  might  be  required,  the  entire  number  to 
be  furnished  within  twenty  days  from  the  acceptance  of  the 
proposition. 


PROMPT    AND   NOBLE    RESPONSE.  399 

President  Lincoln,  through  his  Ohio  Secretary  of  War,  Edwin 
M.  Stanton,  promptly  accepted  the  tender,  on  being  advised  of 
-which,  on  April  25,  1864,  Adjutant  General  R.  B.  Cowen,  in  Gen- 
tiral  Order,  No.  12,  called  all  of  the  regiments,  battalions  and  inde- 
pendent companies  of  infantry,  of  the  Ohio  National  Guard,  into 
active  service,  to  rendezvous  at  the  nearest  eligible  places  in  their 
respective  counties,  on  Monday,  May  2,  1864. 

THE  GRAND   UPRISING  IN  OHIO. 

While  it  w^as  exceedingly  difficult  for  many  of  the  members  of 
these  organizations  to  leave  their  families  and  business,  so  great 
was  the  alacrity  with  which  the  men  and  boys  of  Ohio  responded 
that,  at  half-past  seven  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  day  named, 
Adjutant  General  Cowmen  had  received  reports  that  more  than 
35,000  men  w^ere  in  camp,  clamoring  to  be  sent  forward. 

On  May  3rd  Governor  Brough,  issued  an  address  "To  the 
National  Guard  of  Ohio,"  cordially  thanking  them  for  their  noble 
response  to  the  call  made  upon  them  for  the  relief  of  the  army, 
and  the  salvation  of  the  country.  "This  manifestation  of  loyalty 
and  patriotism,"  said  the  Governor,  "is  alike  honorable  to  your- 
selves and  your  noble  State.  In  the  history  of  this  great  struggle 
it  will  constitute  a  page  that  you  and  your  descendents  may  here- 
after contemplate  with  perfect  satisfaction.  *  *  *  Go  forth, 
then,  soldiers  of  the  National  Guard,  to  the  fulfillment  of  the  duty 
assigned  to  you.  I  have  entire  confidence  that  j^ou  will  meet  all 
its  requirements  with  fidelity  and  honor.  The  prayers  of  the 
people  of  the  State  will  follow  you;  and  may  your  return  be  as 
glorious  as  your  going  forth  is  noble  and  patriotic." 

The  regiments  were  forwarded  as  fast  as  they  could  be  made 
ready,  the  first  regiments  leaving  on  May  5,  the  last  on  May  16 — 
four  to  Baltimore,  Md.;  two  to  Cumberland,  Md.;  fourteen  to 
Washington;  three  to  Parkersburg,  W.  Va. ;  three  to  New^  Creek; 
three  to  Harper's  Ferry;  one  to  Gallipolis,  Ohio;  tw^o  to  Camp 
Dennison;  two  to  Camp  Chase;  two  regiments  and  a  battalion  to 
Johnson's  Island.  In  response  to  Gen.  Brough's  telegram  to  the 
above  effect.  Secretary  Stanton  replied:  "The  Department  and  the 
Nation  are  indebted  to  you  more  than  I  can  tell,  for  your  prompt 
and  energetic  action  in  this  crisis." 

Summit  County's  Response. — On  Monday,  May  2,  1864,  the 
three  companies  composing  the  54th  Battalion,  reported  to  Capt. 
Everett,  in  Akron — Company  A,  89  men;  Company  B,  88  men; 
Companj'  C,  88  men — total,  w^ith  chaplain,  266.  Between  the 
organization  and  reporting  for  duty,  a  number  of  changes  had 
occurred,  some  having  moved  away,  some  alreadj^  gone  into  the 
army  in  other  regiments,  and  others  being  on  the  sick  list,  while 
the  family  and  business  relations  of  a  few  made  it  necessary  for 
them  to  procure  substitutes,  the  roster  of  Company  A,  as  finally 
made  up,  being  as  follows:  William  L.  Everett,  captain; 
Daniel  W.  Storer,  first  lieutenant;  Charles  R.  Howe,  second 
lieutenant;  Edw^ard  Oviatt,  ensign;  John  E.  Bell,  first  sergeant; 
William  B.  Raymond,  second  sergeant;  George  A.  Collins,  third 
sergeant;  New^ell  D.  Tibbals,  fourth  sergeant;  George  W.  Crouse, 
fifth  sergeant;  Henry  Ward  IngersoU,  first  corporal;  Andrew  C. 
Dunn,    second    corporal;  Hiram  A.   Kepler,  third    corporal;  T.    G. 


400  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Lane,  fourth  corporal;  A.  Kibling  sixth  corporal;  F.  D.  Shaffer,, 
seventh  corporal  (G.  A.  Bisbee,  substitute);  Henry  G.  Mathews,^ 
eighth  corporal.  Privates:  J.  Park  Alexander  (substitute,  L,  R. 
Harper),  Franklin  C.  Ackley,  Watson  C.  Atwood,  W.  E.  Allen, 
Joseph  H.  Alexander,  William  J.  AtAvood,  Charles  B.  Bernard, 
James  K.  Butler,  Charles  W.  Bonstedt  (substitute,  J.  Gilbert 
Raymond,  bass  drummer),  Mills  H.  Beardsley,  Gates  A.  Bab- 
cock,  George  C.  Berry,  John  R.  Buchtel  (substitute,  W.  S,  St. 
John,  fifer),  James  N.  Baldwin,  Cornelius  A.  Brouse,  Charles  A^ 
Baldwin,  Williams  P.  Babcock,  W.  G.  Britton,  George  H.  Bien^ 
James  Burlison,  Morrill  T,  Cutter,  John  H.  Christy,  Horace 
G.  Canlield,  Orion  Church,  William  H.  Carter,  George  W.  Camp 
(substitute,  Henry  E.  Abbey),  David  Dressier,  H.  A.  Grubb,  C.  W. 
Gunther,  J.  Goldsmith,  G.  Guyer,  Henry  C.  Ho^v^ard,  George  H. 
Heifer  (substitute,  Clinton  E.  Heifer),  John  W.  Button,  H.  W. 
Hawkins,  Charles  W.  Huse,  John  B.  Houghton  (substitue,. 
Clarence  L.  Benjamin),  Dwight  A.  Hibbard,  L.  A.  Hastings,. 
E.  M.  Hastings,  (substitute,  R.  K.  Moore),  Asa  S.  Hanscom,  H. 
Hine,  W.  H.  Jones,  Jacob  Koch,  Jacob  A.  Kohler,  Robert  Koehler, 
Andrew  McNeil,  William  McMasters  (snare  drummer),  Henry 
E.  Merrill,  John  L.  Noble,  Jacob  Oberholser,  N.  Osborn,  D.  W. 
Purdy,  Wilson  G.  Robinson  (substitute,  Henry  Crosby  King), 
J.  Rinehart,  David  Snyder,  Henry  M.  Sanford,  William  Sichlej^, 
Dallas  G.  Steese,  Charles  P.  Starr  (substitute,  A.  G.  Cross),  Robert 
Turner  (substitute,  D.  Baughman),  John  L.  Taplin,  G.  Vogt, 
Henry  C.  Viele,  Andrew  T.  Wilson,  A.  A.  Washburn,  Henry  W. 
Wetmore,  George  Wellhouse,  George  C.  Weimer,  John  Wolf,  J.  K, 
Weygant,  Daniel  Zeisloft — total  89. 

Hundred  and  Sixty-Fourth,  O.  V.  I. — ^On  Thursday  morning, 
May  5,  1863,  the  54th  Battalion,  266  strong,  reported  at  Camp 
Taylor,  w^here,  the  next  day,  it  was  consolidated  with  the  Forty- 
Ninth  O.  N.  G.  from  Seneca  County,  the  consolidated  regiment 
being  organized  and  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States  May  11,  1864,  as  the  Hundred  and  ^ixty-Fourth  Regiment, 
O.  V.  I.,  with  John  C.  Lee,  (late  of  Toledo)  as  colonel,  Charles  B. 
Bernard,  of  Akron,  (now  of  Cleveland,)  as  adjutant,  and  Rev.  John 
Peate,  (then  pastor  of  the  First  M.  E.  Church,  of  Akron,)  as  chap- 
lain; in  the  new  arrangement,  the  letters  of  the  companies  being 
changed  as  follows,  A  to  F;  B  to  H;  C  to  D. 

On  examination,  by  the  proper  officers  at  Camp  Ta3dor,  a 
number  of  men  from  each  company  w^ere  excused  for  disability, 
and  other  causes,  and  their  places  filled  from  the  fragmentary 
companies  reporting  from  Seneca  county,  but  as  to  the  exemptions 
and  substitutions  thus  made,  we  are  now  without  data. 

Tallmadge — Company  D,  164th  O.  V.  I. — Following  is  the 
joster  of  Company  D,  reported  from  Fort  Woodbury,  Va.,  May  20, 
and  published  in  the  Beacon,  of  May  26,  1864:  Norman  S. 
Keller,  captain;  Francis  M.  Wright,  Jr.,  first  lieutenant;  Thomas 
E.  Strong,  second  lieutenant;  J.  S.  Upton,  first  sergeant;  A.  A. 
Hine,  second  sergeant;  S.  E.  Barnes,  third  sergeant;  Dennis 
Treat,  fourth  sergeant;  J.  D.  Strong,  fifth  sergeant;  W.  H.  Ash- 
mun,  first  corporal;  J.  S.  Sprague,  siecond  corporal;  Robert  Ellis, 
third  corporal;  William  Bell,  fourth  corporal;  G.  F.  Lyman,  fifth 
corporal;  Byron  M.  Allison,  sixth  corporal;  S.  W.  Harris,  seventh 
corporal;   W,  B.  Crane,    drummer.      Privates:      L.    H.    Ashmun,. 


EX-ROUTE   FOR    WASHINGTON.  401 

C.  E.  Barnes,  F.  N.  Barnes,  Bruce  Baldwin,  William  H.  Bron- 
son,  P.  Billman,  J.  Bowser,  H.  M.  Camp,  L.  N.  Camp,  R.  W,  Clark, 
Frank  A.  Clark,  H.  Cochran,  Christopher  Callahan,  U.  F.  Cramer, 

A.  D.  Crossley,  J.  Drake,  William  Denmead,  ThomasDavis,  J. 
Derr,  W.  Derr,  D.  Evans,  J.  Evans,  W.  Engler,  F.  B.  Fenn,  F.  F. 
Fenn,  S,  P.  Fenn,  U.  D.  Fritz,  J.  Guingrich,  R.  Gettinger,  Henry 
Harris,  G.  E.  Hitchcock,  E.  Hope,  H,  L.  Hart,  J.  Jordan,  C.  A. 
Lyman,  Jeff.  Limber,  A.  F.  Means,  John  McNeal,  W.  Miller,  Wil- 
liam T.  Owen,  John  Owen,  Atkin  Ogle,  L.  B.  Pierce,  L.  B.  Peck, 
J.  Palmer,  S.  B.  Pettibone,  R.  Pettinger,  George  W.  Rice,  William 
Ripley,  L.  Rickardo,  J.  Row^insky,  John  Roudebush,  O.  Sprague, 
P.  C.  Shenkenberger,  C.  A.  Sackett,  B.  W.  Skinner,  Lj^man  S. 
Stone,  F.  Sperry,  B.  Strohl,  L.  Stouffer,  E.  Shoemaker,  O.  S.  Treat, 
J.  C.  Treat,  W.  L.  Thomas,  J.  E.  Upson,  H.  C.  Upson,  N.  L.  Upson, 
Daniel  A.  Upson,  J.  Umsted,  Daniel  Vogt,  W.  W.  Wetmore,  H. 
Westover,  George  Young — total  88. 

Green  and  Springfield — Company  H. — From  the  same  source 
is  also  compiled  the  company  jointly  furnished  by  Green  and 
Springfield  townships,  as  follows:  Darius  F.  Berger,  of  Green, 
captain;  William  J.  Schrop,  of  Springfield,  first  lieutenant;  D.  J. 
Mottinger,  of  Green,  second  lieutenant;  N.  N.  Leohner,  orderly 
sergeant;  Cj^rus  W.  Harris,  second  sergeant;  Thomas  Wright,  Jr., 
third  sergeant;  Balsar  Shriver,  fourth  sergeant;  S.  C.  Marsh,  fifth 
sergeant;  William  Buchtel,  first  corporal;  Aaron  Swartz,  second 
corporal;  F.  G.  Stipe,  third  corporal;  S.  Breckenridge,  fourth  cor- 
poral; Jacob  Long,  fifth  corporal;  J.  A.  Thompson,  sixth  corporal; 
W.  A.  Chamberlain,  seventh  corporal;  Jacob  Weaver,  eighth 
corporal;  J.  B.  Kreighbaum,  musician.  Privates:  J,  B.  Acker, 
W.    Bender,    H.    Brumbaugh,  J.    W.    Chamberlin,    W.   W.    Coale, 

B.  Chisnell,  W.  Cramer,  E.  Cramer,  W.  Dickerhoof,  William 
Finkle,  J.  Foster,  L.  Fasnacht,  G.  H.  Fasnacht,  D.  French,  H.  Foust, 

D.  S.  Foust,  S.  Foster,  A.  Fry,  B.  Goss,  A.  Grable,  J.  J.  Grable,  J. 
Grable,  Jr.,  Ezra  Harris,  G.  W.  Hart,  L.  J.  Hartong,  L.  Hartong,  H. 
A.  Henderson,  W.  G.  Johnston,  H.  Jarrett,  J.  F.  Kryster,  M.  Kline, 
A.  Koons,  E.  Kuhns,  David  Kline,  J.  P.  Kepler,  O.  Long,  I,  Long, 
W.  D.  Myers,  J.  J.  Marsh,  J.  S.  Miller,  W.  Miller,  D.  Pontious,  N. 
Pontious,  M.  Ritter,  W.  H.  Rininger,  L.  Ream,  G.  D.  Ream,  G.  W. 
Ream,  U.  R.  Sefner,  J.  M.  Schrop,  G.  Sweitzer,  William  Steese, 
John  Smith,  H.  Shriver,  D.  Stamm,  R.  S.  Stout,  P.  H.  Stout,  D.  H. 
Shutt,  B.  Strohecker,  J.  Staver,  D.  G.  Shutt,  Ira  Spidle,  Hiram  B. 
Smith,  G.  Shutt,  J.  T.  Tousley,  Robert  Thompson,  S.  N.  Weston,  F. 
Winkleman,  H.  Yerrick,  A.  Yerrick,  Alfred  .Yerrick — total  88. 

Moist,  Muddy  and  Merry.  —  On  Saturday  evening,  May  14, 
1863,  the  164th  left  Camp  Taylor  for  Washington  via  Dunkirk, 
Elmira,  Harrisburg  and  Baltimore,  reaching  their  destination  on 
the  17th.  In  speaking  of  the  departure  of  the  regiment  froni 
Cleveland,  the  Herald  said:  "As  they  marched  down  Superior 
street,  at  about  8  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  rain  w^as  descending 
in  sheets,  with  an  occasional  blinding  flash  of  lightning,  and  the 
boys  w^ere  drenched  w^ith  rain  and  covered  w^ith  mud  from  the 
bottomless  roads  that  formed  the  '  middle  passage '  between  the 
camp  and  the  city;  yet  they  were  in  the  best  of  possible  spirits. 
The  w^hole  column  of  about  a  thousand  men  tramped  along, 
singing  as  w^ith  one  voice '  Rally  Round  the  Flag,  Boys '  and  marking 
the  close  of  each  verse  with  terriffic  cheers  and  yells." 

26 


402  AKRON   AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Defending  the  National  Capitol. —  "Ohio  in  the  War,"  by 
Whitelaw  Reid,  says  of  the  164th  O.  N.  G.:  "It  took  position  in 
the  defenses  on  the  south  side  of  the  Potomac,  and,  during  its  one 
hundred  days'  service,  garrisoned  Forts  Smith,  Strong,  Bennett, 
Haggarty  and  other  forts.  The  regiment  was  very  thoroughly 
drilled,  both  in  infantry  and  heavy  artillery  tactics.  During 
Barly's  invasion  the  regiment  was  kept  on  duty  almost  constantly 
and  every  night  w^as  spent  either  on  the  advance  or  beside  the 
guns.  At  the  expiration  of  its  term  of  enlistment,  the  regiment 
received  the  thanks  of  President  Lincoln  for  the  service  it  had  per- 
formed, and  returned  to  Cleveland,  Wa  Baltimore,  Harrisburg  and 
Pittsburg,  where  it  was  mustered  out,  August  27,  1864." 

Sickness,  Deaths,  Etc. — Letters  from  members  of  the  several 
Summit  county  companies  to  the  writer,  and  published  in  the 
Beacon,  Mrhile  on  duty  in  front  of  Washington,  show  that  Captain 
Everett's  Company  F  occupied  Fort  Corcoran;  Captain  Keller's 
Company  D  occupied  Fort  Woodbury,  and  Captain  Berger's 
Company  H  occupied  Fort  Woodbury,  except  about  two  week's 
sojourn  in  Fort  Strong  in  May  and  June. 

Though  no  loss  of  life  or  limb  occurred  from  actual  contact 
with  rebel  foes,  yet,  being  in  a  strange  climate,  in  the  most  sickly 
season  of  the  year,  quite  a  number  of  sharp  encounters  with 
disease  were  experienced,  with  five  sorrowful  fatalities.  The  first 
of  the  54th  Battalion  to  die  was  a  promising  young  member  of 
Company  D,  Henry  L.  Hart  (son  of  the  late  Henry  Hart  of  985 
East  Market  street)  who,  from  over-fatigue  and  exposure  to  the 
hot  sun,  in  walking  to  and  from  and  about  the  city,  on  the  24th  of 
May,  was  seized  w^ith  sudden  illness,  on  his  return  to  the  fort  in 
the  evening,  dying  the  next  day.  The  second  death,  that  of 
Christopher  Callahan,  of  the  same  company,  from  a  precisely  sim- 
ilar cause,  occurred  on  Monday,  June  6,  young  Callahan,  having 
visited  the  city  on  Saturday,  performed  guard  duty  on  Sunday, 
returning  to  the  barracks  sick,  at  2  o'clock  Monday  morning,  and 
dying  at  3:30  in  the  afternoon.  T^vo  deaths  also  occurred  in 
Company  H,  at  Camp  Strong  hospital,  Jacob  S.  Holtz,  of  Seneca 
county,  July  3,  of  typhoid  fever,  and  Hiram  B.  Smith  of  Green 
township,  of  congestion  of  the  stomach,  July  24. 

The  last  death  was  that  of  Henry  Crosby  King,  "Harry,"  as 
he  was  familiarly  called,  only  son  of  the  late  Henry  W.  and  Mary 
Crosby  King,  who  was  serving  in  Company  F,  as  a  substitute  for 
Wilson  G.  Robinson,  as  elsewhere  stated,  his  death,  from  typhoid 
fever,  occurring  on  Thursday  evening,  August  11,  1864.  The 
remains  of  all  of  the  boys  were  sent  home  to  their  respective  friends 
for  burial. 

Enthusiastic  Welcome  Home. — The  muster-out  day  being 
Saturday;  and  the  boys  being  anxious  to  spend  the  Sabbath  w^ith 
their  friends  at  home,  the  paymaster  kindly  consented  to  visit 
Akron  a  week  from  the  following  Monday,  to  finish  paying  them 
off.  That  the  boys  were  most  heartily  welcomed  home,  b3^  the 
people  of  their  respective  townships,  goes  without  saying,  for 
though  they  had  not  participated  in  any  such  bloody  scenes  of 
carnage  as  had  laid  so  many  of  their  comrades  low  in  death,  they 
had,  at  the  most  critical  period  of  the  war,  given  to  the  L^nion 
army  an  equal  number  of  trained  and  experienced  soldiers,  while 


THE  nation's  thankfulness.  403 

at  the  same  time  affording  ample  protection  to  the  National 
<I^apital,  and  other  Union  cities  menaced  by  the  rebel  army. 

Many  interesting  reminiscences  are  rife  among  the  boys  of 
their  "brief  but  brilliant"  army  life  on  Arlington  Heights,  but 
-want  of  space  prevents  their  repetition  here.  The  164th  Regiment 
having  thus  subserved  the  purposes  of  its  organization,  the  54th 
Battalion  again  became  a  distinct  entity,  and  us  such  fulfilled  its 
■destiny,  Newell  D,  Tibbals  being  elected  as  major  and  becoming 
the  commandant  of  the  Battalion.     / 

The  ladies  of  Akron  organized  a  festival  in  honor  of  Company 
F,  which  came  off  with  great  eclat,  at  the  company's  armory,  on 
Friday  evening,  September  2,  1864,  with  musical,  oratorical,  con- 
gratulatory and  gyratory  exercises,  and  doubtless  there  were 
similar  manifestations  of  gladness,  in  the  other  localities  inter- 
ested. 

State  and  National  Thankfulness.  —  In  March,  1865,  the 
Legislature  of  Ohio  passed  a  joint  resolution  of  thanks  to  the 
National  Guard,  and  authorizing  the  Governor  to  have  litho- 
graphed, printed  and  distributed  to  the  Hundred  Days'  Men,  an 
appropriate  testimonial,  but  so  far  as  can  be  learned,  no  such 
documents  were  ever  received  by  any  of  the  members  of  the  54th 
Battalion,  which  is  perhaps  accounted  for  by  the  fact  of  the  issu- 
ance of  a  similar  testimonial  by  President  Lincoln,  as  follows: 

THE  UNITED  STATES  VOLUNTEER  SERVICE. 

[Picture  of  Eagle,  Flags,  Etc.] 

The  President's  Thanks  and  Certificate  of  Honorable  Service. 

To  Capt.  Darius  F.  Berger,  164th  Reg't  Ohio  National  Guard:  \ 

Whereas,  The  President  of  the  United  States  has  made  the  following' 
Executive  Order,  returning-  thanks  to  the  Ohio  VOLUNTEERS  FOR  ONE  Hun- 
dred Days,  to  wit : 

Executive  Mansion,  ) 

Washington  City,      \ 

September  10, 1864.  ) 

The  term  of  One  Hundred  Da3^s,  for  which  the  National  Guard  of 
Ohio,  Volunteered,  having  expired,  the  President  directs  an  Official 
Acknowledgment  to  be  made  of  their  Patriotic  and  Valuable  Services 
<iuring  the  recent  campaigns.  The  term  of  service  of  their  enlistment  was 
short,  but  distinguished  by  memorable  events.  In  the  Valley  of  the 
Shenandoah,  on  the  Peninsula,  in  the  operations  on  the  James  River,  around 
Petersburg  and  Richmond,  in  the  battle  of  Monocacy,  and  in  the  intrench- 
ments  of  Washington,  and  in  other  important  services,  The  NATIONAL 
OUARD  OF  Ohio  performed  with  alacrity  the  duty  of  Patriotic  Volunteers, 
for  which  they  are  entitled  to,  and  are  hereby  tendered,  through  the 
Governor  of  their  State,  the  NATIONAL  THANKS. 

The  Secretary  of  War  is  directed  to  transmit  a  copy  of  this  order  to  the 
Oovernor  of  Ohio,  and  to  cause  a  CERTIFICATE  OF  Their  HONORABLE  SER- 
VICE to  be  delivered  to  the  Officers  and  Soldiers  of  the  Ohio  National 
■Guard  who  recently  served  in  the  Military  force  of  the  United  States  for 
One  Hundred  Days. 

Abraham  Lincoln. 

Now,  Therefore,  this  certificate  of  Thanks  and  Honorable  Service  is 
•conferred  on  Capt.  Darius  Berger,  in  token  of  his  HAVING  HONORABLY 
Served  as  a  Volunteer  for  One  Hundred  Days  in  Company  H.  164th 
Regiment  of  Ohio  National  Guards. 


404  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Given  under  my  hand  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  fifteenth  daj'  of 
December,  in  the  j^ear  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
sixty-four. 

Abraham  Lincoln, 

By  the  President:  President  of  the  United  States. 

Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War. 

Registered  No.  33,430. 

E.  D.  TOWNSEND,  Assistant  Adjutant  General. 

The  Hundred  and  Twenty-Ninth  O.  V.  I. — This  regiment 
was  composed  of  material  gathered  from  different  parts  of  the 
State,  recruited  for  six  months,  and  was  organized  at  Camp 
Taylor,  near  Cleveland,  Ohio,  August  10,  1863.  Most  of  the  officers 
and  a  large  number  of  the  men,  had  already  seen  service,  so  that 
the  regiment,  w^ithout  spending  any  considerable  time  in  drill,  was 
started  for  the  front  on  the  day  of  its  organization. 

Captain  Josiah  J.  Wright,  of  Akron,  having  partially  recovered 
from  the  disability  by  reason  of  which  he  had  received  an  honor- 
able discharge  from  the  old  29th,  October  1,  1862,  re-entered  the 
service  as  second  lieutenant  of  Company  K,  of  the  129th.  At  Camp 
Nelson,  Ky.,  the  regiment  was  incorporated  into  the  Ninth  Armj" 
Corps,  and  on  August  20, 1863,  started  for  Cumberland  Gap,  sharing 
in  the  capture  of  that  stronghold  and  the  capture  of  over  2,200 
prisoners,  14  pieces  of  artillery  and  an  immense  amount  of  all  kinds 
of  war  material,  the  brigade  to  which  the  129th  was  attached  being 
assigned  to  garrison  the  Gap. 

Sharp  Fighting— Severe  Suffering,  Etc. — Picketing,  scout- 
ing, foraging,  etc.,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Gap,  until  the  morning  of 
December  1,  1863,  on  two  hours'  notice,  the  regiment  started  in  the 
direction  of  Clinch.  River,  the  next  day  acquitting  itself  with 
cre<Jit  in  a  spirited  engagement  with  Longstreet's  corps.  During 
the  entire  month  of  December,  the  regiment  Avas  constantly  on  the 
move,  up  and  down  Clinch  River,  -with  an  occasional  sharp 
skirmish  with  the  enemy,  suffering  terribly  from  the  inclemency 
of  the  w^eather,  and  the  fact  that  the  regiment  had  left  the  Gap 
w^ith  no  baggage  whatever,  rnany  of  the  men  being  poorly  clad, 
and  almost  shoeless,  with  scarcely  rations  enough  to  sustain  life, 
and  those  only  obtainable  by  foraging  through  a  region  whose 
inhabitants  had  already  been  nearly  eaten  out  of  house  and  home 
by  the  contending  armies.  About  the  first  of  January,  1864,  the 
regiment  fell  back  to  Cumberland  Gap,  where  it  remained  until 
the  beginning  of  February,  w^hen  it  started  on  a  130  mile  march  to 
Fort  Nelson,  from  w^hence  it  immediately  proceeded  to  Cleveland, 
w^here  it  w^as  mustered  out  by  companies  from  March  5  to  11,  1864. 
Besides  Capt.  J.  J.  Wright,  Akron  w^as  represented  in  the  129th  by 
Carroll  W.  Wright,  (also  an  ex-member  of  the  old  29th),  M.  C. 
Clark,  Dempster  Gifford,  Marshall  Gillett  and  Marcus  B.  Wright. 

The  Hundred  and  Ninety-Seventh  O.  V.  I.  —  This,  the  last 
completed  regiment  sent  into  the  field  from  Ohio,  was  mustered 
into  the  service  of  the  United  States  at  Camp  Chase,  near  Colum- 
bus, March  28,  1865.  After  the  expiration  of  his  six  months'  service 
in  the  129th,  as  heretofore  stated.  Captain  J.  J.  Wright,  again 
recruited  a  sufficient  number  of  men  to  entitle  him  to  a  commission, 
but  at  the  time  when  the  men  w^ere  forwarded  to  Columbus,  the 
captain  was  detained  at  home  by  sickness  and  death  in  his  familj^. 


"THE   COLORED   TROOPS    FOUGHT   NOBLY."  405 

and  was  consequently  not  counted  in  on  the  organization.  Later 
he  re-enUsted  as  a  private,  and  proceeding  to  Tod  Barracks,  Colum- 
bus, was  detailed  in  Major  Skile's  office,  but  was  soon  found  to  be 
so  well  up  in  military  matters,  that  he  was  given  a  captain's  com- 
mission in  the  197th  regiment.  Company  D,  then  being  organized. 

The  197th  was  substantially  a  veteran  regiment  at  the  start,  all 
of  the  officers  but  five,  and  more  than  one'half  of  the  men,  being 
experienced  soldiers.  April  25,  1865,  the  regiment  proceeded  by 
rail  to  Washington  City,  w^here  on  its  arrival,  its  fond  hopes  of 
seeing  active  service  were  blasted,  by  the  news  of  the  surrender  of 
Johnston's  army. 

The  regiment  was  attached  to  the  Ninth  Army  Corps,  on  April 
29,  going  into  camp  near  Alexandria,  Va.,  a  few^  days  later  being 
transferred  to  Camp  Harrington,  at  Dover,  Del.,  and  on  May  31,  to 
Havre  de  Grace,  Md.,  and  assigned  to  guard  duty  along  the  Baltimore 
railroad.  July  3,  regiment  w^as  transferred  to  Fort  Washington, 
near  Baltimore,  in  which  vicinity  it  performed  guard  duty  in 
camps,  hospitals,  forts,  etc.,  until  July  31,  w^hen  it  was  mustered 
out  of  service  at  Camp  Bradford,  near  Baltimore,  and  immediately 
transferred  to  Tod  Barracks,  Columbus,  Ohio,  where,  on  August  6, 
1865,  the  men  w^ere  duly  paid  off  and  discharged.  Several  other 
Summit  county  men  were  members  of  the  regiment,  among  the 
rest  Sebra  Manley,  of  Akron. 

Fifth  U.  S.  Colored  Infantry. — Ulysses  L.  Marvin  enlisted 
as  a  private  in  the  115th  O.  V.  I.,  in  August,  1862;  served  as  clerk 
in  office  of  judge  advocate  at  Cincinnati,  until  commissioned  first 
lieutenant  in  the  5th  U.  S.  Colored  Infantry  in  August,  1863,  as 
part  of  the  19th  Army  Corps;  participated  in  the  Peninsular  cam- 
paign in  1864;  commanded  the  skirmish  line  in  the  Burnside  mine 
explosion;  promoted  to  captain  during  the  -siege  of  Richmond; 
wounded  at  Newr  Market  Heights,  September  29, 1864;  on  resunjing 
his  duties,  two  months  later,  being  assigned  to  the  staff  of  Adju- 
tant General  Shurtliff,  was  sent  to  Fort  Fisher,  from  thence  to 
Raleigh,  N.  C,  and  was  at  the  final  surrender  of  the  rebel  army. 
Breveted  major  at  the  close  of  the  w^ar  for  meritorous  service,  he 
w^as  made  judge  advocate  on  the  staff  of  Gen.  Paine,  being 
mustered  out  of  service  in  October,  1865.  The  only  names  of 
Akron's  colored  patriots  credited  to  this  regiment,  found  on  the 
assessor's  books,  are  those  of  Absalom  H.  Brooks  and  John  W. 
Brooks  (sons  of  our  former  well-known  colored  citizen  John  H. 
Brooks),  Gustavus  Bdrington,  (nephew  of  Mrs.  Washington 
Martin),  orderly  sergeant  of  Company  F.,  and  Owen  Hailstock, 
though  the  names  of  several  others  are  found  in  other  regiments 
herein  mentioned. 

The  Hundred  and  Fifth  O.  V.  I. — George  Tod  Perkins  was 
among  the  very  first  to  respond  to  his  country's  call  for  troops, 
entering  the  service  as  second  lieutenant  of  Company  B,  19th  O.  V.  I. 
sharing  the  glory  of  its  brief  but  brilliant  campaign  in  West  Vir- 
ginia, in  1861,  as  elsewhere  detailed.  In  August,  1862,  he  entered 
the  service  for  three  years,  as  major  of  the  105th  O.  V.  I.,  recruited 
principally  from  Mahoning,  Trumbull,  Geauga,  Ashtabula  and 
Lake  counties,  and  being  emphatically  a  Western  Reserve  regi- 
ment. Mustered  in  at  Camp  Taylor,  Cleveland,  August  20,  1862,  it 
arrived  at  Covington,  Ky.,  on  the  morning  of  August  22,  being  the 
first  regiment  to  leave  the  State  under  the  call  of  August  4,  1862. 


406  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

After  many  fatiguing  marches  and  counter-marches  through  Ken- 
tucky, and  much  skirmishing  with  the  enemy,  its  first  full  taste  of 
the  horrors  of  war  was  at  Perrysville,  Ky.,  October  8,  1862,  "when 
the  victory  w^as  with  the  rebels,  the  105th  in  its  gallant  defense^ 
under  the  lead  of  Major  Perkins,  losing,  two  captains  killed,  and 
four  other  officers  w^ounded,  and  47  men  killed  and  212  w^ounded,^ 
many  mortally.  Space  will  not  permit  us  to  follow  the  105th 
through  all  its  gallant  war  history.  The  Ohio  Roster,  besides  the  Per- 
rysville affair,  gives  it  the  credit  of  participating  in  the  battles  of 
Hoover's  Gap,  Tenn.,  January  24,  1863;  Chickamauga,  Ga.,  Septem- 
ber 19-20,  1863;  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  November  23-24, 1863;  Mission 
Ridge,  Tenn.,  November  25,  1863;  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Ga.,  June 
7-30,  1863;  Siege  of  Atlanta,  Ga.,  July  28  to  September  2,  1864.  In 
speaking  of  the  Chickamauga  affair,  on  September  20,  1863,  White- 
law  Reid,  in  "Ohio  in  the  War,"  saj's  of  the  105th:  "At  the  word  of 
command  the  regiment  sprangto  its  feet,  executed  the  change  of  front 
w^ith  as  much  precision  as  though  on  parade,  and  started  forward 
with  deafening  yells  on  the  double  quick,'  to  what  seemed  certain 
destruction.  *  *  *  This  prompt  movement  of  the  105th  was 
highly  commended  by  Gen.  Re3^nolds,  at  the  time,  and  afterwards 
by  Gen.  Rosecrans.  Its  gallant  commander,  Major  Perkins,  was 
wounded  in  this  charge  and  conve3'ed  to  the  rear,  and  was  rendered 
unfit  for  duty  for  nearly  four  months."  The  other  casualities,  in  that 
conflict,  were:  one  captain,  mortally,  and  three  other  officers  seri- 
ously, wounded,  and  seventy-five  men  killed,  wounded  and 
prisoners. 

The  I05th  formed  a  part  of  Sherman's  invincible  army  in  its 
march  from  "Atlanta  to  the  Sea,"  and,  as  show^ing  the  hardships 
to  which  it  >vas  subjected  on  that  victorious  march,  Mr.  Reid  says 
that  when  review^ed  by  Gens.  Sherman  and  Schofield,  at  Goldsboro, 
N.  C,  "full  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  men  were  barefooted ;  they 
were  ragged  and  dirty;  many  in  citizens'  dress,  and  some  in  rebel 
uniforms." 

Major  Perkins  was  promoted  to  lieutenant  colonel,  July  16,. 
1863,  and  to  colonel,  February  18,  1864,  and  after  participating  in  the 
grand  review,  at  Washington,  May  14,  1865,  was  mustered  out  with 
regiment  at  Washington,  June  3,  1865,  the  regiment,  starting  at 
Covington,  Ky.,  and  ending  at  Washington,  including  reconnois- 
sances,  counter-marches,  pursuit  of  retreating  rebels,  etc.,  having 
marched  more  than  4,000  miles  without  a  single  foot  of  railroad 
transportation. 

VARIOUS  OTHER  REGIMENTS. 

Akron  and  Portage  and  Middlebury  townships  w^ere,  accord- 
ing to  the  assessors'  returns  for  several  years  pending  the  war,, 
represented  in  the  following-named  organizations,  the  achieve- 
ments of  which  cannot  be  here  given  for  want  of  space,  but  that 
they  all,  like  those  already  enumerated,  played  well  their  parts 
upon  the  tragic  stage  of  w^ar,  may  be  taken  for  granted. 

The  Forty-second  Regiment  O.  V.  I. — Mustered  in  at  Camp 
Chase,  near  Columbus,  Ohio,  September  and  October,  1861,  for 
three  years — James  A.  Garfield,  colonel,  Don  A.  Pardee,  lieutenant 
colonel,  George  K.  Pardee,  adjutant;  Company  A,  Aaron  Teeple, 
(then  of  Franklin,  now^  of  Portage);  Company  B,  Joseph  Lackey, 
second  lieutenant,  resigned  July  5,  1862;   Company   E,  Albert  L_ 


VARIOUS  OTHER   REGIMENTS.  407 

Bowman,  second  lieutenant,  promoted  from  sergeant  major,  March 
2,  1863,  wounded  July  16,  1863,  at  Jackson,  Miss.;  Company  F, 
Thomas  C.  Foote,  killed  at  battle  of  Black  River  Bridge.  May  17, 
1863;  Company  G,  James  McGuire;  Company  K,  Franklin  C.  May, 
discharged  for  disability,  June  16,  1863;  Company  A,  Hial  B.  Hart, 
discharged  March  22,  1862,  to  accept  position  as  hospital  steward  in 
U.  S.  Army. 

Eighty-fourth  Regiment  O.  V.  I.— Mustered  in  at  Camp 
Chase,  June  10,  1862,  for  three  months;  mustered  out  at  Camp  Del- 
aware, September  20, 1862.  Akron  members:  William  H.  McMast- 
ers,  principal  musician;  Company  H,  Homer  C.Ayres,  first  lieuten- 
ant; Eliakim  H.  Hastings,  sergeant;  William  W.  Kilbourn,  corporal; 
Sylvester  H.  Beatty,  Augustus  T.  Brownless,  Julius  G.  Brownless, 
George  H.  Horn,  Henry  Clay  King,  James  M.  Malone;  Company 
I,  Alexander  G.  Maynes,  first  lieutenant. 

The  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth  O.  V.  I. — Henry  Ward 
IngersoU,  Esq.,  on  the  expiration  of  his  three  months'  term  of 
service  in  the  original  Ninteenth  Regifnent,  united  with  the  Second 
Ohio  Cavalry,  in  September,  1861,  as  sergeant  of  the  band.  Return- 
ing to  Ohio  after  one  year's  service,  on  October  20, 1862,  Mr.  IngersoU 
w^as  given  a  captain's  commission  by  Gov.  Tod,  for  the  purpose  of 
recruiting  a  company  for  the  125th  regiment,  then  being  raised  by 
Col.  Emerson  Opdycke,  of  Trumbull  county.  On  consolidation  of 
fragmentary  companies,  in  the  final  organization  of  the  regiment 
at  Camp  Taylor,  near  Cleveland,  it  w^as  found  that  others  outranked 
Captain  IngersoU,  in  number  of  recruits  raised,  and  he  was  conse- 
quently not  mustered  in  under  his  commission,  Mr.  IngersoU 
afterwards  serving  100  days  in  the  army  of  the  United  States,  as 
first  corporal  of  Company  F,  164th  O.  N.  G.,  as  elsewhere  stated. 

Hundred  and  Eighty-eighth  O.  V.  I. — Mustered  in  at  Camp 
Chase,  March  4,  1865,  for  one  year,  mustered  out  at  Nashville,  Tenu., 
September  21,  1865,  and  paid  off  and  discharged  at  Camp  Chase, 
September  28,  1865.  Akron  contributed  to  this  regiment:  Jerome 
B.  Clark,  Henry  Dreese,  Frank  Elliott,  Christopher  Gugle,  Daniel 
Neal,  Royal  D.  Potter,  WiUiam  Sichley,  Elias  W.  Turner,  ThosYiall. 

Hundred  and  Seventy-seventh  O.  V.  I. — Organized  at  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  in  October,  1864,  with  a  liberal  sprinkling  of  men  from, 
the  northern  part  of  Summit  county,  and  after  an  arduous  service 
of  nearly  nine  months,  was  mustered  out  at  the  same  place,  July 
7,  1865.  Akron's  contingent:  Company  H,  Frank  Allen;  Company 
E,  Jasper  Oviatt;  Company  B,  Clarence  M.  Peck;  Company  K, 
Hubert  C.  Peck,  Nelson  Sherbondy,  died  in  service. 

Seventy-sixth  Regiment  O.  V.  I. — Organized  at  Newark, 
Ohio,  February  9,  1862,  operating  in  the  southwest,  accompanying 
Sherman  in  his  famous  "March  through  Georgia,"  and  from 
Savannah  northward  to  Washington.  Was  mustered  out  at 
Columbus,  July  24,  1865,  Akron  boys  in  the  76th,  Joseph  Bargold, 
John  Fitzpatrick,  Almon  C.  Goble,  Alfred  H.  Goble,  Charles  Grubl), 
Patrick  Grubb. 

Miscellaneous  Regiments. — Akron  also  furnished  men  for 
sundry  other  organizations,  during  the  w^ar,  as  follows:  Simon 
Perkins,  Jr.,  served  as  private  in  Company  B,  19th  O.  V.  I.,  for 
three  months  in  1861,  afterw^ards,  by  appointment  of  President 
Lincoln,  w^as  captain  and  assistant  quarter-master  in  the  depart- 
ments of  the  Ohio  and  Cumberland;  75th  O.  V.  I.,  John  C.  DeWiit; 


408  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

24th  O.  V.  I.,  Augustus  Feederle,  Matt  Feederle;  16th  O.  V.  I.,  Dr. 
Byron  S,  Chase,  assistant  surgeon,  promoted  to  surgeon  58th  Col- 
ored Infantry,  May  19,  1863;  Frederick  F.  Falk,  hospital  steward; 
25th  O.  V.  I.,  Frank  B.  Adams,  one  year,  discharged  for  disability; 
124th  O.  V.  I.,  Darwin  L.  Goble,  died  in  the  service;  4th  O.  V.  I.,  F. 
J.  Raymond;  124th  O.  V.  L,  E.  Wilhelm;  24th  O.  V.  I.,  A.  E.  Stewart; 
57th  O.  V.  I.,  Solomon  Bachman;  87th  O.  V.  I.,  Benjamin  Fowler; 
7th  O.  V.  I.,  Martin  Remmell,  transferred  to  Company  G,  5th  O.  V.  I.; 
Lawrence  Remmell,  wounded  at  battle  of  Port  Republic,  Va.,  June 
9,  1862,  killed  in  battle  of  Ringold,  Ga.,  November  27,  1863;  72nd  O.  V. 
I.,  Company  A.,  Thomas  Rhodes,  drafted,  mustered  out  July  30,  1863, 
near  Vicksburg,  Miss.,  on  expiration  of  term  of  servace;  109th  O.  V. 
I.,  Samuel  S.  Ward;  5th  O.  V.  I.,  George  Limric,  Company  H,  one  year, 
mustered  out  June  5, 1865;  James  Frank,  Company  H,  one  year,  mus- 
tered out  June  5,1865;  77th  O.  V.I.,Charles  Cole;  76th  O.  V.  I.,  Charles 
R.  Pierce,  surgeon,  entered  the  service  January  9,  1862,  for  three 
years,  died  January  28,  1863;  23dO.V.  I.,  Clarence  M.  Peck,  entered 
the  service  May  22,  1861,  mustered  out  on  expiration  of  term;  89th 
Ind.  V.  I.,  John  Winkleman;  45th  Ind.  V,  I.,  John  Binker;  New 
York  regiment,  Conrad  Fink;  24th  N.  Y.  I.,  Donald  Treat;  42d  Pa. 
V.  I.,  Alfred  H.  Goble;  3d  Cal.  V.  I.,  Milton  Lane;  22d  U.  S.  Colored 
Infantry,  Frank  M.  Hailstock;  27th  U.  S.  Colored  Infantry,  Moses 
Jones,  James  Morrison;  3d  N.  J.  Art.,  Alfred  Wade;  25th  Ohio 
Battery,  James  H.  Golden,  Henry  Proctor;  22d  O.  B.,  William 
Bloomfield.  Stephen  Bloomfield;  3d  O.  B.,  J.  M.  Hotchkiss;  Shields 
Battery,  H.  H.  Remington,  George  H.  Barber,  Thomas  J.  Hudson; 
10th  O.  Cav.,  Lester  M.  Biggs,  Alexander  G.  Maynes;  6th  O.  Cav., 
George  Bradley,  Thomas  Foley,  Newton  Thayer;  20th  O.  B., 
Charles  J.  Keck;  11th  Mich.  B.,  Cyrenus  Smith;  4th  Pa.  Cav.,  Wil- 
liam H.  Galbraith;  15th  O.  V.  I.,  James  McNeil;  hospital  nurse, 
Thomas  M.  Sawyer;  teamsters,  Jacob  M.  Demas,  H.  H.  Geer, 
George  lies,  Charles  G.  Cleveland,  Horace  Hill,  George  W.  Fair- 
banks; 3d  Brig.  Band,  Newton  E.  Kent;  chaplain,  Rev.  Robert 
Koehler;  193d  O.  V.  I.,  Eugene  D.  Smith,  died  in  the  service;  16th 
N.  Y.  Calvary,  Philip  A.  Bierwirth,  first  sergeant,  mustered  out  in 
August,  1865. 

Undesignated  Regiments. — ^The  assessors'  returns,  for  Portage 
and  Middlebury  townships,  for  military  purposes,  for  the  years 
1863,  '64  and  '65,  in  a  number  of  instances  failed  to  designate  the 
regiment  and  company  to  >vhich  the  soldier  was  attached,  the  list 
of  names  thus  found  being  as  follows:  John  Benker,  A.  H.  Bots- 
ford,  W.  W.  Buck,  R.  A.  Cowles,  Samuel  Codding,  Delos  Condine, 
Harry  Clifford,  William  McCurdy,  Arthur  J.  Perkins,  Jacob 
Randall,  William  Smith. 

United  States  Regular  Army. — Gilbert  S.  Carpenter  (eldest 
son  of  Judge  James  S.  Carpenter),  after  three  months  service  in 
Company  G,  19th  O.  V.  I.,  enlisted  in  Company  F,  18th  U'.  S.  I.,  at 
Columbus,  September  14,  1861,  as  sergeant;  promoted  to  first  lieu- 
tenant; wounded  at  Stone  River,  May,  1863;  appointed  quarter- 
master and  commissary  November,  1863;  June,  1864,  in  War 
Department  at  Washington;  in  1865  sent  on  secret  service  to  Dry 
Tortugas  and  later  to  Springfield,  111.,  with  Mr.  Lincoln's  private 
papers;  promoted  to  captain  December  20,  1866,  and  constantly  on 
duty  in  the  far  Northwest,  until  transferred  to  Fort  Hamilton,  New 
York  Harbor,  in  the  Summer  of  1889,  now  (1891)  being  on  recruiting 


PRESIDENT   LINCOLN   ORDERS    A    DRAFT.  409 

<luty  in  Cleveland — a  most  excellent  soldier  and  officer.  Dudley- 
Seward,  after  four  years'  service  in  the  19th  O.  V.  I.  and  Second 
Ohio  Cavalry,  entered  the  regular  service  as  captain  and  brevet 
major  of  the  Eighth  Regiment,  U.  S.  Cavalry,  serving  in  Oregon, 
California,  Arizona  and  other  western  wilds,  between  four  and 
five  years.  George  A.  Purington,  after  three  months  as  a  private 
in  Company  G,  19th  O.  V.  I.,  and  three  years  as  captain,  major, 
lieutenant  colonel  and  colonel  in  the  Second  Ohio  Cavalry  entered 
the  regular  army  ds  a  captain  in  the  Ninth  U.  S.  Cavalry,  and  is 
now  major  of  the  Third  U.  S.  Cavalry,  stationed  at  Fort  Clark, 
Texas,  being  one  of  the  most  experienced  officers  in  the  army,  with 
the  brevet  rank  of  colonel,  for  meritorious  services  in  the  late  war. 
Samuel  C.  Williamson  (late  Probate  Judge  of  Summit  county),  at 
the  end  of  his  three  months'  service  as  a  private  in  Company  G, 
O.  V.  I.,  in  October,  1861,  enlisted  in  the  18th  U.  S.  Infantry,  serving 
as  sergeant  until  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Stone  River  in  May, 
1863;  after  recovery  promoted  to  second  and  subsequently  to  first 
lieutenant;  in  January,  1867,  being. commissioned  as  a  captain  in 
the42dU.  S.  I.  Other  Akron  U.  S.  boys:  Oliver  Perry  Barney, 
John  Best,  Martin  Frank,  Charles  H.  Hickox,  George  Ley,  William 
H.  Martin,  James  O'Neil;  Navy — Frank  A.  Allen,  Patrick  Cum- 
mins, Patrick  Delmore,  Charles  Fink,  John  Line,  George  Patterson, 
Joseph  Stadden,  Joseph  Tallman. 

QUOTAS,  DRAFTS.  BOUNTIES,  ETC. 

After  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  was  fairly  on,  with  a  fair 
prospect  of  several  years  continuance,  in  order  that  each  loyal 
State,  county  and  towrnship  might  furnish  its  fair  proportion  of 
the  physical  sinews  necessary  for  its  suppression,  a  census  w^as 
taken,  yearly,  of  all  the  male  inhabitants,  between  the  ages  of  18 
and  45,  on  which  to  base  the  quota  of  men  to  be  furnished  by  any 
given  locality,  under  the  several  calls  of  President  Lincoln,  for 
troops.  The  quota  thus  being  determined — due  credit  being  given 
for  previous  volunteers,  and  all  proper  exemptions,  for  disability  or 
other  cause,  ascertained — a  day  w^as  fixed  for  a  draft,  at  which  time, 
unless  the  quota  had  meantime  been  filled  by  voluntary  enlist- 
ments, a  sufficient  number  of  names  of  the  remaining  inhabitants 
of  the  township,  subject  to  military  duty,  would  be  drawn  to  com- 
plete the  quota.  In  order  to  encourage  enlistments  and  save  any 
given  locality  from  the  disgrace  of  a  draft,  the  plan  of  offering 
both  private  and  public  bounties  was  adopted.  Pending  the  draft 
of  1862,  in  addition  to  the  $100  bounty  offered  by  the  General  Gov- 
ernment, bounties  were  raised  in  every  township  by  individual 
subscriptions,  and  on  July  19,  1862,  the  commissioners  of -Summit 
county — John  S.  Gilcrest,  of  Springfield,  Nelson  Upson,  of  Twins- 
burg,  and  George  Buel,  of  Akron — pledged  the  count j^  to  pay  a 
bounty  of  $50,  to  each  non-commissioned  officer  or  private,  to  the 
number  of  220,  who  should,  within  sixty  days,  volunteer  to  serve 
in  the  104th  O.  V.  I.  then  being  raised. 

As  a  sample  of  the  alacrity  with  which  the  people  contributed 
to  this  object,  the  Beacon  of  July  31,  1862,  stated  that  between 
three  and  four  thousand  dollars  had  alreadj'^beea  raised  in  Portage 
township,  and  the  canvass  not  yet  completed;  that  in  Middlebury 
five  parties — John  Johnston,  James  Irvin,  David  E.  Hill,  Frank 
Adams  and  Kent,  Baldwin  &  Co. — had  agreed  to  pay  $10  each,  and 


410  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

forty- four  others  from  50  cents  to  $2.00  each,  to  each  and  every 
man  to  the  number  of  ten  who  should  volunteer  within  tw^enty 
days;  that  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Messrs.  S.  W.  McClure  and  Thomas 
W.  Cornell  had  each  agreed  to  pay  ten  dollars  to  each  volunteer  of 
the  township  (being  already  in  for  about  $200  each),  and  that  the 
people  of  the  other  townships  w^ere  making  equally  liberal  contri- 
butions to  the  praise-w^orthy  object,  the  issue  of  August  28th,. 
giving  the  names  of  18  persons  in  Springfield,  subscribing  from  50 
cents  to  $5.00  each,  or  an  aggregate  of  $34.75,  t6  each  volunteer  to 
the  number  of  fifteen;  while  51  persons  contributed  sums  ranging 
from  $1.00  to  $50.00— or  an  aggregate  of  ^325.00  to  be  distributed 
equally  among  all  the  volunteers  from  that  township. 

The  First  Draft.— Henry  McKinney,  Esq.,  then  of  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  was  appointed  drafting  commissioner,  and  Dr.  J.  G.  Stevens, 
ofTwinsburg,  examining  surgeon  for  Summit  county,  by  Governor 
Tod,  commencing  at  Hudson,  August  25, 1862,  for  Hudson,  Tw^ins- 
burg  and  Northfield;  Peninsula,  August  26,  for  Boston,  Richfield 
and  Bath;  Cuyahoga  Falls,  27th,  for  Northampton,  Stow,  Tall- 
madge  and  Cuyahoga  Falls;  Akron,  28th,  Copley,  Coventry,  Mid- 
dlebury,  Norton,  Springfield  and  Portage;  Manchester,  30th,  for 
Franklin  and  Green,  for  the  purpose  of  hearing  and  passing  upon 
excuses  of  those  who  claimed  exemption  from  military  service 
under  the  draft. 

The  day  set  for  the  draft  to  begin  by  Governor  Tod,  -was 
Thursday,  September  4,  1862,  to  be  continued  from  day  to  day  until 
completed.  As  the  day  approached,  the  anxiety  became  very 
great  and  the  exertions  to  raise  recruits  largely  increased,  "  War 
Meetings"  being  held  in  the  several  townships  and  principal 
villages  and  school  districts  of  the  county,  addressed  by  such 
speakers  as  S.  W.  McClure,  Henry  McKinney,  George  W.  McNeiU 
R.  O.  Hammond,  John  F.  Earl,  N.  D.  Tibbals,  John  R.  Buchtel, 
Charles  B.  Bernard,  N.  W.  Goodhue,  Jacob  A.  Kohler,  L.  V,  Bierce^ 
Arthur  F.  Bartges,  Edward  Oviatt,  Edwin  P.  Green,  William  H. 
Upson,  James  S.  Carpenter,  S.  A.  Lane  and  others. 

Resistance  to  the  Draft. — By  this  time  under  the  teachings 
of  such  men  as  Clement  L.  Vallandigham,  opposition  to  the  draft 
began  to  manifest  itself,  not  only  in  the  slums  of  New  York  City, 
but  also  in  many  of  the  more  benighted  rural  districts  in  Ohio— 
notably  in  Holmes,  Noble  and  MorroAv  counties,  w^here  it  became 
necessary  to  reduce  the  recalcitrants  to  subjection  to  law^  and  order, 
by  military  force. 

In  Summit  county,  though  there  were  several  "copperheadish"^ 
localities,  the  only  overt  disloyal  manifestation  w^as  at  East  Liberty, 
on  Thursday  evening,  August  21,  at  a  meeting  which  was  being 
addressed'by  Messrs.  McKinney  and  McNeil.  At  this  ineeting,  by 
concerted  action,  a  disturbance  was  created,  and  every  possible 
effort  was  made  to  prevent  enlistments  and  to  break  up  the  meet- 
ing. The  next  day  prompt  measures  were  taken  to  suppress  the 
incipient  local  rebellion,  and  nine  of  the  offenders  were  arrested, 
and  taken  before  the  United  States  commissioner  at  Cleveland, 
six  of  whom  w^ere  admitted  to  bail,  and  the  remaining  three,  in 
default  of  bail,  were  committed  to  jail.  The  latter,  as  elsewhere 
stated,  after  sleeping  over  the  matter  one  night  in  jail,  experienced 
a  change  of  heart,  and  enlisted  in  the  107th  O.  V.  I.,  all  mnking^ 


DEALING   WITH   REBEL   SYMPATHIZERS.  411 

good  soldiers,  and  all  laying  do^vn  their  lives  on  the  field  of  Gettys- 
burg. On  the  final  hearing  before  the  commissioner,  on  Monday 
morning,  August  25,  the  remaining  six,  on  their  promise  to  "sin 
no  more,"  in  that  direction,  were  let  off  on  the  payment  of  the  costs, 
about  $350.00,  and  $120.00,  to  the  Summit  County  Bounty  Fund, 
incidentals  and  attorney's  fees  making  the  total  expense  of  the 
experiment  about  $600. 

A  "Moist"  but  Wholesome  Operation.  —  Apropos  of  this 
opposition  to  the  draft  and  enlistments  in  1862,  an  earlier  local  war 
incident  \vill  here  be  in  order.  Though,  as  heretofore  stated,  on 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  party  lines  were  abolished,  and  the 
majority  of  the  Democrats  vied  with  the  Republicans  in  their 
fealty  to  the  Government  and  the  Union,  there  w^as  an  occasional 
nest  of  "copperheads,"  as  they  were  called,  w^ho  w^ere  very  violent 
in  their  expressions  against  "  Lincoln's  Abolition  War,"  and 
"Lincoln's  Dogs,"  as  they  contemptuously  called  the  Union  volun- 
teers. Here,  also,  a  definition  of  the  term  "copperhead"  is  in  order. 
The  copperhead  snake,  like  the  rattlesnake,  is  a  very  poisonous 
reptile,  but,  unlike  the  rattlesnake,  instead  of  sounding  an  alarm 
and  boldly  attacking  its  enemy,  face  to  face,  creeps  noiselessly  and 
slimily  upon  him  from  the  rear,  and  stings  him  in  the  heel.  The 
appropriateness  of  the  application  is  obvious,  for  while  the  south- 
ern rebels  themselves  were  boldly  and  courageously  fighting  for 
the  dissolution  of  the  Union,  their  northern  sympathizers  were 
doing  their  very  worst  to  accomplish  the  same  object  by  discourag- 
ing enlistments  and  withholding  supplies  for  the  prosecution 
of  the  war. 

In  1861, in  the  adjacent  tow^nship  of  Sharon,  in  Medina  county, 
a  number  of  this  class  of  persons,  on  the  evening  of  the  Fourth  of 
July,  after  the  day  had  been  patriotically  celebrated  by  the  loyal 
inhabitants  of  that  town,  in  secret  conclave  adopted,  and  published, 
a  rebel-sympathizing  pronunciamento,  denouncing  the  "high- 
handed, unconstitutional  and  illegal  usurpations  of  the  party  in 
poMrer,  w^hich  is  subversive  of  sovereignty,  freedom  and  independ- 
ence," and  a  variety  of  other  similar  expressions,  designed  to 
discourage  enlistments  in  the  U^nion  army,  and  to  encourage 
enlistments  in  the  rebel  army,  and  resistance  to  the  Federal 
authority. 

These  resolutions  having  been  published  in  circular  form,  by 
the  authors,  and  afterwards  copied  into  the  Beacon,  and  other 
Union  papers,  had  created  considerable  excitement,  among  the 
soldier  boys  then  just  returning  from  the  three  months'  service, 
and  those  then  recruiting  and  organizing  under  the  three  years' 
call,  and  when,  on  Friday,  August  23, 1861,  W.  F.  Hess  and  two  others 
of  the  "Secesh  Sharonites,"  as  they  \^ere  called,  were  observed  upon 
the  streets  of  Akron,  advocating  the  doctrines  of  their  resolutions, 
they  Avere  confronted  by  the  indignant  boys  in  blue,  and  invited  to 
manifest  their  loyalty  to  the  Government  by  weaving  the  stars  and 
stripes  above  their  heads  and  hurrahing  for  the  Union.  Declining 
to  do  this  they  were  unceremoniously  treated  to  a  plunge  bath  in 
the  patriotism-inspiring  waters  of  the  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio 
canal,  immediately  south  of  the  Market  street  bridge. 

Not  the  soldier  boys  alone,  but  a  vast  crowd,  of  both  loyal 
Democrats,  as  well  as  Republicans,  participated  in  the  renovating 
process,    several   prominent  members  of  the    present  Democratic 


412  AKROX    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

organization  taking  a  lively  hand  in  the  affair.  Two  of  the  men 
thus  submerged  needed  but  a  few  minutes  soaking  to  so  far  purify 
them  of  their  secession  proclivities,  as  to  cause  them  to  w^ave  the 
starry  emblem  vigorously  above  their  heads,  and  to  loudly  pro- 
claim their  love  for  the  Union;  but  the  ringleader — Hess — a  man 
of  powerful  frame  and  of  herculean  strength,  held  out  fully  half 
an  hour,  when  he,  too,  not  only  waved  the  flag,  and  shouted  for 
the  Union,  but  also,  before  emerging  from  the  canal,  took  a  solemn 
oath,  administered  by  a  notary  public,  to  support  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States  and  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  to  sustain  the 
Oovernment  in  its  efforts  to  put  down  the  rebellion. 

A  few  local  "suspects"  were  also  invited  to  a  similar  manifes- 
tation of  their  loyalty,  about  those  days,  all  of  whom  readily,  if 
not  cheerfully,  complied,  and  though  the  methods  employed  were 
irregular,  and  in  many  respects  reprehensible,  the  proceedings 
served  a  salutary  purpose,  in  causing  the  element  in  question  to 
be  more  circumspect  in  the  public  expression  of  their  disloyal 
sentiments,  though  few  of  them,  probably,  ever  permanently 
reformed. 

The  Draft  Postponed. — In  order  to  give  the  draft  commis- 
sioners time  to  complete  their  examinations,  and  the  various 
recruiting  committees  an  opportunity  to  fill  their  respective 
quotas,  if  possible,  Gov.  Tod,  by  permission  of  Secretary  Stanton, 
postponed  the  draft  until  September  16,  and  again,  on  account  of 
the  interruption  to  recruiting  caused  by  the  threatened  invasion 
of  Ohio  by  Kirby  Smith,  and  the  flocking  of  the  "Squirrel  Hunters" 
to  Cincinnati,  till  October  1,  on  wrhich  day  the  draft  finally  took 
place. 

Notw^ithstanding  the  liberality  of  the  people  of  Summit  county 
in  the  payment  of  bounties,  and  the  general  alacrity  with  w^hich 
enlistments  were  made,  the  ides  of  October  found  all  of  the  town- 
ships of  the  county,  except  Boston,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Middlebury 
and  Tallmadge,  short  of  their  respective  quotas,  as  foUo^vs:  Bath, 
7;  Copley,  27;  Coventry,  49;  Franklin,  57;  Green,  26;  Hudson,  8; 
Northampton,  7;  Norton,  40;  Northfield,  7;  Portage,  49;  Richfield, 
29;  Stow,  1;  Springfield,  42;  Twinsburg  7. 

Portage  Township  Prize  Winners. — Gates  A.  Babcock,  Cor- 
nelius A.  Brouse,  George  Bradley,  William  Burr,  George  Botzum, 
Edward  A.  Barber,  Anthony  Blimm,  Morrill  T.  Cutter,  John 
Chitty,  Jr.,  George  W.  Crouse,  Hezekiah  S.  Camp,  John  Cramer, 
John  Dunn,  Henry  Dreese,  Samuel  J.  Davidson,  Peter  Evers, 
James  Flowers,  Silas  Fisher,  Joseph  Gonder,  Daniel  Graham, 
Christian  Grad,  Conrad  Gahn,  William  F.  Hageman,  Horace  F. 
Hickok,  Andrew  Koch,  George  Lalor,  Lucas  Libis,  John  Memmer, 
Sylvester  B.  Mj^ers,  Joseph  Marsh,  Nathan  S.  Means,  Antony 
Meyer,  Jacob  Miller,  Hugh  McFarland,  Jacob  Orth,  Christopher 
Overholtz,  Adam  Orth,  Michael  Paul,  William  A.  Palmer,  John 
Rottammer,  Samuel  Rhodes,  John  Spelman,  George  Sechrist, 
Jacob  Smith,  Reuben  Sherbondy,  Abraham  Schaier,  Algernon  S. 
Wheeler,  Jefferson  Wise,  William  Zedder. 

Reporting  for  Duty. — In  the  Beacon  of  October  9,  1862,  the 
w^riter  editorially  said:  "The  draft  falls  with  peculiar  hardship 
upon  a  number  of  persons,  but  all  have  promptly  and  cheerfully 
made  arrangements  to  either  furnish  a  substitute  or  go  them- 
selves and  this  morning,  accompanied  by  Commissioner  McKinney, 


GENERAL  BIERCE   AND  THE   "COPPERHEADS,"  413^ 

they  started  for  the  rendezvous  at  Cleveland.  *  *  *  We  feel 
proud  of  our  conscript  soldiers  from  Suinmit  county,  whose 
patriotic  conduct,  in  cheerfully  conforming  to  the  requirements  of 
the  Government,  IS  in  striking  contrast  with  the  mutinous  mani- 
festations which  have  been  made  by  some  of  the  drafts  in  other 
counties,  aided  by  a  few  of  Jeff  Davis'  emissaries  who  are  still  per- 
mitted to  pollute  the  soil  of  Ohio." 

We  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  how  many  of  the  drafted 
men  above  named  rendered  personal  service,  how  many  furnished 
substitutes  or  ho^v  many  w^ere  excused;  though  inquiry  has 
revealed  the  fact  that  William  A.  Palmer  was  excused  for  physical 
disability  by  the  examining  surgeon,  at  Cleveland.  George  W. 
Crouse  was  then  County  Auditor,  upon  whom  devolved  the  duty 
of  preparing  the  tickets,  and  draw^ing  them  from  the  box,  conse- 
quently drafting  hirrself,  among  the  rest.  Reporting  with  the  rest, 
at  the  rendezvous  in  Cleveland  as  stated,  Mr.  Crouse,  in  view  of 
the  difficulty  of  leaving  the  office,  proposed  to  furnish  a  substitute, 
but  ^vas  confronted  by  an  order  from  Governor  Tod,  that  county 
officers  should  be  exempted  from  the  operation  of  the  draft,  and 
consequently  returned  to  his  official  duties,  doing  his  full  share, 
hoAvever,  in  the  way  of  contributions  to  bounty  and  sanitary  funds 
and  in  1864  giving  to  the  Government  100  days  faithful  service  in 
front  of  Washington,  as  a  member  of  Company  F,  164th  Regiment 
Ohio  National  Guards.  Edward  A.  Barber  Avas  excused  on 
account  of  a  broken  leg,  but  subsequently,  besides  having  two 
brothers  killed  in  the  army,  furnished  a  substitute  in  anticipation 
of  the  draft  of  March,  1865.  James  M.  Malone  served  as  a  substi- 
tute for  Morrill  T.  Cutter;  William  Beatty  for  Cornelius  A.  Brouse; 
Thomas  Rhodes  for  his  brother,  Samuel  Rhodes;  Messrs.  John 
Memmer,  Gates  A.  Babcock,  Reuben  Sherbondy,  John  Spelman,. 
Joseph  Gonder,  and  very  probabl3^  others  procuring  substitutes  in 
Cleveland.  The  Cleveland  papers  of  October  17,  1862,  in  a  table 
comprizing  fifteen  counties  of  Northern  Ohio,  said  of  Summit: 
Number  of  men  reported  in  camp,  292;  number  who  furnished 
substitutes,  133;  number  substitutes  enlisted,  87;  number  exempted 
by  surgeon,  33;  which  would  indicate  that  a  little  over  40  per  cent, 
took  their  chances  under  the  draft,  none  of  the  principals,  as  indi- 
cated in  the  table,  having  enlisted,  while  possibly  some  of  them 
procured  substitutes  before  being  assigned  to  regiments  and  mus- 
tered in. 

PROMPT  ACTION  OF  MAJOR  LUCIUS  V.  BIERCE. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  Morro\v  county,  as  one  of  the  few^ 
localities  of  the  State  where  resistance  was  made  to  the  draft. 
While  the  enrollment  of  those  subject  to  military  duty  was  being- 
made,  in  certain  portions  of  that  county,  in  the  Spring  of  1863,  the 
opposition  became  very  virulent,  the  manner  of  dealing  w^ith  w^hich 
was  thus  described  in  the  Beacon  of  June  4,  1863: 

Our  late  Senator,  Gen.  L.  V.  Bierce,  now  assistant  adjutant  general 
with  the  rank  of  major,  received  a  telegram,  on  Wednesday  last,  from  the 
provost  marshal  of  Morrow  county,  that  his  enrolling  officer  was  meeting 
with  resistance,  his  life  being  threatened,  if  he  proceeded  with  the  enroll- 
ment, and  that  he  had  been  twice  fired  at.  Major  Bierce  immediately  made 
a  requisition  on  Gen.  Mason,  at  Camp  Chase,  for  a  sergeant  and  a  squad  of  ten 
men,  with  a  supply  of  ball  cartridges  and  two  days  rations,  and  at  4  o'clock 
P.  M.  started  for  the  scene  of  operations.    Reaching  Gilead  on  the  C.  C.  &  C 


414 


AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


R.  R.,  52  miles  from  ColumbUvS,  he  marched  14  miles  on  foot,  captured  three 
of  the  ring-leaders,  searched  all  the  secesh  houses  in  the  neighborhood, 
seized  a  lot  of  United  States  arms,  and  just  at  daylight  started  back  with  his 
prisoners  and  booty,  delivering  his  prisoners  to  the  United  States  Marshal 
at  Mount  Gilead,  and  ariving  at  Columbus  at  11  o'clock  A.  M.  The  butternuts 
of  the  neighborhood  were  evidently  thoroughl)^  organized,  for  those  pounced 
upon  blew  their  horns,  and  sent  their  women  to  arouse  the  faithful,  but  nary 
a  rescuer  put  in  an  appearance,  the  Morrow  county  rebellion  being  effectu- 
ally squelched  by  the  Major's  prompt  and  vigorous  action. 


p  EN.  LUCIUS  VERUS  BIERCE,— 
^J^  born  in  Cornwall,  Conn.,  Aug. 
4,  1801 ;  at  15  came  with  father  to  Nel- 
son, Portage  county,  O.,  soon  after 
entering  Ohio  University,  at  Athens, 
also  engaging  in  the  study  of  the 
law,  later  traveling,  teaching  and 
studying  three  or  four  years  in  the 
South,  where,  at  Athens,  Ala.,  in  1823, 
he  was  admitted  to  practice,  a  year 
later  being  admitted  to  the  Bar  in 
Ohio ;  from  1826  to  1837  was  prose- 
cuting attornej'  of  Portage  county ; 
in  1836  changed  his  residence  from 
Ravenna  to  Akron;  in  the  Fall  of  that 
j-ear  was  married  to  Miss  Frances  C. 
Peck,  a  teacher  in  Ravenna,  who  bore 
him  one  son — Walter — who  died  in 
infancy.  Mrs.  Bierce  dying  suddenly, 
of  heart  disease,  June  23,  1839,  Gen. 
Bierce  was  again  married,  to  Miss 
Sophronia  Ladd,  a  teacher  in  Akron, 
Jan.  1,  1840,  who  bore  him  a  daugh- 
ter—Ella S.,  who  died  Dec.  11,  1864. 
Taking  a  great  interest  in  local  mili- 
tarj^  matters,  he  early  became  a  brig- 
adier general  of  militia,  and  in  the 
so-called  Canada  Patriot  War,  of 
1837  39,  became  commander-in-chief 
of  the  Patriot  Arm5\  Gen.  Bierce 
served  as  State  Senator  from  1861  to 
1863.  In  the  War  of  the  Rebellion, 
besides  raising  several  squads  of  re- 
cruits for  the  artillery  and  navy.  Gen. 
Bierce  served  two  years  as  assistant 
adjutant  general,  with  the  rank  of 
major,  in  office  of  provost  marshal 
at  Columbus ;  in  May,  1865,  was  sent 
to  Madison,  Wis.,  to  muster  out 
troops,  and  then  to  the  command  of 
Fort  Washburn,  at  Milwaukee,  being 
himself  mustered  out  October  7, 1865. 


GEx\.  LUCIUS   VERUS  BIERCE. 

Gen.  Bierce  was  mayor  of  Akron 
during  the  years  1839,  '41,  '44,  '49,  '67, 
'68,  and  President  of  Akron's  first 
Board  of  Education,  in  1847.  He  was 
a  prominent  Mason,  being  elected 
Grand  Master  in  1853.  Gen.  Bierce 
died  Nov.  11,  1876,  Mrs.  Bierce  dying 
April  24,  1882,  having,  on  September 
15,  1875,  deeded  their  homestead,  cor- 
ner High  and  Market  streets,  to  the 
city,  on  condition  that  it  should  be 
forever  called  "Bierce  Park,"  and  that 
the  city  should  pay  them  $1,500  a  year 
during  their  joint  lives  and  $1,000  to 
the  survivor  during  life,  the  net  cost 
to  the  city  thus  being  about  $6,500. 


A  "BUTTERNUT"  DEMONSTRATION. 

Hess  and  his  rebel-sympathizing  compeers  evidently  took  the 
oaths  and  pledges  alluded  to  with  many  mental  reservations,  for 
in  1862  they  had  so  far  taken  partisan  form  as  to  put  distinct  can- 
didates in  the  field  for  both  general  and  local  civil  officers,  on  plat- 
forms of  decided  hostility  to  the  government,  while  in  1863  they 
placed  in  nomination  for  governor,  against  that  tried  and  true 
Democratic  patriot,  John  Brough,  the  convicted  and  banished  trai- 
tor, Clement  L.  Yallandigham,  supporting  him  and  his  incendiary 
doctrines,  both  in  their  papers  and  upon  the  rostrum,  with  the 
most  bitter  denunciation  of  the  administration  and  the  brave  boys 
who  were  fighting  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 


A   HOME    "butternut"    DISPLAY.  415 

In  the  beginning  of  the  war,  the  Union  boys  had  nicknamed 
the  rebel  soldiers  "  Butternuts,"  from  the  fact  that  the  major- 
ity of  the  southern  people,  and  soldiers  before  being  supplied  with 
gray  uniforms,  dressed  in  butternut  colored  clothing — a  sort  of  a 
yellow^ish  brown— and,  whereas  the  emblem  of  the  old  Jackson 
Democracy  was  the  hickory  tree,  emblematic  of  the  inflexible  cour- 
age and  firm  tenacity  of  purpose  which  gave  to  Andrew  Jackson 
the  sobriquet  of  "  Old  Hickory,"  the  bastard  democracy,  ignoring 
the  Old  Hero's  hatred  of  treason,  and  to  manifest  their  sympathy 
with  traitors,  adopted  the  butternut  tree  as  its  emblem,  carrying 
butternut  trees  and  boughs  in  their  processions  and  wearing  upon 
the  lapels  of  their  coats  and  shirt  fronts  pins  fabricated  from  the 
central  portion  of  the  butternut  shell. 

A  Unique  Procession. — In  the  early  Fall  of  1863,  during  the 
exciting  gubernatorial  campaign  alluded  to,  headed  by  that  life- 
long and  patriotic  Democrat,  John  Brough,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
by  Ohio's  expatriated  traitor,  Clement  L.  Vallandigham,  from  his 
safe  retreat  just  over  the  border,  on  the  other,  the  object  of  the 
local  .adherents  of  the  "  Martyr"  Avas  to  make  a  big  demonstration- 
at  the  capital  of  "  Abolition"  Summit  county.  After  several  weeks 
spent  in  scouring  Summit,  Portage,  Medina,  Wayne,  Stark  and 
Holmes  counties,  said  demonstration  came  off  on  Thursday,  Octo- 
ber 8,  on  the  fair  grounds,  overlooking  the  city  on  the  west,  the 
Grand  Army  coming  in  two  divisions,  from  the  southeast  and  the 
southwest,  the  latter  headed  by  the  water-soaked  "  Captain  "  Hess. 
The  procession,  mostly  on  horse  back  and  in  two-horse  lumber 
wagons,  loaded  promiscuously  with  men,  women,  boys  and  girls, 
by  actual  count  just  1,453  persons,  one-third  of  whom  w^ere  possibly 
voters.  The  horses  and  wagons  were  embellished  with  butternut 
saplings  and  every  species  of  anti-administration  and  anti-war 
mottoes,  but  not  a  single  National  fla^,  and  nearly  all  the  men  and 
women  w^ore  the  butternut  pin — the  latter  being  especially  promi- 
nent in  the  disloyal  display. 

Though  the  speakers  ^vere  very  bitter  in  their  denunciation  of 
President  Lincoln  and  Governors  Tod  and  Brough,  and  the  soldiers 
then  battling  for  the  Union,  they  were  quietly  listened  to  by  hun- 
dreds of  true  and  loyal  men,  including  many  soldiers  then  home  on 
furlough,  and  everything  passed  off  peaceably,  until  the  eastern 
division  of  the  procession,  in  passing  along  Howard  street  on  their 
return,  commenced  to  jeer  at  the  boys  in  blue,  and  to  brandish  the 
huge  clubs,  butcher-knives  and  revolvers  w^ith  which  many  of 
them  were  armed,  w^ith  an  occasional  volley  of  stones  from  the 
wagons,  at  the  crowd  of  spectators  upon  the  sidewalks — one  large 
stone,  evidently  aimed  at  the  writer,  then  editor  of  the  Beacon, 
hitting  a  now  prominent  Democrat  upon  the  knee. 

These  wantonly  hostile  demonstrations  were  too  much  for  the 
furloughed  soldiers,  many  of  whom  had  been  wounded  by  real 
rebel  missiles,  and  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  many  prominent  citi- 
zens to  prevent  a  collision,  the  veterans  "sailed  in,"  unhorsing  and 
disarming  their  mounted  assailants,  stripping  from  horses  and 
wagons  rebel-sympathizing  emblems  and  mottoes,  and  relieving  a 
good  portion  of  the  crowd,  both  men  and  women,  of  their  butternut 
pins.  At  one  time,  at  the  corner  of  Howard  and  Market  streets,  a 
serious  and  bloody  riot  was  imminent,  but,  happily  the  affair  ter- 
minated without  serious  personal  injury  to  either  side. 


416  .    AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

Politically,  the  result  of  the  campaign  was,  in  Summit  countj^,. 
a  Union  majority  of  2,276,  exclusive  of  the  vote  of  soldiers  at  the 
front  Avho  cast  423  votes  for  Brough,  to  11  votes  for  Vallandigham, 
swelling  the  Union  majority  in  the  county  to  2,688,  w^hile  in  the 
State  the  Union  majority,  exclusive  of  the  soldiers'  vote,  w^as  61,752, 
the  39,806  majority  given  by  the  boys  in  the  field  sw^elling  the  patri- 
otic Brough's  majority,  over  his  unpatriotic  and  disloyal  com- 
petitor, to  the  grand  total  of  101,598. 

Subsequent  Calls,  Drafts,  Etc. — As  the  war  progressed,  calls 
for  additional  troops  became  frequent  and  urgent,  and  the  efforts 
of  our  people  to  raise  bount}^  money  and  recruits  were  correspond- 
ingly increased.  In  1863,  how^ever,  ow^ing  to  the  fact  that  Ohio  had 
hitherto  sent  a  larger  proportion  of  men  into  the  field  for  three 
years,  than  other  states,  the  requisition  upon  her  was  compara- 
tively small,  about  8,500  only.  In  the  meantime,  also,  the  govern- 
ment had  increased  its  offers  of  bounty  to*$300  for  new  recruits, 
and  $400  for  re-enlistments,  ^rhile  the  local  bounty,  in  Portage 
tow^nship,  raised  by  individual  subscription,  was  at  that  time  $150, 
the  recruit  being  permitted  to  choose  the  regiment  in  which  he 
should  serve,  with  corresponding  liberality  in  other  portions  of  the 
county  and  of  the  State,  so  that  not  only  Summit  countj^'s  but 
Ohio's  full  quota  was  made  up  previous  to  the  day  fixed  for  the 
draft,  October  26,  1863. 

Under  the  call  of  October  17,  1863,  for  300,000  more  troops  to 
be  raised  by  January  5,  1864,  the  special  government  bounties  were 
continued.  President  Lincoln  closing  his  proclamation  in  these 
words:  "I  address  myself  not  only  to  the  governors  of  the  several 
states,  but  also  to  the  loyal  people  thereof,  invoking  them  to  lend 
cheerful,  willing  and  effective  aid  to  the  measure  thus  adopted, 
v/ith  a  view^  to  reinforce  our  victorious  armies  now  in  the  field,  and 
bring  our  military  operations  to  a  prosperous  end,  thus  closing" 
forever  the  fountains  of  sedition  and  cruel  war." 

Portage  Township  up  to  Time. — The  time  for  raising  the 
quotas  having  been  extended,  the  Beacon  of  February  4,  1864, 
announced  that  the  quota  of  Portage  township,  65,  had  been  filled, 
with  a  surplus  in  the  bounty  fund  of  $550.00  In  the  meanw^hile, 
how^ever,  an  additional  200,000  men  had  been  called  for.  This  had 
been  rendered  necessary,  from  the  fact  that  the  large  number  of 
soldiers  in  the  field  then  re-enlisting  as  veterans,  were  credited  on 
the  quotas  of  their  respective  townships,  thus  reducing  the  300,000 
call  in  reality  to  about  100,000,  w^hereas  it  was  deemed  necessary 
to  put  the  full  300,000  additional  troops  into  the  field.  In  announcing 
this  call  Gov.  Brough  said: 

Citizens  of  Ohio  !  Shall  we  hesitate  in  complying  with  the  requisition 
laid  upon  us?  Shall  we  falter  in  the  g'ood  work  as  the  end  draws  near? 
Shall  we  be  lag'gard  under  the  call  to  man  an  army  sufficient  in  a  single 
season  to  strike  the  death  blow  to  this  rebellion?  The  loyalty  of  Ohio  was 
appealed  to  last  fall  at  the  ballot  box,  and  her  people  returned  a  noble 
response.  The  patriotism  of  the  State  is  appealed  to  now;  the  answer  must 
not  be  hesitating-  or  uncertain. 

Summit's  Second  Draft. — At  the  instance  of  Secretary  Stanton, 
Congress,  by  joint  resolution,  extended  the  special  bounties  of 
$300,  and  $400  till  April  1,  1864,  thus  postponing  the  draft  under 
the  200,000  call  until  that  date,  and  afterwards  until  Saturday,  May 
7th,  when  the  draft  for  Summit  County  came  off  at  the  provost 
marshal's  office   in    Cleveland.     Green,  Richfield,  Northfield  and 


Sl'PPLEMENTAL    DRAFT   ORDERED.  417 

Twinsburg,  were  found  to  be  "out  of  the  woods,"  and  the  rest  of 
the  townships  were  found  to  be  delinquent  as  follows:  Bath,  2; 
IJoston,  3;  Copley,  14;  Coventry,  1;  Cuyahoga  Falls,  5;  Franklin,  11; 
Hudson,  4;  Middlebury,  4;  Northampton,  13;  Norton,  13;  Portage, 
11;  Springfield,  2;  Stow,  6;  Tallmadge,  4. 

Akron's  Roll  of  Honor. ^Including  Middlebury  and  Portage 
tow^nships,  Akron's  Roll  of  Honor  in  this  draft,  was  as  follows: 
Moses  Huggins,  Russell  H.  Kent,  Martin  Tobin,  Oliver  Perr}", 
George  Davis,  2nd,  Thomas  Maloney,  George  Morris,  Standard  \V. 
Hase,  Ezra  Leonard,  Eber  Hawkins,  Frank  Edgerly,  John  Sud- 
bottom,  Foster  Tarbell,  John  Pinkney,  Horace  Hill,  Jacob  ShuU, 
Corwin  Hamlin,  Patrick  Costole,  George  W.  Fairbanks,  Orlando 
H.  Wilcox,  Thaddeus  Schnell,  Alvin  Rice,  Lucius  Risden,  Ezekiel 
S.  Phinney,  John  Franklin  Weygandt. 

In  the  previous  drafts,  fifty  per  cent  more  names  than  the 
quotas  called  for  were  drawn,  to  provide  for  exemptions  and  rejec- 
tions on  final  examinations,  but  in  this  draft,  the  exact  number 
called  for  only  were  drawn,  so  that  all  thus  excused  would  have  to 
be  made  up  by  a  supplemental  draft,  or  under  subsequent  calls. 
We  have  now^  no  means  of  knowing  how  many  of  the  above  named 
drafts  were  excused  (except  Alvin  Rice  excused  for  defective 
vision)  nor  how^  many  personally  responded,  but  the  probabilities 
are  that  the  most  of  them  furnished  substitutes,  or  purchased 
immunity  from  service  ^vith  commutation  money.  The  Govern- 
ment had  by  this  time  provided,  by  law,  that  any  person  drafted,  or 
liable  to  draft,  might  purchase  exemption  by  the  payment  of  a 
commutation  of  $300,  the  Government  thus  undertaking  to  procure 
substitutes  wherever  they  could  be  had.  To  make  matters  as  safe 
and  easy  as  possible  for  each  other,  "pools"  w^ere  formed — a  given 
number  paying  a  given  amount,  from  $10  to  $100,  with  the 
understanding  that  if  any  member  of  the  pool  should  be  drafted, 
he  could  draw  the  amount  of  $300  from  the  common  fund,  to  be 
used  either  as  commutation  to  purchase  exemption,  or  as  a  bount}^. 
should  he  elect  to  go  into  the  service  himself.  Geo,  W.  Fairbanks, 
belonged  to  a  pool  of  45  members  who  chipped  in  $10  each,  making 
an  aggregate  of  $450.  Being  the  only  member  of  the  pool  drafted, 
after  drawing  his  $300  from  the  fund,  the  remaining  $150  was 
equally  divided  among  the  members,  "Wash"  thus  getting  out  of 
the  affair  for  the  moderate  sum  of  $6.66%. 

Supplemental  Draft. — To  make  up  for  those  excused  under 
the  last  dra^t  named,  a  supplemental  draft  was  ordered  to  come  off 
early  in  June,  1864,  Summit  county's  shortage  being  as  follows: 
Boston,  3;  Copley,  8;  Cuyahoga  Falls,  3;  Franklin,  6;  Hudson,  4; 
Middlebury,  1;  Norton,  6;  Northampton,  4;  Portage,  7;  Springfield,. 
2;  Stow,  1;  all  the  other  townships  being  full.  The  deficiencies,, 
however,  were  promptly  made  up  by  the  several  recruiting  and 
county  committees,  mostly  recruits  obtained  in  Cleveland,  and 
Summit  county  was  ag^in  "out  of  the  woods,"  the  committees  sent 
to  Columbus,  to  secure  a  fair  distribution  of  credits,  announcing 
its  success,  and  the  fact  that  Portage  toAvnship  was  for  the  time 
being  secure  from  conscription  lightning  by  the  following  telegram 
which  will  speak  for  itself: 

Columbus,  March  30, 1864. 

To  Tames  Christy,  Akron:  The  original  Muster  Rolls  of  the  29th  are 
received  at  Adjutant  General's  office  today.  Akron  is  credited  with  eig-htj-- 
six  jnen.    Hurrah  !  J.  J.  HALL. 

27 


418  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

COUNTY,  CITY  AND  TOWNSHIP  BOUNTY  TAX  LAW. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  in  the  raising  of  local  bounties,  the 
patriotic  and  liberal  were  almost  w^holly  the  contributors,  while 
the  unpatriotic  and  illiberal,  though  enjoying  equal  benefits  of 
protection  to  person  and  property,  and  the  enhanced  prices  for 
their  produce  caused  by  the  war,  contributed  little  or  nothing,  the 
Ohio  Legislature  in  March,  1864,  enacted  a  bounty  law^,  the  first 
section  of  which,  as  follo^vs,  explains  itself  : 

The  commissioners  of  the  several  counties,  and  the  councils  of  several 
cities,  and  the  trustees  of  the  several  townships  in  this  State,  are  hereby 
authorized  (if  they  deem  the  same  expedient),  in  the  year  A.  D.  1864,  to  levy  a 
tax  upon  the  taxable  property'  of  their  respective  jurisdictions,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  raising  a  fund  to  paj^  bounties  to  volunteers  who  have  enlisted 
or  shall  enlist  in  the  military  or  naval  service  of  the  United  States 
under  either  of  the  requisitions  of  the  President  in  October,  1863,  or  Feb- 
ruary, 1864,  for  500,000  additional  troops,  in  the  ag-g-reg-ate  not  exceeding  one 
hundred  dollars  to  each  volunteer  who  shall  have  enlisted  or  may  hereafter 
enlist  therein  under  the  said  requisitions,  and  to  paj-  and  reimburse  the 
counties,  cities,  wards,  townships  and  individuals,  all  monies  paid,  pledged 
or  subscribed  b}^  them  respectively,  as  and  for  bounties  to  volunteers 
enlisted  or  who  shall  enlist  under  said  calls  within  their  respective  jurisdic- 
tions as  aforesaid. 

A  number  of  the  townships  of  the  county  availed  themselves 
of  the  provisions  of  this  law,  thus  compelling  the  unwilling  to 
share  w^ith  the  willing  a  small  proportion  of  the  extraordinary 
pecuniary  burdens  forced  upon  them  by  the  exigencies  of  those 
troublous  times. 

SANITARY  AND  AID  SOCIETIES. 

It  w^ill  be  utterly  impossible  to  convey  to  the  minds  of  the 
present  generation  the  magnitude  of  the  Soldier's  Aid  and  Sani- 
tary operations,  among  the  people  of  the  Northern  States,  during 
the  war.  Not  only  were  the  families  of  the  soldiers  at  home  to  be 
assisted,  according  to  their  several  necessities,  but  the  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  themselves,  in  the  hospitals,  were  to  be  nursed 
and  supplied  with  medicines,  food,  clothing,  etc.,  suited  to  their 
varied  conditions.  To  this  end  Soldiers'  Aid  Societies  \vere  organ- 
ized by  the  sympathetic  and  always  patriotic  women  of  almost 
every  city,  village  and  township  throughout  the  entire  North, 
through  w^hich  immense  supplies  were  for^varded,  monthly,  or 
oftener,  each  society  endeavoring,  as  far  as  possible,  to  send  its 
contributions  to  those  localities  where  its  ow^n  dear  ones  w^ould  be 
most  likely  to  be  the  beneficiaries  thereof. 

Monthly  reports  of  their  contributions  were  published  regu- 
larly in  the  Beacon,  comprising  many  columns  of  solid  nonpareil 
type,  from  w^hich,  as  a  sample  of  the  whole,'  we  quote  as  follows 
from  the  Copley  District  No.  3,  report  for  August,  1864:  Member- 
ship fees,  $12.40;  proceeds  of  dime  parties,  $11.60;  grab  parties, 
$7.25;  Mrs.  W.  B,,  five  pillow  cases,  two  rolls  bandages,  outside  for 
one  quilt,  one  roll  of  cloth,  one  roll  of  cotton  batting,  three  bottles 
of  currant  w^ine;  Mrs.  K.,  one  quilt  lining,  batting  and  four  blocks 
for  quilt,  four  rolls  bandages,  one  pillow,  six  pounds  dried  apples; 
Mrs.  S.,  six  bottles  blackberry  syrup,  one  roll  old  cotton,  two 
pounds  cherries,  etc.,  the  list  containing  the  names  of  57  ladies, 
with  similar  contributions,  embracing  shirts,  drawers,  dried  beef, 
cheese,  soap,  to\vels,  books,  papers,  fans,  pin  balls,  etc.,  filling  two 
good-sized  packing  boxes. 


PATRIOTISM    AND   PLEASANTRY.  419 

A  similar  detailed  report  of  the  Akron  Soldiers'  Aid  Society 
for  the  same  month,  summing  up  as  follows:  Two  boxes  sent  to 
Cleveland,  containing-three  shirts,  thirteen  pairs  drawers,  two  boxes 
lint,  one  pair  socks,  five  towels,  twrenty-five  handkerchiefs,  seven- 
teen bundles  rags,  sixteen  pounds  dried  fruit,  one  bag  hops,  two 
packages  of  paper§,  twenty-eight  magazines,  one  bushel  onions. 
Two  boxes  sent  to  Hospital  No.  1,  Nashville,  Tenn.,  containing 
thirteen  fans,  twelve  towels,  two  quilts,  five  pillows,  sixteen  maga- 
zines, twenty-six  handkerchiefs,  eleven  shirts,  one  bag  hops,  six- 
teen pin  balls,  three  pairs  slippers,  two  quarts  dried  currants, 
books,  papers  and  rags. 

Grand  Wood  and  Provision  Celebration. — As  a  further 
sample  of  the  spirit  which  animated  all  our  people,  and  of  their 
•desire  to  assist  the  families  of  those  w^ho  w^ere  fighting  for  them  at 
the  front,  a  wood  and  provision  celebration  w^as  organized,  the 
glorious  outcome  of  which  can  be  best  imparted  to  the  reader  of 
these  pages,  by  what  the  w^riter  then  said  of  it,  editorially,  in  the 
Beacon  of  December  24,  1863: 

"  The  wood  and  provision  celebration,  on  Thursday  last, 
proved  to  be  a  most  triumphant  success.  Notw^ith standing  the 
-awful  condition  of  the  roads,  and  the  forbidding  aspect  of  the 
weather,  the  supplies  began  to  arrive  early,  and  at  11  o'clock, 
under  the  marshalship  of  George  D.  Bates,  Esq.,  and  his  wide- 
awake assistants,  the  procession  was  formed  at  the  corner  of 
Howard  and  Market  streets,  and,  headed  by  the  Akron  Guards  and 
their  fine  band  of  martial  music,  proceeded  up  Market  to  Broad- 
way, up  BroadAvay  to  Mill,  down  Mill  to  HoAvard  and  down 
Howard  to  Market,  from  whence  the  wagons  proceeded  to  the  sev- 
eral places  designated  by  the  committee  for  depositing  their 
various  contents. 

Banqueting  the  Contributors. — "  On  delivering  his  dona- 
tions, each  man  was  furnished  Avith  a  ticket  which  admitted  him 
to  Tappan  Hall,  where  the  Ladies  of  the  Soldiers'  Aid  Society  had 
prepared  a  magnificent  dinner,  consisting  of  roast  turkey,  baked 
and  stewed  chicken,  chicken  pie,  roast  beef,  pork  and  beans, 
mashed  potatoes,  turnips,  cabbage,  pickles  and  relishes  in  great 
abundance,  bread  and  butter,  pies,  cakes,  hot  coffee,  etc.,  etc.  Not 
only  w^ere  the  'multitude'  abundantly  'filled,'  but  there  remained 
■'many  baskets  full'  of  choice  provisions  for  those  for  w^hose  benefit 
the  affair  had  been  gotten  up. 

"The  train  consisted  of  from  80  to  90  Avagons,  mostly  from  our 
own  township,  though  quite  a  number  from  Copley,  Coventry, 
Middlebury,  Tallmadge,  Northampton  and  other  towns  generously 
united,  not  only  in  sw^elling  the  dimensions  of  the  procession,  but 
ihe  pile  of  supplies,  also." 

A  list  of  the  contributors,  with  the  articles  donated,  and  their 
value,  occupies  fully  a  column  and  a  half,  which  may  be  briefly 
summarized  as  follows:  Cash,  $375;  wood,  40  cords;  coal,  15  tons; 
potatoes,  200  bushels;  flour,  8  barrels;  meat,  800  pounds;  apples, 
25  bushels;  cabbage,  100  heads;  beets  and  turnips,  10  bushels; 
w^heat,  7  bushels;  corn,  9  bushels;  beans,  3  bushels;  chickens,  16; 
orders  for  goods,  $50;  with  dried  apples,  apple-butter,  pumpkins, 
etc.,  the  aggregate  value  being  between  $700  and  $800. 

Patriotism  and  Pleasantry. — Illustrative  of  the  genial  good 
nature   w^ith    which   these   contributions  were   made,  and   of  the 


420  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

devices  made  for  augmenting  them,  we  quote  as  folloAvs:  "  Mr^ 
William  B.  Raymond  banteringly  proposed  to  Mr.  Jacob'  Ober- 
holser  that  he  (Raymond)  would  contribute  a  barrel  of  flour  if  he 
(Oberholser)  would  wheel  it  around  the  square  in  the  procession 
on  a  wheel-barrow^,  which  challenge  was  promptly  accepted,  and 
duly  executed.  Messrs.  James  Mathews,  George  C.  Berry  and 
David  A.  Scott  each  proposed  to  perform  similar  feats,  if  the  flour 
Avas  furnished  them,  whereupon  George  W.  McNeil,  George  Buel, 
John  Memmer,  John  L.  Noble.  John  J.  Wagoner,  W.  G.  Robinson,. 
William  C.  Allen,  Charles  R.  Howe,  Jacob  Oberholser  and  others, 
chipped  in  from  one  to  two  dollars  each,  and  purchased  the  flour; 
Mr.  C.  G.  Auble,  then  clerking  for  Milton  W.  Henry  and  Jacob- 
Oberholser,  offering  to  "tote  "  a  hog  upon  his  shoulder,  in  the  pro- 
cession, if  his  fellow  clerks  would  pay  for  it. 

The  hog  was  purchased  and  the  four  \\^heel-barrows,  and  their 
plucky  drivers,  and  the  stalwart  bearer  of  the  "  patriotic  grunter," 
with  festoons  of  red,  white  and  blue  ribbon  depending  from  its 
snout  and  tail,  elicited  rounds  of  applause  along  the  line  of  march; 
our  late  patriotic  colored  fellow-citizen,  William  D.  Stevens,  bring- 
ing up  the  rear,  with  a  pole  across  his  shoulder  from  the  end  of 
which  depended  a  nice  large  ham  labeled  "  The  Union,"  and 
underneath  a  lean  and  haggled  ham  bone  labeled  "The  Southern 
Confederacy  Played  Out." 

1864— RECRUITING  IN  THK  REBEL  STATES. 

The  experiences  of  1864  w^ere  but  a  repetition  of  those  of  1862 
and  1863,  only  many  times  intensified,  requiring  the  utmost  exer- 
tion and  vigilance  on  the  part  of  the  various  military  committees 
to  secure  correct  enrollments  and  proper  credits  thereon,  and  to 
fill  the  various  requisitions  for  men.  Not  only  ^vere  the  services  of 
from  90,000  to  100,000  National  Guards  accepted  and  faithfully 
rendered,  but  on  the  18th  day 'of  July,  1864,  President  Lincoln  issued 
another  call  for  500,000  more  men,  who,  under  the  then  recent  act 
of  Congress,  could  enlist  for  one,  two  or  three  years,  as  they  might 
elect,  and  designating  September  5,  as  the  clay  for  holding  the 
draft  in  districts  Avhose  quotas  had  not  previously  been  filled. 

The  same  act  authorized  the  procurement  of  recruits,  for  filling 
the  quotas  of  northern  States,  from  the  "contraband"  and  other 
loyal  inhabitants  of  certain  of  the  southern  States,  the  third  section 
reading  as  follows: 

Section  III.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the 
Executive  of  anj^  State,  to  send  recruiting-  ag-ents  into  any  of  the  States 
declared  to  be  in  rebellion,  except  the  States  of  Arkansas,  Tennessee  and 
Louisiana,  to  recruit  volunteers  under  any  call  under  the  provision  of  this 
act,  who  shall  be  credited  to  the  State,  and  to  the  respective  sub-divisions 
thereof  which  may  procure  the  enlistment. 

Giving  the  New  Plan  a  Trial. — Under  the  provisions  of 
this  act,  the  trustees  of  the  several  townships  of  the  county  met  at 
the  Court  House,  on  Friday,  July  22,  1864,  to  devise  u^ays  and 
means  for  carrying  it  into  effect.  Col.  Simon  Perkins  w^as  called 
to  the  chair,  and  a  resolution  was  adopted  that,  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  tow^nship  bounty  tax,  heretofore  spoken  of,  the 
trustees  of  the  several  townships  borrow  upon  their  official  bonds 
the  sum  of  $100  for  each  man  wanted  by  their  respective  tow^nships, 
John  E.  Hurlbut,  of  Richfield,  being  selected  as  Summit  county's 


OUR   QUOTA    AGAIN    FULL.  421 

agent  to  procure  said  enlistments,  and  preparations  were  immedi- 
ately coinmenced  for  carr3dng  this  plan  into  effect,  all  the  town- 
ships reporting  on  the  following  Monday,  and  placing  in  the 
hands  of  Col.  Perkins  the  sum  of  $100  for  each  man  needed  to  fill 
their  several  quotas  under  the  call. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  it  transpired  that  only  one  agent 
for  each  Congressional  District  was  to  be  appointed,  and  on 
Saturday,  July  23,  the  military'  committees  of  the  three  counties 
composing  the  Eighteenth  Congressional  District — ^Summit,  Lake 
and  Cuyahoga — inet  at  Cleveland,  and  selected  Mr,  C.  E.  Wilson, 
of  that  city,  as  such  agent. 

A  Novel  but  Profitless  Scheme. — At  this  meeting  of  the 
military  committees,  a  Doctor  DeLaney,  of  Pittsburg,  submitted  a 
proposition  to  fill  the  quota  of  the  district  for  $100  per  head,  in 
addition  to  the  Government  bount}^,  the  doctor  to  deposit  $5,000,  as 
a  guarantee  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his  agreement,  and  the 
bounty  money  not  to  be  paid  over  until  the  recruits  had  been 
accepted  and  mustered  in.  The  contract  was  closed  with  the 
doctor,  and  he  and  Mr.  Wilson  proceeded  to  Columbus,  and  obtain- 
ing proper  authority  from  Gevernor  Brough  immediately  started 
for  the  South,  but  with  what  result  ma}^  be  inferred  from  the 
following  paragraph  from  an  editorial  penned  1iy  the  writer,  in  the 
Beacon  of  August  11,  1864: 

Although  we  hav^e  nothing-  definite  as  to  how  the  person  who  took  the 
contract  of  filling-  the  quota  for  this  district  in  the  rebel  States,  is  getting" 
along,  we  understand  that  the  reg-ular  constituted  agent,  under  whom  the 
contractor  was  to  operate  has  intimated  that  but  little  can  be  done  from  the 
fact  that  other  localities,  represented  there,  were  offering  from  $100  to  $1,t() 
greater  bounties  than  he  was  authorized  to  paj\  We  would  again  beg  of 
•our  people  to  urge  forward  the  matter  of  obtaining  volunteers  at  home,  and 
■of  laboring,  one  and  all,  for  reducing  the  quotas  to  the  lowest  possible  limit 
by  the  .oth  of  September.  A  large  number  of  volunteers  can  be  obtained 
w^ithin  the  time  specified,  if  the  people,  en  masse,  take  hold  of  the  matter  in 
■earnest.     Let  it  be  done  by  all  means. 

At  Work  in  Good  Earnest. — Seeing  the  impossibility  of  secur- 
ing our  quota,  (about  sixty  men),  for  Portage  township,  by  the  plan 
indicated,  a  rousing  meeting  w^as  held  at  Tappan  Hall  on  Monday 
evening,  August  22,  1864,  to  take  measures  for  securing  the  nec- 
essary recruits  at  home.  To  this  end  it  w^as  resolved  that  every 
enrolled  man  in  the  township  should  contribute  $30  to  a  fund, 
w^hich,  with  the  amount  provided  by  the  trustees,  would  give  each 
recruit  a  local  bounty  of  $400,  in  addition  to  the  Government 
bounty,  and  if  the  entire  quota  could  not  be  raised  by  this  means, 
each  man  drafted,  who  had  thus  contributed  his  $30,  should  draw 
the  like  sum  of  $4:(X)  from  said  fund  as  a  bounty  to  himself,  or  with 
w^hich  to  hire  a  substitute.  A  w^eek  later  it  was  announced  that 
■Cuyahoga  Falls,  Richfield,  Northampton  and  several  outside  tow^ns 
had  raised  their  full  quotas,  and  that  Portage  to\\rnship  had 
recruited  and  mustered  in  about  40  men. 

Other  portions  of  the  State  being  equally  vigilant  and  suc- 
cessful, the  draft  was  deferred  until  September  24,  1864.  Previous 
to  the  day  named.  Portage  and  most  of  the  other  townships  of  the 
county,  had  filled  their  quotas,  and  the  others  nearly  so,  the  four  or 
five  townships  finally  drafted,  all  furnishing  the  requisite  number 
of  recruits  before  the  examinations  of  the  drafted  men  were  com- 
pleted, the  Beacon  of  October  13,  1864,  editorially  saying: 
■"Every  township  in  this  county   has   filled    its  quota    and    not   a 


422  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

drafted  man  from  Glorious  Little  Summit  has  gone  into  the  army. 
Let  us  rejoice,  not  only  that  we  are  able  to  send  our  full  proportion 
of  soldiers  to  fight  the  rebels  in  the  South,  but  that  we  have  also  a 
sufficient  number  of  men  still  left  to  defeat  the  rebels  at  homer 
through  the  ballot  box,  by  a  largely  increased  majority." 

The  draft  throughout  the  State  all  passed  off  quietly,  tho-igh 
in  the  midst  of  a  very  heated  Presidential  campaign,  and  in  spite 
of  the  persistent  threats  of  the  "copperheads"  that  another  draft 
in  Ohio  should  never  take  place,  the  entire  draft  for  the  State 
being  but  9,006  men,  the  excess  of  recruits  raised  in  certain  local- 
ities giving  to  the  State  a  small  credit  on  the  final  call. 

THREE  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  MORE! 

December  19,  1864,  Secretary'  Stanton  announced  to  the  country,, 
by  telegram,  that  President  Lincoln  had  issued  a  call  for  3<X),(KX>' 
men  to  make  up  for  the  deficiency  occasioned  by  credits  to  the 
several  states  under  previous  calls;  the  requisition  to  be  filled  by 
February  15,  1865.  Hon.  Alphonso  Hart,  State  Senator  for  Summit 
and  Portage  counties,  introduced  a  bill,  which  was  passed  into  a 
law,  authorizing  city  councils  and  township  trustees  to  levy  a  tax 
to  the  extent  of  $200  on  each  recruit  necessary  to  fill  their 
respective  quotas,  on  anj^  call  of  the  President  subsequent  to  July 
18,  1864,  and  to  borrow^  mone}'  U])on  city  and  toAvnship  bonds  in 
anticipation  of  the  collection  of  such  a  tax. 

The  several  quotas  of  Summit  countj^  announced  under  thi» 
call  were:  Bath,  24;  Boston,  15;  Copley,  24;  Coventry,  16; 
Cuyahoga  Falls,  15;  Franklin,  30;  Green,  25;  Hudson,  15;. 
Middlebury,  6;  Northampton,  9;  Northfield,  14;  Norton,  18;  Portage,. 
115;  Richfield,  13;  Springfield,  25;  Stow,  10;  Tallmadge,  12;; 
Twinsburg,  3. 

So  great  had  been  the  strain  upon  the  patriotic  impulses  and 
pockets  of  the  people,  that  there  wAs,  for  a  time,  a  disposition  to- 
let  the  draft  take  its  course,  and  let  those  liable  to  be  struck  by  it 
either  respond  in  person,  or  secure  substitutes  for  themselves  as 
best  they  could. 

Waking  up  at  Last — Glorious  Result.— But,  fortunately, 
there  were  a  few  "Never  Saj^  Die"  fellows  in  Akron,  like  vSimon 
Perkins,  John  R.  Buchtel,  J.  Park  Alexander,  George  W.  Crouse, 
Charles  B.  Bernard,  David  L.  King  and  others  equally  patriotic, 
and  similar  resolute  men  in  all  the  other  townships  of  the  county, 
who  determined  to  clear  their  respective  townships,  and,  if  pos- 
sible the  entire  county,  from  a  draft  under  the  last  call  that  would 
probably  be  inade  for  troops,  the  rebellion  being  then  upon  it& 
very  "last  legs."  To  this  end,  at  a  largely  attended  meeting  at 
Tappan  Hall,  early  in  Februarj^,  1865,  a  committee,  consisting  of 
John  R.  Buchtel,  George  W.  Crouse,  J.  Park  Alexander  and  Charle» 
B.  Bernard,  Avas  appointed  and  given  full  authority  to  adopt  such 
measures  as  they  might  deem  advisable  for  filling  the  quota  of 
Portage  to^vnship  w^ithout  a  draft. 

The  Assessment  Plan  Adopted. — A  careful  canvass  of  the 
village  and  township  w^as  had,  and  an  assessment  made  upon 
every  business  and  professional  man,  farmer  and  mechanic,^ 
according  to  his  known  or  supposed  ability  to  pay,  w^hich  several 
parties  were    visited    and    kindly,    but    somewhat   iniperatireh'r 


A   MAGNIFICENT  OUTCOME.  423 

invited  to  liquidate  said  assessments.  Of  course  there  were  some 
demurrers  and  pleas  in  abatement  interposed,  and  some  deep  down 
though  not  very  loud,  damnatory  expressions  indulged  in,  but  as  a 
general  thing  all  promptly  "forked  over"  the  amount  thus 
demanded  of  them. 

Over  Thirty-two  Thousand  Dollars  Raised. — In  less  than 
a  w^eek,  so  energetic  was  the  action  of  the  committee,  there  was 
over  $32,000  in  cash  in  the  hands  of  its  treasurer,  Charles  B. 
Bernard,  Esq.  In  the  meantime  it  was  found  that  by  reason  of 
not  having  received  proper  credits,  and  by  the  blunders  of  the 
enrolling  officer  in  placing  upon  the  list  aliens  and  others  w^ell- 
know^n  to  be  exempt  from  military  duty,  the  quota  for  Portage 
township,  as  given  above,  was  fully  double  w^hat  it  should  have 
been. 

Permission  having  been  received  from  the  provost  marshal  of 
the  State,  on  Saturday  evening,  February  18,  to  correct  the  lists  on 
w^hich  the  final  assignments  were  to  be  made  at  8  o'clock  on  the 
following  Monday  morning,  by  telegraphic  arrangement  w^ith  the 
enrolling  board  a  special  train,  with  a  large  number  of  enrolled 
men  claiming  exemption  for  alienage,  disability,  etc.,  proceeded  to 
Cleveland  on  Sunday  afternoon,  the  final  quota  of  the  township 
being  fixed  at  68,  w^hich  was  still  something  like  twenty  more 
than  it  properly  should  have  been,  the  other  townships  of  the 
county  remaining  the  same  as  stated  above. 

Entirely  "  Out  of  the  Woods."  —  The  draft,  though  not 
formally  postponed,  was  delayed  to  give  such  localities  as  w^ere 
earnestly  working  to  fill  their  quotas,  by  voluntary  enlistment,  an 
opportunity  to  do  so.  The  committee  paid  to  each  home  recruit  a 
bounty  of  $500,  and  to  outsiders  such  sums  as  might  be  agreed 
upon,  the  Beacon  of  February  23,  1865,  announcing  that  54  recruits, 
mostly  citizens  of  Portage  tow^nship,  had  already  been  mustered  in 
and  the  good  w^ork  still  progressing  favorably.  Suffice  it  to  say, 
that  the  balance  of  the  recruits  needed  were  duly  obtained  and 
mustered  in,  w^ith  a  surplus  in  the  hands  of  the  committee's  treas- 
urer of  nearly  $3,000,  which,  happily,  not  being  needed  for  military 
purposes,  having  been  mostly  contributed  by  the  citizens  of 
Akron,  was,  with  accrued  interest,  by  request  of  the  principal  con- 
tributors, subsequently  paid  over  to  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the 
Akron  Library  Association,  as  will  be  found  stated  in  detail  else- 
where, thus  inuring  to  the  intellectual  benefit  of  the  survivors  of 
those  of  our  citizens  w^hose  valor  made  such  l)eneficient  institu- 
tions among  us  possible,  and  to  their  sons  and  daughters. 

Other  Townships  AlvSO  up  to  Time. — The  assessment  system 
■was  also  adopted  by  the  recruiting  committees  of  most  of  the 
other  townships  of  the  county,  being  generally  acquiesced  in, 
though  in  certain  localities  creating  considerable  friction  and  bad- 
blood,  a  frightful  example  of  which  is  given  in  the  chapter  on 
Stow^,  by  which  two  reputable  citizens  were  deprived  of  life  and 
the  third  consigned  to  a  felon's  cell. 

"Bounty  Jumping"  so  extensively  prevailed,  where  men,  after 
being  accepted  and  duly  credited  and  receiving  their  bounties, 
would  desert  before  arrival  at  the  front,  to  repeat  the  operation, 
under  a  change  of  name,  in  some  other  locality,  it  is  very  doubtful 
if  one-half  of  those  recruited  outside  of  their  own  proper 
counties,  ever  reached  the   army,   a  condition   of   things    large]3^ 


424  AKKOX    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

encouraged  by  the  swarms  of  unscrupulous  "Bounty  Brokers" 
that  infested  Cleveland,  and  the  principal  cities  of  Ohio  and  other 
States,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  war. 

THE  COLLAPSE  OF  THE  REBELLION. 

Summit's  last  quota  was  thus  filled,  and  all  her  military  obli- 
gations to  the  imperiled  Government  fully  canceled.  We  can 
not  definitely  determine  the  exact  number  of  men  put  into  the  field, 
as  a  county,  or  as  separate  townships,  for  the  reason  that  the 
assessors'  returns  include  but  few  of  the  original  Three  Months' 
men  or  the  Hundred  Day  men,  nor  any  of  the  recruits  mustered 
in  under  the  last  call,  nor  the  number  of  men  that  were  obtained  in 
Cleveland  and  elsew^here,  to  fill  our  respective  quotas,  as  above 
detailed. 

The  Assessors'  reports  for  1865,  purporting  to  give  the  names 
of  all  then  or  previously  in  the  service  from  their  respective  tow^n- 
ships,  foot  up   as  follows:      Bath,   71;     Boston,   140;    Copley,   124 
Coventry,    77;    Cuyahoga    Falls,  107;     Franklin,    118;    Green,    108 
Hudson,   105;    Middlebury,  63;    Northfield,  109;    Northampton,  87 
Norton,  73;  Portage,  443;  Richfield,  76;  Springfield,  145;  Stow,  83 
Tallmadge,  120;  Twinsburg,  108,— total  for  county  2,157.     Allowing 
one  half  of  the  last  call  to  have  been  filled  with  home  material,  and 
counting  in  the  Three  Months'  men  of  1861,  the  Squirrel  Hunters 
of  1862,  and  the  Hundred  Day  men  of  1864,  we  have  an  aggregate  of 
not  far  from  3,000  men — citizens  of  Summit  county — while  those 
recruited  elsewhere,  would  swell  the  grand  total  to  at  least  3,500, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  hundreds  who,  after  serving  their  original 
term  of  three  years,  re-enlisted  as  veterans,  and  were  counted  as 
so  many  recruits,  in  making  up  quotas,  under  subsequent  calls. 

LITTLE  SUMMIT  IN  THE  VAN. 

The  official  report,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  shows  the  status  of 
the  several  counties  of  the  State,  in  regard  to  the  outcome  of  the 
final  call,  in  which  Summit  compares  favorably  with  her  sister 
counties,  as  the  following  figures  abundantly  show:  Summit — 
quota  363.  recruits  furnished  316,  deficit  (after  receiving  proper 
credit  on  former  quotas)  4;  Stark — quota  408,  recruits  373,  draft  5, 
deficit  30;  Wayne — quota  357,  recruits  279,  draft  3,  deficit  45;  Port- 
age— quota  264,  recruits  214,  draft  25,  deficit  5;  Cuyahoga — quota 
669,  recruits  407,  draft  13,  deficit  249;  Holmes — quota  197,  recruits 
157,  deficit  70;  Tuscarawas — quota  380,  recruits  252,  deficit  128; 
Knox — quota  349,  recruits  206,  draft  8,  deficit  144;  sixty-five  counties 
showing  an  aggregate  deficit  of  2,827,  sixteen  counties  an  aggregate 
surplus  of  88  and  seven  counties  coming  out  even,  making  a  net 
deficit  in  the  State  of  2,739. 

Brief  Special  Mention. — Many  of  Akron's  volunteer  soldiers, 
other  than  those  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  sketch,  deserve  hon- 
orable mention  for  their  devotion  and  heroism  during  the  long 
and  bloody  struggle,  but  >vant  of  space  and  lack  of  proper  data 
forbids.  Without  disparagement  to  others,  however,  may  be 
mentioned  the  late  Dr.  George  P.  Ashmun,who  entered  the  service 
August  14,  1862,  as  surgeon  of  the  93d  O.  V.  I.;  captured,  contrary 
to  all  civilized  rules  of  war,  while  caring  for  the  wounded  and 
dying   on    the    field    of   battle,    and    confined    in  Libby  prison  for 


HONORABLE   MENTION. 


425 


«everal  months,  resigning  August  11,  1864;  Dr.  Charles  R.  Pierce, 
enlisting  as  surgeon  of  the  76th  O.  V.  I.,  January  9,  1862,  and  after 
faithful  service,  both  in  camp  and  field,  at  the  battles  of  Fort 
Donelson,  Shiloh,  Milliken's  Bend,  Chickasaw  Bayou  and  Arkansas 
Post,  dying  in  the  service,  January  29,  1863;  Dr.  C.  F.  H,  Biggs 
■(father  of  Akron's  well-known  boiler-maker,  Lester  M.  Biggs), 
entering  the  army  as  hospital  steward  of  the  Second  Ohio  Cavalry, 
in  August,  1861,  accompanying  the  regiment  in  its  various  opera- 
tions in  Missouri  and  the  Indian  Territory,  as  elsewhere  detailed; 
•on  account  of  excess  of  that  class  of  officers,  mustered  out  in  Sep- 
tember, 1862;  immediately  re-enlisted  as  private,  though  perform- 
ing the  duties  of  assistant  surgeon  for  several  months  in  1864,  in 
Cavalry  Corps  Hospital  at  City  Point,  Va.,  appointed  assistant 
surgeon  4th  Ohio  Cavalry,  in  November,  1864,  at  Nashville,  Tenn.; 
mustered  out  w^ith  regiment  at  close  of  the  war. 


TUDGK  SAMUEL  C.  WILLIAM- 
J  SON, — born  in  Randolph,  Portag-e 
■county,  Ohio,  August  18,  1837 ;  in 
1854  entered  preparatory  school  at 
Hudson,  graduating  from  Western 
Reserve  College  in  1860;  April,  1861, 
enlisted  in  19th  O.  V.  I.,  serving  three 
months;  Oct.,  1861,  enlisted  in  18th  U. 
S.  I.,  serving  as  sergeant  till  wounded 
at  battle  of  Stone  River,  in  May,  1863. 
After  several  months  leave  of  absence 
was  promoted  to  second  lieutenant 
and  sent  to  Detroit  and  Grand  Rapids 
as  mustering  and  disbursing  officer  ; 
subsequently  promoted  to  first  lieu- 
tenant, and  ordered  on  duty  in  the 
Provost  Marshal  General's  Depart- 
ment, serving  in  Missouri  till  closing 
of  office ;  then  as  post  adjutant  and 
inspecting  officer  at  Benton  Bar- 
racks and  Fort  Leavenworth,  Kan., 
as  assistant  commissioner  of  musters 
till  Januarj^  18(>7,  when  he  was  com- 
missioned captain  of  42d  U.  S.  I.,  and 
stationed  at  Hart's  Island  and  Mad- 
ison Barracks,  N.  Y.,  until  consoli- 
dation of  regiment  with  the  6th, 
when  he  was  placed  on  waiting 
orders  and  returned  home.  Here  he 
completed  his  law  studies  with  Tib- 
bals  &  McKinnej^  being  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1870.  In  October,  1875,  he 
was  elected  Probate  Judge  of  Sum- 


JUDGE  SAMUEL  C.   WILLIAMSON. 

mit  county,  and  re-elected  in  1878, 
serving  six  years.  At  the  close  of  his 
second  term,  being  in  failing  health, 
he  visited  New  Mexico,  where  he  died 
March  27,  1883,  his  remains  now 
reposing  in  the  G.  A.  R.  lot  in  Glen- 
dale  Cemetery.  Jxxdge  Williamson 
never  married. 


Milton  C.  Wilcox,  son  of  Curtis  C.  Wilcox,  Esq.,  of  216  Union 
street,  enlisted  as  private  in  the  104th  O.  V.  I.,  July  24,  1862;  pro- 
moted to  regimental  hospital  steward  August  30,  1862;  discharged 
at  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  February  20,  1864,  to  accept  position  of  hospi- 
tal steward  in  regular  army;  in  April,  1864,  appointed  aide-de-camp 
and  private  secretary  to  Governor  William  G.  Brow^nlow,  of  Ten- 
nessee, with  the  title  of  colonel;  after  the  close  of  the  war  taking 
an  active  part  in  adjusting  the  civil  affairs  of  that  State  to  the  new^ 
order  of  things,  particularly  interesting  himself  in  educational 
matters,  and  is  now^  a  prominent  and  influential  citizen  of  that 
State. 


426  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

THE  MILITIA  DURING  THE  WAR. 

Under  the  act  of  April  14,  1863,  for  the  reorganization  of  the 
militia  of  Ohio,  besides  the  independent  companies,  battalions 
and  regiments  heretofore  spoken  of,  the  entire  State  was  duly  dis- 
tricted, organized  and  drilled,  preparatory  to  performing  local, 
State  or  National  military  dut3^,  should  their  services  be  called 
into  requisition.  We  have  no  proper  data  for  giving  the  rosters  of 
the  several  companies  thus  organized  and  maintained  in  Summit 
county  during  the  ^war,  ready  to  take  part  in  the  great  struggle,  if 
called  upon  (and  many  of  whose  members  did  do  valiant  service  a» 
volunteer  soldiers  under  the  several  calls  for  troops),  but  the 
original  officers,  for  the  companies,  elected  in  July,  1863,  as  far  as 
reported,  were  as  follow^s: 

Bath,  District  No.  1:  Henry  Mack,  captain,  William  Davis, 
Jr.,  first  lieutenant,  B.  M.  Noble,  second  lieutenant. 

Boston,  No.  1:  Joseph  Drake,  captain,  Leander  Beers,  first 
lieutenant,  Daniel  R.  Tilden,  second  lieutenant;  No.  2,  L.  F.  Car- 
gould,  captain,  E.  S.  Haskill,  first  lieutenant,  James  Edgerly,  sec- 
ond lieutenant. 

Copley,  No.  1:  David  Parker,  captain,  William  Medsker,  first 
lieutenant,  George  W.  Weeks,  second  lieutenant;  No.  2,  John  Fran- 
cisco, captain,  Hiram  King,  first  lieutenant,  Jonathan  Delong,  sec- 
ond lieutenant. 

Coventry,  No.  1:  Wm.  B.  Doyle,  captain,  Edward  H.  Viers, 
first  lieutenant,  Hiram  B.  Housell,  second  lieutenant;  No.  2,  Jacob 
Hoffman,  captain,  Peter  Stine,  first  lieutenant,  Jacob  Warner, 
second  lieutenant. 

Cuyahoga  Falls:  William  H.  Hinde,  captain,  H.  C.  Lock- 
w^ood,  first  lieutenant,  George  A.  Waite,  second  lieutenant. 

Franklin,  No.  1:  Samuel  Wolf,  captain,  Oscar  E.  Brownell, 
first  lieutenant,  Isaac  Dailey,  second  lieutenant;  No.  2,  Lewis 
Wagoner,  captain,  L.  J.  Wagoner,  first  lieutenant,  Timothy  Sulli- 
van, second  lieutenant. 

Green,  No.  1:  William  Y.  Royer,  captain,  John  J.  Marsh,  first 
lieutenant,  E.  J.  Semler,  second  lieutenant;  No.  2,  John  F.  Helnir 
captain,  Benjamin  Chisnell,  first  lieutenant,  Jonathan  Foster, 
second  lieutenant. 

Hudson,  No.  1:  RoUin  Bosworth,  captain,  Z.  R.  Trowbridge, 
first  lieutenant,  James  H.  Seymour,  second  lieutenant;  No.  2,  Car- 
roll Cutler,  captain,  H.  J.  Bell,  first  lieutenant,  William  Wilder, 
second  lieutenant. 

Middlebury:  M.  J.  Housell,  captain,  T.  S.  Jones,  first  lieu- 
tenant, Thomas  H.  Peckham,  second  lieutenant. 

Northampton,  No.  1:  John  C.  Johnston,  captain,  F.  L.  Har- 
rington, first  lieutenant,  George  Chart,  second  lieutenant;  No.  2r 
James  R.  Brown,  captain,  AndrcAv  J.  Bean,  first  lieutenant,  Norton 
R.  Hardy,  second  lieutenant. 

Norton,  No.  1:  Peter  Hunsicker,  captain,  William  Betz,  first 
lieutenant,  D  .  J.  Waltz,  second  lieutenant;  No.  2,  J.  B.  Jones, 
captain,  Aaron  Betz,  first  lieutenant,  Alexander  A.  Mentzer,  seoond 
lieutenant. 

NoRTHFiELD,  No.  1:  Albert  Bliss,  captain,  J.  H.  Clark,  first 
lieutenant,  J.  B.  Gallic,  second  lieutenant. 


LATER    MILITARY    AFFAIRS.  427 

Portage,  No.  1:  Josiah  J.  Wright,  captain,  Stephen  J.  Horn, 
first  lieutenant,  Augustus  T.  Brow^nless,  second  lieutenant;  No.  2, 
Charles  Miller,  captain,  Romas  Halter,  first  lieutenant,  Richard  F. 
Palmer,  second  lieutenant;  No.  4,  Vincent  Nowatany,  captain,  E. 
M.  Hastings,  first  lieutenant,  William  Weston,  second   lieutenant. 

Richfield:  Hiram  Hart,  captain,  P^.  H.  Rouse,  first  lieutenant, 
Joseph  Churchill,  second  lieutenant. 

Springfield,  No.  1:  David  W.  Martin,  captain,  Cyrus  Yerrick, 
first  lieutenant,  John  M.  Fisher,  second  lieutenant;  No.  2,  S.  L. 
Stall,  captain,  G.  W.  Fulkerson,  first  lieutenant,  William  A. 
McClelland,  second  lieutenant. 

Stow:  Hiram  Gaylord,  captain,  J.  A.  Gross,  first  lieutenant, 
Loten  Hartle,  second  lieutenant. 

Tallmadge:  Norman  S.  Keller,  captain,  C.  H.  Sackett,  first 
lieutenant,  L.  H.  Ashmun,  second  lieutenant. 

TwiNSBURG,  No.  1:  D.  W.  Richardson,  captain,  Chauncey 
Lane,  first  lieutenant,  Alfred  Ledsham,  second  lieutenant;  No.  2, 
Josiah  Oviatt,  captain,  E.  C.  Herrick,  first  lieutenant,  William 
Chamberlin,  second  lieutenant. 

MODERN  MILITARY  OPERATIONS. 

Allusion  has  been  made  elsewhere  to  the  early  military 
operations  of  Akron  and  Summit  county,  special  mention  having 
been  made  of  the  "  Summit  Guards,"  organized  in  the  latter 
thirties,  and  maintained  for  several  years,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  late  Gen.  Philo  Chamberlin,  Arad  Kent  and  other  enterprising 
young  business  men  of  ancient  Akron.  In  addition  to  a  brief 
history  of  nearly  every  regiment  in  which  citizens  of  Akron  so 
gallantly  served  their  country  during  the  late  war,  includirJg  the 
independent  companies  of  the  Ohio  National  Guard,  who  rendered 
their  country  such  invaluable  service  for  one  hundred  days  in  the 
Summer  of  1864,  it  is  proper  that  the  later  and  present  militarj'- 
status  of  the  city  and  county  should  receive  a  passing  notice  in 
this  chapter.  The  companies  forming  the  54th  Battalion  O.  N.  G., 
as  did  all  similar  organizations  throughout  the  State,  partaking  of 
the  general  feeling  of  the  people,  that  they  had  had  a  sufficiency  of 
military  display,  soon  after  the  war  lapsed  into  a  condition "  of 
"  innocuous  desuetude,"  and  the  whole  militia  system  of  the  State 
being  apparently  about  to  fall  into  a  general  state  of  inefficiency 
and  dilapidation,  the  independent  companies  in  question  were,  a 
a  year  or  two  later,  honorably  discharged.  A  few^  years  later,  how^- 
ever,  realizing  the  importance  of  having  conveniently  at  hand  an 
efficient  number  of  thoroughly  drilled  soldiers  to  quell  any  dis- 
turbances that  might  arise  in  any  portion  of  the  State,  and  to 
prevent  invasion  from  without,  the  Legislature,  on  the  18th  day  of 
April,  1870,  passed  "An  act  to  organize  and  regulate  an  inde- 
pendent militia,"  providing  that  "for  the  purpose  of  creating 
greater  efficiency  in  the  military  system  in  counties  having  cities 
or  towns  with  a  larger  population  than  three  thousand,  it  shall  be 
lawful  for  any  members  of  the  enrolled  militia  to  embody  and 
organize  themselves  into  independent  companies,  battalions, 
squadrons,  regiments  and  batteries,  in  manner  and  form  and  sub- 
ject to  the  provisions  and  restrictions  hereafter  prescribed;  pro- 
vided that  such  organizations  shall  be  of  no  charge  or  ejcpense 
whatever  to  the  State." 


428  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUXTY. 

It  will  thus  be  seen,  by  the  italicized  proviso,  that  so  far  as 
the  public,  for  whose  l^enefit  these  organizations  were  to  be  main- 
tained, was  concerned,  the  new^  system  was  to  be  parsimoniously 
economical.  The  act  did  provide,  howev^er,  that  such  companies 
might  have  the  use  of  the  public  arms  of  the  State,  on  giving 
Si  properly  secured  l)ond,  in  double  the  value  thereof,  for  the 
return  of  the  same,  on  demand  of  the  governor  or  adjutant  gen- 
eral; that  in  addition  to  regular  members,  "contributing  members" 
not  to  exceed  150,  or  45  per  cent,  of  the  voting  population,  might  be 
enrolled;  not  less  than  three  days  of  public  parade  and  drill  to  be 
performed  each  year,  with  yearly  encampment  of  not  less  than 
three  days  and  to  be  subject  to  the  call  of  the  governor  to  repel 
invasions,  or  the  sheriff  or  mayor  to  suppress  riots,  etc.,  to  be  paid 
by  the  State  in  the  former  case,  and  by  the  county  or  city  in  the 
latter,  one  dollar  for  each  day,  and  a  like  sum  for  each  night  w^hile 
thus  on  duty.  Under  this  law  each  company  had  to  uniform  itself, 
provide  its  own  armory,  fuel,  lights,  etc.,  in  return,  each  active  and 
•contributing  member  being  exempt  from  jury  duty  and  work  on 
the  public  highways  during  continuance  of  membership,  and 
every  active  member  serving  five  years  to  be  thereafter  exempt 
from  military  duty  in  time  of  peace. 

Porter  Zouaves. — Under  the  inspiration  of  Mr.  Henry  Porter, 
an  ex-soldier  of  the  late  war,  eighteen  men,  about  one-half  of  wrhom 
were  veteran  soldiers,  and  the  remainder  a  younger  class  of  men 
without  military  experience,  met  in  the  room  of  the  Akron  City 
Band,  on  Howard  street,  on  Friday  evening,  October  15,  1875,  for 
the  purpose  of  organizing  a  military  company  under  the  law^  in 
question,  Captain  T.  D.  McGillicuddy  acting  as  chairman  of  the 
meeti^ig.  Fifteen  names  w^ere  enrolled  at  that  meeting,  each  of 
whom  w^as  appointed  a  committee  to  solicit  recruits,  and  at  the 
second  meeting,  held  in  the  rooms  of  the  G.  A.  R.,  October  22, 
twenty  new  names  were  reported,  making  35  in  all — veterans  and 
"  kids"  in  about  equal  numbers.  At  this  second  meeting  a  prelim- 
inary organization  w^as  effected,  w^ith  Bmmett  F.  Taggart  as 
president;  Edgar  W.  Cubbison,  secretary,  and  Ernest  F.  Pfleuger, 
treasurer. 

"Vets"  Versus  "Kids." — The  third  meeting  was  held  at 
Rentschler's  Hall,  Market  street,  on  the  evening  of  November  1, 
1875.  In  the  meantime  differences  had  arisen  and  the  officers 
elected  at  the  previous  meeting,  and  several  others,  voluntarily 
w^ithdrew,  new  officers  being  elected  as  foUovirs:  Michael  W. 
Santry,  president;  Samuel  D.  Blocker,  secretary;  and  Charles  M. 
Henry,  treasurer,  with  Henry  Porter  as  drill  master,  Alvin  T. 
Hawn,  assistant  drill  master,  the  company  assuming  the  title  of 
Porter  Zouaves. 

The  "Bierce  Cadets." — About  this  time  Gen.  Lucius  V. 
Bierce,  became  actively  interested  in  the  organization,  and  in 
addition  to  his  experienced  military  counsels,  rendered  the  com- 
pany such  pecuniary  assistance  in  the  way  of  paying  hall  r^nt  and 
other  expenses,  that,  by  a  nearly  unanimous  vote,  the  company 
assumed  the  name  of  "Bierce  Cadets,"  and  under  that  title  was 
organized,  November  13,  1875,  with  Michael  W.  Santry  as  captain; 
James  K.  Polk  Sours,  first  lieutenant,  and  Charles  E.  Carter, 
second  lieutenant,  to  whom  commissions  were  issued  by  Governor 
Thomas  L.  Young,  December  8,  1875,  Col.  Adams  Emerson,  about 


BIERCE   CADETS,    CITY   GUARD,    ETC.  42i^ 

this  time  succeeding  Mr.  Henry  Porter,  as  drill  master,  under  whose 
training  the  cadets,  though  nearly  all  young  men,  averaging  only 
about  22  years  of  age,  attaining  a  commendable  state  of  proficiencj^. 
"Akron  City  Guard."  Meantime,  the  withdrawing  mem- 
bers, and  others,  mostly  veterans  of  the  late  war,  at  a  ineeting  held 
at  Pendleton's  Hall,  on  Howard  street,  on  the  evening  of  Noveml)er 
4,  1875,  effected  a  preliminary  organization,  with  37  names  enrolled, 
by  the  election  of  Emmett  F.  Taggart  as  president;  Edgar  W. 
Cubbison  as  secretary,  and  Ernest  F.  Pfleuger  as  treasurer.. 
November  18,  fourteen  names  were  added  to  the  roll — 51  in  all — 
and  on  the  evening  of  November  12,  the  company  elected  military 
officers  as  follows:  David  W.  Thomas,  captain;  Alexander  G. 
Maynes,  first  lieutenant;  T.  D.  McGillicuddy,  second  lieutenant, 
and  the  title  of  "Akron  City  Guard"  was  unanimously  adopted. 
At  a  meeting  held  December  4,  1875,  52  members  signed  the  inus- 
ter  roll,  formally  enlisting  in  the  military  services  of  the  State  for 
five  years,  as  foUow^s: 

We,  the  undersigned,  citizens  of  Akron,  Summit  county,  Ohio,  hereby 
acknowledge  that  we  have  enlisted  as  volunteer  soldiers  in  the  service  of  the 
State  of  Ohio,  to  defend  her  borders  and  repel  or  prevent  invasion;  to  pre- 
vent and  suppress  riots  and  insurrections;  to  maintain  the  honor  and  integ- 
rity of  our  State,  and  sustain  the  civil  authorities  whenever  and  wherever 
we  maj^  be  called  to  duty,  within  the  intent  of  the  act  aforesaid,  and  for 
these  purposes,  as  well  as  to  sustain  our  own  good  name  and  credit,  and 
to  reserve  and  secure  a  just  immunity  from  ordinarj^  militia  service,  we  have 
signed  this  enrollment,  and  now  pledge  ourselves  to  the  State,  and  to  each 
other,  that  we  will  diligentl}^  strive  to  secure  the  greatest  practicable  correct- 
ness and  efficiency  in  drill  and  discipline,  and  that  we  will  perforin  our  duty 
faithfully,  for  a  period  of  Gve  years,  unless  sooner  discharged  by  competent 
authority,  and  we  hereby  petition  to  be  organized  as  a  company  of  infantry,. 
"O.  N.  G.  M." 

Fifty-two  names,  w^ith  their  respective  ages  at  that  time,  w^ere 
attached  to  the  foregoing  application,  as  follows:  D.  W.  Thomas, 
•34;  A.  G.  Maynes,  40;  T.  D.  McGillicuddy,  40;  L.  H.  Walcott,  37; 
Louis  Fischer,  22;  M.  W.  Cramer,  22;  F.  G.  Harrington,  26;  F.  O. 
DeLong,  23;  Alfred  F.  Koons,  25;  Avery  K.  Spicer,  35;  S.  C.  Wilson, 
30;  George  M.  Clause,  26;  George  P.  Brodt,  25;  E.  F.  Taggart,  29;  J. 
W.  Kolb,  25;  H.  H.  Bickel,  27;  H.  C.  Peck,  28;  E.  W.  Weise,  31;  G. 
R.  Smetts,  22;  R.  O.  Church,  25;  D.  L.  Pursell,  30;  J.  Beckhardt,  27r 
Andrew  C.  Getz,  32:  John  M.  Roberston,  27;  George  Mitten,  40; 
George  W.  Kummer,  24;  Amos  Brown,  34;  William  Markwalder,. 
30;  Jacob  Markwalder,  27;  Charles  H.  Miller,  32;  T.  F.  Homer,  30r 
A.  H.  Vordeman,  37;  William  Pence, 45;  William  Barrett,  25;  Aaron 
J.  Hart,  32;  S.  C.  Haines,  28;  Charles  W.  McCune,  38;  G.  A,  Reichler, 
30;  E.  A.  Stoffer,  26;  Charles  Yost,  35;  Francis  A.  Allen,  33;  D.  C. 
Smith,  36;  Martin  Shank,  28;  M.  H.  Smith,  35;  Allen  Walker,  35;  I. 
H.Allyn,24;  Thomas  M.  Schlabach,  35;  William  Richards,  23;  J.J. 
Foust,  25;  J.  W.  Hillier,  28;  Henry  Cruse,  — ;  FrankGrafton,  25. 
Average  age,  30. 

PERMANENT  ORGANIZATION. 

Some  technical  informalities  in  the  previous  organization  of 
of  the  company  having  been  discovered,  on  the  evening  of  January 
3,  1876,  a  new  election  was  had,  resulting  as  follow^s;  D.  W. 
Thomas,  captain;  T.  D.  McGillicuddy,  first  lieutenant,  (Lieutenant 
Maynes  declining  a  re-election);  Richard  P.  Marvin,  Jr.,  second 
lieutenant;  W.  A.  Noble,    secretary,    and  J.  Beckhardt,  treasurer^ 


430  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Both  the  Bierce  Cadets  and  the  City  Guard  were  reasonably 
prosperous,  considering  the  limited  encouragement  extended  by 
the  city  and  State  authorities  and  the  many  expedients,  besides 
the  revenue  from  contributing  members,  that  had  to  be  resorted  to 
in  raising  the  wherewithal  to  pay  their  current  expenses. 

A  Taste  of  Active  Service. — In  the  early  Spring  of  1876,  a 
strike  among  the  coal  miners  of  the  Tuscaraw^as  Valley  necessitat- 
ed the  calling  out  of  several  companies  of  the  Ohio  National  Guard 
of  the  vicinage  to  quell  the  riotous  proceedings  among  the  strikers. 
The  Akron  City  Guard — having  meantime  been  provided  with 
new  Springfield  breech-loading  rifles — by  order  of  Capt.  Thomas, 
assembled  at  their  armory  at  7:30  A.  m.  on  Tuesday  morning,  May 
16,  1876,  in  response  to  the  following  official  requisition: 

Sheriff's  Office,  Summit  County,   ) 
Akron,  Ohio,  May  16,  1876.  ) 

To  Capt.  D.  W.  Thomas,  Akron,  Ohio : 

You  are  hereby  ordered  to  report  3^our  full  command,  "The  Akron  City 
Guard,"  to  me,  before  12  o'clock  M.,on  the  16th  day  of  May,  A.  D.,  1876,  at  the 
Franklin  Coal  Mines,  in  Franklin  township.  Summit  count}',  Ohio,  to  aid  the 
civil  authorities  in  suppressing  threatened  violence  and  supporting  the  laws 
in  Summit  county. 

L.  J.  MCMURRAY, 
Sheriff  of  Summit  Countj',  Ohio. 

Some  changes  of  membership  having  meantime  occurred,  45  of 
the  48  members  then  on  the  muster  roll  enthusiastically  responded, 
as  foUoAvs:  Capt.  D.  W.  Thomas;  first  lieutenant,  T,  D.  McGilli- 
cuddy;  second  lieutenant,  Richard  P.  Marvin,  Jr.;  first  sergeant, 
K.  F.  Taggart;  second  sergeant,  T.  F.  Homer;  third  sergeant,  E.  A. 
Stouffer;  fourth  sergeant,  L.  H.  Walcutt;  fifth  sergeant,  T.  M. 
Schlabach;  first  corporal,  Amos  Brown;  second  corporal,  J.  W. 
Hillier;  third  corporal,  A.  C.  Getz;  fourth  corporal,  A.  H.  Vorde-- 
man;  fifth  corporal,  F.  G.  Harrington;  sixth  corporal,  I.  H.  Allyn; 
seventh  corporal,  H.  Mealy;  eighth  corporal,  William  Pence,  and 
privates  F.  W.  Baker,  A.  A.  Bartlett,  G.  M.  Clause,  F.  O.  De  Long, 
J.  J.  Foust,  L.  F.  Fischer,  Z.  S.  Fralick,  Frank  Grafton,  William 
Hawk,  A.  J.  Hart,  A.  F.  Koons,  J.  W.  Kolb,  G.  W.  Kummer,  John 
Limric,  William  Markwalter,  Charles  Miller,  Samuel  McCoy,  H.  C. 
Peck,  D.  L.  Pursell,  William  Richards,  George  R.  Smetts,  M.  H. 
Smith,  M.  Shank,  A.  K.  Spicer,  D.  C.  Smith,  George  Shenkel,  L. 
Stair,  S.  C.  Wilson,  and  Charles  Yost,  all  the  other  members  being 
absent  from  town  except  one,  who  was  dismissed  from  the  company 
for  failure  to  report  for  duty  as  ordered. 

A  Thirty  Days'  Campaign.— Donning  their  accoutrements, 
and  receiving  from  Sergeant  Taggart  twenty  rounds  copper-shelled 
cartridges  each,  the  company  marched  to  the  Union  depot,  where 
amid  the  cheers  of  a  multitude  of  friends,  it  embarked  on  the  C,  A. 
&  C.  for  the  Franklin  coal  chutes,  eight  miles  south  of  Akron, 
reaching  its  destination  at  11:30  A.  m.  A  detail  of  eight  men  viras 
stationed  at  the  chutes,  and  the  balance  of  the  men  marched  to  the 
mine,  a  mile  and  a  half  to  the  eastward,  around  which,  under  the 
name  of  "Camp  Thomas,"  a  cordon  of  sentinels  w^ere  posted  and 
regular  army  discipline  maintained  for  the  period  of  32  days. 

Though  there  tsras  much  bad  blood,  many  dire  threatenings, 
and  some  hostile  and  savage  demonstrations,  on  the   part  of  the 


A    THIRTY    days'    COAL-MINE   CAMPAIGN.  431 

striking  miners,  both  towards  the  new  men  that  were  introduced 
to  work  the  mine,  as  w^ell  as  towards  the  soldiers  themselves,  for- 
tunately there  were  no  serious  collisions  and  no  special  damage  to 
<iither  person  or  property. 

The  nearest  approach  to  a  fatal  conflict  was  during  the  second 
week  of  the  campaign.  Sheriff  McMurray  having  received  w^hat 
he  regarded  as  reliable  information  that  a  force  of  some  250  strikers 
were  intending  to  overpower  the  Guard,  on  a  given  night,  and 
drive  out  the  new  men  Mrho  had  gone  to  w^ork  in  the  mines, 
mounted  a  fleet  horse  and,  a  la  Sheridan,  rapidly  rode  from  Akron 
down  to  Franklin  tow^n,  eight  miles  a^vay,  to  notify  Capt.  Thomas 
of  the  anticipated  raid.  A  strong  picket  line  was  established,  with 
instructions  to  shoot,  to  kill,  whoever  might  attempt  to  force  the 
lines.  During  the  night,  there  wras  a  rapid  discharge  of  fire-arms 
from  the  neighboring  thicket,  and  two  men  came  running  towards 
the  camp,  but  happily  obeyed  the  order  to  halt,  before  being  fired 
upon  by  the  pickets,  and,  being  marched  into  camp,  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet,  proved  to  be  one  of  the  new  miners,  w^ho  had  ven- 
tured outside  the  line,  accompanied  by  a  friend,  w^ho  w^ere  being 
chased  by  the  strikers,  but  fortunately  for  themselves,  the  strikers 
kept  at  a  wholesome  distance  from  the  picket  line. 

Sunday  Visitors  to  Camp  Thomas. — During  their  stay  in 
Camp  Thomas  the  brave  soldier  boys  received  frequent  visits  from 
home  friends — especially  on  Sundays — "  armed  and  equipped"  with 
<;very  variety  of  toothsome  family  edibles  to  sweeten  the  plain  and 
wholesome,  but  somewhat  monotonous,  rations  prepared  by  the 
company  cook,  in  the  improvised  camp  kitchen,  alias  the  mine 
naule  shed;  the  first  Sunday  in  camp  bringing  some  300  visitors, 
men  and  women,  and  second  Sunday  about  500,  including  the 
Akron  City  Band. 

Notw^ithstanding  the  strict  military  discipline  maintained,  and 
in  spite  of  much  rainy  and  disagreeable  weather,  the  boys  man- 
aged to  enjoy  themselves  hugely,  but  want  of  space  forbids  the 
repetition,  here,  of  the  many  pranks  that  w^ere  practiced  upon  each 
other,  and  the  many  novel  pastime  expedients  that  were  resorted  to. 

At  Silver  Creek  Mine,  also. — On  May  31  Sheriff  McMurray 
ordered  Captain  Thomas  to  withdraw  from  the  Franklin  mine  all 
of  his  command,  except  one  commissioned  officer,  one  sergeant, 
three  corporals  and  twenty  privates,  which  w^as  accordingly  done, 
leaving  Lieutenant  Richard  P.  Marvin,  Jr.,  in  command  of  the  men 
retained  in  Camp  Thomas. 

Meanwhile  the  Mount  Vernon  Guard,  in  charge  of  the  Silver 
Creek  Mine  in  Wayne  County,  had  themselves  become  so  "restive" 
that  Adjutant  General  Wikoff  deemed  it  advisable  to  order  them 
home,  but  not  wishing  to  leave  the  mine  unprotected,  issued  the 
following  order: 

Adjutant  General's  Office,  ) 
Columbus,  Ohio,  June  7, 1876.  \ 
Captain  D.  W.  Thomas,  Akron,  Ohio: 

Send   an    officer  and  twentj^   men  of  your  command   to  report   to  the 
Sheriff  of  Wayne  county,  at  Silver  Creek  Mine,  to  relieve  Captain  Wood's 
company  on  duty  there,  under  order  of  said  Sheriff. 
By  order  of  the  Governor. 

A.  T.  WlKOFF, 
Adjutant  General  of  Ohio. 


432 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


The  men  who  had  recently  been  withdrawn  from  the  Franklin 
mine,  in  command  of  Lieutenant  McGillicuddy  reported  at  the 
Silver  Creek  mine,  and  -were  formally  placed  in  charge  thereof 
by  Sheriff  Jacob  R.  Bawman,  on  the  evening  of  June  8,  the 
detachment  being  received  in  military  style  by  a  detachment  of 
the  Mount  Vernon  Guard,  w^hom  they  were  about  to  relieve. 


PAPT.  TIMOTHY  D.  McGILLI- 
vy  CUDDY —born  in  Louisville.Ky., 
December  1,1835;  moved  with  parents 
to  Cleveland,  where  he  graduated 
from  Central  Hig-h  school  in  1854;  in 
1856,  went  to  Hannibal,  Mo.,  and 
eng'aged    in    railroading;    in     April, 

1861,  enlisted  in  Co.  B,  Marion  Battal- 
ion, U.  S.  Reserve  Corps,  and  elected 
first  lieutenant;  served  under  Gen. 
Nat.  L,yon,  in  all  eng'agements  in  Mis- 
souri, from  the  capture  of  Camp 
Jackson,  May  10,  to  the  surrender  of 
Lexington,  September  9, 1861;  organ- 
izing another  company  was  commis- 
sioned captain  of  Co.  K.,  5th  M.  V.  I., 
October  5,  1861;  was  with  the  Army 
of  the  Tennessee,  from  the  capture  of 
Fort  Henry  to  the  fall  of  Savannah; 
was  sick  with  typhoid  fever  at  Cor- 
inth,  Miss.,   from  June   to     October, 

1862,  and  severely  wounded  in  an 
eng-agement  with  Roddy's  rebel  cav- 
alry, March  23,1864;  commanded  reg-i- 
ment  on  the  March  to  the  Sea;  mus- 
tered out  at  Savannah,  January  1, 
1865;  at  close  of  war,  settled  in  Akron ; 
November  13,  1867,  was  married  to 
Miss  Frances  L.  Carter,  only  daugh- 
ter of  Dr.  Israel  E.  and  Mary  (Wil- 
liamson) Carter,  who  has  borne  hitn 
one  child — Kate  Leora;  is  a  charter 
member  of  Buckley  Post,  G.  A.  R.; 


X2K^Z5o 


CAPT.  TIMOTHY  D.  MCGILLICUDDY. 

Post  Commander,  1873  to  1879;  assist- 
ant quartermaster  g'eneral,  1875;  jun- 
ior vice  department  commander,  1876; 
judge  advocate  general,  1879;  assist- 
ant adjutant  general  1880,  district 
mustering-  officer,  1882;  district 
inspector  1884,  '85,  deleg^ate  to  national 
encampments,  1870-75,  1883-85^6. 


The  Miners'  War  Ended. — Both  the  mines  in  question  having^ 
at  length  been  supplied  Avith  new  operatives  or  the  return  of  the 
old  ones,  the  strike  wras  at  length  declared  off,  Lieutenant  Mar- 
vin's detachment  being  formally  w^ithdrawn  from  the  Franklin 
mine,  by  Sheriff  McMurray,  June  18,  Lieutant  McGillicuddy's 
command  being  relieved  from  further  duty  at  Silver  Creek  two 
days  later,  by  the  following  complimentary  order  from  Sheriff 
Baw^man: 

WOOSTER,  OHIO,  June  20, 1876. 
Lieut.  T.  D.  McGillicuddy,  Commanding  Akron  City  Guard,  Silver  Creok, 

Wayne  County,  Ohio: 

Grateful  for  faithful  services,  but  yovir  services  being-  no  longer 
required,  you  and  your  command  will  consider  yourselves  released  from 
further  duty,  from  and  after  this  date.  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient 
servant, 

Jacob  R.  Bawman, 

Sheriff  of  Waj'ne  County,  Ohio. 

"Skirmishing"  for  Their  Pay. — Having  been  ordered  out  by 
State  authority,  the  guard,  of  course^  looked  to  the  State  to  pay 
them   for    the   services   they  had    thus   rendered.      Considerable 


SEEKING    REGIMENTAL   HONORS.  '  433 

correspondence  ensued  between  Captain  Thomas  and  Attorn e}- 
General  Wikoff,  the  outcome  of  which  w^as  the  receipt  of  the  fol- 
lowing ">vet  blanket"  from  the  latter  officer  by  Captain  Thomas: 

Columbus,  Ohio,  July  14, 1876. 
Captain  D.  W.  Thomas: 

Sir  : — I  find  it  impossible  to  pay  your  company  in  advance  of  an  appro- 
priation by  the  General  Assembly.  I  therefore  return  all  the  papers  to  j-ou 
by  mail,  to-day.    Very  respectfully, 

A.  T.  WlKOFF, 
Adjutant  General. 

To  say  that  the  boys  were  indignant  would  be  drawing  it  very 
mild,  indeed,  many  of  them  having  given  up  their  own  more 
lucrative  ^vork,  in  the  very  busiest  season  of  the  year,  to  attend  to 
the  business  of  the  public  at  one  dollar  for  each  day  and  a  like 
sum  for  each  night  of  service,  and  very  properly  feeling  that  the 
pittance  thus  faithfully  earned  ought  to  be  promptly  paid.  But 
Lieutenant  "Dick"  Marvin  seems  to  have  been  adequate  to  the 
situation,  for,  after  visiting  the  Governor  and  Adjutant  General  at 
Columbus,  and  certain  interested  parties  in  Cleveland,  the  money 
was  forthcoming,  and  on  the  evening  of  July  24,  1876,  the  men 
were  paid  off,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  $2,700, 

ATTEMPT  TO  ORGANIZE  A  REGIMENT. 

Up  to  this  time  the  tw^o  companies — the  "Bierce  Cadets"  and 
the  "City  Guard," — had  pursued  a  course  of  friendly  rivalrj'-,  and 
though,  as  their  name  implies,  the  former  were  composed  of  a 
younger  class  of  men,  they  were,  under  the  skillful  training  of 
Col.  Adams  Kmerson,  rapidly  perfecting  themselves  in  drill  and 
military  tactics,  both  companies  taking  a  prominent  part  in  one  of 
the  most  imposing  civico-military  demonstrations  ever  witnessed 
in  Akron,  the  celebration  of  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of 
American  Independence,  July  4,  1876.  As  there  were  now  six 
thrifty  independent  military  companies  in  this  immediate  vicinity, 
it  was,  on  consultation,  deemed  expedient  to  organize  a  regiment, 
and  papers  for  that  purpose  were  duly  prepared  and  forwarded  to 
Columbus,  by  Capt.  Thomas,  and  on  July  10,  1876,  an  order  was 
issued  at  State  Headquarters,  for  the  organization  of  the  Ninth 
Regiment,  Ohio  National  Guard,  to  be  composed  of  the  following 
companies:  Akron  City  Guard,  as  Company  A;  Bierce  Cadets,  as 
Company  B;  Cuyahoga  Falls  Light  Guard,  as  Company  C;  Wads- 
worth  Light  Guard,  as  Company  D;  Orrville  Guard,  as  Company 
K;  West  Salem  Guard,  as  Company  F. 

The  adjutant  general's  order  also  called  for  a  convention  of 
delegates  from  the  several  companies  named,  to  be  held  in  the 
armory  of  the  Akron  City  Guard,  on  July  14,  to  put  in  nomina- 
tion candidates  for  field  officers. 

Bierce  Cadets  Put  in  a  Demurrer. — Though  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  companies  was  satisfactory  to  all  of  the  others,  a 
remonstrance  w^as  interposed  by  the  Bierce  Cadets,  who,  by  virtue 
of  priority  of  organization,  claimed  that  the  Cadets  were  entitled 
to  the  post  of  honor— the  right  of  the  regiment — and  consequently 
to  the  letter  A,  in  the  organization  of  the  regiment,  the  Guard 
claiming   the   first  position    by   reason    of   the    previous    military 

28 


434  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

experience  of  the  majority  of  its  officers  and  members,  and  its 
late  rendition  of  valuable  service  to  the  State  as  above  set  forth. 

The  Order  for  a  Regiment  Revoked. — So  warm  was  the  dis- 
cussion over  the  matter  by  the  two  companies,  and  their  respective 
friends,  and  such  a  pressure,  pro  and  con,  was  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  adjutant  general  on  the  subject,  that  on  the  day  set  for 
the  convention  that  officer  revoked  the  order  for  the  formation 
of  a  regiment,  and  the  project  was  for  the  time  being  dropped. 

The  Question  Submitted  to  Arbitration. — The  members  of 
both  companies,  still  being  desirous  of  regimental  relations, 
finally  agreed  to  submit  the  matter  in  dispute  to  three  arbitrators, 
the  City  Guard  choosing  Captain  Arthur  L.  Conger,  the  Cadets 
choosing  Robert  S.  Paul,  Esq.,  and  those  two  selecting  Major 
Ulysses  L.  Marvin. 

The  Board  of  Arbitrators,  after  hearing  the  statements  and 
claims  of  the  two  companies  and  arguments,  pro  and  con,  decided 
that  the  order  of  precedence  in  the  formation  of  a  regimental  line, 
did  not  depend  upon  the  letter  of  the  company,  but  upon  the 
seniority  of  the  commander,  and  consequently  affirmed  the  action 
of  the  adjutant  general  in  giving  to  the  Guard  the  letter  A  in  the 
order  for  the  organization  of  the  Ninth  Regiment,  O.  N.  G. 

Under  the  supposition  that  this  decision  w^ould  entitle  them 
to  the  right  of  the  regiment,  when  on  duty,  the  Cadets  acquiesced 
therein,  and  the  Ninth  Regiment  was  duly  organized,  March  1, 
under  a  new  order  issued  from  State  Headquarters  February  21, 
1877,  w^ith  David  W.  Thomas,  of  Company  A,  as  colonel;  D.  Mitchell, 
of  Company  F,  as  lieutenant-colonel;  W.  Randall,  of  Company  D, 
as  major,  and  Dr.  W.  C.  Jacobs,  of  Akron,  as  surgeon.  The  eleva- 
tion of  Captain  Thomas  to  the  colonelcy,  and  his  selection,  in  turn, 
of  Lieutenant  McGillicuddy  as  regimental  adjutant,  provided  for 
the  promotion  of  Second  Lieutenant  Richard  P.  Marvin,  Jr.,  to  the 
captaincy.  Sergeant  Kmmett  F.  Taggart,  as  first  lieutenant,  and 
private  Henry  H,  Brown  as  second  lieutenant  of  Company  A. 

•        TROUBLE  IN   THE  CAMP. 

Matters  and  things  moved  along  harmoniously  until  the  occur- 
rence of  of  the  first  Regimental  Encampment,  w^hich  commenced 
on  the  2nd  day  of  October,  1877,  at  Fountain  Park,  in  the  cit}^  of 
Akron,  the  regiment  also  volunteering  to  do  guard  duty  for  the 
Summit  County  Agricultural  Society's  Annual  Fair,  then  being 
held  on  the  same  grounds.  Having  established  company  and 
regimental  headquarters  in  convenient  localities,  and  organized 
the  guard  in  accordance  w^ith  military  usage,  at  the  proper  time 
the  several  companies  w^ere  ordered  on  regimental  dress  parade, 
not  only  for  practice  in  military  tactics  for  their  own  benefit,  but 
also  for  the  gratification  of  the  assembled  thousands  who  were  in 
attendance  upon  the  fair.  Captain  M.  W.  Santry,  of  the  Bierce 
Cadets,  reporting  with  his  command  upon  the  parade  ground,  was 
ordered,  by  Adjutant  McGillicuddy,  in  accordance  with  instruc- 
tions from  Colonel  Thomas,  to  take  position  on  the  left  of  the 
regiment.  Thereupon  Captain  Santry  ordered  his  company  to 
"about  face,"  and  marched  back  to  company  headquarters.  Col- 
onel Thomas  then,  through  Sergeant-Major  Albert  A.  Bartlett, 
ordered  Captain  Santry  to  report  at  once  on  the  parade  grounds. 


THE    CADETS    DISHONORABLY    DISCHARGED.  435 

Instead  of  reporting  with  his  company,  however,  he  presented 
liimself  in  person  with  the  inquiry:  "Colonel,  do  you  wish  to  see 
me?"  "No,  sir!"  replied  Colonel  Thomas,  "Consider  yourself 
under  arrest!" 

Returning  to  company  headquarters,  First  Lieutenant  J.  K.  P. 
Sours  being  officer  of  the  guard  for  the  day.  Captain  Santry 
directed  Second  Lieutenant  Charles  E.  Carter  to  march  the  Cadets 
to  their  armory,  which  was  accordingly  done. 

Dismissed  for  Insubordination. — The  action  of  Captain 
Santry  and  his  command,  being  duly  reported  to  State  Headquar- 
ters, by  Col,  Thomas,  statements  and  explanations  on  both  sides 
were  submitted  to  the  governor  and  adjutant  general.  Captain 
Santry  claiming,  as  may  be  inferred  from  the  occurrences  of  the 
3"ear  before,  as  stated  above,  that  the  Bierce  Cadets  being  the  first 
company  organized,  and  himself  the  senior  captain  of  the  regi- 
ment, he  and  his  company  were  entitled  to  the  post  of  honor — the 
right  of  the  regiment — and  that  on  being  ordered  to  the  left  he 
w^as  justified  in  declining  to  accept  the  position.  Adjutant 
General  Charles  \V.  Karr,  without  attempting  to  pass  upon  the 
question  of  the  military  propriety  or  impropriety  of  Col.  Thomas' 
■order,  placing  the  Bierce  Cadets  upon  the  left  of  the  regiment, 
TiotAvithstanding  the  seniority  of  the  company  and  its  commander, 
held  that  the  order  having  been  given  it  should  have  been  obeyed 
by  Capt.  Santry,  leaving  the  question  at  issue  to  be  adjudicated  by 
higher  military  authority  on  appeal,  and  issued  the  final  order  in 
the  premises  as  follows: 

Adjutant  General's  Office, 
Columbus,  O.,  November,  21, 1877. 

Special  Orders  No.  271. 

I.  It  appearing-,  by  official  reports,  that  during-  the  encampment  of  the 
Ninth  Regiment  of  Infantry  O.  N.  G.,  held  at  Akron,  Company  B.  of  said  reg-- 
iment  marched  out  of  camp  to  its  armory,  against,  and  in  violation  of  the 
orders  of  the  Colonel  commanding  the  regiment,  and  the  reason  for  such 
action,  as  stated  in  writing,  by  the  captain  of  said  company,  having  received 
due  consideration,  and  it  being  found  that  such  action,  by  said  coinpany, 
was  without  sufficient  cause  to  warrant  it,  but  that  such  action  was  mutinous 
and  a  breach  of  discipline  which  cannot  be  overlooked  without  manifest 
injury  to  the  service,  said  company  is  herebj^  disbanded,  and  all  its  officers 
and  enlisted  men  discharged  from  the  service  of  the  State. 

II.  First  Lieutenant  Sours  having  taken  no  part  in  the  action  of  the 
companj^,  as  above  recited,  is  hereby  honorabl}'  discharged  from  the  service 
of  the  State,  and  he  is  hereby  directed  to  take  charge  of  all  arms  and  other 
State  propert}^  now  in  use  by  this  company,  subject  to  such  further 
instructions  as  he  may  receive  from  this  office. 

III.  Col.  D.  W.  Thomas  is  hereby-  charged  with  the  promulgation  of 
this  order  to  the  regiment. 

By  order  of  the  Governor. 

Chas.  W.  Cakr,  Adjutant  General. 

SUBSEQUENT  HISTORY  OF  COMPANY  A. 

The  space  at  our  command  will  not  permit  a  minute  detail  of 
either  regimental  or  company  operations  in  the  intervening  ye^rs, 
but  it  may  be  generally  stated  that  amid  the  inevitable  vicissi- 
tudes of  prosperity  and  adversity  incident  to  local  military  life, 
the  Akron  City  Guard  has  ever  held  the  highest  rank,  both  in  local 
social  circles  and  among  the  military  authorities  of  the  State. 
Ever  ready  to  aid  in  all  civic  displays,  like  the  Fourth  of  July, 


436  AKKON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Decoration  Day,  etc..  the  Guard  has  taken  a  just  pride  in  main- 
taining its  superiority  of  discipline  and  drill,  on  parade  at  home 
and  at  the  annual  encampments,  and  has  also  held  itself  in  readi- 
ness to  respond  to  all  calls  for  the  maintenance  of  the  peace,  both 
at  home  and  in  distant  portions  of  the  State.  During  the  railroad 
riots  of  July,  1877,  in  which  Pittsburg  was  so  great  a  sufferer,  the 
O.  N.  G.,  of  Zanesville,  Circleville,  Mount  Vernon  and  Springfield 
■were  ordered  to  report  along  the  line  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio,, 
in  the  central  portion  of  the  State,  and  Akron  to  hold  itself  in 
readiness  to  act,  on  a  moment's  notice,  wherever  its  services  might 
be  needed. 

THE  NINTH  MERGKD  IN  THE  EIGHTH. 

In  August,  1878,  by  reason  of  the  depletion  of  several  of  the 
companies  of  the  two  regiments,  by  discharges,  removals  and 
otherwise,  the  Kighth  and  Ninth  Regiments  of  the  Ohio  National 
Guard  were  consolidated,  under  the  title  of  the  Eighth;  Company 
A,  of  the  Ninth  becoming  Company  B  of  the  Eighth.  The  com- 
panies composing  the  regiment  being  as  follows:  Homeworth, 
Company  D;  Alliance,  Company  E;  Waynesburg,  Companj^  F^ 
Beach  City,  Company  G;  Wadsworth,  Company  H;  Canton,  Com- 
pany I ;  Medina,  Company  K.  Col.  David  W.  Thomas,  by  virtue  of  hi& 
rank,  became  the  colonel  of  the  Eighth,  with  Hiram  Reed  as  lieu- 
tenant colonel  and  George  R.  Gyger  as  major,  the  regimental  staff 
selected  by  Col.  Thomas,  being  William  C.  Jacobs,  Akron,  surgeon; 
Thomas  J.  Reed,  Massillon,  assistant  surgeon;  T.  D.  McGillicuddj^, 
Akron,  adjutant;  Joseph  A.  Meyer,  Canton,  quartermaster;  John 
C.  Kauffman,  Orrville,  chaplain.  Col.  Thomas  tendering  his  res- 
ignation, Capt.  Arthur  L.  Conger  was  elected  to  the  colonelc}"  of 
the  regiment,  July  25,  1881,  Lieutenant  Emmett  F.  Taggart  being 
appointed  as  his  adjutant,  the  present  regimental  organization 
(September,  1891)  being:  George  R.  Gyger,  Alliance,  colonel;  C. 
V.  Hard,  Wooster,  lieutenant  colonel;  Emmett  F.  Taggart,  Akron, 
major;  Charles  \V.  F.  Dick,  Akron,  junior  major;  Albert  A.  Bartlett, 
Akron,  adjutant;  Emmer  C.  Farquhar,  Damascus,  surgeon;  James 
Taggart,  Wooster,  quartermaster;  John  C.  Kauffman,  chaplain; 
Alexander  W.  Maynes,  sergeant  major;  Richard  Le^vis,  drum 
major;  William  R.  Palmer,  leader.  The  regiment  is  now^  (1891) 
composed  of  the  follow^ing  companies:  Co.  A,  Bucyrus;  Co.  B, 
Akron;  Co.  C,  Polk;  Co.  D,  Wooster;  Co.  E,  East  Palestine;  Co.  F, 
Massillon;  Co.  G,  Wadsworth;  Co.  H,  Upper  Sandusky;  Eighth 
Regiment  Band,  Akron. 

The  Garfield  Obsequies. — On  the  occasion  of  the  melan- 
choly but  imposing  funeral  ceremonial,  in  honor  of  the  murdered 
President,  James  A.  Garfield,  September  19, 1881,  Company  B  was 
present  in  full  force,  and  was  given  the  post  of  honor,  in  guarding 
the  Catafalque,  beneath  the  beautiful  canopy  of  which  rested  the 
honored  remains,  and  preventing  the  multitude  from  trespassing 
upon  the  large  platform  reserved  for  members  of  the  cabinet,  and 
other  distinguished  civil  and  military  gentlemen  in  attendance, 
and  also  in  the  procession,  between  Monumental  Park  and  the 
cemetery,  the  fine  military  bearing  of  the  company  eliciting 
general  complimentary  remark. 

Executions  at  Wooster  and  Ashland. — December  30, 1880,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  hanging  of  John  Callahan,  for  the  murder  of 
John  Torney,  at  the  Wayne  county  fair,  October  3,  1879,  Company 


DOUBLE   EXECUTION — EXCITING  EPISODE.  437 

B,  by  request  of  Sheriff  Stouffer,  together  with  the  Wadsworth 
Guard,  were  present  to  maintain  order,  receiving  the  highest 
encomiums  of  the  people  of  Wooster  for  their  soldierly  bearing  and 
the  manner  in  -which  they  discharged  the  duties  of  the  occasion; 
the  execution  taking  place  in  the  corridor  of  the  jail. 

The  double  execution  of  George  Andrew  Horn  and  William 
Henry  Gri-bben,  for  the  murder  of  Harry  Williams  on  the  morning 
of  March  24,  1883,  took  place  at  Ashland,  May  16,  1884.  The  con- 
struction of  the  jail  was  such  that  the  gallows  had  to  be  erected 
in  a  stockade  inclosure  upon  the  outside.  As  the  day  of  execution 
approached  reports  came  to  the  ears  of  the  civil  authorities  of  an 
intention  on  the  part  of  contiguous  city  and  village  roughs  and 
of  the  rural  populace,  to  witness  the  hanging,  in  spite  of  the  law 
against  public  executions. 

To  uphold  the  law,  and  preserve  order.  Sheriff  Isaac  Gates 
invoked  the  aid  of  the  military,  nine  coinpanies,  by  order  of  the 
Governor,  responding  to  his  call,  as  foUow^s:  Company  B,  Akron 
Guard,  lirst  lieutenant,  W.  A.  Noble,  commanding,  37  men;  Com- 
pany C,  Youngstown  Guard,  45  men;  Company  D,  Wooster  City 
Guard,  50  men;  Company  K,  Kast  Palestine  Grays,  44  men;  Com- 
pany F,  Beach  City  Blues,  35  men;  and  the  Wadsworth  Guard,  27 
men,  of  the  Eighth  Regiment;  Kirby  Light  Guard,  Second  Regi- 
ment, UpperSandusky,41  men;  Richwood Guard, Company  G, Four- 
teenth Regiment,  32  men;  and  the  Ashland  Guard,  Company  D, 
Sevententh  Regiment,  46  men;  total  356  men.  The  entire  force  w^as 
commanded  by  Col.  A.  L.  Conger,  of  the  Eighth,  ably  assisted  by 
Lieut.  Col.  Finger  and  Major  Gyger,  and  their  faithful  subordi- 
nates, among  the  most  efficient  of  Avhom,  without  disparagement 
to  others,  ^vas  Akron's  one-armed  veteran,  Sergeant-Major,  Albert 
A  Bartlett. 

The  Crowd  Massing  for  the  Fray. — "Between  the  hours  of 
10  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  and  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,"  read 
the  sentences,  but  Sheriff  Gates  concluded  that,  in  view^  of  threat- 
ened trouble,  an  early  execution  would  be  desirable,  for  as  early  as 
nine  o'clock,  and  before  the  preliminary  exercises  had  been  com- 
pleted on  the  inside,  the  court  house  square  -was  surrounded  by 
an  excited  crowd  of  at  least  10,000  people,  many  of  them  of  the 
roughest  element  of  Ashland  and  surrounding  counties.  The  jail 
and  court  house  were  located  on  the  public  square,  containing 
about  three  acres  of  land,  which  was  surrounded  by  an  iron  picket 
fence,  on  the  inside  of  which,  on  every  side,  the  soldiers  w^ere  sta- 
tioned, to  keep  the  crow^d  from  approaching  the  jail,  or  the  stockade 
on  the  west  side,  which  w^as  about  thirty  feet  from  the  sidewalk. 
As  the  privileged  spectators — largely  in  excess  of  the  legal  allow- 
ance— were  admitted  to  the  stockade,  about  9:30,  the  crowd, 
before  boisterous  and  threatening,  became  furious,  claiming  as 
good  a  right  to  witness  the  execution  as  those  Avho  were  being 
admitted  to  the  inclosure 

Earlier  in  the  morning,  a  squad  of  soldiers  had  discovered, 
stowed  aw^ay  in  a  box  car  at  the  depot,  a  gang  of  nineteen  roughs 
from  a  neighboring  county,  with  a  liberal  supply  of  ropes,  chains, 
grappling-hooks,  etc.,  evidently  intended  to  be  used  in  tearing  down 
the  stockade  and  making  the  ghastly  scene  public,  capturing  the 
entire  gang  and  their  outfit  and  turning  them  over  to  the  civil 
authorities.     Shout  after  shout,  and   yell  after  yell,  were  raised: 


438  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

"Down  with  the  fence!  Down  with  the  stockade!"  etc.  Chains 
and  ropes  were  thrown  over  the  iron  pickets,  and  attempts  made 
to  tear  down  the  fence;  revolvers  were  brandished  and  fired,  rocks 
and  other  missiles  were  Imparled  at  the  soldiers  and  against  the 
stockade,  several  of  the  officers  and  men  being  quite  severely- 
injured  thereby,  but  bravely  standing  their  ground  and  keeping 
the  mob  at  bay,  at  the  point  of  their  swords  and  'bayonets,, 
resulting  in  many  bloody  fingers  and  other  flesh  wounds  to  the 
foremost  of  their  assailants. 

The  fence  on  the  south  side  of  the  square  was  at  length  torn 
do^vn,  and  the  detached  iron  pickets  used  as  offensive  weapons  hy 
the  whisky-infuriated  mob.  Col.  Conger  now  gave  the  order  to 
load,  which  w^as  instantly  obeyed  all  along  the  line,  the  colonel 
personally  passing  between  the  soldiers  and  the  rioters,  and  pro- 
claiming in  a  calm  but  loud  voice,  that  if  their  riotous  demonstra- 
tions did  not  cease  at  once  he  should  give  the  order  to  fire;  that 
this  \vas  positively  the  last  warning,  and  that  if  any  were  killed  or 
w^ounded  they  alone  w^ould  be  responsible.  This  served,  for  a  time^ 
to  diminish  the  turbulence,  and  to  cause  the  peaceably  disposed 
portion  of  the  crowd  to  withdraw,  but  the  more  desperate  made 
several  subsequent  attacks  upon  the  soldiers,  though  they  bravely 
w^ithstood  the  temptation  to  fire,  even  \srithout  orders,  and  on  an 
intimation,  about  11  o'clock,  that  the  execution  was  over,  the 
demonstration  in  a  measure  ceased,  though  after  the  guard  had 
been  partially  w^ithdrawn,  several  boards  were  wrenched  from  the 
stockade,  giving  the  crowd  a  view^  of  the  gallows  on  which  the 
two  murderers  had  expiated  their  crime,  all  afterwards  quietly 
falling  into  line  to  view  the  remains  of  the  dead  malefactors, 
which,  enclosed  in  plain  and  inexpensive  coffins,  had  been  placed 
in  the  yard  outside  of  the  jail,  for  the  gratification  of  a  morbid 
public  curiosity.  All  of  the  soldiers  participating  in  the  affair 
w^ere  highly  commended  by  the  Ashland  civil  authorities.  Com- 
pany B  receiving  especial  mention  for  the  bravery  of  its  men  and 
the  coolness  of  its  officers,  while  Col.  Conger  \sras  justly  praised 
on  every  hand,  not  only  for  his  undaunted  courage  in  facing  the 
blood-thirsty  mob,  but  especially  for  his  forbearance,  under  the 
most  trying  and  exasperating  provocation,  thus  preventing  the 
great  destruction  of  life  which  the  order  to  fire  upon  his  assailants 
w^ould  have  involved. 

ANNUAL  ENCAMPMENTS. 

Company  B  has  alw^ays  borne  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
annual  encampments  of  the  regiment,  as  follows:  1877,  October 
2-5,  at  Fountain  Park,  Akron,  already  alluded  to;  1878,  at  Myers' 
Lake,  near  Canton;  1879,  (brigade)  at  Rocky  River,  near  Cleve- 
land, three  regiments  and  t^vo  battalions,  in  command  of  Col. 
Thomas,  of  the  Kighth,  the  ranking  colonel  of  the  brigade;  1880,  at 
Gaylord's  Grove,  near  Cuyahoga  Falls;  1881,  at  Peninsula;  1882^ 
encampment  ordered  to  be  held  at  Minerva  City  ^vas  abandoned 
on  account  of  severe  illness  of  the  w^ife  of  Col.  Conger;  1883,  on 
Fair  Grounds  at  Canal  Dover;  1884,  (brigade)  at  Woodland  Heights, 
Cleveland;  1885,  Myers'  Lake,  near  Canton;  1886,  (brigade)  at 
Mount  Vernon;  1887,  at  Galion;  1888,  with  entire  force  of  Ohio 
National  Guard  in  State  encampment  at  Columbus;  1889,  encamp- 
ment   ommitted    on    account   of   attendance    at    inauguration    of 


COMPANY     'b"    among   THE    VERY   BEST.  439 

President  Harrison  on  March   4   of  that  year;  1890,  encampment 
in  Massillon;  1891,  at  Myers'  Lake,  near  Canton. 

The  Sixth  Battery,  with  hired  teams  for  the  haulage  of  its 
guns  and  other  encampment  paraph^ftrnalia,  marched  the  entire 
distance  from  Akron  to  Camp  J.  H.  Wade,  at  Rocky  River,  in  1879, 
creating  no  Httle  surprise  and  enthusiasm  among  the  farmers  and 
villagers  along  the  route  by  their  war-like  appearance  and 
soldierly  bearing.  Speaking  of  this  encampment,  the  Cleveland 
Herald  said:  "  Col.  'D.  W.  Thomas,  the  popular  commander  of  the 
Eighth  Regiment,  has  everything  arranged  neatly  at  his  head- 
quarters, and  will  courteously  receive  and  entertain  visitors;"  the 
Z/eac/er  saying:  "Company  B,  of  the  Eighth,  under  command  of 
Captain  Bro-svrf,  is  one  of  the  best  drilled  companies  of  the  brigade, 
their  turn  at  Erie  street  being  greeted  w^ith  loud  applause." 

Radical  Change  of  Materiel.^ — It  \vill  be  remembered  that 
in  the  beginning,  in  1875,  the  majority  of  the  members  of  the 
Akron  City  Guard  were  old  soldiers — veterans  of  the  late  war — the 
average  age  being  30  years,  no  applicant  being  at  that  time 
received  under  21  years  of  age.  Gradually  a  change  has  been 
effected  in  the  materiel  of  the  company;  the  veterans  have  nearly 
all  voluntarily  retired,  and  to-day — nearly  one-half  of  the  members 
of  the  company  being  under  t^venty-one,  at  the  time  of  enlistment 
— the  average  age  is  less  than  22,  about  the  average  of  the  soldiers 
who  fought  our  battles,  and  won  our  splendid  victories  in  the  late 
w^ar.  The  morale  of  the  corps  is  now,  also,  most  excellent,  and  its 
ranks  will  doubtless  be  kept  filled  with  the  very  best  young  blood 
of  the,  in  all  respects — military  as  well  as  industrial  and  com- 
mercial— Tip-Top  City  of  Ohio. 

Other  Points  of  Excellence. — The  company  maintains  a 
rifle  corps,  which  in  its  target  practice,  holds  unquestioned  suprem- 
ac3^  over  all  other  teams  it  has  come  in  contact  with,  since  its 
organization  over  twelve  years  ago,  and  the  company  to-day 
divides  with  the  Wooster  City  Guard  the  honor  of  being  the  best 
drilled  and  most  efficient  in  the  Eighth  Regiment — each  company 
having  its  points  of  superiority,  and  the  rivalry  between  the  two 
companies,  though  spirited,  being  perfectly  friendly. 

Invaluable  Assistance. — Company  B  has  at  various  times 
had  the  advantage  of  having,  as  drill  masters,  gentlemen  w^ho  were 
trained  soldiers.  The  first  of  these,  outside  of  the  organization 
itself,  was  Lieutenant  E.  M.  Weaver,  Jr.,  Second  U.S.  Artillery,  then, 
from  1877  to  1880,  on  detail  as  military  instructor  at  Western 
ReserveCollege,  a  mostexcellent  drill-master  and  disciplinarian.  In 
the  Fall  of  1877,  through  the  efforts  of  Captain  Dick,  Lieutenant 
Alfred  B.  Sharpe,  22d  U.  S.  Infantry,  then  giving  military  instruc- 
tion at  Wooster  University,  mfide  weekly  visits  to  Akron,  for  the 
purpose  of  drilling  Company  B.  A  thorough  gentleman,  as  well 
as  soldier,  both  by  his  correct  bearing,  his  intelligent  and  compre- 
hensive lectures,  and  his  thorough  discipline,  he  imbued  all  of  the 
officers  and  members  of  the  company  with  his  own  true  military 
spirit,  and  the  cessation  of  his  visits,  in  July,  1888,  left  the  com- 
pany, in  point  of  excellence  of  drill,  and  acquaintance  with  the 
varied  duties  incident  to  active  military  service,  equal  to  the  very 
best  in  the  State,  a  pre-eminence  which  under  Captain  Br^^an's 
skillful  handling  it  still  maintains. 


440 


AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


FREDERICK  C.  BRYAN —son  of 
Judoe  Constant  and  Susan  (Bar- 
nuni)  Bryan  ;  born  in  Cleveland,  Jul}' 
16,  1838 ;  educated  in  Akron  Public 
schools  and  Western  Reserve  Col- 
lege, g'raduating'  with  degree  of  A. 
B.,  in  1878 ;  reading-  law  with  father, 
and  in  office  of  Attorney  Gen- 
eral Jacob  A.  Kohler,  was  graduated 
from  Cincinnati  Law  College,  with 
the  degree  of  L  L.  B.,  in  1881 ;  work- 
ing as  reporter  on  Akron  DAILY 
Beacon  in  1879,  '80,  and  on  Sunday 
Gazette  1881-83,  in  June  of  the  latter 
year,  in  connection  with  his  brother, 
Isaac  Jennings  Br5^an,  purchased 
the  latter  paper,  of  which  he  Was 
manager  and  editor-in-chief  until 
April,1885,continuing  at  the  same  time 
the  study  and  practice  of  the  law. 
Since  1885,  in  connection  with  Dayton 
A.  Doyle,  Esq.,  he  has  been  in  contin- 
uous practice.  Julj^  31, 1883,  enlisted 
in  the  Akron  City  Guard,  Companj- 
B.,  8th  Infantry,  O.  N.  G.;  appointed 

First  Sergeant  August  12, 1885 ;  com-  Elections  in  1889,  U.  S.  Census  Enu- 
missioned  First  Lieutenant,  June  30,  merator  for  the  City  of  Akron,  for 
1886,  and  Captain,  April  17,  1888  ;  was  1890,  and  Law  Instructor  in  Buchtel 
first    secretary    of    Akron    Board   of      College  in  1891. 


FREDKKICK    C.    BKYAX. 


PRESENT  ROSTER  OF  COMPANY  B. 

Captain,  Fred.  C.  Bryan;  first  lieutenant,  George  H.  T,  Dunn; 
second  lieutenant,  George  C.  Conger;  sergeants,  Fred.  H.  O'Brien, 
Newell  L.  Tibbals,  Fred.  H.  Cole,  Arthur  E.  Limric,  Harry  B. 
Dodge;  quartermaster  sergeant,  Charles  E.  Gostlin;  corporals, 
Harry  J.  Spindle,  Emery  F.  Morrison,  James  F.  Donovan,  George 
W.  Alden,  Harrison  D.  Cole,  Arthur  J.  Durant,  Frederick  W.  Wolf; 
musician,  Reeves  A.  Lodwick  ;  wagoner,  Samuel  E.  Bell  ; 
privates,  Edwin  G.  Acker,  Frank  P.  Allen,  Frank  C.  Botzum,  Clif- 
ford D.  Burnham,  Lawrence  Clark,  Harry  W.  Cleveland,  Arthur  J. 
Cogswell,  John  Diehl,  Amil  E.  Gammeter,  Harry  C.  Gammeter, 
William  H.  Griffiths,  Arthur  Hall,  George  L.  Barter,  Edwin  P. 
Hulse,  James  H.  Jackson,  Llewellyn  W.  Jones,  Harold  E.  Joy, 
Albert  Kimpflin,  Warren  A.  Kohler,  Harry  L'Hommedieu,  Arthur 
Linney,  James  R.  Mays,  Harry  McCune,  William  Means,  George 
Memmer,  Walter  H.  Montenyohl,  Frank  C.  Palmer.  Edward  D. 
Reed,  Archer  L.  Root,  Edward  S.  Rose,  Arthur  E.  Royer,  William 
F.  Walters,  George  E.  Warner,  Richard  M.  Webber,  Fred.  Woods, 
Samuel  Woods,  Herbert  A.  Zimmerman. 


FULL  LIST  OF  OFFICERS  FROM  BEGINNING. 

Captain: — David  W.  Thomas,  elected  November  12,  1875; 
Richard  P.  Marvin,  Jr.,  March  19,  1877;  Henry  H.  Brown,  July  23, 
1877;  W.  Acker  Noble,  December,  2,  1884;  Charles  W.  F.  Dicks,  May 
19,  1886;  Fred  C.  Bryan,  April  10,  1888. 

First  Lieutenant. — Alexander  G.  Maynes,  November  12, 1875; 
T.  D.  McGillicuddy,  January  3,  1876;  Emmett  F.  Taggart,  April  4, 
1877;  Edward  A.  Stouffer,  September  13,  1881;  W.  Acker  Noble, 
July  7,  1883;  Albert  A.  Bartlett,  December  2,  1884;   Charles  W.  F. 


THE   SIXTH   OHIO   BATTERY.  441 

Dick,  November  3,  1885;  Fred  C.  Bryan,  May  19,  1886;  Ira  I.  Morri- 
son, April  10,  1888;  George  H.  T.  Dunn,  1890,  Lieut.  Ira  I.  Morri- 
son, having  been  promoted  to  inspector  of  rifle  practice  on  Col. 
Oyger's  staff. 

Second  Lieutenant: — T.  D.  McGillicuddy,  November  12,  1875; 
Richard  P.  Marvin,  Jr.,  January  3,  1876;  Henry  H.  Brown,  May  7, 
1877;  Richard  P.  Marvin,  Jr.,  July  23,  1877;  Edward  A.  Stouffer, 
January  21,  1878;  W.  Acker  Noble,  September  13, 1881;  Frank  Allen, 
July  31,  1883;  Albert  A.  Bartlett,  May  27,  1884;  Hubert  C.  Peck, 
December  2,  1884;  Ira  I.  Morrison,  November  11,  1885;  William  A. 
Oostlin,  April  10,  1888;  George  C.  Conger,  May  17,  1891. 

First  Sergeant: — J.  B.  Collins,  A.  G.  Maynes,  E.  F.  Taggart,  E. 
A.^  Stouffer,  George  \V.  Kummer,  Amos  Brown,  W.  A.  Noble,  J.  K. 
P.  Sours,  H.  C.  Peck,  John  B.  Benn,  F.  C.  Bryan,  Wm.  A.  Gostlin, 
Oeorge  Dunn,  Fred  H.  O'Brien. 

INAUGURATION  OF  PRESIDENT  HARRISON. 

Company  B,  45  members  strong,  were  present  at  the  inaugura- 
tion of  President  Benjamin  Harrison,  on  Monday^  March  4,  1889,  in 
which  thej'^  bore  a  conspicuous  part,  a  portion  of  the  boys  also 
attending  the  inauguration  ball. 

On  the  eve  of  their  departure  for  Washington,  Capt.  Bryan 
received  the  follow^ing  letter  from  Col.  Gyger,  which  speaks  for 
itself: 

Alliance,  Ohio,  Februarj^  26, 1889. 

The  Colonel  Commanding-  desires  to  compliment  Company  B,  upon 
their  excellent  condition,  as  shown  by  the  report  of  the  inspector  of  February 
7,  1889,  made  by  Col.  C.  V.  Hard. 

The  officers  and  members  have  cause  to  be  proud  of  their  organization. 
It  stands  foremost  among  the  model  military  companies  of  the  State,  and  is 
a  credit  to  the  city  of  Akron,  the  Eighth  Regiment,  and  the  Ohio  National 
Ouard.  Very  respectfull}', 

To  Capt.  F.  C.  Bryan,  GEO.  R.  Gyger, 

Com'd'g  Company  B.,  Akron,  Ohio.  Col.  Eighth  Regt.  O.  N.  G, 

Company  B  was  also  honored  with  an  invitation  to  participate 
in  the  celebration  of  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  inaugu- 
ration of  President  George  Washington,  at  New  York,  April  30, 1889, 
but  because  of  their  having  so  recently  helped  to  inaugurate  the 
new  president,  they  were  obliged  to  decline  the  honor. 

SIXTH  BATTERY  LIGHT  ARTILLERY. 

The  Sixth  Battery,  Ohio  National  Guard,  of  which  body 
Akron  is  so  justly  proud,  was  organized  November  27,  1877,  with 
sixty  members,  the  commissioned  officers  being:  Joseph  C. 
Ew^art,  captain;  Thomas  F.  Wildes,  first  lieutenant;  John  H. 
Campbell,  second  lieutenant.  Captain  Ewart  by  unanimous  choice 
of  the  battery  holding  that  position  until  elected  major  of  regi- 
ment, August  20,  1891;  First  Lieutenant  James  D.  Chandler  at 
that  time  being  promoted  to  the  captaincy. 

First  Regiment  Light  Artillery  O.  N.  G. — In  1886,  regi- 
mental relations  w^ere  established  with  seven  other  batteries  in 
different  portions  of  the  State,  under  the  above  title,  and  is  the 
only  Light  Artillery  Kegiment  in  the  State,  or  even  in  the  United 
States,  excepting  those  connected  with  the  Regular  Army.     The 


442 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


alphabetical  order  of  the  eight  batteries  comprising  the  regiment 
is  as  follows:  A,  Cleveland;  B,  Cincinnati;  C,  Zanesville;  D, 
Toledo;  E,  Springfield;  F,  Akron;  G,  Marietta;  H,  Columbus. 
Louis  Smithnight,  of  Cleveland,  is  colonel  of  the  regiment. 


JOSEPH  C.  P:WART— son  of 
J  Robert  L.  and  Martha  (Lemnion) 
Ewart,  born  in  Springfield,  March  25, 
1841 ;  educated  in  Spring-field  district 
schools  and  Akron  High  school  ; 
August,  1861,  enlisted  in  29th  regi- 
ment O.  V.  I. ;  discharged  for  disa- 
bility, April,  1862  ;  re-enlisted  August 
1862,  in  4oth  O.  V.  I.,  served  to  July  1, 
1865,  and  mustered,  out  with  regi- 
ment ;  after  war,  worked  one  year  at 
sash  making,  etc.,  with  the  Weary 
Snyder  &  Wilcox  Manufacturing  Co.; 
then  nine  years  in  shipping  depart- 
ment of  Aultman,  Miller  &  Co. ;  in 
1875,  with  Henry  E.  Merrill,  com- 
menced the  manufacture  of  roofing 
tile,  the  pioneer  works  of  its  class  in 
the  United  States;  in  1882,  bought 
out  Mr.  Merrill  and  Idter  associated 
with  himself,  Mr.  Charles  E.  Howland, 
under  the  firm  name  of  J.  C.  Ewart 
&  Co.,  greatly  enlarging  their  works, 
and  now  doing  a  large  and  profita- 
ble business.  Mr.  Ewart  is  also  inter- 
ested in  several  other  industrial 
enterprises,  being  president  of  the 
Akron  Vitrified  Pressed  Brick  Co., 
(works  at  Independence)  present  cap- 
ital $100,000.  March  30,  1881,  Mr. 
Ewart  was  married,  to  Mrs.  Helena 
E.  Phillips,  who  died  November  16, 
1887 ;  was  again  married,  April  23, 
1890,  to  Miss  Flora  B.  Cook,  of  Akron. 
Since  the  war,  Mr.  Ewart   has  taken 


JOSEPH  C.   EWAKT. 


great  interest  in  local  militarj-  aflfairs, 
having,  in  1877,  organized  the  Sixth 
Battery,  Light  Artillery,  now  Battery 
F.,  First  Regiment  Light  Artillery  O. 
N.  G.,  of  which  he  held  the  position 
of  Captain  from  its  organization 
until  his  promotion  to  the  position 
of  Major  of  the  regiment,  August  20, 
1891,  which  office  he  still  holds. 


Present  Status  of  Battery  F. — ^For  nearly  fourteen  years, 
both  as  an  independent  organization,  and  in  its  regimental  rela- 
tions. Battery  F  has  maintained  a  high  standard  of  military  effi- 
ciency, and  in  point  of  drill  and  facility  of  action,  is  unsurpassed 
by  any  other  similar  body  in  the,  State.  Ever  ready  to  aid  in  all 
public  demonstrations,  its  occasional  calls  upon  the  public  in  the 
way  of  patronizing  their  festivals  for  the  replenishment  of  their 
finances,  are  liberally  responded  to,  though  still,  besides  the  large 
amount  of  time  given  to  routine  duty  and  to  public  and  private 
drills,  parades,  encampments,  etc.,  the  members  are  subjected  to 
quite  heavy  cash  expenses,  the  State  allowance  for  the  care  and 
repair  of  guns  and  other  military  paraphernalia,  being  but  $200 
per  year  w^hile  the  county  pays  the  rent  of  armory,  only. 

The  present  headquarters  of  Battery  F  is  at  Columbia  Hall 
immediately  south  of  the  City  Building,  on  Main  street,  the  present 
outfit  consisting  of  two  three-inch  bronze  guns,  and  two  three-inch 
rifle  steel  guns,  with  ammunition  carriages,  harness,  saddles,  etc., 
to  match. 

The  present  organization  of  the  Battery  (August,  1891)  is  as 
follow^s:     Captain,  James  D.  Chandler;  surgeon,  Henry  M.  Fisher; 


THE   GERMAN   GUARDS.  443 

senior  second  lieutenant,  Julius  N.  Baxter;  junior  second  lieu- 
tenant, John  W.  Payne;  sergeants,  Peter  Pfeifer,  Clarence  F. 
Ames,  G.  T,  Casey,  G.  F.  W.  Clause;  quartermaster  sergeant, 
Alfred  J.  Pine;  corporals,  Ervin  M,  Capron,  J.  G.  Dague,  Eli  Hutz, 
William  Irvin,  W.  E.  Crissick,  Geo.  W.  Stein;  trumpeters,  Toni 
Werne,  George  H.  Stanton,  William  A,  Kellam,  Frank  C.  Sprankle; 
privates.  Turner  Alexander,  Alvin  Alexander,  Morris  Binesderfer, 
Mandes  Baughman,  Ralph  C.  Brandon,  Frank  R.  Brown,  Harry  S. 
Brandon,  William  Belke,  William  A.  Cochran,  William  Craw^ford, 
Frank  M.  Cass,  William  H.  Collar,  A.  C.  Clark,  Thomas  H. 
Datcher,  William  A,  Dickson,  Charles  C.  Dorsey,  Brace  W.  Duley, 
U.  S,  Englehardt,  Daniel  W.  Fasig,  Monroe  Fasig,  Ira  A.  Fouse, 
George  Falk,  Daniel  Gossett,  Urias  Gorman,  Clarence  M.  Hill, 
Enoch  T,  Jones,  John  P.  Kirnberk,  Philip  Koch,  L.  H.  Klopfen- 
stein,  Lucas  Libis,  Stephen  Libis,  Frank  A.  Limbert,  William 
McNeal,  James  D.  Morton,  John  P.  Nickol,  Daniel  A  Roberts,  Peter 
Schweitzer,  Charles  A.  Sentemore,  John  Seegar,  Ezra  M.  Scott, 
George  F.  Shook,  William  F.  Wyatt,  Grafton  S.  Whittier,  R.  F. 
Whittlesey,  Alfred  Wegmiller,  George  A.  Weidley.     Total,  66. 

BATTERY  F  AT  THE  CENTENNIAL. 

In  the  grand  military  display  at  the  centennial  celebration  of 
the  inauguration  of  President  George  Washington,  held  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  on  April  30,  1889,  Battery  F  elicited  w^arm  com- 
mendation from  both  the  managers  of  the  celebration,  and  the 
press  of  New^  York  city,  as  well  as  of  the  people  w^ho  w^itnessed  its 
splendid  tactical  maneuvers  and  military  evolutions. 

GERMAN  GUARDS— COMPANY   BUCHTEL. 

This  company,  organized  June  15,  1883,  started  with  a  mem- 
bership of  about  twenty-five  men,  increasing  its  number  to  forty- 
five  by  January  1,  1884,  and  at  present  numbers  sixty  uniformed 
men.  It  is  an  independent  company,  composed  entirely  of  men 
who  were  honorably  discharged  from  the  German  army,  part  of 
them  being  in  active  service  during  the  Franco-German  war  of 
1870-71. 

American  citizenship  is  a  prerequisite  to  admission  to  mem- 
bership in  the  company,  which  is  also  a  beneficiary  society,  as  well 
as  a"  military  organization,  aiding  its  members  in  time  of  sickness, 
and  their  families  in  case  of  death. 

The  uniform  of  the  company  is  that  of  the  German  Army,  and 
w^as  imported  from  Germany,  imparting  a  very  imposing  appear- 
ance to  the  company  when  on  parade.  The  company  is  armed 
with  the  Brown  gun — a  breech-loading  needle  rifle — funds  for  the 
purchase  of  uniforms  and  arms  being  raised  by  popular  sub- 
scription, Hon.  John  R.  Buchtel  being  the  largest  contributor,  his 
original  donation  being  $500,  in  consideration  of  which  the  name 
of  "Company  Buchtel"  was  unanimously  adopted. 

The  German  Guards,  composed  of  the  most  highly  respected 
and  patriotic  citizens  of  Akron,  have  always  taken  part  in  all  the 
important  civic  and  military  displays  in  Akron,  since  their  organ- 
ization, eliciting  the  very  highest  encomiums  for  their  perfection 
of  drill,  accuracy  of  movement  and  soldierly  bearing.  The  officers 
from    the    beginning    have    been    as    follows:      Paul    E.    Werner, 


444  AKROX    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

captain;  Hans  Otto  Beck,  first  lieutenant;  Henry  Klages,  second 
lieutenant;  sergeants,  Carl  Schoenduve  and  Gustave  A.  Groesel; 
surgeon,  L.  S.  Ebright. 

BUCHTEL  COLLEGE  CADETS. 

In  1886,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Professors  Charles  S.  How^e 
and  Tracy  L.  Jeffords,  and  through  the  liberality  of  Hon.  John 
R.  Buchtel  and  Messrs.  Ferd.  and  Adolph  Schumacher,  a  full 
company,  consisting  entirely  of  college  students,  was  organized 
uniformed,  armed  and  thoroughly  drilled  in  military  tactics. 
This  splendid  company,  with  Alexander  W.  Maynes  as  its  first 
captain,  became  not  only  a  credit  to  the  college,  but  the  pride  of 
our  citizens,  appearing  in  public  on  memorial  days  and  on  several 
festive  occasions;  a  squad  of  twenty  on  Commencement  Day,  1887, 
escorting  President  Buchtel  from  his  house  to  the  College,  and, 
in  his  invalid  chair,  carrying  him  up  three  flights  of  stairs  to  the 
chapel,  on  his  offer  to  contribute  $1,000  towards  the  building  of  the 
Crouse  gymnasium,  if  they  would  do  so.  By  reason  of  changes  in 
the  faculty  and  among  the  students,  the  military  feature  not 
being  included  in  the  curriculum,  the  organization  has  been  in  a 
comatose  condition  since  1889,  w^ithout  any  immediate  promise  of 
revivification.  » 

AKRON'S  MUSICAL  ORGANIZATIONS. 

From  an  early  day  Akron  has  been  noted  for  the  excellence  of 
its  musical  organizations,  both  vocal  and  instrumental.  It  is  not 
noMT  ascertainable  just  w^hen  the  first  instrumental  band  w^as 
organized  here,  though  it  was  certainly  more  than  half  a  century 
ago,  and  to  the  late  Henry  S.  Abbey,  Akron's  pioneer  jeweler,  must 
be  awarded  the  honor  of  being  its  pioneer  band  director,  also. 

The  Akron  Brass  BAND.-<*-This  band,  under  the  lead  of  Mr. 
Abbey,  led  the  jollification  festivities  on  the  occasion  of  the  erec- 
tion of  the  new  county  of  Summit,  in  March,  1840,  and  on  the 
following  Fourth  of  July  competed  in  friendl}^  rivalry  w^ith  the 
superb  band  accompanying  Cleveland's  crack  military  company 
— then  as  now  the  "Cleveland  Gra3^s" — as  guests  of  the  Summit 
Guards,  the  Beacon  in  its  account  of  the  visit  saying  of  the 
two  bands: 

On  the  evening-  of  the  3rd,  the  Cleveland  and  Akron  Bands  gave  a  con- 
cert, at  their  quarters,  where  the  elite  of  our  village  and  the  neighborhood 
did  not  fail  to  be  present  and  enjoy  the  sweet  and  enlivening  strains,  made 
doubly  so  by  the  coohiess  and  stillness  of  the  evening. 

A  month  later,  August  5,  1840,  at  the  celebration  of  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  Canal,  the  Akron  band  w^as 
very  highly  complimented  by  the  many  distinguished  visitors 
from  abroad,  for  its  excellent  music  in  leading  the  procession  and 
during  the  after  festivities  of  the  day  and  evening. 

In  referring  to  a  concert  about  to  be  given  by  the  band,  about 
this  time,  the  Beacon  editorially  said: 

All  who  can  be  moved  by  concord  of  sweet  sounds  will  certain!}^  be 
there.  Let  us  all  turn  out,  5'oung  and  old,  and  give  them  a  benefit.  The3^ 
deserve  it  for  their  perseverence  in  getting-  up  a  band  which  is  a  credit  to 
our  town,  and  should  therefore  be  liberally  encouraged  by  our  citizens. 


Akron's  musical  organizations.  445 

Reorganization. — Finding  that  his  business  cares  precluded 
his  longer  acting  as  its  leader,  Mr.  Abbey,  about  1848,  turned  the 
organization  over  to  Mr.  George  I^aurie,  a  book  seller  and  stationer,, 
who  reorganized  and  somewhat  enlarged  the  band,  though  Mr. 
Abbey  contined  his  membership  therewith  for  several  years  there- 
after. Mr.  Laurie,  a  few  years  later,  was  succeeded  as  leader  by 
Mr.  Horace  B.  Horton,  inventor  of  the  Melopean,  then  being  quite 
largely  manufactured  by  himself  and  the  late  Bradbury  T.  Blod- 
gett,  the  business  being  continued,  in  later  years,  by  Ira  Rose,^ 
James    F.   Scott,  Horton  Wright,  John  W.  Baker  and  others. 

Cutter's  Quadrille  Band. — In  the  meantime,  about  1845,  Mr. 
Morrill  T.  Cutter,  Akron's  veteran  shoe  merchant,  had  organized 
a  Quadrille  Band,  of  from  six  to  ten  members,  which  for  fifteen 
years  was  in  almost  constant  demand,  in  furnishing  music  for 
quadrille  and  other  social  parties,  festivals,  etc.,  in  Akron  and 
neighboring  villages  and  towns,  and  attained  more  than  a  local 
reputation,  as  being  one  of  the  best  equipped  and  most  thor- 
oughly trained  quadrille  bands  in  Northern  Ohio. 

Keating's  Orchestra. — John  Keating,  a  most  skillful  musi- 
cian, a  few  years  later  became  the  leader  of  an  orchestra  that 
for  a  number  of  years,  and  until  failing  health  compelled  Mr, 
Keating's  relinquishment  of  the  leadership  thereof,  Avas  justly  the 
delight  of  terpsichorean  circles. 

Marble's  Brass  Band. — About  1860,  Prof.  Dustin  Marble,  wha 
had  settled  in  Akron  for  the  purpose  of  giving  musical  instruc- 
tion and  organizing  bands,  orchestras,  etc.,  became  the  leader  of 
the  Akron  band,  and  from  thenceforth  for  nearly  twenty  years,, 
though  many  changes  of  membership  occurred,  Marble's  band 
sustained  almost  a  National  reputation,  as  one  of  the  best  musical 
organizations  in  the  country,  the  Professor,  though  severing  his 
connection  w^ith  the  band  several  years  ago,  still  giving  musical 
instruction  ^vheneverhis  services  are-called  into  requisition. 

Babcock's  Band. — Next  in  order  comes  Babcock's  Band^ 
organized  in  the  middle  sixties  under  the  leadership  of  Prof.  Wor- 
den  Babcock,  and  which  had  a  highly  prosperous  career  of  some 
ten  years.  After  an  absence  of  three  or  four  years,  returning 
to  Akron  Mr.  Babcock  reorganized  his  band  about  1881,  which,  in 
1883,  enlisted  under  the  militia  laws  of  the  State,  as  a  part  of  the 
Ohio  National  Guard,  under  the  legal  title  of  the 

Eighth  Regiment  Band. — Mr.  Babcock  was  succeeded  the 
same  year  in  the  leadership  by  Prof.  Charles  E.  York,  a  very 
competent  musician,  Avho  continued  as  its  conductor  until  his 
removal  from  the  city,  in  the  spring  of  1888,  Avhen  Mr.  William 
R.   Palmer  was  elected  as  its  leader. 

The  Eighth  Regiment  Band  has  at  present  29  names  upon  it& 
muster  roll,  the  organization  receiving  the  same  allowance  from 
the  State,  and  being  subject  to  the  same  laws,  and  entitled  to  the 
same  benefits  as  other  companies  and  members  of  the  Ohio 
National  Guard,  its  present  officers  and  members  being  as  follows: 
William  R.  Palmer,  leader;  Richard  Lew^is,  drum  major;  S.  Sam 
Miller,  quartermaster;  George  Davis,  Grant  Kirn,  Samuel  E.  Dice 
and  Charles  A.  Wilhelm,  sergeants;  Alphonso  Kimpflin,  president; 
Edmund  Hartz,  vice  president;  George  G.  Smith,  secretary;  Grant 
Kirn,  treasurer;  George  Davis,  Grant  Kirn  and  Charles  A.  Wilhelm,^ 


446 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


trustees;  Charles  Austgen,  Marshall  Caine,  James  Flowrer, 
August  K.  Freund,  John  C.  Funk,  Joseph  Goldsmith,  Jacob 
Hartz,  John  Hartz,  Leroy  Henry,  John  Keatz,  Charles  W.  Lantz, 
Sidney  Morey,  Bruce  Miller,  Cyrus  L.  Manderbach,  Frank  Nolte, 
Joseph  Palmer,  Adam  Rank,  William  H.  Shoke,  William  Worth- 
ington,  Herbert  A.  Zimmerman. 

The  Great  W^estern  Band. — Twenty-five  Men. — For  many 
years  a  very  proficient  and  popular  organization,  w^as  con- 
solidated -with  the  Eighth  Regiment  Band  in  September, 
1891,  with  George  L.  Humphrey,  as  band  master  and  William  R. 
Palmer  as  his  assistant,  thus  proving  one  of  the  strongest  musical 
bodies  in  Ohio  or  else^vhere. 

Other  musical  organizations  of  the  city,  are  now  (September 
1891),  briefly  as  follows: 

The  Turner  Band,  25  men,  Levi  Pinn,  drum  major;  John 
Kolla,  leader;  Frank  Voke,  president;  Frank  Cox,  treasurer  and 
business  manager;  The  Metropolitan  Band  10  to  12  men,  Sidney 
Morey,  director;  Andrew  Fritz,  leader;  Symphony  Orchestra,  five 
to  twenty  nmn,  George  L.  Humphrey,  leader;  North  Hill  Band,  18 
men,  Charles  W.  Lantz,  leader  and  director;  Lantz's  Orchestra, 
five  to  fourteen  men,  Charles  W.  Lantz,  leader;  Mustill's  Orches- 
tra, five  to  ten  men,  Sidney  Morey,  director;  Italian  Orchestra,  five 
to  eight  men,  Hiram  L.  Morey,  leader;  Edwards'  Orchestra,  five  to 
eight  men,  William  H.  Brady,  leader;  Thomas  Edwards, 
prompter;  Roman  Orchestra,  two  to  six  men,  Joseph  A.  Rivello, 
leader. 


West  side  Howard  Street,  from  Market  south. — From  photo  by  S.  J.  Miller,  1855. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ANCIENT  AND  MODERN  AKRON  CONTRASTED— EARLY  BUSINESS  AND  INDUS- 
TRIAL STATUS  —  WHAT  HORACE  GREELEY  THOUGHT  OF  US  IN  1843  — 
GREELEY  A  TRUE  PROPHET — THE  BOOM  THAT  CAME  TO  STAY— FROM  VIL- 
LAGE Tp  CITY— ENLARGING  OUR  BORDERS  —  AKRON'S  WATER  SUPPLY — 
IMMENSE  CEREAL  OPERATIONS— A  TRULY  "LIVE  DUTCHMAN" — THE  OAT 
MEAL  INDUSTRY  — AN  IMMENSE  PLANT — TERRIBLE  CALAMITY  —  SPEEDY 
RECOVERY  THEREFROM  —  OTHER  MILLING  OPERATIONS  —  LOCO-FOCO 
MATCHES— FIRST  MADE  BY  THE  WRITER,  IN  1838— MODUS  OPERANDI— THE 
LOCO-FOCO  PARTY,  WHY  SO  CALLED— THE  BARBER  MATCH  COMPANY— 
•  THE  LARGEST  OF  ITS  CLASS  IN  THE  WORLD— HEAVY  MINING  MACHINERY, 
STOVES,  ETC.— REAPERS  AND  MOWERS  FOR  THE  MILLION— KNIVES  AND 
SICKLES— RUBBER  GOODS,  PAPER-MAKING,  ETC.— LEADING  THE  WORLD  IN 
SEWER   PIPE  AND  STONEWARE— A  WONDERFUL  INDUSTRIAL  EXHIBIT. 

ANCIENT  AKRON. 

THE  origin  and  early  history  of  Akron,  its  growth,  successes, 
reverses,  etc.,  were  pretty  fully  given  in  the  earlier  chapters 
of  this  wrork.  Though  from  the  beginning  it  had  fully  maintained  its 
standing  as  one  of  the  most  enterprising  and  prosperous  inland 
villages  in  Ohio,  its  population  in  1860,  as  shown  b}'  the  census  of 
that  year,  was  only  3,520  souls. 

What  Horace  Greeley  Said  of  Us. — In  1843,  after  a  personal 
visit  to  Akron,  Horace  Greeley,  in  publishing  a  description  of  the 
town  in  the  New  York  Tribune  said:  "This  place,  with  a  popu- 
lation of  2,500,  has  five  woolen  factories,  an  extensive  blast  furnace, 
a  machine  shop,  a  card  manufactory,  nine  dry  goods  stores  and 
about  as  many  other  stores,  two  weekly  newspapers,  four  large 
flouring  mills,  a  court  house,  four  churches  and  tw^o  more  being 
erected.  The  present  water-pow^er,  including  the  surplus  water  of 
sixteen  locks  on  tw^o  canals,  is  adequate  to  impelling  sixty-two 
runs  of  stones.  Besides  this,  there  is  considerable  w^ater-poAver  and 
manufacturing  at  the  small  village  of  Middlebury,  onlj^  a  mile  and 
a  half  east,  on  the  canal,  and  destined  to  form  a  portion  of  the 
same  city." 

Other  Early  Statistics. — Four  years  later,  Howe's  History 
of  Ohio  says  of  Akron:  "Its  population  in  1827  was  about  600 
[less  than  400  in  fact];  in  1840,  the  number  of  inhabitants  was 
1,664,  since  v^hich  time  it  is  estimated  to  have  doubled.  It  has 
eight  churches,  twenty  stores,  ten  groceries,  four  drug  stores,  two 
book  stores,  four  woolen  factories,  two  blast  furnaces,  three  cupola 
furnaces,  one  carding  machine  manufactory,  five  flouring  mills, 
one  insurance  company,  one  bank,  two  newspaper  offices,  and  a 
great  variety  of  mechanical  establishments." 

During  the  next  ten  years,  there  -were  rhany  changes — an 
increase  in  some  departments  and  a  falling  off  in  others — the 
increase  in  population  being  quite  rapid,  the  census  of  1850  plac- 
ing it  at  3,254,  a  gain  of  nearly  one  hundred  per  cent,  in  the  ten 
years,  the  gain  from  1850  to  1860  being  but  266,  an  increase  of  a 
fraction  less  than  eight  per  cent.,. the  census  of  that  year  placing 
it  at  3,520. 


448 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


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MODERN    AKRON.  449 

But,  in  the  early  sixties,  "a  change  came  o'er  the  spirit  of  our 
dreams."  Increased  railroad  facilities,  and  the  increased  activity 
given  to  commerce,  manufactures,  agriculture,  etc.,  by  the  War, 
brought  a  decided  "  boom  "  to  Akron,  the  results  and  magnitude  of 
which  are  briefly  attempted  below: 

Akron  remained  an  incorporated  town,  or  village,  until  Janu- 
ary, 1865,  an  enumeration  taken  by  Recorder  Henrj^  Ward  Inger- 
soll,  reported  on  the  14th  day  of  December,  1864,  showing  the 
number  of  inhabitants  of  the  village  to  have  been  5,066,  an 
increase  of  1,546  in  four  years.  By  resolution  of  the  Council, 
adopted  December  25th,  1864,  the  State  officials  were  requested 
to  advance  the  village  to  a  city  of  the  second  class,  w^hich  was 
accordingly  done  by  Governor  John  Brough,  Secretary  of  State 
William  Henry  Smith  and  Auditor  of  State  James  N.  Goodman, 
January  21,  1865. 

City  Organization. — The  newlj^  constituted  City  of  Akron 
was  divided  into  three  w^ards,  the  first  election  on  Mondaj^,  April  3,. 
1865,  resulting  in  the  choice  of  James  Mathews  as  Mayor,  and  the 
following  councilmen:  First  ward,  Charles  W.  Bonstedt,  one 
year,  and  George  W.  Crouse,  two  years;  Second  ward,  John  E,^ 
Bell,  one  year,  and  Henrj^  W.  Howe,  tw^o  years;  Third  ward,  J. 
Park  Alexander,  one  yean  Lewis  Miller,  two  years;  Lewis  Miller,, 
on  organization,  being  elected  president  of  the  Council,  and  Jere- 
miah A.  Long,  clerk.  One-half  of  the  councilmen  being  elected 
for  one  year  only,  at  the  election  in  April,  1866,  John  J.  Wagoner 
succeeded  Mr.  Bonstedt  in  the  First  ward,  Joshua  H.  Collins,  Mr. 
Bell  in  the  Second,  and  George  vSechrist,  Mr.  Alexander  in  the 
Third. 

Horace  Greeley  a  True  Prophet. — September  6,  1865,  by 
action  of  county  commissioners,  the  territory  lying  north  of 
Exchange  street,  between  the  original  east  line  of  the  corporation 
(about  on  the  present  line  of  Fir  street)  and  the  then  west  line  of 
Middlebury  township  (at  the  junction  of  East  Market  and  Middle- 
bury  streets)  Avas  duly  annexed  to  the  cit}^  of  Akron. 

By  the  authoJ-ity  of  an  ordinance  passed  by  the  council  of 
the  village  of  Middlebury,  August  24,  1871,  and  a  like  ordinance 
passed  by  the  city  council  of  Akron,  February  5,  1872,  the  question 
of  annexation  was  submitted  to  the  legal  voters  of  the  two  corpo- 
rations, on  the  first  Monday  of  April,  1872,  resulting  as  follows: 
Akron,  for  annexation,  1,042;  against, 6.  Middleburyfor,  14();against, 
26.  By  resolution  of  each  council  respectively,  commissioners 
were  appointed  to  arrange  the  terms  of  annexation  as  follows: 
Akron,  George  W.  Crouse,  William  T.  Allen,  and  David  L.  King: 
Middlebury,  Mendal  Jewett,  Frank  Adams,  and    George  F.  Kent. 

Terms  mutually  satisfactory  to  the  joint  commission  being 
agreed  to,  ordinances  of  approval  were  duly  passed  by  Middlebury,. 
April  19,  and  by  Akron,  April  24,  1872,  and  the  annexation  was 
complete.  May  27,  1872,  the  Middleburj^  accession  was  designated, 
by  ordinance,  as  the  Sixth  ward- wards  Four  and  Five  having 
been  created  by  ordinance  passed  March  9,  1871. 

Subsequent  Accessions. — By  ordinance  passed  October  28, 1872,. 
a  small  section  of  territory  lying  south  of  East  Exchange  street, 
and  between  the  two  original  corporations  of  Akron  and  Middle- 
bury was  formally  annexed  to  the  city. 

29  , 


450 


AKROX  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


By  an  ordinance  passed  February  18,  1882,  the  annexation  of 
certain  portions  of  Portage  and  Tallmadge  townships,  known  as 
the  "Old  Forge"  district,  was  duly  authorized,  w^hich  territory,  on 
the  consummation  of  the  annexation  proceedings  was,  by  ordi- 
nance passed  March  1,  1886,  attached  Jo  the  Sixth  ward. 


South  side  East  Market  Street,  from  Howard  to  Main,  the  "'Old  Stone  Block, 
Ohio  Exchange,  etc.,  184,5.— Drawn  from  memory  by  the  author. 


South  side  Market  Street,  Howard  to  Main,  1891. -Photo  by  Walter  B.  Manning. 


AKRON  S   WATER    vSl  PPLY. 


451 


Akron  City  Building,  South  Main  and 
Quarry  Street. 


By  ordinance  passed  March  15, 1886,  certain  described  lands  in 
'Cov^entry  township,  upon  the  south,  embracing  222.62  acres,  and 
^'ertain  described  lands  in  Portage  township,  upon  the  north  and 
Avest,  embracing  467.80  acres,  Avere  also,  by  subsequent  proceed- 
ings, duly  annexed,  and  are  now  embraced  within  the  corporate 
limits  of  the  city  of  Akron, 

Akron's  Present  Population. 
— By  the  official  census  for  1890, 
the  population  of  the  city  of 
Akron  is  as  follows;  First  ward, 
3,793;  Second  ward,  3,531;  Third 
ward,  5,045;  Fourth  ward,  6,716; 
Fifth  ward,  5,194;  Sixth  ward, 
3,322;  total,  27,601.  This,  with 
the  dense  suburban  population 
on  the  immediate  unannexed  ter- 
ritory, together  with  our  rapidly 
increasing  inside  population 
makes  us,  in  this  year  of  grace, 
1891,  a  city  of  considerable  over 
30,000  inhabitants.  The  popula- 
tion of  Portage  tow^nship,  exclusive  of  Akron,  in  1840  w^as  2,382;  in 
1880,  after  annexation  or  sundry  portions  of  its  territory  to  the  city, 
as  stated,  2,580,  the  census  of  1890  show^ing  a  total  of  2,659. 

Akron's  Water  Supply. — Though  eminently  a  water  town — 
Avith  the  never-failing  living  Avaters  of  Summit  Lake,  a  short  dis- 
tance south  of  the  city  limits,  and  the  pellucid  Little  Cuyahoga 
river  traversing  its  entire  breadth  from  east  to  west,  upon  the  nqrth 
and  though  a  large  number  of  springs  of  the  very  purest  w^ater 
were  found  gushing  spontaneously  from  its  innumerable  hills 
and  bluffs,  Akron  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  well-watered  until 
a  comparatively  recent  date. 

The  first  attempt  at  "\vater  w^orks,"  for  any  portion  of  the  town, 
was  by  Dr.  Eliakim  Crosby,  in  1836,  by  bringing  the  waters  of  a 
large  spring  from  the  foot  of  Perkins'  hill,  in  a  continuous  cement 
pipe,  to  his  own  house,  where  the  Catholic  parsonage  now  stands, 
with  branches  running  to  the  houses  of  some  of  his  near-by  West 
Hill  neighbors.  The  scheme  worked  well  for  a  year  or  two.  when 
it  was  found  that  an  accumulation  of  fungus  vegetation  had  filled 
the  pipe  its  entire  length,  and  the  scheme  had  to  be  abandoned. 

The  Akkox  Cold  Sprlng  Company. —  In  the  early  forties  the 
Akron  Cold  Spring  Compan}'^  was  incorporated  and  organized,  for 
the  purpose  of  bringing  the  waters  of  a  large  spring,  known  as 
"Cold  vSpring,"  from  the  eastern  slope  of  what  is  now^  called 
"Spring  Hill,"  on  the  Portage  road,  aboiit  a  mile  and  a  half  along 
what  is  now  Aqueduct  street,  and  West  Market  street,  in  four-incli 
cast-iron  inains,  with  lead  service  pipes  to  the  several  residences 
along  the  route,  these  cast-iron  mains,  after  ijiearly  half  a  ctenturA-'s 
serA'ice,  being  replaced  b}^  wrought-iron  pipes  in  1891. 

''This  is  the  \'ery  softest  and  purest  water  in  the  cit3%  and  is  still 
used  for  domestic  purposes  b}'  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  that 
portion  of  the  city,  even  among  those  who  patronize  the  City 
Water  Works  for  stable,  lawn  and  street  sprinkling  purposes. 
The  present  officers  of  the  company  are:     Directors:     J.    A.  Long, 


452 


AKROM    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Lorenzo  Hall,  S.  E.  Phinney,  George  A.  Keinpel,  A.  M.  Armstrong; 
president,  A.  M.  Armstrong;  secretary,  Philander  D.  Hall,  Jr. 

Howard  Strret  Water  Company. — There  was  orginally  a 
superb  spring  of  water,  on  the  premises  of  the  late  George  \V. 
Bloom,  where  the  office  of  the  Schumacher  Milling  Company  now 
stands,  corner  of  Broadwaj^  and  Mill  streets.  March  14,  18(io, 
Morrill  T.  Cutter,  Hiram  Viele,  William  G.  Raymond,  James  M, 
Hale  and  Lorenzo  Hall,  directors  of  the  duly  incorporated  Howard 
Street  Water  Company,  b}'^  a  grant  from  council,  were  permitted  to 
lay  pipes  through  the  streets  of  Akron,  and  did  so  use  a  part  of 
Mill,  Howard  and  Market  streets. 

These  w^orks  were  quite  convenient  to  those  interested  for 
several  years,  but  paving,  sewering,  etc.,  at  length  so  interfered 
with  a  free  flow  of  Avater  and  the  extension  of  the  system,  that  the 
project  was  abandoned. 

City  Water  Works. — Sometime  in  the  latter  sixties,  the 
question  of  city  w^ater  w^orks  for  fire  protection  and  for  manufactur- 
ing and  domestic  purposes,  began  to  be  agitated,  and  on  December 
27,  1871,  an  ordinance  was  passed  as  follows: 

Section  1.  Be  it  ordained  by  the  City  Council  of  the  City  of  Akron^ 
That  water  works  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing'  said  city  and  the  inhabitants 
thereof,  with  a  supplj-  of  water,  are  hereb}"  ordered  to  be  built  and  con- 
structed. 

This  was  supplemented  by  an  ordinance  passed  January  8, 
1872,  authorizing  the  election  of  a  board  of  three  w^ater  works 
trustees,  and  at  the  ensuing  April  election  a  non-partisan  board 
w^as  elected  as  foUow^s:  John  R.  Buchtel,  Alexander  H.  Commins 
and  Charles  Cranz.  Expert  hydraulic  engineers,  w^ere  emplo3'ed, 
and  estimates  made  from  various  points  of  possible  supply,  but 
various  hindrances  intervened,  and  the  scheme  w^as  never  con- 
summated, the  ordinance  being  repealed  March  29,  1876. 

Akron  Water  Works  Company. — July  1,  1880,  an  ordinance 
was  passed  granting  to  M.  S.  Frost  &  Son,  and  their  associates,  the 
privileo-e  of  usingf  the  streets,  alleys  and  public  grounds  of  the  city 

for  the  laying  of  pipes,  etc.,  for 
the  purpose  of  supplying  the 
people  of  the  city  with  water  in 
accordance  with  certain  proposi- 
tions which  had  been  made  by 
said  compan)\ 

The  works  were  accorditigly 
built,  the  suppl}^  being  obtained 
from  a  large  w^ell  upon  the  Mal- 
lison  farm,  on  Wooster  avenue, 
with  a  reservoir  upon  Sherbondj^ 
Hill  in  the  west  part  of  the  cit}". 
The  works  were  completed*  and 
put  in  operation  early  in  1881,  but 
as  the  years  passed  by  the  suppl}^ 
from  the  well  w^as  found  to  be 
inadequate  to  meet  the  increas- 
ing demand,  and  the  small  Lake  to  the  southward,  known  as 
Manning's  pond,  was  purchased  and  utilized,  and  subsequenth^ 
an    arrangement  made  with  the    State    by  w^hich    the    waters    of 


Akron  Water  Works  Pumping  Station 
—1891. 


CHANGES    Ii\    A   THIRD   OF   A   CENTURY. 


453 


Sunittiit  Lake,  still  further  south,  are  used  as  occasion  requires, 
and  with  other  more  recently  added  wells,  both  in  point  of  quantitj"^ 
and  quality  Akron's  water  supply  is  equal  to  that  of  any  other 
city  in  Ohio;  its  fire  protection  being  almost  perfect,  its  waters 
also  being  quite  largely  used  as  the  motive  power  for  driving  ele- 
vators, church  organs,  coffee  grinders,  printing  presses,  pumps,  etc. 


IVest  Market  Street,  from  Howard,  shovviiiji  old  City  Mill,  old  U  ooden  Bridge 

over  Canal,  and  the  original  and  then  only  Sidewalk  on  West 

Hill.-  From  photo  by  S.  J.  Miller,  lSi8. 


West  Market  Street,  from  Howard,  1891.— From  photo  by  George  E.  Hitchcock. 


454  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

The  present  officers  of  the  Akron  Water  Works  Company  are: 
President,  Frank  Adams;  vice  president,  George  W.  Crouse;  secre- 
tary and  treasurer,  Horace  C.  Starr;  mechanical  engineer  and 
superintendent,  Kdward  A.  Lawton;  civil  engineer,  Joseph 
Flannery.  Capital  stock,  $250,000.  The  company  has  now^  about  30 
miles  of  street  mains,  1,600  private  and  public  takers,  and  about 
200  street  hydrants,  or  fire  plugs,  and  the  system  is  being  rapidly 
extended. 

Cereal  Operations. — It  -will  be  remembered  that  in  its  earlier 
history,  milling  w^as  Akron's  chief  industry,  which,  "while  not  ver\' 
materially  augmenting  the  industrial  population,  yet  by  furnish- 
ing a  ready  market  to  the  surrounding  farmers  for  their  grain, 
greatly  enhanced  the  commercial  and  financial  interests  of  the 
village  and  county.  The  famous  Old  Stone  Mill,  built  by  Dr, 
Crosby  and  others  in  1832,  w^as  the  pioneer,  followed  by  the  ^tna, 
by  William  B.  Mitchell  and  Samuel  A.  Wheeler  in  1838;  the  Center 
Mill,  by  Joseph  A.  Beebe  and  William  E.  Wright,  in  1839;  the 
Cascade  Mill,  by  William  B.  Mitchell,  in  1840,  and  a  few  years  later 
by  the  City  Mill,  by  Gen.  Geo.  W.  McNeil  and  others;  the  Ayliffe 
Mill,  (afterwards  the  Carter  &  Steward  Oatmeal  Mill);  the  Pearl 
Mill,  l3y  William  G.  Raymond,  Abraham  Fulton,  A.  M.  Barber  and 
others,  (now  the  How^er  Oatmeal  Mill);  the  Perkins  Mill,  (now 
the  Allen  Mill),  etc.,  Akron  flour,  both  under  the  old  and  new  pro- 
cesses, ever  having  maintained  a  high  standing  in  Ne\sr  York  and 
other  Eastern  markets. 

A  Truly  "Live  Dutchman." — But  it  was  reserved  to  Fred. 
Schumacher,,  to  bring  to  Akron  its  chief  renown  as  a  milling  center. 
Coming  hither  in  1851,  Mr.  Schumacher,  in  company  with  Mr. 
Theodore  Weibezahn,  opened  a  small  notion  store  in  Hall's  blocks 
fronting  on  West  Market  street.  Withdrawing  from  that  business 
in  August,  1852,  Mr.  S.  started  a  small  family  supply  store,  where 
the  First  National  Bank  now  stands,  afterwards  removing  to  the 
larger  room  across  the  street,  next  to  Empire  House,  where,  for  a 
number  of  years  he  did  a  profitable  business,  with  Mr.  Charles  W, 
Bonstedt  as  his  chief  clerk. 

In  1859,  Mr.  S.  commenced  the  manufacture  of  oatmeal,  on  a 
small  scale,  in  a  frame  building  at  the  foot  of  Howard  street, 
w^hich  had  originally  been  used  for  a  woolen  factory,  but  later  by 
ex-Sheriff  Thomas  Wilson,  in  the  manufacture  of  mineral  paint. 
This,  undoubtedly  the  pioneer  oatmeal  mill  in  America,  was 
appropriately  named  "  The  German  Mill."  Its  products  finding  a 
ready  sale,  Mr.  S.  soon  added  the  manufacture  of  pearl  barley,  for 
which,  in  1863,  a  separate  extensive  mill  w^as  built  on  South  Sum- 
mit street,  near  the  Union  depot,  which  was  named  the  "  Empire 
Barley  Mill."  In  1872  the  orginial  German  Mill  was  destroyed  by 
fire,  a  new  German  Mill  being  built  near  the  Empire  Mill  on 
Summit  street.  Sundry  additions  w^ere  made  from  time  to  time,  a 
large  elevator  for  the  storage  of  grain  having  been  erected  in  1879, 
Mr.  S.  having  in  the  meantime  bought  and  refitted  w^ith  modern 
machinery,  the  Cascade  Mill,  near  Lock  Fourteen,  Ohio  Canal, 
originally  built  by  Mr.  William  B.  Mitchell?  in  1840. 

Terrible  Calamity. — Other  mills  w^ere  added  to  the  original 
plant  on  Summit  street,  including  the  celebrated  eight  story 
"Jumbo"  mill,  a  large  drying  house,  fronting  on  Broadw^ay,  and 
the  splendid  office  building  on  the  corner  of  Mill  and   Broad  vva^v 


IMMKXSE    MILLING   OPERATIONS, 


455 


the  whole  with  several  small  dwelling  houses,  mostly  owned  b}^ 
Mr.  S.,  covering  the  entire  square,  bounded  by  Summit  street  upon 
the  east,  Mill  street  upon  the  north,  Broadway  street  upon  the 
west,  and  Quarry  street  upon  the  south.  These  immense  mills, 
filled  throughout  with  expensive  machinery,  were  being  driven  to 
their  fullest  capacity  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  wonderful  busi- 
ness which  the  energetic  push  of  Mr.  S.  had  thus  built  up,  when, 
on  the  night  of  March  6,  1886,  the  entire  plant,  except  the  original 
Empire  Barley  Mill,  with  their  valuable  contents,  were  destroyed 
by  fire,  involving  a  loss  to  Mr.  S,,  over  and  above  insurance,  of 
$600,000,  besides  a  prospective  serious  interruption  to  his  business. 


ALEXANDER  H.  COMMINS,— eld- 
-^  est  son  of  Dr.  Jedediah  D.  Com- 
tnins,  was  born  at  Lima,  Living'ston 
county,  N.  Y.,  June  21,  1815;  removed 
with  parents  to  Akron  in  1832,  enter- 
ing- Western  Reserve  College,  at 
Hudson;  on  leaving  college,  entered 
his  father's  drug  store  in  Akron, 
following  that  business  until  1845, 
when,  with  Col.  Simon  Perkins,  Jesse 
Allen  and  others,  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Perkins  Company,  erecting 
the  brick  btiilding  on  Canal  street, 
now  known  as  the  Allen  Mill,  and 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
woolen  cloths,  satinets,  etc.,  some 
ten  years  later  converting  it  into  a 
flouring  mill.  In  1867,  in  company 
with  Albert  Allen,  purchased  the 
old  stone  mill — Akron's  pioneer 
manufacturing  plant — now  owned 
by  the  American  Cereal  Com- 
pany. The  firm  of  Commins  &  Allen 
was  phenomenally  successful,  and  so 
harmonious  that  by  will  Mr.  C.  gave 
Mr.  A.  control  of  his  entire  business 
and  estate,  and  in  case  of  the  death 
of  his  wife,  the  guardianship  of  their 
children,  without  bond  or  appraisal. 
October  8,  1860,  Mr.  Commins  was 
married  to  Miss  Addie  H.  Starks,  of 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  who  bore  him  nine 
children,  seven  of  whom — five  daugh- 
ters and  two  sons,  are  still  living — 


Cora,  Catharine  B.,  now  Mrs.  H.  F. 
Smithers,  Qertrude  P.,  Addie  H..  A. 
Dais5^,  Alexander  H.,  and  Augustus 
J.  Mr.  Commins  died  August  17, 
1880,  aged  65  years,  one  month  and  26 
days,  Mrs.  Commins  dying  June  29, 
1884,  aged  48  years,  4  months  and  12 
days. 


The  F.  Schumacher  Milling  Company. — In  the  meantime,  so 
popular  had  become  the  oatmeal  and  other  cereal  products  manu- 
factured by  Mr.  S.,  other  similar  mills  had  been  started  in  Akron 
and  elsewhere,  one  of  the  largest  of  which,  that  of  the  Akron 
Milling  Company,  in  connection  with  the  old  stone  mill,  was  just 
fairly  getting  into  operation. 

Between  this  company  and  Mr.  Schumacher,  a  consolidation 
was  effected,  by  which  the  several  inilling  properties  of  both  were 
brought  together  under  one  corporation — The  F.  Schumacher  Mill- 
ing Company — with  an  authorized  capital  stock  of  tvv^o  millions  of 
dollars,  the  business  thus  being  carried  right  along  with  ])ut  a 
comparatively  slight  interruption;  the  officers  of  the  company 
being  Ferd.  Schumacher,  president;  I^ouis  Schunuicher,  vice- 
president;  F,  Adolph  Schumacher,  secretary;  Hugo  vSchumacher, 
treasurer. 


456 


AKKOX    AXD    SUMMIT    COUNTY. 


A  LBKRT  AI.LEN— son  of  Levi  and 
-^  Phtx?be  (Spicer)  Allen,  was  born 
in  Coventry,  March  12,  1827;  raised  on 
farm  with  common  school  education; 
on  attaining;  his  majority  learned 
the  millwrighting'  trade  at  which  he 
worked  about  nine  years,  in  1856  con- 
verting- the  Perkins  Woolen  Mill,  on 
Canal  street,  into  a  flouring-  mill  for 
J.  &  J.  Allen  &  Co.,  on  its  completion 
assuming  the  inanag-ement  of  the 
mill,  and  ablj-  filling' the  position  for 
about  ten  j'ears.  In  1867,  in  connec- 
tion with  Mr.  Alexander  H.  Coin- 
inins,  he  purchased  the  Stone  Mill, 
the  firm  of  Commins  &  Allen  doing- 
a  phenomenally  successful  business 
until  the  death  of  of  Mr.  C,  in  1880. 
the  firm  name  continuing-,  with  Mr. 
Allen  as  exectitor  of  Mr.  Commins' 
larg-e  estate,  until  it  was  nierg-ed  in 
The  F.  Schumacher  Milling-  Company, 
April  5,  1886.  of  which  company  Mr. 
Allen  was  a  director  and  the  vice  pres- 
ident until  the  time  of  his  death,  Sep- 
tember 25,  1888,  at  the  age  of  61  years,  6 
months  and  13  days.  Mr.  Allen, 
though  never  married,  enjoyed  the 
comforts  of  a  fine  home  on  Bowery 
street,  Avith  his  sister,  Miss  Cynthia 
Allen,  as  his  housekeeper,  rearing 
and  educating  his  niece.  Miss  Minnie 
E.  Allen,  now  wife  of  Henr3^  M.  Stone, 
Esq.,  of  Denver,  Col.  Mr.  Allen  was 
an  ardent  Republican  and  a  zealous 
metnber  of  the  Disciple  church,   in 


ALBEKT  ALLEX, 

his  will,  after  devising  20  per  cent  of 
his  large  estate  to  his  sister,  Cyn- 
thia, bequeathing  10  per  cent  of  the 
residue  (about  $10,000)  to  Hiram 
College;  10  per  cent  to  Christian 
Foreign  Missionarj^  Society,  and  10 
per  cent  jointly  to  the  General  Chris- 
tian Home  Missionarj'  Society  and 
the  First  Disciple  church,  of  Akron, 
besides  having  pledged  the  payinent 
of  $1,000  to  Buchtel  College. 


MINER  J.  ALLEN,— son  of  Levi 
and  Phcebe  (Spicer)  Allen,  was 
born  in  Coventry,  November  11,  1829; 
edixcated  in  township  district 
schools;  worked  at  farming  until 
1867,  w^hen  he  moved  to  Akron,  as 
traveling  and  local  grain  buyer  for 
Commins  &  Allen,  in  1884  taking  a 
one-fifth  interest  in  the  Akron  Mill- 
ing Company,  which  in  1886,  was 
merged  into  The  F.  Schumacher 
Milling  Compan}',  of  which  he  was 
a  stockholder  and  director.  June  1, 
1876,  Mr.  Allen  was  married  to  Miss 
Frances  C.  DeWolf,  daughter  of 
Samuel  and  Margaret  (King)  DeWolf, 
of  Vernon,  Trumbull  county,  who 
has  borne  him  four  children — Albert 
Mark,  born  August  26,  1877.  Miner 
Wicliffe,  February  24,  1879;  Margaret 
Phcebe,  February  11,  1882,  and  Chris- 
tina Cynthia,  August  22.  1883.  Politi- 
callj',  Mr.  Allen  has  been  a  life-long 
Republican,  and  active  in  public 
affairs,  but  not  an  office  seeker, 
though,  while  a  resident  of  Coventry 
Avas  several  years  a  member  and 
clerk  of  local  school  board.  Both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allen  are  devoted  mem- 
bers of  the  First  Disciple  church,  of 
Akron. 


THE    AMERICAN    CEREAL   COMPANY. 


457 


The  Gerirjaii  mill,  the  elevator  and  the  dr^'ing  house,  together 
Avith  the  office  building,  have  been  rebuilt,  a  second  larger  elevator 
•erected,  and  it  is  coniidently  expected  that  the  entire  burned  plant 
will  be  rehabilitated  in  the  near  future,  and  the  cereal  works  of 
"the  Schumacher  Milling  Company  maintain  their  standing  as  the 
very  largest  and  best  establishment  of  their  kind  in  the  world. 


JOHN  H.  HOWER,  born  in  Stark 
J  connty,  Februar}^  22, 1822;  educat- 
<?(1  in  common  schools  ;  from  18  to  30 
working-  on  farm  summers  and  teach- 
ing- winters  ;  five  years  in  trade  and 
two  years  in  pottery  business  in 
Doylestown,  Wayne  county  ;  orig-inal 
member  of  Excelsior  mower  and 
reaper  firm  at  Doylestown.  retaining 
his  interest  therein  until  1875  ;  one  of 
the  org-anizers  and  vice-president  of 
the  J.  F.  Seiberling  Company,  of 
Akron,  in  1865 ;  in  1879  bought  an 
interest  in  the  Turner  Oat  Meal  Mill, 
purchasing  Mr.  Turner's  interest  in 
1881,  and,  with  his  three  sons, 
forming  the  Hower  Company,  (fully 
described  elsewhere),  officered  as 
follows  :  John  H.  Hower,  president 
Hai^ey  Y.  Hower,  vice  president ;  M. 
Otis  Hower,  secretarj^ ;  Charles  H. 
Hower,  treasurer.  Mr.  Hower  is  also 
one  of  the  corporators  and  president 
of  the  newly  organized  Reed  and  Rat- 
tan Companj',  and  also  largely 
interested  in  several  of  the  other  lead- 
ing industries  of  the  cit3^  Married, 
in  1852,  to  Miss  Susan  Youngker,  of 
Doylestown,  three  children,  onlj-,  as 
^bove,  having  been  born  to  them. 
In  earljr  manhood  a  Democrat  in  pol- 
itics, Mr  H.  has  been  an  ardent 
Republican  since  the  organization  of 
that  party,  the  familj^  being  zealous 
members  of  the  F)nglish  Lutheran 
Church,  of  Akron,  of  which  Mr.  H. 
lias  officiated  as  trustee  for  many 
years. 


JOHN  H.  HOWER. 
* 

The  Hower  Oatmeal  Mills. — What  was  formerly  the  Pearl 
>[ill,  corner  of  Canal  and  Cherry  streets,  was  converted  into  an 
oatmeal  mill,  in  the  latter  seventies,  by  Mr.  Robert  Turner,  a  prac- 
tical miller,  the  present  proprietors,  the  Hower  Company,  succeed- 
ing to  the  business  in  1880.  The  officers  of  this  corporation  are: 
John  H.  Hower,  president;  Harvey  Y.  Hower,  vice  president;  M. 
Otis  Hower,  secretary,  and  Charles  H.  Hower,  treasurer,  the  three 
latter  being  sons  of  the  former.  Large  additions  have  been  made 
to  the  works,  increasing  the  capacity  from  about  2,00()  pounds,  in 
1880,  to  nearly  30,000  pounds  of  bulk  and  package  cereal  goods,  in 
1888,  for  which  a  rapidly  increasing  sale  is  being  found  in  every 
portion  of  the  United  States. 

American  Cereal  Company, — Since  the  foregoing  was  pub- 
lished in  serial  form,  most  of  the  principal   oatmeal   mills  of    the 


458 


AKKON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


United  States,  in  June,  1891,  united  in  the  organization  of  The 
American  Cereal  Company,  with  a  capital  of  $3,400,000,  the  F. 
Schumacher  Milling  Company  and  the  Hower  Company  selling 
their  entire  plants  to,  and  the  several  members  thereof  becoming 
stockholders  of,  the  new  company,  with  Mr.  Ferd.  Schumacher  as- 
its  president,  and  its  principal  office  in  Akron. 


Fifty-Fourth  Battalion,  O.  N.  G.,  starting  for  tlie  defense  of  Washinjiton, 

May,  1864.      View  of  North  side  of  Market  Street,  from  Main  to 

High,  the  Sale  Stable,  beyond  the  bridge  of  the  old 

P.  and  O.  Canal,  on  present  site  of 

Academy  of  Music. 


North  side  Market  Street,  from  Maih/o  Iligli.  18!tl.    Plu^to  b^-  Walter^.  Mantiij,!^. 


alter  B.  Manning.  q   i 


THE    MATCH    INDUSTRY. 


459 


The  Allen  Mills.— In  the  middle  forties  a  substantial  brick 
mill  was  erected  on  Canal  street,  south  of  Cherry,  for  the  manu- 
facture of  satinets,  by  the  Perkins  Company,  composed  of  the 
late  Simon  Perkins,  Jedediah  D.  and  Alexander  H.  Commins,  Jesse, 
Jacob  and  Hiram  Allen,  etc.  Some  years  later  this  plant  was  con- 
verted into  a  flouring  mill  by  the  Perkins  Company,  and  is  xiow 
ow^ned  and  operated  by  Allen  &  Co.,  composed  of  Frank  H.  Allen,  of 
New  York,  and  Victor  J.  Allen  and  William  A.  Palmer,  of  Akron. 
Supplied  w^ith  the  very  best  of  modern  machinery  and  processes, 
the  various  grades  of  family  and  bakers'  flour  manufactured  by 
this  firm,  find  a  ready  and  extensive  sale  both  at  home  and  in  New 
York  and  other  eastern  markets. 


MARTIN  HOUSTON  CRUMRINK, 
— born  in  Gettysburg-,  Pa.,  May  16, 
1824:,  when  six  months  old  removing 
with  parents  to  Carroll  county,  Ohio; 
educated  in  district  schools;  com- 
menced to  learn  trade  of  marble 
cutter  at  Cadiz,  Harrison  county;  in 
September,  1851,  going  to  Massillon 
and  finishing'  his  trade  with  Uhl, 
Myers  &  Co.  In  September,  1853, 
went  to  Wheeling,  Va.,  and  in  Janu- 
ary, 1854,  to  Salisburj^,  N.  C,  and 
lattjr  to  Milton,  where  he  did  the 
carving  and  lettering-  on  the  Patrick 
Henry  monument.  In  1857  he  re- 
turned to  Massillon,  and  with  Mr. 
Quinc5^  W.  Reeves,  bought  out  his 
old  employers,  the  firm  of  Reeves  & 
Crumrine,  continuing  until  June,  1863, 
when  Mr.  C.  sold  his  interest  to  his 
partner,  in  September  establishing- 
the  extensive  marble  and  granite 
w^orks  in  Akron,  which  he  has  since 
so  successfully^  conducted.  Januarj^ 
27, 1868,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Olive 
C.  Henry,  eldest  daughter  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Milton  W.  Henry,  of  Akron. 
They  have  five  children — Harriet  G., 
Josephine,  Henry  C,  Walter  R.  and 
Ralph    Milton.      Mr.   Crumrine    has 


MARTIN  HOUSTON   CRUMKINE. 


filled  the  position  of  Master,  in 
Akron  Lodge,  No.  83,  F.  and  A.  M., 
and  various  offices,  including-  two 
terms  as  Eminent  Commander  of 
Akron  Commandery,  No.  25,  Knights 
Templar. 


The  Seiberling  Milling  Company. — Capital  $200,CXX),  five-story 
brick  mill,  located  in  the  Sixth  ward,  on  the  site  of  the  old  Cuj^a- 
hoga  blast  furnace,  erected  in  1817.  It  is  first-class  throughout,  with 
a  capacity  of  1,000  barrels  of  flour  per  day.  The  officers  of  the  com- 
pany are:  President,  John  F.  Seiberling;  secretary,  Lucius  C. 
Miles;  treasurer,  Frank  A.  Seiberling. 

South  Akron  Flouring  Mill. — This  mill,  together  with  a 
sawmill,  at  the  head  of  the  canal  basin,  in  South  Akron,  is  now 
owned  and  operated  by  the  Brewster  Coal  Company,  as  a  custom 
feed  mill,  the  new  process  appliances,  for  manufacturing  flour, 
never  having  been  introduced.  It  is  nevertheless,  capable  of  doing 
good  work  in  the  particular  line  of  grinding  indicated,  and  is  a 
very  great  convenience  to  its  patrons. 

Friction  Matches. — In  the  boyhood  days  of  the  writer,  the 
only  mode  of  striking  light  for  candle,  pipe  or  cigar,  was  from  a 
live  coal  plucked  from  the  domestic  hearthstone,  or  from  a  splinter 
or  paper  lighter  ignited  therefrom,  while  the  "raking  up"  of  the 


460 


AKROX    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


South  side  of  East  Market  Street,  between  Main  and  High,  Tappan  Hall, 

Trussell  Block,  etc,.  185.5.— From  photo  liy  Akron's  pioneer 

photographer,  Samuel  J.  Miller. 


South  side  of  Market  Street,  Main  to  High,  1891.  -Photo  by  Walter  B.  Manning. 


THE  IMPROVEMENTS  OF  HALF  A  CENTURY.  461 

embers  in  the  old-fashioned  fire-place,  on  retiring  to  bed,  was  the 
only  assurance  of  a  warm  breakfast  in  the  morning.  And  the 
writer  well  remembers  the  first  device  in  the  match  line  ever 
invented,  which  consisted  of  slips  of  pine  about  three  inches  long 
and  one-eighth  of  an  inch  square,  one  end  coated  with  brimstone 
and  other  chemicals,  and  ignited  by  thrusting  the  prepared  end 
into  a  small  bottle  of  aquafortis,  the  price  of  the  little  round  box 
containing  the  bottle,  and  twenty-five  matches,  being  tw^enty-five 
cents— one  cent  a-piece. 

Next  came  "Lucifer"  matches,  thin  basswood  slips,  coated  at 
one  end  with  composition  to  be  ignited  by  drawing  through  a 
folded  piece  of  sand-paper.  These,  about  fifty  in  a  box,  retailed  at 
about  twelve  and  a  half  cents. 

Loco-Foco  Matches.— Next,  about  fift3'-five  years  ago,  came 
the  "Loco-Foco"  match,  for  the  manufacture  of  which,  in  Akron^ 
the  writer  claims  to  be  the  pioneer,  the  following  advertisement 
appearing,  vmder  date  of  May  19,  1838,  in  the  little  paper  published 
by  him  at  thattinae: 

"  Loco-Foco  Matches,  manufactured  b}^  S.  A.  Lane  &  Co.,  for  sale 
by  the  gross,  dozen  or  single  bunches.  Inquire  at  the  Buzzard 
office." 

The  operative  force  of  the  concern  was  one  man,  and  the 
"works"  y^eve  in  a  dismantled  12x15  blacksmith  shop,  where 
Assembly'  Hall  now  stands,  the  "Co."  being  Dr.  James  R.  Milti- 
more,  who,  with  his  wife,  ^vas  drowned  in  Lake  Brie,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  burning  of  the  steamer  Erie  on  the  afternoon  of  August 
9,  1841. 

As  a  contrast  to  the  present  lightning  mode  of  manufacture,  a 
brief  description  of  the  process  then  in  vogue  will  be  in  order.  It 
being  deemed  unsafe  for  any  tw^o  matches  to  come  in  contact  with 
each  other,  they  were  made  in  cards  or  combs  in  this  wise:  First, 
straight-grained  tw^o-inch  pine  plank,  after  being  smoothly  planed 
by  hand,  (there  Avere  no  planing  machines  in  those  days),  were 
saw^ed  into  lengths  of  five  inches.  Then,  b}'  a  fine  single-blade  cir- 
cular saw,  they  were  sliced  up  into  cards,  scant  eighth  of  an  inch 
thick.  Then  by  a  gang  of  eleven  fine,  nicelj^  adjusted  saws,  the 
ends  of  the  cards  in  question,  a  dozen  or  so  at  a  time,  w^ere  slit  into 
the  form  of  a  comb,  with  twelve  teeth  each,  about  two  inches  in 
length.  Then  the  cards  were  sawed  in  two  in  the  center,  leaving  a 
half  inch  back  to  each  comb.  Then  the  combs,  a  dozen  at  a  time,, 
w^ere  dipped  into  melted  brimstone,  and  afterwards,  each  separatel3% 
into  the  phosphorus  composition.  Now  for  the  packing.  Placing 
a  long  strip  of  paper,  three  inches  wide,  upon  the  packing  table, 
one  card  of  twelve  matches  was  placed  thereon  and  a  turn  made, 
then  another  card  and  so  on  until  twelve  cards,  or  144  matches, 
were  inchided  in  the  package.  CarefuUj"  folding  down  the  ends,, 
the  package,  called  a  "bunch,"  was  inclosed  in  a  printed  wrapjjer; 
twelve  bunches,  or  one  gross  of  matches,  placed  in  another  printed 
wrapper;  and  twelve  of  those,  or  a  great  gross,  in  still  another 
printed  wrapper,  when  the  matches  were  ready  for  the  market. 

The  matches  thus  prepared  sold  at  the  following  prices: 
Great  gross,  144  bunches,  of  144  matches  each,  $7.00;  small  gross, 
12  bunches  of  144  each,  $1.00;  single  bunch,  144  matches,  one- 
shilling. 


462 


AKKOX    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


West  side  of  Howard  vStreet,  from  Market  to  Stone  Mill  Barn,  present  site  of 
Cereal  Mills.— From  photo  by  B.  F.  Battels,  1870. 


West  side  Howard   Street,  from  Market   to   Mill.  1" 
From  photo  \}y  Geo.  E.  Hitchcock. 


SOME    EARLY    MERClIAxNTS. 


463 


MORRILL  T.  CUTTER,  born  in 
Jeffrey,  N.  H.,  October  6,  1826; 
raised  on  farm  ;  educated  in  com- 
mon schools ;  came  to  Akron  in 
November,  1844,  engaging-  in  the 
shoe  business  with  his  vincle,  John 
M.  Cutler,  Akron's  pioneer  read}- 
made  boot  and  shoe  dealer ;  a 
5'ear  later  becoming  a  partner ; 
in  1853  formed  a  partnership  with 
the  late  Charles  R.  Howe,  which 
continued  17  years,  the  firm  of  Cut- 
ter &  Howe,  in  1865,  erecting  the 
three  storj^  brick  block  on  Howard 
street,  now  occupied  by  Mr.  C;  in 
1873,  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
Whitney,  Glasser  &  Co.,  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes 
in  Cleveland ;  in  1880,  returned 
to  Akron  and  resumed  bvisiness 
at  the  old  stand,  where  he  still  con- 
tinues. Mr.  Cutter  is  a  fine  instru- 
mental musician,  not  only  plaj^ing 
with  several  of  the  earlier  bands, 
but  also  for  many  j-ears,  conducting 
that  most  excellent  orchestra 
known  as  "Cutter's  Quadrille 
Band."  As  a  member  of  Co.  F, 
164th,  O.  V.  L.  Mr.  C.  served  10(J  days 
before  Washington,  in  1864,  at  the 
request  of  Col.  John  C.  Lee,  while 
in  Cleveland,  organizing  a  regi- 
mental band  from  members  of  the 
several  companies,  and  is  now  a 
member  of  Bucklej^  Post,  No.  12, 
G.   A.  R.     In   June,  1847.  Mr.  Cutter 


MORRILL  T.  CUTTER, 
was  married  to  Miss  Percis  Ann  Mon- 
roe,   of  Chicopee,  Mass.,  who  died  No- 
vember 23,  18iXJ. 


LORENZO    HALL. 

T  ORENZO  HALL,— son  of  Richard 
-L^  and  Sally  (Hurlburt)  Hall,  was 
born  at  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  February 
22, 1812;  common  school  education;  at 


15,  at  solicitation  of  directors  taking 
charge  of  school  in  his  own  district, 
and  teaching  elsew^here  five  or  six 
years ;  followed  farming  on  farm 
ceded  to  his  great  great  grandfather 
in  1639;  in  1836  came  to  Akron,  sell- 
ing, goods  for  his  brother,  Mr.  P.  D. 
Hall,  in  store  and  bj^  peddling  in 
neighboring  country  towns; 
returned  to  Connecticut  (the  entire 
distance  on  horseback),  and  carried 
on,  farm  until  the  death  of  his 
brother  Orlando,  in  1858,  when  he 
became  his  successor  in  the  mer- 
cantile business  here,  as  a  partner 
in  the  well-known  firm  of  Hall 
Brothers,  the  oldest  continuous 
business  house  in  Akron,  founded 
by  Mr.  P.  D.  Hall  in  May,  1835.  March 
26,  1846,  Mr.  Hall  was  married  to  Misa 
Mary  J.  Hubbell,  of  Trumbull,  Conn. 
They  have  two  sons — Frank  L.,  born 
July  5, 18.50,  now  a  member  of  the  law 
firm  of  De  Forrest,  Weeks  &  Co.,  in 
New  York  Cit}*,  and  Philander  D., 
born  Januarj^  10,  1854,  now,  after  sev- 
eral years  spent  in  travel  in  Europe 
and  California,  filling  his  father's 
place  in  the  store.  Mr.  Hall,  through 
impaired  circulation  of  blood,  being 
obliged  to  submit  to  the  amputation 
tion  of  his  right  foot.  May  1,  1887. 


464  AKK'ON    AXD    SUMMIT    COUNTY. 

Iti  the  light  of  the  present  prices,  one  cent  or  less  per  hundred^ 
at  retail,  the  prices  above  named  would  seem  rather  steep,  but 
Avhen  the  labor  of  preparing  the  cards,  the  slow  process  of  dip- 
ping, and  the  extra  care  in  wrapping  and  packing,  coupled  with 
the  fact  that  phosphorus  (now  worth  perhaps  75  cents  per  pound)- 
then  cost  $7.50,  it  is  little  wonder  that  the  proprietors  of  Akron's 
pioneer  match  factory,  never  became  luillionaires,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, abandoned  the  business  as  nonprofitable  in  about  one  year^ 

The  Loco-foco  Party. — Apropos  of  the  loco-foco  match,  a 
word  as  to  how  the  Democratic  part3'  of  fiftj^  years  ago  came  to 
be  called  the  "Loco-Foco  Part3","  uiay  be  of  interest.  Tamman}" 
Hall,  then  as  now,  was  the  headquarters  of  the  Democratic  clubs 
and  societies  of  New  York  City.  Then,  as  no\v,  too,  there  v^rere 
.  factions,  schisms  and  exciting  controversies  among  the  faithful, 
for  political  and  official  ascendency.  One  night,  in  the  midst  of  a 
heated  controversy,  Avhen  an  important  vote  w^as  about  to  be 
taken,  the  part}^  that  was  about  to  be  worsted,  by  a  preconcerted 
movement  turned  off  all  the  gas,  leaving  the  crowd  in  total  dark- 
ness, and  unable  to  proceed  with  the  business  in  hand.  At  this- 
juncture  a  member  of  the  opposite  faction,  w^ho  happened  to  have 
a  bunch  of  loco-foco  matches  in  his  pocket,  struck  a  light,  turned 
on  the  gas,  and  the  business  of  the  meeting  went  on.  The  suc- 
cessful faction  Vk^ere  thenceforth  called  Loco-Focos — the  appel- 
lation finally  attaching  to  the  entire  party,  to  w^hich  it  tenaciously" 
clung  for  over  twenty  years. 

The  Barber  Match  Company. — But  it  was  left  to  Mr.  George 
Barber,  an  early  resident  of  Middlebury  to  found  w^hat  has  since 
grown  to  be,  not  only  one  of  Akron's  most  prosperous  and  profit- 
able industries,  but  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  complete 
establishments  of  its  kind  in  the  United  States.  Mr.  Barber 
commenced  making  matches  in  1845,  in  a  small  barn  in  Middlebury ,^ 
later,  after  several  removals,  occupying  the  old  Raw^son  &  Goodale 
woolen  factory,  on  the  site  of  the  present  woolen  and  felt 
works  in  the  Sixth  ward.  These  matches  were  what  w^ere  known 
as  the  block  or  split  match,  the  splitting,  as  well  as  the  dipping, 
being  done  by  hand.  It  was  pretty  "hard  sledding"  the  first  few^ 
years,  there  then  being  no  railroad  communication  with  the  outer 
w^orld.  But  labor-saving  devices  were  invented,  railroads  were 
built,  a  demand  created,  additions  were  made  to  the  plant  from 
time  to  time,  and  later  on,  under  the  inspiration  of  the  son,  Mr. 
Ohio  C.  Barber,  the  Barber  Match  Company  was  formed  and  the 
works,  in  1871,  removed  to  Akron,  proper,  on  the  w^est  side  of 
South  Main  street,  the  present  plant  covering  something  over  five 
acres  of  land,  with  over  100,000  feet  of  floorage,  giving  emploj^ment 
to  from  450  to  500  men,  boys  and  girls,  and  with  a  daily  mechan- 
ical and  operative  capacity  of  nearly  100,000,000  of  matches. 

The  Diamond  Match  Company. — The  Barber  Match  Companj^ 
is  now  a  component  part  of  the  larger  corporation — The  Diamond 
Match  Company — with  other  quite  extensive  w^orks  in  different 
sections  of  the  country,  of  Avhich  company,  with  its  principal 
offices  in  Chicago,  Mr.  Ohio  C.  Barber  is  president,  and  Mr.  John 
K.  Robinson,  also  a   native  Akronian,  is  treasurer  and  manager. 

The  Webster,  Camp  &  Lane  Machine  Company. — In  May, 
1848,  the  late  George  D.  Bates,  Charles  Webster  and  James  B.  Tap- 
lin,  under  the  firm  name  of  G.  D.  Bates  &  Co.,  started  the  "Globe 


INDUSTRIAL   AKRON. 


465 


Foundry,"  on  the  southeast  corner  of  North  Main  and  Tallmadge 
streets,  and  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  stoves  and  milling  and 
other  machinery,  on  a  small  scale.  Two  or  three  years  later  Mr. 
Bates  retired,  Webster  and  Taplin  continuing  until  1855,  when  Mr. 
William  Camp  was  added  to  the  company,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Webster,  Taplin  &  Co.,  this  firm,  a  year  or  two  later,  engaging,  to 
a  limited  extent,  in  the  production  of  the  "Akron  Mower,"  being 
therefore  the  pioneers  in  what  has  since  grown  to  be  Akron's 
greatest  industry. 


pHARLES  WEBSTER,  —  born  in 
^  Litchfield,  Conn.,  September  3, 
1810 ;  when  three  jears  old  moved 
with  parents  to  the  city  of  Hartford  ; 
educated  in  city  public  schools ; 
learned  the  carpenter's  trade  ;  after 
working  several  years  in  Connecticut 
and  Massachusetts,  came  to  Ohio  in 
1835,  settHng  in  Akron,  working'  at 
trade  and  millwrighting  on  several 
of  Akron's  early  flouring  mills  until 
1848,  when,  in  connection  with  the  late 
George  D  Bates,  and  Mr.  James  B. 
Taplin,  he  started  the  Globe  Foundry 
and  Machine  Shop,  since  incorpora- 
ted into  the  Webster,  Camp  &  Lane 
Machine  Company,  in  which  Mr. 
Webster  was  a  large  stockholder,  and 
for  many  years  its  president.  While 
active  in  all  public  enterprises.  Mr. 
Webster  was  never  an  office  seeker, 
though  twice  honored  with  a  seat  in 
the  village  council— 1849  and  1862. 
April  30,  1833,  Mr.  Webster  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Martha  A.  Atherton,  of 
Hartford,  Conn.,  eight  children  hav- 
ing been  born  to  them,  one  of 
whom,  onlj^,  is  now  living — Isabella 
P.,  born  in  Akron.  June  15.  1838,  and 
married  September  20,  1865,  to  the  late 
Alden  Gage,  cashier  of  the  Bank  of 
Akron,  who  died  November  12,  1875, 


CHARLES  WEBSTER. 

their  only  child,  Martha,  dying  at 
eight  months  of  age.  Mrs.  Gage  was 
again  married,  to  Col.  David  W. 
Thomas,  December  18,  1885.  Mr. 
Webster  died  September  15.  ISIX),  aged 
80  years  and  11  daj^s. 


In  1860  the  shops  were  destroyed  by  fire,  after  which  Mr.  Tap- 
lin retired,  selling  his  interest  to  Mr.  Lorenzo  B.  Austin,  the  firm 
name  then  being  changed  to  Webster,  Camp  &  Co.  In  January, 
1869,  Mr.  Julius  S.  Lane  took  an  interest  in  the  business,  and  on 
February  1st,  1869,  a  stock  company  was  organized  under  its 
present  title — The  Webster,  Camp  &  Lane  Machine  Company — 
with  an  authorized  capital  of  $1(K),000,  of  which  company  for  man}^ 
years  Mr.  Charles  Webster  was  president;  Mr.  William  T.  Allen, 
treasurer;  Mr.  Sanford  M.  l^urnham,  secretary;  and  Mr.  Julius  S, 
Lane,  superintendent. 

In  addition  to  general  inachinery,  a  specialty  is  made  of  Lane's- 
Band  Friction  Hoist,  and  other  heavy  machinery  for  mining  and 
haulage  purposes.  The  present  officers  of  the  company  (1891)  are: 
John  McGregor,  president  and  treasurer;  Stephen  H.  Pitkin,  secre- 
tary and  general  manager,  and  James  W.  Chamberlin,  superin- 
tendent.    Men  employed,  150  to  200. 

Taplin,  Rice  &  Company. — Mr.  James  B.  Taplin,  the  founder 
of  this  company,  a  carpenter  and  millwright,  settled  in  Akron  in. 

30  ^ 


466 


AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


1834.  On  withdrawring  from  the  firm  of  G.  D.  Bates  &  Co.,  as 
above  stated,  in  connection  with  Mr.  Alvin  Rice,  a  practical 
moulder,  and  Mr.  Hobart  Ford,  under  the  firm  name  of  Taplin, 
Rice  &  Ford,  in  1861  established  similar  w^orks  a  short  distance 
south  of  the  Union  Depot  fronting  on  Broadway.  In  1867  a  stock 
company  Tvas  organized,  and  in  addition  to  general  machinery, 
mill  gearing,  etc.,  began  the  manufacture  of  stoves,  their  extensive 
variety  of  cooking  and  parlor  stoves,  ranges,  heaters,  etc.,  finding  a 
ready  market  in  every  portion  of  the  great  West,  several  consign- 
ments of  their  celebrated  Climax  heaters  having  recently  been 
made  to  China.  Present  officers  (1891):  James  B.  Taplin,  presi- 
dent, and  Henry  Perkins,  secretary  and  treasurer.  Capital  stock 
$150,000.     Hands  employed,  150. 


HENRY  PERKINS,  -born  in  Akron, 
April  8,  1842;  educated  in  Akron 
public  schools;  in  1861  entered  the 
service  as  clerk  under  his  brother. 
Captain  Simon  Perkins,  Jr.,  assistant 
quartermaster  for  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  following  the  fortunes 
of  the  armj^  through  the  entire  war. 
On  his  return  home  served  as  clerk 
in  charge  of  the  Lake  Shore  office  of 
the  Cleveland  Rolling  Mill  Company 
for  five  years;  in  1870,  became  secre- 
tary and  treasurer  of  Taplin,  Rice  & 
Co.,  whose  extensive  Machine  and 
Stove  works  are  elsewhere  noticed, 
both  of  which  positions  he  still 
holds.  Mr.  Perkins  is  prominent  in 
Masonic  circles,  joining  Akron 
Lodge  No.  83.  F.  &  A.  M.,  in  1872;  in 
1877,  became  a  charter  member  of 
Adoniram  Lodge  No.  517,  aftCKwards 
becoming  its  Master;  in  1875  became 
a  Roj^al  Arch  Mason  and  member  of 
Washington  Chapter  No.  25;  in  1877 
became  a  Knight  Templar  in  Akron 
Commanderj'  No.  25;  entered  the 
Grand  Commandery  in  1884,  and 
elevated  to  the  highest  office  in  its 
gift;  in  1878,  took  the  several  degrees 
in  the  A.  and  A.  S.  Rite,  Ohio  Consis- 
tory, and  is  now  a  member  and  min- 
ister of  the  State  of  the  Northern 
Ohio   Consistory.      October  20,    1868, 


HENRY   PERKINS. 

Mr.  Perkins  was  married  to  Miss 
Emma  White,  of  Cleveland,  then  and 
now  one  of  the  finest  and  most  popu- 
lar singers  in  Northern  Ohio.  They 
have  one  child,  Miss  Lillian  White 
Perkins,  born  Januarj^  12,  1868,  still 
residing  with  her  parents. 


The  Buckeye  Reaper  and  Mower  WorKvS. — Largely  through 
the  influence  of  Hon.  John  R.  Buchtel,  a  native  of  what  is  now 
Summit  county,  a  branch  of  the  already  popular  Buckeye  Works 
of  C.  Aultman  &  Co.,  of  Canton,  was  established  in  Akron  in  1864, 
but  under  the  separate  and  distinct  corporate  title  of  Aultman, 
Miller  &  Company,  of  which,  at  the  present  time  (1891),  Hon. 
George  W.  Crouse  is  president;  Hon.  Lewis  Miller,  general  super- 
intendent; Ira  Miller,  secretary;  and  R.  H.  Wright,  treasurer. 

These  works,  w^ith  a  floorage  capacity  of  over  700,000  square 
feet,  are  among  the  very  best  class  in  the  w^orld,  the  most  of  the 
devices  from  which  their  various  machines  are  made  being  the 
invention  of  Superintendent  Miller  himself.  These  works  employ 
an  average  of  800  men  and  have  turned  out  this  year  (1891)  10,000 


HARVESTING   MACHINERY. 


467 


self-binder  harvesters,  and  16,000  self-rakes,  droppers  and  mowers — 
26,000  machines  in  all.  The  capital  stock  of  the  company  is  $1^ 
000,000.     Surplus  $1,500,000. 


IRA  M.  MILLER,— eldest  son  of 
A  Lewis  and  Mary  V.  (Alexander) 
Miller,  was  born  in  Canton,  Ohio, 
August  24:,  1856,  removing-  with 
parents  to  Akron  in  18<>4 ;  educated 
in  the  public  schools  of  Canton  and 
Akron  and  at  the  Ohio  Wesleyan 
University,  at  Delaware  ;  after  grad- 
uating- from  the  latter  institution, 
entered  the  employ  of  Aultman,  Mil- 
ler &  Co..  manufacturers  of  the  cele- 
brated Buckeye  mowers  and  har- 
vesters, fully  described  elsewhere, 
and  of  which  extensive  corporation 
he  is  now  the  able  and  efficient  sec- 
retar3%  being  also  pecuniarily  and 
officially  connected  with  several 
other  business  enterprises  in  Akron 
and  elsewhere.  October  19,  1886,  Mr. 
Miller  was  married  to  Miss  Cora 
Wise,  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Jennie 
S.  (Stadden)  Wise,  of  Akron.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Miller  are  the  parents  of  one 
daughter — Margaret,  born  July  20, 
1887^  Family  residence,  605  East 
Market  street. 


JOHX   FRANKLIxX  SEIBERLING. 

JOHN  FRANKLIN  SEIBERLING, 
J  —born  in  Norton,  March  10,  183-1 ; 
•educated  at  Western  Star  Academy  ; 
1856-58  druggist  in  Akron;  1858,  '59, 
while  running  saw  mill  in  Norton, 
invented     "Excelsior"    mower     and 


IRA  M.  MILLER. 


reaper,  with  "dropper"  attachment; 
in  1861  established  works  at  Doyles- 
town  (still  running) ;  in  1861  started 
similar  works  in  Massillon  ;  in  1865 
organized  the  J.  F.  Seiberling  Coin- 
panj^  in  Akron  ;  withdrawing  from 
coinpany,  in  1869  commenced  build- 
ing his  now  popular  "F)mpire" 
machine ;  in  1871  organized  the 
Akron  Straw  Board  Company,  in  the 
Sixth  ward,  successfully  conducting 
same  until  its  sale  in  1887;  in  1883 
organized  the  Seiberling  Milling 
Company,  erecting  the  six-stor}^ 
brick  flouring  mill  described  else- 
where ;  in  1889  exchanged  Acad- 
emy of  Music  block  for  controlling 
interest  in  Akron  Electric  Street 
Railwaj^  ;  has  numerous  other 
industrial  miningandfinancial  inter- 
ests in  Akron  and  elsew^here ;  has 
been  a  member  of  School  Board,  and 
for  many  years  trustee  of  English 
Lutheran  Church,  and  is  among  the 
most  benevolent  and  liberal  of 
Akron's  many  public-spirited  citi- 
zens. Married  September  6,  1859,  to 
Miss  Catharine  L.  Miller,  of  Norton. 
They  are  the  parents  of  nine  children, 
all  living  :  Anna  E.,  Frank  A., 
Charles  W.,  Cora  D.,  Hattie  M.,  Grace 
I.,  Kittie  G.,  Mary  B.  and  Ruth. 


Empire  Reaper  and  Mower  Works.— In  1865  works  of  the  J. 
F.  Seiberling  Company  were  established  in  Akron,  opposite  Union 
Depot,  for  the  manufacture  of  Excelsior  reapers  and  mowers,  the 


468 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY, 


special  feature  of  the  reaper  being  the  self-dropping  attachment 
invented  by  Mr.  John  F.  Seiberling  in  1858.  Kxtensive  shops  were 
erected  and  a  large  business  established,  but  during  the  financial 
crisis  of  1873  the  affairs  of  that  corporation  passed  into  the  hands 
of  assignees  for  liquidation. 

Some  time  previously,  however,  Mr.  Seiberling  had  with- 
dra^vn  from  the  company,  and  had  commenced,  on  a  small  scale, 
the  manufacture  of  an  improved  machine  of  his  OAvn  invention, 
which  he  called  the  "Bmpire," 

On  the  sale  of  the  old  Excelsior  plant,  Mr.  Seiberling  became 
the  purchaser,  christened  it  the  "  Empire  Works,"  organized  a 
stock  company  under  the  title  of  J.  F.  Seiberling  Sc  Co.,  with  John 
F.  Seiberling  as  president;  Frank  A.  Seiberling,  secretary  and 
treasurer;  and  Charles  W.  Seiberling,  superintendent;  capital 
stock  $600,000.  The  company  employ  300  hands,  and  have  this 
year  (1891)  turned  out  7,000  machines,  about  half-and-half  self- 
binding  harvesters  and  mow^ers. 

TEREMIAH    A.    LONG,  —  born    at 

)  Albany,  N.  Y.,  April  10,  1837; 
common  school  education  ;  at  14 
clerk  in  lumber  j'ard  ;  1855  came  to 
Akron,  teaching-  school  eleven  terms, 
with  varied  employment  dtxring 
vacations ;  1864  to  1869  book-keeper 
for  Aultman,  Miller  &  Co.  ;  1869 
appointed  secretary  and  treasurer  of 
Akron  Iron  Company,  which  has 
quadrupled  its  capital  and  business 
vinderhis  management;  is  also  vice- 
president  of  the  Falls  Rivet  and 
Machine  Company,  at  Cuyahoga 
Falls.  Though  not  himself  in  the 
army,  Mr.  Long  was  active  and 
liberal  in  securing  enlistments,  pro- 
viding bounties  for  recruits  and  fur- 
nishing sanitary  supplies  during 
the  late  war.  Republican  in  politics, 
though  not  an  office-seeker,  Mr. 
Long,  besides  vservice  on  Central 
Committee,  was  Akron's  first  city 
clerk,  1865-67,  and  member  of  City 
Council  from  1867  to  1869.  November 
10,1859,  Mr.  Long  was  married  to  Miss 
Mary  A.  Falor,  daughter  of  the  late 
George  A.  Falor,  one  of  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  Coventry  township,  Mrs. 
Long  being  a  most  active  promoter 
of  all  the  benevolent  enterprises  of 
the  day.  Thirteen  children  have  been 


JEREMIAH  A.  LONG. 

born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Long,  seven  of 
whoin  are  living:  Ludie  B.,  married 
to  Henry  A.  Robinson  December  18, 
1889  ;  Celia  R.,  married  to  Harry  J. 
Stambaugh,  March  23,  1887;  Binnie 
A.,  John  H.,  George  A.,  Marj^  A.  and 
Lloyd  G. 


The  Akron  Rolling  Mill. — These  works,  owned  and  operated 
by  the  Akron  Iron  Company,  in  the  south  part  of  the  city,  were 
established  in  1866.  The  present  officers  (1891)  are  Hon.  Lewis 
Miller,  president;  Jeremiah  A.  Long,  secretary  and  treasurer; 
Capt.  Aaron  P.  Baldwin,  general  superintendent,  and  Edward  B. 
Miller,  assistant  superintendent.  These  mills  employ  some  400 
men  and  are  run  day  and  night,  the  excellence  of  their  product  for 
commercial  and  agricultural  purposes,  creating  for  it  a  ready  sale, 
while  their  great  specialty,  hot  polished  shafting,  has  attained  a 
high  degree  of  popularity  among  machinists  and  manufacturers. 
Capital  stock  $400,000. 


THE    RUBBEK    GOODS   TRADE. 


469 


The  Akrox  Rubber  Works. — In  1870  the  manufacture  of  fire 
hose  and  other  rubber  goods  was  commenced  in  Akron  by  Dr. 
Benjamin  F.  Goodrich,  Harvey  W.  Tew  and  others,  the  com- 
pany being  incorporated  in  1880,  under-  the  title  of  the  B.  F. 
Goodrich  Company,  Avith  a  capital  of  $200,000,  since  increased 
to  $750,000.  In  the  meantime  the  original  works,  located  on  Rub- 
ber street,  west  of  South  Main  street,  south  of  the  Ohio  Canal 
basin,  have  been  greatly  enlarged,  and  the  manufacture  of  fine 
hard  rubber  goods  added  to  the  business,  under  the  separate 
corporate  name  of  the  Goodrich  Hard  Rubber  Company,  with  a 
capital  of  $300,000.  Officers  of  the  former  company:  George  T. 
Perkins,  president;  George  W.  Crouse,  vice  president;  Richard  P. 
Marvin,  Jr.,  secretary;  Henry  C.  Corson,  treasurer  ;  Frank  H. 
Mason,  superintendent;  of  the  latter  company,  George  T.  Perkins, 
president  ;  Henry  C.  Corson,  vice  president  and  treasurer ; 
Richard  P.  Marvin,  Jr.,  secretary;  George  Pellinger,  superin- 
tendent. About  700  skilled  Avorkmen  are  employed  and  the  quality 
•of  the  goods  turned  out  is  second  to  none  manufactured  in  the 
United  States. 


DR.  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN 
GOODRICH.— born  in  Ripley, 
N.  Y.,  Novenibipr  4,  1841  ;  educated  in 
schools  of  Fredonia.N.  Y.,  and  Austin- 
biirg-,  O.;  graduated  at  Western  Medi- 
cal Colleg'e,  Cleveland,  February,  1861; 
entered  the  army  as  hospital  steward 
of  9tli  N.  Y.  V.  C;  promoted  to  assist- 
ant surg^eon  in  Spring  of  1862,  serving- 
till  September,  1864,  part  of  time  in 
charge  of  hospital  at  Aquia  Creek  ; 
18(55  engaged  in  real  estate  business 
in  New  York  City  ;  1870,  with  H.  W. 
Tew,  of  Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  established 
first  rubber  factory  west  of  Allegheny 
Mountains  at  Akron,  under  firm 
name  of  B.  F.  Goodrich  &  Co.;  June, 
1880,  stock  company— the"  B.  F.  Good- 
rich Comi)any" — was  organized  with 
Dr.  Goodrich  as  president,  Alanson 
Work,  vice  president,  and  Col.  George 
T.  Perkins,  secretary  and  treasurer ; 
later  a  second  company  for  the 
manufacture  of  hard  rubber  goods 
being  organized,  styled  the  "Good- 
rich Hard  Rxibber  Company,"  with 
the  Doctor  also  as  its  president.  [See 
history  of  works  elsewhere].  Dr. 
Goodrich  was  tuarried  to  Miss  Mary 
Marvin,  daughter  of  Judge  Richard 
P.  Marvin,  of  Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  Nov- 
ember 4,  1869,  and  died  at  Manitou 
Springs,  Col.,  August  3,  1888.  He 
was  an  intelligent  and  public-spirited 
citizen   and    member  of  Akron   City 


DR.  BENJAMIX    FRANKLIN    GOODRICH. 

Council  for  the  years  1880,  '81,  the 
first  year  as  its  president.  Dr.  Good- 
rich was  the  father  of  three  children 
—Charles  C,  born  August  ,3  1871, 
now  in  Harvard  College;  Isabella, 
pvtpil  in  Miss  Porter's  School,  Farm- 
ington,  Conn.,  and  David  M.,  a  pupil 
in  St.  Paul's  School,  Concord,  N.  H,, 
Mrs.  Goodrich,  at  present,  residing  in 
Cambridge,  Mass. 


Akron  Knife  Works. — As  the  demand  for  reapers  and  mow- 
ers increased,  and  their  manufacture  became  a  leading  industry  in 
the  United  States,  separate  establishments  for  the  manufacture  of 
knives,  sickles,  guard  plates,  sections,  spring  keys,  etc.,  became  a 
necessity,  resulting  m  the  founding  in  Akron,  in  1868,  by  the  Whit- 
man    &     Miles    Manufacturing    Company,    of    extensive     shops 


470 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


COL.  A.  L.  CONGER 


MRS.  A.  L.  CONGER. 


pOL.  ARTHUR  LATHAM  CONGER— born  in  Boston,  Ohio,  February  19. 
^  1838;  common  school  education;  in  boyhood  worked  on  farm  and  in 
brick-yard;  boated  on  canal  two  years;  taught  school  two  years;  July,  1862, 
enlisted  in  Company  G,  115th,  O.  V.  I.,  on  organization  being-  elected  second 
lieutenant,  and  successively  promoted  to  first  lieutenant  and  captain^ 
serving  nearly  three  j^ears  in  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  mostly  on 
detached  duty,  assistant  adjutant  general  and  provost  marshal  at  Coving- 
ton, Ky.,  member  of  Court  Martial,  assistant  inspector  of  railroad  defenses 
and  recommended  by  Genertil  Thomas  as  captain  and  comtnissary  of  sub- 
sistence. At  close  of  war,  engaged  in  farming,  meantime,  November  1,  1864, 
having  been  inarried  to  Miss  Emily  Bronson,  youngest  daughter  of  Hiram 
Volney  and  Ruth  L.  (Ranney)  Bronson,  who  was  born  in  Peninsula,  Maj' 
7,  1843,  and  whose  portrait  is  herewith  given.  In  1866,  Captain  Conger  was 
elected  treasurer  of  Summit  County,  and  re-elected  in  1868,  ably  serving  four 
years,  also  officiating  as  treasurer  of  the  citj-  of  Akron  and  Portage  township, 
Mrs.  Conger  acting  as  deputy  during  entire  term;  in  1870  became  a  stock- 
holder and  director  in  the  Whitman  &  Miles  Manufacturing  Company,  and 
its  vice  president  in  1876,  and  is  now  president  of  the  Whitman  &  Barnes 
Manufacturing  Company,  the  most  extensive  manufacturers  of  reaper  and 
mower  knives  in  the  world;  is  president  of  the  Akron  Steam  Forge  Com- 
pany, of  the  Diamond  Plate  Glass  CoiTipan3r,  of  Kokomo  and  Elwood,  Ind., 
and  of  the  Hartford  City  (Ind.)  Glass  Coinpany,  andpecuniarilj^and  officiall}' 
connected  with  several  other  industrial  enterprises  in  Akron  and  elsewhere,. 
one  of  the  most  important  of  which  is  the  American  Tin  Plate  Compan}',  at 
Elwood,  Ind.,  organized  September  10,  1891,  with  a  capital  of  $300,0(X),  of  which 
Col.  Conger  is  the  president.  Col.  Conger  has  also  served  on  County,  State 
and  National  Republican  Coininittees,  twice  chairman  of  State  Central  Com- 
mittee, once  chairman  of  State  Executive  Committee  and  eight  j^ears  inem- 
ber  of  National  Committee;  is  also  prominent  in  Grand  Army  and  local 
military  circles,  being  department  coinmander  of  G.  A.  R.  in  1884,  and 
colonel  of  Eighth  Regiment,  O.  N.  G.,  from  July  1881  to  July  1888.  Colonel 
and  Mrs.  Conger  are  prominent  members  of  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Churclu 
Four  children  have  been  born  to  them  — Kenyon  Bronson,  Arthur  Latham 
Jr.,  and  Latham  Hubbard,  living,  and  Erastus  Irving,  deceased. 


CAR   AXLES,   BELTING,    ETC.  471 

south  of  the  Buckeye  Works,  as  a  branch  of  the  original 
separate  manufactory  of  that  class  of  goods,  the  Whitman 
«fe  Barnes  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Fitchburg,  Massachu- 
setts. Similar  branches  at  St.  Catharines,  Ontario,  Syracuse,  New 
York,  and  Canton,  Ohio,  are  all  consolidated  under  the  title  of  The 
Whitman  &  Barnes  Manufacturing  Company,  with  a  capital  of 
$2,000,000,  of  which  corporation  the  present  officers  are:  President, 
Colonel  Arthur  L.  Conger;  vice  president,  George  E.  Dana;  treas- 
urer, Charles  E.  Sheldon;  assistant  treasurer,  W.  W.  Cox;  chair- 
man, George  Barnes;  secretary,  James  Barnes;  general  superin- 
tendent, J.  A.  Bining.  The  Akron  Avorks  employ  about  200  men, 
its  annual  product,  amounting  to  over  half  a  million  of  dollars, 
finding  a  ready  market  in  every  part  of  the  United  States,  as  well 
as  in  England,  France,  Germany,  and  other  foreign  countries, 
where  American-built  reapers  and  mowers  are  being  rapidly  intro- 
duced. 

The  Akron  Steam  Forge  Company.— This  establishment, 
founded  in  1865,  was  at  first  located  at  the  southeast  corner  of 
South  Broadway  and  Quarry  streets,  but  being  cramped  for  room, 
w^as,  in  1873,  removed  to  its  present  location,  embracing  some  ten 
acres  of  land,  in  the  northeast  portion  of  the  city,  known  as  the 
"Old  Forge" — the  pioneer  ^vrought  or  bar-iron  manufactory  of 
the  Western  Reserve  being  established  at  that  point,  by  Asaph 
Whittlesey,  of  Tallmadge,  and  Aaron  Norton  and  William  Laird, 
of  Middlebury,  in  1817,  as  detailed  in  another  portion  of  this  work. 

The  present  company  wras  incorporated  in  1879,  with  an 
authorized  capital  of  $100,000.  In  addition  to  every  description  of 
general  forging,  Hammered  Car,  Truck,  and  Driving  Axles,  and 
Shafting,  are  specialties  of  this  concern,  for  the  prompt  produc- 
tion of  which  the  works  are  supplied  with  the  very  best  of  modern 
tools  and  machinery.  Present  officers:  Col.  Arthur  L.  Conger, 
president,  John  McGregor,  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  Charles 
Rawson,  superintendent.     Hands  employed,  40^ 

The  Akron  Belting  Company.— This  company  was  incorpor- 
ated in  1885,  its  present  officers  being:  George  W.  Crouse,  presi- 
dent; Alfred  M.  Barber,  vice  president;  Sumner  Nash,  secretary 
and  treasurer;  Webster  Thorp,  superintendent.  Leather  belting, 
from  the  lightest  used  to  the  very  heaviest  required,  all  of  superior 
quality,  is  manufactured  by  this  company.  Plant  90x  ICO  three- 
story  brick,  138,  140  North  Main  street.  Authorized  capital,  $35,- 
000.     Hands  employed,  22. 

The  Selle  Gear  Company, — This  is  a  comparatively^  new 
enterprise  in  Akron,  located  in  a  new  and  handsome  four-story 
brick  shop,  with  boiler  and  engine  room  attached  on  Chestnut 
Street,  between  South  High  and  Broadway,  a  few  rods  north  of 
the  Akron  Iron  Company's  rolling  mill.  Their  specialty  is  the 
manufacture  of  the  Selle  Platform  Truss  Gears,  for  omnibuses, 
three  spring  wagons,  trucks,  etc.,  a  large  sale  for  which  in  all  parts 
of  the  country  has  already  been  established.  The  company  was 
incorporated  September  25,  1886,  with  an  authorized  capital  of 
$100,000.  Present  officers:  George  W.  Crouse,  president;  Frank  M. 
Atterholt,  vice  president;  William  C.  Parsons,  secretary  and  treas- 
urer; Charles  Knapp,  superintendent.  Operating  force,  from  40 
to  50  men. 


472 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


WILLIAM  C.  PARSONS -son  of 
Kdward  and  Clementine  (Janes) 
Parsons,  was  born  in  Brimfield, 
-ttr  Portage  Co.,  February  1(|  1841.  In 
^'l^  boyhood  worked  on  iaxfi^  and  at- 
tended district  school,  on  approach- 
ing majority  entering  Western  Re- 
serve College,  at  Hudson,  froin  which 
he  was  graduated  in  1863,  meantime, 
in  1862,  under  Prof.  Young  as  cap- 
tain, and  Prof.  Cutler  as  first  lieu- 
tenant, with  some  thirty-five  or  forty 
other  students  enlisted  in  Company 
B,  85th  O.  V.  I.,  serving  four  months; 
in  September,  1864,  enlisted  in  Bat- 
tery A,  1st  O.  L.  A.,  being  afterwards 
assigned  to  Battery  E,  in  the  battle 
of  Nashville,  December,  1864,  serving 
as  No.  6  at  the  gun,  and  holding  the 
position  of  12th  corporal.  Soon  after 
the  battle,  the  battery  was  mounted 
as  Flying  Artillery  and  sent  to 
Chattanooga,  remaining  there  till 
June,  1865,  when  it  was  returned  to 
Ohio  and  mustered  out  of  service  at 
Camp  Dennison.  Before  graduation 
taught  one  year;  after  graduation 
taught  in  Institute  on  Brooklyn 
Heights,  Cleveland  ;  after  war,  tutor 
two  years  in  Western  Reserve  Col- 
lege. August  12,  1867,  accepted  posi- 
tion in  office  of  Aultman,  Miller  & 
Co.,  which  he  filled  20  years,  spending 
the  Summers  of  1873,  '74,  '75  in 
Gerinany,  in  interest  of  company. 
In  1887,  became  secretary  and  treas- 


WILLIAM  C.  PARSONS. 

urer  of  the  Selle  Gear  Company, 
elsewhere  noted,  which  he  is  success- 
fully managing.  December  31,  1868, 
Mr.  Parsons  was  married  to  Miss 
Sarah  Day  Sej'niour,  only  daughter 
of  Prof.  N.  P.  Seymour  of  Hudson, 
who  has  borne  hiin  six  children — 
Katharine  Seymour,  William  E., 
Harriet  Day,  Sarah  (dying  in  infancy) 
Charles  Seymour  and  Robert. 

The  Thomas  Phillips  Company. — The  manufacture  of  paper, 
all  rope  flour  sack  pg,per  and  flour  sacks  \sras  begun  in  Akron  by 
Thomas  Phillips  &  Co.,  on  West  Kxchange  street,  in  1872,  and  has 
grown  to  be  one  of  Akron's  most  important  and  successful 
industries.  The  present  company  was  incorporated  in  1887,  with 
an  authorized  capital  of  $150,000.  With  some  20,000  feet  of  floorage, 
and  with  the  very  best  of  paper  making  and  printing  machinery, 
every  description  of  paper  bags,  flour  sacks,  wrapping  papers, 
printed  complete,  in  plain  or  fancy  colors,  to  the  extent  of  about 
1,000  tons  per  annum,  are  made  here.  Number  of  hands  employed 
about  50.  Present  officers  (1891):  President,  George  W.  Crouse; 
secretary,  treasurer  and  general  manager,  Clarence  Howland. 
Though  entirely  destroyed  by  fire  February  18,  1891,  the  works 
"were  at  once  rebuilt,  and  it  is  now  the  largest  complete  establish- 
ment of  its  kind  in  the  world. 

Twine  and  Cordage  Works. — The  advent  of  the  twine-binder 
grain  harvester  having  created  an  immense  demand  for  the 
particular  kind  of  twine  used  therefor,  in  1885  the  Akron  Twine  and 
Cordage  Company  viras  organized,  and  suitable  works  erected  on 
Hill  street,  east  of  the  C,  A.  &  C.  and  x^.  Y.,  P.  &  O.  Railroads. 
While  binder  twine  is  the  specialty  of  these  works,  all 'other  kinds 
of  r(ipe  and  cordage  are  made,  both  for  the  trade  or  on  orders. 
Capital  stock  $100,000;  surplus  $20,000.  Spindles  run,  125;  hands 
employed,  85  to  100.  Present  officers:  George  W.  Crouse,  presi- 
dent; Ira  M.  Miller,  vice  president;  R.  H.  Wright,  secretary'  and 
treasurer. 


THE   VARNISH  TRADE. 


473 


pDWARD  GEORGE  KUBLER  — 
-L-^  born  in  Munich,  Germany,  Feb- 
ruarj-  26,  1846;  educated  at  Munich 
and  Xurnberg-,  Bavaria,  in  the  higher 
classes  of  the  Polytechnic  school. 
In  the  war  of  1866  enlisted  in  the 
army,  serving-  during-  the  war. 
In  August,  1869,  came  to  the  United 
States,  engaging  in  busineSvS  in 
New  York  City;  in  February,  1878, 
came  to  Akron,  and  started  what 
has  ever  since  been  known  as  the 
Akron  Varnish  Works,  six  months 
later  associating  with  himself,  Mr. 
J.  Martin  Beck.  This  is  one  of  the 
most  successfvil  of  Akron's  many 
prosperous  industries,  Mr.  Kubler 
looking  after  the  outside  interests  of 
the  concern.  Mr.  Kubler  is  also 
director  of  the  European  Department 
of  the  Gilson  Asphaltum  Company, 
of  St.  Louis.  Mo.,  of  which  himself 
and  Mr.  Beck  are  stockholders.  Mr. 
Kubler  is  in  possession  of  his  family 
record  since  1467,  the  successive  gen- 
erations of  the  family  all  being 
prominent  citizens  of  Southern  Ger- 
many, Mr.  Kubler  being  the  only  one 
that  has  ever  emigrated.  In  1873,  Mr. 
Kubler  was  married  to   Miss   Emili 


EDWARD  GEORGE   KUBLER. 

Dushard,  who  was  born  at  Henepin, 
111.,  April  16,  1848.  They  have  three 
sons  and  one  daughter,  the  family 
residing  in  Europe,  pending  the 
education  of  the  sons. 


J.    MARTIN    BECK. 

MARTIN  BECK,  — born  in  the 
town  of  Selb,  Bavaria,  Germanj', 
October  14,  1843  ;  at  14  entered  whole- 
sale grocery  and  drug  house  as  an 
apprentice,   serving   four  years,  not 


J. 


onl}-  without  compensation,  but  pay- 
ing over  $300  to  learn  the  business ; 
passing  a  regular  examination,  he 
came  to  the  United  States  and  to 
Akron,  in  August,  1862  ;  first  entered 
the  employ  of  M.  W.  Henrj^  &  Co.,  of 
which  firm  his  half-brother,  John 
Wolf,  was  a  partner ;  remained  six 
j^ears,  when  he  entered  the  service  of 
E.  I.  Baldwin  &  Co.,  of  Cleveland  for 
one  j^ear.  Being  in  rather  poor 
health,  went  to  Europe  in  the  Spring 
of  1869,  returning  to  Akron  in  the 
Fall,  entering  into  partnership  with 
John  Wolf  and  H.  J.  Church,  under 
the  firm  name  of  Wolf,  Church  & 
Beck,  which  relation  continued  until 
1878,  when  he  sold  out  to  his  partners 
and  forming  a  partnership  with  Mr. 
E.  G.  Kubler,  established  the  Akron 
Varnish  Works,  the  first  and  then 
the  only  works  of  the  kind  in 
Summit  countj^,  and  now  among  the 
most  prosperous  in  the  United  States. 
January  12,  1871,  Mr.  Beck  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Kate  J.  Buchtel,  daugh- 
ter of  William  Buchtel.  Esq.,  of 
Akron,  and  they  are  now  the  parents 
of  four  children — Williatn  B..  Edward 
M.,  Martha  Louise  and  Carl  F. 


The  Kubler  &  Beck  Varnish  Works. — In  1878  Messrs.  E. 
George  Kubler  and  J.  Martin  Beck  commenced  the  manufacture 
of  varnishes,  japans,  etc.,  of  every  variety  and  of  superior  quality, 


474  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

on  a  small  scale,  on  North  Bo\srery  street,  a  few"  years  later  build- 
ing extensive  brick  shops  on  West  State  street  where  they  are  now 
located,  the  firm  enjoying  a  lucrative  and  grow^ing  trade  in  every 
portion  of  the  United  States. 

The  King  Varnish  Company. — The  works  of  this  company,, 
established  in  1882,  are  located  in  a  handsome  six-story  brick 
block,  50x60  feet  in  size,  with  a  fire-proof  melting  house,  30x70, 
attached,  a  few  rods  north  of  West  Market  street,  on  the  Valley 
railway,  w^ith  a  frontage  on  Canal  street.  Standard  coach,  cabinet 
and  railway  varnishes,  japans,  dryers,  shellacs,  etc.,  of  all  grades 
and  qualities  demanded  by  their  rapidly  increasing  trade.  Work- 
ing capital,  $200,000.  President,  David  L.  King;  superintendent^ 
Andrew  M.  Armstrong. 

This  company,  meeting  with  financial  disaster,  made  an 
assignment  January  14,  1889,  the  .works  being  subsequently  pur- 
chased by  Hon.  David  R.  Paige,  who  associated  with  himself  Mr, 
John  H.  McCrum,  under  the  firm  name  of  D.  K.  Paige  &  Co.,  the 
ne^v  firm,  under  the  management  of  Mr.  McCrum,  now  (1891) 
enjo3^ing  a  high  degree  of  prosperity. 

The  Miller  Match  Company. — This  company  commenced 
the  manufacture  of  "Anti-Monopoly  Parlor  Matches"  in  1879,  in 
the  buildings  formerly  occupied  by  Mr.  Louis  Chevrier  for  the 
manufacture  of  chains,  west  of  the  B.  F.  Goodrich  Hard  Rubber 
works,  in  the  south  part  of  the  city.  The  company  was  incorpo- 
rated in  1885,  with  an  authorized  capital  of  $100,000.  It  is  sup- 
plied w^ith  modern  improved  machinery,  and,  its  products  being  of 
the  very  best,  it  is  doing  a  lucrative  business  which  is  being  rap- 
idly extended.  Present  officers:  Col.  Arthur  L.  Conger,  president; 
Harvey  F.  Miller,  secretary  and  treasurer;  S.  Sainuel  Miller,  super- 
intendent. 

The  Miller  Chain  Works. — In  1869,  a  chain  manufactory  was 
established  in  the  buildings  originally  erected  by  the  Akron  Barrel 
Company,  by  Mr.  Louis  Chevrier.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Chev- 
rier, in  1877,  the  works  were  operated  for  a  short  time  by  other 
parties,  w^ith  indifferent  success,  but  passing  into  the  hands  of  the 
present  company,  in  1879,  have,  by  the  introduction  of  modern 
methods,  been  made  a  grand  success,  their  wares  finding  a  ready 
sale  in  every  portion  of  the  country.  These  works  are  owned 
and  operated  by  the  Miller  Match  Company,  organized  as  above,- 
th^e  joint  establishment — matches  and  chains — giving  employ- 
ment to  over  100  hands.  [Since  the  above  was  published,  in 
1888,  both  the  Miller  Match  and  the  Chain  Works  have  been  sold 
to  the  Diamond  Match  Company,  and  the  w^orks  closed.] 

The  Baker  McMillen  Company,  successors  to  Baker,  McMil- 
len  &  Co.,  Ash  and  Bowery  streets,  established  in  1870;  incorpo- 
rated July  2,  1890;  capital,  $120,000.  This  company  manufactures 
enameled  knobs,  handles,  pail  woods,  clay,  ^vood  and  cob  smoking 
pipes,  etc.,  and  is  one  of  the  busiest  hives  of  industry  in  the  city, 
employing  from  85  to  100  hands,  and  turning  out  many  millions  of 
pieces  per  year,  the  pail-wood  machine  averaging  one  wood  per 
second,  and  others  in  proportion.  Directors:  John  C.  McMillen, 
president;  John  W.  Baker,  vice  president  and  manager;  John 
W.  Noble,  secretary  and  treasurer;  Charles  F.  Shutt,  superin- 
tendent; John  B.  Wright. 


THE   SEWER    PIPE    INDUSTRY. 


475 


Diamond  Fire  Brick  Works, — J.  Park  Alexander,  proprietor, 
Canal  street,  south  of  Market;  established  in  1866;  the  pioneer  fire 
brick  works  in  Northern  Ohio.  Mr.  Alexander  operates  under  a 
patented  invention  of  his  own,  in  the  use  of  ground  silicious  white 
'pebble  as  the  principal  ingredient  of  his  appropriately  named 
"Diamond  Fire  Brick,"  claiming  for  his  brick  immunity  from 
shrinkage,  and  greater  resistance  to  powerful  heat  than  can  be 
obtained  from  the  use  of  the  best  of  fire  clay  alone.  Hands 
employed  20.     Yearly  product  1,000,(XX)  brick. 

Akron  Fire  Brick  Company. — Works  105  Bank  street.  Sixth 
ward.  Established  in  1873  by  Byron  M.  Allison  and  Delos  Hart. 
Mr.  Hart  retiring  in  1877,  Mr,  Allison  continued  alone  until  incor- 
poration of  company,  March  30,  1882,  Standard  fire  brick,  special- 
ties, etc.  Capacity  of  works  10,000  per  day.  Capital  stock  $50,000. 
Officers:  C.  A,  Allison,  president;  B.  M,  Allison,  secretary,  treas- 
urer and  manager, 

THE  SEWER  PIPE  INDUSTRY, 

Vitrified  Sewer  Pipe, — One  of  the  most  extensive  and  impor- 
tant of  Summit  County's  past  and  present  industries,  is  the  manu- 
facture of  sewer  pipe,  a  brief  history  of  w^hich  is  as  follows:  In 
1847,  the  late  Edwin  H.  Merrill  and  his  brother,  Calvin  J,  Merrill, 
commenced  the  manufacture  of  stoneware,  bottles,  tobacco  pipes, 
etc,  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  Akron  Stonew^are  Company, 
on  Bank  street.  Sixth  ward,  afterwards  inventing  and  manufac- 
turing a  stone  pump,  which  attained  considerable  popularity  in 
those  early  days. 


DAVID  E.  HILL,— born  in  Gow- 
anda,  Cattaraug-us  county,  N. 
Y.,  May  25,  1825,  of  Eng-lish-Scotch 
Ancestry  ;  at  18  came  to  Middlebury  ; 
after  working  several  years  in  ma- 
chine shop,  with  others  engaged  in 
manufacturing  the  old-fashioned  fire 
engines  ;  1847  to  1849,  traveled  for 
McMillan  &  Irish,  manufacturers  of 
w^oolen  machinery,  in  the  Spring  of 
the  latter  year  becoming'  interested 
in  what  is  now  the  Akron  Sewer  Pipe 
Company,  the  pioneer  of  this  now 
large  industry  in  the  United  States, 
Mr.  H.  being  the  organizer  and  lead- 
ing spirit  of  the  American  Sewer 
Pipe  Co.,  with  an  annvial  output  of 
5,000  car-loads,  or  60.000  tons.  An 
original  anti-slavery  man,  Mr,  Hill 
has  been,  from  its  organization,  an 
earnest  member  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  active  in  public  affairs, 
from  the  age  of  21  being  almost  con- 
tinuously in  the  council  or  school 
board  of  the  old  village  of  Middle- 
bury  until  its  annexation  to  Akron, 
in  1872;  was  county  commissioner 
from- 1862  to  1868,  and  Sixth  ward 
member  of  Akron  city  council  four 
years— 1875,  '76,  '77,  '78,  June  5.  1848, 
Mr.  Hill  was  luarried  to  "Miss  Harriet 
Louisa  McMillan,  daughter  of  the 
late  C«l,  Reuben  McMillan,  who  has 
borne  him  three  children — David  W., 


DAVID  E.   HILL, 


born  March  15,  1850,  married  to  Miss 
Grace  Perkins  McCurdy,  of  Akron, 
September  6,  1877,  died  Januarj-  30, 
1880.  leaving  one  child,  Eva  C,  Hill ; 
Cora  F.,  born  July  10,  1852,  died  Feb- 
ruary 6,  1874 ;  and  Georg-e  R.,  whose 
portrait  and  biography  are  elsewhere 
given. 


476 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


In  1849,  the  late  Col.  Reuben  McMillan,  David  E.  Hill  and  Rob- 
ert Foster,  converted  the  famous  old  "Black  Mill"  into  pottery 
works,  under  the  firm  name  of  Hill,  Foster  &  Co.  In  1851,  Mr. 
Foster  retired,  being  succeeded  by  Edwin  H.  and  Calvin  J.  Merrill 
and  Mr.  Hezekiah  Camp,  the  firm  name  being  changed  to  Hill, 
Merrill  &  Co.,  this  firm  also  engaging  in  the  manufacture  of  the 
smaller  sizes  of  sexangular  water  pipe,  formed  in  moulds,  the  ori- 
fice being  bored  out  by  machinery  adapted  to  that  purpose  w^hile 
the  section  was  yet  in  the  mould. 

About  two  years  later,  Messrs.  David  E.  Hill  and  Calvin  J. 
Merrill  got  up  improved  patterns  of  the  rude  machinery  then  in 
use  in  England  for  the  manufacture  of  sewer  pipe,  a  part  of  the 
original  "Black  Mill"  plant  being  devoted  to  that  branch  of  the 
business  by  Hill,  Merrill  &c  Co.,  the  clay  especially  adapted  to  this 
business  being  found  in  almost  inexhaustible  supply,  w^ithin  the 
city  limits. 

In  1855,  Hill,  Merrill  &  Co.  w^ere  succeeded  by  Merrill,  Powers 
&  Co. — the  tw^o  Merrills,  Henry  G.  Powers  and  Frank  Adams. 
About  1858  the  Merrills  retired,  Mr.  Hill  again  taking  an  interest  in 
the  business,  the  firm  name  being  changed  to  Hill,  Po\vers  &  Co. 

A  year  later,  Messrs.  Hill  and  Adams  became  the  sole  owners, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Hill  and  Adams,  by  whom  the  business 
was  greatly  extended,  and  the  capacity  of  the  w^orks  doubled.  In 
1868,  with  David  E.  Hill,  Frank  Adams,  David  L.  King,  Lorenzo 
B.  Austin  and  Ozias  Barber  as  stockholders,  a  stock  company  was 
organized  under  the  title  of  the 

Hill  and  Adams  Sewer  Pipe  Company. — Under  this  arrange- 
ment, the  business  was  still  further  greatly  extended,  a  new  two- 
story  brick  shop  50x240  feet  being  erected  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  river,  below  the  bridge,  and  supplied  with  first-class  machin- 
ery, w^ith  drying  facilities,  kilns,  etc.,  to  match.  These  works  wer^ 
the  first  of  their  kind  west  of  New  York,  and  the  second  in  the 
United  States,  and  from  the  excellence  of  the  material  used,  and 
their  superior  workmanship,  gave  to  Akron  its  firmly  grounded 
reputation  of  furnishing  the  very  best  sewer  pipe  produced  in  the 
world. 


r^  EORGE  R.  HILL,— son  of  David 
^-J  E.  and  Harriet  Louisa  (McMillan) 
Hill,  was  born  in  Middlebury  (now 
Akron  Sixth  ward),  April  3,  1855.  He 
was  educated  in  the  Middlebury  pub- 
lic schools  and  under  the  private 
tutelage  of  Prof.  Aug-ustus  N.  Ber- 
nard. Early  trained  to  business,  in 
the  extensive  Sewer  Pipe  Works  of 
his  father,  he  is  now  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  both  The  Akron  Sewer 
Pijje  Compan)'^  and  The  Hill  Sewer 
Pipe  Coinpany,  and  secretary  of  The 
American  Sewer  Pipe  Company;  is 
also  officially  and  pecuniarily  inter- 
ested in  a  number  of  other  industrial 
enterprises  in  Akron  and  elsewhere, 
and  is  one  of  the  rising  young-  busi- 
ness men  of  Akron.  June  4,  1884,  was 
married  to  Miss  Alice  A.  Hinman, 
in  Cleveland.  They  have  no  children. 


GEORGE  R.   HILL. 


THE   SEWER   PIPE   INDUSTRY. 


477 


The  Akron  Sewer  Pipe  Company. — In  1871,  Mr.  Hill  retired, 
and  the  company  -vsras  reorganized,  under  the  above  title,  w^ith  a 
paid  up  capital  of  $175,000,  of  which  corporation  Mr.  Frank  Adams 
was  president,  and  David  L.  King,  Esq.,  secretary  and  treasurer. 
Under  this  administration,  the  works  "were  highly  prosperous,  a 
large  demand  being  created  for  their  w^ares,  for  sewer  and  drainage 
purposes,  in  all  of  the  principal  cities  and  villages  of  the  country, 
east,  w^est  and  south. 

Messrs.  King,  Adams  and  others,  having  subsequentl3^  dis- 
posed of  their  respective  interests  in  the  business,  the  present 
members  of  the  company  are  David  E.  and  George  R.  Hill,  James 
Viall,  L.  S.  Ebright  and  John  Harrison,  with  David  E.  Hill  as 
president  and  George  R.  Hill  as  secretary  and  treasurer.  Capacity 
1200  carloads  per  year.     Hands  employed,  125, 

The  Hill  Sewer  Pipe  Company. — This  corporation,  of  which 
Mr.  David  E.  Hill  is  president  and  general  manager;  George  R. 
Hill,  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  James  Viall,  superintendent,, 
was  incorporated  in  1873,  with  a  capital  of  $80,000.  It  is  located  at 
1175  East  Market  street.  The  senior  member  of  the  company  has 
been  connected  w^ith  the  sewer  pipe  business  from  its  very  incip- 
iency,  and  to  his  energy  and  influence  is  very  largely  due  the 
success  and  magnitude  of  this  important  industry  in  Akron  and 
Summit  county,  and  the  great  advancement  in  sewer  sanitation  in 
the  principal  cities  of  the  United  States  in  the  past  quarter  of  a 
century.  Capacity  of  works,  600  car  loads  per  year.  Men  employed 
sixty. 


TAMES  VIALL,— born  in  Middle- 
J  bury  (now  Akron  Sixth  Ward), 
January  15, 1828  ;  educated  in  district 
schools  ;  at  13  went  on  canal  as  driver, 
becoming-  steersman  at  15,  and  from 
1846  to  1865,  ran  a  line-boat  between 
Pittsburg  and  Cleveland.  In  1865  Mr. 
Viall  bought  the  William  Owens 
pottery,  a  short  distance  east  of 
Middlebury,  and  engag^ed  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  stoneware,  in  1876  selling; 
a  half  interest  to  George  Markle. 
and  in  1889  selling  remaining'  inter- 
est to  John  Inman.  In  1865,  also,  in 
company  with  Mr.  John  B.  Woods, 
commenced  mining  and  grinding 
clay,  in  which  business,  as  a  member 
of  the  Middlebury  Clay  Company,  he 
still  has  an  interest.  In  March,  1873, 
with  David  E.  Hill  and  others,  incor- 
porated the  Hill  Sewer  Pipe  Com- 
pany, of  which  he  is  superintendent, 
that  company  having-  also  recently 
erected  extensive  sewer  pipe  works 
at  Hunting-don,  Pa.  Mr.  Viall  was 
also  for  several  years  eng-aged  in  the 
grocery  trade,  in  company  with  Mr. 
Moses  J.  Huggins,  the  only  represen- 
tatives in  that  line  at  that  time  in 
Middlebury.  Mr.  Viall  is  also  a 
director  in  the  Klag-es  Coal  and  Ice 
Compan3\  January  29,  1850,  Mr.  Viall 
was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Davis,  also 


JAMHa   VIALL. 

a  native  of  Middlebury.  He  has 
always  been  an  ardent  Republican, 
and  was  for  several  years  councilman 
of  the  incorporated  village  of  Middle- 
bury, serving  as  such  at  the  time  of 
its  annexation  to  the  city  of  Akron 
in  1872. 


478 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


The  Buckeye  Sewer  Pipe  Works. — The  firm  of  Kent,  Baldwin 
&  Co.,  successors  of  the  old  firm  of  Irish,  McMillan  &  Co.,  manu- 
ufacture  s  of  w^oolen  machinery,  w^here  the  Hill  Sewer  Pipe  Works 
are  now  located,  about  1868  built  ne>v  brick  shops  at  991  to  999 
East  Kxchange  street.  The  machinery  of  these  shops  having  been 
removed  to  Chicago  in  1872,  the  Buckeye  Sewer  Pipe  Company 
was  incorporated,  Avith  a  capital  of  $100,000,  and  the  plant  corre- 
spondingly enlarged  to  fit  the  new  business;  its  appointments  all 
being  first  class,  and  its  product  averaging  about  1,000  car  loads 
per  year,  equal  to  the  very  best;  men  employed,  55,  Present 
officers:  Jonathan  H.  Brewster,  president;  Joseph  A.  Baldwin, 
secretary  and  superintendent,  and  Harry  H.  Gibbs,  treasurer. 


JOSEPH  A.  BALDWIN,— born  in 
J  Goshen,  Conn.,  December  6, 1820  ; 
came  to  Summit  county,  Ohio,  in  1837, 
and  to  Middlebury  (now  Akron),  in 
1841 ;  was  in  employ  of  Kent,  McMillen 
&  Co.,  merchants,  then  in  partnership 
^with  Mr.  Roswell  Kent,  under  the  firm 
name  of  J.  A.  Baldwin  &  Co. ;  next 
with  McMillan,  Irish  &  Co.,  and 
Kent,  Baldwin  &  Co.,  manufactur- 
ers of  woolen  machinery,  leaving', 
ing-,  in  1872,  to  engage  in  the  manu- 
facture of  sewer  pipe,  under  the  cor- 
porate name  of  the  Buckeye  Sewer 
Pipe  Company,  of  which  he  has  been 
continuously  the  secretar5r  and  gen- 
eral manager.  February  9,  1853,  Mr. 
Baldwin  was  married  to  Miss  Marj^ 
A.  Kent,  daughter  of  the  late  Alson 
Kent,  of  Middlebury,  who  has  borne 
hiin  two  children — Alson,  born  in 
1856,  died  in  1867,  and  Nellie  L.,  born 
in  1859  and  married  in  1883  to  Harry 
H.  Gibbs,  now  treasurer  of  the  Buck- 
eye Sewer  Pipe  Co.  Mr.  Baldwin  has 
been  at  different  times  member  of 
boards  of  education  and  of  councils 
of  both  the  village  of  Middlebury  and 
the  city  of  Akron ;  was  for  many 
years  a  member  and  trustee  of  the 
Congregational    Church    in   Middle- 


JOSEPH  A.   BALDVVI.X. 

bury,  and  for  several  years  past  a 
member  and  trustee  of  the  First  Con- 
gregational Church  in  Akron,  and 
in  politics  an  earnest  and  influential 
Republican. 


Robinson  Brothers  &  Company. — This  company,  located  near 
the  "Old  Forge,"  and  contiguous  to  all  the  railroads  running 
through  Akron,  was  established  in  1879,  with  an  authorized  capital 
of  $300,000,-its  main  shops  being  50x240  and  50x160  feet,  two  stories 
high,  with  boiler  and  engine  room  40x60  feet;  machinery,  kilns, 
etc.,  of  the  very  best.  Present  stockholders  and  officers:  Henry 
Robinson,  president;  Thomas  Robinson,  vice  president;  Byron  W. 
Robinson,  secretary  and  treasurer;  BUen  Robinson,  Henry  B. 
Manton,  Irvin  R.  Manton,  John  F.  Townsend;  Byron  W.  Robinson 
and  Henry  B.  Manton,  superintendents.  Caliber  of  pipe  manu- 
factured from  two  to  twenty-four  inches;  capacity  of  works,  1,000 
car  loads  per  year;  men  employed,  75. 

The  Summit  Sewer  Pipe  Company. — This  company,  located 
at  foot  of  Miami  street,  on  line  of  C,  A.  &  C.  and  N.  Y.  P.  &  O. 
railways;  incorporated  July  17,  1889;  capital,  $100,000;  size  of 
buildings  70x200,  and  70x90  feet;  capacity,  1,500  car  loads  per  year; 


THE    STONEWARE    INDUSTRY.  479 

hands  employed,  60;  officers,  (1891)  Joseph  A.  Baldwin,  president; 
Jonathan  H.  Brewster,  vice  president;  Edwdn  H.  Gibbs,  secretary 
and  treasurer;  George  T.  Whitmore,  general  manager;  65  men. 

Other  Sewer  Pipe  Works. — Two  other  sewer  pipe  manufac- 
tories, at  Tallmadge  and  Cuyahoga  Falls,  and  one  at  Barberton 
are  mentioned  elsewhere,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  with  its  superior 
material,  and  the  long  and  ripe  experience  of  those  engaged  in  its 
manufacture  here,  the  sewer  pipe  industry  6f  Summit  county, 
both  as  to  quality  and  quantity,  leads  the  world,  each  establish- 
ment having  its  own  clay-bed  in  such  close  proximity  that  its 
■daily  necessities  are  daily  supplied  by  its  own  teams,  thus  obvi- 
ating the  expense  of  railroad  transportation,  extensive  storage 
facilities,  or  large  money  outlay  for  its  raw  material. 

American  Sewer  Pipe  Company.— This  is  an  incorporated 
association,  composed  of  the  five  Akron  corporations  above 
named  and  Mr.  George  P.  Sperry,  of  Tallmadge,  each  having  a 
representative  on  the  Directory,  which  is  composed  of  the  fol- 
lowing gentlemen:  David  E.  Hill,  George  R.  Hill,  Joseph  A. 
Baldwin,  Byron  W.  Robinson  and  George  P.  Sperry,  with  Mr. 
David  E.  Hill  as  general  manager.  The  objects  of  the  association 
are  the  proper  regulation  of  sales,  according  to  capacity,  and 
mutual  protection  against  competition  from  manufacturers  of 
inferior  wares  in  other  localities.  The  companies  forming  this 
association  have  an  aggregate  capital  of  three-quarters  of  a 
million  of  dollars,  give  employment  to  from  400  to  500  men,  w^ith  a 
combined  outptit  of  nearly  4,000  car  loads  of  pipe  per  year. 

THE  STONEWARE  OR  POTTERY  TRADE. 

This  has  been  a  leading  industry  in  Summit  county  from  an 
early  day.  Unsurpassed  in  the  quality  of  its  potters'  clay,  its 
wares  find  a  ready  sale  in  every  part  of  the  great  West,  and  other 
portions  of  the  country.  Allusion  is  made  elsewhere  to  the 
potteries  of  Springfield  and  Mogadore,  where  the  business  origi- 
nated, and  to  the  establishment  of  works  in  what  is  now  the 
Sixth  ward,  in  Akron,  by.  the  late  Edwin  H.  Merrill,  in  1847.  The 
late  Enoch  Rowley,  of  the  Sixth  ward,  was  also  a  pioneer  in  the 
manufacture  of  stoneware  within  the  present  limits  of  the  city, 
where  the  majority  of  the  ware  now  manufactured  in  the  county 
is  produced,  though  wholly  dependent  upon  the  clay-banks  of 
Springfield  for  the  raw  material. 

The  Whitmore,  Robinsons  &  Co. — This  company  was  incor- 
porated in  September,  1887,  with  a  capital  of  $200,000,  the  present 
members  of  the  company  being:  Richard  Whitmore,  president; 
Henry  Robinson,  vice  president;  Byron  W.  Robinson,  secretary; 
Thomas  Robinson,  treasurer;  Mrs.  William  Robinson  and  Mrs. 
James  B.  Manton. 

The  company  manufacture  Akron  stoneware,  Rockingham 
and  yellow^  ware  and  fine  glazed  stoneware.  Their  works  are  at 
the  southeast  corner  of  East  Market  street  and  Case  avenue,  con- 
sisting of  a  three  story  brick  block,  with  other  buildings  attached, 
giving  an  aggregate  floorage  of  nearly  100,000  square  feet. 

The  manufacture  of  Rockingham  and  yellow  w^are,  wras  com- 
menced in  Middlebury,  on  a  small  scale,  about  1850  or  1851  by 
Enoch  Rowley  and  Edwin  and  Herbert  Baker;  some  two  or  three 
years   later  Mr.  Thomas  Johnson  becoming  associated   with   Mr. 


480 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Rowley  in  the  business.  February  6,  1857,  Richard  Whitmore  and 
the  Messrs  Robinson  succeeded  Mr.  Rowley,  under  the  firm  name 
Johnson,  Whitmore  &  Co.,  afterwards,  in  1862,  changed  to 
Whitmore,  Robinsons  &  Co.,  thus  continuing  until  incorporated 
as  above  stated.  It  is  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  complete 
establishments  of  its  kind  in  the  United  States,  its  wares  finding 
a  ready  sale  in  the  principal  markets  of  the  country,  both  East 
and  West.     Capacity  600  car  loads  per  year;  employes,  100. 


EDWIN  H.  MERRILL. —  born  in 
Painesville,  Ohio,  February  9, 
1808  ;  in  boyhood  attended  school 
Winters  and  in  Summer  worked  at 
potter's  trade  with  father  ;  at  22  came 
to  Springfield,  and  after  working-  a 
short  time  for  other  potters,  about 
1835  started  business  for  himself, 
inventing  machinery  for  the  inanu- 
facture  of  beer  bottles,  on  which  he 
secured  letters  patent,  also  soon 
afterwards  cominenced  the  inanu- 
facture  of  tobacco  pipes  by  machin- 
ery ;  in  1847  moved  to  Middlebixry, 
wherein  connection  with  his  brother, 
Calvin  J.  Merrill,  the  manufacture  of 
water  pipes  and  stone  pumps  was 
added  ;  froin  1851  to  1856,  as  member 
of  the  respective  firms  of  Hill,  Mer- 
rill &  Co.  and  Merrill,  Powers  &  Co., 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  vit- 
rified sewer  pipe,  the  beginning  of 
the  presen  immense  sewer  pipe  in- 
dustry of  Akron  and  vicinity,  and 
the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  United 
States.  In  1860  Mr.  Merrill  removed 
his  bottle,  pipe  and  stoneware  works 
to  the  corner  of  South  Main  and  Cen- 
ter streets,  where,  as  The  E.  H.  Mer- 
rill Co.  incorporated  in  1887  it  is  one 
of  the  leading  establishments  of  its 
kind  in  Summit  county.  Mr.  Merrill 
was  married,  in  1838,  to  Miss  Emily 
Gleason,  of  Bedford.    They  had  seven 


EDWIN    H.   MERRILL. 


children,  two  only  of  whom  are  now 
living — Henry  E.,  president  of  the 
above  named  company,  and  William 
G.,  engaged  in  the  potterj^  business 
in  Hampton  City,  Virginia.  Mr. 
Merrill  died  January  25, 1888,  aged  79 
years,  ll  months  and  16  daj'S.  Mrs. 
Merrill  still  survives. 


The  E.  H.  Merrill  Company.— The  "Akron  Pottery"  was 
founded  by  Edwin  H.  Merrill  and  Henry  E.  Merrill  (father  and 
son)  in  1861  corner  of  South  Main  and  State  streets.  In  addition 
to  its  large  yearly  output  of  Akron  stonew^are,  this  firm  are  exten- 
sive manufacturers  of  beer  and  ink  bottles,  smoking  pipes  and 
other  specialities,  by  machinery  of  their  own  invention.  Their 
present  shops  consist  of  tw^o  two-story  brick  buildings,  30x60  and 
70x100  feet,  with  frame  wrarehouse,  sheds,  kilns  and  storage  yards 
to  match.  In  1880.  Mr.  Frederick  W.  Butler  took  an  interest  in 
the  business  ,and  in  1887  the  firm  was  incorporated,  as  above,  with 
Edw^in  H.  Merrill  as  president;  Henry  E.  Merrill,  superintendent 
and  Fred  W.  Butler  secretary.  The  elder  Merrill  having  since 
deceased,  Henry  E.  Merrill  is  now  both  president  and  superin- 
tendent of  the  company.  Capital  stock  $50,000.  Capacity,  three 
car  loads  per  week. 

The  Ohio  Stoneware  Company  (successors  to  William 
Shenkle),  115,  117  and  119  Fountain  street,  incorporated  July  12^ 


THE    POTTERY   TRADE.  481 

1881.  Capital  $12,000.  Present  officers  :  President,  George  A. 
Parker;  secretary,  Harry  A.  Gibbs;  general  agent,  Edwin  H. 
Gibbs.     Capacity,  three  car  loads  per  week.     Hands  employed,  20. 

The  United  States  Stoneware  Company  (successors  to  F.  J. 
Knapp),  east  of  Fountain  street,  incorporated  August,  1885.  Capital 
$25,000.  Jonathan  H.  Brewster,  president;  superintendent  and 
treasurer,  James  M.  Wills;  George  A.  Laudenslager,  secretar3\ 
Capacity,  four  car  loads  per  week;  35  to  40  employes. 

Arthur  J.  Weeks,  successor  to  F.  W.  Rockwell  &  Co.,  formerly 
Johnson,  Rock\v^ell  &  Co.  (founded  by  Johnson  Sc  Baldwin  about 
1860),  corner  East  Market  and  Arlington  streets;  manufacturer  of 
Akron  stoneware;  capacity  of  kilns  600,000  gallons  per  year. 

Akron  Stoneware  CoxMpany,  Bank  street,  incorporated  March, 
1879.  Capital  $50,000.  President  and  superintendent,  Lycurgus 
K.  Force;  secretary  and  treasurer,  Russell  H.  Kent.  Building 
225x48.     Capacit}^  1,200,000  gallons  per  year.     Hands  emploj^ed,  40. 

MARKI.E  &  Inman,  (George  Markle  and  John  H.  Inman),  south 
of  East  Market  street,  extended.  Established  in  1869.  Capacity 
1,200,000  gallons  per  year.     Hands  employed  20. 

Cook,  Fairbanks  &  Co.,  (John  Cook  and  William  Fairbanks), 
manufacturers  and  w^holesale  dealers  in  Ohio  stone\^^are,  224 
Arlington  street.  Established  January,  1877.  Capacity,  700,000 
gallons  per  year.     Hands  employed,  20. 

Frederick  H.  Weeks,  late  Weeks  Brothers,  Akron  Pottery 
Works,  on  Valley  Railway,  south  of  Strawboard  Works.  Estab- 
lished in  1882.     Capacity,  750,000  gallons  per  year. 

The  Akron  Queensware  Company,  manufacturers  of  line 
queensware  crockery;  w^orks  and  office  corner  of  Hart  street  and 
Valley  railway.  Sixth  ward;  incorporated  July  3,  1890;  capital 
$50,000;  Charles  C.  Bates,  president;  Frank  P.  Tinker,  secretary 
and  treasurer;  T.  B.  Coxon,  superintendent;  Mandus  M.  Hunsicker, 
assistant  superintendent;  James  A.  Swinehart,  manager;  Albert 
B.  Tinker,  attorney;  capacity,  one  kiln  glazed  ware  per  da}^;  hands 
employed  45. 

Akron  Stoneware  Agency. — For  the  purpose  of  equalizing 
the  manufacture,  and  securing  uniformity  of  quality  and  benefits, 
according  to  capacity,  an  agency  wras  established  in  1883,  through 
w^hich  sales  of  all  the  w^are  manufactured  by  the  above  named 
potteries,  except  that  of  the  United  States  Stonew^are  Company,  is 
sold,  the  officers  of  the  agency  being  James  M.  Wills,  president; 
Henry  S.  Belden,  vice  president;  Russell  H.  Kent,  secretary; 
Arthur  J.  Weeks,  treasurer;  William  Fairbanks,  superintendent. 
Office  in  the  Whitmore,  Robinsons  Sc  Company's  block,  corner 
East  Market  and  Case  avenue. 

The  American  Marble  and  Toy  Manufacturing  Company. — 
In  1884  Mr.  Samuel  C.  Dyke  commenced  the  manufacture  of  toy 
jugs,  which  being  placed  upon  the  market,  soon  created  such  a 
demand  that  within  three  years  about  30,000  were  turned  out  daily, 
later  the  manufacture  of  marbles  being  added,  and  Mr.  Harvey  F. 
Miller  admitted  to  a  partnership  in  the  business.  In  1889  Mr.  A. 
L.  Dyke  established  similar  works  on  West  State  street,  which  also 
achieved  a  high  degree  of  success.  July  31,  1891,  the  two  estab- 
lishments were  consolidated,  under  the  above  corporate  title,  with 
a  capital  of  $100,000,  with  Burdette  L.  Dodge,  Jacob  A.  Kohler,  Ira 

81 


482 


AKROX    AND    SUMMIT    COUNTY, 


Xorth  Howard  Street,  from  Market,  with  old  ^55tna  Mill  in  the  distance. 
From  photo  1)\-  S.  J.   Miller,  ISfiS. 


West  side  Xorth  Howard  Street,  1891.— From  i)lioto  by  Walter  B.  Manning. 


ROOFING   TILE,    PAVING    BRICK,    ETC. 


483 


M.  Miller,  Frank  M.  Atterholt,  A.  L.  Dyke  and  Rolin  W.  Sadler  as 
directors;  Ira  M.  Miller, president;  Jacob  A.  Kohler,  vice  president; 
Burdette  L.  Dodge,  secretary  and  treasurer;  Samuel  C.  Dyke, 
superintendent. 

pHARLES  E.  HOWEAND, -fourth 
^  son,  fifth  child,  of  Enos  and 
Susan  C.  (Murph}^)  Howland,  was 
born  in  Fort  Ann,  Washing-ton 
county,  New  York,  November  29,  1860, 
removing-  to  Fort  Edwards,  New 
York,  in  1869;  educated  in  Sandj-  Hill 
(N.  Y.)  Academy,  and  Fort  Edwards 
■Collegiate  Institute,  studying  book- 
keeping in  Oberlin,  Ohio;  in  Septem- 
ber, 1879,  came  to  Akron  as  book- 
keeper for  Thomas,  Phillips  &  Com- 
pany, manufacturers  of  manilla 
papers,  paper  flour  sacks,  paper 
bags,  etc.,  which  position  he  ably 
filled  eight  years,  resigning  in  Sep- 
tember, 1887,  and  associating  himself 
with  Captain  Joseph  C.  Ewart,  under 
the  title  of  J.  C.  Ewart  &  Company, 
in  the  manufacture  of  roofing  tile, 
an  account  of  which  is  given  else- 
where, Mr.  Howland  officiating  as 
book-keeper  for  the  firm.  He  is  also 
director  in  the  Thomas  Phillips 
Company;  and  in  the  Akron  Vitrified 
Pressed  Brick  Company;  stockholder 
in  The  American  Cereal  Com- 
pany, and  member  of  firm  of  How- 
land &  Company,  proprietors  of  Col- 
umbia Hall.  April  16,  1882,  Mr. 
Howland  was  married  to  Miss  Clara 
E.  Hollinger,  of  Akron. 


CHARLES  E.   HOWLAND. 


Roofing  Tile  Works. — J.  C.  Ewart  &  Company  (Joseph  C. 
Ewart  and  Charles  E.  Howland),  manufacturers  of  vitrified  roof- 
ing tile,  are  rapidly  extending  their  works  and  business.  These 
works,  located  on  Brook  street,  in  the  south  part  of  the  city,  east 
of  railroads,  were  established  in  1875,  different  forms  and  colors  of 
tiles,  to  suit  the  diversified  tastes  and  requirements  of  their  cus- 
tomers, being  made;  many  public  as  well  as  private  buildings  in 
the  various  cities  of  the  country  being  covered  therewith,  among 
the  more  prominent  being  New  York's  splendid  new  Capitol  build- 
ing, at  Albany;  Cincinnati's  magnificent  new  museum,  and  Van- 
derbilt's  elegant  Railroad  Men's  Library  building  in  New  York 
city.     Hands  employed,  75  to  80. 

The  Akron  Paving  Brick  Company. — On  East  Market  street; 
capital,  $40,000;  incorporated  February  19,1891;  capacity  20,000,  to 
30,000  bricks  per  day;  Frederick  Horix,  president;  Charles  Pari- 
sette,  secretary,  treasurer  and  superintendent;  hands  employed, 
15  to  20. 

The  Akron  Vitrified  Pressed  Brick  Company,  manufacturers 
of  vitrified  plain  and  ornamental  pressed  brick;  office  22  South 
Howard  street;  w^orks  on  Valley  railwaj^,  in  Independence  town- 
ship, Cuyahoga  county;  incorporated  April  29,  1890;  capital, 
$100,000;  Joseph  C.  Ewart,  president;  George  W.  Crouse,  vice 
president;  Erastus  R.  Harper,  secretary;  Walter  A.  Folger,  treas- 
urer; capacity  of  works,  25,tX)0  daily;  hands  employed,  70. 


484 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Other  Brick  Manufacturers. — McCausland  Brothers  [James  C 
and  John  J.],  Tallmadge  Ave.;  John  Bailey,  Portage  Path  road; 
Cooper  Brick  Company  [Samuel,  Joseph  and  William  M.  Cooper], 
Spicer  Extension;  Hugill  &  Briggs  [Joseph  Hugill  and  Elijah  C. 
Briggs],  Washington  street  Extension;  Frederick  H.  Weeks,  east 
of  City  limits,  on  A^alley  Railway;  Akron  Vitrified  Pressed  Brick 
Company,  office  122  Howard;  Akron  Paving  Brick  Companj^  919^ 
923  East  Exchange. 


North  side  Market  Street,  from  Howard  to  Main,  1891.— Photo  by  Walter  B.  Manning.. 

THE  LUMBER  AND  BUILDING  BUSINESS. 


Previous  to  1840  Akron  had  depended  for  lumber,  lath,  shin- 
gles, sash,  doors,  blinds,  etc.,  chiefly  upon  local  sawmills  and  hand 
manufacture]"  oak,  white-wood  and  black  w^alnut  being  the  only 
timber  used  for  building  purposes  in  those  early  days.  As  early, 
however,  as  1832,  the  late  Smith  Burton,  father  of  the  Rev.  Nathan 
S.  Burton,  established  a  sash  factory  on  the  east  side  of  the  stone 
bridge  on  East  Market  street,  in  what  is  now  the  Sixth  ward, 
driven  by  the  waters  of  the  Little  Cuyahoga  river.  Here,  in  1836, 
our  w^ell-known  citizen,  Mr.  David  G.  Wilcox,  commenced  work  as 
an  apprentice.  Dr.  Burton  himself  also  serving  an  apprenticeship 
in  his  father's  establishment.  But  carpenters  claiming  that 
machine-made  sash  were  inferior  to  those  made  by  hand,  the  busi- 
ness of  the  factory  did  not  attain  to  any  very  considerable 
proportions. 

In  1836  James  Bangs,  father  of  the  late  Elisha  N.  Bangs,  com- 
menced the  manufacture  of  pine  shingles,  by  hand,  on  his 
own  premises,  north  of  Tallmadge  street,  between  Howard  and 
Main,  importing  his  blocks  or  "  bolts  "  from  Canada,  vda  lake  and 


THE   LUMBER   AND   BUILDING  BUSINESS. 


485 


canal.  A  few  years  later,  Mr.  Samuel  G.  Wilson,  succeeded  to  the 
shingle  making  business,  establishing  himself  on  Main  street, 
south  of  Howard,  ^t^here  he  added  a  small  stock  of  Michigan  pine 
lumber,  lath,  etc.,  Mr,  Wilson  soon  afterwards  associating  witlj 
liimself  Mr.  Justus  Rockwell,  this  being  the  pioneer  of  the  immense 
lumber  business  done  in  Akron  to-day,  though  Mr.  Webster  B. 
Storer,  also  established  a  lumber  yard  about  the  same  time,  north 
of  Market  street,  selling   out  to  Mr.  Wilson. 


DAVrn    GILBKRT    WILCOX. 


DAVID   GILBERT    WILCOX. 


DAVID  GILBERT  WILCOX,— born  in  Manlius,  Onondag^a  county,  N.  Y., 
February  5,  1821 ;  mother  dying-  when  he  was  but  four  months  old, 
raised  by  grandparents  in  Charlestown,  Montgomery  county,  N.  Y.;  at  15,  in 
18;-{(),  came  to  Middlebur}^,  as  an  apprentice  in  the  sash  factory  of  his  uncle, 
Smith  Burton,  in  1842  becoining  a  partner  with  his  uncle  and  others  under 
the  firm  name  of  Burton,  Davis  &  Co.,  continuing  two  years  ;  was  proprietor 
of  Akron's  pioneer  planing-  mill,  on  the  present  site  of  the  Diamond  Fire 
Brick  works,  from  1856  to  18(>4,  when  he,  with  others,  organized  the  Weary, 
Snyder,  Wilcox  Manufacturing  Company,  as  at  present  located.  September 
28.  1842,  Mr.  Wilcox  was  married  to  Miss  Hannah  C.  Whitney,  daughter  of 
William  H.  Whitney,  Esq.,  of  Uniontown,  Stark  county,  Ohio,  who  has  borne, 
him  ten  children,  eight  of  whom  survive — Ida,  now  wife  of  Rev.  Theron  R. 
Peters,  corresponding  secretary  and  superindent  Minnesota  State  Missions, 
at  Minneapolis;  John  F.,  proprietor  of  planing  mill,  corner  Eleventh  and 
Ramsey  streets  Minneapolis,  Minn.;  Frank  E.,  superintendent  of  brother's 
planing-  mill,  in  Minneapolis;  Nathan  B.,  carpenter  and  millwrig-ht.  Rapid 
Citj',  Dakota  ;  Helen,  wife  of  Rev.  James  A.  Brown,  pastor  of  Baptist  Church 
at  Bedford,  Ohio;  DeWitt  G.,  physicitm  and  surgeon,  proprietor  "Wilcox 
Private  Hospital,"  173  Lexington  avenue,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.;  Grace,  wife  of  James 
I.  Dissette,  secretary  and  treasurer  of  Indianapolis  Foundry  Co.,  57  to  97  Bates_ 
street ;  and  Anna  M.,  teacher  in  Prof.  S.  S.  Curry's  School  of  Expression, 
Boston,  Mass.  The  two  accompanj'ing  portraits  represent  Mr.  Wilcox  as  he 
was  at  30,  and  as  he  is  at  70  years  of  age. 


The  Weary,  Snyder.  Wilcox  Manufacturing  Company. — 
About  1845,  Mr.  David  Miller,  of  Wadsworth,  established  a  sash, 
<loor  and  blind  factory  on  the  present  site  of  J.  Park  Alexander's 


486 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


Fire  Brick  Works,  driven  by  the  surplus  water  of  the  Cascade  mill- 
race.  Mr.  Miller  was  killed  by  the  falling  of  the  porch  of  Mr. 
Charles  Cranz's  new  brick  house,  on  the  corner  of  Park  and  Pros- 
pect streets,  burned  on  the  night  of  September  26,  1849,  Mrs.  Miller 
continuing  the  business  until  1856,  when  Mr.  David  G.  Wilcox  suc- 
ceeded to  the  business,  continuing  until  1864,  when  a  partnership 
was  formed  between  Mr.  Wilcox,  and  Messrs.  Simon  B.  Wearj^, 
Jacob  Snyder  and  Andre^v  Jackson,  under  the  firm  name  of  Weary,. 
Snyder  &  Co.,  and  the  machinery  removed  to  North  Main  street,, 
w^here  a  planing  mill  and  lumber  and  general  building  was  added 
to  the  business. 


East  .side  of  Howard  Street,  from  Mill  to  Market,  1891.— From  photo  I)y  li.  F.  [3atteb 


In  1866  or  1867  a  stock  company  was  organize  1,  with  $75,0(K> 
capital,  the  present  officers  of  the  corporation  being:  President, 
Ferd.  Schumacher;  secretary  and  treasurer,  Burdette  L.  Dodge; 
and  Simon  B.  Weary,  superintendent  and  general  manager.  Lum- 
ber, lath,  shingles,  doors,  sash,  blinds,  flooring,  ceiling  mouldings, 
etc.  Hands  employed,  about  25.  Lumber  handled,  3,000,000  feet 
per  year. 

William  B.  Doyle.— About  1851  Messrs.  Nathaniel  Finch  and 
John  H.  Dix  established  a  planing  mill  a  few  rods  below  the  .Etna 
mill,  on  the  Ohio  Canal,  the  first  of  its  kind  in  this  section  of  the 
country.  This  mill,  with  the  JEtna  mill,  was  destroyed  by  fire  on 
the  night  of  November  1,  1853,  whereupon  a  new  planing  mill  was 
built    on    the    site    of  the  burned    foundry    and    stove  works    of 


THE    LUMBER    AND    BUILDINCJ    liL'SINESS. 


487 


JACOB  SNYDERr  born  in  Colum- 
bia county,  Pa.,  March  12,  1823; 
learned  carpenter's  trade,  and  during 
minority  received  an  academic  edu- 
cation; at  22,  entered  Dickinson  Col- 
lege, taking  three  years'  general 
course,  and  also  course  in  theoreti- 
cal architecture;  then  for  two  years 
engaged  in  contracting- and  practical 
architecture  at  his  old  home;  in  185.3, 
came  to  Akron,  engaging  for  a  time 
in  grocery  trade;  in  1855,  resumed 
business  of  contracting,  building 
and  architecture;  in  1864,  became  a 
member  of  the  Weary,  Snyder  & 
Wilcox  Manufacturing  Company,  of 
Which  he  was  president  at  the  time 
of  his  death,  though  since  1870 
devoting  his  entire  time  to  architec- 
ture upon  his  own  account,  making 
a  specialty  of  Chureh  and  Sabbath 
School  architecture,  his  designs 
being  very  largely  adopted  in  Ohio 
and  other  Western  and  Southern 
States.  Mr.  Snyder  for  several  years 
served  as  a  member  of  the  Akron 
Board  of  Education,  trustee  of  Por- 
tage Township,  Superintendent, 
teacher  and  historian  of  Sabbath 
School  and  upon  the  official  Board 
of  the  First  M.  E.  Church,  of  Akron. 
May  21, 1849,  Mr.  Snyder  was  married 
to  Miss  Mary  A.  Rinehart.  a  native  of 


JACOB    8XYi)EK. 

Cumberland  county,  Pa.,  who  bore 
him  four  children,  only  one  of  whom 
is  now  living-  Nellie  M.,  wife  of  Mr. 
Hurdette  L.  Dodge,  of  Akron.  Mr. 
Snyder  died,  universally  lamented, 
December  29,  1890,  aged  67  years,  9 
months  and  17  days. 


SIMON  B.   WEARY. 

SIMON  B.  WEARY,  -born  July  29, 
1823,  in  Marlboro,  Stark  county; 
raised  on  farm  with  log-cabin  educa- 
tion ;  in  1841  learned  carpenter's 
trade  ;  in  Fall  of  1847  came  to  Akron  ; 
in  May,  1848,  went  to  Sheboygan,  Wis., 
where  he  worked  at  his  trade  until 


1851,  when  he  returned  to  Akron,  fol- 
lowing trade  until  1853,  when  he 
established  sash,  blind  and  door  fac- 
tory in  the  building  afterwards 
known  as  the  "German  Mill,"  the 
original  of  Ferd.  Schumacher's 
))resent  immense  oatmeal  plant  ;  in 
18.5()  resumed  trade;  in  1858  estab- 
lished sash,  blind  and  door  factory 
in  upper  part  of  W.  B.  Do3le  &  Co.'s 
planing  mill ;  in  1864  consolidated 
with  Mr.  David  G.  Wilcox  in  the  same 
line  of  business  upon  the  Ohio  Canal 
and  with  Mr.  Jacob  Snyder,  architect 
and  builder,  and  others,  organized 
the  Wear}',  Snyder  &  Wilcox  Manu- 
facturing Company,  still  doing  a 
large  sash,  door,  blind  and  lumber 
business  on  North  Main  street,  with 
Mr.  Weary  as  general  manager,  Mr. 
Ferd.  Schumacher  as  president  and 
Mr.  Burdette  L.  Dodge  as  secretarj- 
and  treasurer.  Mr.  Weary  has  been 
twice  married  and  is  the  father  of 
three  children  —  Frank  O.,  one  of 
Akron's  best  known  architects,  whose 
portrait  appears  elsewhere  in  this 
volume  ;  Edwin  D.,  designer  in  An- 
drews &  Co.'s  extensive  special  fur- 
niture factorj'  in  Chicago,  and  Flora 
C,  now  wile  of  James  G.  Moore,  an 
employe  of  the  Whitman  &  Barnes 
Manufacturing  Company,  Akron. 


488 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


P.  Tallman  &  Co.,  on  South  Howard  Street,  Mr.  Simon  B.  Weary 
occupying  the  upper  story  as  a  sash,  door  and  blind  factory,  from 
1858  to  1864.  Wilson  and  Rockwell  had,  meantime,  bought  out 
Finch  Sc  Dix  and  consolidated  the  two  branches  of  business,  Mr. 
Rockw^ell  having  also  been  superseded  in  the  firm  by  Capt.  William 
L.  Everett,  Mr.  Wilson  also  subsequently  buying  out  Capt.  Everett. 
In  August,  1865,  William  B.  Doyle,  Daniel  Farnam  and  John  H. 
Dix  associated  themselves  with  Mr.  Wilson,  under  the  firm  name 
of  W.  B.  Dojde  &  Co.,  greatly  enlarging  their  lumber  and  building 
operations.  A  A'^ear  or  so  later  Mr.  Wilson  was  succeeded  in  the 
firm  by  Hon.  John  Johnston,  In  1873  Mr,  Johnston  retired  from 
the  firm,  Messrs.  Doj^le,  Farnam  and  Dix  continuing  together  until 
the  death  of  the  latter  in  1886,  and  in  April,  1888,  Mr,  Farnam 
retired,  Mr,  Doyle  becoming  sole  proprietor  of  the  business.  Num- 
ber of  hands  employed,  20  to  25,  Lumber  handled,  1,000,000  to 
2,000,000  of  feet  per  year,  Mr.  Doyle  dying  August  6,  1890,  the  bus- 
iness is  now  being  conducted  by  his  eldest  son,  and  executor,  Day- 
ton A,  Doyle,  Esq, 


WIIXIAM  B.  DOYLE— born  in 
Franklin  county,  Pa.,  March  ii, 
1825  ;  raised  on  farm  with  but  limited 
education ;  at  13  apprenticed  to 
cabinet  trade,  serving-  three  years  ; 
in  1842  came  to  Akron,  most  of  the 
waj^  on  foot ;  worked  a  few  months 
as  journeyman  and  in  Fall  bought 
out  his  emploj'ers ;  several  years 
later  sold  out  his  business  and 
engaged  in  slaughtering  and  selling 
meat,  which  he  followed  about  15 
3^ears ;  then  moved  upon  farm  pre- 
viously purchased  in  Coventry,  con- 
tinuing four  years,  selling  farm  and 
stock  for  $16,000 ;  then,  in"  company 
with  Messrs.  Daniel  Farnam  and 
John  H.  Dix,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Wm.  B.  Doyle  &  Co.,  bought  the 
lumber  and  manufacturing  business 
of  S.  G.  Wilson  for  the  consideration 
of  $35,000.  Mr  Dix  dying  in  1886  and 
Mr.  Farnam  retiring  in  1888,  Mr. 
Dojde  became  sole  proprietor  of  the 
business,  handling  from  1,000,000  to 
2,000,000  feet  of  lumber  per  year,  Mr. 
Dojde  also  being  the  owner  of  a  fine 
lOJ-acre  farm  adjacent  to  the  city 
limits,  and  much  valuable  property 
both  within  and  without  the  city. 
Mr.  Doyle  was  four  times  married: 
In  1845  to  Miss  Phoebe  Budd,  of 
Akron,  who  died  in  18.50  ;  October  30, 
1855,  to  Miss  Harriet  Sage,  of  Monroe 
county,  N.  Y.,  who  died  November  6, 


WILLIAM  B.   DOVLE. 

1862;  of  their  two  children,  one  only, 
Dayton  A.,  surviving;  June  9,  1807,  to 
Mar}'  Ann  Lantz,  of  Akron,  who  died 
in  1875,  leaving  three  children — Wil- 
liam B.,  Jr.,  Delia  and  Dean  L. ;  Jan- 
xiarj'  16,  1877,  to  Mrs.  Louisa  Baird,  of 
Mogadore,  Ohio,  who  bore  him  one 
child — Anna.  Mr.  Do3de  died  August 
6,  1890,  aged  65  3  ears,  5  months  and  1 
day. 


The  Thomas  Bi^ildixg  and  Lumber  Company. — Works  west 
side  of  Ohio  Canal,  south  of  West  Market  street,  established  in 
18B3  by  the  late  George  Thomas.  After  the  death  of  its  founder, 
other  parties  operated  the  works  for  several  years  with  indifferent 
success,  Col.  David  W.  Thomas  succeeding  to  the  business  in  1877. 
January  1,  1888,  a  stock  company  was  organized,  under  the  above 
title,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $100,000,  the  extensive  lumber  business 


THE   JLUMBEK    AND    BUILDING    BUSINESS. 


489 


DANIEL  FARNAM,-born  in  Essex 
county,  N.  Y.,  April  8,  1816 ;  re- 
moved with  parents  to  Vermont  in 
1817,  and  to  Ohio  in  1831,  settling-  in 
Marion  county,  afterwards  removing 
to  Hardin  county.  In  1836,  Mr.  F. 
came  to  Akron,  working-  awhile  in 
saw-mill,  then  for  six  years  in  pow- 
der-mill; then  took  an  interest  in 
linseed  oil  mill,  the  powder  and  oil 
business  beiagf  consolidated  three 
3^ears  later  ;  three  years  still  later  sell- 
ing out  and  buying  a  farm  in  Hardin 
county,  two  jears  afterwards  rented 
farm  and  became  superintendent  of 
Xenia  powder  works,  and  two  and- 
a-half  j^ears  later  returned  to  Akron, 
and  again  took  an  interest  in  the 
powder  works  here.  In  1865,  sold  out 
his  powder  interests  and  becaine 
a  partner  of  the  lumber  and  build- 
ing firm  of  W.  B.  Doyle  &  Co.,  in 
which  business  he  continued  un- 
til 1888.  December  23,  1843,  Mr. 
Farnam  was  inarried  to  Miss  Lydia 
Todd,  a  native  of  Seneca  county,  N. 
Y.,who  has  borne  him  seven  children, 
six  of  w^hom  are  now  living — Harriet, 
now  Mrs.  H.  D.  Cole,  of  Akron  ; 
George  D.,  now  living  in  Colorado  ; 
Abbie  T.,  now  Mrs.  Andrew  B.  Reed, 
of  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa  ;  Frances  J. 
and  Carrie,  still  at  home ;  and  Marj^ 
E..  now  Mrs.  Duane  C.  Abbott,  of  Ak- 


FRAXK    ORLANDO   WEARY. 

pRANK  ORLANDO  WF;ARY,— 
-'-  born  at  Shebo3^gan,  Wis.,  Sep- 
tember 12,  1849 ;  came  to  Akron  with 
l^arents  in  1851  ;  educated  in  Akron 
schools ;  at  14,  in  1863,  entered  as 
drummer  boy  in  Co.  G,  29th  O.  V.  I., 
a  jear  later  being  appointed  major 
of  regimental  drum  corps,  following 
the  fortunes   of  the   regiment   from 


DANIEL   FARNAM. 

ron.  Mr.  F.  has  been  an  active  and 
influential  member  of  the  Baptist 
Church  for  over  50  years  ;  as  a  Whig- 
voted  for  Gen.  William  Henry  Harri- 
son, in  1840,  and  as  a  Republican  for 
Gen.  Benjamin  Harrison,  for  presi- 
dent, in  1888. 


Lookout  Mountain  to  Atlanta,  Savan- 
nah and  "  on  to  Richmond  ;"  on  dis- 
charge resumed  his  school  studies, 
which  he  soon  had  to  relinquish  on 
account  of  his  failing  health  ;  in  1868 
began  the  study  of  architecture  in 
the  office  of  Heard  &  Blythe,  Cleve- 
land, remaining-  two  years,  finishing- 
studies  in  Boston,  Mass.,  in  1870,  '71 ; 
after  the  great  Chicago  fire,  October 
9,  1871,  spent  three  years  in  helping- 
to  rebuild  that  city  ;  in  1875,  returned 
to  Akron,  where  he  has  since  prac- 
ticed his  profession  with  phenomenal 
success  in  connection  with  Mr.  Georg^e 
W.  Kramer,  their  home  work  includ- 
ing Memorial  Chapel,  High  School, 
Hotel  Buchtel,  Arcade,  Beacon, 
Paig^e,  C.  A.  &  C.  depot,  Akron  Sav- 
ings Bank,  and  numerous  other  fine 
blocks,  and  abroad  fine  courthouses, 
jails,  churches,  business  blocks,  etc., 
in  various  other  counties  in  Ohio, 
and  in  the  States  of  California,  Color- 
ado, Iowa,  W^isconsin,  Illinois,  Indi- 
ana, Alabama,  New  York,  etc.  April 
6,  1881,  Mr.  \V.  was  married  to  Mrs. 
Jennie  Wise  Hane,  of  Canton,  who 
has  borne  him  one  son — Earl  D. 
Weary,  born  October  11.  1882.  Mr. 
W.  is  a  member  of  Buckley  Post,  G. 
A.  R.,  and  a  number  of  other  bene- 
ficial and  social  organizations. 


490 


AKKOxV    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


theretofore,  for  several  years,  carried  on  by  Mr.  Wni.  Buchtel,  being^ 
merged  in  the  new  organization.  Directors:  David  W.  Thomas, 
William  Buchtel,  Arthur  L.  Conger,  U.  Grant  Frederick,  Charles 
S.  Sheldon,  William  C.  Jacobs,  Louis  Wilhelm;  D.  W.  Thomas, 
president;  C.  E.  Sheldon,  vice  president;  Wm.  Buchtel,  treasurer^ 
U.  G.  Frederick,  secretary. 


ANDREW  JACKSON,-8on  of 
James  and  Sarah  (Stout)  Jack- 
son, born  near  Canal  Fulton,  Stark 
county,  June  22.  18.33;  raised  on  farm; 
educated  in  district  schools  and 
Greensburg'  Seminary;  learned  car- 
penter's trade  with  brother,  Robert 
Jackson,  in  Akron;  taug-ht  school 
four  years  at  Greensburg-  and  Dojdes- 
town;  1864  to  1866,  member  of  firm  of 
Wear3^  Snyder  &  Co.,  builders  and 
lumber  dealers;  then,  with  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Buchtel,  commenced  dealing  in 
Michigan  pine  lands  and  lumber, 
five  3^ears  later  Jackson  &  Buchtel, 
selling  a  one-half  interest  to  John  H. 
Hower  and  the  late  Charles  Miller, 
the  firm  of  Jackson,  Buchtel  &  Co. 
continuing  till  1875,  after  which  Mr. 
Jackson  carried  on  an  extensive 
lumber  and  building  business  alone 
until  March,  1889,  when  he  associated 
with  himself  Mr.  A.  E.  Lyman;  under 
the  firm  name  of  A.  Jackson  & 
Lyman,  adding  a  planing  mill  to 
their  works.  Mr.  Jackson  is  also  a 
stockholder  in  the  People's  Savings 
Bank;  has  served  two  terms  on  Akron 
Board  of  Education  and  several  years 
on  the  Official  Board  of  the  First  M. 
E.  Church,  of  Akron.  March  15,  1859, 
Mr.  Jackson  was  married  to  Miss  Lucy 
A.   Wright,    of  Spring-field,  who    has 


ANDREW    JACKSON. 

borne  him  seven  children  -  Henry 
Thoburn  and  Bessie  died  in  infanc)-; 
Lucy  Ellen,  athome;  Thomas  Wright, 
now  a  student  at  Jefferson  Medical 
College;  James  Herbert,  now  assist- 
ing in  father's  office;  Andrew  and 
Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  now  students  in 
Akron  schools. 


Jackson  &  Lyman. — ^Andrew  Jackson  and  Alfred  Lyman — deal- 
ers in  lumber,  sash,  doors,  blinds  and  all  kinds  of  building  materi- 
als, West  Exchange  street  and  Ohio  Canal;  established  in  1866; 
number  of  hands  employed,  25  to  35;  lumber  handled  per  year,, 
3,000,000  feet.  Planing  mill  immediately  south  of  office  on  Orleans 
Avenue,  east  of  canal  basin. 

Solon  N.  Wilson. — Dealer  in  all  kinds  of  pine  and  hemlock 
lumber,  dressed  and  in  the  rough,  and  contractor  and  builder,  888 
South  Main  street.  Established  in  1867.  Hands  employed,  4  to  10. 
Lunil)er  handled,  1,500,000  feet  per  year,  Mr.  Wilson  also  3^earl3^ 
filling  many  contracts  for  buildings  in  Akron  and  elsewhere. 

The  Hankey  Lumber  Company. — Successors  to  the  late  Simon 
Hankey  and  Charlotte  A.  Hankey,  (established  in  1873),  planing 
mill  and  wholesale  and  retail  dealers  in  lumber  and  all  kinds  of 
building  material,  1036  South  Main  street;  incorporated  March  3, 
1889;  capital,  $100,000;  hands  employed,  36  to  40;  lumber  handled 
per  year,  3,000,000  to  5,000,000  feet.  Directors :  Charlotte  A.  Hanke3^ 
president;  William  S.  Hankey,  vice  president;  Jonas  F.  Stuver, 
secretary;  Frederick  H.  Weeks,  treasurer  and  manager;  George 
W.  Seiber. 


THE    LUMBEK    AND    BriLDINXJ    Bl'SINESS. 


491 


SOLON  N.  WILSON— son  of  An- 
drew and  Lurancy  (Thomas) 
Wilson,  was  born  in  Cuyahoj^a 
county,  Ohio,  October  19,  1843;  re- 
ceived an  academic  education,  after 
one  year  at  Oberlin  Colleg'e,  enlistinjr 
in  the  150th  Regiment,  O.  N.  G., 
organized  at  Camp  Taylor,  near 
Cleveland,  and  sworn  into  service 
May  5,  1864,  for  100  days,  under  the 
call  of  Governor  Brough,  as  else- 
where stated.  The  reg-iment  did 
garrison  duty  at  Forts  Lincoln, 
Saratoga,  Thayer,  Bunker  Hill,  Slo- 
cum,  Totten  and  Stevens,  in  front  of 
the  National  Capital,  participated  in 
the  fight  with  Early's  Rebel  Corps, 
in  his  attack  on  Washington,  July  10 
and  11,  1864,  being  mustered  out  in 
Cleveland,  August  23,  1864,  having 
served  111  days.  On  returning  from 
the  army  Mr.  Wilson  took  charge  of 
the  home  farm,  owning  a  place  on 
becoming  of  age,  when  he  went  to 
Kent  and  engaged  in  the  lumber 
business  for  three  years,  then  came 
to  Akron,  where,  as  lumber  dealer 
and  contractor,  he  has  continued 
ever  since.  January  15,  1868.  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Alice  E.  Botsford, 
of  Middlebury,  (now  Akron  Sixth 
Ward),  who  died  January  14,  1870. 
June  20,  1872,  was  again  married,  to 
Miss  Nannie  C.  Albertson,  of  Millers- 


SOLOX   N.  WILSOX. 


burg,  who  has  borne  him  three  child- 
ren— Lena  L..  Ralph  B.  and  Ross  "A. 
Mr.  Wilson  is  secretarj'  and  treas- 
urer of  the  Long  Lake  Park  Com- 
pany, and  pecuniarily  and  officially 
connected  with  a  number  of  the  most 
important  business  enterprises  of 
Akron  and  vicinity. 


SIMOX   HANKEY. 

SIMON  HANKEY,  son  of  Jacob 
and  Elizabeth  (Yerrick)  Hankey, 
was  born  at  Canal  Fulton,  Stark 
county,  December  25,  1840,  at  14  re- 
moving with  parents  to  Coventry; 
raised  on  farm  with  common  school 
education;  removed  to  Akron  in  1869, 


and  established  the  planing  mill  and 
lumber  yard  now  carried  on  by  the 
Hankey  Lumber  Companj^  at  1,036 
South  Main  street.  Active  in  public 
affairs,  Mr.  Hankey  ably  represented 
the  Fifth  ward  in  the  Citj'  Council 
during  the  years  1875  and  1876. 
February  17,  1859,  Mr  Hankey  was 
married  to  Miss  Charlotte  A.  Man- 
derbach,  of  CoVentr3%  who  bore  hiin 
five  children,  three  of  whom  are  still 
living — Mary  Ellen,  now  wife  of 
Charles  A.  Guth.  of  Decatur,  Ala.; 
Bertha  A.,  now  Mrs.  Frederick  H. 
Weeks,  treasurer  and  manager  of  the 
Hankey  Lumber  Compan}',  and  Wil- 
liam S.,  vice  president  of  said  com- 
pany, Mrs.  Hankey  being  its  jjresi- 
dent.  February  12,  1885,  while  driv- 
ing with  a  friend,  by  the  sliding-  of 
his  sleigh  against  a  telegraph  pole, 
in  turning  from  West  Mill  into  Ash 
street,  Mr.  Hankey  was  so  badlj^  in- 
jured as  to  cause  his  death*  a  few 
hours  later,  the  same  evening,  at  the 
age  of  44  years,  1  month  and  18  days; 
Mrs.  Hankey  continuing  the  business 
on  her  own  account  until  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Hanke}'  Lumber  Com- 
pany as  elsewhere  stated. 


492 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


The  Akron  Building  &  Cabinet  Company,  successors  to  the 
Akron  Contracting  &  Cabinet  Co.,  210  to  220  Cherry  street,  manu- 
facturers of  office  and  bank  furniture,  fine  cabinet  work,  etc.; 
incorporated  January  3,  1889;  authorized  capital,  $100,000;  directors, 
Daniel  A.  Jatnes,  president;  Orlando  L.  McMillen,  vice  president; 
Othello  W.  Hale,  secretary  and  treasurer;  William  F.  Pickton, 
D.  A.  James.     Average  employees,  70. 


DANIEL  A.  JAMES,^born  iii  Paris, 
Portag-e  county,  Ohio,  October 
13,  1846;  coninion  school  education; 
learned  cabinet  maker's  trade  in 
Ravenna;  in  1866  came  to  Akron  and 
worked  for  Miller,  Thomas  &  Com- 
pany, until  1875,  when  he  started  the 
business  of  manufacturing  office  and 
•church  furniture  and  interior  decor- 
ations, building-  up  a  large  and 
profitable  trade,  developing  into  the 
extensive  works  of  the  Akron  Build- 
ing and  Cabinet  Coiupany,  at  210  to 
220  Cherry  street,  incorporated  in 
January,  1889,  with  a  capital  stock  of 
$100,000,  of  which  organization  Mr. 
James  is  president.  In  politics  Mr. 
James  is  an  earnest  Republican,  and 
in  religion  an  active  and  influential 
Baptist.  August  8,  1871,  Mr,  James 
■was  married  to  Miss  Carrie  F. 
Thomas,  daughter  of  the  late  George 
and  Mary  (Caldwell)  Thomas,  who 
died  December  22,  1886,  leaving  no 
children.  Februar}^  27,  1879,  he  was 
again  married,  to  Miss  Louisa  J. 
Thomas,  (sister  of  the  former  Mrs. 
James),  who  has  borne  him  three 
•children — Bessie  Louisa,  born  Janu- 


uary  1,  1880;  Carrie  Thomas,  born 
August  9,  1882,  and  Arthur  Henry, 
born  March  4, 1885. 


William  A.  McClellan,  planing  mill,  contractor,  builder,  etc. 
Shop  and  office,  305  W^ater  street,  (Lock  Two  Ohio  Canal).  Num- 
ber of  hands  emploA^ed  6  to  20.     Established  in  1880. 

EwiNG  &  HoLLiNGER,  (Lewis  D.  Ewing  and  Harvey  M.  Hol- 
linger),  planing  mill;  contractors,  and  dealers  in  mantels,  grates, 
etc.;  works,  121  Kirkwood  street;  main  building,  44x50;  25 
emploj^es. 

Boating,  Boat  Building,  Etc. — Fifty  years  ago,  boating  upon 
the  Ohio  Canal  held  sway,  not  only  on  the  score  of  profit,  but  on 
the  score  of  "honor"  also.  Then  the  commander  of  the  "Line 
Boat" — combined  passenger  and  freight — was  of  vastly  more  con- 
sequence than  the  commander  of  an  ocean  Cunarder  is  now. 
Indeed  the  writer,  while  temporarily  sojourning  in  Ravenna,  in 
the  Spring  of  1835,  was  advised  by  the  late  Dr.  Asa  Field,  on  learn- 
ing of  his  intention  of  settling  in  Akron,  to  secure,  if  possible,  a 
situation  in  one  of  the  ware-houses  upon  the  canal  from  which  he 
could. eventually  work  up  to  the  command  of  a  line  boat!  Disre- 
garding the  kind-hearted  doctor's  advice,  the  writer  has  ever  since 
remained  to  "fortune  and  fame  unknown." 

As  narrated  in  the  first  chapter  of  this  w^ork,  the  first  boat  to 
navigate  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  Canal —  the  "Ohio" — was  built  in 
Akron,  on  the  east  side  of  the  basin,  in  1827.     Though  other  boats 


THE   BOAT    BUILDING    INDUSTRY 


493 


OTHELLO  W.  HALE,"born  in 
Bath,  April  1,  1841;  raised  a 
farmer;  at  15  went  with  family  to 
Hudson,  where  he  prepared  for  col- 
lege, but  owing  to  his  father's  declin- 
ing health,  returned  to  Bath  in 
1859  and  took  charge  of  fariu.  In  the 
temporary  absence  of  his  father  in 
1861.'  Othello  enlisted  in  the  29th  O. 
V.  I.,  under  Captain  Jonas  Schoon- 
over,  going  w^ith  regiment  to  Camp 
Giddings,  where,  being  under  age,  at 
the  urgent  request  of  his  father,  then 
in  poor  health,  he  was  discharged, 
and  returned  home,  the  father  dying 
the  following  January.  September 
23,  1862.  Mr.  Hale  was  married  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Hanson,  of  Hudson,  who 
bore  him  two  children,  one  of  whom 
Herbert  C,  born  March  15,  1874,  is 
now  living-  at  home.  In  1868  Mr. 
Hale  sold  his  Bath  farm  and  pur- 
chased another  in  Edinburg,  Portage 
county;  two  years  later,  selling  there 
and  engaging  in  the  lumber  business 
at  Corry,  Pa.,  going  from  there  to 
Huntington,  W.  Va.,  where  he  not 
only  lost  all  his  property,  by  the  re- 
verses of  his  firm  in  the  panic  of  1873, 
but  buried  his  wife,  who  died  June  6, 
1874,  leaving  a  babe  a  few  days  old 
which  died  one  month  later.  Rettirn- 
ing  to  Akron,  made  his  home  with 
his  sister,  Mrs.  David  S.  Alexander, 
until  his  marriage,  November  26, 
1878,  with  Mrs.    L.    Emma    Cozad,   of 


WILLIAM  H.  PAYNE. 

WILLIAM  H.  PAYNE,— youngest 
son  of  Willis  and  Phcube 
(Bronson)  Payne,  was  born  in  Lorain 
count3%  O.,  August  10,  1822  ;  common 
school  education ;  from  1845  to  1864, 


OTHELLO  \V.  HALE. 

Cleveland,  a  widow  with  one  son  - 
Henry  Irving*,  born  September  22, 
1872.  They  have  one  child.  Blanche 
E.,  born  December  14, 1881.  Februar}^ 
10, 1879,  Mr.  Hale  entered  the  county 
clerk's  office  as  deputy  for  Clerk 
Sumner  Nash;  was  elected  clerk  of 
courts  October,  1884,  and  re-elected 
in  1887,  being  in  continuous  service 
as  deputy  and  principal  12  years.  Mr. 
Hale  is  now  secretarj-  of  the  Akron 
Building  and  Cabinet  Company. 


worked  at  boat  building  in  Boston 
township,  in  the  latter  j'ear  remov- 
ing to  Akron,  and  pvxrchasing  the 
boat  yard  of  Mr.  Webster  B.  Storer, 
at  Lock  Three,  which  he  carried  on 
six  years,  during  that  period  build- 
ing 42  boats  ;  in  1873  establishing  his 
present  yard  at  Lock  Two,  having 
built  in  all  about  150  boats.  A 
Republican  in  politics,  besides  fill- 
ing several  local  offices  in  Boston 
township,  Mr.  Payne  represented  the 
Third  ward  in  Akron  city  council, 
during  the  years  1867,  '68.  February 
22,  1845,  Mr.  Payne  was  married  to 
Miss  Julia  Janes,  of  Peninsula,  a 
native  of  Vermont,  niece  of  the  late 
Sheriff  Lewis  M.  Janes,  who  has 
borne  him  four  children,  three  of 
whom  are  still  living  —  Martha  E., 
wife  of  Mr.  George  S.  Scott,  member 
and  assistant  manager  of  The  Paige 
Brothers  Company,  wholesale  and 
retail  hardware  dealers  in  Akron ; 
Amy  L.,  at  home,  and  Charles  H., 
(who  married  Miss  Martha  Storm,  of 
Knox  county),  now  shipping  clerk 
for  The  Paige  Brothers  Co.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Payne  are  members  of  St.  Paul's 
Episcopal  Church,  and  active  pro- 
moters of  all  the  benevolent  enter- 
prises of  the  day. 


494 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


"were  built  at  different  points  in  the  village,  Akron  did  not  become 
a  boat-building  center  for  several  years — the  villages  of  Peninsula 
and  Boston  almost  entirel}'  monopolizing  the  canal  boat  building 
trade  of  the  State  for  many  years. 


Southeast  Corner  Main  and  Mill  .Streets,  Hotel  Biichtel.  1891. 
Photo  by  B.  F.  Battels. 


In  the  Spring  of  1835,  Mr.  Joseph  Perkins  furnishing  the  land, 
Capt.  Richard  Howe  the  lumber,  Mr.  Seth  Iredell  the  money,  and 
Mr.  Ansel  Miller  the  labor,  a  dry  dock  was  built  at  the  head  of 
Lock  Three,  which  was  at  first  occupied  by  John  Langdon  and 
John  Waterman,  but  the  next  season  by  a  man  named  Stevenson, 
whose'given  name  is  not  no\^  remembered,  altogether  for  making 
repairs.  In  1836,  '37,  Mr.  Harvey  Allen  leased  the  yard  and  built 
some  three  or  four  boats  for  Col.  Robert  H.  Backus,  the  then  proprie- 
tor of  the  Stone  Mill,  w^hich  the  w^riter,  in  the  then  line  of  his 
profession,  had  the  honor  of  painting,  lettering,  ornamenting,  etc. 

In  1838,  Messrs.  Webster  B.  Storer,  and  Jacob  Barnhart  took 
possession  of  the  yard  and  entered  vigorously  into  the  build- 
ing of  new  boats,  Mr.  Ansel  Miller  succeeded  Mr.  Barnhart  in  1839; 
the  firm  of  Storer  &  Miller  continuing  18  years  and  Mr.  Storer 
running  the  v^^orks  one  year  longer.  Besides  repairs,  an  average 
of  six  or  eight  new  boats  per  j'-ear  were  turned  out,  as  high  as  12 
being  built  in  1846,  from  20  to  30  hands  being  employed,  Mr.  Jacob 
Black  remembering  that  at  one  time  as  high  as  42  men  were  em- 
ployed; prices  of  new  boats  ranging  from  $1,200  to  $1,600. 

Mr.  Storer  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  William  H.  Payne,  who  a  few 
years  since  established  a  new^  yard  above  Lock  Two,  the  original 
yard  passing  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Joseph  W.   Foster,  in  each   of 


OTHER    MANUFACTURES, 


495 


Avhich,  besides  repairs,  from  one  to  three  new^  boats  are  now  built 
per  year,  the  excursion  steamer  "  City  of  Akron,"  having  been 
turned  out  of  the  Lock  Two  yard. 

The  Portage  Strawboard  Company. — In  March,  1882,  the 
Portage  Strawboard  Company  was  organized  by  Akron  capitalists, 
and  works  established  in  the  suburban  town  of  New  Portage,  five 
miles  south  of  the  city,  between  the  C,  A.  &  C.  and  the  N.  Y.,  P.  & 
O.  railroads,  two  years  later  erecting  similar  and  larger  Avorks  at 
Circleville,  Pickaway  county.  Capital  stock,  $1,000,000;  officers: 
Ohio  C.  Barber,  president;  Thomas  W.  Cornell,  vice  president; 
William  McFarlin,  secretary  and  treasurer;  office  at  First  National 
Bank,  Akron.  Capacity:  Portage  mills,  25  tons  finished  board  per 
day;  Circleville  mills,  50  tons,  the  two  mills  consuming  150  tons  of 
straw  per  day.  Hands  employed:  Portage,  110;  Circleville,  340. 
Of  the  product  of  these  mills  the  Barber  Match  Company  alone 
consumes  five  tons  daily  in  the  manufacture  of  match  boxes;  the 
entire  Diamond  Match  Company  nine  tons  per  day.  [These  works 
are  now^  merged  in  and  are  part  of  the  American  Strawboard  Com- 
pan}^,  described  in  the  chapter  on  the  new  manufacturing  city  of 
Barberton,  with  a  capital  of  $6,000,000,  of  which  Mr.  Ohio  C.  Bar- 
ber is  president.] 


TAMES  C.  McNEIL,  — born  inOnon- 
J  daga  county,  N.  Y.,  May  8,  1836  ; 
came  with  parents  to  Ohio  in  1838, 
settling  in  Coshocton  covmty,  in  1847 
coming  to  Akron  to  live  with  his 
brother,  the  late  Gen.  George  W. 
McNeil ;  educated  in  Akron  public 
schools ;  learned  machinist's  trade 
with  Webster  &  Taplin,  serving  three 
3-ears ;  worked  six  years  for  Cleve- 
land &  Mahoning  R.  R.  Co.,  three  and 
a  half  years  in  shop  and  two  and  a 
half  3'ears  as  engineer  on  road ; 
returning  to  Akron  had  charge  of 
machinery  in  Akron  Barrel  Factorj^ 
two  and  a  half  jears,  when,  with  Mr. 
Robert  L.  Moffatt.  he  established  the 
Akron  Boiler  Works  ;  on  the  retire- 
ment of  Mr.  Moffatt,  four  j^ears  later, 
Mr.  McNeil  becoming  sole  proprietor 
of  the  works,  which  he  successful  1}' 
and  profitably  conducted  until  his 
death,  November  2G,  1885,  at  the  age 
of -49  years,  6  months  and  15  days  — 
the  McNeil  Boiler  Company,  organ- 
ized in  1888  and  re-organized  in  1890, 
now  being  one  of  the  inost  extensive 
and  prosperous  of  its  class  in  Ohio. 
Mr.  McNeil  was  an  earnest  Republi- 
can, and  active  in  all  city  improve- 
ments, and  especially  in  the  organi- 
zation of  its  present  excellent  Fire 
Department,  of  which  he  was  Chief 
from  1866  to  1869.      April  6,  1859,  Mr. 


JAMES  C.   M'NEIL. 

McNeil  was  married  to  Miss  Marj-- 
Gale,  youngest  child  of  the  late  Col. 
Justus  and  Mrs.  Sarah  (Hyde)  Gale, 
who  bore  him  two  children— Grant 
C,  born  September  25,1864,  now  a  suc- 
cessful manufacturer  in  Akron,  and 
Sarah  Gale,  born  November  25,  1868, 
still  residing  with  her  mother. 


The  J.  C.  McNeil  Company,  (successors  to  the  Akron  Boiler 
Works,  established  by  the  late  James  C.  McNeil  and  Mr.  Robert 
L.  Moffat  in  1866.)  manufacturers  of  all  kinds  of  steam  boilers, 
transportation  and  storage  oil  tanks,  McNeil's  fire  oat-drying  pans, 
etc.,  near  South  Main  street  railway  station;  buildings  60x160  and 


496 


AKKON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


40x152  feet;  hands  employed,  75;  incorporated  February  28,  1888; 
capital,  $62,700;  Arthur  M.  Cole,  president;  George  C.  Berry,  vice 
president;  John  B.  Campbell,  secretary  and  treasurer;  Herman  H, 
Prange,  superintendent. 

The  Akron  Tool  Company,  manufacturers  of  the  Kraus 
Combined  Cultivator  and  other  specialties,  238  North  Union 
street  incorporated,  September  21,  1889;  capital  $100,000;  Hiram 
Kendall,  president;  George  W.  Crouse,  vice  president;  Horace  M. 
Houser,  secretary;  Charles  A.  Bowen,  treasurer  and  superin- 
tendent; buildings  50x150  and  70x140  feet;  hands  employed  45. 

The  Akron  Woolen  and  Felt  Company,  on  the  site  formerly 
occupied  by  the  original  strawboard  works,  in  the  Sixth  ^vard, 
manufacturers  of  paperinakers'  felts  and  jackets;  incorporated 
July  7,  1888;  capital  $100,000;  hands  employed  55;  Ohio  C.  Barber, 
president;  Frank  M.  Atterholt,  vice  president;  Duncan  M.  Fuller, 
treasurer  and  manager;  H.  Granger  Fuller,  superintendent  and 
secretary  pro  tern. 


T  ESTER  M.  BIGGS,— son  of  Dr.  C. 
-L'  F.  H.  Biggs,  born  in  Middle- 
bury,  (now  Akron  Sixth  Ward)  June 
25,  1843;  common  school  education; 
in  1860  drove  team  on  canal;  in  1861 
enlisted  in  Company  A,  2nd  O.  V.  C, 
serving  in  Indian  Territory,  Texas, 
etc.;  discharged  September  25.  1862; 
re-enlisted  October  14,  1862,  in  Com- 
pany 1, 10th  O.  V.  C;  wounded  in  left 
shoulder  at  Lovejoy's  Station,  Ga.;  in 
right  leg  at  Sisters  Ferry,  S.  C;  pre- 
sented with  hunting  case  gold  watch 
inscribed:  "Presented  to  Sergeant  L. 
M.  Biggs,  for  distinguished  oravery 
at  Waynesboro,  Ga.,  December  4, 
1864,  by  Captain  W.  H.  Day,  A.  D.  C. 
Kilpatrick's  Cavalry;"  22  months 
color  sergeant  at  General  Kilpat- 
rick's headquarters;  commissioned 
lieutenant  of  volvmteers  by  President 
Lincoln,  and  assigned  to  U.  S.  C.  T. 
at  Macon,  Ga. ;  di  scharged  July  24, 1865 ; 
now  member  of  Buckley  Post,  G.  A. 
R.  At  close  of  the  war  worked  four 
years  in  Buckeye  Works  of  Aultman, 
Miller  &  Company.,  and  fifteen  years 
in  Boiler  Works  of  J.  C.  McNeil; 
November  11,  1885,  established  Sum- 
mit City  Boiler  Works,  employing 
three  men,  now  (1891)  employing  80 
men,  his  w^ork  going  to  every  portion 
of    the    United    States,    to    Canada, 


LESTER  M.  BIGGS. 

Mexico.  South  America,  Japan  and 
China.  January  1,  1867,  Mr.  Biggs 
was  married  to  Miss  Esther  Sher- 
bondy,  daughter  of  Levi  Sherbondy, 
of  Akron,  who  has  borne  him  one 
child— Lester  E.  Biggs,  born  Novem- 
ber 1, 1877. 


Summit  City  Boiler  Works. — Lester  M.  Biggs,  corner  Case 
avenue  and  River  streets,  manufacturer  of  steam  boilers;  rotary 
globe  bleachers,  smokestacks,  oat  dryers,  etc.,  established  Janu- 
ary 1,  1886.  Hands  employed,  75  to  80.  Product,  $40,000  to  $50,000 
per  year.  Larger  shops  are  now  [September  1891],  being  built  on 
the  Hart  Allotment,  by  which  the  capacity  of  these  works  will  be 
nearly  if  not  quite  doubled. 


AKRON  S   MANUFACTURES. 


497 


The  Drop  Hammer  Forging  Company,  manufacturers  of  all 
kinds  of  drop-hammer  forgings,  picket  fences,  the  Belden  garden 
hoe,  etc.;  212,  214  River  street.  Sixth  ward;  incorporated  March  17, 
1890;  capital  $15,000;  size  of  buildings  50x100;  hands  emploj^ed  15; 
Joseph  Cook,  president;  Frank  M.  Belden,  vice  president;  Joseph 
D.  James,  secretary  and  treasurer;  M.  F.  Christensen,  super- 
intendent. 


HERBERT  P.  HITCHCOCK,— son 
of  Lucius  W.,  and  Eleanor  (Wol- 
cott)  Hitchcock,  was  born  in  Tall- 
niadge,  July  18, 1841 ;  raised  on  farm  ; 
educated  in  common  schools,  and 
Tallmadg-e  Academy  ;  from  16  to  17 
clerk  in  store  of  Starr  Bros.  &  Co., 
Elyria ;  17  to  20  worked  on  father's 
farm  ;  20  to  28.  filled  various  positions 
upon  the  A.  &  G.  W.  Railway  (now  N. 
Y.  P.  &  O.) ;  in  1860,  established  him- 
self in  the  insurance  business  in 
Akron,  commencing'  with  a  single 
company  and  increasing  from  time  to 
time  until  now  he  conducts  one  of  the 
largest  insurance  agencies  in  North- 
ern Ohio,  representing  an  aggregate 
capital  of  $100,000,000,  Mr.  H.  also  act- 
ing as  special  agent  and  adjuster  for 
several  companies  some  15  years, 
being  then  given  a  department  as 
general  agent  and  manager,  which 
he  held  until  his  resignation,  on 
account  of  press  of  other  business, 
February  1,  1890.  He  is  also  a  stock- 
holder, director  and  secretary  of  the 
Werner  Printing  and  Lithograph- 
ing Company  ;  president  Diamond 
Drill  &  Tool  Company,  and  pecuni- 
arily and  officially  connected  with 
several    other    important    industrial 


HERBERT  P.   HITCHCOCK. 


and  financial  enterprises  in  Akron,, 
and  elsewhere.  August  16,  1863,  Mr. 
Hitchcock  was  married  to  Miss 
Charlotte  E.  Upson,  of  Tallmadge, 
who  has  borne  him  two  children — 
Rena  E.,  died  at  8  years  of  age,  Eva 
P.,  born  August  27, 1876,  still  at  home. 


The  Diamond  Drill  and  Tool  Company,  226  South  Howard 
street,  manufacturers  of  the  Diamond  twist  drill,  machinists'  tools, 
etc.;  established  in  1889;  hands  employed  35;  Herbert  P.  Hitchcock, 
president;  Charles  E.  Sheldon,  vice  president;  John  G.  Raymond, 
secretary  and  treasurer;  Peter  J.  Hoenscheid,  superintendent. 

The  D.  F.  Morgan  Boiler  Company,  manufacturers  of  steam 
and  hot  water  heating  apparatus;  ^vorks  near  South  Main  street 
railway  station;  buildings  50x100  in  size;  capacity,  six  boilers  per 
day;  hands  employed  20;  incorporated  March  17,  1890;  capital 
$100,000;  D.  F.  Morgan,  president:  Charles  E.  Sheldon,  vice  pres- 
ident; Charles  T.  Buell,  secretary  and  treasurer;  D.  F.  Morgan, 
manager. 

Enterprise  Manufacturing  Company. — Established  in  1881. 
Incorporated  in  1886.  Metal  and  rubber  baits,  flies,  floats,  etc., 
with  or  without  luminosity;  crystal  and  metal  harness  rosettes, 
luminous  and  otherwise;  and  other  specialties.  Shops,  139  Ash 
street,  30x60  and  60x75,  two  stories.  Hands  employed,  80  to  90. 
Officers:  Ernest  F.  Pflueger,  president;  Col.  Arthur  L.  Conger^, 
vice  president;  Ernest  A.  Pflueger,  secretary  and  treasurer. 

32 


498  AKKON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Akkox  File  Works. — Theodore  Gorner  and  Adam  Platitz, 
proprietors.  Shop  east  of  Buckeye  Works,  between  Middlebury 
and  Carroll  streets.  Established  in  1868  by  Matthias  Harter.  After 
several  changes,  the  present  firm  was  formed  in  1877.  Every 
description  of  files  recut  and  made  to  order.  Product  from  $3,.')0() 
^to  $4,000  per  year,  their  wares  finding  a  ready  sale  among  the 
manufacturers  and  dealers  in  Akron,  and  other  points  in  Ohio. 

Plows  and  Farmers'  Goods. — Frank  D.  Howard,  Foundr3% 
and  dealer  in  Agricultural  implements^  southwest  corner  of  Mill 
and  High  streets;  established  in  1869.  Standard  and  reliable 
goods,  only,  handled. 

Townsend  C.  Budd. — Foundry  and  Machine  works,  east  of 
Bank  street,  north  of  Case  avenue.  Sixth  ward;  manufacturer  of 
potters'  supplies,  steam  fittings,  and  all  work  pertaining  to  the 
trade.  Established  in  1884.  Buildings  40x60,  30x46,  40x50  and 
30x45;  hands  employed,  12. 

The  Akron  Hardware  Company,  Stanton  avenue  and  Getz 
street;  shops  32x128  and  32x80,  two  stories,  Avith  one  story 
engine  house;  manufacture  specialties  in  hardware  and  patented 
crystal  harness  and  carriage  trimmings.  Incorporated  April  11, 
1889.  Capital  stock,  $50,000.  Hands  employed,  60  to  75.  Officers: 
Emmon  S.  Oviatt,  president;  James  T.  Diehm,  vice  president;  Henry 
C.  Searles,  secretary;  Henry  C.  Viele,  treasurer;  Millard  F.Ander- 
son, superintendent. 

The  Star  Drilling  Machine  Co.,  Washington  street,  manu- 
facturers of  portable  well  and  mineral  drilling  machinery,  drilling 
tools,  engines,  etc.,  employing  from  35  to  50  men;  incorporated 
July  20,  1889;  capital,  $50,000;  Arthur  M.  Cole,  president;  Herbert 
W.  Cole,  secretary  and  treasurer;  John  W.  Miller,  superintendent. 

The  Absolute  Chemical  Co. — No.  1080  East  Market  street, 
manufacturers  of  the  absolute  parasite  exterminator;  organized 
December  19,  1890;  capital,  $50,000;  Richard  J.  Cunnington,  presi- 
dent; Stephen  H. Barron,  vice  president;  William  E.  Roth,  secretary; 
Albert  B.  Cunnington,  treasurer;  James  H.  Case,  chemist.  Build- 
ings, 20x60  two  stories,  30x65  one  story;  hands  employed,  4. 

The  Akron  Chemical  Company. — Manufacturers  of  paints, 
fillers  and  printing  inks;  incorporated  January  13,  1890;  capital, 
$25,000;  works  on  West  State  street;  officers:  Frank  A.  Wilcox, 
president;  J.  Martin  Beck,  vice  president;  Charles  L.  Brov^rn,  sec- 
retary and  treasurer. 

The  Akron  Heating  and  Ventilating  Company,  manufactur- 
ers of  apparatus  for  heating,  ventilating  and  cooling — the  Akron 
Blast  System  for  churches,  schools,  public  buildings,  etc..  South 
Broadway;  incorporated  November  30,  1889;  capital  $75,000;  hands 
employed,  25;  George  W.  Crouse,  president;  Ferd.  Schumacher, 
vice  president;  Julius  O.  Simmons,  secretary  and  treasurer;  Her- 
man Eichoff,  superintendent. 

The  Akron  Light,  Heat  and  Power  Company,  Manufactur- 
ers of  fuel  gas  for  cooking,  heating  and  illumination;  works  corner 
Bank  and  Valley  Ry.,  Sixth  ward;  incorporated  July  14.  1888;  capi- 
,tal,  $200,000;  officers:  Gordon  W.  Lloyd,  president;  Ferd.  Schu- 
macher, vice  president;  Ernest  F.  Lloyd,  secretary;  F.  Adolph 
Schumacher,  treasurer;  James  W.  Lane,  superintendent;  Olaf  N. 
Guldlin,  engineer.  Miles  of  pipe  now^laid  (July,  1891),  seven;  hands 
employed,  10. 


AKRON  S    MANUFACTURES. 


499 


ARTHUR  M.  COLE.  — born  near 
-^  Everett,  July  6,  1850 ;  educated 
in  common  schools  and  commercial 
college ;  several  years  clerk  in 
father's  store  at  Peninsula,  then 
entered  upon  the  study  of  medicine, 
|rraduating-  from  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  Wooster  University  at  Cleve- 
land, in  1874,  '75,  afterwards  attend- 
ing- two  courses  of  lecturers  in  Cleve- 
land, and  one  course  at  the  college  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  New 
York.  Practicing-  successfully  in 
Peninsula  two  years,  on  the  death  of 
his  father  engaged  in  merchandising, 
which  calling,  in  connection  with  his 
brother,  Herbert  W.,  he  followed 
until  his  election  as  treasurer  of 
Suinmit  county,  in  1882,  which  office 
he  ably  filled  for  two  consecutive 
terms  of  two  years  each.  Dr.  Cole 
was  marrried  to  Mrs.  Eucy  J.  Trus- 
cott,  of  Cleveland,  January  20,  1876, 
who,  besides  the  two  children  she 
brought  to  him,  Harry  and  Jessie 
Truscott,  has  borne  him  two  sons 
—Samuel  Jackson,  born  May  30,  1878. 
and  Edmund  Herbert,  born  Novem- 
ber 26,  1882.  While  yet  officiating  as 
treasurer,  Dr.  Cole  organized  the 
Akron  Twine  and  Cordage  Works, 
now  one  of  the  most  successful 
industrial  institutions  in  the  citj^  of 
which  coinpany  he  was  secretary, 
treasurer  and  inanager,  till  inerged 


ARTHUR   M.  COLE. 

in  the  National  Cordage  Company 
of  New  York  City,  January  1,  1891, 
being  also  president  of  the  J.  C. 
McNeil  Boiler  Company,  and  for  a 
time  of  City  National  Bank  of  Akron, 
and  president  of  several  other  busi- 
ness and  industrial  corporations  in 
Akron  and  elsewhere,  and  an  active 
and  influential  member  of  the  Akron 
Board  of  Trade. 


HERBET   W.  COLE. 

HERBERT     W.     COLE, —  son     of 
Ediuund    and    Ann    L.    (Boies) 
Cole,  was  born  at  Peninsula,  Summit 


county,  Ohio,  February(  22,  1857 ; 
educated  in  village  schools  and  at 
Oberlin  College;  taught  school  at  Old 
Portage,Boston  and  Chittenden's  Cor- 
ners ;  in  1878  admitted  to  partnership 
in  store  of  brother,  at  Peninsula,  un- 
der the  firm  name  of  A.  M.  Cole  & 
Bro.,  continuing  until  1884,  on 
November  4,  of  tfiat  year,  entering 
the  count  J-  treasurer's  office  as 
deputj^  treasurer,  under  his  brother, 
Dr.  A.  M,  Cole,  county  treasurer  from 
September  1,  1884,  to  September  1, 
1888 ;  then  organized  the  Akron 
Wholesale  Grocery  Company,  with  a 
capital  of  $100,000,  serving  as  its  sec- 
retary and  treasurer  from  September 
10.  1888,  till  January  1,  1890;  July  20, 
1889,  organized  the  Star  Drilling 
Machine  Company,  with  a  capital  of 
$.50,000,  of  which  company  he  has 
been  secretar}^  and  treasurer  from 
the  Deginning ;  is  also  a  stockholder 
in  The  Akron  Silver  Plate  Company, 
and  The  Barrett  Elevator  Company 
of  Cleveland.  August  7,  1890,  Mr, 
Cole  was  married  to  Miss  Leota  M. 
Townsend,  of  Akron.  They  have  one 
child,  Helen  Louise,  born  June  4, 1891.. 


500 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


j»>n^ 


THOMAS  A.   EDISON. 


MRS.   THOMAS  A.   EDISON. 


THOMAS  A.  EDISON, — the  greatest  inventor  of  his  own  or  any  other  ag-e 
in  the  world's  progress,  is  entitled  to  a  prominent  position  in  this  work,- 
not  only  because  of  the  many  advantages  which  have  accrued  to  Akron 
from  his  inventions,  but  especially  because  of  his  alliance,  by  marriage,  with 
the  family  of  one  of  our  own  fcest-known,  most  enterprising  and  most  pro- 
lific inventors.  Thomas  Alva  Edison  was  born  at  Milan,  Erie  county,  Ohio, 
February  11,  1847 ;  reinoving  with  parents  to  Port  Huron,  Mich.,  at  seven 
years  of  age,  his  only  education,  except  two  inonths  at  school,  being  imparted 
by  his  mother,  though  when  quite  young  becoming  an  extensive  reader,  par- 
ticularly of  historical  and  scientific  works.  Froml2to  16  years  of  age  j'oung 
Edison  was  train-boy  upon  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway,  between  Port  Huron 
and  Detroit,  besides  selling  apples,  magazines,  etc.,  establishing  a  weekly 
paper,  printed  entirely  by  himself  upon  the  train,  entitled  "The  Grand  Trunk 
Herald,"  which  he  sold  to  passengers,  at  the  same  time,  also,  at  every  oppor- 
tunity, familiarizing  himself  with  the  workings  of  the  locomotive,  and  the 
electric  telegraph,  fitting  up  in  the  caboose  a  chemical  laboratory,  in  the 
furtherance  of  his  advanced  ideas  for  the  improvement  of  the  latter,  later 
transferring  his  laboratory  from  the  caboose  to  the  basement  of  his  father's 
house,  in  Detroit,  also  taking  lessons  in  practical  telegraphy,  which  he  fol- 
lowed for  several  years,  at  different  points,  with  but  indifferent  satisfaction 
to  his  employers,  owing  to  the  pre-occupation  of  his  mind  with  the  inventive 
theories,  which,  having  since  been  practicall}^  solved,  have  brought  to  him 
the  world-wide  fame  which  he  now  enjoys.  Mr.  Edison  was  married  at  New- 
ark, N.  J.,  in  1872,  to  Miss  Mary  Stillwell,  who  died  in  1883,  leaving  three  chil- 
dren— Marion  E.,  Thomas  A.,  Jr.,  and  William  L. 

MiNA  Miller,  daughter  of  Lewis  and  Mary  V.  (Alexander)  Miller,  was 
born  in  Akron,  July  6, 1865  ;  after  graduating  from  the  Akron  High  School,, 
for  a  time  attending  Mrs.  Johnsotrs  academy,  in  Boston,  Mass.,  followed  by 
a  European  tour,  becoming  an  accomplished  musician,  and  familiar  with  a 
number  of  modern  languages.  I'leeting  with  Mr.  Edison,  while  visiting  with 
mutual  friends,  in  the  East,  and  later  at  Chautauqua,  a  marriage  eng*agement 
ensued,  which  was  consummated  at  the  home  of  her  parents,  in  Akron,  at  3 
o'clock  P.  M.,  February  24, 1886.  After  a  few  months'  sojourn  at  their  winter 
villa,  near  Fort  Meyers, Fla.,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edison  returned  to  the  familj^  home^ 
"Glenmont,"  at  Llewellyn  Park,  N.  J.,  where  they  still  reside.  Thej^  have 
two  children— Madeline,  born  May  31, 1888,  and  Charles,  born  August  3,  1890. 


AKRON  S   MANUFACTURES. 


501 


The  Akron  Electric  Company,  manufacturers  of  electric 
motors  and  other  electrical  apparatus  and  supplies;  Ira  street,  near 
South  Main  street  railway  station;  incorporated  January  19,  1891; 
capital,  $100,000;  Frank  A.  Wilcox,  president;  Ed.  B.  Miller,  vice 
president;  William  B.  Doyle,  secretary  and  treasurer;  Willis  D. 
Chapman  manager.     Building,  40x105  feet;  25  employes. 


EDWARD  B.  MILLER, —  son  of 
Lewis  and  Mary  V.  (Alexander) 
Miller,  was  born  in  Canton,  Ohio, 
February  15,  1859,  removing'  with  par- 
■ents  to  Akron  in  1864 ;  educated  in 
Akron  public  schools,  with  a  two 
3"ears'  course  at  Ohio  Wesleyan  Uni- 
versity in  Delaware,  and  two  years  at 
Stevens'  Institute  of  Technology  at 
Hoboken,  N.  Y.  After  completing- 
liis  studies,  spent  nearly  a  year  in 
Europe,  on  his  return  entering  the 
^employ  of  Aultman,  Miller  &  Co.  in 
the  Buckeye  Reaper  and  Mower 
Works,  afterwards  spending  six 
months  in  Mexico  as  engineer  of  the 
Akron  Silver  Company's  mining 
plant  located  there.  He  is  now 
superintendent  of  the  rolling  mill  of 
the  Akron  Iron  Company,  one  of  the 
most  successful  of  Akron's  innumer- 
iible  industrial  enterprises.  Mr. 
Miller  is  still  unmarried  and  resides 
Avith  his  parents,  at  Oak  Place  in 
Akron. 


EDWARD  B.  MILLER. 


ROBERT    A.   MILLER. 


ROBERT  A.  MILLER. —  son  of 
Lewis  and  Marj-  V.  (Alexander) 
Miller,  was  born  in  Canton,  April  11, 
1861,  the  day  that  Fort  Sumter,  in 
command  of  Col.  Robert  Anderson, 
was  bombarded  b}' the  rebels— hence 
the  name  ;  removed  with  parents  to 
Akron  in  1864;  educated  in  Akron 
public  schools,  and  at  Eastman's 
Commercial  institute  at  Poughkeep- 
sie,  N.  Y.,  where  he  remained  three 
3^ears  ;  on  concludinghis  studies  was 
book-keeper  in  the  Akron  Iron  Com- 
pan3''8  office,  at  Buchtel,  in  the  Hock- 
ing-Valle}';  on  the  sale  of  the  works, 
there,  became  assistant  superintend- 
ent of  the  Buckej^e  Reaper  and 
Mower  Works,  of  C.  Aultman  &  Co.,  in 
Canton,  on  the  death  of  his  uncle,  Mr. 
Jacob  Miller,  in  188^),  becoming  the 
superintendent  and  general  mana- 
ger of  the  works.  January  25,  1887, 
he  was  married  to  Miss  Louise  Igoe, 
of  Indianapoli.'*,  Ind.,  who  has  borne 
him  two  children-  -Robert  Anderson 
Miller,  Jr.,  born  Jidy  21,  1889,  and 
Alice  Rachel,  born  March  6,  1891. 


502  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

The  Akron  White  Sand  and  Stone  Company,  on  Portage 
road,  west  of  city  limits,  miners,  manufacturers  and  shippers  of 
pure  silica  sand,  for  plate,  flint  and  all  other  kinds  of  glass,  iron  and 
steel  works,  furnaces,  potteries,  fire  brick,  etc.;  incorporated  in  1891 ; 
capital,  $100,000;  Harvey  F.  Miller,  president;  Arthur  M.  Cole,  vice 
president;  Lee  K.  Mihills.  secretary  and  treasurer;  James  L. 
Butler,  superintendent. 

The  Akron  Reed  and  Rattan  Company,  manufacturers  of 
baby  carriages,  baby  jumpers,  reed  and  rattan  furniture,  novelties, 
etc.;  works,  212,  214  North  Union  street;  size  of  building,  40x100 
feet,  four  stories;  engine  house,  16x30;  incorporated  August  1, 1889; 
capital,  $50,000;  John  H.  Howler,  president;  Charles  H.  Hower,  sec- 
retary and  treasurer;  hands  employed,  30. 

The  Akron  Silver  Plate  Company,  works  on  Bluff  street; 
building,  40x  110,  three  stories,  Aving  38x40;  manufacturers  of  cask- 
et hardware  and  other  silver  plated  goods;  incorporated  January 
23,  1890;  capital,  $100,000;  directors:  Arthur  M.  Cole,  president; 
Wilson  B.  Cannon,  secretary  and  treasurer;  L.  H.  Williams,  super- 
interjdent;  Joy  H.  Pendleton.  Capacity  of  w^orks,  400  pairs  of  cas- 
ket handles  per  day;  hands  employed,  45. 

The  Cohn  Manufacturing  Company,  established  in  1889;: 
incorporated  September  15,  1891;  capital,  $20,000;  manufacturers  of 
a>vnings,  tents,  flags,  oiled  clothing,  horse  goods,  etc.;  incorpora- 
tors: Solomon  H.  Cohn;  James  McBride,  John  McBride,  Oscar 
H.  Cooley,  James  H.  Greenw^ood,  and  George  M.  Anderson.  Shop 
near  South  Main  street  railw^ay  station,  building,  40x80;  hands 
employed,  18. 

Smith  Brothers  (Simon  C.  and  Joseph  S.),  chemists,  and  man- 
ufacturers of  flavoring  extracts,  perfumes,  and  paper  boxes;  build- 
ings, 30x40 — 60x116;  30  to  35  employes;  located  on  South  High 
street,  west  of  rolling  mill. 

Akron  Cart  Works,  806  South  Broadway,  Ferdinand  Seller 
proprietor,  manufacturer  of  road  carts,  wagons,  etc.;  building- 
20x30,  two  stories;  eight  hands  employed. 

Root-Tea-Na-Herb  Company,  Arcade  Block,  manufacturers  of 
patent  medicines;  George  W.  Wright  superintendent;  Charles  E, 
McMillen,  secretary;  eleven  employes. 

Polishing  and  Plating  Works. — Corner  Broadway  and 
Church  streets.  George  W.  Smith,  proprietor.  Nickel  and  copper 
plating,  polishing,  etc.;  hands  einployed,  from  10  to  15. 

The  Brigger  Belting  Company,  manufacturers  of  patent 
wove  oak  leather  belts,  and  best  oak  tanned  leather  belts;  near 
South  Main  street  railway  station;  buildings,  40x80  feet,  tw» 
stories;  incorporated  in  1890;  capital,  $25,000;  Josiah  Miller,  presi- 
dent; Curtis  C.  Sherbondy,  vice  president;  Herbert  R.  Whiteman,^ 
secretary  and  treasurer;  men  employed,  eight. 

The  Baker,  McMillen  Company,  successors  to  Baker, 
McMillen  &  Co.,  established  in  1870,  Ash  and  Bowery  streets; 
manufacturers  of  enameled  knobs,  handles  and  pail  w^ood,  wood 
and  clay  pipes,  etc.;  incorporated  July  2,  1890;  capital,  $120,000;^ 
number  of  hands  employed  from  85  to  100;  directors:  John  C, 
McMillen,  president;  John  W.  Baker,  vice  president  and  superin- 
tendent; Charles  Schutt,  assistant  superintendent;  John  L.  Noble^ 
secretary  and  treasurer;  John  B.  Wright. 


AKKON  S    MANUFACTURES. 


503 


pRANK  A.  SKIBERLING,-  eldest 
-*^  son  of  John  F.  and  Catharine  L. 
(Miller)  Seiberling-,  was  born  on  a 
farm  near  Western  Star,  October  6, 
1859 ;  at  two  years  of  ag-e  moved  with 
his  parents  to  Doylestown  and  at  six 
to  Akron  ;  first  attending-  school  in 
building,  still  standing-,  next  south 
of  Congregational  Church,  on  High 
street,  I.  P.  Hole  then  being  superin- 
tendent of  Akron  schools ;  at  close 
of  first  year's  course  in  high  school, 
entered  Heidelberg  Colleg-e,  at 
Tiffin,  remaining  two  years  ;  at  close 
of  Junior  year  left  college  to  assist 
his  father  in  business,  having  just 
started,  inanufacturing  the  Empire 
Harvester  in  the  old  "  Hawkins  Rake 
Factory,"  on  South  Main  street,  on 
the  organization  of  the  Seiberling 
Company,  in  1884,  becoming  its  secre- 
tary and  treasurer,  which  position  he 
has  since  continuously  held,  besides 
being  director  and  vice  president  of 
Akron  Twine  and  Cordage  Co.,  and 
the  Werner  Printing  and  Lithograph- 
ing Co.,  and  treasurer  of  Akron 
Straw  Board  Co.;  treasurer  of  the 
Seiberling  Milling  Co.,  Superior 
Mining  Co.,  Canton  Street  Railway 
Co.,  Zanesville  Street  Railway  Co., 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Akron 
Street  Railway  Co.  and  president  of 


FRANK  A.  SEIBEKLIxXG. 

Manufacturers'  Mutual  Fire  Insur- 
ance Association.  October  12,  1887, 
was  married  to  Miss  Gertrude  F. 
Penfield,  of  Willoughby.  They  have 
two  children — John  Frederick,  born 
July  26,  1888;  Irene  Henrietta,  born 
February  24, 1890. 


CHARLES  W.  SEIBERLING. 


pHARLES  W.  SEIBERLING,— 
^  second  son  of  John  F.  and  Cath- 
arine L.  (Miller)  Seiberling,  was  born 
near  Western  Star,  in  Norton  town- 
ship, January  26,  1861,  removing  with 
parents  to  Doylestown  in  the  Spring 
of  that  year,  and  four  years  later  to 
Akron;  attended  Akron  public 
schools  until  1878;  then  entered 
Oberlin  College,  where  he  took  a  twoi^ 
years'  eclectic  course  ;  then  returned  ' 
home  and  asstimed  the  position  of 
yard  foreman  of  his  father's  extensive 
Empire  Reaper  and  Mower  Works, 
described  elsewhere.  On  the  incor- 
poration and  organization  of  the 
J.  F.  Seiberling  &  Co.,  in  1884.  he  was 
elected  a  director,  and  promoted  to 
superintendent  of  the  works,  which 
position  he  is  still  ably  filling.  He 
has  also  been  connected  with  the 
Selle  Gear  Companj^  and  several 
other  manufacturing  enterprises  in 
Akron  ;  is  a  director  in  the  Akron 
Street  Railroad  Conipanj',  and  largely 
interested  in  the  South  Akron  Land 
Syndicate. 


504 


AKROX  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


The  Schumacher  Gymnasium  Company,  successors  to  the 
Dempsey  Machine  Co.  and  the  Howard  Manufacturing  Co.,  manu- 
facturers of  all  kinds  of  gymnasium  apparatus.  West  State  street; 
incorporated  July  13,  1890;  capital,  $45,000;  officers,  Ferd.  Schu- 
macher, president;  Joseph  C.  Ewart,  vice  president;  F.  Adolph 
Schumacher,  secretary  and  treasurer;  Theodore  Peterson,  superin- 
tendent; buildings,  40x60,  three  stories  and  40x80  and  40x40,  two 
stories;  hands  employed,  30. 


T  OUIS  SCHUMACHER,  — son  of 
-»— '  Ferdinand  and  Hermine  Schu- 
macher, was  born  in  Akron,  August 
28,  1852  ;  attended  Akron  public 
schools  till  1868,  when  he  was  placed 
in  a  private  school  at  Braunschweig, 
Germany,  subsequently  spending- 
two  years  at  the  Politechnicum,  at 
Hanover,  Germany.  On  completion 
of  his  studies,  he  entered  the  office  of 
his  father,  and  has  since  been  actively 
engaged  in  the  milling  business, 
being  a  stockholder  in,  and  vice 
president  of.  The  F.  Schumacher 
Milling  Company,  until  it  was  merged 
in  the  American  Cereal  Company,  in 
June,  1891,  in  which  company,  the 
most  extensive  manufacturers  of  oat- 
meal and  other  cereal  products  in  the 
United  States,  he  is  also  a  stock- 
holder. March  3,  1886,  he  was  married 
at  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  to  Miss  Dora  Schu- 
luacher,  of  Akron,  their  familj'  domi- 
cile being  at  224  Fir  street.  Thej- 
have  no  children. 


LOUIS  SCHUMACHER. 


HUGO  SCHUMACHER. 

HUGO     SCHUMACHER.  -    eldest 
son    of    Williain     Schumacher, 
was  born  in  Saxony,  German}',  June 


14,  1853 ;  when  six  j^ears  old  came 
with  his  parents  to  the  United  States, 
settling  in  Akron ;  attending  the 
public  schools  here  until  1865,  he 
was  placed  in  a  private  school  at 
Braunschweig,  Germany,  where  he 
remained  three  years.  On  his  return 
to  Akron,  in  1868,  he  entered  the  mill 
of  his  uncle,  Ferd.  Schumacher,  as  a 
packer,  continuing  until  1871,  when 
he  became  head  book-keeper  and 
cashier,  and  now  holdingthe  respon- 
sible position  of  treasurer  of  the  F. 
Schumacher  Milling  Company, 
organized  1886.  Mr.  Schuiuacher  is 
also  president  of  the  Akron  Building 
and  Loan  Association  ;  secretarj'^  of 
the  Akron  Electric  Company,  and 
vice  president  of  the  Millers'  Mutual 
Fire  Insurance  Coiupany  of  Canton. 
May  12,  1875,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Alice  Amelia  Wills,  daughter  of  Mr. 
Thomas  Wills,  for  nearly  twelve' 
3'ears  the  able  superintendent  of 
Akron's  beautiful  Rural  Cemeterj-. 
They  have  one  child  —  Ferdinand 
Hugo,  born  December  3, 1880. 


Akron's  manufactukes. 


505 


HARVEY  y;  HOWER— eldest  son 
of  John  H.  and  Susan(Young-ker) 
Hower,  was  born  in  Doylestown, 
Wayne  county,  October  16,  1855 ; 
•edvicated  in  Doylestown  and  Akron 
public  schools,  and  at  Sniithville 
Normal  Academy;  on  completion  of 
studies  worked  in  shop  and  field  for 
J.  F.  Seiberling-  &  Co.,  of  the  old 
Excelsior  Works,  and  two  years  in 
the  Buckeye  Works  of  Aultman, 
Miller  &  Co. ;  in  spring-  of  1879,  with 
other  members  of  family,  took  an 
interest  in  the  oatmeal  business  of 
Robert  Turner  &  Co.,  in  1881  buying 
out  Mr.  Turner,  and  with  his  father 
and  two  brothers,  Otis  M.  and  Charles 
H.,  org-anizing  the  firm  of  Hower  & 
-Co.,  incorporated  as  "  The  Hower 
•Coinpany,"  January,  1888,with  Harvey 
Y.  Hower  as  its  vice  president,  and  is 
now  a  stockholder  in  the  American 
■Cereal  Company,  in  which  the  Hower 
Company  was  merged  in  June,  1891, 
^nd  its  local  manag-er  of  the  Hower 
Mill ;  is  also  a  stockholder  of  the 
Akron  Reed  and  Rattan  Co.  Nov- 
•ember  2^),  1877,  Mr.  Hower  was  inarried 
io  Miss  Helen  M,  Stone,  sister  of  City 


HARVEY   Y.  HOWEK. 

Marshal  S.  M.  Stone,  born  in  Lock 
Haven,  Pa.,  June  25,  1856.  They  have 
four  children— John  Frederick,  born 
October  21,  1879;  Harvey  Burt,  born 
June  2,  1881;  Lloyd  Kenneth,  born 
March  30,  1863;  Louie  Stone,  born 
October  12, 1885. 


MILTON   OTIS   HOWEK. 


MILTON  OTIS  HOWER,— second 
son  of  John  H.  and  Susan 
(Youngker)  Hower,  was  born  in 
Doylestown,  Wayne  county,  Ohio, 
November  25,  1858  ;  removed  with 
parents  to  Akron  in  1866 ;  educated 
in  Doylestown  and  Akron  public 
schools ;  one  of  the  incorporators 
of  The  Hower  Company,  oatmeal 
manufacturers,  corner  Cherry  and 
Canal  streets,  and  secretary  of  same 
from  its  org-anization,  until  merged 
in  The  American  Cereal  Company, 
in  June,  1891,  of  which  company  he  is 
a  stockholder ;  is  also  a  stockholder 
in  the  Akron  Reed  and  Rattan  Com- 
pany ;  member  of  Akron  Board  of 
Trade  ;  director  of  Akron  Light,  Heat 
and  Power  Company,  and  active  in 
the  proinotion  of  all  private  and  pub- 
lic enterprises.  Mr.  Hower  was  mar- 
ried November  16,  1880,  to  Miss 
Eugenia  Bruot,  daughter  of  James 
F.  and  Rosalie  (Gressard)  Bruot,  of 
Akron.  They  have  one  child,  Grace, 
born  September  23,1881.  Familj- resi- 
dence, 204  South  Forg-e  street. 


The  HiMPHKEY  Tltkbine  Company,  South  Broadway,  manu- 
facturers of  hydraulic  and  power  transmitting  machinerj^  etc.; 
incorporated  June  15,  1889;  capital,  $50,(X)0;  officers:  John  Hum- 
phrey, president;  Oscar  H.  Coolidge,  vice  president  and  treasurer; 
George  L.  Humphrey,  secretary;  Arthur  G.  Humphrey,  business 
manager;  hands  employed,  15. 


506 


AKKON    AND    SUMMIT    COUNTY. 


pHARLKS  H.  HOWER— third  son 
^  of  John  H.  and  Susan  (Youngker) 
Hower,  was  born  in  Akron  Aug'ust 
31,  1866  ;  was  educated  in  Akron  pub- 
lic schools  and  at  Oberlin  Colleg-e  ; 
at  17  commenced  traveling  for  the 
oatmeal  firm  of  Hower  &  Co.,  which, 
thoug-h  probably  the  youngest 
"drummer"  upon  the  road,  he  suc- 
cessfuU}^  followed  until  the  incorpo- 
ration of  the  Hower  Companj',  in  Jan- 
uary, 1888,  in  which  company  he  was 
a  stockholder,  director  and  treasurer 
until  the  transfer  of  the  plant  to  the 
American  Cereal  Company,  in  June, 
1891,  in  which  company  he  is  also  a 
stockholder ;  was  one  of  the  incor- 
porators of  The  Akron  Reed  and 
Rattan  Company,  elsewhere  written 
of,  and  its  secretary  and  treasurer. 
September  27,  1887,  Mr.  Hower  was 
married  to  Miss  Nellie  E.  Long, 
daughter  of  Mr.  Elias  Long,  (late  of 
Akron,  now  of  Tacoma,  Wash.,)  who 
was  born  in  Copley  December  6,  1868. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hower  have  one  child — 
Helen  M.,  born  July  23, 1888, 


CHARLES  H.  HOWER. 


CTEPHEN  SAMUEL  MILLER,— 
*-^  son  of  Charles  and  Hannah 
(Bechtel)  Miller,  was  born  in  Norton 
township,  February  7,  1856,  moving- 
with  parents  to  Akron  in  1867  ;  was  ed- 
ucated in  the  public  schools  of  Norton 
and  Akron  ;  on  leaving  school,  being 
of  a  mechanical  turn  of  mind,  besides 
assisting  his  father  and  brothers  in 
their  various  manufacturing  opera- 
tions, became  a  stockholder  and 
superintendent  of  the  Miller  Match 
Company,  svxccessfullj'  managing 
the  works  until  their  sale  to  the 
Diamond  Match  Companj-.  in  1890 ; 
has  also  been  foreman  of  the  binder 
department  of  the  Buckej^e  Reaper 
and  mower  works  of  Aultman,  Miller 
&  Co.,  since  1886  to  the  present  time  ; 
is  also  a  stockholder  and  vice  presi- 
dent of  The  Akron  Globe  Sign  Com- 
pany, elsewhere  written  of. 


STEPHEN  SAMUEL  MILLER. 


The  Akron  Novelty  Manufacturing  Company,  North 
Howard  street,  manufacturers  of  center  tables,  stands,  easels^ 
screens,  wooden  specialties,  etc.;  incorporated  October  13,  1890;: 
capital,  $25,000;  directors:  Benjamin  S.  Cook,  Newton  I.  Winkle- 
man,  Julius  Frank,  Harvey  F.  Miller,  John  J,  Firestone;  president, 
Benjamin  S.  Cook;  secretarj^,  treasurer  and  manager,  William  W. 
Heib;  employes,  about  25. 


Akron's  manufaciures. 


507 


A  LBERT  J.  PITKIN —son  of  Rev. 
^  Caleb  Johnson  and  Elizabeth 
J.  (Bancroft)  Pitkin,  was  born  in 
Northampton  township,  March  22, 
1854;  in  childhood  went  with  parents 
to  Illinois,  living-  successively  at 
"Winchester,  Troy  and  Vandalia;  at 
11  went  to  live  with  grandfather, 
Deacon  Gerrod  P.  Bancroft,  at  Gran- 
ville, Ohio,  attending-  the  High 
School  there;  in  1870,  entered  Akron 
High  School,  living  with  his  uncle, 
Judge  Stephen  H.  Pitkin;  in  1871, 
entered  shop  of  Webster,  Camp  & 
Lane  Machine  Company,  serving 
under  his  brother-in-law.  Superin- 
tendent Julius  S.  Lane,  three  years 
as  apprentice  and  one  j^ear  as  jour- 
neyman; then  worked  one  year  in 
Akron  Railroad  Shops,  in  1876  accept- 
ing" a  position  in  the  drafting  rooms 
of  the  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works  in 
Philadelphia,  reinaining  four  and  a 
half  years;  in  September,  1880.  ac- 
cepted a  call  from  Rhode  Island 
Locomotive  Works,  at  Providence, 
serving  as  mechanical  eng-ineer 
until  January  1,  1882,  when  he  as- 
sumed a  similar  position  in  the 
Schenectady  (N.  Y.)  Locomotive 
Works,  of  which  he  was  made  super- 
intendent in  1884,  having,  during 
his  incumbency,  more  than  doubled 
the     capacity     and     output     of    the 


ALBERT  J.  PITKIN. 

works.  September  6,  1878,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Carrie  M.  Lane,  only 
daughter  of  Sheriff  Samuel  A.  Lane,  of 
Akron,  who  has  borne  him  five  child- 
ren, four  of  whom  are  now  living- 
Agnes  Belle,  Arthur  Frederick.  Eliz- 
abeth Bancroft  and  Albertina  Lane 


STEPHEN  H.  PITKIN. 


eTEPHEN  H.  PITKIN, -son  of 
«^  Rev.  Caleb  J.  and  Elizabeth 
(Bancroft)  Pitkin,  was  born  at  Troy,. 
111.,  October  26,  1860 ;  educated  in 
high  schools  of  Monticellp,  111.,  and 
Akron,  Ohio.  In  the  Suiniuer  of  1877 
entered  the  works  of  the  Webster,. 
Camp  &  Lane  Machine  Company, 
and  after  a  three  years'  apprentice- 
ship, together  with  a  special  course 
in  drawing  and  engineering,  entered 
the  drafting  department  of  the  com- 
pany, later  becoming  assistant  sup- 
erintendent of  the  works,  and  on  the 
resignation  of  Mr.  Julius  S.  Lane,  as 
superintendent,  in  September,  1885,. 
was  made  a  director  and  appointed 
mechanical  engineer  of  the  com- 
pany, and  on  a  reorganization  of  the 
comxiany,  in  1887,  was  elected  secre- 
tary and  general  inanager,  which 
responsible  position  he  is  still  ablj'- 
filling.  February  27,  1884,  Mr.  Pitkin 
was  married  to  Miss  Ada  M.  Maltb}-,. 
of  Cleveland.  They  have  one  child — 
Marian  Maltby,  born  March  30.  1887. 


508  AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 

The  Western  Linoleum  Company,  near  South  Main  street  sta- 
tion; incorporated  January  1, 1891;  capital,  $200,000;  size  of  building 
67x487  feet;  men  employed,  50;  officers:  Arthur  M.  Cole,  president; 
William  D,  Hoover,  secretary  and  treasurer;  Charles  Tt;mpleton, 
general  superintendent. 

The  Globe  Sign  Company,  manufacturers  of  every  description 
of  advertising  signs,  streamers,  banners,  yard  sticks,  shoe  size 
sticks,  advertising  rulers,  barrel  gauges,  etc.;  near  South  Main 
street  railway  station;  incorporated  February  25,  1890;  capital, 
■$50,000;  officers:  John  Grether,  president;  S.  Sam.  Miller,  vice 
president;  Prank  Reifsnider,  secretary;  William  B.  Gamble,  treas- 
urer; Horace  G.  Bender,  superintendent;  building,  40x100  feet; 
hands  employed,  seven. 

The  Akron  Cigar  Company,  437  East  Center  street;  incorpo- 
rated in  March,  1890;  capital,  $25,000;  officers:  W.  H.  Nees,  presi- 
dent; John  Metlin,  vice  president;  Howard  E.  Sears,  secretary  and 
treasurer. 

The  United  States  Baking  Company. — November  3,  1885,  the 
Akron  Cracker  Company  was  incorporated  with  Monroe  Seiber- 
ling  as  president,  Henry  M.  Motz  as  vice  president,  and  Charles 
Wilhelm,  secretary,  treasurer  and  manager,  in  1887  employing 
from  20  to  30  hands  and  consuming  25  barrels  of  flour  per  day. 
The  w^orks  were  subsequently  merged  in,  and  are  now  a  branch  of, 
The  United  States  Baking  Co.,  with  headquarters  at  Pittsburg, 
the  Akron  branch,  under  the  superintendency  of  Mr.  Charles 
Wilhelm,  employing  36  hands,  and  working  up  40  barrels  of  flour 
per  day;  w^orks,  143  to  149  North  Howard  street. 

The  Klages  Coal  and  Ice  Company. — Established  in  1879, 
incorporated  in  1888;  John  R.  Buchtel,  president;  Paul  E.  Werner, 
vice  president;  August  Blessman,  secretary;  Henry  Klages,  treas- 
urer and  general  manager;  yards  and  office  corner  East  Mill  and 
Prospect. 

American  Tin  Plate  Company,  Elwood,  Ind.,  incorporated 
September,  1891  ;  capital  $300,000,  among  the  directors  being 
Arthur  L.  Conger,  William  Z.  McDonald  and  Monroe  Seiberling — 
A.  L.  Conger,  president. 

Seaman  Manufacturing  Company,  South  Main  street,  incor- 
porated September  10, 1891;  capital  $20,000;  incorporators.  Alfred  F. 
Tame,  Benjamin  Seaman,  George  Billow,  Lucius  W.  Houghton, 
Willis  E.  Pettit,  George  A.  Wheeler,  Alfred  S.  Tame.  Specialties 
blinders  and  other  harness  goods;  hands  to  be  employed  25. 

Akron  Soap  Company,,  manufacturers  of  superior  quality  of 
laundry  and  toilet  soaps,  186'North  Case  avenue;  officers:  Linus 
H.  Williams,  president;  R.  E.  Abbott,  secretary  and  treasurer;  and 
Adam  Duncan,  superintendent. 

OUTSIDE  INVESTMENTS. 

In  addition  to  the  local  industrial  enterprises  above  men- 
tioned, Akron  capitalists  are  largely  interested  in  similar  opera- 
tions elsew^here,  a  few  only  of  which  can  be  here  enumerated:  The 
Diamond  Plate  Glass  Co.  of  Chicago,  with  plants  at  Kokomo  and 
Elwood,  Ind.;  the  Hartford  City  (Ind.)  Glass  Co.;  the  American 
Crayon  Co.,  Sandusky,  Ohio;  The  Charleroi  (Pa.)  Plate  Glass  Co.; 


AKRON  S    INDUSTRIES. 


50i> 


The  Paige  Tube  Co.,  Warren,  Ohio;  The  Nevacker  Sprinkler  Co.r 
Warren,  Ohio;  The  Zanesville  Street  Railway  Company;  The 
Elwood  (Ind.)  Land  Co.;  The  Canal  Dover  (Ohio)  Brick  Co.;  The 
Canadian  Copper  Co.;  The  American  Strawboard  Co.,  Chicago;. 
The  Diamond  Match  Co.,  Chicago,  etc. 


JOSEPH  HU GILL,-  born  in  York- 
shire, England,  September  1,  1834, 
at  14,  apprenticed  to  trade  of  stone 
mason,  serving-  , three  years;  then 
came  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  later  going 
to  Canada,  working  at  his  trade  on 
the  Grand  Trunk  Railroad  two  years, 
then  as  contractor  on  stone  work 
upon  the  Buffalo  and  Lake  Huron 
Railroad;  in  1858  went  to  California, 
working  at  trade  in  Placerville  one 
year,  at  mining  one  year;  in  1860 
going  to  Nevada  and  building  the 
county  buildings  in  Carson  City,  and 
later  doing  the  stone  work  on  the 
Gould  &  Curry  Quartz  Mills;  in  1864 
returned  to  Cleveland,  and  thence  to 
Hamilton,  Canada,  where,  September 
8,  1864,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah 
Wells,  a  native  of  South  Dumfries. 
Brant  county,  Canada.  In  the  spring 
of  1866,  they  came  to  Akron,  where 
Mr.  Hugill  has  since  conducted  an 
extensive  business  as  contractor  and 
builder  in  stone  and-  brick,  in  1872 
purchasing  a  tract  of  land  within  the 
city  limits,  which  furnishes  him  with 
an  inexhaustible  supply  of  building 
material,  Mr.  Hugill  also  being  the 
official  contractor  of  the  city  on  side- 
walks, with  quite  large  interests  in 


iZt' 


JusEI'H  HLjuILL. 

several  incorporated  industrial 
enterprises  in  Akron  and  elsewhere. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hugill  have  had  four 
children — William  Edgar,  died  at  20 
years  of  age;  Franklin  Wells,  died  at 
20,  his  twin,  Minnie  Adella,  djdng  at 
7,  and  Rhea  Daisy,  still  living. 


Contractors,  Carpenters,  Plasterers,  Stone  and  Brick 
Masons,  Etc. — Alexander  Brothers  (Hudson  S.  and  Alvin  D.),  367 
Carroll;  Thomas  R.  Bridge,  206  South  Maple;  James  Brown,  121 
Arch;  B.  Frank  Buchtel,  140  South  Balch;  Thomas  Brady,  213 
Wabash  avenue;  Alexander  M.  Brooker,  120  West  North;  Alfred 
W.  Barnes,  115  Lincoln;  Barnett  &  O'Marr  (William  Barnett  and 
Daniel  O'Marr),  104  East  Cedar,  342  West  North;  Noah  A.  Carter, 
109  Adolph  avenue;  Crisp  Brothers  (George  and  John),  241  John- 
ston; J.  H.  Derhamer  &  Sons  (Joseph  H.,  Daniel  J.  and  William 
H.),  112  AUyn;  Thomas  A.  Dixon,  605  Spicer;  Dayton  A.  Doyle, 
executor,  123  South  Main;  William  Downing,  418  Perkins;  Lewis  B. 
Ewing,  121  Kirkwood;  John  M.  Gobel,  357  West  North;  Fred.  R. 
Gafkey,  New  Portage  road;  Gayer  Brothers  (Jacob  M.  and  William 
F.),  310  Sumner;  John  W.  Hall,  107  Cross;  Hiram  C.  Henry,  204 
Torrey;  Theodore  F.  Homer,  140  Silver;  Cyrus  H.  Hogarth,  435 
Perkins;  John  G.  Haury  &  Co.,  705  South  Broadway;  Harvey  M. 
Hollinger,  123  Kirkwood;  Joseph  Hugill,  114  South  College;  A.  F. 
Hunsicker,  165  North  Broadway;  William  J.  Humes,  105  North 
Balch;  John  W.  Hutton,584  West  Exchange;  A.  Jackson  &  Lyman, 
116  West  Exchange;  Jones  &  Parker  (William  H.  Jones  and 
Thomas  M.  Parker),  corner  West  State  and  Ohio  Canal;  Lambacher 
&  Brodt  (Christian  Lambacher  and  Charles  J.  Brodt),  127,  212  Grant; 
William  A.  McClellan,  305  Water;  Robert  McElhinney,  111  Pearl; 


510  AKRON    AND    vSUMMIT   COUXTY. 

Daniel  McGarry,  206  Locust;  John  P.  McGarrj^  208  Locust;  Peter 
Leiser,  516  Kast  Exchange;  August  C.  Miller,  503i/^  East  Exchange; 
William  McNeal,  Lock  3;  Cornelius  C.  Misnor,  121  Bates;  Joseph 
M.  Morrette,  303  Bell;  George  T.Rankin,  209  South  Forge;  Michael 
Riley,  123  Merriman;  William  H,  Payne,  121  Grant;  Robinson  & 
Caine  (Henry  Robinson  and  Robert  N.  Caine);  The  Akron  Build- 
ing and  Cabinet  Co.,  208-220  Cherry;  The  Thomas  Lumber  Co.,  216 
West  Market;  The  Akron  Lumber  Co.,  216  West  Buchtel  avenue; 
Solon  N.  Wilson,  888  South  Main;  Jacob  Waldvogel,  421  East 
Buchtel  avenue;  Samuel  Wall,  421  Park;  Louis  Wilhelm  &  Sons 
(Louis  B.  and  Albert  D.),  204  East  Cedar;  William  Windsor  &  Sons 
<John  T.  and  William  J.),  329  South  Arlington;  Frank  Wolf,  601 
North  Howard;  Wolter  &  Seybold,  (Henry  Wolter  and  Jacob  Sey- 
bold),  140,  163  Sherman;  Casper  Zintel,  185  Merriman. 

Cooper  Shops. — Garahan,  Stein  &  Co.  (B.  Garahan,  Michael 
Stein,  Philip  Stein,  and  Daniel  Gilletly),  rear  Allen  Mills,  near 
Ohio  Canal;  Jacob  Lapp,  1222  East  Market;  George  Roth,  Akron 
Tank  Works,  353  South  Main;  The  F.  Schumacher  Milling  Com- 
pany, office  400  East  Mill. 

Harness  Makers.  —  Eugene  Berrodin,  1212  South  Main; 
Edward  Colloredo,  117  South  Main;  George  B.  Crippen,  708  South 
Main;  Amos  M.  Fishburn,  178  South  Howard;  Charles  M.  Hauff, 
531  South  Main;  John  L.  Johnson,  120  South  Main;  Charles  A. 
Pelton,  1137  East  Market;  Jacob  W.  W.  Powell.  122  North  Howard; 
Christian  Reinhold,  409  South  Main;  Lewis  E.  Seiberling,  358i/^ 
South  Main;  Henry  Theiss,  206  West  Market. 

Merchant  Tailors. — Adam  Breiner,  531  South  Main;  George 
M.  Evans,  110  East  Market;  Albert  D.  Kinzel,  149  South  Howard; 
J.  Koch  &  Co.,  125,  127  South  Howard:  Charles  J.  McGuckin,  128 
South  Howard;  William  F,  Moran,  233  South  Howard;  Herman 
W.  Moss,  135  South  Howard;  William  Schroeder,  132  South  How- 
ard; Shelhart  &  Hack  (John  E.  Shelhart  and  Charles  H.  Hack), 
179  South  Howard;  Joseph  S.  Sourek,  144  South  Main;,  Lewis  N. 
Swigart,  237  South  Howard;  Richard  M.  Webber,  207  East  Market; 
William  A.  Weiss,  1065  South  Main. 

Painters  and  Paper  Hangers.— Angelo  Andrew,  314,  316 
East  Mill;  Berry  &  Son,  209,  211  East  Mill;  Brouse  &  Co.,  216  East 
Market;  Warren  H.  Billings,  704  South  Broadway;  Galen  E. 
Brown,  215  Sherman;  Frank  G.  Crippen,  708  South  Main;  EdAvin 
H.  Danforth,  309  East  Mill;  John  S.  Fetherson,  1471/2  Crosby; 
Orlando  Flickinger,  100  South  Arlington;  Gregory  J.  Gonder, 
Windsor  Hotel;  Albert  M.  Hamm,  213  East  Market;  Hasler  & 
Gonder  (Washington  S.  Hasler  and  W.  H.  H.  Gonder),  301  South 
Main;  Louis  Laumann,  604  East  Exchange;  Frank  F.  Leach,  172 
Benjamin;  Porter  &  Anderson  (Harvey  N.  Porter  and  Edw^ard  B. 
Anderson),  214  West  Market;  DeForest  Robinson,  210  East  Market; 
Frank  G.  Stipe,  1212  South  Broadway;  William  H.  Steller,  218 
South  Maple;  C.  C.  Stutzman,  103  Allyn;  Theodore  Talcott,  122 
Bartges;  George  P.  Tompkins,  159  Gale. 

Machine  and  Repair  Shops, — William  Eberhard,  104  Sherman; 
C.  Burt  Cushman,  225  West  Market;  Henry  W.  Harold,  322  South 
Main;  Townsend  C.  Budd,  rear  103  Bank;  John  K.  Williams,  corner 
Canal  and  West  Mill;  The  Schumacher  Gymnasium  Co.,  103  West 
State;  Taplin,  Rice  «fe  Co,  301,  403  South  Broadway;  Webster, 
Camp  &  Lane  Machine  Co.,  133,  145  North  Main. 


Akron's  industries.  511 

Architects.— Weary  &  Kramer,  (Frank  O.  Weary  and  George 
W.  Kramer,)  Savings  Bank  building,  corner  Mill  and  Main; 
William  P.  Ginther,  room  19  Arcade  block,  Howard  street;  Charles 
Henry,  204  Quarry  street;  Kdward  J.  Putnam,  321  East  Market. 

Bakers. — Akron  Cracker  Co.,  143,  149  North  Howard;  Albert 
Funk,  312  Spicer;  William  Goldsmith,  525  East  Exchange;  Gerard 
Hansen,  349  South  Main;  Ernest  Hohlfeld,  166  Grant;  Fred  Kulke, 
706  South  High;  Shepherd  B.  Lafferty,  106  South  How^ard;  Herman 
Langer,  347  West  North;  Almond  C.  Lodwick,  106  North  Howard; 
Charles  Loewing,  707  South  Main;  Morris  E.  Pond,  204  East 
Market;  Andrew  Ruof,  551  W.  Market;  Joseph  Schwindling,  1009  S. 
Bowery;  Ernest  F.  F.  Sommer,  404  Bartges;  Jacob  Steinert,  1219 
S.  Main;  F.Victor  Strobel,  113  E.  B'urnace;  U.  S.  Bakery,  N.  Howard. 

Blacksmiths. — Akron  Carriage  Works,  corner  Main  and  Buchtel 
avenue;  William  A,  Allen,  Lock  Seven,  Ohio  Canal;  John  Angne, 
Q43  South  Main;  Robert  Baird,  118  North  Main;  Ball  &  Wilson 
(George  W.  Ball  and  George  E.  Wilson),  613  South  Main;  Charles 
A.  Brent,  1125  East  Market;  Eberhard  &  Son  (Gustave  A.,  and 
William  G.),  520  South  Main;  William  F.  Farwell,  192  South  Case 
avenue;  Flanagan  &Tryon  (Joseph  Flanagan  and  Robert  Tryon),  129 
South  Main;  James  B.  Grue,  148  North  Case  avenue;  Harpham  & 
Lutz  (David  C.  Harpham  and  William  Lutz),  104,  106  South  Arling- 
ton; John  Heppart,  705  East  Market;  Thomas  F.  Hunt,  1060  East 
Market;  Thomas  P.  Howland,  134  North  Main;  William  H. 
Kennedy,  619  East  Mill;  James  A.  Moody,  108  Carroll;  W. 
Harry  Morris,  165  South  Main;  Christopher  W.  Riley,  154  North 
Howard;  George  E.  Rittenhouse,  193  North  Howard;  James  S. 
Robinson,  124  North -Howard;  Thomas  J.  Santom,  108,  110  East 
Exchange;  Felix  Sell,  240  South  Howard;  P.  H.  Spicer,  157  South 
Main;  George  Tait,  corner  Ash  and  Canal;  Henry  Vader,  101 
South  Valley;  William  E.  Waltz.  254  West  Market. 

Barbers. — Lester  Akins,  11211/^  South  Main;  Bissonet  &  Vor- 
Averk,  (George  E.  Bissonet  and  George  Vorwerk),  227  South  How- 
ard; John  Connors,  626  South  Main;  Joseph  Curran,  1190  East 
Market;  Mrs.  Louisa  Davis,  213  East  Mill;  James  O.  Evans,  264 
West  Market;  Robert  E.  Fay,  5251/2  North  Howard;  John  E.  Erase, 
248  West  Market;  Jacob  H.  Goodyear,  119  North  Howard;  Hamlin 
&  Hale  (Frank  B.  Hamlin  and  George  W.  Hale),  158  South  Howard; 
Thomas  Hayes,  1062  South  Main;  Holmes  &  Gossett  (Lewis 
Holmes  and  Daniel  M.  Gossett),  170  South  Main;  George  Isen- 
mann,  Empire  House;  Richard  H.  Jones,  111  West  Market;  Adolph 
A,  Ley,  614  South  Main;  Linder  &  Freeman  (James  Linder  and  Fred- 
erick D.  Freeman),  Hotel  Buchtel;  Washington  Martin,  169  South 
Howard;  Orlando  M.  Maxwell,  1053  South  Main;  John  S.  McCon- 
nell,  302  East  Mill;  Medsker  &  Wolfsperger  (William  C.  Medsker 
and  John  H.  Wolfsperger),  1056  South  Main;  M.  P.  Morr,  Windsor 
Hotel;  Phenix  H.  O'Neil,  235  South  Howard;  M.  Bradford  Peebles. 
712  Bowery;  Gustave  Lauvin,  246  South  Howard;  Henry  Schafer, 
418  East  Center;  George  W.  Shaffer,  405  East  Exchange;  Charles 
C.  Sherwin,  140V2  Bartges;  Seibert  &  Heddesheimer  (Louis  E. 
Siebert  and  Jacob  Heddesheimer),  405  East  Center;  Nicholas  Simon, 
514  South  Main;  Taggart  &  Stauer  (John  S.  Taggart  and  David 
Stauer),  107  East  Market;  Frank  W.  Wagner,  157  Grant;  Joseph 
AVinum,  154  South  Howard;  Charles  E.  Wycuff,  121  North  Howard; 
Mrs.  Mary  Yeomans,  1139  East  Market. 


512  AKKON    AND    SUMMIT    COL'XTY. 

COMMERCIAL  MATTERS. 

It  will  be  impossible,  of  course,  in  the  space  allotted,  to  give  a 
minute  history  of  all  the  mercantile  establishments  that  have 
existed,  for  longer  or  shorter  (mostly  shorter)  periods  in  Akron, 
during  the  past  65  years.  Of  the  earlier  merchants  one,  onlj^,  is 
now  in  business  here,  Mr.  Philander  D,  Hall,  who  established  him- 
self on  the  present  site  of  Hall  Bros.'  store,  corner  of  Howard  and 
Market  streets,  in  May,  1835.  Next,  in  priority,  Mr.  Frank  J,  Kolb, 
1840,  foUow^ed  by  Mr.  Joseph  K.  Wesener,  who  commenced  in 
Akron  as  clerk  for  A.  Hibbard  &,  Co.  in  1846,  and  as  proprietor  in 
1849;  Major  Erhard  Steinbacher,  1851;  Jacob  Koch,  as  clerk  for 
Koch  &  Levi,  in  1854,  and  as  proprietor  in  1864;  John  Cook  & 
Sons,  established  by  the  senior  Cook  in  1855;  Cornelius  A.  Brouse, 
in  1859;  C.  W.  Bonstedt  for  himself  in  1862,  now  conducted  by  his 
sons;  John  B.  Houghton,  1862;  John  Wolf,  1862;  George  C.  Berry, 
1866. 

Wholesale  Dealers. — Though  many  of  our  merchants,  in  the 
past,  have  done  more  or  less  jobbing  and  wholesaling  in  their  sev- 
eral departments,  to  retail  dealers  both  in  the  city  and  in  adjacent 
tow^ns  and  counties,  very  fe'w  exclusively  wholesale  establishments 
have,  until  recently,  been  attempted  here.  Some  twelve  or  fifteen 
years  ago  Messrs.  CoUett  &  Carr  conducted  a  ^wholesale  grocery 
and  confectionery  business,  at  first  in  the  postoffice  block  and 
afterw^ards  in  their  own  newr  building  on  the  opposite  corner, 
south,  but  failed  of  success. 

Major  Erhard  Steinbacher,  however,  has  for  many  years 
done  quite  an  extensive  jobbing  trade,  in.  connection  with  hi& 
large  retail  drug  and  grocery  business  at  104  East  Market  street. 

The  Akron  Wholesale  Grocery  Company.— With  the  whole- 
sale trade  already  established  on  South  Howard  street,  bj^  Mr, 
Cyrus  Miller,  as  a  nucleus,  a  stock  company,  under  the  above  title, 
was  incorporated  and  organized,  Sept.  7,  1887,  at  150  and  150V2 
South  Main  street,  with  an  authorized  capital  of  $100,000,  with  T. 
W.  Cornell  as  president,  Cyrus  Miller,  vice  president  and  Herbert 
W.  Cole,  secretary  and  treasurer.  This  company,  though  attaining 
to  a  trade  of  nearly  $300,000  the  first  year,  for  private  reasons  went 
into  liquidation  in  1889. 

Miller  &  Roche. — (Cyrus  Miller  and  William  Roche),  186 
South  Howard  street.  Mr.  Cyrus  Miller,  for  many  years  one  of 
the  most  successful  grocers  of  Akron,  some  eight  or  nine  years 
ago  converted  his  retail  store  into  an  exclusive  wholesale  house, 
in  1887  merging  his  establishment  in  the  Akron  Wholesale  Grocery 
Company  above  noticed.  In  1888  Mr.  Miller  re-established  himself 
on  How^ard  street,  associating  with  himself  Mr.  William  Roche, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Miller  &  Roche,  now,  in  addition  to  their 
extensive  retail  city  and  country  trade,  also  doing  a  large  and  rap- 
idly increasing  wholesale  business. 

Weeks  &  Kingsbury. — (George  W,  Weeks  and  Alfred  T.  Kings- 
bury) successors  to  J.  M.  Fraze,  now  located  in  Albert  block  on 
South  Main  street,  dealers  in  china,  cutlery,  crockery,  silverware, 
glassw^are,  etc.,  in  addition  to  a  highly  satisfactory  retail  trade  are 
also  quite  extensive  jobbers  of  the  several  lines  of  goods  in  w^hich 
they  deal. 


Akron's  mercantile  status. 


yRHARD  STEINBACHER.-borii 
JLL  in  Bavaria,  Germany,  March  HO, 
182.T;  educated  in  common  schools 
and  at  Heidelberg-  College;  in  1844 
came  to  United  States,  remaining  two 
years  in  Akron  and  Cleveland,  then 
returning  to  Europe;  in  1847,  returned 
to  Akron;  in  1849,  went  overland  to 
California,  returning  via  Panama  in 
February  1851;  engaged  in  the  drug 
and  grocery  trade  in  partnershi]) 
with  George  Weimer,  in  frame  build- 
ing where  First  National  Bank  now 
stands,  building  his  present  three 
storj^  brick  block,  104  East  Market 
street,  in  1851,  '52,  of  which,  since  18(j5. 
he  has  been  the  sole  proprietor.  At 
the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion, 
Mr.  Steinbacher  held  the  position  of 
Major  in  the  State  Militia,  and  in 
ad4ition  to  being  a  "  Squirrel  Hunter  " 
in  1862,  was  verj^  active  in  promoting 
enlistments  and  providing  supplies 
for  the  Union  army  during  the  war; 
has  held  the  position  of  president  of 
the  Citizens'  Saving  and  Loan  Asso- 
ciation since  its  organization  in  1872; 
is  also  a  stockholder  in  the  First 
National  Bank,  and  from  its  begin- 
ning a  stockholder  and  director  in 
the  Akron  Iron  Company.  In  April 
18.53,  Mr.  Steinbacher  was  married  to 
Miss  Ph(Ebe  Potter,  of  Suffield,  Ohio, 


BENJAMIN    F.    WHKKLEK. 

T3ENJAMIN  F.  WHEF:LER,  born 
-D  in  Salem,  Mass.,  June  9,  1808; 
removing  with  parents  to  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  in  1817;  at  11  years  of  age 
entered  drug  store,  and  two  years 
later  dry  goods  store,  clerking  for  six 
years,  then  for  a  time  worked  at  cabi- 
net-making. July  11,  1829,  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Eliza  Miles,  a  native  of 
Vermont ;  in  1836,  moved  to  Ohio,  set- 

38 


erhard  .steinbacher. 


who  bore  him  four  children  -Marie 
Louise,  died  in  infancy,  Kate  L.  (now 
Mrs.  George  N.  Tyner,  of  Holj^oke. 
Mass.),  Edward  E.,  died  April  29,  1887, 
and  Georgia  Belle  (now  Mrs.  George 
L.  Stewart,  of  Akron);  Mrs.  Stein- 
bacher dj'itjg  Januarjr  26,  1890,  aged 
58  3'ears. 

tling  at  Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent), 
Portage  count),  coming  to  Akron  in 
the  Spring-  of  1841.  Here  for  several 
3"ears  he  worked  at  painting,  then 
opened  a  grocerj^  and  provision  store, 
which  he  successfullj^  conducted 
some  ten  years;  then  clerked  for  his 
son-in-law  for  a  few  years  ;  then,  dur- 
ing the  war,  engaged  in  buying-  and 
shipping-  grain,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  war,  entered  the  emplo}-  of  Mr. 
Ferd.  Schumacher,  as  grain  bujer, 
which  business  he  still  follows.  His 
wife  died  in  1844,  leaving  him  three 
children — Sarah  H.,  (now  Mrs.  Jona- 
than Starr,  of  Akron);  Julia,  (now 
Mrs.  M.  Simpson,  of  Michigan);  and 
Henry  F.,  of  New  York  Cit3^  October 
30,  1845,  Mr.  Wheeler  was  again  mar- 
ried, to  Miss  Catharine  Butts,  of 
Columbiana  county,  who  has  borne 
him  three  children — Ollie  L.,  (now 
Mrs.  W.  H.  Thompson,  of  Meadville, 
Pa.);  Minnie  E.,  (now  Mrs.  M.  L.  Hayne, 
of  Akron),  and  Harry  E.,  of  Akron. 
A  stanch  temperance  man  for  over 
half  a  centurjs  Mr.  Wheeler  has  also 
been  a  zealous  member  of  Summit 
Lodge,  No.  .50,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  since  18.51— 
treasurer,  three  terms ;  secretary, 
one;  Noble  Grand,  one;  permanent 
secretar)^  17  ;  is  a  Past  Grand,  a  Past 
Patriarch,  and  has  been  representa- 
tive to  grand  encampment  three 
times. 


514 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


JOHN  BENJAMIN  HOUGHTON, 
J  born  in  Attleboro,  Bucks  connt}-, 
Pa.,  January  31,  1883;  losing-  his 
father  when  four  months  of  age,  and 
his  mother  soon  after,  was  adopted 
by  his  uncle,  John  Houghton,  of 
Stark  county,  Ohio,  with  whom  he 
lived,  working  on  farm  and  attending 
district  school,  until»1851,  when  he 
entered  store  of  P.  D.  Hall  &  Co., 
of  Akron,  as  salesman,  where  he 
remained  three  years  ;  in  1855,  went, 
in  company  w^ith  Mr.  Charles  A. 
Sumner,  then  a  merchant  in  Akron, 
to  Baraboo,  Wis.,  remaining'  there 
seven  j'ears ;  in  1862,  returned  to 
Akron  and  established  himself,  as  a 
wholesale  and  retail  dealer  in  gro- 
ceries, and  provisions,  at  No.  113  East 
Market  street,  which  buisness  he  is 
still  successfully  conducting-.  April 
14,  1857,  Mr.  Houghton  was  married 
to  Miss  Nellie  E.  Sumner,  daughter 
of  Col.  Julius  A.  Sumner,  of  Akron, 
who  bore  him  four  children,  two  of 
w^hom,  only,  are  now  living — Harry 
B.,  born  September  5, 1858,  married  to 
Miss  Lottie  M.  Merriam,  of  Akron, 
March  14,  1883,  and  now  book-keeper 
in  Citizens'  Savings  and  Loan  Asso- 
ciation,    of    Akron;     and    Delia     L., 


JOHN   BENJAMIN'   HOUGHTC'N. 

born  June  10,  1868,  and  married,  June 
19, 1890,  to  William  G.  Good,  boot  and 
shoe  merchant,  in  Akron.  Mrs 
Houghton  died  January  29, 1889,  ag-ed 
50  years  and  4  days. 


CORNELIUS    A.    BROUSE. 

pORNELIUS  A.  BROUSE,— son  of, 
^     William    Brouse,  born   in  Chip- 
pewa, Wayne  Co.,  Ohio,  June  3,  1837, 


at  five  years  of  age  moving  \vith  par- 
ents to  Wadsworth,  Medina  Co.:  edu- 
cated in  Wadsworth  schools,  Wtdtern 
Star  Academy,  and  at  Berea  ;  raised 
to  farm  life,  from  14  to  18  running- 
engine  in  his  father's  mill ;  at  21 
came  to  Akron,  as  clerk  for  J.  E. 
Wesener  &  Co.;  four  years  later 
becoming  a  partner,  the  firm  after- 
wards changed  to  Wesener,  Brouse 
&  Co.,  continuing  five  years.  On  dis- 
solution, formed  a  partnership  with 
Mr.  David  L.  Wall,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Brouse  &  Wall,  continuing- 
six  years  ;  then  associated  with  him- 
self his  brother,  Myron  D.  Brouse^ 
under  the  firm  name  of  Brouse  &  Co., 
which  is  now  one  of  the  most  exten- 
sive and  prosperous  dry  goods  firms 
in  the  city.  October  14,  1863,  Mr. 
Brouse  was  married  to  Miss  Kate 
Wesener,  of  Akron,  who  has  borne 
hiin  four  children — Adelaide  L.,  Cor- 
nelia A.,  Edwin  W.,  and  Marian  M. 
Mr.  Brouse  is  a  member  of  the  First 
Congregational  Church  of  Akron, 
and  trustee  of  the  society,  and  in 
politics  an  earnest  Republican. 


AKRON  S    MERCANTILE    STATUS. 


515 


ALFRED  M.  BARBER— born  in 
Bath  township  October  U,  1830; 
lowing  his  father  when  two  years  old, 
and  raised  on  farm  with  but  limited 
educational  advantages,  Mr.  Barber 
is  emphatically  a  self-made  man. 
October  6,  1857,  was  married  to  Miss 
Sarah  Vansickle,  of  Bath  ;  after  mar- 
riage remained  on  farm  one  year,  in 
January,  1859,  removing'  to  Akron, 
buying  the  Pearl  Mill  (now  the 
Hower  Mill),  with  which  he  was  con- 
nected ioxir  years ;  then  engaged  in 
the  grain  and  produce  business, 
Avhich  has  become  very  extensive,  his 
transactions  amoxinting  to  over  $1,- 
500,000  per  year ;  in  1880 completed  the 
elegant  brick  block  corner  of  Howard 
and  Cherry  streets,  and  rebuilding  it 
after  its  partial  destruction  by  fire  in 
1890.  Mr.  B.  was  an  original  member 
and  director  of  the  Bank  of  Akron  ; 
is  now  vice  president  of  the  City 
National  Bank  of  Akron,  and  of  the 
Akron  Belting  Company ;  a  stock- 
holder in  the  American  Cereal 
Compan5%  and  in  several  other 
important  industries  both  in  Akron 
and  elsewhere,  and  besides  the  prop- 
erty, above  spoken  of,  and  his  fine 
residence,  corner  North  Prospect  and 
Park  streets,  is  the  owner  of  a  fine 
280-acre    farm    and    other     lands  in 


ALFRED  M.   BARBER. 

Copley  township,  three  miles  west  of 
Akron  city  limits.  Though  having 
no  children  of  their  own,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Barber  have  cared  for  and  educated 
several  children  of  relatives,  and  are 
liberal  contributors  towards  the 
various  church  and  other  benevolent 
enterprises  of  the  da3\ 


JACOB  KOCH. 

TACOB  KOCH,  son  of  Henry  and 
J  Mary  (Loeb)  Koch,  was  born  in 
Ba?rstadt,  Bavaria,  Germany,  May  29, 
1840;  in  1841  came  with  parents  to 
America,  settling  in  Philadelphia;  in 
1845,  his  father  was  lost  on  a  sailing 


vessel,  which  foundered  at  sea  be- 
tween Philadelphia  and  Savannah, 
Ga.;  in  1846,  came  with  mother  to 
Cleveland,  attending  the  public 
schools  in  that  city  until  1854,  when 
he  came  to  Akron,  as  clerk  in  the 
clothing  store  of  Koch  &  Levi,  among 
the  earliest  dealers  in  ready  made 
clothing  in  Akron,  the  senior  member 
of  tlie  firm  being  his  uncle;  in  1864, 
took  his  uncle's  place  in  the  firm, 
Mr.  Levi  being  succeeded  in  1878,  by 
Mr.  Louis  Loeb,  under  the  firm  name 
of  J.  Koch  &  Company,  which  in  1883 
moved  into  their  present  commodi- 
ous double  store,  in  the  Mathews 
Block,  on  South  Howard  street.  Mr. 
Koch  was  a  "Squirrel  Hunter"  and 
responded  to  the  call  of  Governor 
Brough,  in  1862,  for  troops  to  repel 
the  threatened  invasion  of  Ohio,  by 
the  rebel  General  Kirby  Smith;  as  a 
member  of  the  54th  Battalion  O.  N. 
G.,  served  in  the  164th  O.  V.  I.,  in 
front  of  Washington,  100  days  in  1864, 
also  for  a  time  served  as  one  of  the 
trustees  of  the  De  Roo  Hospital  Fund, 
of  the  city  of  Akron.  March  13,  1878, 
Mr.  Koch  was  married  to  Miss  Leah 
Hexter,  of  New  York  City,  who  died 
in  New  York,  September  3,  1878. 


516  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

The  Jones  Wholesale  Grocery  Company,  at  150  and  loOV^ 
South  Main  street,  incorporated  December  23,  1889,  paid  up  capi- 
tal of  $30,000,  is  now  covering  a  territory  of  several  hundred  square 
miles  in  extent,  with  a  lucrative  and  daily  increasing  trade.  Pres- 
ent officers:  Directors — R.  M.  Fillmore,  George  B.  Clarke,  Frank 
A,  Wilcox,  John  Kreuder  and  Cyrus  Miller;  president,  R.  M.  Fill- 
more, vice  president,  Cyrus  Miller;  secretarj'^,  F.  A.  Watkins;. 
treasurer,  George  B.  Clarke,  Mr.  John  Lloj^d  Jones,  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  company,  having  disposed  of  his  stock  to  his 
associates  and  returned  to  his  former  home,  Rome,  N.  Y.  • 

Herrick  &c  Son. — (Burke  C.  and  Oakley  C.)  successors  to  Her- 
rick  &  Cannon,  dealers  in  crockery  and  glassware,  108  Howard 
street,  established  in  1868,  have  for  several  years  done  quite  an 
extensive  importing  and  jobbing  trade,  which  is  from  year  to  j^ear 
rapidly  extending. 

The  Faige  Brothers  Company.— (Successors  to  Faige  Broth- 
ers, established  in  1867)  146  and  148  South  Main  street,  jobbers  in 
hardware,  factory  and  railroad  supplies,  windoAV  glass,  powder, 
cutlery,  Taplin,  Rice  &  Co.'s  stoves,  etc.;  incorporated  April  1, 
1889;  capital,  all  paid  in,  $75,000;  volume  of  business  in  1890,  $200,- 
000;  officers:  Albert  T.  Faige,  president;  J.  Ed.  Good,  vice  presi- 
dent; Theodore  Butler,  general  manager;  George  S.  Scott,  assist- 
ant manager;  Frederick  W.  Beebe,  treasurer. 

The  Akron  Shoe  Company. — Albert  block.  South  Main  street,- 
wholesale  and  retail  dealers  in  boots,  shoes  and  rubbers;  incorpo- 
rated February  4,  1891;  capital  stock,  all  paid  in,  $20,000;  directors: 
Charles  J.  Knapp,  Horatio  T.  Willson,  John  R.  Farst,  Joseph  H. 
Spuller,  John  T.  Donahue;  president,  Horatio  T.  Willson;  general 
manager,  Joseph  H.  Spuller;  secretary  and  treasurer,  John  T.  Don- 
ahue; volume  of  business,  1891,  about  $50,000. 

OTHER  HOME  BUSINESS  MATTERS. 

Space  in  this  work  will  not  admit  of  separate  mention,  by 
name  even,  of  all  of  Akron's  present  industrial,  commercial  and 
other  business  operations,  a  few^  of  the  more  prominent  of  which 
under  their  respective  heads  are: 

Dry  Goods. — Hall  Brothers  (Fhilander  D  .and  Lorenzo  Hall), 
corner  How^ard  and  Market  streets,  established  in  1835;  Brouse  «& 
Co.  (Cornelius  A.  and  Myron  D.  Brouse),  corner  of  Market  and 
Main,  established  in  1859;  John  Wolf,  corner  Main  and  Market, 
1870;  O'Neil  &  Dyas  (Michael  O'Neil  and  Isaac  J.  Dyas),  134-138 
South  Main,  1877;  Murray  &  Watt  (William  M.  Murray  and  Robert 
Watt),  Arcade  block.  South  Howard  street,  1880;  Kline  Bros.  (Clin- 
ton W.  and  Oliver  J.  Kline),  517-521  East  Exchange,  1884;  Myers  & 
Folsky  (Samuel  Myers  and  Abraham  Folsky),  Arcade  block,  South 
Howard  street,  1885;  John  W.  Fayne,  621  South  Main  street,  1886; 
Wendel  Mangold,  148  South  Howard  street,  1887;  Dague  Brothers 
(William  C.  Dague,  J.  Wilson  Dague,  Gabriel  C.  Dague,  J.  Melvin 
Dague,  Josiah  K.  Winch),  114  East  Market  street,  1891;  George 
Flower,  605  North  Howard  street;  Horace  G.  Griffin,  1188-1190  East 
Market  street;  Mrs.  Elizabeth  German,  103  North  Arlington 
street. 


Akron's  mercantile  status. 


517 


BURKE  C.  HKKRICK,--born  in 
Twinsburcv.  October  2o,  1829; 
educated  at  Twinsburg-  Institute, 
graduatiniif  at  18  j-eara  of  age  ;  taught 
school  ten  Winters,  working  on 
father's  farm  and  in  steam  mill  Sum- 
mers ;  married  February  4,  1858,  to 
Miss  Hannah  C.  Cannon,  of  Streets- 
boro.  who  has  borne  him  three 
•children  -Oakley  C,  Winnifred  C. 
^nd  Victor  M.;  March  1, 1858,  engaged 
in  mercantile  trade  with  his  brother 
Earl,  at  Newberrj-,  O.,  under  firm 
name  of  Herrick  &  Bro.;  in  Septem- 
ber, 1858,  by  reason  of  failing  health, 
«old  interest  in  store  and  purchased 
farm  in  Twinsburg ;  March  1,  1868, 
with  his  brother-in-law,  W.  B.Cannon 
■established  in  Akron  the  well-known 
wholesale,  retail  and  importing  crock- 
ery house  of  Herrick  &  Cannon,  their 
business  transactions  extending  all 
over  Northern  Ohio  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. In  August,  1887,  Mr.  Herrick 
bought  out  Mr.  Cannon  and  associ- 
ated with  himself  his  son  Oakley, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Herrick  & 
Son,  and  besides  the  immense  amount 
of  American  wares  handled,  thej^  are 
now  importing  about  200  crates  of 
crockery  yearly.  Mr.  Herrick  has  for 
many  years  been  president  of  the 
Summit  County  Bible  Societ3%  the 
Free    Medical    Dispensary-    and    the 


HUKKE   C.    HEKRrCK. 


Mercantile  Association  ;  secretar)"  of 
the  Summit  County  Sunday  School 
Union  ;  treasurer  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A., 
Board  of  Charities  and  Board  of 
Trade;  trustee  of  the  First  M,  E. 
Church  of  Akron,  and  is  prominent 
in  church,  Sunda}'^  school  and  benev- 
olent work. 


WILSOX    v..   KOHIXrtOX. 

V\^ILSON     G.   ROBINSON,— eldest 

»V      Hon  of  John  C,  and  Margaret 

(KelU)     Robinson,    was    born     near 

Middlebiirj'  (now  Akron's  Sixth  ward) 


March  20,  1838 ;  educated  in  schools 
of  neighborhood  and  High  School  in 
Akron ;  raised  a  farmer ;  at  19,  com- 
menced clerking  in  book  and  sta- 
tionery store  of  Mr.  Augustus 
Sawyer,  in  Akron,  four  years  later 
buying  out  Mr.  Sawyer,  and  for  the 
past  thirty  years  conducting  the  bus- 
iness with  phenomenal  success.  In 
August,  1879,  with  others,  established 
the  Akron  Telephone  Companj^  to 
operate  the  Bell  telephone  in  Akron, 
Youngstown,  Canton,  Massillon  and 
Springfield,  being  elected  president 
of  the  company.  Mr.  Robinson  has 
also  ably  filled  the  position  of  inan- 
ager  of  the  Academy  of  Music  since 
its  erection  in  1869;  being  also  inter- 
ested in  a  number  of  the  industrial 
enterprises  of  Akron  and  vicinity. 
January  1,  1861,  Mr.  Robinson  was 
married  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Buckingham 
of  Middlebury,  a  native  of  Waterbury, 
Conn.,  sister  of  the  late  Capt.  Edward 
Buckingham,  who  bore  him  one 
child  — Tiessie,  who  died  at  eight 
months  of  age,  Mrs.  Robinson  dying- 
May  22,  1886,  at  the  age  of  47  years. 


518 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Books  and  Stationery. — Wilson  G.  Robinson,  131  South  How- 
ard street;  Chandler,  Findley  &  Co.  (James  D.  Chandler,  Alvin  I. 
Findley  and  Julien  J.  Holloway),  119  South  Howard;  Akron  Print- 
ing and  Publishing  Co.,  corner  Main  and  Mill;  A.  L.  Dyke,  147 
South  Howard;  Foster  Brothers,  167  South  Howard. 

Watches,  Jewelry,  Etc.t— J.  B.  Storer  &  Co.  (James  B.  Storer 
and  Dwight  A.  Hibbard),  116  South  Howard;  Orson  H.  Reming- 
ton, 133  South  Howard;  George  J.  Nieberg,  179  South  Howard;. 
Charles  M.  Hibbard,  173  South  Howard;  Frank  &  Laubach  (Will- 
iam J.  Frank  and  William  F.  Laubach),  130  South  Howard;  D.  H, 
McBride  Co.  (D.  H.  McBride,  president,  and  E.  C.  McBride,  secre- 
tary and  treasurer),  120  South  Howard;  Jackson  &  Hale  (George 
W.  Jackson  and  John  T.  Hale),  207  East  Mill;  George  S.  Dales, 
corner  Mill  and  Howard;  Robet-^  D.  Nelson,  624  South  Main. 


Northeast  corner  Mill  and  Broadway— Windsor    Hotel — Ferd. 
Schumacher,  owner— George  M.  Cadwell,  proprietor — 1891. 

The  Windsor  Hotel,  northeast  corner  of  Mill  and  Broadway, 
This  hotel  has  a  history.  The  main  building  was  originally  the 
Methodist  church,  standing  at  the  corner  of  South  Broadwaj'^  and 
Church  streets.  On  the  completion  of  the  present  elegant  church 
structure,  the  old  building  w^as  purchased  by  Mr.  Ferd.  Schumacher, 
moved  to  the  corner  of  Mill  and  Summit  streets,  and  fitted  up  into 
a  temperance  hotel,  under  the  title  of  the  "Cascade  House,"  for 
several  years  kept  by  that  model  landlord,  Mr.  R.  N.  Downey, 
formerly  of  the  Eriipire.  To  make  room  for  his  celebrated  "Jumbo" 
mill,  erected  in  1884,  Mr.  Schumacher  again  removed  the  building^ 
to  its  present  location,  veneering  it  with  brick,  and  making  exten- 
sive additions  and  improvements,  and  changing  its  name  to  the 
"Windsor."     Present  proprietor,  (1891),  George  M.  Cadwell. 

Grain  Dealers. — Alfred  M.  Barber,  150  South  Howard  street; 
Iv.  Kryder  &  Sons  (Levi,  Charles  M.,  Frank  L.  and  J.  Harvey  Kry- 
der),  112  South  Main;  John  Kreuder,  224  East  Market;  Baldwin  & 
Bisbee  (James  N.  Baldwin  and  George  A.  Bisbee),  177  South  Main; 
The  Seiberling  Milling  Company,  1222  East  Market  street;  Dick  & 
Peterson  (Charles  W.  F.  Dick  and  J.  Edward  Peterson),  126  North 
Main. 


Akron's  mercantile  statuvS. 


519 


ALBERT  T.  PAIGE,-  born  in  Mad- 
ison, Lake  county,  Ohio,  March 
19,  185() ;  moved  with  parents  to 
Painesville  in  1860;  educated  in 
Painesville  public  schools  ;  from  18()(j 
to  1873  was  employed  in  City  National 
Bank  of  Cleveland ;  in  1873  came  to 
Akron  and  entered  into  the  hard- 
ware business  with  his  brother,  Hon. 
David  R.  Paige,  under  the  firm  name 
of  Paige  Brothers,  and  is  now  presi- 
dent of  the  Paige  Brothers  Company, 
of  Akron  ;  is  also  treasurer  and  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  Paige  Tube 
Company,  of  Warren  ;  was  one  of  the 
four  original  purchasers  of  the  land 
at  Barberton,  and  interested  in  nearly 
all  the  industrial  enterprises  of  that 
rapidly  growing  little  citJ^  In  181X)  Mr. 
Paige  built  Albert  Hall  on  South  Main 
street,  Akron,  the  finest  block  in 
Akron  and  the  finest  hall  in  Ohio. 
Mr.  Paige  was  also  for  several  years 
treasurer  of  the  Summit  County 
Agricultural  Society,  largely  contrib- 
uting by  his  labor  and  influence  in 
making  it  one  of  the  most  prosperous 
and  popular  in  the  State.  May  2.5, 
1875,  Mr.  Paige  was  married  to  Miss 
Carrie  J.  Adaius,  of  Painesville,  who 


ALBERT   T.  PAIGE. 


died  January  23, 1881,  leaving  one  son, 
Albert  Adams  Paige,  born  March  7, 
1876,  now  (1891)  at  school  in  Paines- 
ville. 


GEORGE  VI  ALL. 

C^EORGE  VIALL.  only  child  of 
J  Thomas  C.  and  Mahala  (Atwood) 
Viall,  was  born  in  Middlebviry  (now 
Akron  Sixth  ward)  March  12,  1834; 
educated  in  Middlebury  public 
schools  ;  at  19,  engaged  in  the  gro- 


cery business  at  Old  Forge,  continu- 
ing a  year  and  a  half ;  then  pur- 
chasing a  boat,  followed  boating- 
threfe  Summers  ;  then  three  years  in 
grocery  business  in  Middlebury  ; 
then  three  years  in  same  business  in 
Tappan  Block  ;  then  eight  years  in 
stoneware  business,  and  nine  years 
in  general  merchandise  in  Middle- 
bury ;  one  of  the  incorporators  and 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Middle- 
bury Clay  Company  ;  and  is  now  the 
representative  of  the  United  States 
Life  Insurance  Company,  and  the 
Cleveland  Mutual  Accident  Insur- 
ance Company,  in  Akron  and  viciiiitj'. 
Mr.  Viall  served  two  terms  in  the 
Middlebury  Village  Council,  and  in 
various  other  ways  has  ever  been 
active  in  public  affairs.  August  24, 
1857,  Mr.  Viall  was  married  to  Miss 
Maria  Reepsumer,  a  native  of  Trum- 
bull Co.,  Ohio,  who  bore  him  three 
children,  only  one  of  whom  is  now 
living — Nannie  L.,  now  Mrs.  Frank 
Comstock  of  Akron  ;  also  raised  from 
childhood  Edward  F.Carl,  now  a  sales- 
man in  store  of  Brouse  &  Co.  Mrs. 
Viall  dying  February  17, 1877,  Mr  V. 
was  again  married,  to  Mrs.  Jennie 
(Thompson)  Sweeney,  December  7, 
1887. 


520  AKKOX    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

China,  Glassware,  Etc. — Berry  &  Son  (George  C.  and  Charles 
W.  Herry)  209,  and  East  Mill;  Herrick  &  Son  (Burke  C.and  Oakley 
C.  Herrick),  108  South  Howard;  Weeks  &  Kingsbury  (George  W. 
Weeks  and  Alfred  T.  Kingsbury),  140,  142  South  Main:  Hall 
Brothers  (Philander  D.  and  Lorenzo  Hall),  corner  Howard  and 
Market. 

Clothing,  Hats,  Caps,  Etc. — J.  Koch  &  Co.  (Jacob  Koch  and 
Ivouis  Loeb),  125, 127  South  Howard;  New  York  Clothing  Company, 
George  Hirsch.  manager,  110,  112  East  Market;  Greenwood  Broth- 
ers (Julius H.  and  Marcus G.),  122  South  Howard;  Kraus&Holdstein 
(Henry  Kraus  and  John  Holdstein),  134  South  Howard;  Morris 
Price,'l09  South  Howard;  B.  Heskins,  205  East  Market;  Abraham 
Polsky,  1140  East  Market. 

Confectioners. — Becker  &  Auman  (Adolph  Becker  and  Fred 
A.  Auman),  143  South  Howard;  Bluinenstein  Brothers  (George 
and  Charles),  121  East  Exchange;  Everett  B.  Cahoon,  132  South 
Balch;  Caswall  &  Alderfer  (Richard  M.  Caswall  and  Elmer  J. 
Alderfer),  175  South  Howard;  Lewis  Creveling,  120  West  Exchange; 
A.  L.  Dyke,  147  South  Howard;  David  C.  Hanna,  IIO1/2  South  Main; 
George  T.  Hawkins,  720  South  Main;  Valentine  Hummel,  717  South 
Main;  Fred  Kuhlke,  706  South  High;  Shepherd  B.  Lafferty,  106 
South  Howard;  Nicholas  Laskaris,  160  South  Howard;  Almond 
C.  Lodwick,  106  North  Howard;  Antonio  Masino,  215,  2151/2  East 
Mill;  Masino  Brothers  (Gerard  and  Antonio),  172  South  Main; 
Morris  E.  Pond,  204  East  Market;  John  D.  RampaneUi,  205  East 
Mill;  William  Ransom,  313  East  Mill;  Joseph  A.  Rivello,  608  South 
Main;  William  Shauf,  358  South  Main  and  138  South  Howard; 
Charles  C.  Sherwin,  UOVg  Bartges;  J.  F.  Smith,  621  East  Mill;  F. 
Victor  Strobel,  113  East  Furnace;  Glen  S.  Williamson,  406,  East 
Market;  John  B.  Williard,  210  West  Exchange;  Mary  Yeomans  & 
Son  (Harry),  1183  East  Market. 

Hardware. — Akers  &  Pouchot  (Henry  A.  Akers,  Charles  A. 
Pouchot,  Charles  E.  Akers  and  Daniel  C.  Harpham),  1086  East 
Market;  Louis  Bickel,  615  South  Main;  Gulliford  &  Co.  (Samuel 
F.  Gulliford  and  N.  W.  Gulliford),  902  Bowery;  John  S.  Herrold, 
530  South  Main;  Inman  Brothers,  1176  East  Market;  Austin  M. 
Jackson,  532  South  Main;  George  A.  Kempel  &  Co.,  168  South 
Howard;  Sorrick  &  Harter  (Oliver  A.  Sorrick  and  Josiah  J.  Har- 
ter),  100  North  Howard;  The  Paige  Brothers  Company,  146,  148 
South  Main;  Williams  &  Rohrbacher  (Alton  J.  Williams  and  Alta 
C.  Rohrbacher),  170  South  Howard;  John  Gross,  617  South  Main. 

Ladies'  Furnishing  Goods,  Millinery,  Etc. — Durr  &  Beck 
(William  Durr  and  Miss  Christina  Beck),  129  Howard;  A.  M.  Feltus 
&  Co.,  152  South  Howard;  Joseph  W.  Little,  139  South  Howard; 
John  W.  Payne,  621  South  Main;  Isaac  J.  Frank,  115  South  How- 
ard; Mrs.  Melvin  E.  Foster,  171  South  Howard;  Miss  F.  Cheyney 
Smith,  152  South  Howard;  Miss  Annie  W.  Lees,  133  South  Howard; 
Mrs.  Margaretha  Briel,  125  East  Exchange. 

Notions  and  Novelties. — Alfred  W.  Cogswell,  123  South 
Howard;  L.  R.  Frank,  132  South  Howard;  Foster  Brothers,  167 
South  Howard;  Perry  R.  Sinith  (Jacob  J.  Brasaemie,  manager), 
118  South  Howard;  Herman  Fischer,  405  East  Exchange;  George 
S.  Dales,  100  Mill;  Horace  G.  Griffin,  1188,  1190  East  Market; 
Wendel  Mangold,  143  South  Howard. 


AKRON  S    MERCANTILE    STATUS, 


521 


Abstracters  of  Titles. — William  H.  Evans,  116  South  How- 
«rd;  Paul  Brothers,  147  South  Howard;  Wilcox  &  Noah;  404  South 
High;  Summit  County  Abstract  Company,  324  East  Mill. 

Carriage  and  Wagon  Makers. — Collins  Buggy  Company, 
corner  South  Main  and  Church  streets;  John  Heppart,  701-705 
East  Market;  Akron  Carriage  Works,  Adolph  Bonstedt,  proprietor, 
corner  South  Main  and  Buchtel  ave.;  William  A.  Allen,  204-208 
Cherry;  John  Angne,  943  South  Main;  John  A.  Funk,  rear  522 
South  Main;  Harpham  &.  Eutz  (David  C.  Harpham  and  William 
Lutz),  104, 106  Arlington;  Christopher  W.  Riley,  154  North  Howard; 
G.  A.  Eberhard  &  Son  (Gustave  A.  and  William  G.),  522  South 
Main;  James  A.  Moody,  108  Carroll;  W.  Harry  Morris,  165  South 
Main. 

Stoves  and  Tinware,  Tinners,  Etc. — May  &  Fiebeger  (Rudolph 
May  and  Frank  Fiebeger),  114  North  Howard;  Akers  &  Pouchot, 
1017  East  Market;  John  Gross,  617  South  Main;  Guilliford  &  Co., 
902  Bowery;  Austin  M.  Jackson,  532  South  Main;  Jahant  &  Weber 
(Augustus  Jahant  and  John  C.  Weber),  166  South  Howard;  Smith 
.&  Hamlin  (Eli  Smith  and  Byron  S.  Hamlin),  174  South  Howard; 
Sorrick  &  Harter  (Oliver  A.  Sorrick  and  Josiah  J.  Harter),  100 
North  Howard;  The  Paige  Brothers  Company,  146,  148  South  Main; 
Akers  &  Harpham  (Alfred  Akers  and  William  Harpham),  628  East 
Mill;  Thomas  A.  Bowers,  2161/2  South  Maple;  Kasch  Brothers 
(Fred  C.  and  George  F.),  148  South  Main;  W^illiam  Kasch,  708  South 
Bowery;  W.  D.  Rowland,  1201  South  Main;  James  Rutherford, 
151  South  Main;  Eugene  Waters.  433  East  Center;  Frank  A.  Wells, 
201  St.  Clair. 


r^KORGE  W.  WEEKS,  — born  in 
vJ  Wadsworth,  Ohio,  November  24, 
1831,  removing' with  parents  to  Copley, 
in  June,  1832;  educated  in  district 
schools  and  bred  a  farmer ;  at  18 
went  to  Iowa,  near  Burlington ;  in 
1854  went  to  California,  the  next  year 
returning  to  Copley,  engaging  in 
farming';  in  1864  engaged  in  teaching, 
at  Copley  Center ;  in  1866  resumed 
farming- ;  in  1872  was  elected  clerk  of 
courts  for  Suminit  county,  and 
re-elected  in  1875,  serving-  six  years  ; 
February  1,  1880,  eng-aged  in  the 
furniture  business  with  Mr.  Alfred 
Baldwin,  under  the  firm'  name  of 
Baldwin  &  Weeks,  continuing  two 
years ;  in  1883  helped  to  organize  the 
City  National  Bank,of  Akron,  becom- 
ing its  cashier,  four  months  later 
selling  his  interest  in  the  bank,  and 
in  1884  engaging-  in  the  oil  trade  at 
Bradford,  Pa.,  though  continuing^ his 
residence  in  Akron  ;  in  1888  bought 
the  Crocker}'  store  of  Mr.  John  M. 
Fraze,  in  Barber's  Block,  on  Howard 
street,  the  foil  wing  year  admitting 
to  partnership  his  son-in-law,  Fred. 
T.  Kingsburj%  under  the  firm  name  of 
Weeks  &  King-sbury,  in  March,  1891, 
removing  to  Albert  Block,  Main 
street,  where  they  now  have  one  of 
the  handsomest  crockery  stores  in 
Northern  Ohio.     Februarj^  3,  185(5,  Mr. 


GEORGE  W.   WEEKS. 

Weeks  was  married  to  Miss  Mar}'  A. 
Coon,  of  Copley,  who  has  borne  him 
six  children — Vira  E.,  born  November 
10,  1857  (now  Mrs.  Bert  T.  Wills); 
George  W.,  born  February  22,  1859; 
Leavitt  A.,  born  April  26,  1860  ;  Ollie 
M.,  born  Aug-ust  5,  1862,  (now  Mrs. 
Fred.  T.  King-sbury);  Irving-  H.,  born 
May  24, 1864 ;  John  L.,  born  July  12, 1865. 


522 


AKKON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


WILLIAM  M.  MURRAY,  -born  at 
Ayr,  Scotland,  Januarj^  31,1843  ; 
educated  in  Ayr  Academy  ;  appren- 
ticed to  the  dry  goods  busineSvS  in 
Ayr,  in  1859,  serving  four  j^ears,  con- 
tinuing in  same  house  as  salesman 
five  years  longer ;  then  one  j^ear  in 
same  business  in  Glasgow ;  then 
went  to  Buenos  Ayres,  South  Amer- 
ica, remaining  there,  as  salesman, 
four  and  a  half  5'^ears ;  returning  to 
Ayr  in  1874,  in  September  of  that  year 
engaged  with  Brown,  Thompson  & 
McWhirter,  extensive  dry  goods 
merchants  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  with 
whom  he  remained  two  years ;  then, 
in  1876,  returned  to  Buenos  Ayres, 
where  March  14,  of  that  year,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Anita  Johnstone, 
daughter  of  the  late  Ninian  John- 
stone, Esq.,  of  the  Estancia  de  las 
Ninas,  Chascomus,  Buenos  Ayres ; 
after  marriage  sailed  to  New  York, 
via  Brazil,  and  returning  to  Hartford 
held  the  position  of  floor  walker 
with  his  old  employers  four  years, 
when,  in  1880,  he  came  to  Akron  as  a 
member  of  the  dry  goods  firm  of 
Murray,  Hardie  &  Watt,  locating  in 
the  Barber  block,  corner  of  Howard 
and  Cherry  streets,  five  years  later 
removing  to  their  present  commo- 
dious quarters  in  the  Arcade.  Mr. 
Hardie  retiring  in    1889,  the  firm    is 


WILLIAM   M.   MUKKAV. 

now  Murray  &  Watt,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  extensive  and  prosperous  of  its 
class  in  the  city.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mur- 
ray are  the  parents  of  four  children — 
David  Cowan  St.  Clair,  born  April  6, 
188();  Edith  Anita,  born  August  5, 
1885  ;  Ninian  Johnstone,  born  May  19,. 
1887,  and  Margaret  Junita,  bori;i 
September  15,1889. 


ROBERT  WATT. 

ROBERT     WATT,     born     at     Star 
farm,     near     Cupar,     Fifeshire, 
Scotland,  December  25, 1853;  educated 


in  parochial  school  atScotlandwell,iii 
Kinrosshire;  December  1868,  appren- 
ticed to  dry  goods  trade  for  four 
years,  at  Leslie,  Fifeshire;  at  end  of 
apprenticeship,  served  in  same  busi- 
ness in  Glasgow  tw^o  years;  then 
came  to  the  United  States,  arriving 
at  Hartford,  Conn.,  September  6,  1874, 
engaging  with  the  dry  goods  firm  of 
Brown,  Thompson  &  McWhirter,  two 
years  afterwards,  for  a  time,  clerking 
in  Trenton,  N.  J.,  and  York,  Pa. 
About  March  1,  1880,  arrangements 
were  made  with  William  M.  Murraj^ 
and  William  Hardie,  to  open  a  dry 
goods  store  in  Mr.  A.  M.  Barber's 
new  block,  152  South  Howard  street, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Mixrraj^ 
Hardie  &  Watt,  afterwards,  on  the 
completion  of  that  structure,  remov- 
ing to  Arcade  Block,  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  street.  Mr.  Hardie  with- 
drawing in  1889,  the  firm  is  now  Mur- 
ray &  Watt,  and  the  "Boston  Store" 
is  now  one  of  the  leading  dr5'  goods 
houses  in  the  cit3^  November  5.  1884,. 
Mr.  Watt  was  married  to  Miss  Lizzie 
Johnston,  of  Akron,  who  has  borne 
him  three  children — John  Johnston 
Watt,  born  August  27.  1885;  Robert 
Kidd  Watt,  born  February  10,  1887; 
Elizabeth  Watt,  born  October  28,  1890, 


AKRON  S   MERCANTILE    STATUS. 


523 


Musical  Instruments,  Piano  Tuners,  ETC.--Oscar  G.Brownell, 
167  South  Main;  Charles  S.  Burnham,  111  Spruce;  George  S.  Dales, 
100  East  Mill;  Miss  Maud  I.  Daman,  104  Bell;  Miss  R.  B.  Drew, 
316  East  Mill;  G.  Philip  Goettman,  100  East  Exchange;  Richard 
Griffiths,  110  North  High;  Valentine  Hummel,  719  South  Main; 
Charles  Klein,  room  33  Arcade,  John  Kratz,  232  South  Howard; 
William  T.  McCague,  116  Adolph  Ave.;  Mrs.  Peter  J.  Moersch,  436 
Perkins;  William  J.  Payne,  413  East  Exchange;  Prof.  Gustav 
Sigel,  125  Crosby;  Prof.  Oscar  Werner,  room  14  Arcade;  Glenn  S. 
Williamson,  406  East  Market;  Prof.  Claus  Wolfram,  74  East  Mar- 
ket; William  J.  Brownell,  167  South  Main;  Lucius  McBride, 
Arcade;  William  K.  Randall,  206  East  Mill;  W.  L.  Reading,  103 
Vine;  James  Jackson,  114  Vine;  James  F.  Scott,  121  North  Summit; 

E.  J.  Simpkins  &  Co.,  218  East  Market;  Horton  Wright,  141  Ash. 

Picture  Frames,  ETC.^Chandler  Findley  &  Co.,  119  South 
Howard;  A.  W.  Cogswell,  123  South  Howard;  E.  H.  Danforth,  309 
East  Mill;  Foster  Brothers,  167  South  Howard;  J.  E.  Glatthar,  619 
South  Main;  A.  E.  Royer,  173  South  Howard;  John  F.  Viall.  1138 
East  Market. 

Clarendon  Hotel,  northwest  corner  of  South  Main  and 
Exchange  streets.     This  building  was  erected  in   1836,  by  Thomas 

P.  May,  of  Cleveland,  and 
'Squire  Jacob  Brown,  of 
Akron,  and  in  the  early 
days  w^as  designated  as 
"May's  Block."  The  first 
floor,  as  now,  was  devoted 
to  mercantile  uses,  the 
second  floor  to  offices,  and 
the  third  as  a  public  hall. 
Some  years  later  the  prop- 
erty was  purchased  by 
Akron  Lodge,  No  83,  F.  & 
A.  M.,  who  converted  the 
upper  story  into  a  lodge 
room,  the  other  two  stories 
being  for  several  years 
used  as  a  carriage  manu- 
factory by  Mr.  Charles  A. 
Collins.  About  1881,  the 
property  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Ferd.  Schumacher,  and  remodeled 
into  its  present  elegant  form,  and  has  since  been  kept  as  a  strictly 
temperance  hotel,  the  present  proprietor  (1891),  being  Mr.  George 
Kyte. 

Groceries  and  Prov^isions. — Frank  B.  Adams,  101  Locust;  Fred 
W.  Albrecht,  Buchtel  Avenue  and  Center;  George  D.  Anger,  508 
East  Thornton;  Ferdinand  A.  Ball,  1121  South  Main;  William  Bar- 
nett,  805  South  Main;  William  Beck,  300  Wabash  Avenue;  Arthur 

F.  Berger,  162  West  Market;  John  J.  Bergman,  142  Grant;  William 
Bittman  &  Son  (William  and  William  J.),  212  East  Market;  Adam 
Bohl,  301  Sherman;  C.  W.  Bonstedt's  Sons  (Adolph,  Victor  E., 
Herman  and  William  H.),  558  East  Market;  Frank  H.  Booth,  553 
West  Market;  Byrider  &  Atwood  (John  Byrider  and  Charles  E. 
Atwood),  corner  Sumner  and  East  Buchtel  avenue;  Peter  P. 
Cherry,  1205  South  Main;  Clayton  &  Son  (Mrs.  Rebecca  Cla^'ton 


Clarendon  Hotel. 


524  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

and  John  W.  Corbett),  220  Furnace  street;  Henry  B.  Cook,  216  Bluff 
street;  J.  Cook  &  Sons  (John  Cook,  deceased,  John  J.  and  William 
H.  Cook),  111  East  Market,  established  in  1855;  William  W.  Crooks, 
196  Upson  street;  Abner  Danforth,  Viaduct;  Jacob  Dettling,  108 
Kast  Voris;  John  W.  Dice,  600  East  Exchange;  Andrew  G.  Diehm, 
402  East  Exchange;  Theodore  S.  Eberhardt,  108  Wooster  avenue; 
Frederick  W,  Ewald,  152  Cuyahoga:  Lester  H.  Farrand,  355  West 
Market;  William  Fink,  Jr.,  221  East  Exchange;  George  E.  Flower, 
605  North  Howard;  Samuel  B.  Foster,  1066  South  Main;  Frain  & 
Manbeck  (Charles  P.  Frain  and  Charles  D.  Manbeck),  916  East 
Market,  1887;  Evelyn  L.  Gibbs,  800  East  Exchange;  Thomas  T. 
Gibbs,  318  Washington;  Werner  Gille,  351  South  Main;  Horace  G. 
Griffin,  1188-1190  East  Market,  1879;  James  A.  Gross,  251  West 
Market;  Byron  F.  Grove,  624  East  Mill;  Henry  Gugenheim,  162 
South  Howard;  George  Guth,  212  East  Market;  Joseph  Hackett,  162 
East  South;  Romanus  B.  Halter,  10631/2  South  Main;  Hanson  & 
Caswall  (Frank  Hanson  and  Robert  T.  Caswall),  156  North  How^- 
ard;  Edward  Harrison,  216  South  Maple;  Edwin  C.Hart,  198  North 
Broad^vay;  Haynes  &  Rowley  (S.  Shepherd  Haynes  and  John  M. 
Rowley),  213  East  Market,  1889;  John  C.  Herbruck,  1057  South 
Main;  Samuel  W.  Hixon,  208  West  Exchange;  Elijah  H.  Hoffman, 
249  West  Market;  John  B.  Houghton,  113  East  Market,  established 
1862;  Valentine  Hummel,  719  South  Main;  Inman  Brothers  (Sid- 
ney C.  and  Charles  T.  Inman),  1184  East  Market,  1867;  William 
Kauffman,  601  West  Exchange;  Charles  A.  Kempel,  336  Wooster 
ave.;  Emanuel  H.  Killinger,  602  South  Main;  Kline  Brothers 
(Clinton  W.  and  Oliver  J.  Kline),  517-521  East  Exchange;  Matthias 
Klink,  920  Bowery;  James  L.  Kohler,  1097  South  Main;  F.  J.  Kolb 
&  Son  (Frank  J.  and  John  C.  Kolb),  146  West  Exchange;  Ransom 
B.  Koons,  801  Bowery;  Alchia  A.  Koontz,  598  West  Exchange; 
Charles  Kramer,  500  Jackson;  Charles  F.  W.  Marquardt,  600  North 
Howard;  Charles  W.  McCune,  625  South  Main;  Michael  McFar- 
land,  208  East  Thornton;  A.  Miller  «&  Co.,  5031/2  East  Exchange; 
Mrs.  Barbara  Miller,  411  McCoy;  Miller  «&  Roche  (Cyrus  Miller  and 
William  Roche),  186  South  Howard,  1888;  Elias  MiUhoff,  968  South 
Main;  Mitchell  &  Reid  (Charles  E.  Mitchell  and  Frank  W.  Reid), 
437  East  Center;  Murdock  Sc  Rinker  (Charles  M.  Murdock  and 
George  W.  Rinker),  536  South  Main;  WiUiam  E.  Musser,  616  Sum- 
ner; Ed  J.  Mustill,  525  North  Howard;  William  Myers,  127  North 
Howard;  Nelan  Brothers  (William  and  Daniel  Nelan),  301  East 
Mill;  Robert  Neugart,  714  Bowery;  John  Quilhot,  324  East  North; 
John  F.  Rech,  1074  South  Main;  I.  Reder  &  Co.,  142  South  Howard; 
Thomas  Reinecke,  618  West  Cedar;  James  D.  Ritchie,  1129  South 
Main;  Joseph  A.  Rohner,  511  East  Thornton;  Roth  &  Shaffer 
<WiUiam  C.  t^oth  and  Samuel  Shaffer),  1134  East  Market,  1884; 
Andrew  Ruof,  551  West  Market;  John  Russell,  1136  East  Market, 
1887;  Burton  I.  Sanford.  621  West  Market;  George  G.  Shaffer,  266 
West  Market;  G.  Theodore  Schell,  175  Wooster  ave.;  Henry  Schu- 
bert, 628  South  Main;  Andrew  Seidel,  134  Sherman;  Leopold  Seid- 
man,  827  South  Main;  Peter  G.  Shaffer,  121  Hill;  Walter  J.  Sher- 
bondy,  176  Wooster  ave.;  Casper  Simon,  517  West  Exchange;  Will- 
iam T.  Sweeten,  829  South  Main;  Tanner  &  Co.  (Perry  E.  Tanner 
and  J.  W.  Leininger),  114  S.  Howard;  Joseph  Thomas,  239  Johnston; 
Wm.  H.  H.  Welton,  112  W.  North;  Jacob  Wise,  209  E.  Market,  1885; 
Young  Brothers  (Marshall  A.  and  Edwin  J.  Young),  1058  S.  Main. 


AKRON  S    MERCANTILE    STATUS. 


525 


Plumbers.— Charles  M.  Ginther,  153  South  Main;  Hill  & 
Cahill,  (John  E.  Hill  and  Henry  P.  Cahill),  203  East  Market;  Kraus 
&  Oberlin,  (John  V.  Kraus  and  Charles  M.  Oberlin),  204  East  Mill; 
Whyler  &Roussert  (George  A,  Whyler  and  Louis  Roussert)  322 
South  Main. 

Photographers.— Benjamin  F,  Battels,  106  East  "Market;  F.  E, 
Courtney,  Arcade  block;  Charles  E.  Groesel,  601  South  Main; 
George  J.  Snook,  186  South  Howard;  Theodore  H.  Wolfram,  141,  143 
South  Howard;  George  E.  Hitchcock,  100  South  Howard. 

Hats,  Caps,  Furnishing  Goods,  Etc. — George  Byrider  &  Co, 
(George  &  William  A.  Byrider).  100,  102  East  Market;  William  K. 
Eichenlaub,  141  South  Howard;  David  Ferbstein,  191  South  How- 
ard; Herman  &  Hollander  (Henry  Herman  and  Joseph, W.  Hollan- 
der), 185  South  Howard;  Charles  H.  Myers,  619  South  Main;  New 
York  Clothing  House,  110,  112  East  Market. 

Furniture  Dealers. — Dodge  &  Plumer  (Burdette  L.  Dodge  and 
George  W.  Plumer),  124,  126  South  Howard;  L.  A.  Barmore.  154, 
156  South  Main;  Kasimer  Gintz,  176  South  Howard;  George  E. 
Kratz,  108  East  Mill;  Edward  E.  Horn,  303,305  East  Mill;  William 
J.  Coney,  224  South  Howard;  Mahaffey  &  Wells  (James  Mahaffey 
and  William  Wells),  219,  221  East  Market;  George  M.  Kempel,  14^ 
South  Main. 


BURDETTE  LYNDE  DODGE,— 
son  of  Parker  and  Mary  Malvina 
(Lynde)  Dodge,  born  in  Penfield, 
Monroe  county,  N.  Y.,  June  19,  1853; 
moved  with  mother  and  sister  to 
Rochester  in  1856,  and  to  Akron  in 
1862;  educated  in  public  schools, 
Wilder's  commercial  colleg'e  and 
Buchtel  Colleg'e;  beginning-  with 
1867,  clerked  for  F.  McNaughton  six 
months  and  Hall  Brothers  three  and 
a-half  years;  book-keeper  for  the 
Weary,  Snyder  &  Wilcox  Manufac- 
turing Company,  two  and  a-half 
years;  book-keeper  and  cashier  for 
G.  C.  Berry  &  Company,  five  years; 
book-keeper  for  Second  National  Bank 
one  year;  January  27,  1879,  with  Mr. 
Charles  Klinger,  engaged  in  furni- 
ture business,  in  1886,  with  Mr. 
Klinger,  B.  L.  Marble  and  A.  L. 
Shattuck,  organizing  the  Marble  & 
Shattuck  Chair  Company,  of  Bedford, 
with  Mr.  Dodge  as  secretary  and 
treasurer;  dissolving  with  Mr. 
Klinger,  March  17,  1887,  associated 
with  himself  Mr.  George  W.  Plumer, 
of  Franklin,  Pa.,  under  present  firm 
name  of  Dodge  &  Plumer;  was  secre- 
tary and  treasurer  of  Akron's  first 
street  railway  company;  is  now  sec- 
retary and  treasurer  of  the  Weary, 
Snyder  and  Wilcox  Manufacturing 
Company,  vice  president  and  gen- 
eral luanager  of  the  Akron  Security 
and  Investment  Company,  director 
of  The  J.  C.  McNeil  Boiler  Company, 
and  stockholder  in  the  Akron  Woolen 
and  Felt  Company,  the  Selle  Gear 
Company,      the      People's      Sav^ings 


BUKDETTE  LVNDE  OODGE. 

Bank,  secretary  and  treasui'er  of  the 
American  Marble  and  Toy  Manufac- 
turing Coinpanj^  Akron,  and  the 
Cleveland  Printing  and  Publishing 
Company.  May  21,  1878,  Mr.  Dodge 
was  married  to  Miss  Ella  M.  Snyder, 
who  has  borne  him  four  children — 
Anna,  born  May  21,  1880;  Grace,  De- 
cember 6,  1881;  Ira  Jacob,  June  23, 
1884;  Burdette  Howard,  April  14,  1887. 


52(3 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


MICHAEL  O'NEIL,— born  in  Ire- 
land December  12,1850;  in  1851 
came  to  Ainerica  with  parents,  vset- 
tling-  in  New  York  City  ;  at  16  entered 
broker's  office  as  messenger  boy  ;  in 
1868  became  book-keeper  in  whole- 
sole  dry  goods  house  in  New  York, 
remaining  until  1873,  when  he 
engaged  in  the  retail  dry  goods  busi- 
ness at  Lancaster,  Ohio ;  in  1876 
came  to  Akron,  and  in  connection 
with  Mr.  Isaac  J.  Dyas,  under  the 
firm  name  of  O'Neil  &  Dyas,  engaged 
in  the  wholesale  and  retail  dry  goods 
business  at  114  East  Market  street. 
Finding  that  store  inadequate  to 
accommodate  their  rapidly  in- 
creasing trade,  a  fine  four-story  stone 
front  store  was  built  by  the  firm  on 
South  Main  street,  into  which  they 
moved  in  February,  1889,  the  entire 
structure,  together  with  an  immense 
stock  of  goods,  being  destroyed  by 
fire  on  the  night  of  October  28,  1889— 
total  loss  over  $250,000,  insurance 
$109,000.  Business  was  immediately 
resumed  at  the  old  stand  on  Market 
street,  the  burned  block  having  since 
been  replaced  by  a  still  handsomer 
structure,  which  is  now  occupied  by 
the  firm,  and   is   the  most  extensive 


MICHAEL  O'NEIL. 


and  coinplete  establishment  of  its 
kind  in  the  city.  July  16,  1884,  Mr. 
O'Neil  was  married  to  Miss  Patience 
J.  Mahar,  of  Cleveland.  They  have 
four  children — William  F.,  Augus- 
tine, Patience  and  Thomas. 


ISAAC  J.   DYAS. 

ISAAC  J.  DYAS,— born  in  Parish 
-I-  Athboy,  Ireland,  December  22, 
1849 ;  primary  education  in  national 
schools ;  at  13  entering  RanelagH 
College,  at  Athlone,  remaining  a  year 
and  a  half,  then  attended  Santry  Col- 


lege, Dublin,  the  same  length  of  time; 
served  a  four  years'  apprenticeship 
at  the  dry  goods  trade  with  Thomas 
Drury  &  Co.,  Dublin.  In  1870  came 
to  the  United  States,  serving  a  year 
and  a  half  as  salesman  with  A.  T. 
Stewart  &  Co.,  in  New  York,  and  about 
three  years  as  salesman  with  Tiino- 
thy  Brothers,  of  Nashville,  Tenn.  In 
1877,  came  to  Akron,  entering  into 
partnership  with  Mr.  Michael  O'Neil, 
and  under  the  firin  name  of  O'Neil  & 
Dyas,  opening  a  dry  goods  store  in 
Woods'  Block,  114  East  Market  street. 
Their  business  outgrowing  the  room 
there  available,  the  firm  built  a  fine 
four  story  stone  front  store  on  South 
Main  street,  which,  with  an  immense 
stock  of  goods,  was  destroj^ed  by  fire 
on  the  nig-ht  of  October  28,  1889,  at  a 
loss  of  $2oO,000,  about  half  covered  by 
insurance.  Returning  to  their  former 
quarters,  they  immediately  began  to 
rebuild  the  burned  structure,  into 
which  they  inoved  on  the  anniversary 
of  the  fire,  it"  being  one  of  the  most 
extensive  and  complete  establish- 
ments of  its  kind  in  the  city.  June 
20,  1880,  Mr.  Dyas  was  married  to  Miss 
Lutheria  S.  Weber,  of  Akron,  who 
has  borne  him  four  children — Mary 
H.,  John  W.,  Carl  E.  and  James  F. 


AKRON  S    MERCANTILE    STATUS. 


527 


Boots  and  Shoes.— M.  T.  Cutter  &  Co.  (Morrill  T.  Cutter, 
Charles  B.  Reid  and  Benjamin  F.  Andrev^rs),  110  South  Howard 
street,  established  in  1857;  S.  E.  Phinney  &  Co.  (Sylvanus  E.  Phin- 
ney,  John  H.  Wagoner  and  Frank  L.  Koplin),  117  South  Howard 
street,  established  1866;  Charles  A.  HoUoway,  623  South  Main, 
1876;  Charles  A.  Wightman,  159  South  Howard,  1884;  Frank  Wer- 
ner, 128  South  Howard  street,  1880;  A.  L.  Bowman  &  Co.,  109  East 
Market,  1886;  Charles  R.  Solomon,  106  East  Market,  1888;  E. 
W.  Brinkman,  121  South  Howard,  1888;  James  N.  Miller,  608  South 
Main,  1890;  Charles  C.  Myers,  619  South  Main;  V.  M.  Ryan, 
1178  E.  Market;  Alfred  K.  Swigart,  1062  S.  Main;  Akron  Shoe  Co., 
144  S.  Main,  1891;  Good  &  Co.  (Jacob  and  William  G.  Good),  145  S. 
Howard  and  1174 E. Market,  1889;  Henry  Schmiedel, 507 E. Exchange. 

Drugs  and  Medicines. — Erhard  Steinbacher,  104  East  Market, 
established  in  1851;  S.  E.  Allen,  193  South  Howard;  W.  W.  Alexan- 
der &  Co.  (William  W.  Alexander  and  William  H.  Diehl),  219  South 
How^ard;  A.  C.  Armstrong — Andrew^  M.  Armstrong,  manager — 151 
South  Howard;  Clinton  E.  Heifer,  113  South  Howard;  J.  M.  Laffer 
&  Co.  (James  M.  Laffer  and  John  A.  Sharpe),  630  South  Main; 
Augustus  Warner,  208  East  Market;  Inman  Brothers  (Sidney  C. 
and  Charles  T.  Inman),  1184  East  Market;  Byrider  &  Atwood  (John 
Byrider  and  Charles  E.  Atwood),  100  Sumner;  Davis  &  Blocker 
(William  P.  Davis  and  Henry  C.  Blocker)  111  North  Howard. 


West  side  of  Main  Street,  l)ctween  Mill  and  Market,  1S91. 
Photo  by  George  E.  Hitchcock. 


528  AKKON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Fruit  Dealers,  Etc. — James  A.  Gross,  251  West  Market r 
Henry  Gugenheim,  162  South  HoAvard;  Klisha  C.  Kimberk,  141 
North  Howard;  Nicholas  Laskaris,  160  South  Howard;  Antonio 
Masino,  215  East  Mill;  Masino  &  Brother  (Gerard  and  Antonio), 
172  South  Main;  John  D.  Rampanelli,  205  East  Mill;  William  Rich- 
ards, Merriman  street. 
» 

Real  Estate  Agents. — John  H.  Auble,  114,  South  Howard; 
Jacob  I.  Bachtel,  188  South  Howard;  Arthur  F.  Bartges,  room  4, 
Academy  of  Music;  Philip  P.  Bock,  143  South  Howard;  Ferdinand 
J.  Creque,  room  18,  Arcade;  Cassidy  &  Buckmaster,  710  South 
Main;  Adam  Eckler,  709  South  Main;  Charles  Esselburn,  room  6, 
Academy  of  Music;  William  H.  Evans,  116  South  Howard;  Albert 
W.  Foster,  119  South  Howard;  Isaac  C.  Gibbons,  rooms  3  and  4 
Beacon  Block;  Hart  &  Cook,  1184  East  Market;  William  Hilbish, 
151  South  Howard;  E.  P.  HoUoway  &  Son,  182  South  Howard; 
Charles  F.  Ingersoll,  619  South  Main;  Pryce  M.  Morris,  706  South 
Main;  Motz  &  Myers,  136  South  Howard;  George  A.  Myers,  113 
South  Howard;  William  Richards,  Merriman;  Rowlen  &  Hall, 
room  2  Arcade;  Curtis  C.  Sherbondy,  130  South  Howard;  N.  R. 
Steiner  &  Co.  (Dr.  A.  M.  Cole  and  C.  W.  Seiberling),  233  South 
Main;  Mansfield  Sumner,  1174  East  Market;  Wilcox  &  Noah,  404 
South  High;  Harry  J.  Shreffler,  209  East  Mill. 

Coal  Dealers. — Brewster  Coal  Company,  900  South  Main; 
Childs  &  Pixley,  (O.  D.  Childs  and  Wilson  H.  Pixley),  corner  North 
Howard  and  Ridge;  Wallace  W.  Clark,  865  Bowery;  J.  H.  Derhamer 
&  Sons,  (Daniel  J.  and  William  H.),  204  River;  Dickson  &  Son, 
(William  H.  and  Walter  D.),  corner  East  Exchange  and  Washing- 
ton; Will  A.  Heifer,  859,  863  Bowery;  Robert  Irvin,  near  Case  ave- 
nue; Oliver  S.  Jacobs,  200  South  Howard  and  302  East  Exchange; 
Lake  View  Coal  Company,  (George  F.  Stambaugh,  agent),  foot  North 
High  and  corner  Market  and  Case  avenue;  Loomis  Brothers  (Harrj' 
E.  and  James  P.),  112  South  Howard  and  corner  ExcViange  and 
Broadway;  Harry  E.  Loomis,  112  South  Howard;  Thomas  W. 
McCue  &  Son  (C.  Clifton),  619  East  Mill;  Standard  Coal  Company, 
336  South  Main;  The  Akron  Coal  Company,  112  South  Howard; 
The  Excelsior  Coal  Company,  general  office,  (John  J.  Wagner, 
manager  and  Charles  F.  Wagner',  secretary),  116  East  Market,  retail 
office,  Dr.  William  Sisler  in  charge,  701  South  Broadway;  The 
Klages  Coal  Company,  Henry  Klages,  manager,  corner  Mill  and 
Prospect;  The  Superior  Mining  Company,  William  Hard^^,  presi- 
dent, office  207  East  Mill. 

Hotels. — Hotel  Buchtel  (Frank  Wood,  proprietor),  corner  East 
Mill  and  South  Main;  Empire  (William  C.  and  Clarence  M.  Bry- 
ant), corner  East  Market  and  North  Main;  Windsor  (George  M. 
Cadwell),  corner  East  Mill  and  South  Broadway;  Clarendon 
(George  Kyte),  corner  South  Main  and  East  Exchange;  Arlington 
(Nicholas  Huber),  corner  West  Market  and  North  Canal;  Main 
Street  House  (Adam  G.  Ranck),  244  North  Main;  Rostock's  Hotel 
(Max  Rostock),  149,  151  North  Howard. 

Funeral  Directors. — Captain  George  Billow,  corner  Howard 
and  Mill;  Charles  T.  Parks,  340  South  Main;  John  F.  Viall  &  Son, 
(Arthur  G.),  1138  East  Market;  Hogan  &  Kasson,  (Jerry  P.  Hogan 
and  Harvey  A.  Kasson),  215  East  Market. 


akkon's  mbkcantile  status.  529 

Insurance  Agents. — Frank  K.  App  &  Harvey  S,  App,  room  2, 
Beacon  Block;  John  H,  Auble,  114  South  Howard;  Jacob  1.  Bach- 
tel,  188  South  Howard;  Philip  P.  Bock,  143  South  Howard;  Cassi- 
dy  &  Buckmaster  (Frank  D.  Cassidy  and  Warren  Buckniaster), 
710  South  Main;  Joshua  H.  Collins,  215  South  Howard;  Clarence 
D.  Crumb,  Albert  Block,  South  Main;  Adam  Eckler,  709  South 
Main;  Charles  Esselburn,  room  6,  Academy  of  Music;  William  H, 
Evans,  110  South  Howard;  Albert  W.  Foster,  119  South  Howard; 
Isaac  C.  Gibbons,  rooms  3  and  4  Beacon  Block;  Hart  &  Cook 
(Charles  S.  Hart  and  Joseph  Cook),  1184  East  Market;  David 
Herberich,  2178  South  Broadway;  William  Hilbish,  151  South 
Howard;  Herbert  P.Hitchcock,  200,  202  East  Market;  Emanuel  P. 
Holloway  &  Son  (Rolin  W.),  182  South  Howard;  Robert  S.  Iredell, 
room  3  Arcade;  Richard  H.  Knight,  145  Dayton;  John  Memmer, 
Akron  Savings  Bank  Building;  Pryce  M.  Morris,  706  South  Main; 
Motz  &  Myers  (John  Motz  and  Leonard  N.  Myers),  146  South  How- 
ard; Ferdinand  Mueller,  188  South  Howard;  Charles  L.  Reifsnider, 
Postoffice  Block;  Rowlen  &  Hall  (William  H.  Rowlen  and  William 

C.  Hall),  room  2,  Arcade;  Curtis  C.  Sherbony,  130  South  Howard; 
Harry  J.  Shreffler,  AyHffe  Block,  209  East  Mill;  Fred  E.  Smith,  111 
South  Howard;  The  Akron  Brokerage  Company,  Albert  Block, 
South  Main;  The  Summit  County  Abstract  Company,  3241/2  East 
Mill:  George  Viall,  1143  East  Market;  Charles  Watson,  115  Sher- 
man; Wilcox  &  Noah,  406  South  High;  Judson  E.  Wolcott,  117 
Adams;  Benjamin  D.  Wright,  secretary  Underwriters' Association, 
room  5  Arcade. 

Meat  Markets.— Charles  Ball,  1203  South  Main;  Amos  J. 
Barder,  1180  East  Market;  John  P.  Barder,  130  Johnston;  Herman 
Bartels,  404  East  Exchange,  160  Grant;  George  C.  Beck,  1201  South 
Main;  Albert  R.  Boder,  115  North  Howard;  Mrs.  Wilhelmina 
Bolte,  703  East  Exchange;  Jacob  Brodt,  616,  620  South  Main;  John 

D.  Campbell,  230  South  Arlington;  Ezra  Crawford,  1311  South 
Broadw^ay;  Abner  Danforth,  on  Viaduct;  William  Delashmutt,^ 
9OII4  Bowery;  Philip  Deibel,  609  South  Main;  John  Ellery,  1062 
South  Main;  George  F.  Freker,  103  Wooster  Avenue;  Thomas  T. 
Gibbs,  318  Washington;  Jacob  W.  Giebenrath,  514  West  Exchange; 
Hartman  Brothers  (George  and  William  T.),  260  West  Market; 
Haverstick  Brothers  (Calvin  and  Chauncey  R.),  200  Adams;  Hiram 
Jackson,  206  W^est  Exchange;  William  Kauffman,  601  West 
Exchange;  Kempel  &  Horst  (Casper  L.  Kempel  and  John  R.  Horst),. 
190  South  Howard;  Klein  Brothers  (Adam  and  John),  552  West 
Market;  Kline  Brothers  (Clinton  W.  and  Oliver  J.),  517,  521  East 
Exchange;  John  Klink,  729  East  Exchange;  Matthias  Klink,  920 
Bowery;  John  Koch,  526  West  Exchange;  Adolph  KuU,  214  Sher- 
man; Lahr  &  Reimer  (E.  Grant  Lahr  and  Owen  Reimer),  5171/2  East 
Exchange;  Fred  Laub,  131  North  Howard;  William  McKeal,  513 
North  Howard;  Mueller  Brothers  (Gustave,  Henrj^  and  William), 
519  North  Howard;  Pierce  &  Company,  310  West  State;  W.  J. 
Powell  &  Company,  801,  803  South  Main;  George  Schaffer,  Jr.,  268 
West  Market;  August  Schell,  100  Wooster  Avenue;  Philip  Schling- 
man,  222  East  Market;  Schoeninger  Brothers  (Christian  and  Fred- 
erick), 214  East  Market;  Adam  Schultz,  433  East  Center;  James 
F.  Smith,  974  East  Exchange;  Spicer  Brothers  (King  A.  and  Ernest 
H.),  623  East  Mill;  W.  Henry  Sprain,  918  East  Market;  Walker 
Firothers  (WiUiam  P.,  Henry  and  Alfred  P.),  210  West  Market. 

84 


530  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT    COUNTY, 

Civil  Engineers,  Surveyors,  Etc. — George  Paul,  Robert  S. 
Paul,  Hosea  Paul,  T.  Dwight  Paul,  Edward  J.  Paul,  office  147 
South  Howard;  Charles  E.  Perkins,  County  Surveyor,  office  Court 
House;  Sherman  G.  Swigart,  119  Ho^vard. 

MISCELLANEOUS  TRADE  AND  TRAFFIC. 

In  a  work  of  this  kind  it  will  be  impossible  to  mention  in 
detail,  or  even  by  name,  all  who  are  actively  participating  in  the 
rapidly  increasing  industries  of  our  goodly  city.  Indeed,  so  rapid 
and  so  numerous  have  been  the  accessions,  since  the  serial  publi- 
cation of  these  chapters  ceased,  two  years  ago,  that  the  \vriter 
fears  that  some  important  branches  ma3'^  be  inadvertently  over- 
looked. Enough  has  been  given,  how^ever,  to  make  every  true 
Akronian  feel  proud  of  the  wonderful  displaj^ — a  variety  so  infinite 
theft  depression  in  any  one  branch,  however  important  it  may  be, 
w^ill  scarcely  be  felt,  amid  the  general  prosperity. 

'  In  addition  to  those  already  named,  other  branches  of  bus- 
iness in  Akron  at  the  present  time  may  be  summarized  as  follows: 
agricultural  implements,  7;  artists,  5;  bill  posters,  1;  bath  rooms, 
8;  bed  spring  manufacturers,  2;  bicycle  dealers,  4;  billiard  rooms, 
4;  blasting  powder  dealers,  3;  butter  and  cheese  manufactories,  1 
(Samuel  C.  McNeil,  102  South  Howard);  boarding  houses,  29;  boot 
and  shoe  makers,  32;  bottling  w^orks,  3;  breweries,  2;  bre\very 
agencies,  4;  brick  agency,  1;  broom  makers,  3;  building  movers,  2, 
business  colleges,  O.  S.  Warner  and  Peter  Hammel,  2;  cabinet 
makers,  3;  wholesale  butchers,  4;  carpet  dealers,  5;  carpet  cleaners, 
1;  carpet  weavers,  9;  carriage  hardware,  1;  carriage  painters  and 
trimmers,  3;  barrow^  makers,  1;  w^holesale  cigar  dealers,  4;  cigar 
makers,  10;  cistern  builders,  1;  collectors,  2;  commission  mer- 
chants, 3;  graders,  3;  curry  comb  makers,  1;  dancing  teachers,  1; 
dining  halls,  9;  draymen,  9;  dress  makers,  34;  dyers  and  scourers, 
2;  dynamo  makers,  Ij;  electric  supplies,  2;  electrotypists  1; 
embossing,  2;  express  companies,  5;  expressmen,  19;  fish  markets, 
1;  florists,  9;  passage  agencies,  10;  dealers  in  furnaces,  5;  ginger 
ale  makers,  3;  gun  and  locksmiths,  2;  hides  and  pelts,  2;  horse 
dealers,  2;  ice  dealers,  2;  insurance  companies  represented,  186; 
lager  beer  bottlers,  7;  laundries,  13;  leather  and  findings,  2;  lime, 
plaster,  etc.,  6;  liquors,  6;  livery  stables,  18;  loan  agents,  15; 
mantels  and  grates,  3;  map  and  atlas  publishers,  2;  mattress 
makers,  5;  marble  Avorks,  2;  market  gardeners,  8;  milk  depots,  14; 
mineral  w^ater,  3;  mitering  machines,  1;  moving  wagons,  3;  news 
dealers,  7;  nurses,  11;  nurserymen,  2;  oculists  and  aurists,  3;  oil 
filters,  1;  oil  dealers,  4;  paints,  oils,  etc.,  16;  paper  boxes,  1; 
pattern  makers,  3;  pension  attorneys,  3;  pork  packers,  2;  pretzel 
bakers,  2;  proprietary  medicines,  4;  pumps,  2;  railroad  ticket 
brokers,  2;  restaurants,  12;  roofers,  7;  rubber  stamps,  2;  saloons, 
127;  second  hand  goods,  4;  seed  dealers,  5;  sewing  machine 
dealers,  4;  shirt  makers,  3;  sign  wrriters,  4;  soap  makers,  3;  soda 
w^ater  makers,  3;  stenographers,  1;  stone  quarries,  4;  tailors,  9; 
teaming, 4;  telegraph  companies,  2;  telephone  exchange,  1;  tinners, 
13;  tobacco  and  cigars,  34;  transfer  lines,  3;  umbrella  repairs,  2; 
upholsterers,  5;  wall  paperers,  6;  w^hitew^ashers,  3;  sand  dealers,  1; 
hairdressers,  1;  Avindow  screens,  3;  w^ood  engravers,  3;  wrapping 
paper,  1;  w^ind  mills,  1. 


PORTRAITS    AND    BIOGRAPHIES. 


531 


PLORENCE  WEBER —born  in  Sin- 
grest,  County  of  Maureniutier, 
Department  of  Du  Pas  Rhein,  in  the 
then  King'doni  of  France,  now  Alsace, 
Gerniany,Oct.  10,1815;  came  toAmerica 
with  parents  in  1832,  settling  in  Liver- 
pool, Medina  county,  on  farm  ;  edu- 
cated in  district  schools;  in  1834  came 
to  Akron,  clerking  in  grocery  stores 
•of  James  Mason,  at  Locks  4  and  16, 
on  Ohio  Canal  ;  in  1838  went  to  Nor- 
walk,  Huron  county,  as  clerk  in  hotel 
of  J.  W.  Eichert,  later,  in  partnership 
with  Mr.  E.,  opening  hotel  in  Monroe- 
ville,  same  county;  in  1843  was  mar- 
ried, at  Tiffin,  to  Miss  Margaret  Stein- 
bacher,  sister  of  Major  E.  Steinbacher, 
-of  Akron ;  in  October,  1844,  bj^  ox 
team,  moved  to  Akron  and  engaged 
in  grocery  business  on  present  site 
of  Arlington  Hotel,  West  Market 
street,  where  he  was  twice  burned 
out ;  then  bought  a  property  on 
North  Howard  street,  and  fitted  it  up 
into  a  hotel,  which,  as  the  American 
House,  he  kept  for  nearly  25  years, 
when  he  removed  to  a  sinall  farm, 
adjoining  the  city  limits  on  the  west, 
from  1871  to  1874  ably  filling  the  office 
•of  justice  of  the  peace  for  Portage 
township.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Weber  were 
the  parents  of  four  children — John 
"C.,  now  of  the  stove  and  furnace  firm 


"C^:::^" 


FLORENCE  WEBER. 

of  Jahant  &  Weber,  Akron,  born 
August  20,  1844;  Margaret  C,  born 
June  2,  1846  ;  Mary  A.,  born  August 
15,  1850,  and  Lutheria  S.  (now  Mrs. 
Isaac  J.  Dyas),  born  March  27,  1859. 
Mr.  Weber  died  October  2,  1885,  aged 
69  years,  11  months  and  22  days. 


WOLCOTT   W.  HITCHCOCK. 

WOLCOTT  W.  HITCHCOCK,— son 
of  Lucius  W.,  and  Eleanor 
<Wolcott)  Hitchcock,  was  born  in 
Tallmadge,  September  14, 1827  ;  raised 
■on  farm  and  educated  in  Tallmadge 


public  schools.  March  23,  1854,  Mr. 
Hitchcock  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah 
Jane  Moore,  daughter  of  the  late  John 
Moore,  of  Springfield,  settling  upon  a 
farm  in  the  west  part  of  Portage 
township,  which  he  successfully  cul- 
tivated until  his  sudden  death,  from 
congestion  of  the  brain,  March  16, 
1871,  at  the  age  of  43  years,  6  months, 
and  2  days.  In  early  tnanhood  Mr. 
Hitchcock  united  with  the  Congre- 
gational Church  in  Tallmadge,  and 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life  was 
active  in  church  and  Sunday  school 
work,  and  in  all  the  benevolent 
enterprises  of  the  day.  In  politics  he 
was  an  ardent  Republican,  earnestly 
espousing  the  cause  of  the  oppressed, 
and  liberally  upholding  the  govern- 
ment in  suppressing  the  great  slave- 
holders' rebellion.  When  stricken 
with  the  fatal  disease,  Mr.  Hitchcock 
was  serving  as  a  regular  juror  in 
Common  Pleas  Court,  which  placed 
upon  its  journal  a  resolution  testify- 
ing to  his  worth,  and  sympathizing 
with  his  friends  in  their  great  loss. 
Mrs.  Hitchcock,  though  still  retain- 
ing the  family  farm,  now  resides  in 
Akron.    She  has  no  children. 


532 


AKRON    AJSID    SUNNIT   COUNTY, 


GEORGE  BARBER,— was  born  in 
Connecticut,  January  27,  1805, 
removing-  with  his  parents  to  Onon- 
daga county,  N.  Y.,  at  one  year  of  age, 
where  he  remained  until  21,  attending 
district  school  and  learning  the  coop- 
er's trade.  On  attaining  his  majorit}^ 
he  came  to  Ohio  and  engaged  in 
selling  clocks,  after  a  few  years 
travel  through  the  State  finally  set- 
tling down  in  Middlebury.  Work- 
ing at  his  trade  until  1845,  he 
began  the  manufacture  of  matches, 
being  among  the  first  to  engage  in 
that  business  in  the  west.  Owing  to 
lack  of  distributing  facilities,  in  1852 
traded  his  factory  for  a  hotel  and 
was  appointed  postmaster  for  Middle- 
bury,  under  Pierce's  administration. 
Tiring  of  hotel-keeping  in  about  one 
year,  he  again  embarked  in  the  match 
business,  first  by  hand,  in  a  small 
barn,  but  increasing  his  facilities 
from  time  to  time  to  such  an  extent 
that  for  some  years  previous  to  the 
repeal  of  that  portion  of  the  internal 
revenue  law,  the  stamps  require'd  to 
legalize  the  output  of  the  concern 
amounted  to  over  $2,000  per  day.  Mr. 
Barber  was  married  to  Miss  Eliza 
Smith,  of  Canton,  Ohio,  April  1,  1835, 
who  bore  him  eight  children,  four  of 
whom  are  still  living — Ohio  C.  Barber, 
now  at  the  head  of  the  largest  match 


;'"^'V^» 


m ;  ( 'Am 


GEORGE  BARBER. 

manufactory  in  the  world,  who^e- 
portrait  and  biograph)^  appear  else- 
where;  Henrietta  Eleanor,  now  Mrs. 
John  K.  Robinson,  of  Chicago;  Cath- 
arine and  Josephine,  still  at  home. 
Mr.  George  Barber,  died  April  12, 
1879,  a!;  the  age  of  74  years,  2  months 
and  15  days.  Mrs  Barber,  born  Janu- 
ary 15,  1817,  still  survives. 


JOHN  KELLY  ROBIxN'SON. 

JOHN  KELLY  ROBINSON,  — son 
J  of  John  H.  and  Margaret  (Kell)^ 
Robinson,  was  born  in  Springfield, 
near  Middlebury,  May  26,1842  ;  raised 
on  farm ;  educated  in  Middlebury 
public    schools     and    Akron     High 


School ;  for  a  time  clerked  in  book 
store  of  his  brother,  Wilson  G.  Rob- 
inson, also  learning  telegraphy  under 
Akron's  veteran  operator,  William 
C.  Allen,  stationed  in  same  room ; 
went  as  a  "Squirrel  Hunter"  to  the 
defense  of  Cincinnati  from  the 
threatened  attack  of  the  rebel  gen- 
eral, Kirby  Smith,  in  September, 
1862  ;  the  same  year  starting  out  on  a 
peddling  wagon  for  the  sale  of 
matches,  manufactured  in  Middle- 
bury by  George  and  Ohio  C.  Barber ; 
in  1863,  was  admitted  to  a  partner- 
ship in  the  business,  on  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Barber  Match  Companj- 
in  1865,  becoming  its  general  agent,, 
afterwards  becoming  its  president. 
On  sale  of  works  to  the  Diamond 
Match  Company,  in  1881,  removed  to 
Chicago,  as  general  manager  of  the 
Chicago  branch,  now  being  treastirer 
of  the  company.  January  15,  1869, 
was  married  to  Miss  Henrietta 
Eleanor  Barber,  daughter  of  George 
and  Eliza  (Smith)  Barber,  born 
August  29,  1848,  who  has  borne  him 
five  children  —  Margaret  Elizabeth, 
born  January  15,  1869  ;  Mar}^  Frances, 
born  December  14, 1870  ;  Laura  Barber 
born  October  27, 1872 ;  John  Kelly,  Jr., 
born  October  15,  1879 ;  Eleanor,  born 
July  28,  1887. 


PORTRAITS    AND   BIOGRAPHIES, 


533 


OHIO  C.  BARBER —son  of  Georg^e 
and  Eliza  (Smith)  Barber,  was 
born  in  Middlebury  (now  Akron). 
April  20,  1841;  educated  in  Middle- 
bury  Union  Schools ;  at  16  beg'an 
traveling-  in  the  interest  of  his  father, 
the  pioneer  match  manufacturer  in 
the  West ;  in  1862  assuined  manag-e- 
inent  of  business  ;  in  1865  organized 
the  Barber  Match  Company,  with 
George  Barber  as  president,  O.  C. 
Barber,  secretary  and  treasurer,  and 
John  K.  Robinson  as  general  agent; 
in  1881  consolidated  with  28  other 
similar  establishments,  East  and 
West,  under  the  name  of  the  Dia- 
mond Match  Company,  which  now 
has  a  capital  of  $6,000,000,  with  Mr. 
Barber  as  its  president;  also  organ- 
ized thePortageStrawboardCompany, 
with  extensive  works  at  New  Portage 
rand  Circleville,  now,  with  22  other 
similar  works,  merged  in  the  Ameri- 
can Strawboard  Company,  with  $6,- 
•000,0(X)  capital,  with  Mr.  Barber  as 
president ;  is  also  president  o  f 
National  Sewer  Pipe  Company,  at 
Barberton  (capital  $300,000);  of  Paige 
Tube  Company,  Warren,  ($.500,000); 
Neracher  Automatic  Sprinkler  Com- 
pany, Warren,  ($150,000)  ;  Creedmoor 
Cartridge  Company,  Barberton,  ($50,- 
000) ;  Sterling  Boiler  Company,  Bar- 
berton. ($500,000) ;  American  Alumi- 
num Company,  Barberton,  ($200,000), 
iind    largelj'    interested     in    several 


OHIO   C.   BARBER. 

Other  industrial  enterprises  in  Akron 
and  elsewhere.  Mr.  Barber  has 
served  as  member  of  City  Council, 
member  of  Board  of  Trade,  and  is  a 
liberal  promoter  of  the  educational, 
religious  and  benevolent  enterprises 
of  the  day.  October  10,  1866,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Laura  L.  Brown,  of 
Akron,  who  has  borne  him  two  chil- 
dren— Anna  Laura  and  Charles  H., 
the  first  named,- only,  is  now  living. 


JOHN  h\  VIALL. 

JOHN  F.  VIALL,— son  of  Bennett 
J  and  Wealthy  (Arnold)  Viall,  born 
in  Chautauqua  county,  N.  Y.,  April  30, 
1825;  came  with  parents  to  Ohio  in 
1830,  living  on  a  farm  in  Springfield 


two  5'ears,  the  father  building  saw^ 
and  woolen  mills  in  Middlebury, 
which  he  carried  on  several  years, 
the  son  remaining  at  home  until  22 
j'ears  of  age.  He  then  learned  the 
cabinet-maker's  trade,  which,  on  his 
own  account,  and  in  partnership 
with  others,  he  followed  until  1866, 
when  he  engaged  in  the  undertaking 
business,  which,  in  connection  with 
his  son,  Arthur  G.,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Viall  &  Son,  he  is  now  suc- 
cessfully pursuing.  November  4, 
1847,  Mr  Viall  was  married  to  Miss 
Cornelia  C.  Wheeler,  a  native  of 
Tallmadge,  who  has  borne  him  seven 
children,  five  of  whom  are  still  living- 
— Frances,nowMrs.WilliainObendorf, 
of  Akron  ;  Edwin  W.,  now  in  emploj^ 
of  the  American  Strawboard  Corn- 
pan}^,  at  Noblesville,  Ind.;  Laura  C, 
wife  of  Charles  B.  Macey,  of  the  latter 
place  ;  Arthur  G.,  associated  with  his 
father  in  Tiusiness  as  above  stated, 
and  Otis  K.,  at  home.  A  thorough 
Republican  in  politics,  but  never  an 
office-seeker,  Mr.  Viall  has  neverthe- 
less filled  several  minor  offices — 
assessor,  constable,  etc.,  and  was  for 
many  years  secretary  of  the  Middle- 
bury Cemeterj'  Association. 


534 


AKKON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Northeast  Corner  Mill  and  Main  Streets,  Beacon  Block,  1891. 
Photo  by  B.  F.  Battels. 


"THE  ART  PRESERVATIVE  OF  ALL  ART.' 


Full  mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  several  newspaper 
establishments  of  the  city  and  county,  from  the  earliest  settle- 
ment to  the  present,  but  the  facilities  for  job,  book  and  commer- 
cial printing,  bookbinding,  blank  book  manufacturing,  etc.,  have 
not  heretofore  been  adverted  to,  and  come  properly  within  the 
scope  of  this  chapter. 

The  Akron  Printing  and  Publishing  Company. — Starting  in 
1839,  with  a  single  medium  sized  hand  press,  for  both  new^spaper 
and  job  work,  this  establishment,  though  several  times  totally 
destroyed  by  fire,  has  fully  kept  pace  in  its  commercial  and 
mechanical  departments  with  the  growth  of  the  village  and  city, 
until  it  is  now  one  of  the  best  equipped  of  its  class  in  Ohio. 
Located  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Mill  and  Main  streets,  opposite 
the  Hotel  Buchtel,  the  equivalent  of  six  full  stories,  38x90  feet, 
are  occupied  w^ith  machinery,  merchandise  and  material,  for  the 
prosecution  of  the  immense  business  which  it  has  built  up. 
George  W.  Crouse,  president,  Kenyon  B.  Conger,  vice  president, 
Ira  M.  Miller,  secretary,  Thomas  C.  Raynolds,  business  manager,, 
and  Col.  A.  L.  Conger  are  the  directors. 


"THE    ART   PRESERVATIVE. 


635 


TZENYON  BRONSON  CONGKR.- 
-I^  son  of  Arthur  L.  and  Emily 
(Bronson)  Conger,  was  born  in  Pen- 
insvila,  Summit  countj',  Ohio,  April 
26,  18(56;  at  two  years  of  age  removed 
with  parents  to  Akron;  at  10,  entered 
the  preparatory  department  of  Buch- 
tel  College,  and  in  1883  entered  Ken- 
yon  College,  at  Gambier,  Ohio,  where 
he  remained  until  the  Junior  year. 
Impaired  health,  resvilting  from  a 
severe  fall,  compelling-  him  to  relin- 
quish his  studies,  he  went  abroad 
for  a  year  and  a-half,  traveling  in 
England,  France,  Germanjs  Italj-, 
Egypt,  Palestine,  Turkey  and  Spain. 
Returning-  to  America  in  the  fall  of 
1887,  he  entered  the  Sophomore  elates 
of  Harvard  University  and  remained 
there  two  years,  when  he  left  college 
to  go  into  business  with  his  father. 
Mr.  Conger  possesses  rare  business 
ability,  and  though  now  but  25  years 
of  age,  is  vice  president  of  the  Akron 
Printing  and  Publishing  Company, 
and  a  director  in  the  Whitman  & 
Barnes  Manufacturing  Company. 
He  belongs  to  Akron  Camp,  Sons  of 


KEN YON  BKONSON  CONGER. 

Veterans,  is  a  member  of  the  Loyal 
Legion  and  a  member  of  St.  Paul's 
Episcopal  Church. 


GEORGE  W.  KUMMER. 

r^EORGE  W.  KUMMER,  son  of 
^J^  Jacob  and  Rebecca  Kunimer, 
born  at  Allentown,  Pa.,  July  6,  1851, 
at  three  years  of  age  moving  with 
parents  to  Norton,  Summit   county. 


Ohio;  boj'hood  spent  on  farm,  with 
limited  educational  advantages;  at 
19  entered  BEACON  office,  as  an  ap- 
prentice to  the  printer's  trade,  and. 
being-  studious  and  diligent  was 
rapidly  advanced  to  advertising 
solicitor,  book-keeper,  reporter,  city 
editor,  and  managing  editor  of  the 
Akron  DAILY  BEACON.  Failing 
health  requiring  a  change  of  climate, 
after  nineteen  years  of  faithful  ser- 
vice with  the  Beacon  Publishing 
Company — besides  officiating  a» 
special  correspondent  for  the  leading- 
daily  papers  of  New  York,  Boston, 
Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago,  St. 
Louis,  etc., — in  1889,  Mr.  Kumnier 
removed  to  the  Pacific  coast,  and  is 
now  the  secretary  and  treasurer  of 
the  Puget  Sound  Fire  Clay  Com- 
jjany,  manufacturers  of  sewer  pipe, 
tire  brick,  terra  cotta,  etc.,  at  Seattle, 
Washington;  his  newspaper  work  in 
Akron  undoubtedly  doing  more  for 
the  advancement  of  her  industrial 
interests  than  that  of  any  other  one 
member  of  the  newspaper  fraternity. 
March  28,  1874,  Mr.  Kimimer  was 
married  to  Miss  Jennie  N.  Robinson, 
of  Akron,  who  has  borne  him  three 
children  Ruby  Grace,  born  Novem- 
ber 2,  1875;  John  Alfred,  March  1, 1885; 
and  John  Wesley,  January  30,  1888. 


536  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

The  basement,  including  a  20-foot  annex,  under  the  pavement, 
the  entire  length  of  the  building,  is  occupied  by  its  75-horse  power 
engine,  boilers,  electric  d3^namo  for  lighting  the  entire  building, 
thirteen  large  and  small  cylinder  job  and  book  presses,  t^vo  per- 
fecting daily  and  weekly  nfews  presses,  bronzing  machine,  stereo- 
t3^ping  machine,  and  the  various  appliances  for  doing  work  in  the 
most  approved  and  expeditious  manner;  the  whole  under  the 
superintend ency  of  Mr.  Fred  A.  Lane. 

The  stationery  department,  counting  room  and  office,  cover 
the  entire  first  floor.  A  full  line  of  papers  and  commercial  and 
general  stationery,  school  books  and  blank  books,  largely  of  its 
ow^n  luanufacture,  can  here  be  found. 

On  the  second  floor,  besides  the  three  rooms  rented  to  other 
parties,  is  a  commodious  and  w^ell-fiUed  stock  room,  and  the  edi- 
torial office  of  the  American  Farm  JVeirs,  under  the  management 
of  Mr.  J.  M.  H.  Frederick. 

The  entire  third  floor  is  occupied  by  the  job  department,  about 
two-thirds  to  type-setting  and  the  balance  with  stock,  paper  cut- 
ters, etc.,  Mr.  Samuel  F.  Ziliox,  foreman;  all  under  the  superin- 
tendency  of  Mr.  Francis  C.  Whittier. 

The  entire  fourth  floor  is  devoted  to  bookbinding  and  blank 
book  manufacturing,  under  the  supervision  of  Mr.  John  P.  Bren- 
nan,  this  department  being  supplied  with  every  approved  mod- 
ern appliance,  ruling  machines,  paper  cutters,  presses,  folding 
machines,  stitching  machines,  etc. 

On  the  fifth  floor  are  the  editorial  rooms  and  the  news  compo- 
sition room;  the  latter,  occupying  about  tw^o-thirds  of  the  floor, 
being  equipped  with  first-class  material  throughout,  under  the 
superintendence  of  that  thoroughly  practical  printer,  Mr.  Dan 
Hill;  managing  editor,  Mr.  Elnaer  E.  Paine. 

Horace  G.  Canfield. — Mr.  Canfield  is  one  of  the  oldest  job 
printers  in  the  city,  having  learned  his  trade  with  his  father,  the 
late  Horace  Canfield,  one  of  Summit  county's  pioneer  printers, 
who  established  the  Ohio  Review,  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  in  1833,  and 
the  American  Democrat,  in  Akron,  in  1842.  Mr,  Canfield  has 
been  continuously  in  business  for  35  years,  and  though  not  as 
extensive  as  some  of  the  other  offices  of  the  city,  his  rooms  in  the 
Academy  of  Music  building  are  well  supplied  with  material  and 
machinery  from  -w^hich  many  thousands  of  dollars  worth  of  com- 
mercial and  general  job  work  are  neatly  and  tastefully  turned  out 
yearly. 

After  the  foregoing  was  first  published,  on  August  1,  1889,  Mr. 
Canfield  sold  his  establishment  to  the  Akron  Engraving  Com- 
pany, elsewhere  noticed,  Mr.  Canfield  continuing  in  the  service  of 
that  company  as  foreman  of  the  printing  department. 

The  Werner  Printing  and  Lithographing  Company — Estab- 
lished by  Mr.  P.  E.  Werner  in  1875,  is  now  one  of  the  largest  and 
most  perfect  establishments  of  its  kind  in  the  United  States,  if 
not  in  the  world,  its  fine  tw^o-story  brick  buildings,  corner  Union 
and  Perkins  streets,  covering  an  area  of  more  than  three  acres, 
w^ith  ov  er  137,000  square  feet  of  floor  space,  and  its  machinery  and 
ajDpointments  being  of  the  most  substantial  and  practical  charac- 
ter. Under  one  roof  and  one  management,  printing  in  all  its 
branches,  bo  )k-making,  lithographing,  wood  and  metal  engraving, 


"THE   ART   PRESEKV'ATIVE." 


537 


^lectrotyping,  embossing,  etching,  etc.,  is  systematically  carried 
on,  its  products  going  not  only  to  every  portion  of  *the  United 
States,  but  to  almost  every  civilized  country  on  the  globe.  The 
company  was  incorporated  in  1886,  its  present  officers  being:  P.  K. 
Werner,  president  and  treasurer;  H.  P.  Hitchcock,  secretary;  capi- 
tal, $500,000;  printing  machines  in  use,  70;  other  machines,  300; 
hands  employed,  500. 


pAUL  E.  WERNER,— born  in  Wur- 
-*•  temberg-,  Germany,  May  o,  1850 ; 
<;anie  to  America  in  Summer  of  1867, 
and  to  Akron  the  same  Fall  ;  occu- 
pied positions  as  clerk  for  Jacob  B. 
Dussell  and  E.  Steinbacher,  and  book- 
keeper with  Camp,  Long-  &  Co.,  and 
Miller,  Thomas  &  Co.;  in  1874,  pur- 
chased the  Akron  Germania,  and  in 
•connection  therewith,  in  1878,  started 
the  Sunday  Gazette,  and  the  Akron 
<laily  and  weekly  Tribune;  in  1884, 
disposed  of  his  newspaper  interests, 
but  continuing-  the  general  printing, 
binding  and  engraving  business,  in 
1886,  he  organized  the  Werner  Print- 
ing &  Lithograph  Company,  now  one 
of  the  most  complete  and  extensive 
■establishments  of  its  class  in  the 
United  States,  more  fully  described 
elsewhere,  of  which  Mr.  Werner  is 
president  and  treasurer.  Mr.  Werner 
is  captain  of  Company  Buchtel, 
•German  Guards ;  member  of  Adon- 
iram  Lodge  F.  &  A.  M.;  president  of 
Germania  Central  Association  of 
Summit  county;  was  member  and 
•clerk  of  Board  of  Education  1877  to 
1879 ;  member  of  Public  Library 
Board  of  Control,  1875  to  1881;  is 
president  of  the  Akron  Germania  Co. 
and  director  of  the  Klages  Coal  and 
Ice  Co.  February  22,  1873,  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Lucy  Anna  Denaple,  of 
Akron,  who    has    borne    him    three 


PAUL  E.   WERNER. 


sons — Edward  Paul,  born  September 
2,  1875,  Frank  Albert,  born  April  15, 

1877,  both  now  cadets  at  Kenyon  Mil- 
itary Academy,  at  Gainbier,  Ohio, 
and   Richard   Marvin,   born    May  22, 

1878,  now  at  home. 


The  Akron  Engraving  Company,  incorporated  May  29,  1888; 
<!apital,  $25,000.  This  company,  as  its  name  indicates,  originally 
•confined  its  operations  to  artistic  designing,  and  wood,  metal  and 
photo  engraving,  etc.,  but  in  August,  1889,  bought  out  the  veteran 
job  printer,  Mr.  Horace  G.  Canfield,  in  the  Academy  of  Music 
building,  and  are  now  doing  a  general  engraving  and  printing  busi- 
ness, with  from  15  to  20  employes.  Present  officers:  Erastus  R., 
Harper,  president;  Marv.  \V.  Cramer,  vice  president;  Wallace  L. 
Carleton,  secretary  and  treasurer;  George  G.Welton,  superintendent. 

Capron  &  Curtice  (Orion  D.  Capron  and  George  L.  Curtice), 
general  job  and  book  printers;  established  in  1891;  142  South 
Howard  street.     Hands  employed,  16  to  20. 

Frank  P.  Allen,  general  job  printer,  1055  East  Market  street. 

George  C.  Jackson  &  Company  (George  C.  Jackson  and  W. 
H.  Denham),  job  printers,  basement  Schumacher  office,  corner 
Mill  and  BroadAvay. 


538 


AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


In  this  connection,  and  in  these  modern  days,  very  properly 
coming  within  the  scope  of  the  above  quoted  heading,  "The  Art 
Preservative  of  All  Art,"  stands  the  Art  of  Photography,  for  over 
a  third  of  a  century  ably  represented  by  the  gentleman,  whose 
portrait  and  biography  is  here  given. 

T3ENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  BAT- 
■D  TELS, — son  of  Caleb  and  Juliana 
(Hard)  Battels,  born  in  Wadsworth, 
O.,  April  21,  1832 ;  raised  on  farm ; 
educated  in  common  schools,  in  turn 
teaching- school  several  Winters;  irt 
1852  learned  photoufraphy,  first  locat- 
ing in  Wadsworth,  and  later,  the 
same  ^^ear,  in  Bucyrus,  Ohio.  In  the 
Winter  of  1835,  Mr.  Battels  came  to 
Akron,  and  opened  a  gallery  on  third 
floor,  106  East  Market  street,  where, 
for  over  a  third  of  a  century  by  the 
useof  constantly  improving- methods, 
by  himself  and  others,  he  has  done 
a  leading  and  lucrative  business. 
Mr.  Battels  is  also  interested  in  sev- 
eral other  important  business  enter- 
prises ;  is  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Masonic  order,  and  largely  pro- 
motive of  the  benevolent  operations 
of  the  day.  January  16,  1858,  Mr. 
Battels  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah 
M.  Edgerly,  only  daughter  of  the 
late  Samuel  Edgerly,  one  of  Summit 
county's  pioneer  hotel  keepers,  and 
a  charter  member  of  Akron  Lodge 
No.  83,  Free  and  Accepted  Masons, 
as  elsewhere  stated.  Mrs.  Battels 
was  one  of  the  founders  of  Buckley 
Relief  Corps,  auxiliary  to  G.  A.  R., 
having   by  promotion  risen    to    the 


BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN   BATTEI/S. 


position  of  Department  President 
Woman's  Relief  Corps  of  Ohio,  and 
is  now  one  of  the  most  influential 
members  and  officers  of  the  Depart- 
ment. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Battels  have  no- 
children. 


FINANCES,  BANKS,  ETC. 

As  noticed  in  chapter  one,  of  these  papers,  as  early  as  Decern 
ber  18,  1835,  a  petition  signed  by  James  \V.  Phillips,  Richard  Howe, 
Erastus  Torrey,  Samuel  A.  Wheeler,  Justus  Gale,  Simon  Perkins,. 
Jr.,  Jedediah  D.  Commins  and  Reuben  McMillan,  was  presented  to 
the  Legislature  for  a  bank  charter  for  Akron.  Whether  it  was 
granted  is  not  now  remembered,  though  it  is  certain  the  bank  was 
never  organized. 

About  1845,  the  Bank  of  Akron,  a  branch  of  the  Ohio  Safety 
Fund  system,  was  organized  with  an  authorized  capital  of  $50,- 
000,  and  with  William  S.  C.  Otis  as  president  and  John  W.  McMillen 
as  cashier.  This  pioneer  bank  w^as  a  very  great  convenience  to  the 
business  men  of  the  village,  but  unfortunately  it  became  involved 
in  the  financial  embarrassments  of  the  "Akron  Branch"  railroad, 
elsew^here  alluded  to,  and  went  into-liquidation  about  1857. 

In  1855,  with  the  late  Gen.  Philo  Chamberlin  as  a  silent 
partner,  the  late  Mr.  George  D.  Bates  opened  a  private  bank  on  the 
west  side  of  Howard  street,  at  or  near  the  present  site  of  Dodge  & 
Plumer's  furniture  warerooms,  afterwards  purchasing  the  old 
Akron  Bank  stand  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  and  where, 
under  the  name  of  Bates  &  Co.,  the  business  w^as  continued  until 
1863,  when  it  was  merged  in  the  Second  National  Bank,  as  here- 
inafter set  forth. 


BANKS,    FINANCES,    ETC. 


539 


GEORGE  D.  BATES,  —  born  at 
Brandon.  Vt..  November  11,  1811, 
early  left  an  orphan,  at  17  came  to 
Solon,  Ohio,  working'  on  farm  ;  about 
1836.  opened  a  g-enereil  store  at 
Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent);  some 
eight  or  ten  years  later  removing  to 
Akron  and  eng-ag-ing  in  the  foundry 
business,  in  1^8,  with  Charles  Web- 
ster and  James  B.  Taplin,  under  the 
firm  name  of  G.  D.  Bates  &  Co.,  estab- 
lishing the  ''  Globe  Foundrj^,"  now 
the  Webster,  Camp  &  Lane  Machine 
Works  ;  retiring  from  the  firm  two  or 
three  j'ears  later,  Mr.  Bates  engaged 
in  railroad  building  with  Mr.  J.  H. 
Pendleton,  near  Cincinnati,  for  some 
years  ;  about  1855,  in  connectian  with 
the  late  General  Philo  Chamberlin, 
under  the  firm  name  of  G.  D.  Bates  & 
Co.,  opened  a  private  bank  in  part  of 
the  building  now  occupied  by  Dodge 
&  Plumer ;  two  or  three  years  later 
purchasing  the  old  bank  of  Akron 
stand,  and  in  1863,  organizing  the 
Second  National  Bank  of  Akron,  of 
which  he  was  president  until  his 
death,  July  25,  1887,  at  the  age  of  76 
years,  8  months  and  14  days.  Mr. 
Bates  ably  served  as  Mayor  of  Akron 
in  1864,  '65,  and  for  several  years  offi- 
ciated as  chief  of  the  Village  Fire 
Department.  January  10,  1840,  Mr. 
Bates  was  married  to  Miss  Anna 
Maria  Warner,  of  Franklin,  Portage 
Co.,  who  died  December  4,  1841  ;  June 
22,  184.5,  was  again  married,  to  Miss 


(;e()rge  n.  bates. 

Alice  Maria  Baker,  of  Olean,  N.Y.,  who 
died  September  19,  18.53,  of  the  three 
children  born  to  them,  one  onl3%  now 
Mrs.  Emma  Bowman,  of  Akron,  sur- 
viving. April  4.  1856,  Mr.  Bates  was 
again  married,  to  Miss  Mary  Ann 
Mathews,  of  Akron,  who  died  August 
12, 1885,  leaving  two  children — Jennie 
(now  Mrs.  Frank  S.  Newton),  and 
George  D.  Bates,  Jr.,  now  Paj'ing 
Teller  of  the  Second  National  Bank 
of  Akron. 


In  1859  ex-County  Treasiirer  Houston  Sisler,  John  R.  Buchtel 
and  Daniel  P.  Eberman  opened  a  private  bank  in  a  room  immedi- 
ately east  of  the  present  First  National  Bank,  under  the  name  of 
the  "Exchange  Bank."  This  arrangement  continued  until  the 
death  of  Mr.  Sisler,  June  30,  1862,  soon  after  which  Mr.  John  B, 
Woods  and  George  Steese  became  associated  Tvith  Mr,  Eberman 
in  the  business,  Mr.  Buchtel  retiring.  In  1866  Mr.  Woods  retired, 
and  soon  afterwards  the  business  w^as  closed,  Mr.  Eberman  some- 
time later  carrying  on  a  brokerage  business  in  the  corner  room  of 
the  Empire  Hotel,  but  without  making  it  a  financial  success  for 
either  himself  or  his  patrons. 

In  1863  the  First  National  Bank  of  Akron  was  organized  with 
a  capital  of  $100,000,  with  Thomas  W.  Cornell  as  president,  Milton 
W.  Henry  as  vice  president,  and  William  H.  Huntington  as 
cashier,  foUow^ed  by  Hiram  G.  Fuller  as  cashier,  and,  in  1876,  by 
the  present  incumbent,  William  McFarlin,  the  present  vice  presi- 
dent being  Edward  Oviatt,  Esq.  In  1868  the  franchise  of  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  with  a  capital  of  $100,000,  was 
purchased  and  the  total  capital  increased  to  $250,0(X),  but  for 
economic  reasons  has  since  been  reduced  to  $100,000.  Surplus 
$32,000.     John  B.  Wright,  assistant  cashier. 

In  1863  the  Second  National  Bank  was  organized,  taking  the 
place  of  the  private  bank  of  Bates  &  Co.,  with  a  capital  of  $1(X),(X)0,. 
George  D.  Bates,  president;  Joy  H.  Pendleton,  vice  president,  and 


540 


AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Edward  D.  Childs,  as  cashier,  follow^ed  by  Alden  Gage,  Charles  K. 
Collins,  Albert  N.  Sanford,  etc.  Its  founder,  Mr.  Bates,  having 
deceased,  July  25,  1887,  in  March,  1888,  the  bank  was  removed  to 
the  rooms  of  the  Bank  of  Akron  in  the  Academy  of  Music  building, 
the  two  banks  being  united  with  a  capital  of  $275,000, and  a  surplus 
of  $22,000.  Present  surplus  (1891)  $35,000.  Present  officers:  Joy 
H.  Pendleton,  president;  John  F.  Seiberling,  vice  president; 
•George  T,  Perkins,  cashier;  Walter  A.  Folger,  assistant  cashier. 

JOHN  B.  WOODS,— son  of  Samuel 
J  and  Sophia  (Boal)  Woods,  was 
born  in  Springtield  township,  Decem- 
ber 17.  182,3,  when  two  years  old 
removing  with  parents  to  Uniontown, 
Stark  Co.;  educated  in  common 
schools  of  Uniontown  and  Darrow- 
street,  in  the  latter  place  under  the 
tvitorag'e  of  Prof.  John  Haselton, 
former  principal  of  Hudson  Academy; 
in  boyhood  clerked  in  father's  store 
and  at  18,  on  death  of  father,  for  two 
years  aided  administrator  in  settling^ 
estate  ;  in  Spring  of  1844,  with  almost 
no  capital,  commenced  merchandis- 
ing- in  Uniontown,  on  his  own 
account  soon  afterwards  also  estab- 
lishing a  tannery,  in  both  of  which 
branchevS  he  speedily  built  up  a  large 
and  lucrative  business,  with  three 
branch  stores  in  neighboring  towns  ; 
in  1850,  bought  the  Milheim  flouring 
inill,  and  in  1856,  leased  the  Tritt  mill 
which  he  successfully  ran  for  sev- 
•eral  years.  By  reason  of  failing 
health  in  September,  1860,  sold  out 
his  Uniontown  and  milling  interests 
and  moved  to  Akron,  building  the 
fine  three  story  brick  block,  corner 
Market  and  Main  streets,  in  1862; 
•establishing  Exchange  Bank  in  1864  ; 
City  Bank  in  1867,  and  City  National 
Bank  in  1883,  of  which  Mr.  Woods 
was  president  until  his  resignation 


JOHN    B.   WOODS. 

in  October,  1890.  Mr.  Woods  was 
married  to  Miss  Susan  Willis,  of 
Harrisburg,  Stark  Co.,  March  26,  1848, 
who.  has  borne  him  six  children — 
Emil}^  Jane  (now  Mrs.  Robert  L. 
Andrew,  of  Akron) ;  Frank,  deceased  ; 
Perry,  now  of  Cleveland  ;  John  B.,  of 
Akron  ;  Albert  T.,  physician  at  Loyal 
Oak,  and  Marj^  H.,  at  home. 


In  1867  Messrs.  John  B.  Woods,  Milton  Moore  and  Sylvester  H. 
Thompson  started  a  private  bank  in  the  room  formerly  occupied  by 
the  Exchange  Bank,  on  Market  street,  under  the  title  of  "The  City 
Bank,"  the  firm  name  being  Woods,  Thompson  &  Co.,  Mr.  Virgil 
M.  Thompson,  of  Stow,  afterv^ards  succeeding  Mr,  Moore  in  the 
business. 

June  1,  1883,  the  "City  National  Bank"  was  organized,  the 
firm  of  Woods,  Thompson  &  Co.  being  merged  therein,  the  new 
institution  being  located  at  102  South  Howard  street.  Original 
-capital  $100,000,  since  increased  to  $200,000,  with  a  surplus  of  $40,- 
•000.  Present  officers:  George  W.  Crouse,  president;  Alfred  M. 
Barber,  vice  president;  Nelson  C.  Stone,  cashier. 

In  1872  the  Citizens'  Savings  and  Loan  Association  was  organ- 
ized, at  111  South  Howard  street,  with  Erhard  Steinbacher  as  pre- 
sident, William  Buchtel,  vice  president,  and  William  B.  Raymond, 
treasurer.  Present  officers  :  E.  Steinbacher,  president  ;  John 
Wolf,  vice  president;  Henry  C.  Viele,  treasurer,  Mr.  Raymond  hav- 
ing  deceased.     Capital   of   bank  $100,000;    surplus    $70,000.     This 


BANKS,    FliNANCES,    ETC. 


541 


bank  now  has  a  branch  in  the  Sixth  Ward,  in  charge  of  Mr.  Henr3^ 
Feuchter,  which  is  a  very  great  convenience  to  the  people  of  that 
portion  of  the  city. 


npHOMAS  W.  CORNELL, —  born 
*-  January  8,  1820,  in  Dutchess 
county,  N.  Y.;  raised  on  a  farm  and 
educated  in  common  schools  ;  at  the 
age  of  22,  with  but  little  capital,  be- 
gan business  for  himself,  being-  for 
some  time  connected  with  a  brewerj- 
in  Auburn,  N.  Y.;  in  December.  1855, 
purchased  a  distillery  at  Cuj^ahoga 
Falls,  which  he  successfully  and 
profitably  conducted  some  eight 
years;  in  1863,  reinoved  to  Akron, 
beingone  of  the  original  stockholders 
of  the  First  National  Bank,  abl)^  fill- " 
ing-  the  office  of  president  of  the 
bank  from  its  organization  to  the 
present  time ;  capital  stock  of  bank, 
$100,000;  present  surplus  $32,000;  in 
1865,  purchased  controlling  interest 
in  the  Akron  Gas  Company',  filling- 
the  office  of  president  till  the  trans- 
fer of  the  works  to  other  parties 
August  1, 1891,and  largely  interested 
in  many  other  industrial  andfinancial 
enterprises  in  Akron  and  elsewhere. 
Early  left  a  widower,  Mr.  Cornell  has 
had  no  family  during  his  36  years' 
residence  in  Summit  countj^  but,  in 
a   quiet  way,   is   lavishl3'   liberal  'in 


AAKON   WAGONER. 

AARON  WAGONER,  —  son  of 
■^  Georg^e  Wagoner,  was  born  in 
Franklin  township,  September  19. 
1844;  worked  on  farm  and  attended 
schools  of  neighborhood,  until  Fall 
of  1862,  when  he  enlisted  in  Company 
B,  Sixth  Ohio  Volunteer  Cavalry ; 
soon  after  enlistment  was  elected 
corporal,  then  promoted  to  sergeant. 


THOMAS   W.   CORNELL. 

contributing  to  the  educationaL 
religious  and  benevolent  enterprises 
of  the  day. 


finally  reaching  the  rank  of  second 
lieutenant,  in  command  of  conipan)'.. 
This  regiment  was  with  Sheridan,  in 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  took  part 
in  the  battles  of  the  Wilderness,  on 
the  raid  to  Richinond,  Appomattox 
Court  House,  and  all  the  engag-e- 
ments  of  the'army.  At  Aldie  Lieut. 
Wagoner  was  wounded  and  for  sev- 
eral months  disabled  for  active  ser- 
vice, being  mustered  out  as  second 
lieutenant,  in  1865.  After  the  war  he 
caine  to  Akron  where  he  engaged 
as  salesman  in  the  dry  g-oods  store 
of  Oberholser,  Keller  &  Co.,  eighteen 
inonths  later  becoming  their  book- 
keeper, continuing'  four  and  a  half 
years,  when  the  firm  dissolved.  In 
1872,  entered  Cit)'  Bank  as  teller,  con- 
tinuing until  his  election  as  count}' 
auditor,  in  1880,  which  position  he 
held  for  two  consecutive  terms  of 
three  years  each  ;  in  Spring  of  1890, 
was  elected  councilman  from  the 
First  ward,  and  is  now  a  stockholder 
and  the  cashier  of  the  Akron  Savings 
Bank.  April  30,  1868,  Mr.  Wagoner 
was  married  to  Miss  Amanda  Stiiith, 
of  Franklin  township,  who  has  borne 
him  two  children — Mabel  Blanche, 
born  September  29,  1870 ;  George 
Edward,  born  Januarj^  31,  1872,  now 
book-keeper  in  bank. 


542 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT    COUXTV. 


WILLIAM  McFARLIN,  — son  of 
Moses  and  Elenora  (Wood- 
ruff) McFarlin,  was  born  in  Bath, 
Januar}^  16,  1843  ;  moved  with  parents 
to  Brooklj'n  Villag-e,  Cuyahog'a 
county,  in  1850,  back  to  Bath  in  1854, 
and  to  Akron  in  1860 ;  educated  in 
Brooklyn  normal  and  Akron  hig-h 
school ;  taught  school  two  Winters  ; 
in  April,  1863,  entered  the  army  as 
chief  clerk  under  Col.  Crane  in 
charg-e  of  military  railroads,  Depart- 
ment of  the  Army  of  the  Cumber- 
land, continuing  until  October,  1865. 
In  April,  1866,  became  teller  in  bank 
of  D.  P.  Eberman  &  Co.;  April,  1867, 
teller  and  assistant  cashier  in  First 
National  Bank  of  Akron,  of  which  he 
has  been  cashier  since  January,  1878  ; 
secretar^^  and  treasurer  of  the  Akron 
Gas  Company  from  1871  till  August 
1,  1891 ;  secretarj^  and  treasurer  of 
Portage  Strawboard  Company  from 
its  organization  in  1882,  till  merged 
in  the  American  Strawboard  Com- 
panj^  in  1889;  is  vice  president  and 
treasurer  of  National  Sewer  Pipe 
Company  at  Barberton,  and  also 
pecuniarly  and  officially  connected 
with  the  Creedmoor  Cartridge  Com- 
pany at  Barberton.;  Barberton  White- 
ware  Companj';  Akron  Woolen  and 
Felt    Company,    and    a    number    of 


WILLIAM    MCFAKLIX. 

other  industrial  operations.  Decem- 
ber 31, 1873,  Mr.  McFarlin  was  married 
to  Miss  Julia  Ford  Henr}^  third 
daughter  of  Milton  W.  and  Abigail 
(Weeks)  Henry,  of  Akron.  They  have 
three  daughters — Anna,  Bessie  and 
Laura. 


WILLIAM  BUCHTEL. 


WILLIAM  BUCHTEL, -born  in 
Green  township,  December  23, 
1822;  educated  in  district  schools; 
raised  to  farm  life,  at  22  purchasing 
his    father's     farm,    106    acres,    and 


engajfing  largely  in  wheat  growing; 
in  18o6  rented  his  farm  and  engaged 
in  milling,  in  Springfield  township; 
served  in  164th  Regiment,  O.  N.  G.,  in 
defense  of  Washington  during  the 
late  war,  receiving  an  honorable 
discharge  in  the  fall  of  1864;  after  the 
war,  for  many  years,  engaged  in  the 
lumber  business,  first  as  a  member 
of  the  firm  of  Jackson,  Buchtel  &  Co., 
and  later  under  the  firm  name  of 
William  Buchtel  &  Sons,  handling', 
during  that  time,  over  20,000  acres  of 
Government  and  State  pine  lands  in 
Michigan;  is  now  president  of  the 
Akron  Savings  Bank;  vice  president 
of  the  Thomas  Lumber  and  Building- 
Company;  treasurer  of  the  Akron 
Building  and  Loan  Association,  and 
owner  of  the  finest  hotel  building  in 
Northern  Ohio — the  Buchtel — corner 
Main  and  Mill  streets.  Mr,  Buchtel 
was  married  to  Miss  Martha  Hender- 
son, of  Sprin^eld,  March  7,  1842, 
four  children  having  been  born  to 
them  as  follows:  James  H.,  John  D., 
William  M.,  and  Catharine  Jane.  Mrs. 
Buchtel  dying  December  17,  1884, 
Mr.  B.  was  again  married,  to  Mrs. 
Nora  Sackett  \Vilcox,  in  Cleveland, 
December  3,  1885. 


IJANKS,    FINAAXES,    ETC. 


543 


In  Jul3%  1870,  the  Bank  of  Akron,  a  private  institution,  was 
■organized  with  a  capital  of  $200,000,  in  the  Academy  of  Music 
building;  Col.  George  T.  Perkins,  president,  and  Alden  Gage, 
■cashier.  Mr.  Gage  dying  November  12, 1875,  Mr.  George  W.  Grouse 
Avas  elected  president  of  the  bank,  and  Col.  Perkins  cashier. 
After  a  successful  run  of  nearly  18  years,  this  bank  was  consoli- 
■dated  w^ith,  and  merged  in,  the  Second  National  Bank  of  Akron,  as 
above  stated,  in  March,  1888. 


Akron  Savings  Bank,  corner  of  Main  and  Mill  Streets.  -From  Architects' 
design,  by  Weary  and  Kramer,  1891. 


The  Akron  Savings  Bank,  organized  April  1,  1888.  Capital 
«tock  $200,000.  Officers:  William  Buchtel,  president;  Charles  K. 
<jrrant,  vice  president;  Aaron  Wagoner,  cashier;  Charles  J.  Butler, 
teller.  This  company  is  now  located  in  its  own  splendid  six- 
story  fire-proof  building  on  the  northw^est  corner  of  Main  and  Mill 
streets.  It  has  also  established  a  branch  in  the  neighboring  village 
of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  in  charge  of  Mr.  A.  B.  Clarke. 


544  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

The  Peoples'  Savings  Bank,  No.  706  South  Main  street- 
Capital,  $100,000;  paid  in,  $50,000;  incorporated  October  9,  1890; 
began  business  December  8,  1890,  with  Jacob  A.  Kohler  as  pres- 
ident; Charles  Parisette,  vice  president;  J.  M.  Laffer,  treasurer,  and 
Claude  Clark  as  cashier,  is  now  also  one  of  our  solid  institutions 
and  a  very  great  convenience  to  the  people  of  the  south  portion  of 
the  city.     Surplus,  September  1891,  $5,000. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  Akron  has  a  banking  capital  and 
surplus  of  over  $1,000,000,  all  in  the  hands  of  enterprising  but  con- 
servative men,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that,  while  giving  all  proper  aid 
and  accommodation  to  commercial  and  manufacturing  enterprise, 
the  banking  institutions  of  the  city  of  Akron  are  among  the  most 
reliable  and  substantial  of  their  class  in  Ohio. 

The  Akron  Building  and  Loan  Association,  office  404  South 
High  ;  organized  October  3,  1888;  capital,  $1,000,000,  soon  to  be 
increased  to  $5,000,000.  Officers:  Hugo  Schumacher,  president; 
William  B.  Gamble,  vice  president;  Andrew  H.  Noah,  secretarj^; 
William  Buchtel,  treasurer;    Frank  M.  Atterholt,  attorney. 

The  Akron  Security  and  Investment  Company. — Negotiators 
of  commercial  and  mortgage  loans,  municipal  and  corporation 
bonds,  etc.  Incorporated  April,  1890;  authorized  capital,  $25,000, 
all  paid  in;  first  year's  transactions,  over  $800,000;  present  officers: 
R.  H.  Wright,  president;  B.  L.  Dodge,  vice  president  and  general 
manager;  Walter  A.  Folger,  secretary  and  treasurer;  F.  M.  Atter- 
holt, attorney. 

The  William  H.  Evans  Building  and  Loan  Association,  incor- 
porated July  28,  1891;  capital  stock  $1,000,000;  116  South  Howard 
street;  officers;  Aaron  P.  Baldwin,  president;  John  C.  Wel)er,  vice 
president;  William  H.  Evans,  secretary,  George  W.  Crouse,  treas- 
urer; Albert  B.  Tinker,  attorney. 

The  Home  Building  and  Loan  Association. — Incorporated 
in  1891;  directors:  Henry  Perkins,  Arthur  M.  Cole,  Charles  W.  Sei- 
berling,  Paul  E.  Werner,  N.  R.  Steiner,  C.  C.  Davidson,  J.  A.  Long, 
W.  W.  Leonard,  W.  D.  Hoover,  J.  M.  Beck,  I.  J.  Dyas,  L.  S. 
Sweitzer,  M.  Otis  Hower,  J.  V.  Cleaver,  S.  E.  Allen;  Henry  Per- 
kins, president;  Paul  E.  Werner,  vice  president;  W.  C.  Hall,  secre- 
tary; H.  C.  Viele,  treasurer;  H.  T.  Willson,  attorney.  Office  in 
Akron  Savings  Bank  block  on  Mill  street. 

Summit  County  Abstract  Co. — Incorporated  May  1,1891;  cap- 
ital stock,  $30,000;  abstracters  of  titles  of  real  estate;  Charles  R. 
Grant,  president;  Julius  Lembeck,  secretary;  Emory  A.  Prior, 
treasurer  and  attorney;  Charles  H.  Howland,  manager,  324  East 
Mill. 

AKRON'S  MEDICAL  TALENT. 

Akron  Physicians.^ — Among  the  earlier  physicians  of  Middle- 
bury  and  Akron,  were  Doctors  Titus  Chapman,  Elijah  Hanchett, 
Joseph  Cole,  Theodore  Richmond,  Horace  A,  Ackley,  E.  F.  Bryan, 
Eliakim  Crosby,  Dana  D.  Evans,  Wareham  West,  Williarn  T.  Hun- 
tington, Edwin  Angel,  Elijah  Curtis,  Elias  L.  Munger,  A. 
Kilbourn,  Mendal  Jewett,  William  P.  Cushman,  Elias  W.  Howard, 
Stephen  H.  Coburn,  Samuel  W.  Bartges,  John  W  eimer,  William 
Bowen,  George  P.  Ashmun,  Byron  S.  Chase,  Charles  R.  Pierce, 
Thomas  M,  Leight,  Warren  J.  Underwood,  Henry  C.  How^ard,  O.  E. 
Brownell,    A.    F.    Chandler,    J.    K.    HoUoway,  Albert   C.  Belden, 


Akron's  medical  status. 


445 


Oeorge  G.  Baker,  Daniel  A.  Scott,  Alexander  Fisher,  and  others. 
Portraits  of  Doctors  Cole,  Crosby,  Jewett,  Howard,  Coburn,  Bartges, 
Bovven,  Chase,  Underwood,  Belden  and  Scott,  with  appropriate 
biographies,  will  be  found  elsewhere. 


DR.  SAMUEL  W.  BARTGES, -born 
in  Mifflinsburg-,  Pa.,  April  19, 
1814,  removing' with  parents  to  Colum- 
biana county,  Ohio,  in  1832  ;  at  17  or 
18  embarked  in  trade  in  Georgetown, 
also  officiating  as  postmaster;  at  23 
began  the  study  of  inedicine,  opening- 
an  office  in  Akron  in  1842,  soon  build- 
ing up  an  ex'tensive  practice  in  Sum- 
mit and  adjoining  counties.  March 
18,  1835,  Dr.  Bartges  was  married 
to  Miss  Catharine  A.  Crump,  of 
Columbiana  count}^  who  bore  him 
three  children — Arthur  F.,  now  prac- 
ticing law  in  Akron ;  Mag-gie,  still 
residing  with  her  mother,  and  Bell, 
now  Mrs.  Henry  E.  Merrill,  of  Akron. 
Dr.  Bartges  was  a  large  dealer  in  real 
estate,  there  being  two  large  addi- 
tions to  the  city  bearing  his  name — 
Bartges'  addition  in  the  south, 
through  which  runs  the  street  named 
in  his  honor,  and  Bartges-Mallison 
addition,  west  of  the  Canal  and 
south  of  Wooster  Avenue,  his  trans- 
actions embracing  over  300  deeds 
executed  to  him,  and  over  1000  deeds 
executed  by  him  and  his  wife.  Dr. 
Bartges  was  a  member  of  the  M.  E. 
Church,  a  prominent  member  of 
Akron     Lodge,     No.      83,     F.     &    A. 


DR.  STEPHEN  H.  COBUKN. 

DR.  STEPHEN  H.  COBURN,— 
born  at  Hillsdale,  Columbia 
county,  N.  Y.,  December  29,  1809 ;  in 
early  life  studied  medicine  and 
licensed  to  practice  in  Massachusetts, 
later  practicing  a  number  of  years  in 

36 


DR.  SAMUEL  W.  BARTGES. 

Masons,  (of  which  he  was  at  one  time 
WorshipjFul  Master),  and  of  Akron 
Commandery,  No.  25,  Knights  Teiup- 
lar,  by  whom  he  was  buried,  his 
death  occurring  November  24, 1882,  at 
the  age  of  (38  years,  7  months  and  5 
days. 


Ghent,  Columbia  county,  N.  Y.;  in 
1848,  removed  to  Akron,  being  the 
pioneer  of  the  Homoeopathic  school 
of  medicine  here,  which  he  continued 
to  practice  for  many  years,  being 
professionally  associated,  at  different 
times,  with  Dr.  Wheeler,  Dr.  N, 
Schneider,  now  of  Cleveland,  Dr. 
Terry,  now  of  Ithaca,  and  his  nephew, 
E.  S.  Coburn,  now  of  Troy,  N.  Y.  Dr. 
Coburn  was  also  interested  in  a  num- 
ber of  business  enterprises  in  Akron,, 
being  one  of  the  organizers,  in  con- 
nection with  the  late  William  T. 
Allen  and  Ralph  P.  Myers,  Esq.,  now 
of  Cleveland,  of  the  Akron  Stove 
Company,  of  which  he  was  for  many 
years  the  president ;  also  from  time 
to  time  largely  investing  in  real 
estate  in  and  about  Akron,  Coburn's 
Addition  being-  a  well-known  portion 
of  the  city.  May  15,  1839,  Dr.  Coburn 
was  married  to  Miss  Adeline  Myers, 
of  Sand  Lake,  N.  Y.,  who  died  in 
Akron  March  27,  1887,  leaving  one 
daughter — Frances,  (now  the  wife  of 
Hon.  Jacob  A.  Kohler,  of  Akron).  Dr. 
Coburn  died  at  his  residence,  801  East 
Market  street,  June  12, 1888,  at  the  age 
of  78  years,  5  months  and  13  days. 


516 


AKRON    AXU    SUMMIT    COUNTY 


DR.  WARREN  J.  UNDERWOOD, 
— born  in  Dillsburg-,  York  Co., 
Pa.,  March  20,  1840;  common  school 
education,  in  his  later  teens  teaching- 
school  winters  ;  in  1860  beg-an  the 
study  of  medicine,  graduating-  from 
Jefferson  Medical  College,  Philadel- 
phia, in  1864  ;  August  10, 1862,  entered 
the  arnij^  as  medical  officer  of  the 
19th  P.  V.M.,  afterwards  officiating  as 
assistant  surgeon  in  hospital,  also  at 
Chatnbersburg  and  Camp  Curtin,  and 
later  as  surgeon  of  the  151st  P.  V.  I. 
In  the  Spring-  of  1864  came  to  Ohio, 
practicing  three  years  in  Canal 
Fulton,  when,  in  August,  1867,  he 
came  to  Akron,  where  he  w^as  in  con- 
tinuous and  successful  practice  until 
his  death,  June  9,  1890,  at  the  age  of 
50  years,  2  months  and  19  days.  Dr. 
Underwood  was  a  member  of  the 
Summit  County  Medical  Society,  of 
the  Union  Medical  Association  of 
Northeastern  Ohio,  of  the  State  Medi- 
cal Society,  and  of  the  American 
Medical  Association.  In  December, 
1864,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Harriet 
Shoemaker,  of  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  who 
died  December  9,  1873,  having  borne 
him  three  children,  one  of  whoin, 
only,  now  survives — Edward  S.,  now, 
practicing  medicine  in  Akron, 
having-  graduated  from  his  father's 


DR.  GRIN   D.  CHILDS. 

DR.  ORIN  D.  CHILDS,— son  of 
Dennis  and  Frances  A.  (Straw 
Childs,  born  in  Moreton,  Vt.,  Feb 
ruary  28, 1840  ;  in  Fall  of  1855  removed 
with  parents  to  Omro,  Winnebago 
county,  Wis. ;  worked  on  farm  till 
21 ;     educated   in  Omro  district  and 


DR.   WARREN  J.   UNDERWOOD. 

alma  mater,  Jefferson  Medical  Col- 
lege, Philadelphia.  February  28, 1887, 
Dr.  Underwood  was  again  married, 
to  Mrs.  Frances  C.  Pizzala,  of 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  Dr.  Underwood 
represented  the  Second  Ward  in  the 
Akron  City  Council  in  1878,  '79,  and 
was  examining  surgeon  for  pensions 
from  1873  until  the  organization  of 
the  examining  board  in  1889,  of  which 
he  was  elected  president. 


hig-h  schools ;  taught  four  terms, 
first  term  pupils  ranging-  from  four 
to  25  years,  and  so  turbulent  that 
school  had  not  been  taught  "entirely 
through  either  of  four  preceding- 
terms  ;  in  Spring  of  1864  began  study 
of  medicine(homoeopathy)inOshkosh, 
Wis.;  February,  1865,  enlisted  for  one 
year  in  Company  D,  49th  Wis.  V.  I. ; 
mustered  out  November  1,  1865  ;  then 
entering  Cleveland  Homceopathic 
Medical  College,  graduating  there- 
from in  Spring  of  1867  ;  at  once  open- 
ing- an  offtce  in  Akron,  where  he  has 
built  up  a  large  and  lucrative  prac- 
tice. Dr.  Childs  is  a  member  of  the 
Summit  County  Clinical  Society  and 
the  N.  E.  O.  Homceopathic  Medical 
Society,  in  both  of  which  he  has 
served  as  president ;  member  and 
ex- vice  president  Ohio  State  Homoeo- 
pathic Medical  Society ;  member  of 
American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy; 
member  of  Railway  Surgeons'  Asso- 
ciation ;  trustee  of  Cleveland  Medical 
Colleg-e ;  has  served  as  professor  of 
anatomy  in  Women's  Homoeopathic 
Medical  College,  Cleveland,  his  entire 
aspirations  and  energies  having- 
been  given  to  the  successful  estab- 
lishment of  the  homoeopathic  prin- 
ciple of  medicine.  Dr.  Childs  was 
also  an  orig-inal  member  of  the 
Akron  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  two  years  its 
president. 


Akron's  medical  status. 


547 


DR.  ABNER  E.  FOLTZ— born  in 
Wayne  township, Wayne  county, 
Ohio,  January  29,  1840 ;  educated  in 
district  schools  and  Sharon  Acad- 
■emy ;  learned  trade  of  carpenter ; 
1857  to  1862  taug'ht  school.  In  Aug-ust, 
1862,  enlisted  in  Company  1, 102d  O.  V. 
I.,  (five  brothers  in  same  company 
serving  till  close  of  the  war) ;  read 
medicine  with  brother.  Dr.  W.  K. 
Foltz,  in  Sharon,  Medina  county, 
graduating  from  Charity  Hospital 
Medical  College,  Cleveland,  (now 
Medical  Department  of  Wooster  Uni- 
versity), in  Spring  of  1868 ;  same 
Summer  began  practice  at  Ashland, 
one  year  later  removing  to  Akron, 
where  he  has  since  been  in  continu- 
ous practice,  giving-  especial  atten- 
tion to  diseases  of  the  eye  and  ear. 
Dr.  Foltz  is  a  member  of  the  Summit 
•County  Medical  Society  ;  of  the 
Union  Medical  Society  of  North- 
•eastern  Ohio,  and  of  the  State  Medi- 
cal Society,  and  has  for  nearly  twenty 
years,  by  appointment  of  county 
commissioners,  been  the  official 
physician  of  the  county  jail,  never 
having  lost  a  patient  from  that 
unwholesome  institution.  October 
6, 1870,  Dr.  Foltz  was  married  to  Miss 
Frances  C.  Bowen,  daughter  of  the 


DR.  ABNER   E.  KOLTZ. 


late  Dr.  William  Bowen,  whose 
portrait  and  biography  appears  else- 
where. They  have  one  son — Esgar 
Bowen  Foltz,  born  June  7,  1873,  a 
graduate  of  Akron  High  School,  class 
of  1890, '91.  The  entire  Foltz  family, 
brothers  and  sisters,  eight  in  num- 
ber, are  all  still  living,  and  now  resi- 
dents of  Akron. 


The  present  resident  physicians  of  Akron  are  :  Isaac  J. 
Baughman,  224  East  Exchange;  Ada  F.  Bock,  800  East  Market; 
James  P.  Boyd,  143  South  Summit;  Frederick  B.  Callin;  Rollin  B. 
Carter,  106  Adolph  Ave.;  William  E.  Chamberlin,  158  South  Broad- 
way; Orin  D.  Childs,  402  East  Market;  J.  Vale  Cleaver,  191  South 
, Howard;  Eli  Conn,  188  South  Howard,  Homer  E.  Conner,  148  South 
Howard;  Kate  W.  Cory,  101  South  Broadway;  Cassius  C.  Davison, 
1184  East  Market;  Leonidas  L.  Ebright,  1176  East  Market;  Emery 
&  Kohler  (William  J.  Emery  and  Albert  A.  Kohler),  207  East  Mill; 
Henry  M.  Fisher,  193  South  Howard;  Abner  E.  Foltz,  156  South 
Broadway;  Foltz  &  Foltz  (William  K.  and  Kent  O.  Foltz),  181 
South  Howard;  AlvinK.  Fouser,  I6IV2  South  Broadway;  Hitchcock 
&  Welty  (Elizur  Hitchcock  and  Cullen  F.  Welty),  116  East 
Exchange;  Luther  M.  HoUoway,  706  South  Main;  Albert  Hoover, 
Akron  Savings  Bank  Block;  Elmer  K,  Hottenstein,  Windsor 
Hotel;  Elwyn  Humphrey,  167  South  Howard;  Clarence  M. 
Humphrey,  1007  South  Main;  Jacobs  &  Jacobs  (William  C.  and 
Harold  H.  Jacobs),  603  South  High;  John  A.  Knowlton,  119  South 
High;  Katharine  Kurt,  110  North  Broadway;  Edward  O.  Leberman, 
106  Wooster  Ave.;  J.  L.  Lee,  186  South  Howard;  Leonard  &  Under- 
wood (Wellington  W.  Leonard  and  Edward  S.  Underwood),  305 
South  High;  Byron  B.  Longhead,  206  East  Mill;  Orrin  A.  Lyon, 
1062  East  Market;  Cyrus  L.  Manderbach,  100  East  Mill;  Thomas 
McEbright,  176  South  High;  Charles  W.  Millikin,  1176  East 
Market;  William  Murdoch,  163  South  Broadway;  Charles  B. 
Norris,  404  East  Exchange;  H.  W.  Pierson,  224  West  Exchange; 
Sumner  Pixley,  313  Carroll;  James  W.  Rabe,  321  East  Market; 
Ellis  D.  Read,  151  South  Howard;  Frank  C.  Reed,  1140  East  Mar- 
ket; Margaret  Rimel,  210  East  Market;    James  W.  Rockwell,  125 


548 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


South  High;  Darius  Rowe,  128  South  Howard;  John  H.  Seiler,  505 
East  Market;  Jame^  L.  Shirey,  208  East  Market;  John  C.  Shuman, 
145  South  Howard;  Samuel  H.  Sturgeon,  139  South  Howard;  Loui& 
S.  Sweitzer,  112  West  Exchange;  Horace  D.  Taggart,  221  East  Mar- 
ket; Herman  C.  Theiss,  100  North  Howard;  L.  P.  Waldron,  IIT 
South  Howard;  James  A.  Williams,  419  East  Mill. 


DR.  ELIZUR  HITCHCOCK,— born 
in  Tallmadg-e,  August  15,  1832  ; 
raised  on  farm,  attending-  schools  of 
the  neighborhood  until  18,  when,  in 
1850,  he  entered  Western  Reserve  Col- 
lege, remaining  two  years,  and  then 
entered  Yale  College,  from  which  he 
was  graduated  in  1854 ;  taught  school 
in  Tallmadge  and  Gustavus  four 
years,  meantime  commencing  the 
study  of  medicine  in  Kinsman,  grad- 
uating, after  having  taken  a  course  at 
Ann  Arbor,  Mich.,  from  the  medical 
department  of  Western  Reserve  Col- 
lege at  Cleveland.  After  two  years 
practice  at  Mecca  and  Orwell,  Dr. 
Hitchcock  entered  the  army  as 
surgeon  of  the  7th  Regiment  O.  V.  1., 
serving  seven  months  ;  then  located 
in  West  Williamsfield,  where  he  prac- 
ticed six  years  ;  then,  after  spending 
a  brief  period  in  Bellevue  Hospital, 
in  1870  located  in  Akron,  where  he 
has  since  enjoyed  an  extensive 
and  lucrative  practice.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber and  has  served  as  president  of 
the  Summit  County  Medical  Society; 
is  also  a  member  of  the  Union  Medi- 
cal Association  o  f  Northeastern 
Ohio,  and  of  the  G.  A.  R.  and  Loyal 
League.  Dr.  Hitchcock  was  married 
to  Miss  Hattie  Reed,  of  Mecca,  Nov- 
ember 24,  1861,  who  died  May  24,  1864, 
leaving  one  child — Gertrude,  born 
November  9, 1862,  now  Mrs.  D.J.  Diehl, 
New  York  City.  November  30,  1864, 
Dr.  H.  was  again  married,  to  Miss 
Lucretia  Kellogg,  of  West  Andover, 
who  has   borne   him   two  children — 


DR.  ELIZUR   HITCHCOCK. 

Halbert  Kellogg,  now  electrical 
engineer  of  Akron,  born  October  15, 
1865,  and  Lucius  Wolcott,  born  Decem- 
ber 2,  1868,  artist  at  Paris,  Julien  Art 
School. 


Dentists. — Doctors  James  H.  Peterson,  106  East  Market; 
Samuel  D.  Stewart,  101  East  Market;  John  W.  Lyder  &  Son 
(Frederick  H.),  204  East  Market;  Mason  Chapman,  324  East  Mill; 
Eucien  G.  Thorp,  118  North  Howard;  Chamberlin  &  Brockway 
(Frederick  N.  Chamberlin  and  Casper  L.  Brockway),  223  East 
Market;  Eambert  T.  Brown,  1138  East  Market;  Will  B.  Conner, 
room  4  Arcade  Block;  Fitzgerald  &  McNeal  (J,  Edgar  Fitzgerald 
and  James  E.  McNeal),  100  South  Howard;  J.  Burt  Hill,  1184  East 
Market;  Jesse  W.  Hillinan,  125  South  Howard;  William  J.  Hotten- 
stein,  Windsor  Hotel;  Frank  W.  Knowlton,  217  East  Market;  John 
H.  Eaney,  131  South  Howard;  George  B.  Williamson,  corner  Main 
and  Exchange. 

Veterinary  Surgeons. — Doctors  Joshua  H.  Collins,  215  South 
Howard;  E.  R.  Barnett,  108  East  Furnace;  Charles  Chrisman,  115 
South  Main. 


AKRON  S    MEDICAL   STATUS. 


549 


DR.  ALBERT  C.  BELDEN— born 
in  Castile,  N.  Y.,  September  14, 
184o;  removed  with  parents  to  Bureau 
<iounty,  111.,  when  young-;  educated  at 
Dover  Academy,  and  at  Poughkeep- 
sie,  N.  Y.;  at  17,  in  1863,  enlisted  in 
Company  I,  64th  111.  V.  I.,  serving-  till 
close  of  war,  then  began  the  study  of 
Medicine  with  Dr.  Thompson,  at 
Princeton,  111.,  graduating  from 
Bellevue  Medical  College,  New  York 
City,  in  1875;  came  to  Akron  in  1876, 
a  year  or  two  later  commencing 
practice  with  Dr.  A.  K.  Fouser,  con- 
tinuing till  September  1,  1880,  when 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  Dr. 
William  C.  Jacobs,  which  continued 
until  his  sad  death,  December  20, 
1890,  the  result  of  a  fracture  of  the 
skull  at  the  base  of  the  brain,  from 
an  accidental  fall  in  his  office, 
December  11,  1890.  Dr.  Belden's 
prudence  and  forethotight  for  the 
comfort  and  welfare  of  his  family  is 
evinced  by  the  fact  that  at  the  time 
of  the  fatal  casuality  he  was  carrying 
life  and  accidental  insurance  to  the 
amount  of  $105,000.  He  was  a  meinber 
of  the  various  medical  associations, 
county,  state  and  national,  a  member 
of  the  local  pension  board  and  sur- 
geon of  the  N.  Y.,  P.  &  O.  and  Valley 
railroads,   member  of  Buckley  Post 


DK.  ALBERT  C.  BELDEN. 

G.  A,  R.,  and  oldest  ranking  surgeon 
of  Ohio  National  Guard.  May  6, 1874, 
Dr.  Belden  was  married  to  Miss 
Hannah  Mosser,  of  Breinig-sville, 
Pa.,  three  children  having  been 
born  to  them — Jessie,  born  Febru- 
ruary  25,  1875;  Ida,  born  July  3,  1876; 
Edna,  born  August  20,  1877. 


DR.    WILLIAM  K.  FOLTZ. 


DR.  W 
Mi 

15. 1829; 
count}', 
district 


ILLIAM  K.  FOLTZ,-  born  in 

fflin   county,   Pa.,    November 

came  with  parents  to  Wayne 

Ohio,   in   1831;    educated    in 

schools;  learned  carpenter's 


trade  with  father;  at  18  began  teach- 
ing, continuing  three  years;  in  1851 
began  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  C. 
F.  Stauber,  in  Wooster,  continuing- 
two  years,  then  alternating  two  years 
between  teaching  and  attending 
Heidelberg  College,  at  Tiffin;  in  18o5 
began  the  practice  of  medicine  at 
Lafaj'ette  Center,  Medina  county,  in 
1856  removing  to  Sharon,  where  he 
remained  till  1867,  meantime  gradu- 
ating- from  Eclectic  Medical  Colleg-e, 
Cincinnati,  February  2,  1859.  In  1867, 
in  addition  to  his  practice,  engaged 
in  drug  business  in  Ashland,  until 
burned  out  April  14,  1877,  the  follow- 
ing- A  ug-ust  removing  to  Akron  where 
he  has  since  continuously  practiced. 
Dr.  Foltz  is  a  inember  of  the  Ameri- 
can Pharmaceutical  Association;  the 
Ohio  State  Eclectic  Medical  Associa- 
tion, the  National  Eclectic  Medical 
Association  and  the  Akron  Scientific 
Club.  May  12,  1856,  he  was  married 
to  Miss  Carrie  L.  Lehman,  a  native  of 
Wa5aie  county.  They  have  one  son, 
Kent  O.  Foltz,  born  February  16,  1857, 
now  practicing  medicine  with  his 
father,  under  under  the  firm  name  of 
Foltz  &  Foltz. 


550 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


DR.  ELWYN  HUMPHREY  — son 
of  Isaiah  and  Almira  fWaite) 
Humphrey,  was  born  in  Twinsburg-, 
Summit  count5^  Ohio,  May  29,  1836; 
after  receiving'  a  common  school  and 
academical  education,  he  studied 
medicine,  g-raduating  from  the  medi- 
cal department  of  Western  Reserve 
College,  in  1865,  his  hoine  being  then 
at  Peninsula,  where  he  successfully 
practiced  medicine  and  surgery  for 
more  than  twenty  years.  In  the 
Spring  of  1885  Dr.  Humphrey  moved 
to  Akron,  Avhere  he  is  now  enjoying 
an  extensive  and  lucrative  practice. 
Deceinber  20, 1857,  Dr.  Humphrey  was 
married  to  Miss  Mary  Holcomb, 
daughter  of  Sherlock  and  Mary 
(Richardson)  Holcomb,  of  Hudson, 
■who  has  borne  him  four  children — • 
Clarence  M.,  born  December  30,  1858, 
now  a  practicing  physician  in  South 
Akron  ;  J.  Lawrence,  born  September 
13,  1860,  died  June  6,1861 ;  Lillian  May, 
born  May  19,  1862,  and  Sybil  Beulah, 
born  October  27,  1868,  both  daug-hters 
now  living  with  their  parents  in 
Akron.  Dr.  Humphrey  is  a  member 
of  the  Northeastern  Ohio  Union 
Medical  Association. 


DR.   ELWYN   HUMPHREY. 


Residence  of  Col.  Arthur  L.  Conger,  "Irving  Lawn,"  Ash  Street, 
completed  and  occupied  in  1890. 


AKK()N    LAWYERS,    ANCIENT   AND    MODERN. 


551 


AKRON'S  LEGAL  STATUS. 

Attorneys- at-Law, — ^Among  the  early  lawyers  of  Akron  were: 
Wolsey  Wells,  Gregory  Po\srers,  Alvah  and  Seneca  L.  Hand,  Wil- 
liam M.  Dodge,  Harvey  H.  Johnson,  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  David  K. 
Cartter,  George  Bliss,  John  C.  Singletary,  William  S.  C.  Otis,  Wil- 
liam W.  Gaston,  James  D.  Tayler,  Charles  G.  Ladd,  Roland  O. 
Hammond,  George  Kirkum,  Henry.  W.  King,  Frederick  S.  Han- 
ford,  Rufus  P.  Spalding,  Daniel  R.  Tilden,  Henry  McKinney, 
Samuel  W.  McClure,  John  A.  Pleasants,  Charles  A.  Baldwin, 
Daniel  B.  Hadley,  Charles  Rinehart,  Stephen  H.  Pitkin,  Wilbur 
F.  Sanders,  N.  W.  Goodhue,  Thomas  F.  Wildes.  Charles  B.  Ber- 
nard, and  the  late  Judge  James  S.  Carpenter,  portraits,  w^ith  brief 
biographical  sketches  of  Messrs.  Carpenter,  Goodhue,  Sanders, 
Pitkin,  McClure,  McKinney,  Spalding,  King,  Hammond,  Ladd, 
Singletary,  Bliss,  Cartter,  Bierce  and  Dodge,  appearing  elsewhere 
in  this  volume. 

After  the  portrait  and  sketch  of  Judge  Carpenter  were  printed, 
in  the  earlier  part  of  this  work,  w^hile  walking  along  the  old 
"Chuckery"  race,  near  Cuyahoga  Falls,  on  August  13,  1891,  by  a 
misstep  he  was  precipitated  over  the  embankment,  striking  upon 
his  head  on  the  rocks  some  twelve  feet  below,  fracturing  his  skull, 
from  the  effects  of  which  he  died  the  same  evening,  a;^ed  85  years, 
11  months  and  26  days. 

HON.  GEORGE  BLISS,— born  at 
Jericho,  Vt.,  January  1, 1813;  came 
to  Ohio  in  1832  ;  graduate  of  Granville 
College  ;  studied  law  in  Akron,  witli 
David  K.  Cartter,  late  chief  justice  of 
the  supreme  court  of  the  District 
of  Columbia,  and  after  admission  to 
the  bar  was  law  partner  of  Mr.  Cartter 
for  several  years ;  was  mayor  of 
Akron  in  1850;  March  15,  1851. 
appointed  by  Gov.  Reuben  Wood, 
president  judge  of  Court  of  Common 
Pleas,  on  the  election  of  Judge  Ben- 
jamin F.  Wade  to  the  U.  S.  senate, 
ablj-  filling  the  position  until  the 
taking  effect  of  the  new  constitution 
in  February,  1852 ;  member  of  con- 
gress from  the  18th  Ohio  district, 
1852-54,  and,  (having  moved  to  Woos- 
ter),  of  the  14th  district  in  the  38th 
Congress.  Both  at  the  bar,  on  the 
bench  and  in  congress.  Judge  Bliss 
was  shrewd,  logical  and  profound ; 
in  private  life  sympathetic,  social, 
genial  and  witty.  Judge  Bliss  was 
married  January  16. 1856.  to  Miss  Sarah 
J.  Fish,  of  Williamstown,  N.  Y.,  who 
bore  him  five  children — Florence, 
born  September  9,  1857  ;  George,  Jan- 
uary 16.  1859 ;  Charles  F.,  November 
2,1861  ;  Leon,  February  6. 1863;  Junius, 
September.  1867.  Judge  Bliss  died  in 
Wooster,  October  24,  1868,  his  family 
subsequently  removing  to  Brooklyn, 


HON.  GEORGE  BLISS. 

L.  I.,  where  they  still  reside.  All 
having  been  liberally  educated,  the 
children  of  Judge  Bliss  are  doing 
well  in  life — George  and  Junius,  in 
commercial  business,  Charles  prac- 
ticing law.  and  Leon  studying-  for 
the  same  profession.  Judge  Bliss 
was  a  younger  brother  of  our  well- 
known  pioneer  citizen.  Ambrose  W. 
Bliss,  Esq.,  of  Northfield. 


Akron's  present  practicing  attorneys,  individual  and  firms 
are:  George  M.  Anderson,  present  City  Solicitor,  room  2  city 
building;  Johnson  A.  Arbogast,  209  East  Market;  Baird  &  Voris 


552 


AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


(Charles  Baird  and  Kdwin  F.  Voris),  108  East,  Market;  Arthur  F. 
Bartges,  Academy  of  Music  Building;  John  H.  Campbell,  209 
East  Market;  Frank  D,  Cassidy,  710  South  Main;  Newton  Chalker, 
130  South  Howard,  Jeremiah  Deline,  Arcade  Block;  Doyle  «& 
Bryan  (Dayton  A.  Doyle  and  Frederick  C.  Bryan),  room  3  Academy 
of  Music;  Green,  Grant  &  Seiber  (Edwin  P.  Grreen,  Charles  R. 
Grant  and  George  W.  Seiber),  Akron  Savings  Bank  Block,  corner 
Mill  and  Main;  John  J.  Hall,  Commercial  Block,  209  East  Market; 
Erjiest  C,  Housel,  109  South  Howard;  Calvin  Pease  Humphrey, 
116  East  Market;  Henry  Ward  Ingersoll,  110  South  Howard;  Adam 
E.  Kling,  room  13  Arcade  Block;  Kohler  &  Musser  (Jacob  A. 
Kohler  and  Harvey  Musser),  rooms  1  and  13  Arcade  Block;  Marvin, 
Atterholt,  Slabaugh  &  Marvin  (Ulysses  L.  Marvin,  Frank  M.  Atter- 
holt,  Watson  E.  Slabaugh  and  David  Leslie  Marvin),  rooms  7  and 
8  Academy  of  Music;  Eee  K.  Mihills,  110  South  Howard;  Nathan 
Morse,  110  South  Howard;  Otis  &  Otis  (Edward  P.  and  Ellsworth 
E.  Otis),  Arcade  Block;  Oviatt,  Allen  &  Cobbs  (Edward  Oviatt, 
George  G.  Allen  and  Charles  S.  Cobbs),  102  North  Howard; 
George  K.  Pardee,  112  South  Howard;  James  D.  Pardee, 
127  South  Howard;  Wilson  H.  Pixley,  113,  115  East  Market; 
James  M.  Poulson,  119  South  Howard;  Emory  A,  Prior,  room 
6,  Arcade  Block;  Rogers  and  Wilhelm  (Samuel  G.  Rogers 
and  Andrew  J,  Wilhelm),  111  South  Howard;  Olin  Iv.  Sad- 
ler, 233  Carroll;  Rolin  W.  Sadler,  Paige  Block,  146,  148  South 
Main;  Henry  C.  Sanford,  room  6,  Arcade  Block;  William 
H.  Sanford,  room  6,  Arcade  Block;  Henry  K.  Sauder,  Court  House; 
James  W.  Scott,  127  South  Howard:  Louis  D.  Seward,  113,  115  East 
Market;  Rial  M.  Smith,  room  6,  Academy  of  Music;  Edward  W. 
Stuart,  probate  office.  Court  House;  Frederick  H.  Stuart,  Court 
House;  Frank  B.  Theiss,  100  North  Howard;  Tibbals  &  Frank 
(Newell  D.  Tibbals  and  John  C.  Frank),  room  1,  Academy  of  Music; 
Tinker  &  Waters  (Albert  B.  Tinker  and  Frank  A.  Waters),  room 
11,  Arcade  Block;  Theodore  W.  Wakeman,  146,  148  South  Main; 
Lorenzo  Dow  Watters,  113,  115  East  Market;  Welsh  &  Sawyer 
(James  Welsh  and  Wm,  T.  Saw^yer),  113  S.  Howard;  Horatio  T. 
Willson,  room  2,  Arcade  Block;  George  M.  Wright.  103  E.  Market. 

HON.  DAVID  K.  CARTTER,-born 
ill  Jefferson  county,  N.  Y.,  June 
22,  1812 ;  academic  education  ;  from 
12  to  14  worked  in  printing  office  of 
Thurlow  Weed  in  Rochester  ;  studied 
law  in  Rochester  and  admitted  to 
bar  at  20  years  of  age ;  came  to 
Akron  in  1836,  forming  a  partnership 
with  Alvah  Hand,  Esq.,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Hand  &  Cartter,  and 
later  with  George  Bliss,  Esq.,  as 
Cartter  &  Bliss,  a  very  strong  legal 
team ;  in  1845  removed  to  Massillon 
forming  a  partnership  with  Hon.  H. 
B.  Hurlbut,  as  Cartter  &  Hurlbut ;  in 
1848  was  elected  to  Congress,  as  the 
candidate  of  the  Democratic  part3', 
and  was  re-elected  in  1850,  serving 
four  jears ;  in  1853  removed  to  Cleve- 
land, espoused  the  Free  Soil  cause 
and  entered  heartily  into  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Republican  party;  a 
delegate  to  the  Chicago  convention,  HON.  DAVID  K.  CAKTTER. 


AKRON    LAWYERS,    ANCIENT   AND   MODERN. 


553 


in  18(50,  securing-  the  transfer  of  a 
sufficient  number  of  votes  of  the 
Ohio  delegation  froin  Salmon  P. 
Chase  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  to  secure  his 
nomination  over  William  H.  Seward; 
in  1861,  was  appointed  by  President 
Lincoln  as  Minister  to  Bolivia,  abl}'' 
filling-  that  position  a  year  and  a  half  ; 
in  18(S,  was  appointed  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  District 
of  Columbia,  which  important  office 
he  continuously  held  nearly  a 
quarter    of     a     century,    his     death 


occurring  April  17,  1887,  aged  74 
years,  9  inonths  and  25  days.  Judge 
Cartter  was  married  to  Miss  Nancy 
H.  Hanford,  of  Monroe  county,  N. 
Y.,  in  1836,  who  has  borne  him  two 
sons — David  and  William,  both  of 
whom  entered  the  army,  during  the 
war,  the  foriner  dying  in  service,  the 
latter  now  a  prominent  physician  and 
surgeon,  and  the  owner  and  manag'er 
of  an  extensive  ranch  in  Kansas. 
Mrs.  Cartter  still  resides  in  Wash- 
ington. 


HON.  CHRISTOPHER  PARSONS 
WOLCOTT,— born  in  Wolcott- 
ville.  Conn.,  December  17,  1820;  mov- 
ed with  parents  to  Steubenville,  Ohio, 
in  1833;  graduated  at  Jefferson 
College,  Pa.,  in  1840;  read  law  with 
Tappan  &  Stanton  in  Steubenville ; 
on  admission  to  the  bar,  in  1843, 
commenced  practice  in  Ravenna,  in 
partnership  with  Gen.  L.  V.  Bierce, 
in  January,  1846,  reinoving  to  Akron 
and  forining  a  partnership  w^ith 
William  S.  C.  Otis,  Esq.,  and  on  the 
removal  of  the  latter  to  Cleveland 
becoming  associated  with  Hon. 
William  H.  Upson,  under  the  firm 
naine  of  Wolcott  &  Upson,  which  ar- 
rangement continued  until  his  death. 
On  the  death  of  Attorney  Gen.  F.  D. 
Kimball,  in  1856,  Gov.  Chase  appoint- 
ed Mr.  Wolcott  to  fill  the  vacancy,  to 
which  office  he  was  subsequently 
twice  elected,  the  period  of  his 
incumbenc}^  being  the  most  impor- 
tant in  the  history  of  the  State, 
covering  the  Breslin  Treasury 
defalcation  and  the  Wellington 
Rescue  Fugitive  Slave  Law  episoda 
his  arguinent  before  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  in  Janu- 
ar3\  1861,  against  the  return  of  the 
fugitives  and  the  extradition  of  the 
rescuers,  on  the  demand  of  the 
Governor  of  Kentucky,  being,  by 
order  of  the  Court,  spread  in  full  upon 
the  records  of  that  court.  In  May, 
18()2,  at  the  urgent  request  of  Secre- 
tary of  War,  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  he 
assumed  the  arduous  duties  of 
Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  Mr. 
Stanton  in  calling  him  to  the  i)osi- 
tion,  saying:  "I  know  I  ought  not  to 
ask  it  of  you,  and  fear  the  work  will 


HON.  CHRISTOPHER  PARSONS  WOLCOTT. 

kill  you,  but  I  do  not  know  where  to 
look  for  aid,  and  if  I  do  not  have  it 
now,  I  must  give  up  myself."  The 
prophecy  was  only  too  true.  Enter- 
ing upon  the  duties  of  the  position 
with  his  customary  energy  and  vigil- 
ance, saying,  when  remonstrated 
with  by  friends,  "  Why  can  I  not  give 
myself  to  my  country  as  thousands 
of  soldiers  are  doing  every  day,"  his 
health  soon  gave  way  under  the 
strain,  compelling  his  resignation  the 
February  following,  Mr.  Wolcott, 
after  nearly  two  months  of  intense 
suffering,  dying  at  his  home  in  Akron, 
April  4, 1863.  Mrs.  Wolcott,  sister  of 
the  late  E)dwin  M.  Stanton,  still 
survives,  residing  at  Sewickly,  Pa. 


HON.  HENRY  MrKINNEY,— born 
in  Canfield,  (then  Trumbull, 
now  Mahoning  county),  October  9, 
1828  ;  father  of  Scotch  and  mother  of 
Connecticut  revolutionary  stock; 
boyhood  spent  on  farm,  clearing 
land,  splitting  rails,  chopping  wood, 
etc.;     educated    in    district    schools. 


Farmingtoii  Academy  and  Twins- 
burg  Institute ;  studied  law  with 
Judge  J.  W.  Tyler,  of  Garrettsville, 
and  Judge  S.  W.  McCltxre,  at  Cuya- 
hoga Falls,  and  after  admission  to 
the  bar,  in  1850,  entering  into  partner- 
ship with  the  latter,  holding  that 
relation  15  years  ;  elected  prosecuting- 


554 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY 


attornej'  of  Svimniit  county  in  1856, 
and  re-elected  in  1858,  serving-  four 
years ;  removed  to  Akron  in  18(34, 
forming  partnership  with  Judge  N. 
D.  Tibbals,  which  existed  eight 
years  ;  appointed  draft  commissioner 
for  Summit  county,  by  Gov.  Tod,  in 
1862,  serving  during-  the  war  ;  in  1869 
w^as  elected  state  senator  for  Sum- 
mit and  Portage  counties,  serving 
two  years  ;  in  1873  removed  to  Cleve- 
land ;  in  1880  elected  judge  of  Cuya- 
hog-a  county  Common  Pleas  Court, 
and  re-elected  in  1885,  two  and  a  half 
years  later  resigning  that  honorable 
position  and  resuming  the  practice 
of  the  law.  Judge  McKinney  was 
married  in  1854  to  Miss  Henrietta 
Maria  Stull,  of  Warren,  who  died  in 
March,  1870,  leaving  three  children, 
the  Judge  marrying  for  his  second 
wife  Miss  Adelaide  L.  Remington, 
of  Rutland,  Vt.,  in  1872. 


HON.   WILBUK   F.   SANDERS. 

HON.  WILBUR  F.  SANDERS,— 
born  in  Leon,  N.  Y.,  May  2,  1834; 
September,  1854,  came  to  Akron,  teach- 
ing in  High  School  and  reading  law 
with  Upson  &  Edgerton ;  admitted 
to  bar  in  1856;  October,  1861,  enlisted 
in  the  army,  recruiting  Company  "  G," 
64th  O.  V.  I.,  and  mustering  in  Sixth 
Ohio  Battery,  both  part  of  Sherman's 
Brigade,  organized  bv  Hon.  John 
Sherman,  at  Camp  Buckingham,  near 
Mansfield  ;  elected  second  and  then 
first  lieutenant  of  Company  "  G,"  on 
organizatioti  of  regiment  was  selected 
adjutant,  and  on  assuming  command 
of  the  Brigade,  by  Col.  Forsyth  (of 
the  regular  army),  was  appointed  A. 
A.  G.;  in  winter  of  1861,  '62  assisted  in 
constructing  defenses  to  railroads 
from  Nashville  to  Decatur  and  Stev- 
enson, and  thence  back  to  Nashville, 
foi'ming  that  triangle  of  transporta- 
tion so  efficient  in  supplying  the 
troops  in  the  center  of  our  army  of 


HON.   HENKY   M'KINNEY. 

advance.  Failing  health  compelled 
his  resignation  m  Suinmer  of  1862. 
but  in  1863  was  lieutenant  of  Akron's 
contingent  of  "Squirrel  Hunters,"" 
so  expeditiously  gathered  at  Cincin- 
nati, to  repel  the  threatened  invasion 
of  Ohio  by  the  rebel  general,  Kirby 
Smith ;  the  same  fall  accompanied 
his  uncle,  Hon.  Sidney  Edgerton,^ 
Chief  Justice  of  the  territory  of  Idaho^ 
to  Bannock  City,  in  what  was  in  1864 
organized  as  the  territory  of  Mon- 
tana, with  Judge  Edgerton  as  Gov- 
ernor. That  portion  of  Idaho  being 
overrun  with  highway  robbers  and 
murderers,  Mr.  Sanders,  well  quali- 
fied therefor  by  his  legal  as  well  a» 
military  experience,  organized  the 
merchants,  miners  and  other  citizens- 
into  a  vigilance  committee,  of  which, 
he  was  the  prosecuting  officer,  andi 
by  hanging  some  fifty  of  the  despera- 
does,  and  banishing  many  others^ 
quiet  and  peace  was  restored,  which 
has  ever  since  been  maintained.  He 
has  officiated  as  president  of  the 
Mining  Exchange,  and  of  the  Union 
League  ;  Grand  Master,  F.  &  A.  M.; 
U.  S.  Attorney  under  President  Grant;: 
eight  years  as  member  of  the  terri- 
torial legislature  ;  twenty -five  years 
president  of  Montana  Historical  Soci- 
ety ;  president  board  of  trustees  Mon- 
tana Wesleyan  Universitj^ ;  w^as 
Republican  candidate  for  delegate 
to  Congress  in  1864,  '67,  '80,  '86,  but 
defeated ;  and  in  1890  was  unani- 
mously elected  United  States  Senator 
from  the  newly  organized  State  of 
Montana,  his  term  expiring  in  1893. 
October  27,  1858,  Mr.  Sanders  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Harriet  P.  Fenn,  of  Tall- 
madge,  who  has  borne  him  three 
children — James,  now  a  lawyer  in 
Helena;  Wilbur,  mining  engineer; 
Lewis,  now  a  student  in  Columbia 
College. 


AKRON    LAWYERS,    ANCIENT   AND    MODERN. 


555 


p  EN.  RUSSELL  A.  ALGER —born 
vJ  in  Lafayette,  Medina  county,  O., 
February  27,  1836;  raised  to  farm  life; 
educated  in  district  schools  and 
Richfield  Academy,  working-  for  his 
board,  teaching-  school  the  last  two 
winters  of  his  course  ;  18o7-o9  read 
law  in  office  of  Wolcott  &  Upson,  in 
Akron,  and  admitted  to  the  bar  by 
Supreme  Court  at  Columbus,  prac- 
ticing a  short  time  in  Cleveland  ;  in 
1860  engaged  in  lumber  business  at 
Grand  Rapids,  Mich.  ;  in  August, 
1861,  enlisted  as  private  in  Second 
Michigan  Cavalry,  being  mustered  in 
September  2,  as  captain  ;  promoted  to 
major  April  25,  1862 ;  wounded  and 
taken  prisoner  at  Booneville,  Miss., 
July  1, 1862 ;  promoted  to  lieutenant 
colonel  February  28,  1863 ;  wounded 
at  Boonesboro.  Md.,  July  8,  1863; 
resigned  and  honorably  discharged 
September  20,  1864,  after  having  par- 
ticipated in  66  battles  and  skir- 
mishes ;  brevetted  brigadier-general 
for  gallantry  at  Trevillian  Station, 
Va.,  June  11, 1864,  and  major-general 
June  11, 1865,  for  gallant  and  merit- 
orious services  during  the  war.  On 
retiring  from  the  army  Gen.  Alger 
engaged  in  the  lumber  and  shipping 
trade  at  Detroit,  in  which  he  has 
accumulated  a  fine  fortune,  which  he 
is  dispensing  with  a  liberal  hand,  in 
the  promotion  of  private  and  public 
enterprises  and  the  various  religious, 


GEN.  RUSSELL  A.  ALGEK. 

benevolent  and  patriotic  schemes  of 
the  day.  In  1884  Gen.  Alger  was 
elected  governor  of  Michigan,  ably 
servi^ng  two  j^ears,  and  declining  a 
re-election  ;  in  1888  received  142  elec- 
toral votes  for  president  in  the  Chi- 
cago Convention.  Gen.  Alger  in  1890, 
'91  was  national  commander  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  one 
of  the  most  popular  and  successful 
leaders  that  patriotic  order  has  ever 
had. 


KGLIN   W.  SADLER. 

ROLIN  W.  SADLER,— born  in  Cen- 
terville,St.  Joseph  county,  Mich., 
July  7,  1856;  at  the  age  of  eleven  re- 
moving   to     Brj-an,    Ohio,    and    two 


years  later  to  Wauseon;  in  1871 
entered  Baldwin  University  and  a 
year  later  Mt.  Union  College,  from 
which  he  graduated  in  1874.  After 
teaching  two  years,  as  principal  of 
schools  at  Reading,  Mich.,  and  Bed- 
ford, Ohio,  in  1876  he  entered  the 
law  office  of  Edgerton  &  Kohler,  as 
student,  being  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1878,  since  which  time  he  has  been 
in  a  continuous  and  phenomenally 
successful  practice  in  Akron,  for 
several  years  in  partnership  with 
Hon.  Jacob  A.  Kohler,  but  since 
January,  1887,  upon  his  own  ac- 
count. September  15,  1880,  Mr. 
Sadler  was  married  to  Miss  Carrie  M. 
Comstock,  of  Bedford,  who  has  borne 
him  two  children — Edna  Dean,  born 
December  4, 1882  and  Alden  Howard, 
born  March  20,  1886.  In  addition  .to 
his  law  business,  Mr.  Sadler  is  a 
stockholder  in  the  Akron  Savings 
Bank,  The  F.  Schumacher  Milling- 
Compan5%  the  Akron  Tool  Company, 
the  Enterprise  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, with  other  material  interests 
in  Akron  and  elsewhere. 


556 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


TNJEWTON  CHALKER— son  of 
-1-^  James  and  Eliza  (Hyde)  Chalk- 
er,  born  at  Southington,  Ohio,  Sep- 
tember 12,  1842;  educated  in  district 
schools  and  at  Western  Reserve  Semi- 
nary, Farming'ton,  Ohio,  teaching 
school  winters  from  16  to  20  years  of 
age;  June,  1862,  enlisted  in  Company 
B,  87th  Regiment  O.  V.  I.,  serving  till 
the  following  October;  in  1863,  entered 
Allegheny  College,  at  Meadville, 
graduating  in  June,  1866;  same  Fall 
elected  principal  of  Dixon  (111.)  Semi- 
narj?^,  serving  one  year;  the  next 
year  filling  the  position  of  superin- 
tendent of  the  Darlington  (Wis.) 
Union  Schools;  August  1868,  entered 
Law  Department  of  Albany  (N.  Y.) 
University,  graduating  in  June  1869. 
Soon  after  graduation,  Mr.  Chalker 
opened  a  law  office  in  Cameron,  Mo., 
where  he  remained  five  years,  on 
August  14, 1874,  establishing  an  office 
in  Akron,  enjoying  a  reasonably  suc- 
cessful and  lucrative  practice  to  the 
present  time.  Mr.  Chalker's  parents, 
James  and  Elizabeth  (Hyde)  Chalker 
are  among  the  most  highly  respected 


NEWTON  CHALKER. 

citizens  of  Trumbull  county,  Mr. 
Chalker,  himself,  still  remaining  un- 
married. 


DAVID  LESLIE   MARVIN. 

DAVID  LESLIE  MARVIN,-son  of 
Judge  Ul Jesses  L.  and  Mrs. 
Dorena  (Rockwell)  Marvin,  was  born 
at  Kent,  Ohio,  November  17,  1862, 
reinoving  with  parents  to  Akron  in 
1867 ;  educated  in  Akron  public 
schools  and  at  Kenyon  College,  at 
Gambler ;  in  November,  1882,  was 
appointed  an  exaininer  in  the  U.  S. 
Pension    office,   at   Washington,    by 


faithful  service,  earning  a  promotion 
to  second  grade  ;  resigned  in  June, 
1884,  to  engage  in  newspaper  work 
during  centennial  cotton  exposition 
at  New  Orleans  ;  spending  the  year 
1885  in  Chicago,  February  9,  1886,  was 
elected  assistant  engineer  of  the 
board  of  public  works  of  Ohio,  and 
re-elected  in  1888  and  1890  ;  while  fill- 
ing this  position  spent  his  evenings 
and  other  spare  moments  in  read- 
ing law,  being  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  December,  1889.  February  15, 
1891,  resigning  his  position  as  assist- 
ant engineer,  began  practice  in  Akron 
as  junior  inember  of  the  law  firm  of 
Marvin,  Atterholt,  Slabaugh  & 
Marvin,  the  public  works  superin- 
tendents, on  his  resignation,  adopting 
a  resolution,  expressing  their  regret 
"to  part  with  him,  both  as  a  friend 
and  as  an  official,"  and  that  "he  has 
discharged  his  duties  with  marked 
abilitj^  and  fidelity,  and  manifested 
uniform  kindness  and  courtesy  in  all 
his  relations  with  us."  Mr.  Marvin 
was  married  May  16,  1888,  at  Shelby, 
Ohio,  to  Frances  Saxe  Fish.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  M.  are  members  of  St.  Paul's 
Episcopal  Church,  Mr.  M.  being  in 
politics  a  stanch  Republican ;  is  a 
member  of  Ohio  Commandery  of  the 
Loyal  Legion  ;  Cleveland  Lodge,  B. 
P.  O.  E.;  Columbus  Lodge.  K.  of  H., 
an;d  lola  Chapter,  P.  S.  I.  Upsilon 
Fraternity. 


AN  APPROPRIATE  CONCLUSION. 


557 


AKRON'S  ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS. 


JUDGE  LEICESTER  KING,  — born 
J  in  Suffield,  Conn.,  May  1,  1789; 
married  to  Julia  Anne  Hunting^ton, 
October  12, 1814  ;  after  short  residence, 
as  merchant,  in  Westfield,  Mass.,  went 
to  Natchez,  Miss.,  but  declining- 
bright  prospects  of  business  there, 
because  of  abhorrent  impression  in 
regard  to  human  slavery,  in  1817, 
settled,  as  merchant,  in  Warren,  Ohio  ; 
in  1831,  with  Gen.  Simon  Perkins  and 
Dr.  Eliakim  Crosby,  laid  out  North 
Akron,  and  constructed  the  Cascade 
Mill  race,  giving  to  Akron  its  start  as 
a  manufacturing-  center ;  Associate 
Judge  of  Trumbull  County  one  term 
of  seven  years ;  State  Senator,  two 
terms,  1835-39;  large  proinoter  of 
Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  Canal ;  in 
1842  Liberty  candidate  for  Governor 
and  renominated  in  1844 ;  Liberty 
nominee  for  Vice  President  in  1848, 
but  resigned  in  favor  of  Charles 
Francis  Adams,  Free-Soil  candidate  ; 
ever  promotive  of  Akron's  growth 
and  prosperity,  in  1836  erected  a 
barn  with  the  intention  of  establish- 
ing his  home  on  the  grounds  now 
occupied  by  Hon.  Lewis  Miller.  Mrs. 
King  dying  in  1849,  June  10,  1852, 
Judge   King  was    again   inarried,  to 


JUDGE  LEICESTER   KING. 

Mrs.  Calista  M.  Howard,  eldest  daugh- 
ter of  Dr.  Crosby,  who  still  survives  ; 
the  Judge  himself  dying  at  Bloom- 
field,  Trumbull  County,  September 
19,  1856,  aged  67  years,  4  months,  18 
days ;  five  of  his  seven  children  sur- 
viving him. 


As  a  fitting  close  to  the  foregoing  chapters,  delineating  Akron's 
comparatively  brief,  but  remarkably  prosperous  career,  the  accom- 
panying portrait  and  biography  of  Judge  Leicester  King,  may  very 
properly  be  here  given.  In  addition  to  his  hearty  co-operation 
with  General  Simon  Perkins  and  Doctor  Eliakim  Crosby,  hereto- 
fore alluded  to,  in  the  founding  of  what,  in  an  early  day,  wa» 
known  as  North  Akron,  the  building  of  the  Cascade  mill  race, 
and  the  construction  of  the  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  Canal— freely 
appropriating  his  own  private  funds  in  their  promotion — Judge 
King  at  the  same  time  gave  substantial  aid  to  many  private  enter- 
prises— notably  the  building  of  the  Cascade  Mill,  by  Mr.  William  B, 
Mitchell,  in  1840,  and  the  Empire  Hotel,  by  Mr.  William  H. 
Burroughs,  in  1844,  '45.  Like  his  co-partners,  also.  Judge  King  was 
extremely  liberal  in  regard  to  deferred  payments  on  lands  pur- 
chased from  him,  on  w^hich  the  purchasers  had  made  substantial 
improvements,  thereby  enabling  many  persons,  during  the  several 
early  panics  w^ritten  of,  to  retain  their  humble  homes,  which,  under 
a  less  lenient  creditor,  would  have  been  ruthlessly  sacrificed.  Judge 
King,  and  his  early  associates,  Messrs.  Perkins  and  Crosby,  should 
ever  be  held  in  kindly  remembrance  by  those  who  now  enjoy,  or 
may  hereafter  enjoy,  the  fruits  of  their  w^ise  labors  in  w^hat,  in  the 
beginning,  w^as  a  very  forbidding  locality. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

SUMMIT  COUNTY'S  TORXADOES— THE  STOW  DISASTER  OF  OCTOBER  20,  1837— 
DWELLING  HOUSE  DEMOLISHED  AND  FOUR  PERSONS  KILLED— OTHER  DAM- 
AGES IN  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD — PREVIOUS  AND  SUBSEQUENT  STORMS— THE 
SHARON,  COPLEY  AND  SPRINGFIELD  BLOW  OF  APRIL  8,  1890,  LEAVING 
DEATH  AND  DESTRUCTION  IN  ITS  TRACK — AKRON'S  FRIGHTFUL  BUT  FORTU- 
NATE VISITATION,  MAY  10, 1890,  ETC.— BARBERTON'S  FATAL  CALL,  DECEMBER 

23,  1890. 

AKRON'S  FAVORABLE  LOCATION. 

AKRON  and  Summit  county  seem  to  have  been  phenomenally 
exempt  from  the  terrible  storms,  devastating  floods  and 
destructive  whirlwinds  so  largely  prevalent  in  the  west  and  south, 
and  of  not  infrequent  occurrence  in  the  State  of  Ohio.  Located 
as  it  is,  upon  a  summit,  Akron  cannot  suffer  greatly  from  floods, 
except  from  cloud-bursts,  or  the  giving  away  of  the  banks  of 
Summit  Lake,  or  the  State  reservoirs  immediately  to  the  south  of 
us,  the  danger  from  which  is  very  remote  indeed. 

Numerous  gaps  in  the  primeval  forests,  strew^n  w^ith  broken- 
off  or  uprooted  trees  of  large  growth,  however,  indicated  to  the 
early  settlers  that  in  the  creation  of  these  extensive  "windfalls," 
as  they  w^ere  called,  very  furious  tornadoes  must  have  previously, 
from  time  to  time  prevailed,  w^hile  w^ide-apart  localities  have 
occasionally  been  thus  visited  since  the  settlement  of  the  country 
began — the  course  of  such  storms  being  generally  from  wrest  to 
east  with  occasional  divergence  from  both  southw^esterly  to  north- 
easterly and  from  northwesterly  to  southeasterly. 

THE  GREAT  STOW  CALAMITY  OF  1837. 

Though  both  orchards  as  well  as  forests  had  been  prostrated, 
fences,  roofs  and  chimneys  blow^n  away,  ^vith  occasional  loss  of 
poultry  and  other  farm  stock,  by  these  severe  w^ind-storms,  the 
first  tornado  in  w^hat  is  now  Summit  county,  involving  the  loss  of 
human  life,  occurred  in  the  township  of  StoAV,  on  the  night  of 
October  20,  1837,  just  north  of  w^hat  is  no\sr  know^n  as  Silver  Lake, 
a  full  description  of  which  is  given  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  Stow 
township  in  this  volume,  and  need  not  be  given  in  detail  here. 

It  may  be  said  generally,  how^ever,  that  the  storm  in  question 
occurred  in  the  darkness  of  the  early  morning  (about  4  o'clock),  with 
no  eye-witnesses  to  testify  of  its  apearance  w^hen  approaching  or 
or  departing.  Striking  the  ground  near  Gilbert's  Corners,  on  the 
w^est,  or  diagonal  road  from  Cuyahoga  Falls  to  Hudson,  pursuing 
a  northeasterly  course,  and  evidently  scooping  up  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  w^ater,  sand,  \^eeds,  etc.,  of  the  intervening  pond 
(now  know^n  as  Crystal  Lake),  it  entirely  demolished  the  substan- 
tial story  and  a-half  frame  house  of  Mr.  Frederick  Sanford,  on  the 
present  site  of  Mr.  William  L.  Hanford's  residence,  on  the  East 
and  West  Center  road,  killing  four  out  of  six  of  its  inmates — Mr. 
Sanford,  his  tw^o  sons,  Charles  and  Norman,  and  his  mother-in-law, 
Mrs.  Mary  Collins,  some  of  their  lighter  household  effects  being 


SUMMIT   county's   TORNADOES.  559 

found  some  five  miles  from  the  scene  of  the  fatal  disaster,  consid- 
erable other  damage  also  being  done  to  other  property  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood. 

THE  SHARON,  COPLEY  AND  SPRINGFIELD  TORNADO. 

Betw^een  six  and  seven  o'clock,  on  the  evening  of  Tuesday, 
April  8,  1890,  a  fearful  and  fatal  storm,  assuming  the  proportions 
of  a  destructive  tornado,  passed  over  the  townships  of  Sharon, 
in  Medina  county,  and  Copley,  Coventry  and  Springfield,  in  Sum- 
mit county,  its  course  unlike  most  of  the  other  similar  storms 
occurring  in  this  vicinity,  being  from  northwesterly  to  south- 
easterly. 

The  storm  struck  the  ground  in  the  w^est  portion  of  Sharon 
township.  It  w^as  seen  approaching,  and  many  people  sought 
safety  in  cellars,  thus  escaping  serious  personal  injury,  but  all 
were  not  so  fortunate.  The  first  building  destroyed  w^as  the  large 
barn  of  Mr.  James  Hartman,  next  the  house  and  barn  of  Uriah 
Werstler,  of  Wads\^rorth,  occupied  by  his  son-in-law,  Jacob  Durr, 
were  razed  to  the  ground;  next  the  fine  barn  of  Washington  Crane 
was  completely  destroyed,  together  with  the  roof  of  his  horse  shed; 
next  the  large  barn  of  R.  M.  Brow^n,  \sras  demolished.  Here,  near 
the  center  of  Sharon,  the  tornado  seemed  to  rise,  doing  but  slight 
damage  in  and  about  the  village  itself — unroofing  the  Methodist 
church,  blo^ving  do^vn  chimneys,  etc. 

Rising  and  falling,  playing  sad  havoc  with  forest  trees,  sugar 
groves  and  fruit  orchards,  a  mile  southeast  of  the  Center,  the  new 
bank  barn  and  w^agon  house  of  Mr.  Christian  Wall  were  completely 
demolished,  a  fine  lot  of  timber,  shrubbery,  etc.,  in  front  of  the 
house  of  Mr.  James  T.  Hammond,  torn  up;  the  house  of  Mr. 
Reason  Wall  twisted  from  its  foundation;  the  barn  of  Mr.  Frank 
Bramley  being  carried  aw^ay,  and  Mr.  Bramley  deposited  among 
the  falling  timbers  several  rods  a^vay,  w^ith  serious  internal 
injuries,  eight  horses  remaining  standing  in  their  stalls  unhurt. 
The  house  of  Mr.  Bramley  Avas  also  whirled  into  the  air,  falling  a 
mass  of  ruins  a  short  distance  from  the  foundation,  caught  fire 
from  the  kitchen  stove  and  was  entirely  consumed. 

PloAving  its  \vray  through  a  dense  piece  of  timber,  the  tornado 
next  struck  the  house  and  barn  of  Mr.  Hughes  Frank,  on  the  east 
line  of  Sharon  tow^nship.  Hearing  the  storm  coming,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Frank  started  for  the  cellar,  but  before  reaching  it,  the  build- 
ing w^as  lifted  from  its  foundation,  and,  amid  breaking  and  falling 
timbers,  both  of  them  were  hurled  several  rods  aAvay,  the  wreck  of 
the  two  buildings  being  scattered  along  the  track  of  the  tornado 
fuUj'^  300  yards.  Mr.  Frank  was  killed  outright,  and  Mrs.  Frank 
"was  so  badly  injured  that  her  life  was  for  several  months 
despaired  of,  and  she  is  even  now^  but  the  wreck  of  her  former 
self.     A  favorite  dog  of  Mr.  Frank's  Avas  also,  instantly  killed. 

Mr.  Henry  Wall's  new  40x80  barn,  a  short  distance  southeast 
of  Mr.  Frank's,  was  completely  demolished,  a  yearling  heifer  being 
killed  and  Mr.  N.  L.  Fulmer,  who  w^as  milking  a  cow  in  the  yard, 
was  carried  150  feet  aw^ay  and  deposited  in  a  wheat  field,  seriously 
injured. 

SPRINGFIELD   NEXT  VISITED. 

While  the  heavy  rain,  hail,  thunder,  lightning  and  furious  wind 
accompanying  the  storm,  continued  to  rage,  doing  considerable 


560  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

damage  in  Akron  and  other  points,  along  its  track,  the  tornada 
proper,  after  leaving  Mr.  Wall,  lifted  itself  into  the  upper  air,  and 
passing  over  the  eastern  portion  of  Copley  and  the  northern  por- 
tion of  Coventry,  again  struck  the  earth  in  the  township  of  Spring- 
field, about  a  mile  and  a  half  south  of  the  White  Grocery.  Leveling 
fences,  trees,  etc.,  on  the  premises  of  Mr.  William  H.  Jones,  on  the 
Massillon  road,  the  two-story  residence  of  Mr.  Scott  Sweitzer, 
a  short  distance  to  the  southeast,  was  entirely  demolished.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Sw^eitzer,  with  their  two  children,  ^vere  on  the  cellar 
stairs,  seeking  a  place  of  safety,  and  though  suddenly  dropping  to 
the  bottom  of  the  cellar,  as  the  stairs  were  wrenched  from  under 
them,  they  escaped  w^ith  serious,  but  not  fatal,  injuries.  They  also 
lost  their  barn,  hog  pen,  chicken  coop,  carriages,  chickens,  pigs, 
etc.  A  quarter  of  a  mile  further  on  the  log  house  occupied  by  Mr. 
Henry  Kobinson  was  unroofed,  and  about  the  same  distance 
beyond,  the  Washington  Rhodanbaugh  house  was  unroofed  and 
the  barn  blown  doAvn.  Passing  over  or  around  Springfield  Lake, 
the  storm  again  took  a  southeasterly  course,  destroying  Elias 
Kurtz's  orchard,  racking  his  house  and  partially  unroofing  his 
barn;  next  racking  the  house,  unroofing  the  barn,  uprooting  the 
fruit  trees,  and  prostrating  the  fences  upon  the  farm  of  Eli  Funk; 
then  mowing  down  a  large  tract  of  heavy  timber  for  Mr. 
George  Wise;  next  totally  demolishing  the  barn  of  Mr.  Abraham 
Heimbaugh,  killing  several  cattle;  blow^ing  away  the  log  house  of 
a  Mr.  Callahan;  twisting  from  its  foundation  the  house  of  Mr. 
Elias  Lilly,  unroofing  the  house  and  barn  of  Milton  Pontious; 
blowing  away  the  barn  and  sheep  shed  of  Mr.  Andrew^  Falor,  and 
pursuing  its  course  of  devastation  some  distance  into  Stark 
county. 

AKRON'S  GREAT  VISITATION,  MAY  10,  1890. 

During  the  afternoon  of  Saturday,  May  10,  1890,  Akron  was 
visited  with  a  succession  of  very  heavy  showers,  with  quite  a  stiff 
southwesterly  breeze.  After  a  short  respite,  and  a  partial  clearing 
up,  about  5  o'clock,  a  half  hour  later,  two  dense  black  clouds  from 
the  south^vest  and  northwest,  respectively,  -were  observed  rapidly 
approaching  each  other,  with  angry  roars  near  the  southwesterly 
corner  of  the  city.  On  coming  in  contact,  like  tw^o  mighty  giants 
\*^restling,  they  seemed  to  engage  in  a  nearly  stationary,  but  fear- 
ful struggle  for  a  moment,  w^hen,  having  assumed  the  shape  of  an 
immense  rapidly  rotating  inverted  cone,  with  a  madly  terrific  roar, 
it  rushed  city-ward,  first  striking  the  ground  a  little  east  of  the 
Ohio  Canal,  just  south  of  West  Thornton  street,  and  pursuing  its 
course  of  dev  astation  diagonally  through  the  entire  city,  made  its 
exit  at  the  northeast  corner  in  the  vicinity  of  the  "Old  Forge." 

The  first  building  struck  was  the  small  frame  house  of  Mr. 
Wilson  Kiplinger,  south  of  Thornton  street.  The  house  was 
entirely  demolished  and  the  inmates,  furniture,  stove,  etc.,  pro- 
miscuously piled  together,  a  fire  soon  starting  from  the  burning 
coals,  but  fortunately  the  family,  though  some  what  bruised  and 
burned,  escaped  without  serious  bodily  injury. 

Slightly  lifting,  but  still  uncomfortably  near  the  surface,  the 
storm  crossed  Thornton  street;  besides  other  slight  damage  to 
trees  and  fences,  uprooting  ten  large  apple  trees  on  the  lot  of  W. 
S.  Youtz,  about  the  same  number  on  the  lot  of  William  Fink,  sev- 
eral large  trees  and  the  grape  arbor  of  Thomas  B.  Moore,  corner  of 


SUMMIT   county's   TORNADOES.  561 

Coburn  and  Thornton  streets,  badly  damaging  the  houses  and 
trees  of  E.  CoUoredo  and  J.  L.  Serfass,  west  side  of  Coburn,  and 
the  premises  oi  Felix  Sell,  Charles  H.  Jennings,  John  Stutz,  S.  B. 
Foster  and  Louis  B.  Stahl,  east  side  Coburn;  John  H.  Campbell, 
George  Pellinger,  Oliver  P.  Falor,  Samuel  Steffe,  Mrs.  Mary 
Winkleman,  Fire  Station  No.  4  and  other  property  on  South  Main, 
north  of  Thornton;  of  F.  G.  Stipe,  Charles  Criss,  Frank  Miller  and 
others  on  South  High,  Broadway  and  Fair  streets. 

GETTING  DOWN  TO  BUSINESS  AGAIN. 

Leaving  a  large  amount  of  valuable  property,  between  Main 
street  and  the  railroads  comparatively  uninjured,  the  tornado 
began  to  get  down  to  earnest  w^ork  again  on  the  east  side,  leveling 
huge  trees  and  seriously- damaging  buildings  near  the  intersection 
of  Washington  and  Cross  streets,  and  for  half  a  mile  along  Wolf 
Ledge,  and  another  half  mile  northeasterly'  its  ravages  w^ere 
almost  unintermitted  as  the  following  list  of  casualties  will  show: 

One-story  house  of  Dominick  Gritter,  404  Cross  street,  partly 
unroofed,  w^indows  blown  in  and  Mrs.  Gritter  slightly  injured;  barn 
of  M.  F.  Kearns  blown  down  and  contents  scattered;  two  houses  of 
John  Van  Alt,  Washington  and  Cross,  badly  damaged;  house  of 
John  Bruegger,  207  Washington  street,  twisted  from  its  foundation 
and  badly  w^recked;  house  of  Peter  Austgen,  406  Cross  street, 
turned  half  around  and  badly  shattered;  August  Schaffer's  shoe 
shop,  178  Grant  street,  turned  upside  down;  house  belonging  to 
Julius  Loepke,  occupied  by  Mr.  Schaffer's  family,  and  by  Frank 
Wagner,  as  a  barber  shop,  lifted  from  its  foundation,  turned  partly 
around  and  thrown  against  Turner  Halle,  adjoining  on  the  north, 
w^hich  w^as  also  badly  wrecked,  roof  partly  torn  off,  w^indow^s 
crushed  in,  siding  broken  by  flying  timbers  and  interior  deluged 
with  water;  here  also  a  horse  hitched  to  a  w^agon  was  instantly 
killed  by  a  displaced  electric  w^ire  falling  across  its  neck;  on  the 
east  side  of  Grant  street,  the  house  of  Anthony  Mennel  w^as  turned 
oyer  and  other  damage  done,  as  shown  in  the  accompanying  cut. 


''^%^^'^:^ 


Overturned  House  of  Anthony  Mennel.  175  (Jrant  Street. 
36 


562 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 


V^iew  of  Havoc  on  East  side  of  Grant  Street,  looking  towards  Turner  Halle. 

The  kitchen  of  Jacob  Neubauer,  Grant  and  Cross  streets,  was 
blown  away;  house  of  Gebhard  Hermann,  505  Cross  street,  badly 
w^recked,  the  kitchen  in  Avhich  nine  persons  were  eating  supper, 
torn  from  the  main  building  and  rolled  over  and  over,  50  yards, 
the  clothes  of  a  12  year  old  girl  taking  fire  and  quite  seriously 
burning  her,  before  Mr.  Hermann  could  extricate  himself  from  the 
w^reck  to  extinguish  the  flames;  Mrs.  Hermann  and  one  or  tw^o 
other  children  also  being  slightly  injured,  the  entire  family,  how^- 
ever,  miraculously  escaping  with  their  lives.  The  house  of  Louis 
Leffler,  507  Cross  street,  and  other  contiguous  property,  was  also 
seriously  damaged,  the  above  cut  illustrating  the  condition  of 
things  in  this  vicinity  as  shown  by  the  camera  the  following  day. 


Rear  of  Mrs.  Margaretha  Burkhardt's  Brewery,  looking  towards  Turner  Halle. 


SUMMIT   COUNTY  S   TORNADOES. 


563 


The  tornado  nowr  leaped  diagonally  across  Wolf  Ledge,  and  dip- 
ping into  the  gorge,  struck  the  brewrery  of  Mrs.  Margaretha 
Burkhardt,  154,  156  Sherman  street,  totally  demolishing  the  barn, 
-wrecking  the  dormitory,  ice  house,  etc.,  and  partially  unroofing 
the  brewery  as  shown  in  part  by  the  preceding  and  following  cuts. 


Wreck  of  Dormitory  anrl  other  damajtie  at  Mrs    Margaretha    Burkhardt's 
Brewery,  Sherman  Street. 

From  the  brewery,  driving  across  several  acres  of  unoccupied 
-territory,  prostrating  a  number  of  immense  forest  trees  in  its 
•course,  its  next  point  of  attack  was  upon  the  east  side  of  Sumner 
street,  badly  shattering  the  house  of  Harry  R.  Sanford,  at  517,  and 
that  of  Charles  Walter,  adjoining  upon  the  north,  blowing  off  part 
of  the  roof,  crushing  in  w^indows,  etc.,  and  completely  demolishing 
the  barns  and  outhouses  in  the  rear  of  both.  The  houses  of  John 
Miller  and  Mrs.  Odell,  on  this  street,  were  also  seriously  damaged. 
On  Sterling  Court,  the  house  of  Edward  Esker  was  twisted  on 
foundation,  and  a  house  belonging  to  Mr.  John  Memmer  seriously 
<iamaged. 


Residences  of  Otto  Miller  and  Fr.ink  Kuntz,  306  and  :502  Allyn  Street. 


564 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


On  AUyn  street,  south  of  Wheeler,  sad  havoc  was  accom- 
plished. The  house  of  Frank  Kuntz,  facing  east,  was  lifted 
forward  from  its  foundation  several  feet  and  canted  over  toward 
the  south,  while  the  house  of  Otto  Miller,  adjoining  on  the  south, 
had  the  kitchen  entirely  demolished  and  the  main  building 
thrown  from  its  foundation  and  canted  over  towards  the  north,  as 
shown  by  the  foregoing  view;  Charles  S.  Wilhelm's  house  on  the 
south,  also  being  considerably  damaged. 

Directly  opposite,  on  AUyn  street,  a  new  unoccupied  house, 
belonging  to  August  C.  Miller,  was  entirely  destroyed,  as  was  also 
the  somewhat  smaller  structure  of  F.  Allen  Coup,  the  ruins  of 
both  of  which  are  shown  in  the  following  cut: 


Residences  of  August  C.  Miller  and  Allen  Coup,  on  Allyn  Street, 
as  left  by  the  storm. 

Passing  on  from  here,  besides  toppling  over  many  chimneys, 
and  leveling  innumerable  fences,  trees,  outbuildings,  etc.,  on  and 
near  Brow^n  street,  the  residences  of  Charles  G.  Angne,  206,  Dr. 
Elwyn  Humphrey,  208,  Hiram  N.  Henninger,  210,  and  John  Klinger 
314,  were  more  or  less  seriously  damaged,  the  barn  of  Dr. 
Humphrey  being  entirely  destroyed.  On  Wheeler  street,  the 
house  ol  George  Roussert,  ^vas  moved  several  feet  on  its  founda- 
tion and  badly  wrenched;  the  house  occupied  by  A.  J.  Christman, 
117  Kling  street;  the  houses  owned  by  Frank  How^e,  occupied  bj^ 
D.  Bart  Curran,  115,  George  A.  Rost,  113  and  Thomas  Gilligan,  211 
Kling  street  were  quite  badly  damaged,  every  virindow  of  the  latter 
being  blow^n  in,  and  a  large  hole  made  in  the  roof. 

Remorselessly  rushing  on,  the  large  two-story  frame  building  of 
Mr.  Orin  C.  Baker,  northeast  corner  Brow^n  and  Exchange  streets, 
the  first  floor  occupied  as  a  grocery  store,  and  the  second  story  as 
a  family  residence,  w^as  instantly  leveled  to  its  foundation,  as  graph- 
ically told  by  the  engraving  on  the  opposite  page. 

Hearing  and  seeing  the  terrible  storm  approaching,  the 
inmates  of  the  building  rushed  frantically  to  the  cellar,  the  crash 
coming  almost  the  instant  they  reached  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  one 
w^all,  20  feet  square,  being  blow^n  50  feet  away,  many  of  the  timbers 
of  the  building  being  carried  at  least  100  feet,  and  large  adjacent 
trees  ruthlessly  laid  low.  The  house  of  Charles  Ingham,  south- 
\srest  corner  Brown  and  Exchange  streets,  w^as  also  badly 
damaged.  The  house  of  Wilhelmina  Bolte  and  Albert  Funk,  703 
East  Exchange,  badly  damaged  in  roof,  and  barn  in  rear,  with  a 
fine  buggy,  were  entirely  destroyed,  and  a  horse  so  badly  injured 


SUMMIT   COUNTY  S   TORNADOES. 


565 


that  it  had  to  be  killed.  The  house  occupied  by  Kdwin  S.  Har- 
rington, 707  East  Exchange,  was  moved  from  its  foundation  and 
the  rear  crushed  in,  but  the  inmates  took  refuge  in  the  cellar  and 
escaped  unharmed.  The  houses  of  Howard  A.  Falor,  Mrs.  Susan 
Bowers,  James  K.  Chapman  and  Arthur  E.  Myers,  were  seriously 
injured,  the  latter,  in  process  of  erection,  being  blown  flat  down. 


The  Fine  Two-story  Frame  Grocery  Store  of  Orin  C.  Baker,  701  East 
Exchange  Street,  after  the  storm. 

Thomas  H.  Thompson,  wife  and  two  children,  on  Nash  street, 
northeast  of  Baker's  grocery,  heard  the  storm  coming  and  fled  to 
the  cellar,  but  had  scarcely  reached  it  before  the  house  was  lifted 
from  its  foundation  and  dumped  in  the  yard,  an  irreparable  ruin. 
On  Vine  street  the  nursery  of  Lucius  Rose  was  largely  damaged, 
including  the  prostration  of  his  large  w^ind-mill,  and  sad  havoc 
made  with  the  roofs,  chimneys,  windows,  trees  and  out  buildings 
of  John  Rawlins,  Henry  Stocker,  A.  L.  Dickinson  and  others.  The 
fine  orchard  of  Lee  K.  Mihills,  Esq.,  133  Brown  street,  was  largely 
destroyed,  one  tree  falling  on  top  of  the  house,  while  similar 
destruction  was  visited  upon  the  orchard  of  Nathan  Morse,  Esq., 
215  Spicer  street. 

At  302  Spicer  street,  the  one-story  house  of  Miss  Lena  L.  Kling 
w^as  almost  entirely  unroofed  and  a  large  tree  in  the  front  yard 
prostrated;  an  unoccupied  house  across  the  street  had  a  great 
hole  torn  in  its  side,  while  the  remnants  of  a  frame  barn  strewed 
the  back  yard.  Philip  Webber's  two-story  barn,  307  Spicer,  was 
neatly  tipped  over  upon  its  side,  and  the  houses  of  J.  T.  Powell  and 
H.  T.  Wilison  seriously  injured. 

On  Vine  street,  the  house  of  William  Stein  was  unroofed  and 
otherwise  damaged,  John  Spicer's  new  barn  was  tipped  over  on  its 
side,  and  Henry  Strunk's  house  was  badly  shattered,  both  outside 
and  inside. 

Leveling  intervening  outhouses,  trees,  fences,  etc.,  the  next 
serious  damage  to  buildings  wras  at  the  w^orks  of  the  Ohio  Stone- 
w^are  Company,  115  to  119  Fountain  street,  the  building,  a  two-story 
brick,  60x100  feet  in  size,  was  struck  broadside  on,  blowing  off  the 


566 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT    COUNTY. 


entire  upper  story  and  a  portion  of  the  lower  walls  and  one  of  the 
stacks,  and  but  for  the  fact  that  the  workmen  had  all  just  started 
for  their  respective  homes,  serious  loss  of  life  would  have  been 
inevitable.  FoUow^ing  is  a  view  of  the  wreck  the  day  after  the 
sto^*^'  • 


Ruins  of  The  Ohio  Stoneware  Company's  Works,  Fountain  Street. 

A  few  rods  northeast  of  the  demolished  pottery  stood  the  fine 
brick  barn  of  Mr.  Frank  J.  Knapp.  Mr.  Knapp  was  in  the  barn 
grooming  his  horses  when  the  storm  struck.  Hearing  it  comings 
he  pressed  himself  against  the  wall,  thus  escaping  personal 
injury  from  the  shower  of  brick  and  timber  that  came  pouring 
down,  though  the  horses  were  somewhat  injured  thereby.  The 
following  cut  only  partially  tells  the  story,  for  in  addition  to  the 
brick  barn,  a  small  frame  barn,  and  large  hennery  were  entirely 
blown  away,  together  with  some  25  or  30  fine  chickens,  Avhile  the 
slate  roof  and  chimneys  upon  Mr.  Knapp's  house  were  also 
seriously  damaged. 


Kuins  of  Frank  J.  Knapp's  Fine  New  Brick  Barn,  and  other  near-by  damage 


SUMMIT   COUNTY  S   TORNADOES. 


567 


Leaving  Fountain  street,  the  storm  struck  the  south  end  of 
Ivouis  Benson's  house,  342  Carroll  street,  cutting  off  several  feet  of 
the  gable,  then  bounding  over  the  house  of  Edward  Osterstock, 
stripping  off  its  chimney  only,  it  utterly  demolished  the  house  of 
Malvern  S.  Irish,  at  3o0  Carroll  street,  the  structure  being  hurled 
from  its  foundation  30  or  40  feet,  and  entirely  disintegrated,  timber 
from  timber.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Irish  and  their  two  boys  were  seated 
at  the  supper  table,  and  hearing  the  storm  coming,  Mrs.  Irish  and 
the  two  bo3's  started  for  the  cellar,  followed  none  too  soon  by  Mr. 
Irish,  who  was  at  first  rather  inclined  to  scout  the  idea  of  danger, 
for  while  yet  on  the  stairs  the  crash  came,  a  heavy  beam  knocking 
liim  down  and  falling  across  his  thighs,  imprisoning  him  in  the 
wreck.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Irish  w^ere  pretty  badly  shaken  up, 
physically  and  mentally;  but  providentially  escaped  serious  injury, 
while  the  boys  came  out  entirely  unharmed. 

Passing  down  Carroll  street,  leveling  all  telephone  and  electric 
light  poles  and  twisting  off  a  tw^o-foot  solid  elm  tree,  veering  to 
the  north  and  crossing  the  street,  the  house  of  Walter  K.  Frick,  at 
355,  was  unroofed,  and  otherwise  seriously  damaged.  Slightly 
damaging  the  house  of  Mr.  Jacob  C.  Whitmore,  357,  the  next  house 
to  seriously  suffer  was  that  of  Mrs.  Eliza  Jewell,  361,  the  front  of 
w^hich  Avas  crushed  in  and  the  building  moved  several  feet  from 
its  foundation,  Mrs.  Jewell  and  her  son  George  wisely  seeking 
safety  in  the  cellar.  Leaving  the  t^^o  intervening  houses  unscathed, 
the  house  of  Mr.  Alvin  D.  Alexander,  367,  was  next  struck,  and, 
twisted  from  its  foundation,  and  badly  shattered,  was  careened  over 
towards  its  near  neighbor  upon  the  east,  Mrs.  Alexander  and  her 
child, alone  in  the  house  at  the  time,  escaping  with  but  slight  injury. 
The  house  of  Mrs.  Kate  O'Connell.  upon  the  east,  was  also  badly 
shattered,  and  throw^n  from  its  foundation,  in  an  opposite  direc- 
tion from  that  of  its  neighbor,  as  seen  in  the  accompanying  cut. 


Af/fpi  mttnifo  c/»>',//f.  .-»r-«K^iu:-."5(i(.ii(4.K.c'itti:;^>iuu 


W7  and  369 


Kesideiices  of  Alvin  I).  Alexander  and  Mrs.  Kate  O'Cotniell 
Csfrroll  Street,  after  the  storm. 

Sweeping  across  the  open  space  between  Carroll  street  and 
Buchtel  avenue  and  East  Market  street,  fences,  trees,  sheds, 
chimneys,  etc.,  were  blown  away,  the  houses  of  William  Spafford, 
616,  Joseph  Moon,  622,  Patrick  Flanagan,  626,  Aaron  N.  Straw,' 
630,  Buchtel  avenue;  and  the  green  houses  of  Henry  H.  Brown, oppo- 
site, were  slightly   damaged,   while  the  fine   residence   of  Rober 


568  .  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Watt,  at  the  junction  of  Buchtel  avenue  and  Kast  Market  street,  was 
partially  unroofed  and  otherwise  seriously  injured.  Crossing  East 
Market  street,  prostrating  several  fine  apple  trees  in  the  orchard 
of  Mr.  N.  B.  Stone  ;  twisting  off  the  chimneys  from  the  houses  of 
councilman  Charles  S.  Hart  and  others,  partially  unroofing  the 
house  of  Mrs.  Mary  Cotter  and  some^vhat  damaging  the  house  of 
Mrs.  George  Barber,  the  storm,  sweeping  northward  through 
"Cotter's  woods,"  and  after  doing  considerable  damage  to  chim- 
neys, out-buildings,  fences,  trees,  etc.,  on  Hazel,  Upson  and  Je\vett 
streets,  lifted  itself  from  the  valley  and  took  its  w^ay  towards  Tall- 
niadge,  though  without  doing  any  material  damage  in  that  direc- 
tion, after  leaving  the  city  limits;  the  track  of  the  tornado, 
diagonally  through  the  city,  being  fully  two  and  a  half  miles  in 
length,  though  scarcely  averaging  more  than  100  feet  in  width. 

It  has  not  been  attempted  in  this  sketch  to  mention,  in  detail, 
all  the  minor  effects  of  this  disastrous  visitation,  but  only  to  give 
its  more  salient  features.  The  aggregate  losses  were  probably 
from  $30,000  to  $50,000.  A  considerable  portion  of  this  loss — 
orchards,  shade  trees,  etc.,  w^as  irreparable  by  immediate  money 
expenditure,  while  many  of  the  other  sufferers,  though  seriously 
inconvenienced,  were  able  to  repair  their  ow^n  damages  w^ithout 
serious  pecuniary  embarrassment.  Another  portion,  however, 
w^ere  less  fortunately  situated,  depending  w^hoUy  upon  their  dailj'' 
labor  for  daily  bread.  For  the  benefit  of  this  class,  a  relief  fund 
of  some  $10,000  was  raised,  and  distributed  by  a  committee  pro 
rata,  according  to  losses  and  necessities,  thus  mitigating  to  a  large 
extent  the  unfortunate  visitation — though  extremely  fortunate  in 
that  no  loss  of  human  life  or  serious  bodily  injury  was  occasioned 
thereby. 

THE  BARBERTON  DISASTER. 

In  Akron's  young  and  vigorous  suburb,  Barberton,  adjoining 
the  village  of  New  Portage,  elsewhere  written  of,  w^as  being 
erected,  in  the  fall  of  1890,  by  the  Creedmoor  Cartridge  Company, 
a  three  story  brick  factory,  40x150  feet  in  size.  The  walls  had  been 
nearly  completed  and  the  workmen  were  engaged  in  placing  upon 
them  the  timbers  for  the  roof,  when,  at  about  3:30  o'clock  p.  m., 
Tuesday,  Deceiuber  23,  1890,  a  high  wind,  over  the  middle  portion 
of  Summit  county,  from  the  southwest,  assuming  the  form  of  a 
tornado  as  it  approached  the  building  in  question,  crushed  in 
both  side  walls,  down  to  the  first  story,  taking  down  w^ith  them 
and  the  falling  timbers,  several  of  the  workmen,  one  of  whom, 
John  Triplett,  of  Coventry,  was  instantly  killed,  and  five  others 
more  or  less  seriously  injured.  The  injured  were  :  Louis  Navel,  of 
Millersburg,  spine  injured  and  left  arm  broken;  Frank  Mallory,  of 
Lafayette,  left  shoulder  dislocated  and  left  arm  injured  ;  Horatio 
Leib,  of  New  Portage,  right  arm  injured;  Isaiah  Lower,  New- 
Portage,  back  hurt,  back  of  head  badly  bruised  and  injured 
internally;  T.  F,  Homer,  Akron,  back  badly  injured.  John  Triplett, 
the  man  who  was  killed,  Avas  blown  entirely  clear  of  the  building, 
having  a  sheer  fall  of  about  45  feet,  breaking  his  neck,  badly  tear- 
ing the  scalp  on  the  back  of  his  head,  and  inflicting  a  frightful 
gash  over  the  right  eye.  He  was  28  years  of  age,  and  left  a  wife 
and  two  children  to  mourn  his  fearful  death.  Mr.  Ohio  C.  Barber, 
one  of  the  proprietors  of  BarbeTton,  with  his  characteristic  liber- 
ality, promptly  contributed  $500  for  the  benefit  of  the  sufferers. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

AKROX'S  FIRST,  LAST  AND  ONLY  HOMICIDE— THE  SIXTH  WARD  WIFE- 
MURDER —TERRIBLE  BRUTALITY  OF  A  WHISKEY-SELLING,  WHISKEY- 
DRINKING  FIEND—"  WATT "  HENRY'S  FATAL  ASSAULT  UPON  HIS  WIFE, 
BRIDGET  HENRY  -HORRIBLE  SUFFERING  AND  DEATH  OF  VICTIM— AN 
EXCITED  POPULACE— LYNCH  LAW  TALKED  OF— ARREST,  TRIAL  AND  CON- 
VICTION— MURDER  IN  THE  SECOND  DEGREE— IMPRISONMENT  FOR  LIFE,  ETC. 

AKRON'S  FIRST  REAL  HOMICIDE. 

'THROUGH  many  deaths  have  resulted  from  sudden  quarrels 
-■-  between  both  sober  and  intoxicated  parties,  or  from  gross  care- 
lessness in  the  handling  of  fire-arms  or  deadly  poisons,  during  the 
half  century,  and  over,  of  Akron's  existence,  the  case  in  hand  is  the 
only  instance  in  w^hich  a  person  has  ever  been  put  upon  trial  for 
wilful  and  premeditated  murder,  committed  within  the  limits  of 
the  city,  during  its  entire  history. 

PARTIES  TO  THE  TRAGEDY. 

Walter  Henry  w^as  born  in  Ireland,  about  the  year  1848,  but 
about  the  time  of  attaining  his  majority  immigrated  to  the  United 
States,  settling  in  Middlebury,  where  he  already  had  several  rela- 
tives. There,  on  the  21st  day  of  January,  1878,  he  w^as  married  to 
Miss  Bridget  Doyle,  of  the  same  nationality  as  himself,  (several 
years  his  senior),  and  a  sister  of  Mr.  Thomas  Doyle,  a  moulder, 
then  and  now  in  the  employ  of  Taplin,  Kice  &  Co.,  and  residing  on 
Adams  street.  They  soon  afterw^ards  engaged  in  saloon  keeping 
at  No.  143  Water  street,  the  property  of  the  twain,  both  real  and 
personal,  being  vested  in  the  w^ife.  The  saloon  and  family  resi- 
dence were  in  the  same  building,  Mrs.  Henry,  in  addition  to  her 
household  duties,  also  assisting  in  the  saloon,  as  occasion  required. 

The  character  of  the  husband  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact 
that  he  kept,  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  his  wife,  a  savage 
bull-dog  in  a  small  enclosure  adjoining  the  saloon,  to  pit  against 
any  similar  quadruped  that  his  bibulous  customers  might  pro- 
duce, for  which  disgraceful  pastiine,  on  complaint  of  neighbors,  he 
was  brought  before  the  writer,  as  ma3''or,  in  July,  1881,  and  fined. 

His  Own  "  Best  Customer." — In  the  whisky-drinking  line, 
"Watt"  at  length  became  one  of  his  own  "best  customers,"  so  far 
as  the  quantity  of  liquor  drank  was  concerned,  often  becoming 
grossly  intoxicated  in  his  ow^n  place,  and  frequently  going  the 
rounds  of  the  other  saloons  in  the  city  and  neighborhood  on  a  gen- 
eral spree,  usually  winding  up  by  the  most  brutal  abuse  of  his 
wife,  cursing,  beating,  kicking,  etc.,  often  having  been  heard  to 
threaten  her  life  by  neighbors,  too  timid  to  interfere  for  her  pro- 
tection. 

The  Fatal  Assault. — On  the  18th  day  of  December,  1881, 
"Watt,"  after  getting  pretty  "full"  at  his  own  place,  made  the 
rounds  of  the  city  in  the  buggy  of  an  equally  breezy  companion. 
Returning  late  in  the  evening,  he  immediately  began  to  abuse  his 


570  AKKOX    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

wife,  Avho  remarked  that  when  she  next  sa^v  the  man  w^ho  had 
taken  him  away,  she  would  tell  him  what  she  thought  of  him.  At 
that  "  Watt  "  knocked  Mrs.  Henry  do>vn  with  liis  list,  and,  w^hile 
she  begged  him  most  piteously  not  to  kill  her,  as  heard  by  several 
neighbors,  he  began  kicking  and  stamping  her  with  his  heavy 
boots,  terribly  bruising  her  about  the  head  (nearly  severing  one  of 
her  ears),  shoulders,  sides,  chest,  (breaking  three  ribs),  arms,  legs 
and  abdomen,  (producing  frightful  external  and  internal  w^ounds,) 
left  her  insensible  upon  the  floor,  and  turning  the  key  in  the  door,^ 
spent  the  balance  of  the  night  in  a  neighboring  livery  stable. 

The  Injured  Woman'vS  Story. — Recovering  consciousness,  Mrs, 
Henry  crawled  to  her  bed,  where,  \vithout  undressing,  she 
remained  alone,  without  light  or  fire,  all  night.  The  next  morning, 
about  eight  o'clock,  a  neighbor,  Mrs.  Phoebe  Barlovi',  called  at  the 
door,  and,  finding  the  door  locked,  with  the  key  upon  the  outside, 
turned  the  key  and  went  in.  On  entering  the  bed-room,  and  find- 
ing the  injured  woman  thus  lying  upon  the  bed,  with  both  eyes 
blackened  and  swollen,  and  her  ears,  neck  and  hair  covered  with 
clotted  blood,  she  inquired: 

"Mrs.  Henry,  who  has  done  this  to  you?"  Mrs.  Henry 
replied:     •'  Watt  has  done  it.     I  am  pounded  to  death." 

Though  able  to  be  up  and  to  walk  about  the  house,  a  part  of 
the  time  for  several  days,  she  repeatedly  stated  that  she  was  going 
to  die;  that  Watt  had  pounded  her  to  death,  as  he  had  so  often 
threatened  to  do.  Mrs.  Henry  lingered,  in  constant  agony,  until 
10:30  on  Christmas  night,  just  one  week,  when  death  came  to  her 
relief. 

Post  Mortem  Examination. — An  autopsy  was  held  upon  the 
body  of  the  deceased  by  Dr.  L.  S.  Ebright,  at  the  request  of  Acting^ 
Coroner  Almon  Brown,  the  doctor  testifying  that  the  body  and 
limbs,  as  well  as  the  head,  internally,  presented  a  horribly  bruised 
and  lacerated  appearance,  while  internally,  as  above  stated,  three 
ribs  were  found  to  be  broken,  and  other  organs  fatallj'^  injured; 
Coroner  Brown  finding  that  the  deceased  came  to  her  death  by 
reason  of  blows  and  kicks  inflicted  upon  her  by  her  husband, 
Walter  Henry. 

The  Popular  Excitement, — The  reports,  during  the  week,  of 
Henry's  brutal  assault  upon  his  \vife,  and  of  her  terrible  sufferings, 
caused  the  utmost  indignation  among  the  people  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  when  it  w^as  known  that  Mrs.  Henry  w^as  dead,  there  was 
a  decided  inclination  towards  inflicting  summary  punishment 
upon  him,  at  the  hands  of  "Judge  Lynch,"  but  better  counsels 
finally  prevailed,  the  law  was  permitted  to  take  its  course,  and  the 
brutal  uxorcide  was  immediately  taken  into  custody,  by  the  city 
officials,  and  lodged  in  jail. 

A  Nearly  Fatal  Panic. — On  Saturday,  December  27th,  on  the 
affidavit  of  Thomas  Doyle,  brother  of  the  murdered  woman,  the 
prisoner  was  brought  before  Acting  Mayor  Lewis  D.  Seward,  on 
the  charge  of  wilful  and  premeditated  murder,  but  was  immedi- 
ately remanded  to  jail  to  await  a  preliminary  examination  on  the 
following  Monday  at  10  o'clock  a.  m. 

At  the  appointed  hour,  nearly  a  thousand  people  being 
assembled  at  the  city  building  to  hear  the  trial,  an  adjournment 
was  had  from  the  Mayor's  office  (then  in  the  second  story)  to  the 
Council  Chamber,  which  was  at  once  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity 


Akron's  only  homicide.  571 

by  the  surging  crowd.  Soon  a  cracking  noise  was  heard  and 
pieces  of  niortar  and  brick  began  to  fall  from  the  ceiling  and  walls. 
The  cry  was  immediately  raised  that  the  building  was  falling,  and 
a  stampede  for  the  stairs  took  place,  severely  squeezing  a  number 
of  persons,  before  the  building  was  cleared,  though  fortunately  no 
lives  were  lost  or  bones  broken.  An  examination  disclosed  the 
fact  that  one  of  the  arches  supporting  the  armor3^  floor  belo\v  had 
caved  in,  from  the  unusual  strain  thrown  upon  it  by  the  jostling 
crowd  above,  and  that  it  was,  indeed,  almost  a  miracle  that  the 
entire  structure  did  not  collapse  with  a  destruction  of  life  fearful 
to  contemplate. 

The  Prisoner  Fully  Committed. — On  the  subsidence  of  the 
excitement  above  alluded  to,  an  adjournment  was  had  to  the 
county  court  room,  where  the  examination  was  proceeded  with. 
Prosecuting  Attorney  Charles  Baird,  assisted  b}"  Edwin  F.  Voris, 
appearing  for  the  State,  and  Jacob  A.  Kohler  and  Rolin  W.  Sadler 
for  the  defense.  Some  six  or  eight  witnesses  w^ere  examined  on 
the  part  of  the  State,  who  were  rigidly  cross-examined  by  the 
defendant's  counsel,  but  no  witnesses  were  introduced  on  the  part 
of  the  defense,  and  at  a  late  hour  in  the  afternoon,  the  prisoner  was 
remanded  to  jail  to  await  the  action  of  the  Grand  Jury. 

INDICTED  FOR  MURDER  IN  THE  FIRST  DEGREE. 

At  the  January  term  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  for  1885, 
the  Grand  Jury,  with  Mr.  Nicholas  E.  Vansickle  as  foreman, 
returned  an  indictment,  carefully  drawn  by  Prosecuting  Attorney 
Charles  Baird,  which,  omitting  preliminaries,  was  as  follows:  "That 
the  said  Walter  Henry,  in  and  upon  one  Bridget  Henry,  then  and 
there  being,  unlawfully,  feloniously,  purposely  and  of  deliberate 
and  premeditated  malice,  did  make  an  assault,  in  a  menacing 
manner,  with  intent  her,  the  said  Bridget  Henry,  unlawfuUj^,  felo- 
niously, purposely  and  of  deliberate  and  premeditated  malice,  to 
kill  and  murder,  and  that  the  said  Walter  Henry,  with  both  his 
hands  and  feet,  the  said  Bridget  Henr}^  to  and  against  the  floor  of 
the  house  of  the  said  Bridget  Henry  there  situate  and  being,  then 
and  there  unlawfully,  feloniously,  purposely,  and  of  deliberate  and 
premeditated  malice,  did  cast  and  throw,  with  the  intent  aforesaid 
and  that  the  said  Walter  Henry,  with  both  hands  and  feet  of  him 
the  said  Walter  Henry,  then  and  there,  while  the  said  Bridget 
Henry  was  lying  upon  the  floor,  as  aforesaid,  the  said  Bridget 
Henry,  in  and  upon  the  head,  stomach,  back,  chest,  sides  and  limbs 
of  her  the  said  Bridget  Henry,  then  and  there  unlaAvfully,  felo- 
niously, purposely,  and  of  deliberate  and  premeditated  malice,  did 
strike,  beat  and  kick,  with  intent  aforesaid,  thereby  then  and  there 
giving  to  the  said  Bridget  Henry,  as  well  as  by  the  casting  and 
throwing  of  her,  the  said  Bridget  Henry,  to  the  floor  as  aforesaid  as 
also  by  the  striking,  beating  and  kicking  the  said  Bridget  Henry,  in 
and  upon  the  head,  stomach,  back,  chest,  sides  and  limbs  of  her,  the 
said  Bridget  Henry,  with  both  the  hands  and  the  feet  of  him,  the 
said  Walter  Henry,  in  manner  aforesaid,  several  mortal  bruises,  the 
said  Bridget  Henry  from  the  said  18th  day  of  December  in  the  year 
aforesaid,  until  the  25th  day  of  December  in  the  year  aforesaid,  did 
languish,  and  languishing  did  live,  on  which  said  25th  day  of 
December,  in  the  year  aforesaid,  the  said  Bridget  Henry,  in  the 
county  aforesaid,  of  the  said  mortal  bruises  died.     And  the  jurors 


572  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

aforesaid,  upon  their  oaths  aforesaid,  do  say  that  the  said  Walter 
Henry,  in  the  manner  and  by  the  means  aforesaid,  unlawfully, 
feloniously,  purposely  and  of  deliberate  and  premeditated  malice, 
did  kill  and  murder  her,  the  said  Bridget  Henry,  contrary  to  the 
form  of  the  statute  in  such  case  made  and  provided,  and  against 
the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  State  of  Ohio." 

TRIAL  IN  COMMON  PLEAS. 

On  being  arraigned,  under  the  above  indictment,  the  defend- 
ant entered  a  plea  of  not  guilty,  and  the  trial  was  set  for  Monday, 
March  2,  1885.  At  8:15  a.  m.  on  the  day  named,  Judge  Edwin  P. 
Oreen  occupying  the  bench,  the  prisoner  was  brought  into  court, 
and  seated  beside  his  counsel,  Messrs.  Kohler  and  Sadler,  Prose- 
<:utor  Baird  being  assisted  by  Gen.  A.  C.  Voris,  on  the  part  of  the 
State. 

The  entire  day  was  consumed  in  empanelling  the  jury,  w^hich, 
as  finally  accepted  and  sworn,  was  as  follows:  E.  A.  Osborn, 
Hudson;  H.  E.  Cahill,  Sixth  ward;  James  Miller,  Bath;  James  P. 
Martin,  Fourth  ward;  James  L.  Porter, Coventry;  L.  C.  King,  Bath; 
Simon  C.  Marsh,  Coventry;  Alvin  Rice,  Third  w^ard;  E.  H.  Bishop, 
Stow;  J.  B.  Creighton,  Fourth  ward;  Emory  E.  Lew^is,  Hudson; 
Samuel  Findley,  Third  w^ard. 

Mr.  Baird's  Statement  to  Jury. — On  the  coming  in  of  the 
Court,  on  Tuesday  morning,  Prosecutor  Baird  stated  the  case  to 
the  jury,  on  the  part  of  the  State,  saying  substantially,  that  the 
prisoner,  Walter  Henry,  had  been  indicted  by  the  grand  jury  for 
the  crime  of  murder  in  the  first  degree,  for  killing  his  wife, 
Bridget  Henry,  by  knocking  her  dow^n  Avith  his  fists,  kicking  and 
jumping  upon  her  while  she  w^as  down,  from  ^vhich  injuries  she 
died  on  the  25th  day  of  December,  1884.  That  he  expected  to  show, 
by  evidence,  that  Henry  had  repeatedly  abused  his  wife  by 
knocking  her  down,  kicking  her,  and  calling  her  the  most  indecent 
names:  that  on  December  18,  Henry  went  away  and  came  back 
intoxicated;  that  the  blinds  were  pulled  down,  and  those  in  a 
stable  near  by  heard  a  terrible  racket  in  the  Henry  house  and 
heard  Mrs.  Henry  screaming  "For  God's  sake,  Watt,  don't  kill  me!" 
We  expect  to  show  that  Henry  kicked  the  prostrate  woman  all 
over,  from  head  to  foot;  we  expect  to  sho^v,  by  post  mortem  exam- 
ination, the  terrible  condition  of  the  woman  as  found  by  the 
physician,  and  we  claim  that  the  injuries  inflicted  upon  her,  by 
her  husband,  ^were  the  cause  of  her  death,  and  expect  to  show  that 
Henr}^  hated  his  wife  and  that  what  he  did  was  through  malice. 

Mr.  Sadler's  Statement. — ^At  the  conclusion  of  Prosecutor 
Baird's  statement,  Mr.  Sadler,  one  of  the  attorneys  for  the  defense, 
addressing  the  jury  said  that  Mr.  Henry  was  on  trial  for  his  life; 
that  he  had  pleaded  not  guilty  to  the  charge  of  murder  in  the  first 
degree.  He  told  of  Henry  having  lived  in  Akron  for  a  long  time; 
that  he  and  his  w^ife  had  kept  a  saloon  on  Water  street,  and  that 
both  had  been  addicted  to  drink.  He  told  of  the  drunken  condi- 
tion of  Henry  on  the  day  of  the  affray;  how  he  had  been  upon  a 
prolonged  spree  and  knew  nothing  of  the  affair.  "We  presume," 
said  Mr.  S.,  "that  the  State  will  be  able  to  prove  that  the  beating 
took  place;  they  may  prove  that  Mrs.  Henry  died  from  those 
injuries;  but,  even  if  they  do  prove  this,  they  can't  prove  that 
there  w^as  any  malice  or  premeditation  in  the  affair.     We  expect 


akrOxN's  only  homicide.  573- 

to  show  how  Henry  sobered  up  before  his  wdfe  died,  and  nursed 
her,  and  exhibited  much  anxiety  for  her  recovery — even  going  for 
a  doctor  sev^eral  times.  And  w^e  claim,"  concluded  Mr.  S.,  "that  no 
greater  verdict  than  manslaughter  can  be  brought  against  him." 

Argument  of  Gen.  Voris.  — There  were  sixteen  witnesses 
examined  on  the  part  of  the  prosecution  and  fifteen  on  the  part  of 
the  defense,  the  evidence  being  concluded  about  the  middle  of  the 
afternoon  on  Thursday.  After  a  brief  recess.  Gen.  Voris  opened 
the  argument  on  the  part  of  the  State;  reading  from  the  statutesr 
and  from  various  authorities  defining  the  different  degrees  of 
murder  and  the  penalty  attached  to  each,  and  as  to  what  consti- 
tutes malice;  the  General,  referring  to  the  defense  made,  that 
Henry  was  so  intoxicated  at  the  time  of  the  assault  as  to  not  know 
w^hat  he  w^as  doing,  said  that  in  laAv,  intoxication  is  no  palliation 
for  crime.  The  man  w^ho  voluntarily  assumes  a  position  or  con- 
dition by  which  he  takes  the  life  of  another  cannot  be  held  excus- 
able 

There  could  scarcely  be  a  conviction  for  homicide,  if  drunk- 
enness were  a  valid  excuse;  voluntary  drunkenness  is  no  defense 
for  guilt;  reading  a  decision  from  the  Supreme  Court  that  drunken 
malice  is  just  as  great  as  sober  malice.  Then  turning  to  the  jury 
the  General  said  that  from  the  evidence  they  had  heard  they 
should  find  a  verdict  against  the  prisoner  for  murder  in  the  first 
degree.  The  General  followed  the  testimony  from  beginning  to 
close,  picturing,  as  he  called  it,  the  brutal  depravity  of  the  man,, 
as  shoAvn  by  the  evidence;  knocking  his  w^ife  down,  kicking  her, 
dragging  her  by  the  hair  of  her  head,  his  threats  and  vile  epithets, 
and  made  an  eloquent  and  thrilling  appeal  to  the  jury  to  protect 
the  community  from  such  brutality  and  malice,  by  consigning  the 
defendant  to  the  fate  he  so  justly  merited. 

Mr.  Sadler's  Argument. — Mr.  Sadler,  after  briefly  calling  the 
attention  of  the  Court  to  the  law^s  of  Ohio  on  the  several  degrees  of 
murder,  and  agreeing  with  Gen.  Voris  that  intoxication  is  no 
excuse  for  crime,  but  denying  that  intoxication  was  an  aggravation 
of  the  crime  committed,  argued  that  there  could  legally  be  no  verdict 
for  murder  in  the  first  or  second  degree,  unless  the  evidence  showed 
that  Henry  intended  to  kill  his  wife.  He  hoped  that  the  jury  did 
abhor  intoxication  and  regarded  the  saloon  business  with  detesta- 
tion; but  they  were  selected  because  of  theii  intelligence,  and  the 
defendant  felt  safe  in  their  hands,  believing  they  would  decide  in 
accordance  w^ith  the  laws  of  Ohio.  The  thing  you  are  sworn  to 
try  is,  whether  that  man  (Henry),  is  guilty  of  the  crime  he  is 
charged  w^ith.  They  could  not  render  a  verdict  of  guilty  because 
public  opinion  thought  the  man  ought  to  be  hung.  We  expect 
you  to  find  that  on  the  18th  day  of  December  Walter  Henry 
inflicted  wounds  on  his  w^ife  from  which,  a  week  later,  she  died. 
This  we  admit  the  State  has  proven.  Our  client  is  already  con- 
victed of  manslaughter,  and  that  is  all  he  can  be  convicted  of 
under  the  laws  of  Ohio.  Mr.  Sadler  continued  at  length,  contro- 
verting Gen.  Voris'  hypotheses,  arguing  the  want  of  motive, 
critically  dissecting  the  testimony,  enlarging  upon  the  kindness  of 
the  prisoner,  after  having  sobered  up,  and  closing  with  an  earnest 
appeal  to  the  jury  to  lay  aside  all  prejudice,  and,  under  the  charge 
of  the  Court,  render  the  only  verdict  which  the  law  and  the  evi- 
dence warranted — that  of  manslaughter. 


574  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Mr.  Kohler'.s  Plka. — Mr.  Kohler  followed  his  colleague  in  an 
eloquent  plea  occupying  about  two  hours,  premising  that  from  the 
able  manner  in  which  both  sides  had  already  been  presented, 
there  was  really  but  little  more  to  be  said.  Mr.  Kohler,  in  a  calm, 
conversational  manner,  defined  the  different  degrees  of  homicide 
and  advised  the  jury  that,  though  indicted  for  murder  in  the  first 
degree,  they  could  find  a  verdict  for  either  first  or  second  degree 
or  manslaughter,  as  the  evidence  might  w^arrant.  He  animad- 
verted upon  the  evils  of  intemperance  and  commiserated  the 
inebriate.  He  spoke  of  Henry  being  an  honest,  hard-working  man 
until  he  went  into  the  saloon  business  w^ith  his  w^ife,  when  they 
began  to  lead  a  cat  and  dog  life.  I  think  it  has  been  shown  that 
she  was  drunk  at  the  time  the  injuries  were  inflicted.  I  can 
imagine  how  often  he  recovered  from  his  drunken  stupor,  got  up 
a  quarrel,  knocked  her  down  and  beat  her  in  a  horrible  manner, 
but  I  cannot  believe  that  this  man  intended  to  kill  his  wife, 
because  if  he  did  he  had  plenty  of  chances;  there  were  weapons  at 
hand  by  which  he  could  have  accomplished  it,  Mr.  Kohler  closing 
by  saying  that  if  they  had  a  reasonable  doubt  they  were  bound  to 
give  the  prisoner  the  benefit  of  the  doubt. 

The  Closing  Argument. — No  mere  synopsis  w^ould  do  justice 
to  the  closing  argument  for  the  State,  by  Prosecuting  Attorney 
Charles  Baird,  like  that  of  Mr.  Kohler  covering  about  two  hours. 
Like  his  predecessors,  Mr.  Baird  spent  some  time  in  going  over  the 
laAvs  relating  to  homicides,  defining  malice,  intent,  etc.  He 
revie^ved  the  lives  of  these  people,  of  the  threats  and  assults 
w^hich  had  been  made  by  the  defendant  against  and  upon  his 
w^ife;  of  the  time  w^hen  she  ran  out  of  the  house,  to>vards  a  group 
of  men,  screaming  for  protection,  followed  by  Henry,  w^ho  knocked 
her  do>vn,  and  Avhen  she  attempted  to  rise  grabbed  her  by  the 
hair  of  the  head  and  pulled  her  down  again,  kicking  her  with  his 
heavy  boots  so  as  plainly  be  heard  in  the  stable  some  distance 
away;  and  detailed  at  length  the  revolting  scene  of  that  fatal 
night,  as  developed  by  the  evidence,  and  the  ghastly  sight  presented 
by  the  injured  woman  to  her  neighbors  and  the  physicians  in 
attendance,  and  of  his  leaving  the  house  to  sleep  in  a  neighboring 
barn  after  the  infliction  of  those  injuries;  cursing  her  in  his  sleep, 
and  the  next  morning,  when  asked  w^hy  he  had  so  horribly  beaten 
his  Avife,  saying:  "  I  guess  I  have  finished  her  this  time."  Never 
before  in  the  history  of  our  country  has  so  foul  a  murderer  been 
tried  for  his  life.  His  declaration  the  next  night,  w^hen  asked  by 
a  party  froin  whom  he  tried  to  borrow  a  quarter,  w^hy  he  did  not 
go  to  his  ow^n  place  and  get  it:  "If  I  go  in  there  I  will  kill  some- 
body," showed  the  maliciousness  of  the  man. 

Mr.  Baird  then  went  through  with  the  horrible  details  of  the 
fatal  assult,  the  atrocity  of  which  dre\^  tears  from  many  an  eye 
unused  to  weeping,  saying  "the  man  who  would  do  this  horrible 
thing  ought  to  die.  I  know^  how^  men  shrink  from  hanging  a 
fellow-being.  If  this  man  intended  to  kill  this  woman  when  he 
jumped  upon  her  w^ith  his  heels,  he  then  and  there  forfeited  his 
life  and  you  do  not  deprive  him  of  it.  I  ^vant  you  to  think  of  that 
w^oman  lying  prostrate  there  upon  the  floor,  saying  to  him:  'For 
God's  sake  Watt,  don't  kill  me  !'  thrice  repeated,  each  time  groov- 
ing fainter  and  fainter.  With  your  verdict,  gentlemen,  under  the 
evidence  and  the  charge  of  this  Court,  w^e  will  be  content. 


Akron's  only  homicide.  575 

Judge  Green's  Charge. — Judge  Green's  charge  was  of  consid- 
erable length,  after  complimenting  the  jury  for  the  close  attention 
which  the}'  had  given  to  the  evidence  and  the  arguments  of  coun- 
sel, explaining  in  full  the  law  and  rules  wrhich  should  govern  them 
in  their  deliberations  and  arriving  at  their  verdict.  The  several 
degrees  of  murder  and  as  to  what  constituted  a  reasonable  doubt 
were  clearly  expounded;  deliberation,  premeditation  w^ere  lucidly 
explained.  The  law  fixes  no  definite  length  of  time.  A  purpose 
maliciously  to  kill,  deliberated  upon  before  the  act  is  committed, 
however  short  the  time,  constitutes  murder  in  the  first  degree. 
Malice  is  any  unlawful  act  done  for  the  purpose  of  injuring 
another.  The  defendant,  in  his  plea  of  not  guilty,  sets  up  the 
defense  of  drunkenness.  His  condition  before  and  after  the  act, 
only  so  far  as  it  throws  light  upon  the  question  as  to  w^hat  w^as  his 
condition  at  the  time  the  act  was  committed  that  produced  death, 
should  have  no  weight  in  this  case;  only  his  condition  at  the  time 
the  act  was  committed,  is  to  be  of  weight.  You  must  be  satisfied, 
by  a  fair  preponderance  of  evidence,  that  he  is  not  responsible; 
that  is,  the  evidence,  all  considered,  must  fail  to  satisfy  you, 
beyond  .a  reasonable  doubt,  of  his  guilt  by  reason  of  his  want  of 
responsibility.  It  is  not  claimed,  and  it  is  not  law,  that  drunken- 
ness is  an  excuse  for  crime.  Crime,  Avhen  all  the  acts  of  hand  and 
mind  w^hich  constitute  it  actually  exist,  is  not  the  less  criminal,  or 
the  party  the  less  guilty,  because  he  was  intoxicated  when  he  com- 
mitted it.  If  you  find  that  the  prisoner  had  the  purpose  in  mind 
to  kill  his  wife,  prior  to  the  act,  and  then  got  drunk,  and  w^hile  so 
drunk  did  what  he  before  that  time  premeditated,  and  with  delib- 
erate malice  had  resolved  to  do,  the  fact  that  he  was  drunk  at  the 
time  he  did  the  deed  would  be  no  defense.  I  say  to  you  that  this 
defense  of  drunkenness,  under  the  rules  w^hich  I  have  given  you, 
is  a  legitimate  defense,  and  if  established  to  your  satisfaction  by 
the  proof,  the  defendant  is  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  the  doubt. 

Verdict  of  the  Jury. — The  jury  retired  at  9:30  a.  m.  on  Satur- 
day, March  7,  1885.  After  deliberating  until  3:30  p.  m.  they  asked 
the  court  to  re-charge  them  in  regard  to  the  two  degrees  of  murder 
and  manslaughter,  which  was  accordingly  done,  and  at  5:20  they 
announced  their  agreement  and  their  verdict  as  follows: 

We,  the  jury  empanelled  and  sworn  to  well  and  truly  tr}^  and  true 
■deliverance  make,  between  the  State  of  Ohio  and  the  prisoner  at  bar,  Walter 
Henry,  do  find  the  said  Walter  Henry  not  guilty  of  murder  in  the  first  degree, 
but  we  do  find  him  guilty  of  murder  in  the  second  degree. 

Samuel  Findley,  Foreman. 

The  Popular  Verdict. — The  court  room  had  been  crowded 
throughout  w^ith  the  most  intensely  interested  and  excited  specta- 
tors, so  large  a  portion  remaining  in  and  about  the  building  all 
day  long,  while  the  jury  w^ere  out,  that  every  available  space  was 
immediately  occupied  as  soon  as  the  agreement- of  the  jury  was 
announced.  The  great  majority  of  the  crowd  who  had  heard  the 
harrowing  tale,  as  disclosed  by  the  evidence,  felt  that  the  verdict 
should  have  been  for  the  higher  degree,  but  those  who  had  care- 
fully studied  the  bearings  of  the  law^,  held  with  the  jury  for  the 
lesser  degree,  w^hile  the  counsel  and  friends  of  the  defendant,  of 
course,  felt  that  a  verdict  of  manslaughter,  with  a  limited  term  of 
imprisonment,  w^ould  have  been  sufficient. 


576  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Imprisonment  for  Life. — On  Tuesday  morning,  March  10,. 
1885,  Judge  Green  proceeded  to  sentence  the  prisoner  as  follows: 

"  Walter  Henrj' :  Yoix  were  indicted  bj^  the  grand  jurj^of  this  countj-.atid 
by  said  indictment  were  charged  with  purpose!}',  of  deliberate  and  premedi- 
tated malice,  murdering  Bridget  Henry,  j^our  wife.  Upon  this  charge  jou 
were  put  upon  your  trial  before  a  jury  so  well  selected  that  against  no  one 
of  the  jurors  comprising  it  had  your  counsel  the  least  objection,  and  the 
result  of  this  tritil,  conducted  on  your  behalf  bj^  able  counsel,  satisfies  me 
that  you  had  a  fair  and  impartial  trial ;  that  said  verdict  of  murder  in  the 
second  degree  was  a  verdict  rendered  by  the  jury  in  strict  conformit}'  to  law 
and  evidence  as  they  heard  it  after  they  were  sworn  as  jurors,  and  was  in  no 
jot  or  tittle  influenced  bj^  outside  opinion;  and  for  this  you  certainly  have 
great  reason  to  be  thankful,  as  you  must  know,  what  every  unprejudiced 
mind,  upon  reading  or  hearing  the  witnesses  detail  the  manner  in  which  j^ou 
assaulted  your  wife,  and  which  assault  caused  her  death,  would  at  once  saj^ 
how  you  ought  to  be  punished.  And  so  would  each  of  said  jurors,  as  men,, 
have  said  ;  but  as  jurors  they  patientlj^  listened  to  all  the  evidence,  all 
that  was  vxrged  in  your  favor,  the  charge  of  the  Court,  and  then,  under  their 
oaths  returned  their  verdict. 

With  this  verdict  we  are  satisfied.  It  was  the  least  you  could  have  pos- 
sibly anticipated  ;  and  yet,  from  your  standpoint,  with  all  your  knowledge 
of  the  facts,  you  might  well  say  that  the  jury  erred  on  the  side  of  mercy,  and 
in  a  manner  exercised  the  pardoning  power.  The  statute  for  the  offense  of 
w^hich  you  have  been  convicted  leaves  no  discretion  for  me,  but  prescribes 
the  exact  penalty,  and  there  is  nothing  for  me  to  do  but  to  pronounce  the 
judgment  which  the  law  has  provided.  The  judgment  of  the  law  and  the 
sentence  of  the  Court  is,  that  you  be  taken  hence  to  the  jail  of  the  county 
and  there  safely  kept,  and  that,  within  thirty  days,  you  be  taken  to  the  pen- 
itentiary of  the  State,  and  there  confined  and  kept  at  hard  labor  during  the 
period  of  your  natural  life,  and  that  you  pay  the  costs  of  this  prosecution. 
It  is  no  part  of  this  sentence  that  you  be  kept  any  portion  of  said  time  in 
solitar}^  confineinent." 

In  the  Penitentiary — The  Costs,  Etc. — The  prisoner  was 
taken  to  the  penitentiary  by  Sheriff  William  B.  Gamble,  on  Wed- 
nesday, April  1,  1885,  where,  so  far  as  the  w^riter  is  advised,  he  is 
as  docile  and  tractable  as  the  average  inmate  of  that  institution. 
As  the  legal  heir  of  his  murdered  wife,  he  inherited  her  propertj'^, 
the  estate  being  administered  by  John  H.  Auble,  Esq.,  from  whom 
the  prosecuting  attorney  received  the  amount  of  costs  of  prosecu- 
tion, amounting  to  $363.50,  it  being  one  of  the  very  few  cases,  in 
the  history  of  the  county,  in  which  the  State  has  ever  been  reim- 
bursed in  the  amount  of  costs  paid  for  the  conviction  of  criminals 
sentenced  to  her  model  penal  institution. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  "  IKKEPREBvSIBLE  CONFLICT  "—THK  INFAMOUS  FUGITIVE  SLAVE  LAW — 
EVERY  MAN,  WOMAN  AND  CHILD  A  "BLOOD-HOUND"  —  DASTARDLY 
ATTEMPT  TO  KIDNAP  AKRON'S  WELL-KNOWN  BARBER,  "JIM"  WOKTHING- 
TON— MARSHAL  J.  J.  WRIGHT  FOR  ONCE  "TAKEN  IN  AND  DONE  FOR" — 
PROMINENT  CITIZENS  TO  THE  RESCUE— SLAVE-CATCHERS  FOILED— INDIG- 
NATION OF  THE  PEOPLE  -"JIM'S"  ESCAPE  VIA  THE  "UNDERGROUND 
RAILROAD"  SAFE  IN  CANADA— OTHER  FUGITIVES  TAKE  THE  ALARM  AND 
FLIT  TO  gUEEN   VICTORIA'S  DOMINIONS,  ETC. 

PRELIMINARY. 

TT  being  now  nearly  a  third  of  a  century  since,  by  its  own  sui- 
-*-  cidal  act  of  treason  and  rebellion,  human  slavery  ceased  to 
exist?  w^ithin  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  though  much  of  the 
inhumanity  and  intolerance  engendered  thereby  still  linger,  a 
large  proportion  of  the' present  generation  can  have  but  a  faint 
realization  of  the  tyrannous,  oppressive  and  barbarous  practices 
of  the  slave  power,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the  unselfish  patriot- 
ism, the  unbounded  philanthropy,  the  untiring  energy  and  the 
sleepless  vigilance,  of  the  friends  of  freedom,  upon  the  other.  For 
many  years  after  slavery  was  abolished  in  the  northern  states,  there 
was  a  tacit  understanding  that  slaves  escaping  from  those  states- 
where  it  still  existed  into  any  of  the  free  states  or  territories,  could 
not  be  legally  reclaimed,  while  the  voluntary  taking  of  a  slave  to 
a  free  state  by  the  master,  absolutely  made  such  slave  a  free  man;, 
it  being  conceded,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  slave  states  had  the 
right,  under  the  constitution,  to  enjoy  the  "luxury"  of  human 
bondage  within  their  ow^n  bounds,  without  interference  from 
without. 

Hence,  in  many  of  the  northern  states,  especially  those  border- 
ing upon  the  slave  states,  like  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Indiana,  etc.,. 
considerable  numbers  of  escaped  slaves  had  found  lodgment,  and 
settled  down  for  life  as  permanent  and  industrious  citizens. 

THE  ORDINANCE  OF  1787. 

In  the  adoption,  by  Congress,  of  w^hat  is  known  in  history  as- 
the  "Ordinance  of  1787,"  all  the  unsettled  territory,  then  owned  by 
the  United  States,  comprising  the  present  states  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Michigan,  and  a  part  of  Minnesota,  was  forever  dedicated 
to  freedom,  and  those  states  were  subsequently  organized  on  that 
basis.  The  purchase  from  France,  for  $ir),(X)0,0(]0,  in  1803,  of  what 
was  designated  "The  Louisiana  Purchase,"  embraced  nearly  all 
of  the  present  states  of  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Iowa,  Min- 
nesota, the  Dakotas,  part  of  Colorado,  most  of  Wyoming,  the  w^hole  of 
Montana,  Idaho,  Washington  and  Oregon.  On  all  of  this  territory 
there  w^as  no  restriction  as  to  slavery. 

Up  to  the  year  1820,  as  a  matter  of  amity,  there  had  been  added 
to  the  original  13  states,  an  equal  number  of  free  and  slave  states,, 

37 


578  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

viz:  Vermont  in  1791,  Ohio  in  1802,  Indiana  in  1816,  and  Illinois  in 
1818,  on  the  part  of  freedom,  and  Kentucky  in  1792,  Tennessee  in 
1796,  Louisiana  in  1812  and  Alabama  in  1819,  on  the  part  of  slavery. 

THE  "MISSOURI  COMPROMISE." 

It  had  been  fondly  thought,  in  an  early- day,  that  the  South,  as 
well  as  the  North,  was  tending  towards  emancipation,  but  when 
the  contrary  \vas  discovered,  and  that  the  tendency  was  tov/ards 
extending  the  area  of  human  bondage,  a  strong  anti-slavery  senti- 
ment began  to  obtain  in  the  North,  so  that  in  1820,  when  it  was 
proposed  to  admit  Missouri  as  a  slave  state,  with  the  prospect  that 
the  entire  northw^est  would  thereby  be  subjected  to  the  same  fate, 
the  spirit  of  freedom  in  the  North  w^as  fully  aroused;  immense 
remonstrances  w^ere  sent  in,  and  the  northern  senators  and  repre- 
sentatives, of  both  parties  (Whigs  and  Democrats),  arrayed  them- 
selves against  the  measure,  w^hilst  an  equally  non-partisan  stand 
in  its  favor  w^as  taken  by  the  several  delegations  from  the  southern 
states. 

The  controversy  waxed  warm  and  warmer — red-hot,  in  fact — 
in  Congress,  southern  members  threatening  to  secede  from  the 
Union,  on  the  one  hand,  and  northern  members  hurling  defiance 
in  their  teeth,  and  daring  them  to  "  try  it  on,"  as  soon  as  they  had 
a  mind  to,  on  the  other  hand.  At  this  crisis  came  for\srard  the 
"great  pacificator,"  Henry  Clay,  senator  from  Kentucky,  with  what 
was  aftervsrards  known  as  the  "Missouri  Compromise,"  in  w^hich  it 
was  solemnly  ordained,  that,  in  consideration  of  the  admission  of 
Missouri  without  restriction  as  to  slavery',  involuntary  servitude, 
otherwise  than  in  punishment  of  crime,  should  be  forever  prohibited 
in  all  other  territory  of  the  United  States  north  of  latitude  36° 
30'.  This  quieted  matters  down,  and  for  30  years  was  treated  as  a 
finality  by  both  sections  of  the  country. 

THE  FUGITIVE  SLAVE  LAW. 

Under  this  arrangement  new  states  w^ere  admitted  from  time 
to  time — generally  in  pairs — as  follows:  1820,  '21,  Missouri,  slave, 
Maine  free;  1836,  Arkansas,  slave,  Michigan  free;  1845,  Florida, 
slave,  Iowa,  free;  1845,  Texas  (by  annexation),  slave. 

Up  to  this  time,  it  will  be  observed,  the  slave  and  the  free 
states  exactly  balanced  each  other,  15  each.  When,  therefore,  in 
the  session  of  1849,  '50,  California  suddenly  sprang  into  the  arena, 
in  full  panoply  of  free-statehood,  with  no  eligible  slave  territory  to 
match,  something  "  had  to  be  did,"  or  the  slave  power  would  lose 
its  grip.  It  wouldn't  do,  in  this  free  country  to  let  freedom  get 
ahead  of  slavery!  So,  when  California  asked  for  admission,  with  a 
free  constitution,  the  fiUibustering  began.  Under  semi-barbaric 
Mexico,  slavery  w^as  impossible  in  all  the  territory  which  she  had 
recently  ceded  to  the  United  States — California,  Utah,  Mexico, 
Arizona,  etc.  But  under  the  super-civilized  sway  of  "  Uncle  Sam," 
it  w^ould  never  do  to  doom  the  whole  of  said  territory  to  perpetual 
freedom!     Oh,  no! 

So,  not  only  was  the  "  Wilmot  Proviso,"  pending  the  negotia- 
tions for  the  transfer,  forever  excluding  slavery  from  the  proposed 
acquisition,  after  prolonged  and  exciting  discussion,  voted  down, 
but  attached  to  the  bill  for  the   admission  of  California  as   a   free 


THE    UxNDERGROUND   RAILROAD.  579 

state,  was  a  provision  for  the  organization  of  New  Mexico  and 
Utah  as  territories,  without  any  restrictions  as  to  slavery,  and  also 
the  enactment  of  the  world-wide  infamous  Fugitive  Slave  Law. 

Tliis  iniquitous  law^  not  only  authorized  the  slave  owner  to 
-enter  and  traverse  any  state  or  territory  into  which  his  slave  had 
theretofore  fled,  or  might  thereafter  escape,  but  it  attached  heavy 
penalties  to  the  harboring  or  aiding,  by  so  much  as  a  night's  lodg- 
ing, or  a  meal  of  victuals,  a  fugitive  slave;  compelled  the  marshals, 
deput}'  marshals,  district  attorneys,  judges,  commissioners  and 
other  officers  of  the  United  States,  under  heavy  penalties  and  for- 
feitures, to  aid  the  claimant  in  the  pursuit  and  reclamation  of  his 
slave,  and  also  compelled  the  citizens  of  said  free  states  and  terri- 
tories, w^hen  called  upon,  to  act  as  a  posse  coniitatus,  in  making 
arrests  and  otherwise  aiding  the  slave-catcher  in  his  nefarious 
operations. 

THE  UNDERGROUND  RAILROAD. 

For  many  years,  many  humane  and  philanthropic  persons  in 
the  border  states,  had  not  only  felt  it  a  privilege,  but  a  sacred  duty 
to  succor  and  speed  the  fugitive  on  his  way  to  freedom  in  Canada, 
or  in  safe  localities  in  the  free  States.  As  this  assistance  had  to  be 
secretly  rendered,  though  these  philanthropists,  in  different  locali- 
ties speedily  became  known  to  each  other,  the  rapidity  and  the 
certainty,  as  well  as  the  secrecy,  with  ^rhich  a  fugitive,  and  some- 
times entire  families,  could  be  transported  to  places  of  safety, 
caused  the  system  to  be  known  as  the  "The  Underground  Rail- 
road." 

Instead  of  being  disheartened  and  subdued  by  the  pains  and 
penalties  imposed  by  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  the  vigorous 
-campaign  of  "pernicious  activity,"  immediately  inaugurated  by  the 
owners  of  escaped  slaves,  and  their  w^illing  tools,  in  and  out  of 
office,  in  the  North,  the  friends  of  freedom  put  on  renewed  zeal 
and  diligence;  the  "lines"  w^ere  increased,  the  "stations"  rapidly 
multiplied  and  the  "agents,"  "conductors,"  "engineers,"  etc., 
became  aggressive  and  alert. 

The  Slave-Catchers  in  Akron. — -During  the  three  or  four 
years  immediately  succeeding  the  passage  of  the  law,  many 
former  slaves  were  of  course  returned  to  their  masters,  w^hile 
many  free  colored  men  and  \vomen  were  also,  through  the  cupidity 
and  greed  of  professional  spotters,  and  the  iniquitous  looseness  of 
the  law,  consigned  to  life-long  bondage  in  the  extreme  South.  In 
fact,  the  attempted  execution  of  the  law  became  simply  a  system 
of  kidnapping,  with  no  pretense  of  a  fair  and  open  trial  in  the 
localities  where  the  apprehensions  w^ere  made,  or  otherw^ise.  In 
many  instances,  too,  where  arrests  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
people  before  the  kidnappers  had  had  time  to  get  off  with  their 
victims,  rescues  w^ere  made,  sometimes  resulting  in  serious  and 
bloody  riots,  and  protracted  and  exciting  litigation,  both  in  favor 
of  the  victim,  and  against  those  who  opposed  or  refused  to  help 
•execute  the  inhuman  and  very  generally  execrated  law. 

Though  there  were  in  Akron,  and  Summit  county,  several 
well-known  agents  of  the  U.  G.  R.  R.,  and  plenty  of  others  who 
had  aided  the  "panting  fugitive"  in  his  flight  towards  Queen 
Victoria's  Dominions — Canada — and  though  it  w^as  well  under- 
stood that  several  former  slaves  were  residing  here,  and  here- 
abouts, the  people  of  Akron  were  not  brought  to  a  full  realization 


580  AKRON    AND    SITMMIT   COUNTY, 

of  the  cruel  and  devilish  enormity  of  the  system,  and  the  law  in 
question,  until  the  Spring  of  1854,  the  circumstances  attending 
which  were  as  follows: 

"Jim"  Worthington. — Sometime  in  the  early  forties  there  had 
come  into  Akron  a  tall,  athletic  and  v^ery  black  young  negro,  who 
called  himself  James  Worthington.  "Jim,"  as  he  soon  came  to  be 
known,  was  a  barber  by  trade,  and  at  once  opened  a  shop  for  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  and  being  a  good  "artist,"  and  of  an 
enterprising  turn  of  mind,  soon  became  a  general  favorite,  and  did 
a  lucrative  business,  soon  fitting  up  his  shop  w^ith  fine  mahogany 
and  plush  upholstered  chairs,  large  and  attractive  mirrors  and 
pictures  upon  the  wall,  with  a  striped  pole  in  front  about  a  foot  in 
diameter  and  25  or  30  feet  in  height,  surmounted  by  a  large  gilt 
pine-apple,  the  artistical  work  upon  which  was  executed  by  the 
■writer,  then  exercising  one  section  of  his  "versatile  genius"  as  a 
"House,  Sign  and  Ornamental  Painter." 

"Jim"  w^as  not  only  popular,  but  seemingly  very  prosperous,  so 
much  so  that  in  the  early  fifties  he  had  purchased  a  lot  and  erected 
for  himself  a  nice  two-story  house  in  what  was  then  known  as 
"  Spicer  Town,"  the  same  building  now^  being  know^n  as  number  534 
Kast  Buchtel  avenue. 

In  the  meantime  "Jim"  had  married  a  very  handsome  and 
bright  light-colored  mulatto  girl  by  the  name  of  Maggie  Bird^ 
whose  brother,  William  Bird,  also  soon  afterwasds  opened  a  rival 
tonsorial  establishment,  with  appointments,  including  the  striped 
pole,  fully  as  splendid  as  "Jim's." 

Betrayed  by  His  Wife. — From  some  cause,  not  now  apparent, 
but  probably  from  the  bitterness  of  the  rivalry  between  her  brother 
and  her  husband,  or  possibly  because  of  "Jim's"  jealousy  of  his 
handsome  and  much  admired  wife,  soon  after  the  completion  of 
the  new  house,  "Mag,"  as  she  w^as  called,  left  him,  and  to  her 
betrayal  of  his  secret  "Jim"  attributed  the  attempt  to  relegate 
him  to  the  condition  of  "involuntary  servitude"  from  which  it  was 
claimed  he  had  secaped  some  twelve  or  fifteen  years  before,  which 
attempt  occurred  something  in  this  wise: 

About  the  middle  of  May,  1854,  a  well-dressed,  pleasant-appear- 
ing stranger  called  at  "Jim's"  shop  for  a  shave,  and  in  the  course 
of  his  conversation,  intimated  that  he  wanted  to  buy  a  house  and 
lot  in  Akron,  for  a  widow^ed  sister,  who  was  desirous  of  settling 
here  for  the  purpose  of  educating  her  children.  Being  then  with- 
out a  wife,  and  perhaps  thinking  to  make  a  good  "spec"  on  his 
investment,  "Jim"  took  the  stranger  to  his  new  house,  with  which 
he  expressed  himself  well-pleased,  and  after  a  full  discussion  of 
of  the  terms,  etc.,  and  getting  a  w^eek's  option,  took  his  departure. 
"Jim"  little  dreamed  that  it  Avas  himself,  personally,  instead  of 
his  house,  that  was  being  exatnined. 

Marshal  J.  J.  Wright  Victimized. — One  of  the  most  efficient 
local  rogue-catchers,  and  criminal  detectives  of  that  day,  w^as  our 
present  fellow-citizen,  Capt.  J.  J.  Wright,  then  marshal  of  Akron. 
On  returning  home  from  the  performance  of  his  official  labors,  on 
the  evening  of  May  17,  1854,  he  was  informed  that  the  "Sheriff 
from  Chicago"  wanted  to  see  him  on  important  business  at  the 
depot,  at  7  o'clock  the  next  morning.  Ever  alert  in  the  perform- 
ance of  his  duty,  Wright  was  promptly  on  hand;  in  fact  most  too 
promptly,  as  the  sequel  proved,  for  the  success  of  the  ruse  that 


THE   SLAVE-CATCHERS   FOILED.  581 

Avas  attempted  to  be  played  upon  him,  for  he  was  there  at  six 
o'clock,  fully  an  hour  before  the  time  designated. 

He  found  there  two  men,  one  of  whom  was  said  "  Sheriff  from 
•Chicago,"  and  the  other  w^as  a  deputy  United  States  Marshal  from 
Newark,  Ohio.  They  informed  Wright  that  they  were  after  an 
extensive  gang  who  wrere  making  and  circulating  counterfeit 
silver  coin,  one  of  whom  Avas  a  barber  by  the  name  of  Jim  Worth- 
ington,  w^ho  had  sold  a  lot  of  spurious  coin  to  a  man  who  was 
already  in  jail  in  Chicago,  and  they  wanted  to  make  the  arrest  as 
•quietly  as  possible  so  as  not  to  alarm  the  rest  of  the  gang  in  this 
vicinity,  exhibiting  at  the  same  time  what  purported  to  be  a  war- 
rant for  "Jim's"  arrest  on  that  charge. 

Having  himself  suspected  that  a  part  of  "Jim's"  prosperity 
^was  due  to  crookedness  of  some  sort,  and  indeed  having  heard 
rumors  that  he  was  handling  the  "queer,"  Wright  readily  ^vent 
^long  to  show  them  the  w^ay,  and  to  aid  in  making  the  arrest,  if 
his  services  should  become  necessary. 

Worthington's  Arrest. — "Jim"  was  found  in  his  yard  and  the 
■"Sheriff  from  Chicago,"  without  resistance,  took  hold  of  one  arm 
and  the  New^ark  Marshall  seized  him  by  the  other,  at  the  same 
time  announcing  the  cause  of  his  arrest,  as  it  had  been  stated  to 
Wright.  Jim  declared  hinself  innocent  of  any  such  crime,  and 
•charged  that  it  was  a  different  scheme  altogether,  instigated  by 
his  wife,  and  demanded  to  see  General  Bierce,  and  be  tried  in 
Akron.  He  was  told  that  he  would  have  a  hearing  at  Hudson, 
Avhere  some  of  his  accomplices  w^ere  already  in  custody.  He 
declared  that  he  had  no  accomplices,  and  had  done  nothing  wrong, 
iind  insisted  on  seeing  counsel  which  they  promised  he  should 
have,  but  took  him  direct  to  the  depot,  and  refused  to  go  further. 

The  Kidnappers  Foiled. — B^^  this  time  Marshal  Wright  began 
i;o  surmise  that  he  had  been  imposed  upon,  and  started  upon  the 
double-quick  to  find  Gen.  Bierce.  In  the  meantime  Mr.  Bleazer  C. 
Sackett,  a  wide  awake,  old  time  Abolitionist,  had  come  to  the 
-depot  to  take  the  train  to  Cleveland.  Immediately  divining  the 
situation,  he  started  post-haste  for  the  house  of  Christopher  P. 
Wolcott,  Ksq.,  then  living  on  Broadw^ay,  near  Market,  and  from 
there  to  the  residence  of  William  H.  Upson,  Esq.,  near  by,  also 
giving  the  alarm  to  others  as  he  went  along,  so  that  in  an  incredi- 
bly short  space  of  time  a  large  crowd  of  excited  people,  had  gath- 
ered in  and  about  the  station. 

Messrs.  Upson  and  Wolcott  demanded  to  see  the  papers  on 
which  the  arrest  was  made  and  the  pretended  w^arrant  w^as 
exhibited,  w^hich  purported  to  have  been  issued  by  direction  of  U. 
S.  Judge  Leavitt  at  Steubenville,  to  which  place  they  alleged  they 
were  going  to  take  the  prisoner  for  examination.  But  the  paper 
lacked  every  legal  feature,  having  no  apparent  genuine  signature, 
rand  no  recitation  of  the  proper  filing  of  an  affidavit,  and  the  gen- 
tlemen were  told  that  they  could  play  no  such  game  as  that  in 
Akron,  and  must  release  Jim  at  once.  This  they  refused  to  do  and 
threatened  to  shoot  any  one  w^ho  should  attempt  a  rescue. 

An  Infuriated  Crowd. — The  threat  of  the  kidnappers  to  shoot, 
infuriated  the  crow^d.  Uncle  Fred.  Wadsworth  (father-in-law  of 
the  late  J.  A.  Beebe)  shook  his  cane  in  their  faces  and  dared  them 
to  try  it  on.  Mr.  E.  C.  Sackett  declared  that  an  exhibition  of  arms 
Avould  result  in  their  being  torn  to  pieces;  Rev.  N.  P.  Bailey  (now 


582  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY.  • 

of  Massillon)  used  some  very  emphatic  language,  doing  full  jus- 
tice to  the  "Queen's  English,"  though  in  a  recent  letter  to  the 
■writer  on  the  subject  he  says:  "I  didn't  take  off  my  coat,  nor 
knock  anybody  down,  nor  do  any  ministerial  swearing." 

Glad  to  Escape  With  Whole  Heads. — Alarmed  at  the  menac- 
ing attitude  of  the  crowd,  who  closed  around  them,  the  kidnappers 
released  their  hold  of  Jiin,  and  edged  backw^ards  towards  the  cars, 
which  they  w^ere  permitted  to  board,  and  to  depart  without  moles- 
tation, though  the  indignation  of  the  crowd  was  so  intense  that  a 
single  -word  from  some  of  the  more  prudent  present  -would  have 
brought  summary  vengeance  upon  the  heads  of  the  perpetrators 
of  the  dastardly  outrage. 

It  transpired  that  the  pretended  "Sheriff  from  Chicago"  was  an 
officer  from  Louisville,  Ky.;  that  "Jim's"  former  master,  (then  hold- 
ing the  office  of  Sheriff,  at  Louisville,)  was  in  Cleveland,  engineer- 
ing the  matter,  and  that  though  they  had  genuine  papers,  under 
the  Fugitive  Slave  La^v,  the  counterfeit  dodge  w^as  played  to  avoid 
the  popular  clamor  that  an  open  arrest  of  a  fugitive  from  slavery 
w^ould  naturally  create  in  so  Abolition-tainted  a  locality  as  the 
Western  Reserve;  the  discomfited  master  remarking,  as  he  paid 
the  hotel  bills  for  himself  and  his  minions,  in  Cleveland,  that  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law  didn't  "amount  to  much  in  Ohio,  anyhow." 

Marshal  Wright  Exonerated. — Certain  jealous-minded  med- 
dlers being  disposed  to  charge  Marshal  Wright  \vith  having 
knowingly  participated  in  the  arrest  of  "Jim"  as  a  fugitive  slave, 
that  officer  addressed  a  note  to  United  States  Deputy  Marshal 
Dennis,  at  Newark,  to  w^hich  he  received  the  following  reply: 

U.  S.  Deputy  Marshal's  Office,  ) 
Newark,  O.,  June  12, 1854.  S 
J.  J.  Wright, 

Sir  : — Yours  of  the  9th  inst.  came  to  hand  by  last  evening-'s  mail,  and  in 
answer  I  will  state  in  writing,  what  I  said  at  the  depot  after  the  negro  was 
set  at  liberty,  that  no  blame  should  be  attached  to  you,  as  everything,  so  far 
as  you  were  concerned,  was  done  in  good  faith,  and,  as  you  had  everj'' 
reason  to  believe,  in  the  discharge  of  your  duty  as  any  officer  who  might  be 
called  upon.  I  did  not  know  there  was  a  Deputy  V.  S.  Marshal  in  your 
place.  No  person  ever  directed  me  to  you.  Your  being  the  Marshal  of 
Akron,  is  the  only  excuse  I  have  to  offer  on  that  point.     In  haste, 

P.  H.  Dennis. 

And  yet.  Captain  Wright,  w^ho  fought  so  gallantly,  and  suffered 
so  much,  in  the  great  struggle  that  knocked  the  shackles  off  from 
the  very  last  slave  upon  the  American  Continent,  says  that  a  streak 
of  meanness  conies  over  him  every  time  he  thinks  of  the  part  he 
unwittingly  played  in  the  capture  of  poor  "Jim."  But  he  has  no 
occasion,  w^hatever,  for  feeling  thus;  for  his  very  promptness,  in 
obeying  w^hat  he  believed  to  be  a  call  to  official  duty,  was  the  very 
means  of  thw^arting  the  designs  of  the  kidnappers;  for  had  he  not 
reached  the  depot  an  hour  earlier  than  the  time  mentioned  by  the 
"  Sheriff  from  Chicago,"  they  w^ould  have  arrived  at  the  station 
with  their  victim  just  as  the  train  w^as  ready  to  leave,  and  would 
thus  have  got  safely  off  with  him.  Singular,  w^asn't  it,  that 
though  deceived  into  aiding  in  the  perpetration  of  a  wrongful  act^ 
Mr  Wright  did  precisely  the  right  thing  to  prevent  its  successful 
consummation. 


"JIM"    safe    in    CANADA.  583 

Judge  Vokis  Kesponsible. — Section  7  of  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law,  among  other  things  provides,  that  "Whoever  shall  harbor  or 
conceal  such  fugitive,  so  as  to  prevent  the  discovery  and  arrest  of 
such  person,  shall  be  subject  to  a  fine  not  exceeding  one  thousand 
dollars,  and  imprisonment  not  exceeding  six  months;  and  shall, 
moreover,  forfeit  and  pay,  by  way  of  civil  damages,  to  the  party 
injured  by  such  illegal  conduct,  the  sum  of  one  thovisand  dollars, 
for  each  fugitive  so  lost,"  etc. 

Now,  Judge  A.  C.  Voris,  then  the  law-partner  of  the  late  Gen. 
Bierce,  not  having  the  fear  of  the  minions  of  slavery,  or  of  the  slave- 
hunting  minions  of  Uncle  Sam  before  his  eyes,  did  both  "harbor" 
and  "conceal"  the  said  "fugitive,"  in  the  back  attic  of  the  story 
and  a-half  house  he  then  occupied  on  South  Broadwa}^  for  several 
days,  until  his  business  matters  could  be  properly  arranged  for  a 
protracted  absence,  after  \vhich  said  Voris  clandestinely  turned 
said  fugitive  over  to  an  agent  of  the  U.  G.  R.  R.,  to  be  shipped 
Canada-ward,  where,  at  last  accounts,  he  was  living  the  life  of  an 
industrious  and  respectable  citizen.  Judge  Voris  also  confesses  to 
having,  eight  years  later,  "  stolen  a  nigger"  from  the  plantation  of 
Ex-President  John  Tyler,  on  the  James  river.  Quere?  As  this 
was  before  the  taking  effect  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Emancipation  Prccla- 
mation,  haven't  the  heirs  of  the  Ex-President  a  valid  claim  against 
the  Judge  for  the  market  value  of  the  article  thus  stolen  by  him. 

Othek  Fugitives  Alarmed. — In  1836,  there  came  to  Akron, 
from  Columbus,  one  of  the  brightest  and  finest  looking,  middle- 
aged  colored  men  that  the  writer  ever  knew;  a  light  mulatto,  with 
high  forehead,  intelligentcountenance  andin  every  senseof  the  w^ord 
a  perfect  gentleman,  by  the  name  of  Edward  Smith.  He  was  a  barber 
by  trade,  and  lived  in  Columbus  some  eighteen  or  twenty  years, 
and  had,  by  his  industry  and  frugality,  become  the  owner  of  a 
valuable  lot  upon  which  were  two  very  comfortable  tw^o-story 
brick  dwelling  houses.  As  Columbus  was  then  somewhat  over- 
stocked with  barbers,  having  heard  of  the  new  and  enterprising 
town  of  Akron,  he  came  here  and  opened  a  shop,  bearing  with  him 
the  not  inappropriate  sobriquet  of  "The  Emperor  of  the  West," 
by  which  he  had  been  known  in  Columbus.  His  wife,  Mrs. 
Sarah-  Smith,  was  also  a  portly,  fine-looking  mulatto  woman,  and 
both  soon  came  to  be  very  greatly  respected  by  all  the  people  of 
Akron.  They  w^ere  very  prosperous,  and  with  their  earnings  here, 
and  the  rents  from  their  Columbus  property,  bought  the  lot  now 
covered  by  the  grocery  store  of  Bittman  &  Son,  on  East  Market 
street,  building  for  themselves  a  comfortable  frame  house  on  the 
rear  of  the  lot,  fronting  on  the  alley,  and  afterwards  a  small  frame 
building  fronting  on  Market  street,  w^hich  they  rented  for  business 
purposes. 

Along  in  the  middle  forties  "Uncle  Ned,"  as  he  was  familiarly 
called,  was  stricken  with  apoplexy,  and,  after  lingering  a  few- 
months,  died.  Mrs.  Smith  thoroughly  alarmed  at  "Jim's"  narrow 
escape,  hastily  placed  her  property  matters  in  the  hands  of  a 
reliable  agent,  and  joined  the  Canadian  colony.  Many  other  local 
colored  people  also  quietly  flitted  thither,  either  because  they  w^ere 
escaped  slaves,  or  because,  having  been  born  free,  but  v^r'ith  colored 
skins,  they  were  fearful  of  being  kidnapped  into  slavery,  as  had, 
in  several  well  authenticated  instances,  already  been  done. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 


OLK  OWX  JOHX  BROWN— "OLD  OSSA\VATOM[E "— FREEDOM'S  HERO  AND 
MARTYR  BIRTH.  BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  MANHOOD— THE  PATRIARCHAL 
FATHER  OF  20  CHILDREN— EMBRYO  PREACHER,  FARMER,  TANNER  AND 
REAL  ESTATE  SPECULATOR— SHEEP  GROWER  AND  WOOL  FACTOR— DISAS- 
TROUS EUROPEAN  ENTERPRISE— LIFE  IN  THE  WILDER NESvS— REPEAL  OF 
THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE— "  SQUATTER  SOVEREIGNTY  "—"  BORDER  RUF- 
FIANISM" IN  "BLEEDING  KANSAS  "—SYMPATHETIC  SUMMITONIANS— FREE- 
DOM AT  LENGTH  VICTORIOUS— GUERRILLA  WARFARE  ON  THE  "PECULIAR 
IxXSTITUTION  " — STUPENDOUS  PROJECT  IN  BEHALF  OF  FREEDOM— CAPTURE 
OF  HARPER'S  FERRY— DESPERATE  RESISTANCE  TO  STATE  AxND  GOVERNMENT 
TROOPS  OVERPOWERED  AT  LAST — TRIAL  FOR  TREASON,  INSURRECTION 
AND  MURDER— MOCKERY  OF  JUSTICE— CONVICTION,  SENTENCE,  EXECU- 
TION—HEROIC TO  THE  VERY  LAST— VERY  LATEST  WRITTEN  COMMUNICA- 
TION—GENERAL AND  GENUINE  MOURNING  IN  THE  NORTH— "BODY  MOULD- 
ERING IN   THE  GROUxNTD,"  BUT   "  SOUL  STILL  MARCHING  ALONG  !  " 


OUR  OWN  JOHN  BROWN. 

npHOUGH  born  in  Connecticut,  on  May  9,  in  the  first  year  of  the 

century,  John  Brown   may  be  fairly  claimed  as  a  native  of 

Summit  county,  having  emigrated  to  the  township  of  Hudson,  with 

his  father's  family,  as  early  as  1805. 
Here,  possessing  in  a  marked 
degree,  the  strong  characteristics 
of  his  energetic  and  enterprising 
father,  the  late  Owen  Brown,  of 
direct  Mayflower  Puritanic  descent, 
John  grew  to  manhood,  inured  to 
frontier  hardships  and  pioneer 
privations  and  toil,  but  under  the 
advanced  educational  and  thor- 
oughly orthodox  influences  of  the 
enlightened  and  God-fearing 
inhabitants  of  that  town,  in  those 
early  days. 

Possessing  a  sternl}^  religious 
bent  of  mind,  it  w^as  early  designed 
that  he  should  become  a  minister 
of  the  gospel,  but  that  project  w^as 
finally  abandoned  on  account  of 
an  affection  of  the  eyes  which 
interfered  with  the  pursuit  of  his 
theological  studies ;  w^hereupon 
he  devoted  himself  to  the  dual 
calling  of  his  father,  farming  and  tanning,  at  the  same  time  thor- 
oughly qualifying  himself  in  the  art  of  surveying. 

June  21,  1820,  then  just  twenty  years  of  age,  he  w^as  married  to 
Miss  Dianthe  Lusk,  of  Hudson,  by  whom,  during  the  tw^elve  years 
of  their  married  life,  he  had  seven  children,  six  sons  and  one 
daughter,    Mrs.    Brown    dying  on   the   10th   day   of  August,   1832. 


JOHN    BROWN. 


JOHN    brown's   business    LIFE.  585 

About  one  year  later,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Day,  of 
Crawford  county.  Pa.,  by  whom  he  had  thirteen  children,  seven 
sons  and  six  daughters;  thus  being  the  progenitor  of  a  grand 
total  oif  twenty  children,  eight  only  of  w^hom  survived  the  tragic 
death  of  the  father,  as  hereinafter  alluded  to,  December  2,  1859. 

Farmer,  Tanner,  Etc. — In  addition  to  tanning  and  general 
farming  and  casual  surveying,  Brown  became  a  great  lover  of  cattle 
and  sheep,  and,  like  his  brother  Frederick,  became  an  expert  in  the 
growing  and  handling  of  fine  stock.  Indeed,  he  was  accounted  to 
be  the  best  judge  of  wool  in  the  United  States,  if  not  in  the  world, 
being  able  to  tell  from  the  feel,  the  country,  or  section  of  country, 
where  given  samples  of  u'ool  Avere  grown;  an  anecdote  being  rela- 
ted of  him  that,  while  in  England,  as  hereinafter  related,  thinking 
to  puzzle  him,  among  other  samples  submitted  for  his  inspection,  a 
soft  tuft  clipped  from  a  snow^-white  poodle  was  handed  him,  virhen 
he  instantly  responded,  "gentlemen,  if  you  have  any  machinery 
that  will  work  up  dog's  hair  I  would  advise  you  to  use  it  upon  this." 

Continuing  the  farming  and  tanning  business  in  connection 
with  his  father,  in  Hudson,  until  about  1826,  he  removed  to  Rich- 
mond, Craw^ford  county.  Pa.,  w^here  he  was  engaged  in  the  same 
business,  quite  successfully,  for  about  nine  years. 

Real  Estate  Speculator, — About  the  year  1835,  Mr.  Brown 
returned  to  Ohio,  and  in  1836,  in  connection  -with  a  Mr.  Thompson, 
of  Pennsylvania,  bought  w^hat  was  know^n  as  as  the  Haymaker 
farm,  of  between  one  and  two  hundred  acres,  in  the  w^estern  por- 
tion of  what  is  now  the  village  of  Kent,  for  the  consideration  of 
$7,000.  Early  in  the  Summer  of  1838,  this  farm  was  surveyed  and 
platted  by  ex-County  Clerk,  Capt.  John  A.  Means  (now  living  in 
Tallmadge),  as  the  deputy  county  surveyor  of  Portage  county,  and 
put  to  record  October  22,  of  that  year,  as  "Brown  and  Thompson's 
addition  to  Franklin  village." 

It  wras  the  expectation  of  the  proprietors  that  a  large  manu- 
facturing village  would  rapidly  materialize  at  that  point.  Similar 
operations  further  up  the  river,  by  the  Franklin  Manufacturing 
Company,  afterw^ards  the  Franklin  Silk  Company,  together  w^ith 
the  disastrous  monetary  and  commercial  revulsion  of  1837-40, 
compelled  the  abandonment  of  the  scheme,  and  an  alienation  of 
the  lands  in  question,  which  w^ere  soon  thereafter  relegated  to 
agricultural  purposes,  though  in  later  years  largely  covered  bj^  the 
A.  &  G.  W.  R.  R.  shops,  and  quite  a  suburban  population,  of  the 
now  prosperous  and  enterprising  village  of  Kent;  the  only  relic  of 
its  projector  now  remaining  being  quite  a  large  two-story  frame 
building,  on  the  southeast  side  of  the  river,  opposite  the  low^er 
mill,  erected  for  a  boarding  hotise,  and  now  pointed  out  with  pride, 
to  the  visiting  stranger,  as  the  "John  Brown  House." 

Sheep  Husbandman. — On  the  collapse  of  his  village  annexa- 
tion scheme,  Mr.  Brown,  in  1839,  took  a  drove  of  cattle  over-land 
to  New  England,  bringixig  back  with  him  a  small  flock  of  choice 
sheep,  as  the  nucleus  of  the  immense  business  in  that  line,  in  w^hich 
he  afterw^ards  embarked.  In  1840,  in  connection  with  Capt.  Heman 
Oviatt,  a  large  land  owner  of  Hudson  and  Richfield,  he  went  quite 
extensivel3^  into  the  sheep  and  wool  business,  removing  his  family 
to  Richfield  in  1842,  where  he  also  established  a  tannery. 

Subsequently,  about  1844,  he  became  associated  with  the  late 
Col.  Simon  Perkins,  stocking  his   large  farm,  overlooking  Akron, 


586  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

on  the  west,  with  several  thousand  head  of  the  very  best  fine- 
wooled  sheep  that  could  be  obtained,  Mr.  Brown,  with  his  fam- 
ily, residing  in  the  same  house  now  occupied  by  county  surveyor,. 
Charles  E.  Perkins,  immediately  south  of  the  old  Perkins  home- 
stead. 

It  being  difficult  to  always  make  favorable  contracts  for  their 
yearly  clips,  so  far  from  manufacturing  centers,  in  1846,  Perkins  & 
Brown  established  an  extensive  wrool  depot  in  Springfield,  Mass., 
not  only  for  the  sale  of  their  ow^n  product,  but  also  for  the  storage 
and  sale,  on  commission,  of  the  product  of  most  of  the  other  fine- 
w^ool  groAvers  in  Ohio  and  other  states,  with  the  object  of  thereby 
securing  greater  uniformity  in  prices,  and  consequently  better 
profits,  than  could  be  realized  from  individual  hap-hazard  con- 
tracts with  itinerant  wool-buyers. 

Brown  was  placed  in  charge  of  this  enterprise,  removing  his 
family  to  Springfield,  and  the  firm  of  Perkins  &  Brown  soon 
became  one  of  the  best-known  and  most  reliable  fine-wool  concerns 
in  the  United  States. 

A  Disastrous  Project. — But  at  length  differences  began  to 
arise  between  Brown  and  the  manufacturers  in  regard  to  prices. 
Having  practically  a  monopoly  of  the  very  finest  grades  of  the 
product,  Brown  placed  his  figures  higher  than  the  manufacturers 
w^ere  willing  to  pay,  and  after  holding  his  accumulations  for  a 
year  or  two  without  bringing  the  recalcitrant  manufacturers  to 
terms.  Brown  chartered  a  vessel  at  Boston,  transported  his  wool 
(about  200,000  pounds),  thither  by  rail,  and  shipped  it  to  England. 
Here  he  found  there  w^as  no  especial  demand  for  the  extra-fine 
grades  of  wool  of  w^hich  his  cargo  w^as  composed,  and  after  paying 
storage  on  it  for  a  considerable  length  of  time,  it  w^as  finally  sold  to 
the  agents  of  the  New  England  manufacturers,  at  prices  which 
enabled  them  to  re-ship  and  place  it  in  their  mills,  at  several  cents 
per  pound  less  than  they  had  offered  for  it  before  shipment. 

This  misadventure  involved  a  loss  to  the  firm  of  from  $30,000 
to  $40,000,  falling  principally,  if  not  w^holly,  upon  Col.  Perkins,, 
and  the  Springfield  establishment  Avas  closed  out  and  the  firm 
dissolved. 

REPEAL  OF  THE  "  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE." 

By  this  time  the  slave  extension  propaganda  began  to  pro- 
mulgate the  dogma  that  the  provisions  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law^^ 
authorizing  the  reclamation  of  fugitive  slaves  from  the  territories 
of  the  United  States,  had  virtually  repealed  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise, so  that  slavew  could  not  only  be  legally  taken  to,  and 
held  in,  the  territory  north  of  36°  30'  but  that  such  territory  could 
be  erected  into  slave  states,  should  a  majority  of  the  inhabitants 
so    declare,  on  presenting  themselves  to  Congress  for  admission. 

This  view  w^as  not  only  held  by  all  the  senators  and  represen- 
tatives of  the  slave  states,  both  Whigs  and  Democrats,  but  also  by 
some  from  the  northern  states.  In  January,  1854,  Senator  Stephen 
A.  Douglas,  of  Illinois — w^ith  inordinate  presidential  aspirations — 
introduced  a  bill  for  opening  to  settlement  all  the  territory  north 
of  Texas  and  west  of  Missouri,  under  the  general  name  of 
Nebraska,  to  which,  on  the  suggestion  of  Senator  Dixon,  of 
Kentucky,  w^as  attached  a  provision  for  the  formal  repeal  of  the- 
Missouri  Compromise. 


RESISTANCE   TO   "BORDER    RUFFIANISM."  587 

In  the  Adirondacks, — In  1849  Brown  retired  from  business 
and  speculative  life,  to  a  tract  of  wild  land  presented  to  him 
by  Gerritt  Smith,  in  Essex  county,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state 
of  New  York,  a  portion  of  w^hich  is  now^  known  as  the  "North 
Woods,"  or  "Adirondacks,"  so  popular  as  a  cool  retreat  from  the 
mid-Summer  heats  of  the  Kastern  and  Southern  States. 

Here,  at  North  Elba,  "the  world  forgetting  and  by  the  world 
forgot,"  for  four  or  five  years  he  quietly,  but  wath  characteristic 
energy,  grubbed  out  from  his  rugged  acres  a  comfortable  living 
for  his  still  rapidly  increasing  family — his  older  children  by  first 
wife,  being  already  in  active  business  for  themselves. 

"  Squatter  Sovereignty." — In  advocating  his  bill,  Mr.  Douglas 
invented  the  phrase  "  Popular  Sovereignty,"  the  theory  being  that 
the  majority  of  the  squatters  upon  the  lands  in  question — whether 
pros  or  antis — should  be  allowed  to  settle  the  question  for  them- 
selves, thus  stimulating  rapid  settlement  from  both  sections,  the 
section  coming  in  ahead  to  be  the  best  "  fellow^."  The  phrase 
"Popular  Sovereignty"  was  soon  changed  to  "Squatter  Sover- 
eignty," in  the  fiery  and  exciting  discussion  which  followed,  the 
infamy  finally  being  accomplished,  an  amendment  having,  mean- 
time, been  adopted,  designating  the  southern  portion  of  the  terri- 
tory in  question  as  Kansas,  and  the  northern  portion  as  Ne- 
braska. 

The  Race  for  Life.— Now^,  immediately  commenced  what 
may  literally  be  termed  "a  race  for  life"  between  slavery  and  free- 
dom, Kansas  being  the  arena.  The  border  slave  state  of  Missouri 
at  once  threw  into  the  new  territory  an  immense  horde  of  w^hat 
were  very  properly  designated  as  "Border  Ruffians,"  while  all 
the  other  slave  states  contiguous  to  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
rivers,  and  some  of  the  more  remote,  shipped  in  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  their  "chivalrous  sons,"  all  armed  to  the  teeth,  and 
several  regular  military  organizations — notably  that  of  Major 
Buford,  of  South  Carolina,  inscribed  upon  his  red  flag,  "South 
Carolina  and  State  Rights" — for  the  purpose  of  intimidating  free 
settlers  and  outvoting  them,  when  conventions  and  elections  were 
to  be  held,  and  of  forcibly  ejecting  the  free  state  men  from  the 
territory. 

But  the  friends  of  freedem  were  by  no  means  inactive,  and 
thousands  from  the  adjacent  states  of  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Illinois, 
Indiana,  Michigan  and  Ohio,  w^ended  their  w^ay  thither  for  peace- 
able and  permanent  settletnent.  In  the  Eastern  States  also,  for 
the  double  purpose  of  aiding  their  surplus  population  to  obtain 
independent  homes,  and  to  secure  to  the  new^  territory  the  boon  of 
freedom.  Emigrant  Aid  Societies  were  organized  and  thousands  of 
hardy,  industrious  and  intelligent  men  were  sent  forwrard,  sup- 
plied with  the  means  to  establish  for  themselves  comfortable 
homes,  and  the  endowment  of  schools,  churches  and  adequate 
local  government. 

These  peaceable  immigrants  met  with  the  most  determined  and 
malignant  opposition  from  the  "border  ruffians" — harrassed  and 
murdered  while  passing  through  Missouri;  their  houses  and  vil- 
lages destroyed,  and  themselves  killed  or  suVijected  to  the  most 
fearful  indignities  and  outrages,  accompanied  by  the  most  flagrant 
and  brutal  usurpations  and  frauds  whenever  and  w^herever  elec- 
tions, either  local  or  general,  w^ere  to  be  held. 


588  AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

These  outrages  soon  taught  the  free-State  men  to  meet  force 
by  force — -in  short  to  fight  the  pro-slavery  devil  with  fire — and 
many  very  sanguinary  battles  ensued  in  various  parts  of  the 
territory,  so  that  the  dark  and  bloody  ground  came  to  be  appro- 
priately known  as  "Bleeding  Kansas." 

OLD   OSSAWATOMIE. 

Among  others  who  had  sought  to  better  their  physical  and 
pecuniary  condition,  and  at  the  same  time  aid  the  cause  of  free- 
dom, ^vere  several  of  the  sons  and  sons-in-law^  of  John  Brown. 
They  were  not  only  stalwart  and  energetic  in  the  improvement  of 
the  lands  upon  which  they  had  "squatted,"  but  also  vigilant  and 
determined  in  the  exercise  of  their  civil  and  political  rights  as 
"  Squatter  Sovereigns."  This  subjected  the  Bro\\rn  family  to  the 
most  malignant  hatred  of  the  border  ruffian  element,  their  crops 
being  destroyed,  their  buildings  burned,  and  one  of  their  number 
being  most  ruthlessly  murdered,  and  another  driven  into  insanity 
by  cruel  treatment  while  held  as  a  prisoner. 

These  outrages  upon  the  members  of  his  own  family,  and  the 
-danger  which  menaced  the  cause  of  freedom  itself,  determined  our 
w^hilom  fellow^-citizen,  John  Brown,  to  leave  the  seclusion  of  his 
Essex  county  home  and  fly  to  the  rescue.  By  his  coolness  and 
bravery,  he  was  soon  accorded  the  leadership  in  repulsing  the 
various  attacks  of  the  pro-slavery  forces,  and  in  making  raids 
upon  the  camps  and  settlements  of  his  blood-thirsty  enemies,  as 
well.  The  remarkable  skill  w^ith  w^hich  he,  w^ith  a  mere  handful 
of  men,  routed  a  large  force  of  "border  ruffians"  at  the  settlement 
of  Ossa^^atomie,  gave  to  him  the  sobriquet  of  "Old  Ossawato- 
mie,"  by  >vhich  name  he  is  to  this  day  better  known  than  by  any 
any  other. 

FREEDOM     VICTORIOUS ! 

The  struggle  continued  for  some  three  or  four  years.  The 
free-state  settlers  out-numbered  the  slave-state  men  at  least  t>vo  to 
one,  but  by  incursions  of  armed  bodies  from  Missouri  at  elections, 
and  by  the  connivance  of  pro-slavery  federal  and  territorial  officers, 
the  will  of  the  majority  was  thwarted  until  1859,  when  a  delegate 
convention  held  at  Wyandotte,  adopted  a  free-state  constitution, 
which  was  ratified  by  a  vote  of  10,421  to  5,530,  though,  by  fillibus- 
tering  tactics  in  Congress,  it  w^as  not  admitted  to  the  Union  until 
the  w^ithdraw^al  of  the  Southern  senators  to  engage  in  the  Slave- 
holders' Rebellion,  in  January,  1861. 

In  the  height  of  the  bloody  conflict,  John  Brown  visited 
Boston,  Mass.,  where  he  had  a  conference  with  the  prominent 
friends  of  freedom  and  members  of  the  Emigrant  Aid  Society, 
from  whom  he  received  contributions  of  about  $4,000  in  money, 
and  nearly  twice  that  amount  of  arms  and  other  w^arlike  supplies. 
On  his  way  back,  in  the  Summer  of  1856,  he  spent  a  few  days 
among  his  old  friends  in  Summit  county  for  a  similar  purpose. 
At  a  small  but  enthusiastic  meeting,  to  Avhom  he  gave  a  graphic 
account  of  the  bloody  struggle,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  can- 
vass the  village  in  behalf  of  the  good  cause,  of  which  committee  it 
•was  the  privilege,  and  the  pleasure,  of  the  w^riter  to  be  a 
member. 


THE    harper's    ferry   EPISODE.  589 

Kifles,  shot-guns,  revolvers,  pistols,  swords,  butcher-knives, 
poAvder,  lead,  etc.,  with  considerable  contributions  of  money,  were 
thus  gathered  in,  while  it  was  more  than  hinted  that  two  cases  of 
arms  of  a  former  independent  military  company,  stored  in  a  barn 
in  Tallmadge,  and  several  similar  packages  of  State  arms,  which 
had  been  gathered  in  from  other  parts  of  the  county,  and  stored  in 
the  upper  part  of  the  jail,  mysteriously  disappeared  about  the 
same  time.  Middleburj^,  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Hudson,  Tallmadge 
and  perhaps  other  towns  in  Summit  County,  also  made  liberal 
contributions  to  the  good  work,  all  of  w^hich  aided  in  freeing  Kan- 
sas, Nebraska  and  contiguous  territory  from  the  curse  of  slavery, 
and,  possibly,  in  precipitating  that  infinitely  more  bloody  conflict 
w^hich  resulted  in  the  overthrow  of  the  accursed  institution 
throughout  the  land. 

HARPER'S  FERRY— CAPTURING  THE   ARMORY. 

By  this  time  our  old  friend — alw^ays  an  ardent  and  conscien- 
tious anti-slavery  man — had  become  so  intensely  embittered 
against  the  inhuman  system,  and  the  iniquities  and  atrocities  of 
its  supporters,  that  he  determined  to  devote  the  balance  of  his  life 
and  energies  for  its  extinction.  Thus,  for  a  time,  he  devoted  him- 
self to  the  project  of  providing  the  human  chattels  of  the  border 
states — especially  "Border  Ruffian"  Missouri — with  the  facilities  of 
escape  and  safe  transportation  to  the  true  land  of  freedom — 
Canada.  In  this  ^vay,  for  a  year  or  two,  much  w^as  done  towards 
paying  off  the  large  indebtedness  of  himself  and  his  familj'  for  the 
great  indignities  and  wrongs  that  had  been  inflicted  upon  them,^ 
as  above  set  forth. 

But,  to  the  prolific  mind  of  John  Brown,  it  soon  became 
apparent  that  this  mode  of  warfare  against  Amei-ica's  most  gigan- 
tic curse,  was  puny  in  the  extreme;  that  w^hile  it  might  annoy 
and  inconvenience  an  occasional  individual  slaveholder,  and  se- 
cure limited  freedom  to  an  occasional  captive,  it  would  do  very 
little  towards  accomplishing  the  great  desire  of  his  heart — univer- 
sal emancipation. 

In  his  humane,  philanthropic  and  patriotic  zeal,  he  truly 
believed  that  the  enslaved  race  needed  but  the  advent  of  a  bold 
and  determined  leader,  to  instantly  rally  en  masse,  and  gallantly 
fight  their  ow^n  way  to  freedom.  Imbued  with  this  thought, 
sometime  in  1858,  he  gathered  around  him  a  few  "TVue  Friends  of 
Freedom"  at  Chatham,  in  Canada,  to  whom  he  unfolded  his  plans^ 
at  which  secret  gathering  a  Provisional  Constitution  w^as  drawn 
up  and  adopted,  under  w^hich  Brown  w^as  designated  as  Com- 
mander-in-Chief, Richard  Realf ,  Secretary  of  State,  and  J.  H.  Kagi, 
Secretary  of  War. 

Retaining  a  portion  of  the  Kansas  contributions  of  arms  and 
other  munitions  of  war,  and  having  had  fabricated  a  large  number 
of  long-handled  double-edged  pikes,  for  the  use  of  those  negroes 
unskilled  in  the  use  of  fire-arms,  in  the  Summer  of  1859  Brow^n 
established  his  headquarters  at  what  was  known  as  the  Kennedy 
farm,  in  Maryland,  and  within  five  miles  of  Harper's  Ferrj^  Va., 
where  one  of  the  Arsenals  of  the  United  States  w^as  located.  Here 
had  been  quietly  gathered  the  "sinew^s  of  w^ar"  alluded  to. 

On  the  night  of  Sunday,  October  16,  1859,  about  10  o'clock,^ 
w^ith  an  "army"  of  seventeen  white  men  and  five  negroes,  Brow^n 


590  AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

took  possession  of  the  Government  buildings,  at  Harper's  Ferry, 
within  50  miles  of  the  National  Capitol;  stopped  railroad  trains, 
captured  a  number  of  citizens,  liberated  several  slaves  and  held 
the  to^vn  nearly  36  hours.  Though  there  were  no  symptoms  of 
any  uprising  among  the  slaves,  or  any  evidence  that  they  had 
been  advised  of  the  contemplated  raid  for  their  deliverance,  the 
whole  Southern  country  was  immediately  thrown  into  the  utmost 
•excitement  and  alarm. 

The  citizens  of  Harper's  Ferry,  during  Monday  afternoon,  so 
far  recovered  from  their  panic  as  to  rally  for  their  defense  and  the 
expulsion  of  the  invaders,  and  quite  a  number  of  sharp  skirmishes 
ensued,  with  several  serious  casualities  on  both  sides,  one  of 
Brown's  men  being  shot  down,  while  conveying,  under  a  flag  of 
truce,  a  message  from  the  Provisional  Commander-in-Chief  to  the 
mayor  of  the  town.  A  company  of  militia,  100  strong,  arrived 
from  Charlestow^n  early  in  the  afternoon,  but  were  kept  at  bay  by 
the  intrenched  invaders.  Other  troops  arrived  from  near-by 
towns,  both  in  Virginia  and  Maryland,  during  the  afternoon,  and 
by  night  there  were  fifteen  hundred  armed  soldiers  surrounding 
the  engine  house,  but  kept  at  bay  by  the  handful  of  brave-hearted 
men  therein  entrenched. 

CAPTURED  BY  COL.  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

Monday  night,  the  Government  at  Washington  sent  a  body  of 
U.  S.  troops,  under  the  command  of  Col.  Robert  E.  Lee  (two  years 
later  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  greatest  insurrection  known 
to  history),  to  subdue  the  insurgents.  Refusing  to  comply  with 
Col.  Lee's  command  to  surrender,  fire  was  opened  upon  the  engine 
house,  and  hotly  returned  by  the  intrenched  party. 

The  "citadel"  was  at  length  stormed,  Brown  and  his  men 
fighting  to  the  last  like  tigers.  Thirteen  of  the  band,  including 
tw^o  of  Brown's  sons,  being  either  killed  outright  or  mortally 
w^ounded;  Brown  himself  being  very  seriously  "wounded  by  both 
svi^ord  and  bayonet. 

TRIAL— CON VICTION-  SENTENCE- EXECUTION. 

Brow^n  and  his  six  surviving  follow^ers  were  taken  to  the  Jef- 
ferson County  jail,  at  Charlestown,  ten  miles  southw^est  of  Har- 
per's Ferry.  *Here  they  were  indicted  for  inciting  insurrection, 
and  for  treason  and  murder.  Conviction  followed,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  the  large  array  of  evidence  forwarded  from  Summit 
county,  and  elsewhere,  as  to  tendency  to  insanity  in  his  family, 
and  of  belief  in  the  actual  insanity  of  BtoAvn  himself,  upon  the 
slavery  question,  not  proving  of  any  avail.  Brown  w^as  so  weak 
from  his  wounds,  that  he  w^as  obliged  to  lie  upon  a  cot  during  the 
trial. 

He  exhibited  the  utmost  heroism  and  fortitude  through- 
out, boldly  proclaiming  his  hatred  of  the  slave-system,  the  right- 
eousness of  the  act  he  had  sought  to  perform,  with  the  prediction 
that  the  accursed  institution  w^as  doomed  to  speedy  overthrow. 

The  execution  occurred  at  11:15  a.  m.,  on  Friday,  December  2, 
1859.  The  martyr-convict  w^as  firm  and  cheerful  to  the  last, 
pleasantly  conversing  w^ith  the  sheriff  and  guard  who  bore  him 
from  the  jail  to  the  scaffold,  treating  all  concerned  in  the  execution 


HIS   TRIUMPHANT    DEATH— THE    PUBLIC    SORROW.         .  591 

with  the  utmost  courtesy.  His  death  was  easy,  the  body  being 
lo\srered  from  the  scaffold  35  minutes  after  the  drop  fell  and 
delivered  to  his  wife,  at  Harper's  Ferry,  w^ho  started  with  it  the 
same  evening,  for  North  Klba,  w^here  it  was  quietly  interred,  in  the 
presence  of  his  surviving  family,  and  a  fe^^  sympathizing  friends, 
with  appropriate  funeral  services,  on  Thursday,  December  8,  1859, 
Wendell  Phillips  pronouncing  a  fitting  eulogy  over  his  remains. 

HIS  LAST   LETTER. 

His  life-long  friend,  Mr.  Lora  Case,  still  living  hale  and 
hearty,  in  Hudson,  at  the  age  of  nearly  80  years,  wrote  him  a  friendly 
and  sympathetic  letter,  after  his  conviction  and  sentence,  to  w^hich 
he  made  the  following  characteristice  reply,  but  a  few  moments 
before  his  execution: 

Charlestown,  Jefferson  Co.,  Va.,  / 
December  2,  1859.         j 
Lora  Case,  Esq., 

My  Dear  Sir:— Your  most  kind  and  cheering  letter  of  the  28th  of  Novem- 
ber, is  received.  Such  an  out-burst  of  warm-hearted  sympathy,  not  only  for 
myself,  but  also  for  those  who  have  no  helper,  compels  me  to  steal  a 
moment  from  those  allowed  me  in  which  to  prepare  for  my  last  great 
change,  to  send  you  a  few  words.  Such  a  feeling-  as  j'ou  manifest  makes 
j^ou  shine  (in  my  estimation)  in  the  midst  of  this  wicked  and  perverse  gen- 
eration, as  a  light  in  the  world,  and  may  j'ou  ever  prove  yourself  equal  to 
the  high  estimate  I  have  placed  upon  you.  Pure  and  undefiled  religion 
before  God,  and  the  Father,  is,  as  I  understand  it,  an  active  (not  a  dormant) 
principle.  I  do  not  iindertake  to  direct  any  more  in  regard  to  my  children. 
I  leave  that  more  entirely  to  their  excellent  luother,  from  whom  I  have  just 
parted.  I  send  you  my  salutation  with  my  own  hand.  Remember  me  to  all 
j^our  and  m)'  dear  friends. 

Your  friend,  John  Brown. 

THE   PUBLIC  SORROW. 

Though  many  deprecated  the  insane  scheme,  as  they  regarded 
it,  of  attempting  the  overthro^v  of  so  gigantic,  and  at  that  time  so 
thoroughly  intrenched,  an  iniquity — backed  as  it  then  was  by 
the  entire  civil  and  military  power  of  the  government — Avith  such 
frail  weapons,  and  such  meager  resources,  yet  having  an  unwaver- 
ing belief  in  the  honesty  of  his  motives,  and  his  entire  conscien- 
tiousness, coupled  w^ith  his  unflinching  bravery,  the  public  mind, 
everyw^here  in  the  North,  w^as  filled  with  sincere  sorrow^  at  his 
ignominious  end;  and  with  the  most  intense  indignation  at  the 
relentless  vindictiveness  w^ith  which,  while  so  severely  suffering 
from  the  bayonet  wounds  inflicted  by  United  States  soldiers  in 
effecting  his  capture,  he  w^as  hurried  through  the  merest  mockery 
of  a  trial  to  his  death. 

::;3PMemorial  services  were  held  in  nearly  all  the  principal  cities 
and  towns  in  the  Northern  States.  In  Akron,  on  the  day  of  execu- 
tion, flags  w^ere  displayed  at  half  mast;  stores  and  other  business 
places  were  closed,  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  adjourned — bells 
w^ere  tolled,  and  in  the  evening  a  very  large  meeting  was  held  in 
Empire  Hall,  in  which  feeling  and  appropriate  speeches  were 
made  by  Judge  James  S.  Carpenter,  Attorney  General  Christopher 
P.  Wolcott,  Gen.  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  Dr.  Thomas  Earl,  Dr.  Joseph 
Cole,  Wilbur  F.  Sanders,  Esq.,  Nathaniel  W.  Goodhue,  Esq,. 
Newell  D.  Tibbals,  Esq.,  and  others,  with  an  appropriate  poem 
from  the  pen  of  the  late  James  Mathew^s,  read  by   the  w^riter  of 


592  .  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

this  sketch,  the  exercises  being  exceedingly  earnest  and  solemn 
throughout;  similar  and  equally  solemn  and  impressive  services 
being  held  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Hudson  and  other  villages  in  Sum- 
mit county. 

WAS  JOHN    BROWN   ACTUALLY  INSANE? 

Many  anecdotes  and  traditions  of  his  boyhood  and  early  maii- 
hood,  are  still  rife  among  the  people  of  Hudson,  that,  properly 
\v^ritten  out,  Avould  make  interesting  reading,  but  the  scope  of  this 
chapter  will  not  admit  of  their  publication  here.  Many  of  his 
most  intimate  acquaintances,  while  maintaining  unbounded  faith 
in  his  honesty  of  purpose,  and  his  religious  conscientiousness,, 
entertained  the  belief  that,  from  hereditary  taint,  he  was  in  reality 
insane.  After  his  conviction  and  sentence,  in  Virginia,  Prof. 
Matthew  C.  Read,  of  Hudson,  procured  many  affidavits  to  that 
effect,  from  people  who  had  known  him  intimately  from  his  earliest 
boyhood,  ^vhich  w^ere  laid  before  the  Virginia  authorities,  in  the 
hope  of  securing  a  commutation  of  his  sentence.  The  affidavits 
were  presented,  and  an  eloquent  appeal  made  to  Governor  Wise,  in 
their  support,  by  Akron's  well-remembered  talented  attorney,  Hon. 
Christopher  P.  Wolcott,  then  attorney  general  of  Ohio,  and  after- 
^vards  assistant  secretary  of  w^ar,  but  Avithout  avail.  Slavery  was 
inexorable,  and  u-nimbued  w^ith  the  attribute  of  mercy.  The  sys- 
tem which  could  ruthlessly  imprison  a  delicate  and  sympathetic 
woman  for  teaching  a  slave  to  read  the  Holy  Bible,  or  giving  a  pant- 
ing fugitive  a  crust  of  bread  while  fleeing  from  bondage,  had  no 
commiseration  or  clemency  to  besto^v  upon  the  man,  w^ho  almost 
single-handed,  had  insanely  attempted  the  overthrow^  of  the  iniq- 
quitous  system  itself.  But  the  posthumous  influence  of  John 
Brown,  the  martyr,  was  far  more  potent  for  the  dow^nfall  of  that 
system,  than  was  the  influence,  ^vhile  living,  of  John  Brow^n,  the 
emancipator,  and  the  patriotic  refrain,  so  enthusiastically  sung  by 
our  Union  soldiers,  both  in  camp  and  on  the  march: 

John  Brown's  body  lies  mouldering  in  the  ground, 
John  Brown's  body  lies  mouldering  in  the  ground, 
John  Brown's  body  lies  mouldering  in  the  ground, 
But  his  soul  goes  marching  along. 

Glory!  glory!  hallelujah! 

Glory  !  glory  !  hallelujah  ! 

Glory  !  glory  !  hallelujah! 

We'll  conquer  as  we  go ! 

did  more  to  inspirit  the  Union  soldier,  upon  one  hand,  and  to 
superstitiously  dispirit  the  cohorts  of  treason,  upon  the  other,  than 
any  other  one  moral  instrumentality,  and  in  less  than  half  a 
decade  from  the  date  of  his  ignominious  death,  the  end  he  thus 
"madly"  sought  to  accomplish,  was  most  effectually  consum- 
mated through  the  "madness"  of  the  very  men  who  so  mercilessly 
clamored  for  his  execution. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  PATRIOT  WAR -"  HUNTERS'"  LODGES— CAMPAIGN  OF  1837, '38— PATRIOTS 
DEFEATED— EXECUTION  OF  GENERAL  VON  SCHULTZ— BANISHMENT  TO  VAN 
DIEMAN'S  LAND— BURNING  OF  THE  STEAMER  "  CAROLINE  "—PROCLAMATION 
OF  PRESIDENT  VAN  BUREN — GENERAL  SCOTT  AND  U.  S.  TROOPS  INTER- 
FERE—PATRIOT LEADER  WILLIAM  LYON  MACKENZIE  CAPTURED— TRIAL 
AND  SENTENCE  UNDER  LAWS  OF  NEW  YORK— GENERAL  LUCIUS  V.  BIERCE 
APPOINTED  COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF— CAMPAIGN  OF  1838,  '39— INVASION  OF 
CANADA  OPPOSITE  DETROIT— BATTLE  OF  WINDSOR— BARRACKS  CAPTURED 
AND  BURNED— BRITISH  SURGEON  KILLED  AND  HIS  SWORD  SECURED  AS  A 
TROPHY— BURNING  OF  CANADIAN  STEAMER  "THAMES" — PATRIOTS  DE- 
FEATED BY  BRITISH  REGULARS — FLIGHT  OF  COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF  BIERCE, 
WITH  THE  REMNANT  OF  HIS  ARMY— IGNOMINIOUS  COLLAPSE  -ARREST 
AND  TRIAL  OF  ALLEGED  BURNER  OF  THE  "CAROLINE,"  ALEXANDER 
MCLEOD— RUPTURE  BETWEEN  ENGLAND  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES  IMMI- 
NENT. 

AKRON   IN   CANADIAN   REBELLION. 

^"'HK  prominent  part  played  by  citizens  of  Akron  in  the  Canada 
J-  Patriot  war  of  1837-39,  calls  for  a  pretty  full  history  of  that 
stirring  episode  in  the  international  affairs  of  Kngland  and  the 
United  States.  As  early  as  1836,  it  began  to  be  whispered  all 
along  the  line,  from  Lake  Ontario,  on  the  East,  to  Lake  Michigan 
on  the  West,  that  the  good  people  of  Canada  were  getting  very 
restive  under  British  rule,  and,  with  a  little  encouragement  and 
aid  from  patriotic  Americans,  were  ready  to  make  an  effort  to 
throw  off  the  galling  yoke,  and  establish  an  independent  gov- 
ernment of  their  own.  This  movement  was  inaugurated  by  one 
William  Lyon  Mackenzie,  of  Scotch  descent,  and  editor  of  the 
Colonial  Adi^ocate,  a  journal  published  at  Niagara,  in  opposition 
to  the  then  governing  party  in  Canada. 

In  1828,  Mackenzie  had  been  elected  to  the  provincial  par- 
liament, but  was  refused  his  seat  on  account  of  his  disloyalty  to 
the  Crown.  He  was  four  times  successively  re-elected  to  this  posi- 
tion, w^ith  a  like  result,  the  government  finally  refusing  to  issue 
another  writ  or  order  of  election.  In  1832,  he  visited  England, 
bearing  a  numerously  signed  petition  of  the  Canadian  reform 
party,  praying  for  redress  of  grievances,  but  without  success. 

Resort  to  Revolution. — Returning  to  Canada,  Mackenzie 
continued  the  agitation  of  his  reform  measures,  with  such  marked 
success,  that  in  1836  he  was  elected  Mayor  of  Toronto.  While 
occupying  this  position  he  headed  an  armed  force  and  demanded 
of  Gov.  Head  that  he  should  call  a  convention  to  discuss  Canadian 
grievances  and  reform,  w^hich  demand  was  not  acceded  to.  He 
then  determined  to  resort  to  open  revolution,  by  seizing  arms, 
arresting  the  governor  and  his  cabinet,  and  declaring  Canada  a 
Republic.  But  his  force  w^as  not  strong  enough,  and  the  govern- 
ment troops,  under  Sir  Allan  Macnab,  as  colonel  of  militia,  drove 
him  from  his  position  on  Montgomery  Hill,  December  7,  1837,  and, 
after  considerable  severe  skirmishing,  and  the  capture  of  quite  a 

88 


f394  AKRON    AND,  SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

number  of  his  men,  forced  him  to  retire  to  Nav3'  Island,  in  the 
Niagara  river,  a  short  distance  above  the  falls,  and  within  the  juris- 
diction of  the  United  States. 

From  this  safe  retreat  Mackenzie  issued  a  proclamation  calling 
for  volunteers,  and  offering,  as  bounties,  Canadian  lands,  in  value 
from  $100  to  $300,  when  the  revolution  should  be  successful.  This 
appeal,  and  the  then  munificent  offer  accompanying  it,  served  to 
very  largely  enthuse  the  patriotism  of  "Yankee  Doodle" — both 
native  and  adopted — and  rally  to  his  standard  some  six  or  seven 
hundred  recruits,  with  quite  liberal  contributions  of  money,  arms, 
ammunition  and  other  army  stores.  Here,  in  comparative  secur- 
ity, Mackenzie  directed  his  warlike  operations,  in  the  furtherance 
of  which  he  employed  a  small  Buffalo  steamer,  called  the  "Caro- 
line," for  the  transportation  of  his  men  and  supplies  from  the 
American  shore  to  the  Island,  and  from  the  Island  to  the  Canada 
shore,  as  circumstances  might  require. 

Burning  of  the  Steamer  "Caroline." — Through  this  instru- 
mentality a  number  of  raids,  of  greater  or  less  magnitude,  were 
made  from  time  to  time,  resulting  in  the  loss  of  several  lives  on 
both  sides,  and  the  destruction  of  considerable  property  on  Cana- 
dian soil.  To  put  an  end  to  this  annoyance,  though  the  steamer 
w^as  owned  by  private  parties,  and  when  not  in  use,  was  generally 
moored  at  her  own  dock  in  the  harbor  of  Buffalo,  Sir  Allan  Mac- 
nab  determined  upon  her  summary  destruction.  Accordingly,  on 
the  night  of  December  27,  1837,  an  expedition  w^as  sent  out,  in 
command  of  Captain  Drew,  who,  w^ith  a  picked  squad  of  volun- 
teers, and  militia,  crossed  over  to  Schlosser,  where  the  boat  was 
temporarily  moored,  overpowered  the  unarmed  wratch,  several  of 
w^hom  were  killed,  cut  the  moorings  of  the  steamer,  tovt^ed  her  into 
Canadian  waters,  set  her  on  fire  and  cast  her  adrift,  to  float  dow^n 
the  river  and  over  the  Falls  of  Niagara. 

One  of  the  alleged  active  participants  in  this  affair  was  one 
Alexander  McLeod,  who,  a  year  or  so  later,  being  found  on  the 
American  side,  was  arrested  by  the  authorities  of  the  State  of  New- 
York,  and  held  to  answer  for  both  murder  and  arson.  These 
events  caused  the  utmost  excitement,  both  in  the  United  States 
and  Canada,  as  well  as  in  Great  Britain.  Macnab  was  Knighted, 
and  Capt.  Drew  was  promoted  by  the  British  authorities,  and  the 
United  States  government  applied  to  Great  Britain  for  redress, 
upon  the  one  hand,  while  the  British  government  demanded  the 
release  of  McLeod  on  the  other. 

Voluminous  correspondence  between  Secretary  of  State 
Forsyth,  and  British  Minister  Fox,  took  place,  and  long  and  earn- 
est discussions,  in  both  Congress  and  Parliament,  w^ere  had,  the 
danger  of  a  serious  conflict  between  the  tw^o  governments  at  one 
time  appearing  imminent.  This  w^as  happily  averted,  however,  by 
the  acquittal  of  McLeod  on  the  final  trial,  the  almost  positive  testi- 
mony of  his  guilt  being  met  \^ith  such  strong  evidence,  tending  to 
prove  an  alibi,  as  to  thro\fc"  a  slight  doubt  into  the  jury  box,  and 
thus  save  him  from  the  fate  which  had  previouslj^  been  so 
promptly,  not  to  say  ruthlessly,  meted  out  to  the  brave  Polander, 
Von  Schultz,  as  hereinafter  detailed. 

Public  Meeting  in  Akron, — ^As  showing  the  interest  taken  by 
the  people  of  Akron  in  these  stirring  events,  we  find  in  the  Ameri- 
can Balance,  of  January   11,    1838,    the    proceedings  of   a   public 


AKRON    HIGHLY  '''HONORED,"  595 

meeting  held  January  6,  1838,  at  the  Methodist  Church,  presided 
over  by  Justice  Jacob  Brown,  and  of  which  Arad  Kent  and  Horace 
K.  Smith  were  secretaries;  the  meeting  being  opened  with  prayer 
by  Rev.  Henry  Carr,  of  the  Baptist  Chnrch.  Alva  Hand,  Esq., 
one  of  Akron's  leading  lawyers  at  that  time,  offered,  with  a  spirited 
pn^amble,  the  following  patriotic  resolution: 

Resolved,  That  as  true  friends  of  the  great  cause  of  liberty,  as  good  and 
worthy  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  as  patriots,  we  cannot  remain 
silent  when  oppression  stretches  forth  her  hand  to  smite  her  victim;  stand 
unconcerned  when  we  see  our  shores  invaded  by  the  armed  bands  of  the 
hostile  slaves  of  despots  whose  tender  mercies  are  cruelty  and  death;  nor  will 
we  remain  idle  and  senseless  when  our  country  calls  us  to  her  defense. 

This  preamble  and  resolution,  after  spirited  discussion,  w^ere 
unanimously  adopted,  whereupon  Col.  Justus  Gale  offered  the 
following,  which  was  enthusiastically  concurred  in: 

Resolved,  That  the  attack,  massacre,  and  destruction  of  the  steamboat 
Caroline,  bj'  British  troops,  when  lying-  in  an  American  port,  is  an  insult 
upon  the  American  flag,  and  an  outrage  too  flagrant  to  be  brooked  by  a  free 
and  independent  people. 

Mayor  John  C.  Singletary,  Jr.,  then  offered  a  series  of  resolu- 
tions of  so  fiery  a  nature  as  to  call  out  a  somew^hat  animated 
debate,  whereupon  Constant  Bryan,  Esq.,  offered  the  follow^ing  as 
a  substitute,  which  was  accepted  by  the  Mayor,  and  unanimously 
adopted  by  the  meeting: 

Resolved,  That  the  seizure  of  the  steamboat  Caroline,  in  American 
waters,  and  the  cold-blooded  butchery  of  twenty-two  of  our  fellow  citizens, 
is  a  high  handed  outrage,  an  atrocity  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  civilized 
warfare,  demanding  the  most  prompt  interference  of  the  National  execu- 
tive. ^ 

David  K.  Cartter  (late  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  District  of  Columbia)  offered  the  following: 

Resolved,  That  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting  be  signed  by  the  chair- 
man and  secretaries,  and  published  in  the  Anierictin  Balance  and  other 
papers  of  this  county. 

GEN.  BIERCE   COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF  — "HUNTERS"   LODGES,  ETC. 

Early  in  1838,  at  a  meeting  of  representative  patriots,  in 
Buffalo,  Gen.  L.  V.  Bierce,  of  Akron,  Ohio,  was  chosen  com- 
mander-in-chief of  all  the  patriot  forces,  and  plans  devised  for  a 
vigorous  campaign  all  along  the  line.  To  better  facilitate  their 
operations,  and  secure  the  sympathy  and  co-operation  of  the 
people  of  the  States,  a  secret  order  was  instituted  under  the  name 
of  "Hunters,"  with  lodges  in  all  the  principal  cities  and  villages 
of  the  several  counties  contiguous  to  Lake  Erie,  from  Ogdensburg 
to  Detroit. 

The  emblem  of  the  order  was  the  snow-shoe,  and,  on  being 
initiated,  its  members  took  the  most  solemn  and  blood-curdling 
oath,  never  to  speak,  write,  indite  or  delineate,  or  by  any  sign, 
gesture  or  device  whatsoever,  to  disclose  to  any  outsider  the 
character  of  the  emblem  itself,  or  the  existence,  aims  and  inten- 
tions of  the  order  it  represented.  Of  course  there  were  pass-words, 
signs,  counter-signs,  signals,  grips,  etc  ,  by  which  members  could 
gain  access  to  lodges,  recognize  a  fellow-Hunter  on  sight,  secure 
succor  when  in  danger  and  prompt  relief  when  in  distress;  the 


596  AKRON   AND'  SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

newly  initiated  being  especially  enjoined  to  render  every  possi- 
ble aid  towards  liberating  their  oppressed  Canadian  brethren  from 
the  galling  bondage  in  which  they  were  held,. 

It  may  well  be  ir^iagined  that,  among  a  people  so  universal!}^ 
patriotic  as  were  the  early  settlers  of  the  western  states,  these 
lodges  w^ould  very  naturally  gather  in  and  bring  together,  face  to 
face,  the  most  diverse  and  incongruous  elements  of  the  community 
in  which  they  were  instituted.  For  instance,  \vhile  engaged  in 
the  publication  of  a  paper  specially  devoted  to  the  exposure  of 
crime,  and  the  purification  of  the  moral  atmosphere,  the  w^riter,. 
on  being  initiated  into  the  order,  at  the  instance  of  one  of  the  most 
highly  respected  and  enterprising  merchants  of  Akron,  found  him- 
self in  the  presence  of,  and  "  cheek-by -jo^vl"  with,  the  most  notori- 
ous counterfeiter  of  his  time  and  several  well-known  gamblers, 
together  with  village  councilmen,  justices  of  the  peace,  lawyers, 
doctors,  merchants,  manufacturers,  etc. 

But,  while  a  large  proportion  of  the  criminal  and  dissolute 
classes  identified  themselves  w^ith  the  Patriot  movement,  the 
great  majority  of  the  members  of  these  lodges  were  from  the  more 
reputable  classes  of  society,  w^ho,  heartily  sympathizing  with  their 
believed  to  be  oppressed  and  suffering  neighbors,  were  willing  to 
aid  them  to  the  extent  of  their  pecuniary  ability,  and  some  of  them 
with  their  good  right  arms,  and  military  prowess,  if  necessary,  to 
accomplish  their  object. 

UNCLE  SAM  TAKES  A  HAND  IN  THE  GAME. 

The  Winter  of  1837,  '38  and  the  ensuing  Spring  and  Summer 
w^ere  attended  by  such  w^ar-like  preparations  and  demonstrations, 
operated  and  directed  ffom  the  American  side  of  the  line,  that 
sometime  in  October  or  November  of  that  year,  President  Van 
Buren  issued  his  proclamation  of  neutralitj',  warning  all  citizens 
or  residents  of  the  United  States  against  committing  any  acts  of 
hostility  against  the  people  or  the  government  of  Canada,  assuring 
them  that  he  will  not  interfere  in  their  behalf,  if  they  are  taken 
prisoners  "but  that  they  will  be  left  reproached  by  every  virtuous 
citizen,  to  be  dealt  with  according  to  the  policy  of  the  government 
whose  dominion  they  have,  in  defiance  of  the  known  w^ishes  of 
their  ow^n  government,  and  w^ithout  the  shadow  of  justification  or 
excuse,  invaded."  Lieutenant  General  Winfield  Scott  had  also 
previously  been  ordered  to  the  Niagara  frontier,  with  an  adequate 
force  of  U,  S.  troops  to  enforce  the  neutrality  law^s  betw^een  the  tw^o 
governments.  In  the  meantime,  however,  some  very  stirring 
scenes  were  being  enacted  in  the  vicinity  of  Prescott,  opposite 
Ogdensburg,  on  the  St.  Lawrence  river. 

BATTLE  OF   WIND  MILL  POINT. 

On  November  14, 1838,  the  patriot  forces,  under  the  command  of 
Gen.  Von  Schultz,  intended  to  have  attacked  Prescott,  but,  by  the 
mismanagement  of  the  steamer  on  which  they  had  embarked, 
they  w^ere  compelled  to  land  at  Wind  Mill  Point,  a  mile  and  a  half 
below^  the  town.  Here,  in  the  stone  wind  mill  and  other  stone 
buildings,  the  command  of  Gen.  Von  Schultz, from  200  to  300  in  num- 
ber, remained  over  night.  Early  the  next  morning  they  were 
attacked  by  the  British  troops,  w^hich  were  several  times  repulsed^ 


PATRIOTS   DEF'EATED — LEADERS  EXECUTED.  597 

Oen.  Von  Schultz,  during  the  engagement,  making  a  sortie,  with 
«ome  fifty  men,  in  the  face  of  the  wrhole  loyalist  force,  and  captur- 
ing a  cannon  ^vhich  was  firing  upon  the  mill.  The  battle  lasted 
about  two  hours,  several  casualties  occurring  on  either  side,  the 
British  l(>ss  being  much  the  greater.  On  the  16th,  having  received 
reinforcements,  the  British  forces,  to  the  number  of  about  300, 
•completely  surrounded  the  w^ind  mill,  and  w^ith  their  heavy  ord- 
nance opened  fire  upon  the  mill  and  other  stone  buildings  occupied 
by  the  insurgents,  w^ho  -were  at  length  obliged  to  abandon  their 
position  and  seek  safety  in  flight.  On  emerging  from  the  buildings, 
they  made  a  desperate  rush  to  break  through  the  British  lines,  but 
being  completely  surrounded  they  w^ere  all,  with  but  a  single 
exception,  taken  prisoners.  The  one  exception  w^as  a  countryman 
of  the  commanding  general,  a  Pole,  who  escaped  the  vigilance  of 
the  captors  by  donning  the  uniform  of  a  British  officer  w^ho  had 
been  slain.  This  defeat  was  a  serious  blow  to  the  Patriots,  but  by 
no  means  the  end  of  the  contest. 

GEN.  VON  SCHULTZ  HUNG. 

Notwithstanding  a  large  deputation  of  the  most  influential 
citizens  of  Ogdensburg  visited  Canada,  in  behalf  of  the  prisoners, 
the  Canadian  authorities  made  short  work  of  the  matter  by  hang- 
ing Gen.  Von  Schultz  and  several  minor  officers  and  transporting 
the  majority  of  his  followers  to  the  then  supposed  to  be  entirely 
out-of-the-world  English  penal  station,  Van  Dieman's  Land,  now 
know^n  as  Tasmania,  in  the  South  Pacific  Ocean,  and  one  of  the 
most  fertile  and  prosperous  of  great  Britain's  colonial  possessions. 
While  these  stirring  events  were  taking  place  upon  Canadian  soil, 
Oen.  Scott  was  by  no  means  inactive  upon  the  American  side  of 
the  line.  Notonly  were  inflocking  recruits  intercepted  and  prevent- 
ed from  joining  the  insurgents,  and  not  onl}^  were  arms  and  muni- 
tions of  w^ar,  large  contributions  of  which  w^ere  made  by  the 
^'Hunters,"  and  other  sympathizers  in  the  movement,  seized  and 
confiscated,  but  the  U.  S.  troops  broke  up  their  Navy  Island 
rendezvous,  and  also  placed  the  instigator  of  the  movement, 
Mackenzie,  under  arrest. 

The  Canadian  Government  had  already  outlaw^ed  the  leader 
of  the  rebellion,  Mackenzie,  and  placed  a  heavy  price  upon  his 
head;  but  there  being  no  extradition  regulations,  by  w^hich  that 
government  could  demand  his  surrender,  he  was  handed  over  to 
the  United  States  civil  authorities,  and,  after  considerable  delay, 
was  tried  for  violation  of  American  laws,  by  making  war  on  Canada, 
in  the  circuit  court  for  the  w^estern  district  of  New  York,  convicted 
and  sentenced  to  twelve  months  imprisonment  in  the  Rochester 
jail.  On  the  expiration  of  his  sentence,  Mackenzie  w^ent  to  New 
York  City,  where  he  became  a  contributor  for  the  Tribune,  his 
writings  being  always  interesting,  and  generally  instructive.  In 
1849  the  Canadian  government  published  a  general  amnesty,  where- 
upon Mackenzie  returned  to  Toronto,  w^here  he  was  soon  after- 
■wards  elected  to  the  colonial  parliament,  of  which  body  he  became 
a  useful  and  influential  member,  and  on  his  retirement  from  that 
position,  he  published  a  weekly  journal  entitled  Mackenzie's 
Message,  until  his  death,  August  26,  1861,  the  Message  attaining 
a  very  large  circulation  for  those  early  days. 


598  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

GENERAL  BIERCE'S  CAMPAIGN. 

Notwithstanding  the  disaster  to  the  eastern  wing  of  the  Patriot 
army,  the  capture  of  Mackenzie,  the  summary  execution  of  Von 
Schultz  and  a  large  number  of  his  subordinate  officers,  and 
the  expatriation  of  their  followers,  General-in-Chief  Bierce  decided 
to  strike  a  blow  in  the  west,  which,  it  was  fondly  hoped,  would 
turn  defeat  into  victory,  and  result  in  the  speedy  disenthrallment 
of  the  oppressed  Canadians.  Hitherto  nearly  all  the  efforts  of  the 
patriots  had  been  made  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Niagara  and  St.  Law- 
rence rivers,  and  it  was  supposed  that  not  only  less  vigilance  on 
the  part  of  the  Canadian  and  United  States  authorities  prevailed 
in  the  west,  but  that,  a  footing  once  obtained  upon  Canadian  soiU 
the  entire  populace  would  not  only  welcome  them  with  open  arms, 
but  w^ould  rise,  en  masse,  and  march  with  their  patriotic  deliverers 
to  the  rescue  of  their  less  fortunate  brethren  in  the  east. 

Accordingly,  through  the  machinery  of  the  Hunters'  organiza- 
tion, several  hundred  recruits  were  mustered  in,  and  secretly 
drilled  in  military  tactics,  and  ordered  to  quietly  rendezvous  in 
Detroit,  the  latter  part  of  November,  1838.  In  this  way  some  40O 
men,  chiefly  from  Ohio  and  Michigan,  had  been,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  faithful  subordinate  officers,  quartered,  as  travelers  and 
individual  citizens,  in  the  smaller  hotels,  boarding  houses  and 
private  residences  of  Detroit,  without  attracting  the  attention  of 
the  authorities,  or  of  the  general  public. 

The  Battle  of  Windsor. — At  length,  everj'^thing  being  in 
readiness,  on  the  night  of  the  3rd  day  of  December,  1838,  the 
men  w^ere  ordered  to  quietly  assemble  at  a  designated  wharf  on 
the  river,  at  the  hour  of  midnight.  In  the  meantime  a  small  but 
"daring"  squad  of  "Hunters"  had  "seized"  the  steamer  Cham- 
plain,  a  Lake  Erie  passenger  boat  lying  at  a  neighboring  wharf, 
the  captain  and  crew^  of  which,  not  being  belligerently  inclined, 
were,  on  promise  to  remain  silent  in  regard  to  the  seizure  until 
daylight,  permitted  to  go  on  shore. 

Among  those  Tvho  accompanied  Gen.  Bierce  upon  this  expedi- 
tion, and  acting  as  his  aide-de-camp,  was  a  young  printer  by  the 
name  of  John  H.  Harmon,  son  of  the  veteran  editor  of  the  Western 
Courier,  the  late  John  Harmon,  of  Ravenna,  and  an  old  personal  and 
political  friend  of  General  Bierce. 

The  Embarkation. — Of  the  400  braise  men  who  had  been 
armed,  drilled,  transported  and  subsisted  from  the  Patriot  fund, 
137,  only,  reported  on  board  the  Champlain  for  duty,  which  num- 
ber, including  officers  and  those  detailed  to  run  the  steamer,  con- 
stituted the  entire  force  of  the  invading  army.  The  steamer  was 
quietly  landed  on  the  Canada  side,  about  four  miles  above  Wind- 
sor, at  w^hich  latter  place  w^as  a  military  barracks,  which  was^ 
supposed  to  contain  a  quantity  of  military  stores,  and  to  be 
guarded  by  about  fifty  British  soldiers.  Gen.  Bierce's  design  was 
to  quietly  surround  and  capture  this  barracks,  without  arousing 
the  garrison  or  the  tow^n. 

Approaching  the  barracks,  just  at  day-break,  a  man  w^as  seen 
running  from  the  river  towards  the  barracks,  who  it  was  surmised 
had  rowed  across  the  river  to  give  the  alarm.  He  w^as  brought 
down  by  a  shot  from  a  patriot  musket,  and  proved  to  be  a  Detroit 
saloon-keeper,    on    the   errand    surmised.      That    shot,    however,. 


GENERAL   BIERCE    IN    CANADA.  599 

aroused  lK)th  the  guards   in  the  barracks  and   the  sleeping  town, 
and  the  project  of  surrounding  the  barracks  was  thus  foiled. 

The  Burning  Barracks. — The  British  soldiers  immediately 
opened  tire  from  the  loop-holes  of  the  braracks,  which  w^as  kept  up 
until  the  patriots  got  so  near  the  building  as  to  be  out  of  range  of 
their  bullets.  Gen.  Bierce  then  ordered  Harmon  to  set  the  barracks 
on  fire,  which  was  accordingly  done.  The  guards,  finding  their 
barracks  on  fire,  came  tumbling  out  in  a  hurry,  several  being  killed, 
a  number  taken  prisoners  and  others  making  their  escape.  Their 
arms  were  taken  away  from  those  captured,  who,  after  a  short 
detention,  v^ere  liberated,  the  patriots  by  this  time  thinking  it 
important  to  be  looking  out  for  themselves. 

Steamer  Thames  Burned — Retaliation. — There  was,  at  the 
time,  lying  at  the  little  wharf  in  front  of  Windsor,  a  small  steamer 
called  the  Thames.  Though  personal  property,  the  boat  was  in 
the  employ  of  the  Canadian  government,  and  to  avenge  the  burn- 
ing of  the  Caroline,  at  Schlosser,  by  order  of  Col.  Macnab,  as  here- 
tofore detailed.  Gen.  Bierce  ordered  the  Thames  to  be  incinerated 
also,  w-hich  was  accordingly  done  by  Mr.  Harmon  and  three 
others,  bearing  with  them,  for  that  purpose,  brands  from  the  still 
burning  barracks. 

[In  a  recent  conversation  with  our  venerable  citizen-farmer, 
Webster  B.  Storer,  an  extensive  boat  builder  in  Akron,  during  the 
palmy  days  of  the  Ohio  Canal,  I  learn  that  the  interior  finishing  of 
the  Thames  was  done  by  him  previous  to  his  coming  to  Akron,  in 
1836,  her  hull  having  been  built  on  the  river  Thames,  in  Canada, 
and  towed  to  Cleveland  for  finish  and  the  placing  of  her  machinery.] 

Anticipating  that  by  this  time  the  main  body  of  British  troops, 
stationed  at  Sandwich,  would  be  on  the  way  to  Windsor,  Gen. 
Bierce  ordered  Colonels  Putnatn  and  Harvell  (the  former  a  grand- 
son of  old  Israel  Putnam,  of  revolutionary  fame),  to  station  them- 
selves, with  about  100  men,  in  an  orchard,  back  of  Windsor,  then  a 
small  hamlet  of  a  dozen  houses  or  so,  only,  to  hold  the  bold  Brit- 
ishers in  check,  while  the  General  himself,  with  his  aid,  and  the 
remainder  of  his  men,  about  30  all  told,  moved  into  Windsor  to  hold 
the  town  itself, 

British  Surgeon  Killed.' — After  this  disposition  of  the  patriot 
forces,  and  soon  after  the  return  of  Mr.  Harmon  and  his  comrades 
from  firing  the  Thames,  doctor  Hume,  a  fine  looking  man,  and  a 
surgeon  in  the  British  regular  army,  with  the  rank  of  major,  rode 
up  to  the  town  on  a  splendid  and  gayly  caparisoned  horse, 
evidently  ^vithout  knowing  who  the  invaders  were.  On  approach- 
ing the  line,  he  was  ordered  to  surrender  by  Capt.  Scott.  The 
doctor,  apparently  not  realizing  w^hat  was  up,  asked,  "to  w^hom 
shall  I  surrender?"  "To  the  Patriots,"  answered  Capt.  Scott.  The 
doctor,  quickly  dismounting,  started  to  walk  away,  with  an 
emphatic  expression  against  surrendering  to  rebels.  Capt. 
Scott  immediately  gave  the  order  to  fire,  and  the  loyal  non-com- 
batant doctor  instantly  fell  dead,  pierced  by  a  dozen  bullets — an 
act  that  at  the  time  was  considered  not  only  very  inhuman,  but 
nearly  akin  to  wilful  and  deliberate  murder;  an  opinion,  I  doubt 
not,  shared  in  by  both  Gen.  Bierce  and  his  aid,  Harmon,  w^ho,  in 
noticing  this  feature  of  the  affair  says:  "Only  part  of  our  force 
fired — the  rest,  among  w^honi  I  was  one — thinking  it  unnecessary 
to  go  to  the  extremes  with  so  brave  a  man." 


60()  AKROX    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Doctor  Hume  carried  b}^  his  side  a  magnificent  surgeon's  sword, 
which  \^as  detached  from  his  body  and  lianded  to  General  Bierce, 
^who  retained  it  as  a  trophy,  and,  in  after  years  during  his  life,  he 
delighted  to  exhibit  it,  when  "  fighting  his  battles  o'er  again,"  to 
interested  if  not  admiring  listeners.  This  sword  was,  by  will, 
among  other  relics,  bequeathed  to  Buchtel  College  by  Gen  Bierce,  in 
the  following  w^ords:  "  My  sw^ord,  captured  from  Major  J.  J.  Hume, 
of  the  British  army,  in  the  battle  of  Windsor,  Canada  West,  Decem- 
ber 4,  1838,  and  by  me  carried  through  the  war  of  the  rebellion 
from  May,  1863,  to  November,  1865,  as  Assistant  Adjutant  General 
of  the  United  States  Volunteers."  It  is  proper  to  remark,  in  this 
connection,  that  Gen.  B.'s  services  in  the  late  war,  were  confined 
entirely  to  routine  work  in  the  office  of  the  adjutant  general,  at 
Columbus,  until  after  the  close  of  the  war,  when,  for  a  few  months, 
in  the  latter  part  of  1865,  he  was  assigned  to  muster-out  duty,  at 
Fort  Madison,  Wisconsin,  and  subsequently  for  a  short  time  was 
placed  in  command  of  Camp  Washburn  at  Milwaukee. 

The  Final  Battle. — As  Doctor  Hume  fell,  firing  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  orchard  was  heard,  and  Gen.  Bierce  dispatched  Mr. 
Harmon,  mounted  upon  the  dead  surgeon's  horse,  to  ascertain  the 
situation  there.  Galloping  hastily  in  that  direction,  a  glance  w^as 
sufficient  to  enable  Mr.  Harmon  to  instantly  divine  the  speedy 
collapse  of  the  expedition.  The  orchard  was  surrounded  by  about 
400  Canadian  soldiers,  under  command,  as  was  afterwards  learned, 
of  Col.  John  Prince,  of  Sandw^ich,  and  other  experienced  British 
officers,  whose  sharp  firing  was  playing  sad  havoc  with  the  little 
Patriot  phalanx  of  about  100  men  only,  w^hile  Col.  Harvell,  a  large 
framed,  fine-looking  Kentuckian,  was  evidently  endeavoring,  with 
the  Patriot  flag  in  his  hand — a  white  star  in  a  blue  field — to  lead 
the  command  in  a  hopeless  retreat.  Being  wounded  in  the  leg, 
the  brave  Kentuckian  faced  about  and  commenced  firing  at  his 
pursuers,  and  vt^hen  his  ammunition  wras  exhausted,  still  defiantly 
brandished  his  bowie-knife  at  them,  until  finally  shot  down  in 
his  tracks.  Thus  ended  the  battle  of  the  orchard,  the  balance  of 
the  command  being  all  either  killed  or  captured. 

The  Flight  for  Life. — Riding  rapidly  back  to  Windsor,  Har- 
mon hastily  reported  to  Gen.  Bierce  that  "all  was  up,"  w^hen  a 
precipitate  retreat  of  the  thirt}'  men  who  had  held  the  town,  w^as 
begun.  Supposing  that  the  steamer  Champlain  was  still  at  the 
landing,  four  miles  above,  thej^  made  their  way  thither  in  a  body, 
though  presumably  without  any  undue  regard  to  military  pre- 
cision, or  martial  bearing.  Col.  Prince,  and  his  command,  evi- 
dently not  being  aware  of  their  presence'in  the  town,  and  suppos- 
ing that  the  100  men  in  the  orchard  comprised  the  entire  Patriot 
force,  the  fugitives  w^ere  not  immediately  pursued. 

On  arriving  at  the  landing,  the  Champlain  w^as  found  to  be 
nnn  est,  and  the  fleeing  Patriots  searched  the  shore  of  the  river  for 
skiffs  and  canoes  in  Avhich  to  ferry  themselves  over  to  Hog  Island. 

A  sufficient  number  for  the  purpose  were  found,  but  there 
being  a  lack  of  oars,  the  butts  of  the  guns  were  used  as  paddles  to 
propel  them  across.  Reaching  the  Island,  the  party  walked  to  the 
other  side.  There  a  single  canoe  only  could  be  found,  in  which 
the  men  w^ere  ferried  across  to  the  American  shore,  a  few  at  a 
time.  Gen.  Bierce  was  among  the  first  to  go  over,  his  friends, 
owing  to  the  bad  humor  of  some  of  the   men  at  the  failure  of  the 


IGNOMINIOUS   COLLAPSE.  601 

expedition,  and  the  whispered  but  distinctly  audible  threats  in 
which  they  indulged  to\^ards  the  commander-in-chief,  deeming  it 
unsafe  for  him  to  remain  until  the  rank  and  file  were  all  safely 
across,  as  genuine  patriotism  would  naturally  have  caused  him 
to  do. 

Capture  by  U.  S.  Troops. — The  United  States  authorities, 
under  the  proclamation  of  President  Van  Buren,in  their  endeavors 
to  maintain  neutrality,  had  chartered  the  steamer  Erie,  and  with 
a  Detroit  military  company,  under  the  command  of  Major  Payne, 
of  the  United  States  Army,  in  cruising  about  the  Detroit  River, 
overhauled  the  last  batch  to  cross  over,  five  in  number,  and  took 
them  on  board  the  steamer,  Mr.  Harmon  being  among  the  number. 
On  being  hailed  by  the  Major  and  ordered  on  board  the  steamer, 
they  quietly  dropped  their  guns  overboard,  so  as  not  to  be  found 
with  arms  in  their  possession.  Being  captured  in  American 
waters,  and  there  being  no  positive  proof  that  the  men  had  been 
in  Canada,  they  w^ere  set  at  liberty  on  reaching  the  wharf  at 
Detroit,  Mr.  Harmom  being  so  kindly  received  by  the  citizens  who 
witnessed  the  arrival  and  discharge  of  himself  and  his  fellow 
prisoners,  that  he  remained  in  that  city  to  the  time  of  his  death, 
in  1888. 

The  Fate  of  the  107. — Of  the  137  men  who  went  upon  this 
necessarily  disastrous  expedition,  all  but  about  30  were  either 
killed  or  captured,  the  most,  if  not  all  of  the  prisoners,  like  those  of 
Gen.  Von  Schultz's  command,  being  transported  to  Van  Dieman's 
Land,  very  few^  of  w^hom,  even  after  the  promulgation  of  the  gen- 
eral amnesty,  as  above  stated,  ever  returned  to  the  United  States. 

This  disastrous  affair  ended  the  contest,  it  being  fully  demon- 
strated, on  the  one  hand,  that  the  people  of  Canada  were  not  so 
ripe  for  revolution  and  independence  as  had  been  represented, 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  government  of  the  United  States 
would  not  stand  idly  by  and  permit  its  citizens  to  organize,  either 
publicly  or  secretly,  military  expeditions  against  the  contiguous 
dependency'  of  a  nation  with  whom  it  was  at  peace.  The  "Hunt- 
ers'" lodges  incontinently  disbanded,  and  the  interest  in  Canadian 
independence  rapidly  w^aned.  It  was  said,  how^ever,  and  generally 
believed,  in  this  vicinity,  that  the  Canadian  government  had 
offered  a  reward  of  £2,000  for  the  capture,  and  delivery  w^ithin  its 
borders,  of  the  American  commander-in-chief  of  the  defunct 
Patriot  Army,  Gen.  Lucius  Verus  Bierce.  Whether  true  or  not, 
the  w^riter  has  reason  to  know  that  the  General  firmly  believed  the 
report,  and  for  many  years  observed  the  utmost  caution  vt^hen  vis- 
iting any  of  the  Lake  cities,  and  even  believed  that  secret  emis- 
saries were  prowling  about  his  own  home,  with  a  view  to  his 
abduction  and  clandestine  delivery  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies. 
It  is  probable,  however,  that  these  rumors  had  no  foundation  in 
fact,  for,  most  certainly,  so  large  a  reward  would  have  tempted 
some  of  the  reckless  spirits  of  that  rather  reckless  period,  to  make 
the  attempt  to  kidnap  and  spirit  him  over  the  border,  though  such 
attempt,  like  his  own  wild  attempt  to  conquer  a  populous  and 
well-protected  province,  with  137  undisciplined  men,  should  igno- 
miniously  fail. 

IN  A  POETIC  MOOD. 

Immediately  after  his  return  from  Detroit,  w^hich,  in  view  of 
the  active  part  Uncle  Sam's  officers  were  playing  in  that  vicinity, 


602  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

■was  somewhat  speedy,  Gen.  Bierce  prepared  the  following  poetical 
adaptation  from  Campbell's  "  Battle  of  Hohenlinden,"  for  publica- 
tion in  a  local  paper,  evincing  not  only  the  General's  enthusiasm 
for  the  "Lost  Cause,"  but  also  a  sort  of  shadow^y  impression  that 
instead  of  suffering  an  ignoininious  defeat,  immortal  glory  had 
inured  to  the  Patriot  cause  from: 

"THE  BATTLE  OF  WINDSOR." 

The  sun  had  set  on  Erie's  wave, 

The  snow-chid  hills  on  which  the  brave 

Reposed,  were  silent  as  the  grave. 

Or  Soldier's  tonibless  sepulcher.  ' 

No  martial  sound,  nor  busy  hum. 
No  clarion  clang,  nor  rattling  drum 
Gave  signal  that  the  time  had  come. 
For  daring  feats  of  chivalry. 

The  soldier  took  his  hasty  meal, 
Then  fixed  the  deadly,  burnished  steel. 
Which  soon  the  tyrant's  fate  would  seal. 
When  joined  in  war's  dread  revelry. 

The  Patriot  band  was  soon  arrayed, 
Their  hearts  beat  high,  but  not  dismayed, 
As  each  one  drew  his  battle  blade 
And  shouted,  "  death  or  victorj'." 

Then  foe  to  foe,  in  contest  view; 
Fierce  flashed  the  fire,  the  rockets  flew, 
And  death  was  revelling  'mid  the  few 

Who  bared  their  breast  courageously. 

The  Patriot  crv  of  deadly  war, 
"Remember  Prescott!"  sounds  afar, 
And  lurid  flames,  and  crashing  jar. 
Push  on  the  dreadful  tragedy. 

The  warrior  foe  in  contest  slain  ; 
The  wounded  strawed  upon  the  plain, 
Make  fuel  for  the  burning  chain. 
Of  barracks  burning  rapidly. 

Now  fiercer  grew  the  dreadful  fight : 
Now  higher  rose  the  lurid  light. 
And  shouts,  and  groans,  as  morning  light 
Appeared,  \verere  mingled  horribly. 

Ah,  dreadful  sight !    As  morn  arose. 
The  mingled  corse  of  friends  and  foes. 
Bestrewed  the  ground  amid  the  snows 

That  formed  their  only  sepulcher.  B, 

GEN.  BIERCE  IN  UNITED  STATES  COURT. 

In  Cleave's  Biographical  Encyclopaedia,  in  a  sketch  evidently 
w^ritten  by  Gen.  Bierce,  himself,  it  is  stated  that  "after  the  disaster 
at  Prescott,  he  led  the  remainder  of  his  forces  through  Western 
Canada,  capturing  Sandwich  on  his  way,  and  burning  the  barracka 
and  taking  Windsor.  The  main  body  of  his  forces,  under  General 
Putnam,  being  defeated,  he,  with  a  force  of  25  men,  kept  an  attack- 
ing force  of  500  at  bay  until  he  succeeded  in  crossing  over  into 
Michigan  and  was  safe.  He  w^as  tw^ice  indicted  in  the  United 
States  Courts  for  violation  of  the  neutrality  laws,  and  responded 
to  the  indictments,  but  the  matter  was  dropped,  and  he  resumed 
his  law  practice  in  Akron." 

In  his  ow^n  "Historical  Recollections  of  Summit  County,"  in 
closing  his  account  of  the  Battle  of  Windsor,  he  says:  "Thus 
terminated,  as  Gen.  Bierce  had  foreseen  it  w^ould,  after  the  fatal 
expedition  to  Fort  Wellington,  the  campaign  of  1838,  and  the 
Patriot  War.  *  *  *  Soon,  however,  he  was  called  before  the 
United  States  Court  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  to  answer  for  a  violation 


A   CARD   FROM    AIDE-DE-CAMP   HARMON.  603 

of  the  Neutrality  Law  of  1818,  but  with  as  pointed  a  charge  as 
Judge  McLean  could  give,  so  popular  was  the  the  man  and  his 
cause,  that  a  grand  jury  could  not  be  induced  to  indict  him." 

A  CLOSING  WORD  FROM   MR.  HARMON. 

Not  finding  Gen.  Bierce's  name  mentioned  in  any  of  the  news- 
paper accounts  of  the  Windsor  affair,  I  addressed  a  note  to  Mr. 
Harmon,  after  the  foregoing  was  w^ritten,  as  to  w^hether,  for  pru- 
dential reasons,  he  adopted  some  other  name,  to  which  Mr.  Har- 
mon responded  as  follows:  "In  regard  to  Gen.  Bierce,  justice  has 
never  been  done  in  his  case.  He  was  in  command  throughout  the 
short  campaign.  There  was  jealousy  on  the  part  of  Cols.  Harvell 
and  Putnam,  and  they  did  not  lose  an  opportunity  to  prejudice 
officers  and  men.  They  were  both  killed  in  the  Orchard  Battle.  I 
Avas  Gen.  Bierce's  Aid,  and  knew^  all  the  difficulties.  Gen.  Bierce 
saw^,  before  leaving  this  side,  the  outcome,  and  tried  to  persuade 
me  to  remain  on  the  Detroit  side.  I  resolved  to  go  where  he  went, 
and  did  so.  He  behaved  nobly,  and  protected  the  men  w^ho  fol- 
lowed him.  Gen.  Bierce  did  not  sail  under  false  colors.  In  cross- 
ing from  the  Island  w^e  changed  clothing,  to  save  him  from  arrest 
by  the  United  States  authorities.  He  did  avoid  arrest,  and  I  w^as 
taken  by  the  U.  S.  Military,  but  released  when  my  identity  was 
discovered." 

THE  END. 

Thus  has  been  collated,  at  some  length,  an  episode  in  national 
and  international  history,  which,  over  half  a  century  ago,  very 
largely  convulsed  the  public  mind  of  both  Europe  and  America, 
and  in  which  Akron  and  Summit  county  bore  a  more  conspicuous 
part  than  any  other  county  in  Ohio,  not  only  furnishing  the 
"Commander-in-Chief,"  as  above  related,  but  quite  a  large  propor- 
tion of  privates  also,  w^ith  a  liberal  supply  of  arms,  ammunition 
and  money,  in  addition  to  the  "moral"  aid  of  public  meetings, 
resolutions,  patriotic  speeches,  etc.,  as  above  set  forth. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

SECOND  ADVENTIvSM— THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  PREDICTED— APRIL  4,  1843, 
THE  DAY  OF  DOOM— GREAT  EXCITEMENT  IN  AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY 
— THE  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH  TWICE  RENT  ASUNDER  BY  ITS  ERRATIC 
PASTOR— MISCALCULATION  IN  DATES— FINAL  CRASH  POSTPONED  ONE  YEAR 
— THE  FAITHFUL  STILL  SANGUINE— ERECTION  OF  A  TABERNACLE— FEET 
WASHING  ORGIES^ATTEMPT  TO  WORK  MIRACLES  -PELTED  WITH  ADDLED 
EGGS— MADNESS  AND  SELF-MUTILATION -SPIRITUAL  MARRIAGES— PROSE- 
CUTED FOR  ADULTERY— TABERNACLE  BLOWN  UP— THE  END  WILL  NOT 
COME — MILLER,  ITS  PATRON  SAINT,  "GIVES  IT  UP " — "A  DELUSION  FROM 
THE  FOUNDATION"— LOCAL  ORGANIZATION  GOES  TO  PIECES— A  FEW  STILL 
STICK— JOINING  THE  SHAKERS,  ETC. — WONDERFUL  POWER  OF  HUMBUG! 

SECOND  ADVENTISM   AND   ITS  FOUNDER. 

/^NE  of  the  most  exciting  episodes  in  the  history  of  Akron  and 
^-^  of  Summit  County,  was  the  reign  of  "Milierism,"  or  "Second 
Adventism,"  here,  from  1841  to  1846,  For  the  enlightenment  of 
the  more  youthful  readers  of  these  pages,  a  brief  sketch  of  the 
founder  of  this  sect,  and  the  reasons  by  which  he  was  actuated  in 
the  promulgation  of  his  erratic  doctrines,  w^ill  be  in  order. 

William  Miller  w^as  born  in  Massachusetts,  in  1781,  and  was 
bred  to  the  occupation  of  a  farmer.  He  was  a  volunteer  in  the  War 
of  1812,  rising  to  the  rank  of  Captain,  serving  mainly  upon  the 
Canadian  frontier.  His  education  w^as  quite  limited,  but  being  of 
a  religious  turn  of  mind,  he  applied  himself  to  a  diligent  examina- 
tion of  the  Scriptures,  and  especially  to  a  thorough  study  of  the 
prophecies,  and  by  an  ingenious  combination  of  symbols,  dates  and 
figures  he  evolved  his  theory  that  the  Second  Coming  of  Christ, 
and  the  destruction  of  the  w^orld,  would  occur  in  1843.  The  precise 
day  w^as  not  at  first  named  by  him,  but  later  on,  either  by  himself 
or  his  follow^ers,  the  time  w^as  fixed  for  April  4th  of  that  year. 
About  the  year  1833,  Mr.  Miller  commenced  to  promulgate  his  new 
doctrine  in  local  talks  and  lectures;  but  his  fame  at  length  began 
to  spread,  and  the  desire  to  hear  him  became  so  great,  that  his 
farm  labors  were  suspended,  and  his  entire  time  and  energies 
devoted  thereto,  so  that  by  the  time  fixed  for  the  winding  up  of  all 
temporal  affairs  on  earth,  it  was  estimated  that  his  followers,  in 
the  United  States,  the  Canadas  and  Great  Britain,  numbered  not 
less  than  50,000  souls. 

ADVENT   OF   "SECOND   ADVENTISM"   IN   AKRON. 

In  the  year  1839,  a  talented,  but  somewhat  eccentric  preacher, 
by  the  name  of  James  D.  Pickands,  was  called  to  the  pastorate  of 
the  First  Congregational  Church  of  Akron,  whose  house  of  worship 
—the  first  church  edifice  erected  in  the  village — then  stood  upon 
the  Court  House  grounds,  but  was  afterw^ards  removed  to  the 
corner  of  High  and  Quarry  streets,  where  it  later,  for  several  years, 
did  service  as  a  parochial  school  for  the  German  Lutheran  Society, 


THE    EVENT   FAILS   TO    EVENTUATE.  605- 

giving  place,  in  1889,  to  their  present  more  imposing  brick  struct- 
ure. About  this  time  some  of  "Father  Miller's"  proselytes  began 
to  preach  the  new  doctrine  in  the  west,  a  series  of  that  class  of 
meetings  being  held  in  Akron  in  1840,  '41,  resulting  in  a  number  of 
accessions  to  the  faith — some  of  them  good  and  pure  men  and 
women  and  sincere  Christians,  and  some  of  them  of  rather  a 
doubtful  status  for  either  piety  or  morality. 

Among  those  who  began  to  investigate  the  subject  was  the 
Congregational  pastor,  who,  though  not  at  first  fully  endorsing  or 
preaching  the  doctrine,  became  so  "free  and  easy"  in  his  pulpit 
utterances  as  to  alienate  quite  a  large  number  of  the  members  of 
his  church,  who,  after  a  vain  endeavor  to  work  a  reformation  in 
his  theology,  or  to  accomplish  his  dismissal,  themselves  w^ithdrew^ 
and  on  the  8th  day  of  June,  1842,  organized  the  Second  Congrega- 
tional Church  of  Akron,  being  the  same  societj'^  that  is  now  known 
as  the  First  Congregational  Church  of  this  city,  building  for 
themselves  a  house  of  w^orship  on  North  Main  street,  the  same 
building  lately  occupied  as  a  livery  stable  by  Mr.  George  Wulle. 
From  this  time  on,  Mr.  Pickands  rapidly  gravitated  toAvards  the 
new  faith,  and  finally,  as  "Time"  approached  its  predicted  "End," 
he  was  wholly  en  rapport  with  its  most  confident  and  most 
earnest  advocates. 

A  majority  of  the  remnant  of  his  congregation  w^ere  w^ith  him, 
and  an  effort  was  made  to  exorcise  the  minority  and  retain  posses- 
sion of  the  house  for  the  promulgation  of  the  new  faith,  but  it  was 
found  that  this  could  not  be  done,  inasmuch  as  the  lot  had  been 
donated,  by  General  Simon  Perkins,  for  the  exclusive  use  and 
behoof  of  the  Congregational  Church.  Upon  this  discovery  the 
Adventists  themselves  withdre\v,  holding  their  meetings  in  the 
groves  and  Avoods,  and  subsequently  building  for  themselves  a 
"Tabernacle" — a  temporary  structure,  30  by  60  feet,  with  plain 
board  seats  and  desk,  and  sawdust  floor — upon  the  opposite  side 
of  South  High  street. 

GREAT   DISAPPOINTMENT— NEW   "COUNT." 

Though  many  sincere  believers  in  the  doctrine,  blindly  follow- 
ing their  enthusiastic  leaders,  had  made  every  preparation,  regu- 
lating all  their  worldly  transactions  to  fit  the  date  of  the  predicted 
consummation  of  all  sublunary  affairs — some  even  distributing 
their  effects  among  their  neighbors,  and  large  numbers  (as  was 
alleged)  having  provided  themselves  vt^ith  "Ascension  Robes,"  of 
purest  w^hite,  in  v^hich  to  mount  to  heaven  with  the  rejoicing  hosts 
— the  4th  of  April  passed  without  the  realization  of  their  hopes. 

Father  Miller  and  his  numerous  talented  lieutenants  set  them- 
selves to  w^ork  to  revise  the  "tally  sheets,"  to  ascertain,  if  possible, 
the  cause  of  their  discomfiture.  It  was  finally  found,  by  either  the 
Great  Apostle  himself,  or  some  of  his  "lightning  calculators,"  that 
there  had  been  just  a  year's  mistake  in  the  figures,  and  the  end 
w^ould  surely  come  on  the  23d  day  of  April,  1844. 

After  the  discovery  of  this  perplexing  blunder,  and  the  due 
correction  of  the  "Time  Tables,"  the  Advent  trains  w^ere  again 
started,  under  a  far  greater  head  of  steam  than  before,  and  at  a  largely 
increased  rate  of  speed.  The  local  lights  of  the  faithful,  both 
ministers  and  laymen,  became  extremely  active,  not  only  zealously 
laboring  "in  season  and  out  of  season,"  Bible  in  hand,  with  their 


606  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

unbelieving  neighbors,  on  the  streets,  in  their  places  of  business, 
and  at  their  several  abodes;  not  only  holding  enthusiastic  nightly 
meetings  in  their  places  of  worship,  and  at  private  residences,  but 
calling  the  people  together,  en  masse,  in  grove  and  camp  meet- 
ings, by  extensive  advertising,  both  by  attractive  posters  and  in 
public  prints.  As  a  sample,  the  following  advertisement  is  copied 
from  the  Summit  Beacon  of  August  9,  1843 : 

SECOND  ADVENT   CAMP   MEETING,   IN   SPRINGFIELD,   NEAR 
AKRON,  AUGUST  17. 

There  will  be  a  Second  Advent  Camp  Meeting-  (if  time  shall  continue),  to 
begin  oti  Thursday,  the  17th  day  of  August  next,  in  Spring-field,  Summit 
County,  Ohio,  about  six  miles  southeast  of  Akron,  on  the  Canton  road,  at  the 
same  place  occupied  last  3'ear  by  a  camp  meeting.  All  who  love  the  appear- 
ing of  our  Lord,  are  earnestly  requested  to  attend,  prepared  with  tents,  to 
remain  throughout  the  meeting.  Boarding  will  be  provided  on  the  ground 
for  those  who  cannot  bring  their  own  provisions.  The  following  named 
ministers,  among  others,  are  expected  to  attend  and  preach:  Brethren  Fitch, 
Sawin,  Needhain,  Poe,  Baker,  McCue,  Sheldon  and  Pickands.  Come  up, 
brethren  and  sisters,  to  the  feast — let  nothing  hinder  you.  Remember  the 
time  is  short. 

This  call  w^as  signed  by  parties  living  in  Springfield,  Moga- 
dore,  Canton,  Middlebury,  Cuyahoga  Falls  and  Akron,  several  of 
\vhom  are  still  living. 

Of  this  meeting,  Hiram  Bowen,  Esq.,  in  the  Beacon  of  August 
23,  1843,  editorially  said  : 

The  Millerites  are  holding  a  camp  meeting  in  Springfield,  six  miles 
east  of  this  village.  Great  numbers  of  people  are  in  attendance — it  was  esti- 
inated  that  from  three  to  five  thousand  persons  were  on  the  g-round  on  Sun- 
da3^  last.  We  cannot  learn  that  they  are  making  many  new  converts  to  their 
doctrines,  most  of  the  people  attending  throug^h  mere  curiositJ^ 

Meantime  the  unbeliever  and  scoffer  were  constantly  poking 
fun  at  their  "terribly  in  earnest"  and  zealous  neighbors,  in  vari- 
ous ways,  and  especially  in  business  adv^ertisements,  Wilcox,  Huse 
&  Co.,  of  Middlebury,  manufacturers  of  chairs,  heading  their 
advertisement,  "  If  Time  Continues,"  and  Harr3^  Pardee,  in  the 
same  line  of  business,  giving  a  counter  blast  under  the  head  of 
"  Time  Continues  ! " 

The  Beacon,  of  December  20,  1843,  contains  this  item: 

Father  Miller  lately  visited  Rochester,  New  York,  where  he  devoted  one 
whole  week  to  dealing  out  exhortations  and  admonitions  in  relation  to  the 
awful  destruction  which  awaits  this  sinful  world,  on  the  22nd  day  of  March, 
next,  according  to  the  improved  reckoning-,  which  22nd  daj^of  March,  Gentile 
time,  is  equivalent  to  the  23rd  daj^  of  April,  Jewish  time.  During-  the  whole 
time  of  his  sojourn  there,  he  was  listened  to  by  congregations,  dailj^  and 
nightl}^,  ranging  between  one  and  two  thousand.  He  departed  thence  to 
enlighten  the  good  people  of  Lockport,  and  other  cities,  in  relation  to  the 
near  approach  of  the  consummation  of  all  things. 

The  22nd  day  of  March,  as  well  as  the  23rd  day  of  April,  1844, 
came  and  Avent,  like  other  similar  days  since  the  dawn  of  time, 
and  great  w^as  the  grief  and  disappointment  among  the  true  and 
earnest  believers,  w^hile  equally  great  was  the  joy  of  the  unbeliev- 
ing but  fearful  multitude,  that  the  predicted  day  of  doom  had 
safely  passed.  At  a  meeting  held  in  the  Tabernacle,  in  Boston,  on 
the  4th  day  of  June,  1844,  Father  Miller  acknowledged  that  he  had 
made  a  great  mistake  about  the  end   of  the  world.      The  time  had 


THE   CRAZE    RAPIDLY    AND    RABIDLY   INCREASES.  607 

gone  by  and  he  must  confess  that  he  knew  nothing  about  it.  Yet 
notwrithstanding  the  failure  of  both  his  definite  and  proximate 
prophecies,  Father  Miller  still  held  to  the  belief  that  the  end  -would 
come  soon,  and  in  a  modified  way,  continued  his  labors,  while  his 
local  adherents,  in  Akron  and  elsewhere,  not  only  contitiued  their 
labors,  but  were  constantly  promulgating  new  dogmas  and 
adding  new^  features  to  their  modes  of  public  w^orship  and  their 
private  teachings  and  practices. 

FATHER  MILLER  IN  AKRON. 

On  the  13th  day  of  August,  1844,  Father  Miller  visited  Akron 
and  addressed  large  crowds  of  people,  assembled  in  and  about  the 
Tabernacle,  both  in  the  afternoon  and  evening.  His  discourses, 
delivered  in  a  plain  and  unostentatious  manner,  w^ere  mainly 
devoted  to  the  elucidation  of  the  prophecies  on  which  his  calcula- 
tions had  been  based,  and  which,  though  there  had  been  some 
slight  error  in  his  interpretations  and  computations,  he  still 
believed  to  be  substantially  correct,  and  that  the  end  was  near  at 
hand,  closing  with  an  earnest  exhortation  to  those  still  outside  the 
fold,  to  fly  from  impending  wrath  by  an  immediate  preparation, 
and  a  continuous  watching  and  praying  for  the  coming  of  the 
Lord.  Though  this  demonstration  made  no  very  great  impression 
upon  the  large  audiences  in  attendance,  the  greater  portion  being 
present  from  mere  curiosity,  it  had  the  effect  of  very  greatly  stim- 
ulating his  adherents,  and  augmenting  their  zeal,  in  the  propaga- 
tion of  their  doctrines,  resulting  to  some  extent,  in  an  increase  of 
their  proselytes  and  members. 

The  Second  Advent  organs  (of  w^hich  there  w^ere  many),  also 
took  on  new  ardor  and  began  to  promulgate  new^  data  for  the  final 
"Wreck  of  Matter  and  Crash  of  Worlds;"  Brother  Storrs,  of  New- 
York,  editor  of  the  Midnight  Cry  and  the  Bible  Examiner, 
as  w^ell  as  one  of  the  most  po\^erful  preachers  of  the  dogma,  say- 
ing, in  a  sermon  published  in  the  Examiner,  early  in  October, 
1844,  that  the  ^vorld  would  positivelj"  come  to  an  end  the  22nd  or 
23rd  of  that  month,  or  be  postponed  fifty  years;  a  speaker  in  the 
Tabernacle,  here,  about  the  same  time,  assuring  his  hearers,  that 
they  would  "never  see  another  cold  Winter." 

Baptism  by  immersion,  if  not  at  first  considered  an  essential 
elementof  the  Second  Advent  creed,  at  length  came  to  be  so  regarded, 
and  about  this  time  many  of  the  old  believers,  and  all  of  the  new 
converts,  were  duly  submerged  beneath  the  rather  chilly  waters  of 
the  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  Canal.  A  local  paper  (the  Cascade 
Roarer),  of  October  8,  1844,  said:  "Five  persons  were  baptized 
into  the  Millerite  faith  on  Sunday  last  and  several  more  on  Mon- 
day. The  cause  seems  to  be  prospering  in  these  diggings."  The 
next  issue  of  the  same  paper  (October  15,  1844),  says:  "The 
Adventists  are  doing  a  splashing  business  in  the  immersion  line, 
having  submerged  some  thirty  or  forty  in  the  canal  on  Sabbath 
last,  and  among  the  rest  some  six  or  eight  children,  from  six  to 
ten  years  of  age;"  and  in  its  issue  of  October  22,  remarks:  "Our 
Second  Advent  friends  have  fixed  upon  this  day  as  the  very  last — 
or  to-morrow  as  the  extreme  fag-end  of  time,  and  many  of  them 
have  acted  accordingly,  by  stopping  all  kinds  of  business,  settling 
up  their  affairs,  paying  off  their  debts  (strange  infatuation  !)  giv- 
ing away  their  provisions  and  effects,  warning  their  neighbors  to 


608  AKRON   AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

prepare  for  the  awiul  day,  and  in  sundry  and  various  other  Avays- 
making  themselves  as  supremely  ridiculous  as  possible."  In  its 
issue  of  October  24,  the  same  paper  says:  "  The  Adventists  of  this 
place  have  given  us  fifteen  days  longer,  on  account  of  one  hour 
which  was  not  taken  into  the  calculation  of  Brothers  Miller,  Storrs^ 
&  Co.,"  the  same  issue  announcing  the  miraculous  cure  of  a  young 
lady  in  the  family  of  one  of  the  faithful,  who  had  not  left  her  bed 
for  four  years,  through  the  exercise  of  faith,  and  who  immediately 
commenced  attending  the  meetings  at  the  Tabernacle,  in  appar- 
ently good  health;  also,  that  during  family  worship  in  another 
family,  there  occurred  an  instantaneous  restoration  to  conscious- 
ness and  health,  of  a  child  lying  in  its  mother's  arms,  apparently 
insensible  from  an  acute  attack  of  chill-fever. 

Barly  in  November,  1844,  Brother  Storrs,  in  his  Midnight 
Crj^  makes  a  statement  in  which  he  says:  "I  confess  that  I  have 
been  led  into  error,  and  have  thereby  led  others  astray,  in  advising 
Advent  believers  to  leave  business  entirely  and  attend  meetings 
only;  though  I  have  usually  qualified  that  advice  by  excepting 
business  a bsolatelj^ necessary  for  present  necessity^." 

In  commenting  upon  this,  his  neighbor,  the  New^  York  True 
Sun,  pertinently  said:  "What  compensation  is  the  confession  to 
hundreds  \^ho  have  been  ruined  in  property  and  in  mind  by  the 
delusive  prophecies  of  Brother  Storrs  and  his  associates?  Confes- 
sion will  not  restore  the  dead  who  have  perished  from  exposure,  nor 
re-illumine  with  the  spark  of  reason  the  darkened  intellect;  nor 
clothe  the  naked  and  feed  the  hungry;  nor  relieve  one  jot  or  tittle 
of  the  misery,  wretchedness  and  despair  which  Millerism  has 
inflicted  upon  its  victims."  And  apropos  of  the  evils  resulting 
from  the  Second  Advent  delusion,  the  following,  from  an  Akron 
paper,  of  November  12,  1844,  will  be  strongly  confirmatory  of  the 
Sun's  remarks: 

"More  Millerism  and  Madness. — ^Last  week  Mr.  Ira  Viets,  of 
Cuyahoga  Falls,  having  become  a  dupe  to  the  Second  Advent 
doctrine  that  all  earthly  passions  are  sinful,  and  that  the  com- 
mand: 'If  thy  member  offends  thee,  cut  it  off,'  should  be  taken 
literally,  most  barbarously  mutilated  himself  with  a  plane-bit  and 
mallet.  He  is  no^v  upon  the  to\vn,  under  the  doctor's  care,  aw^ait- 
ing  the  Second  Advent,  or  the  end  of  time,  which  it  is  thought 
may  soon  take  place  for  him,  as  it  is  somew^hat  doubtful  whether 
he  will  escape  the  consequences  of  his  rash  act,  even  ^vith  his  life; " 
the  same  paper  in  its  issue  of  July  1,  1845,  saying  that  Mr.  Viets 
was  then  confined  in  the  county  jail,  "  a  perfect  lunatic  from  the 
delusive  and  inconsistent  dogma  of  Millerism."  And  the  writer 
w^ill  here  add,  that  there  were  several  others  in  this  immediate 
vicinity — notably  w^omen — whose  minds  were  permanently  unbal- 
anced, and  their  domestic  relations  seriously  disturbed,  and  in 
some  instances  entirely  broken  up,  by  the  delusion. 

The  Holy  Kiss — Feet-Washing,  Etc. — The  Augusta  (Maine) 
Age,  in  March,  1845,  said  of  the  Second  Adventistt.  of  that  vicinity: 
"The  'Receivers,'  as  they  style  themselves,  of  the  Millerite fallacies, 
have  discovered  a  new^  theory,  which  is  that  the  day  of  grace  has 
been  passed,  and  that  w^e  are  all  now  in  Eternity,  and  that  the 
aw^ful  horrors  of  a  general  Judgment  are  soon  to  be  manifested  to 
all  eyes.  Some  of  them  take  special  pains  to  humble  themselves, 
and  for  this  purpose  wash  and  kiss  each  other's  feet,  creep  upon 


THE    (iKKAT    APOSTLE    CilVES    FT    UP.  (!09 

the  floor,  etc.,  their  coiuhict,  in  some  instances,  being  revolting 
in  the  extreme."  The  day  of  grace  and  Kternity  theory,  did  not 
ol)tain  here,  to  any  extent,  hut  the  kissing,  feet-washing  and  roll- 
ing upon  the  floor — stricken  down  l)y  the  'power  of  the  holy 
spirit' — tom -foolery  was  adopted  by  a  portion  of  the  local  faithful, 
though  it  is  but  simple  justice  to  say,  right  here,  that  the  more 
intelligent  and  well-balanced  among  the  believers  drew  the  line 
oji  these  practices,  and  that  only  the  more  infatuated,  and  the  dis- 
honest among  them,  participated  in  the  well  authenticated  disgust- 
ing powwows  of  this  character  that  were  for  several  months 
indulged  in.  At  all  events,  certain  peculiar  services  were  held 
almost  nightl3^  at  which  none  but  the  most  faithful  of  the  faithful 
were  admitted,  thoxigh  there  w^as  sufficient  leakage,  from  one  and 
another,  to  fully  demonstrate  the  revolting  nature  of  those  secret 
orgies. 

FATHER  MILLER  GIVES  IT  UP. 

Early  in  October,  1845,  Father  Miller  published  an  address  to 
his  deluded  followers,  frankly  acknowledging  his  great  error,  in 
predicting  the  end  of  the  world,  closing  as  follows:  "For  my 
indiscretions  and  errors,  I  ask  pardon,  and  all  who  have  spoken 
evil  of  me  without  cause,  I  freely  forgive.  My  labors  are  princi- 
pally ended. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  the  Great  Apostle  of  Millerism — Father 
Miller  himself — frankly  renounced,  and  wholly  repudiated,  the 
doctrines  which  he  had  originated,  and  so  long  advocated,  the 
local  "small  fry"  Adventists  of  the  country  still  keep  pegging 
away,  and  though  not  pretending  to  designate  any  particular  day, 
or  even  month,  or  year,  for  the  final  "wind  up,"  continued  to 
])romulgate  new  dogmas,  and  fulminate  new  prophecies,  through 
which  to  render  themselves  still  more  ridiculous,  and  to  still 
further  disgust  the  public  mind,  as  will  be  seen   in  what  follows. 

The  "Simon-pures"  of  this  vicinity — united  in  what  they 
denominated  "The  Advent  Band,"  the  very  holiest  of  the  holy,  of 
that  extremely  holy  people.  Among  the  very  earliest  of  the  con- 
verts to  the  Second  Advent  faith  was  a  Mrs.  Oreen,  a  thoroughly 
honest  and  sincerely  pious  lady,  the  wife  of  Col.  Lyman  Green, 
for  many  years  one  of  Akron's  best  known  hotel  keepers.  Mrs. 
Green,  like  many  other  honest  and  earnest  christian  women,, 
became  entirely  infatuated  w^ith  the  delusion,  readily  accepting,, 
and  conscientiously  entering  into,  all  the  dogmas  that  w^ere  from 
time  to  time  proclaimed,  and  w^ho,  of  course,  became  a  devoted 
member  of  the  "charmed  circle" — the  Advent  Band.  Like  many 
of  the  other  "ungodly"  husbands,  whose  wives  were  thus  dis- 
tracted from  their  domestic  and  wifely  duties.  Col.  Green  tried 
every  possible  argument,  and  made  use  of  every  possible  mode  of 
persuasion,  both  w^ith  Mrs.  G.  and  her  pastor,  to  restore  her  to  her 
family  and  her  domestic  duties,  but  in  vain. 

The  Colonel  then  thought  he  would  try  wdiat  virtue  there  was 
in  the  law  for  the  redress  of  his  grievances.  Accordingly  criminal 
proceedings  w^ere  instituted  against  her  pastor,  charging  him  with 
assault  and  battery  upon  the  person  of  Mrs.  Green,  in  saluting  her 
with  the  holy  kiss,  w^ashing  her  feet,  etc.,  in  the  exercise  of  his 
brotherly  devotions  and  his  pastorly  functions.  The  suit  was 
brought  before  the   late  Gen,   Philo  Chamberlin,  then    mayor  of 

89 


CIO  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT  COUNTY.     . 

Akron,  December  13,  1845,  Gen.  Lucius  V.  liierce  acting  as  attor- 
ney for  the  State,  the  accused  officiating  in  his  own  defense.  The 
witnesses  were  all,  necessarily,  members  of  the  "Band,"  who, 
disavowing  all  allegiance  to  human  laws,  refused  to  be  sworn,  but 
linall3'^  consented  to  affirm,  under  the  pains  and  penalties  of  per- 
jury', to  "Tell  the  truth,  the  whole  truth  and  nothing  but  the 
truth."  Though  the  general  fact  was  admitted  that  feet-washing 
and  the  holy  kiss  were  part  and  parcel  of  their  devotions,  the 
testimony  was  so  obscure,  under  the  skilful  management  of  the 
defendant,  as  to  the  actual  contact  of  himself  and  Mrs.  Green,  in 
those  peculiar  modes  of  >vorship,  and  his  plea  so  convincing  to 
His  Honor,  that  he  was  triumphantly  acquitted. 

The  Tabernacle  Blown  Up. — Ten  days  later,  December  23, 
1845,  at  about  8  o'clock  in  the  evening,  a  loud  report  shook  the 
very  foundations  of  the  town,  which  Avas  at  first  supposed  to  be  the 
explosion  of  one  of  the  Austin  Powder  Company's  mills,  located 
on  Avhat  is  now  known  as  Fountain  Park — a  sound  that  was  quite 
common  to  the  people  of  Akron  and  vicinity,  about  those  days.  It 
was  soon  discovered,  however,  that  it  was  no  poAvder  mill  explo- 
sion, but  the  explosion  of  a  keg  of  powder  that  some  ungodly  hand 
had  placed  in  or  under  the  Second  Advent  Tabernacle,  on  South 
High  street,  by  which  the  front  end,  including  the  pulpit,  had 
been  entirely  blown  out,  and  the  balance  of  the  structure,  irre- 
trievably wrecked. 

In  the  Cascade  Roarer,  the  writer,  in  speaking  of  this  affair, 
said:  "No  matter  hoAv  supremely  ridiculous  the  conduct  of  any 
individuals,  or  of  any  sect,  may  be,  such  acts  of  dire  depravity 
should  by  no  means  be  countenanced.  It  is  fostering  a  spirit  of 
mobocracy  which  may  yet  require  a  mighty  and  bloody  struggle 
to  overpower.  If  w^e  have  laws,  let  us  regard  them;  if  they  are  not 
sufficient  to  punish  and  protect,  let  us  enact  such  as  are.  We  hope 
the  perpetrators  of  this  foul  deed  will  not  go  unwhipped  of  justice. 
The  act  cannot  be  of  the  slightest  benefit  to  the  community.  The 
persecuted  fanatic  always  prospers;  and  this  last  act  will  only 
cause  these  monomaniacs  to  increase  their  zeal  and  redouble  their 
diligence." 

Attempt  to  Heal  a  Broken  Leg  by  Prayer. — As  was  antici- 
pated, the  persecutions  above  recorded  served  only  to  "enthuse" 
the  deluded  Adventists,  w^hose  proceedings  were,  if  possible,  more 
disgusting  and  more  reprehensible  than  before.  In  our  own  town, 
a  miracle  was  sought  to  be  performed  as  follows:  A  middle-aged 
lady,  the  wife  of  a  former  highly  respected  builder,  and  the  mother 
of  one  of  our  present  most  active  and  useful  business  men,  and 
in  every  way  a  most  estimable  woman,  was  a  faithful  attend- 
ant upon  all  the  meetings  of  the  band.  She  was  a  very  heavy 
w^oman,  and  early  in  the  month  of  January,  1846,  on  leaving  the 
private  residence  where  a  meeting  had  been  held,  late  in  the  even- 
ing, she  either  slipped  or  made  a  misstep  and  fell,  very  badly 
breaking  one  of  her  legs.  She  w^as  carried  back  into  the  house, 
Avhere,  notwithstanding  a  physician  ^was  called  by  an  unbelieving 
neighbor,  it  was  sought  by  the  faithful  to  re-unite  the  broken 
bones  through  the  efficacj''  of  prayer,  the  grand  master  of  ceremo- 
nies, meantime,  peremptorily  commanding  the  suffering  w^oman 
to  "rise  up  and  Avalk."  But  though  the  prayers  were  vehement 
and  confident,  and  though   the  command  to  "rise   up  and   walk" 


"spiritual"  marriages.  611 

Avas  authoritatively  and  unctuousU^  repeated,  the  broken  bone 
would  not  heal,  and  the  crippled  and  suffering  woman  was,  after 
an  hour  or  more  of  enforced  torture,  finally  handed  over  to  the 
ungodly  and  mortal  "saw-bones"  who  had  been  called,  for  a 
reduction  of  the  fracture  and  relief  from  pain. 

Spiritual  Marriages— Trial  for  Adultery.  —  Among  the 
many  peculiar  tenets  of  faith  embraced  and  practiced  by  a  portion 
of  this  peculiar  people,  was  that  of  spiritual  marriages,  and  about 
the  middle  of  Februarj'^,  1846,  a  couple  who  had  thus  gravitated 
together  as  "  Spiritual  Affinities,"  were  arraigned  before  Justice 
Henry  Converse,  and  tried  under  "carnal"  law,  on  the  charge 
of  adultery.  The  pastor,  though  refusing  to  take  the  judicial  oath, 
on  the  ground  that  it  would  be  an  acknowledgment  of  the  obliga- 
tion of  human  laws,  affirmed,  under  the  pains  and  penalties  of  per- 
jury, that  the  defendants  came  to  his  house  February  17;  informed 
him  that  they  were  a  brother  and  sister  in  the  true  faith,  and  had 
been  brought  together  by  the  spirit  of  God,  in  the  bonds  of  spiritual 
■matrimony;  that  the  man  had  abandoned  "his  wife  according  to 
the  flesh,"  at  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  about  four  months  before,  and  that 
the  woman  had  deserted  a  carnal  husband  about  the  same  time,  at 
Hamburg,  Brie  county,  N.  Y.,  preparatory  to  their  present  spiritual 
union;  that  they  had  journeyed  together  from  Hamburg  to 
Toronto,  Canada,  back  again  to  the  state  of  New  York,  and  thence 
to  Cleveland,  and  finally  to  Akron,  and  that  upon  this  open  avowal 
he  had,  in  the  fellowship  of  the  Spirit,  taken  them  into  his  house, 
where  they  had  slept  together  until  their  arrest  under  the  charge 
on  which  they  were  being  tried;  that  such  an  association  was 
strictly  in  accordance  with  the  doctrines  and  principles  of  the  sect, 
but  that  actual  sexual  intercourse  was  not  tolerated  under  any 
-circumstances.  Mr.  John  Kidder,  also  testified  that  the  connec- 
tion between  the  defendants  comported  with  the  doctrines  of  the 
Second  Advent  people,  and  explained  the  propriety  of  "Spiritually 
sleeping  together,"  by  the  trying  test  to  which  it  w^ould  put  the 
piety  of  those  embracing  and  practicing  the  doctrine.  Mr.  Charles 
Clapp,  and  Mr.  William  J.  Hart,  being  called  as  Aivitnesses,  refused 
to  "bow  down  to  the  Beast,"  either  by  swearing  or  affirming,  and 
were  fined  for  contempt  of  court,  the  latter  being  committed  to 
jail  for  want  of  the  virherewithal  to  pay  his  fine. 

The  defendants,  claiming  no  justification  except  the  direction 
of  the  Spirit,  and  the  w^arrant  of  Scripture,  the  carnal  justice  of  the 
peace,  not  seeing  the  evidence  of  either,  and  not  acknow^ledging 
any  higher  authorit}^  in  such  matters  than  the  statutes  and  juris- 
prudence of  this  wicked  world,  bound  them  over  to  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  of  Summit  count^s  in  the  sum  of  $200  each,  to 
answer  to  the  charge  of  adultery,  in  default  of  which  they  were 
committed  to  jail.  The  "persecuted"  couple,  w^ho  were  confined 
in  different  parts  of  the  jail,  boasted,  that  like  the  walls  of  Jericho, 
the  walls  of  the  jail  would  come  tumbling  down,  in  answer  to  the 
prayers  of  the  faithful,  but  the  viralls  aforesaid  did  not  tumble,  and 
the  deluded  and  lecherous  twain  were  compelled  to  abide  their 
time,  and  suffer  the  penalties  of  outraged  public  sentiment  and 
violated  law. 

The  principal  headquarters  of  the  local  saints  at  this  time,  was 
at  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Southwick,  on  South  Summit  street,  near  where 
the  new  freight  depot  of  the  N.  Y.,  P.  «&  O.  R.  R.  now  stands,  where 


612  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

most  of  the  meetings  were  held,  and  where,  not  only  the  spiritualh^ 
separated  wives  and  husbands  found  refuge,  but  where  the  same 
class  of  persecuted  saints  from  abroad,  were  also  harbored  and  pro- 
vided for — eight  devoted  women,  who  had,  by  direction  of  the 
Spirit,  separated  from  carnal  husbands,  arriving  there  in  a  single 
week,  during  the  month  of  March,  in  1846,  there  being  at  one  time 
no  less  than  fifteen  in  the  neighborhood,  from  abroad,  in  search  of 
"  Spiritual  Affinities "  among  the  other  sex.  It  was  from  this 
house  that  one  of  our  m(^st  respected  Methodist  citizens — long  an 
honored  resident  of  Akron,  often  led  to  her  neglected  children,  the 
wifie  and  mother,  who,  solely  through  the  Millerite  delusion,  was  a 
life-long  care  to  the  family,  and,  until  her  recent  death,  a  confirmed 
monomaniac.  It  was  here,  also,  that  the  wife  of  Col.  Lyman  Green 
w^as  harbored,  and  encouraged  in  her  disregard  of  her  wifeh'  and 
motherly  duties,  and  failing,  through  the  law  as  above  detailed, 
to  get  from  the  leader  of  the  delusion  proper  redress,  the  Colonel  at 
length  became  so  exasperated,  that,  meeting  Mr.  Southwick  near 
the  corner  of  Howard  and  Market  streets,  on  the  13th  day  of 
March,  1846,  he  proceeded  to  mete  out  justice  on  his  own  hook,  by 
most  thoroughly  pelting  him  with  addled  eggs. 

This  act,  though  fully  recognizing  the  great  aggravation  which 
inspired  it,  was,  like  the  blowing  up  of  the  Tabernacle,  severely  con- 
demned by  the  public  press  and  the  better  portion  of  our  citizens. 
In  speaking  of  the  outrageous  operations  and  practices  of  these 
people  at  this  time,  the  Beacon,  of  March  18,  1846,  editorially  said  : 

The  little  knot  of  demented  fanatics  in  our  midst,  who  have  so  long-  dis- 
graced themselves,  and  even  putting-  human  nature  to  the  blush  by  their 
foolish  and  witless  proceedings,  seem  to  be  drawing  their  affairs  to  a 
crisis.  Kissing  and  feet-washing  has  given  place,  as  all  supposed  it  would, 
to  the  more  intimate  comniuniou;  and  under  the  guise  of  spiritual  marriage, 
husbands  and  wives  are  very  unceremoniously  exchanged.  A  few  nights 
ago  eight  strolling  females,  who  had  left  respectable  families  and  friends, 
accompanied  by  one  male  biped,  made  their  advent  into  our  devoted  town, 
in  the  character  and  capacity  of  angels.  They  were  cordiall3'  welcomed  by 
the  "  Saints  "  of  this  village,  and  thereupon  their  usual  feet-washing,  kissing, 
and  other  strictly  spiritual  performances  were  entered  into  with  great  gusto, 
and  all  for  the  glory  of  God.  A  well-known  citizen  of  our  town,  who  has  long 
been  demented  in  regard  to  these  things,  and  whose  fall  manj'  deeply 
deplore,  leaving  home  and  wife  and  children,  has  gone  forth,  pedestrian- 
w^ise,  vmder  the  protection  of  one  of  these  vestal  visitors,  on  an  angelic  mis- 
sion, in  obedience  to  the  divine  injunction,  taking  neither  script  nor  staff, 
nor  luoney  in  his  purse,  nor  two  coats,  nor  even  a  change  of  shirts. 

Important  Confession — Final  Collapse. — The  Cascade  Roarer, 
of  March  24,  1846,  contains  the  following: 

Mr.  Pickands,  formerly  the  principal  promulgator  of  Millerism  in  North- 
ern Ohio,  confessed,  on  Sabbath  last,  before  that  portion  of  the  church  that 
dissented  when  feet-washing,  etc.,  was  introduced,  that  Millerism  was  a 
humbug  and  a  delusion  from  the  foundation  ;  that  he  had  been  deluded  and 
that  all  who  had  embraced  the  doctrine  were  deluded,  and  that  those  who 
continued  to  hold  it  were  deranged. 

Mr.  Pickands  not  only  renounced  Second  Adventism,  and  all 
the  other  "isms"  connected  therewith,  but  abjured  every  other 
form  of  religious  belief;  thenceforth  devoting  himself  to  worldly 
pursuits;  at  first  adopting  the  legal  profession,  reading  law,  and 
being  admitted  to  practice,  but  soon  abandoning  that  calling  to 
take  charge  of  a  paper  devoted  to  the  wool  growing  interests,  pub- 
lished in  Cleveland  by  the  late   S.   N.  Croodale,  formerly  of  Akron,. 


THJS   KXD   OF   THB    DELUSIOX. 


613 


and  for  several  years  afterwards  officiating  as  collector  and  com- 
piler of  statistics  for  the  Cleveland  Board  of  trade;  but  during  the 
later  years  of  his  life  residing  with  his  sons,  Henry  and  James, 
then  and  now  highly  respectable  and  enterprising  business  men  at 
Cleveland  and  Marquette,  Mich.,  at  which  latter  place  Mr. 
Pickands  died  some  ten  or  twelve  years,  ago. 

The  Conclusion. — On  the  collapse  of  the  organization  here, 
several  of  the  members  sought  and  obtained  admission  into  a  fam- 
ily of  "Shakers"  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State,  Mr.  Charles 
Clapp,  a  former  partner  of  the  late  Harvey  B.  Spelman,  in  the  dry 
goods  trade  in  Akron,  separating  from  a  most  estimable  wife  (sister 
of  Hon.  Marvin  Kent)  among  the  number,  and  ^vho  for  the  past 
forty-five  years  has  been  a  highly  respected  and  useful  member  of 
that  society.  The  many  other  members  of  the  Second  Advent 
<:hurch  quietly  accepted  the  situation,  and  though  some  became 
confirmed  skeptics  and  scoffers  at  every  form  of  religion,  the  inost 
of  them  soon  again  affiliating  with  other  church  organizations, 
but  some  still  holding  to  the  doctrine  of  the  speedy  Second  Advent 
of  Christ  upon  the  earth,  in  its  most  literal  sense,  though  fixing  no 
particular  date  for  his  appearance. 

Thus  is  briefl}'-  given  a  history  of  one  of  the  most  wonderful, 
as  well  as  one  of  the  most  exciting  religious  delusions  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century,  and  especiall}^  proper  among  these  chapters, 
because  of  the  very  conspicuous  part  in  the  great  "  Spiritual  Farce  " 
that  was  played  by  so  large  a  number  of  the  people  of  Akron  and 
Summit  county.    • 


CHAPTER    XXV. 


MATTHEW  CANFIELD  READ,— 
born  in  Willianisfield,  Ashta- 
bula county,  Ohio,  August  21,  1823; 
at  12  removed  with  parents  to  Mecca, 
Trumbull  county ;  worked  on  farm 
and  attended  district  schools  till  18  ; 
pursued  preparatory  studies  in  West- 
ern Reserve  Seminary,  atFarming^ton, 
and  at  Grand  River  Institute,  in 
Austinburg-;  entered  Western  Re- 
serve College  in  1844,  graduating  in 
1848,  afterwards  receiving  the  degree 
of  A.  M.  from  his  Alma  Mater;  taught 
school  in  Columbus  and  Gustavus ; 
read  law  with  Chaffee  &.  Woodbury, 
at  Jefferson;  was  married,  August 
28,  1851,  to  Miss  Orissa  E.  Andrews,  of 
Homer,  N.  Y.,  "who  has  borne  him 
four  children  —  William  H.  A.,  a 
member  of  the  Toledo  Bar ;  Charles 
P.,  a  contractor  and  builder  in  Hud- 
son ;  Mary  O.,  living  at  home, 
and  Janet  A.,  recently  teaching  in 
Asylum  for  Imbeciles  at  Columbus, 
Ohio.  At  close  of  law  studies,  Mr. 
Read  took  editorial  control  of  the 
Hudson  Family  Visitor  (elsewhere 
written  of),  at  same  time  teaching- 
one  year  in  Grammar  .School  of  West- 
ern Reserve  College ;  then  opened 
law  office  in  Hudson  ;  during  the  war 
officiated  as  general  relief  agent  of 
United  States  Sanitary  Commission, 
Western  Department ;  at  close  of  war 
w^as  deputy  revenue  collector,  and 
later  assistant  geologist  on  the 
Geological  Survey  of  Ohio;  had 
charge  of  archaeological  exhibits  of 
Ohio   at    Centennial    Expositions    at 


MATTHEW  CANFIELD   READ. 

Philadelphia  and  New  Orleans,  and 
for  several  j^ears  held  the  position  of 
lecturer  on  Zoology  and  Practical 
Geology  in  Western  Reserve  College  ; 
also,  besides  having  tilled  several 
local  officesT— township  clerk,  justice 
of  the  peace,  maj'or,  etc. — in  addition 
to  his  law  practice  has  been  exten- 
sively employed  in  the  exploration 
of  luineral  lands  for  private  parties. 


GEOLOGY   OF   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


BY   MATTHEW   C.    READ,   A.   M. 

A  S  the  name  indicates,  this  county  is  situated  on  the  Summit,  or 
"^"^  divide,  between  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio  River. 
Akron,  also,  is  the  top — the  Summit.  From  these  names  it  has 
been  often  assumed  that  here  is  the  highest  land  in  the  State. 
But  this  is  a  mistake.  The  door-sill  of  the  Court  House,  at  Akron, 
is  452  65-100  feet  above  Lake  Erie,  and  the  highest  land  in  the 
county,  in  Richfield  township,  675  feet.  The  highest  hills  of  Rich- 
land county  are  910  feet  above  the  J^ake,  and  the  summit  betw^een 
the  Scioto  and  Miami,  in  Logan  county,  975  feet,  w^hich  is  prob- 
ably the  highest  land  in  the  State.  The  surface  of  the  county  is 
greatly  diversified  and  has  taken  its  final  form  as  the  result  of 
several  causes. 


CANYOX    FORMATIOX.  615 

When  lifted  above  the  ocean,  to  an  elevation  much  above  the 
present  level,  it  remained  for  a  long  succession  of  ages,  subject 
to  serial  erosion,  until  canyons  were  cut  through  the  rocks  to 
the  depth  of  over  one  thousand  feet.  One  of  these  canyons  is 
now  substantially  occupied  by  the  Little  Cuyahoga,  and  by  the 
Cuyahoga  from  their  junction  to  the  Lake.  Another  commences 
on  the  north  line  of  Northfield  township  and  extends  southeasterly 
through  Mud  Brook  Lake,  thence  through  Stow,  Tallmadge, 
Springfield  and  the  eastern  part  of  Green.  A  branch  of  the 
main  canyon  passes  through  Akron,  Summit  Lake,  and  thence 
along  the  chain  of  lakes  through  Coventry  and  Franklin,  with 
branches  from  Norton  and  Copley. 

Owing  to  the  erosions  of  these  canyons,  the  rock  surface 
between  them  w^as  disintegrated  and  a  soil  formed  capable  of  sus- 
taining a  forest  vegetation,  but,  from  the  want  of  a  mingling  of  the 
material,  everywhere  lacking  in  some  t)f  the  mineral  ingredients 
of  the  most  productive  soil.  The  deep  canyons  produced  such  an 
efficient  drainage  as  seriously  interfered  with  continued  fertility 
and  left  a  barren  rock  surface  in  many  places  bordering  the 
canyons.  This  was  the  first  chapter  of  the  formative  influences 
producing  the  present  topography. 

The  second  filled  these  canyons,  widened  out  the  upper  parts 
of  them  into  valleys,  crushed  the  rock  surfaces,  pulverized  the 
fragments  and  commingled  them  w^ith  the  debris  of  all  the  north- 
ern rocks.  This  work  was  done  by  Nature's  great  ice  ploAV,  coming 
down  from  the  frozen  regions  of  the  north,  loaded  with  the 
minerals  of  all  the  rocks  of  the  north.  Moving  slowly  over  the 
surface  of  the  state,  with  the  pressure  of  a  mass  of  ice  several 
thousand  feet  in  thickness,  it  left  upon  the  surface  of  the  north- 
ern townships  of  the  county  a  thick  deposit  of  unstratified  clay 
drift  containing  fragments  of  all  the  local  rocks  mingled  with  the 
load  brought  down  by  the  glacier. 

In  the  central  and  northern  parts  of  the  county,  the  waters 
flowing  from  the  retreating  glacier  carried  away  the  most  of  the 
clay,  ground  the  residue  into  sand,  and  left  the  surface  diversified 
by  swamps  and  lakes,  the  sites  of  immense  masses  of  groutided  ice 
left  by  the  glacier  on  its  final  retreat.  The  evidence  is  pretty  con- 
clusive that  there  were  two  such  invasions  of  the  ice,  the  last  one 
leaving  its  marked  impression  upon  the  topography  of  the 
county. 

Upon  the  withdrawal  of  the  ice,  lakes  and  lakelets,  some  of 
large  size,  covered  much  of  the  surface.  Water  from  the  hills 
silted  up  the  bottoms  of  these  lakes  and  deepened  their  outlets; 
the  renewed  vegetation  encroached  upon  their  margins,  and  con- 
verted all  the  shallower  ones  into  swamps,  sometimes  bridging 
the  surface  of  the  water  and  leaving  buried  lakes.  This  process 
is  continuous,  and,  unless  checked  by  artificial  means,  all  the  lakes 
will  become  swamps,  the  swamps  will  become  drier  and  all,  in  the 
end,  become  capable  of  tillage. 

Since  the  drift,  surface  erosion  has  materially  modified  the 
topography  in  other  respects.  The  filling  of  the  canyons  diverted 
many  of  the  streams  from  their  old  beds  and  compelled  them  to 
seek  new  channels.  The  most  conspicuous  instance  is  that  of  the 
Cu3'ah()ga  river,  which  has  cut  itself  a  new  channel,  mostly 
through    solid    rock,  from  above  Kent,  in   Portage  county,   to   its 


61G  AKKCJX    AXD    SUMMIT    COLXTY. 

junction  with  the  Little  Cuyahoga.  Other  streams  einpt^-ing 
into  tlie  Cuyahoga  have  opened  siniiUir  l)ut  smaller  rock  channels. 
The  time  required  for  such  results  is  verj-  long,  but  not  as 
long  as  a  superlicial  observation  would  indicate.  If  the  surface 
wear  of  the  running  water  alone  did  the  work  the  time  required 
would  be  almost  illimitable.  The  work  accomplished  by  this 
agenc3'  is  shown  at  Kent,  Portage  county',  and  b}'  the  rock  chan- 
nel above  Cuyahoga  Falls,  where  the  suj)erticial  action  of  the  run- 
ning stream  has  been  the  only  excavating  agency.  At  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  and  ])elow,  it  has  been  an  undermining  process.  The  soft 
argillaceous  shale,  under  the  sand  rock,  has  rapidly  disintegrated, 
making  an  abrupt  jjrecipice,  at  one  time  over  one  hundred  feet 
high,  with  a  protruding  overhanging  rock  which  finally  broke 
down  bj"  its  own  weight,  and  this  process,  continued,  carried  the 
falls  up  streatn  many  thousand  times  faster  than  would  result 
from  surface  erosion  alone.  Such  is  the  mode  of  all  rapid  canyon 
making. 

STRUCTURAL  GF:0L0GY. 

Something  about  six  hundred  feet  in  thickness  of  the  rocks  of 
the  count}^  can  be  studied  from  their  out-crops.  The  lowest  is 
J)evonian,  the  upper  part  of  the  Krie  shale,  of  which  about  one 
hundred  feet  is  exposed  in  the  valley  of  the  Cuyahoga,  from  the 
north  line  of  the  count}'  to  near  Peninsula.  It  is  a  soft  argilla- 
ceous shale,  ^vith  thin  bands  of  impure  fossiliferous  limestone,  and 
contains  no  valuable  minerals. 

There  is  a  sharp  transition  from  the  Brie  to  the  Cleveland 
shale  directly  above  it.  This  is  a  highly  bituminous  black  shale, 
lying  in  blocks  and  splitting  easily  into  thin  layers.  It  is  exposed 
in  all  the  streams  emptying  into  the  Cuj'^ahoga,  below^  Peninsula. 
As  it  resists  erosion,  and  the  Brie  below  it  is  soft  and  friable,  it  uni- 
formly produces  a  cascade  or  water  fall  in  the  streams  \vhich  cut 
both  these  shales,  the  rapid  erosion  of  the  Erie  undermining  the 
Cleveland  shale,  until  the  jirojecting  mass  breaks  down  and  falls 
into  the  chasm  below,  so  that  the  falls  are  slowly  but  steadily 
retreating  up  the  stream. 

This  shale  was  made  the  base  of  the  Waverly  or  sub-carbon- 
iferous system,  by  Prof.  Nevrberry,  in  his  reports  upon  the 
geolog}'  of  the  State,  l)ut  Prof.  Orton,  the  present  State  geologist, 
unites  it  with  the  Erie  and  Huron  shales,  under  the  name  of  the 
Ohio  shales,  and  calls  all  Devonian.  All  the  molluscous  fossils 
contained  in  it  are  regarded,  by  expert  paleontologists,  as  car- 
boniferous. These  are  sparingly'  found,  except  in  the  upper 
layer,  w'here,  in  places,  they  are  very  al)undant.  The  weight  of 
evidence  is  decidedlj^  in  favor  of  Prof.  Newberry's  classification. 
This  shale  is  remarkable  for  the  large  collection  of  monster  fishes 
obtained  from  it  in  neighboring  counties,  described  by  Prof.  New^- 
berry,  in  the  Paleontology-  of  Ohio,  and  in  Vol.  XVI  of  the 
monographs  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey.  Careful 
search  may  lead  to  the  discovery  of  interesting  iish  beds  in  this 
shale  in  Sutnmit  county.  It  contains  so  much  carboniferous 
matter  that  it  could  be  profitably-  mined  and  distille<l  for  petroleum, 
if  the  supply  from  wells  shoulcl  fail. 

Next  above  the  Cleveland  is  found  the  Bedford  shale,  so  called 
from  the  fine  exposure  of  it  in  the  gorge  at  Bedford,  Cuyahoga 
county.      In  Summit    it  is  more   argillaceous   than  in  Cuyahoga, 


STKrCTL'RAL   CiKOLOGY,  617 

and  therefore  more  easily'  disintegrated.  Its  out-crop  is  generally 
concealed  In'  its  debris,  covered  with  soil  and  vegetation,  but  in 
some  places,  in  Boston  township,  there  are  sand}'  layers  exposed, 
which  would  make  fine  flagging. 

Above  this  is  the  Berea  grit,  the  same  as  the  Independence,  the 
Berea  and  Amherst  stone,  called  in  the  east  the  Ohio  stone.  It  is, 
in  this  county,  about  sixty  feet  thick,  mostly  in  thick  laj'ers,  and 
an  admirable  building  stone.  The  quarries  at  Peninsula  have 
long  been  noted  for  the  amount  and  excellence  of  their  out-put, 
and  have  furnished  the  best  stone  for  oat  mills  obtainable  in  this 
country'.  Some  of  it  is  iiearlj'  white,  very  hard,  with  a  sharp  grit 
and  can  be  quarried  in  almost  any  size  desired.  It  rises  above  the 
bottom  of  the  valley,  near  the  south  line  of  Boston  township,  and 
is  found  on  each  side  of  the  valley,  at  an  increasing  height  and 
distance  from  the  river,  to  the  north  line  of  the  county.  At 
Brandywine  there  is  a  precipitous  fall  of  the  creek  over  its  out- 
crop, and  it  forms  precipitous  bluffs  below  on  each  side  of  the 
stream.  In  places,  the  bluff  on  the  north  side  is  curious!}'  covered 
with  calcareous  tufa,  deposited  from  the  w^ater  coming  from  the 
soil  above  charged  with  lime,  and  flowing  down  the  surface  of  the 
bluff.  The  amount  of  stone  that  can  be  cheaply'  quarried,  from 
exposures  along  the  valley'  of  the  Cuyahoga,  is  practically  un- 
limited. 

Above  this  is  the  Berea  shale,  of  about  ten  feet  in  thickness, 
black,  highly  bituminous,  containing  coal  fossils,  and  of  no  value 
except  to  the  geologist.  It  is  a  well  defined  geological  land  mark 
extending  to  the  Ohio  river. 

Next  in  the  series  is  the  Cuyahoga  shale,  taking  its  name 
from  the  exposure  of  it  in  the  Cuyahoga  river  below  Cu3'ahoga 
Falls.  It  is,  in  this  county,  about  one  hundred  and  seventy-live 
feet  thick,  and  composed  mainlj'  of  soft  argillaceous  shale.  Near 
the  top,  below  Cuyahoga  Falls,  it  carries  a  band  of  impure  lime- 
stone w^hich  makes  a  fair  water  lime,  and  Avas  quarried  for  this 
use  in  the  building  of  the  Ohio  canal.  It  is  the  horizon  of  a  thin 
band  of  limestone  found  at  Richfield,  and  in  the  neighboring 
counties,  rich  in  molluscous  fossils.  Near  the  middle  there  is 
al)out  twenty  feet  of  very  hard,  fine-grained  sandstone,  which 
resists  erosion  and  has  produced  what  is  called  the  Big  Falls  in 
the  river.  It  is  from  this  bed  that  the  paving  stone  is  taken  in 
Truml)ull  county,  successfully  used  in  Warren,  and  to  some  extent 
in  Akron.  The  bed  in  this  county  is  in  thicker  laj'ers,  harder,  will 
resist  abrasion  better,  and,  although  harder  to  quarry,  will  make  a 
more  durable  road-bed  than  the  Trumbull  count}'  stone. 

This  shale,  in  the  Cuj'ahoga  Valley,  carries  abundant  speci- 
mens of  "Cone  in  Cone,"  the  character  of  which  has  been  a  puzzle 
to  geologists  and  paleontologists.  Examined  in  place,  it  is  seen 
to  be  generally  associated  \yith  l)ands  of  blue  carbonate  of  iron, 
and  is  probably'  not  organic,  but  a  peculiar  semi-crj'stallization  of 
clay. 

Above  this  is  the  carboniferous  conglomerate,  a  conspicuous 
feature  in  the  landscape  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  at  the  Boston  ledges, 
antl  at  other  places.  It  is  about  one  hundred  feet  thick  and  the 
surface  rock  in  more  than  half  of  the  county?  Its  quarries  furnish 
vast  quantities  of  bridge  and  foundation  stone,  and  some  of  them 
furnish  excellent  building  stone.     At  Wolf's  quarry,  near  Akron, 


618  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

and  at  a  quarry  near  Cuyahoga  Falls,  it  is  colored  red  by  iron 
oxide,  giving  it  a  highly  ornamental  character  as  a  building  stone. 
The  quarries  in  Twinsburg  are  extensively  worked,  and  some  of 
the  rock  is  ground  for  use  in  the  iron  mills  of  Cleveland.  It  con- 
tains many  rounded  pebbles  of  quartz,  which,  in  places,  and 
especially  near  the  base  of  the  foundation,  detract  from  its  value^ 
but  it  contains  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  material,  accessible, 
with  little  stripping,  for  all  ordinary  uses.  Its  fossils,  so  far  a& 
known,  are  all  vegetable. 

This  is  the  base  of  the  coal  measure  rocks,  and  should  be  care- 
fully studied  by  all  prospectors  for  coal;  for  it  is  certain  that  here 
no  workable  coal  will  be  found  beneath  it.  It  bordered  the  old 
marshes,  in  which  our  lowest  coal  was  deposited,  and  rose  in  many 
places  above  the  marshes,  so  that  coal  may  be  found  at  a  low^er 
level  than  the  conglomerate,  but  never  below  it.  A  thin  bed  of 
conglomerate  is  occasionally  found  above  the  coal,  but  this  is  the 
debris  from  the  true  conglomerate,  where  it  rose  in  bluffs  above 
the  coal  marshes,  and  was  carried  down  and  mingled  with  the 
covering  of  the  coal. 

From  twenty-five  to  fifty  feet  above  the  conglomerate,  is  the 
normal  position  of  coal  No.  1,  of  the  Ohio  Geological  Reports,  the 
interval  being  occupied  by  from  two  to  six  feet  of  fire  clay,  with 
argillaceous  or  sandy  shales  below.  The  territory  in  which  thi& 
coal  may  be  found,  embraces  substantially  the  w^hole  of  Franklin 
and  Green  townships,  the  larger  parts  of  Tallmadge,  Springfield 
and  Norton,  about  half  of  Coventry,  and  the  southwestern  corner 
of  Copley. 

The  coal  was  originally  deposited  as  peat,  in  a  series  of  swamps,, 
much  like  the  marshes  now^  covering  the  surface.  It  does  not 
form  a  continuous  sheet  over  any  large  area,  but  lies  in  a  series  of 
connected  basins  of  very  irregular  shape.  It  is  to  the  superior 
quality  of  this  coal,  and  its  proximity  to  Akron,  that  this  city  is^ 
indebted,  in  a  large  degree,  for  its  remarkable  prosperity.  Few 
cities,  even  in  the  center  of  the  coal  fields,  have  had  th6  advantage- 
of  a  cheaper  or  better  fuel.  While  this  fact  has  been  recognized^ 
and  persevering  search  made  for  new  deposits,  it  is  by  no  means- 
certain  that  all  the  coal  in  the  count}'  has  yet  been  discovered.. 
The  indications  from  the  ordinary  drill  and  sand  pump  are  often 
misleading.  The  diamond  drill  should  be  used  for  testing  the 
territory,  and  when  the  coal  is  found  to  be  so  thin  as  to  be  w^orth- 
less,  it  may  lead,  by  a  channel  sometimes  tortuous  and  narrow,  to- 
workable  deposits. 

This  coal,  in  the  "sw^amps,"  or  central  part  of  the  old  marshes,, 
reaches  a  thickness  of  from  four  to  six  feet.  Ft  is  the  same  as  the 
old  Brier  Hill  coal  of  Mahoning  county,  the  standard  of  excellence 
for  all  bituminous  coals.  An  addition  of  a  few  hundred  acres  to 
the  known  supply  of  this  coal  in  the  county,  would  result  in  so 
many  advantages  as  to  justifj^  renewed  search  for  it. 

The  normal  cover  of  the  coal  is  an  argillaceous  shale,  generally 
black,  next  to  the  coal,  an<l  above  this  a  heavA^  sand  rock  from  fifty 
to  seventy-five  feet  thick.  This  sandstone  sometimes  comes 
down  to  the  coal,  and  sometimes  "cuts  out  the  coal."  This  cutting 
out  of  the  coal,  by  the  sandstone,  may  require  a  word  of  explana- 
tion for  the  reader  not  conversant  with  geological  literature.  All 
the    rocks    of   the    county   are    sedimentary,    deposited    in    \vater. 


OIL   AND   GAS    POSSIBILITIEvS.  619 

When  clay  alone  was  deposited  above  the  coal,  we  know  that  the 
water  which  brought  it  in  moved  with  only  a  very  slight  current, 
as  it  carried  u'ith  it  nothing  but  clay.  The  sandstone  above 
shows  a  more  rapid  njovement  of  the  water,  w^ith  force  enough  to 
bring  in  sand  and  carry  away  the  clay  to  quieter  water.  Some- 
times the  current  was  so  rapid  as  to  carry  aw^ay  the  clay  already 
deposited,  removing  it  doAvn  to  the  surface  of  the  old  marsh,  and 
sometimes  carrying  away,  also,  the  accumulation  of  carbona- 
ceous matter  w^hich  w^as  Avaiting  its  change  into  coal.  This  is  the 
cutting  out  of  the  coal  by  the  sand  stone. 

The  general  dip  of  the  rocks  of  the  county  is  to  the  southeast 
so  that,  in  places  in  Green  township,  coal  No.  1  is  not  less  than  tw^o 
hundred  and  fifty- feet  below  the  surface.  It  is  probable,  in  many 
cases,  test  borings  have  not  l^een  carried  deep  enough. 

Above  the  sandstone,  last  mentioned,  is  a  bed  of  shale  and 
sandstone  from  fifty  to  seventy  feet  thick,  carrying  a  thin  and 
-worthless  seam  of  coal,  and  capped  with  a  thick  bed  of  fire  clay, 
extensively  mined  in  Springfield  township.  This  is  the  under 
clay  of  coal  No.  3,  two  to  four  feet  thick,  of  poor  qualitj^,  with  four 
feet  of  limestone  above  it,  which,  in  places,  carries  a  fair  quality 
of  iron  ore.  There  is  an  interval  of  about  thirty  feet  between  thi» 
limestone  and  coal  No.  4,  in  Green  township,  which  is  not  of  first 
quality,  but  reaches  a  thickness  of  four  feet  and  is  capped  with 
four  feet  of  limestone. 

These  two  beds  of  limestone  would  furnish  a  large  amount  of 
good  material  for  road  making,  enough,  supplemented  by  the 
scattered  granite  boulders  brought  in  by  the  drift,  and  the  banks 
of  w^ater-Avashed  gravel,  to  put  all  the  roads  in  the  county  in  good 
condition.  This  is  a  work  which  w^ould  promote  the  best  interests 
of  the  country  and  the  city  and  deserves  the  careful  consideration 
of  the  county  commissioners. 

The  coal  horizons  of  the  county,  w^here  the  coal  is  either  want- 
ing, or  too  thin  to  work,  furnish  inexhaustible  supplies  of  sewer 
pipe  and  potters'  clay,  and  have  furnished  the  basis  for  most 
important  and  profitable  industries.  But,  as  intimated  above,  our 
peat  marshes,  so  numerous  in  the  countj^,  represent  the  first  stages 
in  coal  making,  and  the  same  causes  which  resulted  in  the  undef- 
clay  of  the  coal,  have  given  us  like  under-clay,  in  our  peat  marshes. 
The  manufacturers  of  sewer  pipe  and  pottery  will  soon  turn  to 
these  peat  marshes  for  their  best  clay,  which  is  thoroughly  wash- 
ed, will  need  no  grinding,  and  can  generally  be  mined  more 
cheaply  than  that  now  used.  The  peat,  which  fnust  first  be  re- 
moved, can  be  largely  composted  and  used  as  a  fertilizer,  or  dried 
and  used  as  a  fuel,  with  which  to  burn  the  ware.  When  the 
deposit  in  each  locality  is  exhausted  the  marsh  ^vill  be  restored 
to  its  old  condition  of  a  lake. 

GAS    AND     Oil.. 

It  will  be  expected  that  in  a  geological  sketch  of  the  county, 
something  will  be  said  about  gas  and  oil.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
gas  can  be  found  in  most  of  the  townships  of  this  count}',  if 
persevering  search  l)e  made  for  it.  The  singular  phenomena 
occurring  in  Coventry  tow^nship,  w^here  there  have  been  repeated 
explosions  with  a  fissuring  of  the  surface,  as  if  by  miniature  earth- 
quakes,   indicate    a    constant   escape    of    gas    which,    in    winter. 


■620  AKKOX    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

imprisoned  b3'  the  frozen  earth,  has  at  times  acquired  a  tension 
sufficient  to  rupture  the  frozen  coverings  and  cause  explosions, 
which  the  citizens  compared  to  the  explosion  of  cannons. 

Gas  and  oil  springs  are  to  be  found  in  various  parts  of  the 
count}',  and  the  deep  wells  drilled  in  the  Cuyahoga  valley  have  in 
several  instances  yielded  gas.  Further,  all  the  well  know^n  hori- 
zon of  gas  and  petroleum  are  below  the  surface  of  Akron,  and 
ma}'  be  reached  by  drilling.  But  the  horizon  of  the  Mecca 
oil,  the  Berea  sandstone,  is  cut  b}'  the  Cuj^ahoga  valley  and  so 
thoroughly  drained  that  there  is  little  chance  of  obtaining  from  it 
any  important  yield. 

The  Huron  shale  which  underlies  the  Krie,  the  latter  being  the 
lowest  rock  exposed  in  the  county,  is  an  important  horizon  for  the 
hj'dro-carbons.  But  the  sandstones  which  are  found  above  it  in 
the  productive  regions,  are  wanting  here,  and  the  conditions  fav- 
oring a  large  production  do  not  exist.  Many  wells  drilled  into  the 
Brie  shale,  in  northeastern  Ohio,  have  produced  gas  in  consider- 
-able  quantities  which  has  maintained  a  persistent  flow^  for  many 
years. 

Doubtless  the  same  result  can  be  obtained  in  this  county,  by 
sufficient  trials,  without  any  reasonable  hope  of  a  supply  sufficient 
for  the  use  of  a  city  like  Akron,  but  in  many  cases  sufficient  for 
lighting  and  heating  a  few  dwellings,  or  for  the  wants  of  a  single 
manufacturing  establishment. 

The  important  horizon,  in  Ohio,  is  the  Trenton  limestone, 
which,  according  to  the  indications  of  the  drill,  is  over  3,000  feet 
below  the  surface  at  Akron.  This  rock  furnishes  large  quantities 
<:)f  oil  and  gas,  but,  as  far  as  is  now  shown,  only  along  the  summit 
of  anti-clinals,  and  in  limited  areas  w^here  the  rock  is  of  a  peculiar 
character.  According  to  Prof.  Orton's  deduction,  from  test  drill- 
ings, there  is  a  moderate  anti-clinal  in  the  Trenton  and  its  cover- 
ing rocks  passing  through  Akron,  and  this,  so  far  as  it  goes,  is  a 
favorable  condition.  But  the  depth  of  the  Trenton  rock  below  the 
surface  places  it  practically  beyond  reach.  While  moderate  sup- 
plies of  gas  can  doubtless  be  obtained  from  the  shales,  no  great 
fortunes,  and  no  great  "boom"  can  be  secured  b}'^  the  search  either 
for  gas  or  oil.  •  a 


chaptp:k  XXVI. 

SUMMIT  county's  KAILKOAOS— ANCIENT  ANO  MODERN— FINISHED  AND  UN- 
FINISHED-RISE, PROGRESS  AND  COLLAPSES-RESURRECTION,  COMPLETION 
AND  SUCCESS  HUNDREDS  OF  THOUSANDS  OF  DOLLARS  SUNK,  BUT  THE 
PEOPLE  BENEFITED  THE  FIRST  LOCOMOTIVE  IN  AMERICA  —  SINGULAR 
BOILER  EXPLOSION  LONGEST  RAILROAD  IN  THE  WORLD  IN  1834,  ONLY 
13()  MILES  —  WONDERFUL  PROGRESS  IN  60  YEARS  — AKRON  AxND  SUMMIT 
COUNTY  IN  THE  VAN     A  TRULY  INTERESTING  CHAPTER. 

BRIEF   RKMINISCKNT   HISTORY. 

A  T  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  railroads  w^ere  wholly 
-^"^  unknown,  either  in  the  Old.  World  or  the  New,  and  though 
some  rude  tramw^ays  had  conie  into  vogue,  for  mining  and  grading 
purposes,  the  longest  railway  in  the  United  States,  as  late  as  1827, 
was  that  from  the  Mauch  Chunk,  Pa.,  coal  mines  to  the  Lehigh 
river,  twelve  miles;  the  loaded  cars  being  propelled  by  their  own 
gravity  and  the  empty  cars  returned  to  the  mines  by  mules;  the 
mules,  in  turn,  being  transported  from  the  mines  to  the  river  in 
cars  constructed  for  that  purpose. 

But  from  this  time  on,  railroad  enterprise  took  a  deep  hold 
upon  the  public  mind  and  several  short  lines  were  constructed  for 
passenger  travel  in  the  Eastern  States,  propelled  by  horse-power^ 
the  first  locomotive  to  turn  a  Avheel,  upon  the  American  continent^ 
being  a  clumsy  English  affair,  called  the  "Stourbridge  Lion,"^ 
landed  in  New  York  in  1829. 

FIRST   AMERICAN-BUILT   LOCOMOTIVE. 

The  first  locomotive  built  in  the  United  States,  probably,  was 
called  the  "Best  Friend,"  constructed  at  the  "West  Point  Foundry 
Shops"  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  the  Summer  of  1830.  It  was 
built  for  the  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  Augusta,  Ga.,  railroad,  and  was 
transported  from  New  York  to  Charleston  by  the  ship  Niagara,  in 
October  of  that  year.  The  trial  trip  was  made  on  a  short  section 
of  the  completed  road  out  of  Charleston,  November  2, 1830,  running, 
according  to  the  Charleston  Courier,  "on  the  wings  of  the  w^ind,  at 
the  varied  rate  of  fifteen  to  tw^enty  miles  an  hour,  annihilating 
tiine  and  space, "and,  like  the  renowned  John  Gilpin,  'leaving  all 
the  w^orld  behind.'  " 

SINGULAR   B0ILF:R   EXPLOSION. 

The  "Best  Friend"  was  used  in  the  completion  of  the  road,  a 
Mr.  Darrell  acting  as  conductor  and  engineer  of  the  construction 
train,  Avith  negroes,  only,  as  assistants.  On  the  morning  of  June 
30,  1831,  while  being  ended  about  upon  the  turn-table,  the  negro 
fireman  becoming  alarmed  at  the  large  amount  of  steam  which  w^as 
blowing  off,  and  wasted  as  he  supposed,  placed  his  hand  upon  the 
lever  of  the  safety  valve,  causing  an  explosion  by  which  the  boiler 


f)22  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

was  thrown  twenty-live  feet,  Mr.  Darrell  severely  scalded  in  the 
back,  the  thigh  of  the  safety-valve  manipulator  broken,  and  the 
other  negro  assistant  badly  cut  and  bruised  about  the  head  and 
face.  This  road  was  opened  to  travel  in  the  Winter  of  1833,  '34,  at 
which  time  it  was  the  longest  continuous  line  of  railroad  in  the 
world — 130  miles — over  which  it  w^as  the  pleasure  of  the  writer  to 
ride  on  one  of  its  earlier  excursions,  in  January,  1834,  the  first 
hundred  miles  west  of  Charleston,  by  steam,  an  all  day  trip,  and 
after  remaining  over  night,  at  the  head  of  the  incline,  where  it  was 
proposed  to  place  a  stationary  engine,  making  the  last  thirty  miles, 
on  the  downward  grade  to  Hamburg,  opposite  Augusta,  on  hand- 
cars propelled  by  negro  power. 

THE  "GREAT  WESTERN  RAILWAY." 

The  first  railroad  scheme  to  attract  the  attention  of  any  por- 
tion of  w^hat  is  now  Summit  county,  was  the  project  to  build  a 
road  from  the  Hudson  river,  through  the  states  of  New  York,  and 
Pennsylvania,  to  the  Portage  summit  on  the  Ohio  Canal,  at 
Akron,  under  the  above  title,  and  in  September,  1832,  committees 
were  appointed  all  along  the  line  to  solicit  funds  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  a  survey,  but  nothing  further  w^as  accomplished. 

"AKRON  AND  PERRYSBURG  RAILROAD." 

In  Akron's  first  newspaper — the  Weeklv  Post, — in  its  issue  of 
April  8,  1836,  is  a  communication  favoring  the  building  of  a  rail- 
road from  Akron  to  Perrysburg,  and  citizens  urged  to  subscribe  to 
the  stock  of  the  company,  which  had  already  been  chartered,  and  on 
the  same  date  the  Post  published  a  notice  that  a  stock  book 
"would  be  opened  at  the  hotel  of  Lewis  Humiston  (corner  South 
Main  and  Exchange  streets)  on  the  10th  day  of  May,  among  the 
names  attached  to  the  notice  being,  E.  Crosby,  R.  K.  Du  Bois,  J.  W. 
Phillips,  Richard  Howe,  Harve^^  McCune  and  S.  A.  Wheeler,  of 
Akron.  In  the  same  issue,  besides  a  strong  editorial  favoring  the 
project,  was  a  communication  from  Charles  Olcott,  Esq.,  to  the 
people  of  Medina  county,  in  which  he  guaranteed  ten  per  cent, 
yearly  dividends,  after  the  first  year,  on  the  amount  of  stock  sub- 
scribed.    But  the  road  was  never  built. 

"AKRON  AND  RICHMOND  RAILROAD." 

In  the  Post  of  April  22,  1836,  is  a  long  communication  from 
Sidney  Rigdon,  then,  next  to  Joseph  Smith,  the  most  prominent 
man  of  the  Mormon  fraternity,  at  Kirtland,  urging  the  project  of  a 
railroad  from  Akron  via  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Hudson,  Aurora,  Bain- 
bridge,  Russell,  Kirtland  and  Mentor,  to  the  then  prospective 
commercial  city  of  Richmond,  at  the  mouth  of  Grand  River,  on 
Fairport  harbor,  near  Painesville,  "for  the  purpose,"  in  the  lan- 
guage of  Mr.  Rigdon,  of  "creating  a  competition  between  New 
York,  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore,  which  will  be  most  favorable 
to  the  west." 

At  a  meeting  held  at  Kirtland,  June  10,  1836,  the  preamble  and 
resolutions  adopted,  among  other  things  said: 

Akron  is  becottiing  a  great  central  point,  it  being-  at  the  junction  of 
the  Ohio  and  Mahoning  Canal,  and  the  Akron  and  Perrysburg  railroad, 
thereby  opening  communication,  via  the  Wabash  canal,  south  to  Cincinnati 
and  New  Orleans,  by  water,  and  to  Charleston,  S.  C,  via  the  Charleston  and 


EARLY    RAILWAY   ENTERPRISES.  623 

Cincinnati  railroad,  and  also  b}'  canal  and  railroad  to  Pittsburgh  and  Phila- 
delphia, thus  imiting-  the  eastern  communication  from  New  York  and  other 
places  terminating  at  Buffalo,  with  the  western  line  of  communication 
forming  a  junction  at  Akron,  being- one  of  the  most  important  links  in  a 
chain  of  communication  now  presented  to  the  public  for  their  consideration 
and  co-operation. 

'  CLEVELAND  AND   PITTSBURG  RAILROAD." 

In  this  year,  also  (1836),  the  Cleveland  and  Pittsburg  road  was 
chartered,  but  before  anything  of  moment  had  been  accomplished, 
the  panic  of  1837  struck  the  country,  and  it,  as  well  as  the  several 
other  schemes  above  mentioned,  went  into  a  protracted  slumber, 
from  which  some  of  theni  have  never  yet  been  fulh^  aroused.  In 
the  case  of  Cleveland  and  Pittsburg,  however,  March  14,  1845,  the 
Legislature  of  Ohio  granted  an  amended  charter,  but  so  tardy  were 
the  movements  of  its  promoters  that  nearly  six  years  were  con- 
sumed in  its  construction,  cars  running  from  Cleveland  to  Hudson, 
for  the  first  time,  in  the  Winter  of  1851.  This  road  has  al^vays 
been  ably  managed,  and  has  entirely  escaped  the  almost  universal 
fate  of  the  average  American  railroad — insolvency. 

"THE  AKRON  AND  CANTON   RAILROAD." 

February  21,  1845,  a  charter  w^as  granted  for  a  road  bearing  the 
above  title,  with  a  capital  of  $200,000,  to  be  divided  into  8,000 
shares  of  $25  each,  the  company  being  prohibited  from  contracting 
debts  greater  than  the  amount  of  stock  subscribed,  and  not  to 
commence  operations  until  $100,000  was  subscribed,  with 
authority  to  extend  the  line  to  the  Ohio  river,  if  deemed  desirable, 
and  to  increase  its  capital  to  an  amount  sufficient  to  accomplish 
that  object.  But  though  some  preliminary  work  was  performed, 
this  road  was  never  built. 

"THE   AKRON  BRANCH   RAILROAD." 

As  the  Cleveland  and  Pittsburg  road  neared  completion,  the 
people  of  Akron,  Cuyahoga  Falls  and  other  towns  in  Summit 
county,  became  alive  to  the  importance  of  a  connection  therewith, 
at  Hudson,  and  in  February,  1851,  largely  through  the  efforts  of 
the  late  Col.  Simon  Perkins,  an  amendment  to  the  charter  of  that 
road  Avas  secured,  authorizing  the  construction  of  a  branch  road 
from  Hudson,  through  Cuyahoga  Falls  and  Akron  to  Wooster,  or 
some  point  on  the  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  railroad,  or  any  other 
road  running  in  the  direction  of  Columl)us;  the  amendment  also 
providing  that  this  branch  road  might  form  a  separate  organization 
under  the  title  of  the  "Akron  Branch  of  the  Cleveland  and  Pitts- 
burg Railroad." 

The  "Akron  Branch"  was  organized  March  11,  1851,  with 
Simon  Perkins,  Milton  W.  Henry,  and  John  W.  McMillen,  of 
Akron,  Horace  A.  Miller,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  James  Butler  and 
Henry  N.  Day,  of  Hudson,  and  John  Carey,  of  Millersburg,  direc- 
tors. Col.  Perkins  w^as  elected  president,  Henry  N.  Day,  secretary, 
and  John  W.  McMillen,  treasurer. 

COUNTY  AID   INVOKED. 

Though  individual  subscriptions  were  quite  liberal,  as  it  was 
believed  that   the  construction  of    the    road    would  greatly    inure 


624  AKROX    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

to  the  benefit  of  the  entire  county,  a  special  act  of  the  I^egis- 
lature  was  passed,  on  the  24th  da^-  of  March,  18,51,  authorizing  the 
county  commissioners,  with  the  consent  of  the  legal  voters,  to 
subscribe  for  $1(X),()00  of  the  stock  of  the  company,  and  to  borrow^ 
the  money  on  bonds  of  not  less  than  $100  each,  at  a  rate  of  interest 
not  exceeding  seven  per  cent. 

This  proposition  was  voted  upon  at  the  special  election  for  the 
adoption  of  the  new  State  Constitution,  on  the  21stday  of  June,  1851, 
with  the  following  result: 

For  AJJain^st 

Bath 78  102 

Boston 4()  94 

Copley 16()  o6 

Coventry 1()4  58 

Cuj'ahog-a  Falls 275  12 

Franklin •  ■  •  • 95  170 

Green 69  177 

Hudson 2.58  20 

Middlebury 5t)  72 

Northfield 33  165 

Northampton 93  57 

Norton 175  40 

Portage 737  3 

Ricnfield 48  70 

Spring-field 89  167 

Stow 88  72 

Tallmadge 31  114      ■ 

Twinsburg 3  156 

Total   Vote 2432  1605 

1605 

Majority  for " 827 

Pursuant  to  this  authority  County  Commissioners  Kdwin 
Wetmore,  of  Stow,  James  W.  Weld,  of  Richfield,  and  Hiram  Wes- 
ton, of  Middlebury,  "For  and  in  the  name  of  Summit  County," 
subscribed  for  said  amount  of  $100,000  of  the  stock  of  the  road,  and 
on  the  19th  day  of  June,  1851,  issued  100  bonds  of  $1,000  each  payable 
in  15  years,  with  30  coupons  attached,  bearing  interest  at  seven 
per  cent,  per  annum,  payable  semi-annually;  at  the  same  time,  as 
provided  by  the  act  in  question,  increasing  the  rate  of  taxation 
sufficient  to  meet  the  interest  as  it  accrued,  and  to  create  a  sink- 
ing fund  for  the  final  payment  of  the  bonds  at  their  maturity. 

In  the  process  of  negotiating  these  bonds,  and  after  about  one- 
half  of  them  had  actually  been  sold  by  Col.  Perkins  and  Treasurer 
McMillen,  it  w^as  discovered  that  the  bonds  vv^ere  defective  in  that 
they  did  not  show^  upon  their  face  that  they  w^ere  issued  by  the 
authority  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  and,  on  the  17th  of  February,  1852,  a 
new^  and  correct  series  w^as  issued  and  the  first  ones  taken  up.  A 
portion  of  the  bonds  were  paid  by  County  Auditor  S.  M.  Burnham 
some  two  or  three  years  before  maturity,  thus  saving  something  to 
the  tax-payers  in  the  amount  of  semi-annual  interest  paid  thereon. 

RAPID    CONSTRUCTION. 

With  this  aid  the  directors  pushed  the  work  so  vigorously  that 
the  road  w^as  completed  to  Cuyahoga  Falls,  bj^  June  1,  1852,  and  to 
Akron  July  4,  the  same  year,  and  speedil3^  thereafter  through  to 
Orrville  and  Millersburg. 


K'KVKKSKS    AM)    KMvOKClANIZATIONS.  fi25 

There  was,  of  course,  considerable  grumbling^  at  the  increased 
taxation  to  pay  the  interest  and  princi])al  of  these  bonds,  1)ut 
though  the  cotinty,  in  common  with  individual  stockhohiers, 
never  reahzed  any  (Uvidends,  and  in  fact  sunk  the  entire  amount 
of  the  stock  itself,  tlie  tax-payers  of  county  were  well  repaid  for 
the  hivestment,  there  not  being  a  foot  of  land  in  the  entire  county 
whose  value  was  not  enhanced  many  fold  the  special  tax  paid 
thereon,  to  say  nothing  of  the  greater  impetus  given  to  commercial, 
manufacturing  and  agricultural  operations  by  its  construction. 

"CLEVELAND,  ZANESVILLE  AND   CINCINNATI." 

At  the  March  term,  1853,  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  (if 
Summit  county,  the  name  of  the  "  Akron  Branch"  was  changed  to 
"Cleveland,  Zanesville  and  Cincinnati  Kailroad,"  with  the  view  of 
extending  the  road  south  from  Millersburg  to  connect  with  the 
Cincinnati,  Wilmington  and  Zanesville  at  the  latter  place. 

Embarrassments  falling  upon  the  company,  the  contemplated 
extension  was  indefinitely  postponed,  and  on  the  2d  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1864,  by  decree  of  Court,  the  road  was  sold  by  David  L.  King, 
Esq.,  as  special  master  commissioner,  to  George  W.  Cass  and  John 
J.  Marvdn,  of  Pittsburg,  who  in  turn  transferred  it  to  the  Pittsburg, 
Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Railroad  Compatiy,  Col.  Perkins  ))eing 
continued  as  its  general  superintendent.  July  1,  1869,  the  road 
passed  by  lease  into  the  hands  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Com- 
pany, and  November  4;  1869,  by  deed  to  the  Pittsburg,  Mount  Ver- 
no0  and  London  Railroad  Company,  of  which  Gen.  G.  A.  Jones,  of 
Mt.  Vernon,  was  appointed  general  superintendent;  Col.  Perkins, 
after  faithful  service  as  president  and  general  superintendent  for 
nearly  20  years,  retiring. 

While  Col.  Perkins,  by  his  zeal  in  the  furtherance  of  the  en- 
terprise, assumed  liabilities,  w^hich,  in  the  unforeseen  embarrass- 
ment that  followed,  imperiled  his  own  splendid  private  fortune, 
he  will  ever  be  held  in  grateful  remembrance  by  the  people  of 
Akron  and  Summit  county,  for  the  labor  performed  and  the  sacri- 
fices made  as  the  pioneer  in  the  various  railroad  enterprises  that 
have  placed  them  in  the  very  front  rank  of  progress  and  pros- 
perity. 

"CLEVELAND,  XOUNT  VERNON  AND  DELAWARE." 

December  20,  1869,  the  name  was  again  changed  as  above,  by 
tlie  Knox  county  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  the  work  of  extend- 
ing the  line  to  Delaware  was  vigorously  entered  into  by  Superin- 
tendent Jones,  but  was  finally  so  far  modified  as  to  make  Columbus, 
instead  of  Delaware,  the  terminal  point,  the  first  through  trains 
being  from  Cleveland  to  Mt.  Vernon,  June  25,  1872,  atid  to  Colum- 
bus, November  23,  of  the  same  year. 

"CLEVELAND,  AKRON   &   COLUMBUS." 

Default  having  been  made  in  the  payment  of  interest,  pro- 
ceedings in  foreclosure,  under  the  first  mortgage,  were  begun  in 
Summit  county  Common  Pleas  Court,  September  27,  1880,  and 
Gen.  G.  A.  Jones  appointed  receiver. 

July  13,  1881,  William  H.  I'pson,  Esq.,  as  special  master  com- 
missioner, sold  the  road,  under  a  decree  of  Court,  to  H.  W. 
Smithers,  J.  M.  Adams  and  J.  A.  Horsey,  for  the  sum  of  $1,140,2<H). 

40 


626 


AKROX  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY, 


The  purchasers  under  this  sale,  organized  a  company  to  operate 
the  road,  under  the  name  of  the  "  Cleveland,  Akron  &  Columbus 
Railroad  Company,"  to  which  company  the  property  was  delivered 
by  Receiver  Jones,  December  1,  1881. 

This  company  operated  the  road  up  to  April  23,  1882,  when  the 
title  was  found  to  be  invalid,  and  the  sale  set  aside  by  the  Di^rict 
Court.  April  24,  1882,  Mr.  George  D.  Walker  was  appointed  receiv- 
er, by  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Summit  countj^  operating 
the  road  under  its  old  title  of  "The  Cleveland,  Mount  Vernon  and 
Delaware  Railroad,"  with  N.  Monsarrat  as  general  superintendent. 

June  8,  1882,  under  the  ne\\'  decree.  Master  Commissioner 
Upson  again  sold  the  road  to  J.  M.  Adams  and  others,  for  the  sum 
of  $1,150,000.  The  validity  of  this  sale  was  contested  by  the  trustees, 
under  the  second  mortgage,  but  the  sale  was  confirmed  by  the 
District  Court,  and  also,  in  October,  1885,  by  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Ohio,  to  w^hich  the  case  had  been  carried  on  exceptions. 

The  purchasers,  under  the  sale  last  mentioned,  organized 
under  the  name  of  the  "  Cleveland,  Akron  and  Columbus  Railw^ay 
Company,"  taking  possession  of,  and  beginning  to  operate,  the  road 
January  1,  1886,  w^ith  N.  Monsarrat  as  president  and  general  mana- 
ger, by  whom  it  is  now  being  successfully  managed  and  operated; 
connecting  A\dth  the  Cleveland  and  Pittsburg,  at  Hudson  on  the 
north,  and  with  the  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis,  at  Colum- 
bus, on  the  south,  the  company,  in  addition  to  its  large  freight 
business,  running  first-class  passenger  trains,  with  Pullman  cars 
attached,  twice  each  v^ay,  daily,  between  Cleveland  and  Cincinnati, 
and  by  an  arrangement  with  the  Cincinnati  and  Muskingum  Val- 
ley Railway,  running  daily  freight  and  passenger  trains  into 
Zanesville,  with  facilities  equal  to  those  of  that  road  itself. 

The  company,  in  1887,  also  completed  and  opened  its  branch 
road  from  Kilbuck  to  Dresden  Junction,  on  the  Pittsburg,  Cincin- 
nati and  St.  Louis  Railroad,  34  miles,  through  a  fine  farming  and 
mining  region.  This  branch  road  was  projected  and  partially 
built  in  1871,  '72,  but  finally  abandoned  by  the  original  promoters. 
Now,  however,  as  the  property  of  the  Cleveland,  Akron  &  Colum- 
bus Railw^ay  ^Company,  it  is  confidently  believed  it  will  be  a 
valuable  adjunct  to  that  road,  as  w^ell  as  a  great  convenience  to  the 
people  of  the  region  through  which  it  passes. 

AKRON  "UNION"  DEPOT. 

On  the  completion  of  the  "Akron  Branch,"  in  1852,  a  small 
passenger  depot  suited  to  the  necessities  of  so  small  a  road  and  so 

inconsiderable  a  village,  was 
erected  a  few  rods  south  of  the 
Mill  street  crossing.  On  the 
advent  of  the  "Atlantic  &  Great 
Western"  Railroad,  as  hereinaf- 
ter detailed,  that  company  pur- 
chased from  the  former  company 
the  right  of  way  through  Akron, 
and  also  arranged  for  the  joint 
use  of  the  passenger  depot  in 
question. 

As  the  population  of  the  town, 
and    the    business    of    the    roads 


Akron's  original  "Union    Depot  "- 
1891.    "  Peace  to  its  ashes." 


-1852- 


UNION    AND   OTHER    DEPOTS.  627 

increased,  it  was  the  intention  of  the  managers  to  unite  in  the 
construction  of  a  union  depot,  which  should  be  adequate  to  the 
public  needs,  and  also  both  a  credit  to  the  roads  and  an  ornament 
to  the  city.  But  the  repeated  embarrassments  and  changes  of 
management  here  written  of,  for  a  long  time  prevented  the  con- 
summation of  that  desirable  project. 

In  the  Spring  of  1888,  however,  Messrs.  N.  Monsarrat  and  C. 
\V.  Schaap,  of  the  Cleveland,  Akron  &  Columbus  road,  purchased 
the  fine  homestead  of  the  late  George  D.  Bates,  at  the  Kast  Market 
street  crossing,  and  negotiations  began  for  the  organization  of  a 
Union  Depot  Company.  Two  years  passed  in  endeavors  to  secure 
the  co-operation  of  the  New  York,  Lake  Erie  &  Western  road.  But 
the  Erie  officials  insisted  that  they  were  but  lessees  and  that 
depot-building  should  be  done  by  the  proprietor  company,  the 
New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio.  The  board  of  trade  and  a  com- 
mittee of  the  city  council  had  several  interviews  with  "Nypano" 
officials  at  Cleveland,  and  the  outcome  of  it  all  ^vas  an  announce- 
ment that  the  Erie  would  unite  with  the  C,  A.  «&  C.  in  purchasing 
the  Bates  property  from  Messrs.  Monsarrat  and  Schaap,  and  go 
ahead  with  the  erection  of  a  union  depot.  This  arrangement, 
however,  was  not  carried  out.  The  two  roads  differed  on  the 
question  of  position  of  tracks  and  other  details,  and  the  result  was 
that  the  C,  A.  «&  C.  took  the  Bates  property  alone,  and  the  Erie 
began  w^ork,  in  the  Summer  of  1890,  on  a  depot  of  its  own  just  south 
■of  the  wooden  building  so  long  occupied  by  the  two  companies. 
President  Monsarrat,  of  the  C,  A.  &  C,  opened  negotiations  with 
the  city  council  for  the  vacation  to  his  company  for  depot  purposes, 
of  the  portion  of  College  street,  lying  just  east  of  the  Bates  prop- 
ert}^.  He  agreed  to  build  a  depot  to  cost  not  less  than  $25,000,  and 
to  bear  his  road's  portion  of  the  expenses  of  a  bridge  across  Park 
street.  He  asked  leave,  also,  to  Aviden  the  span  of  the  East  Market 
street  bridge,  so  as  to  admit  more  tracks,  and  gain  better  access 
to  the  depot,  agreeing  to  replace  the  old  wooden  bridge  by  a  sub- 
stantial iron  structure.  These  arrangements  were  consummated 
in  due  time,  and  in  addition  to  the  grant  of  a  part  of  College  street, 
the  city  vacated  to  the  C,  A.  &  C.  that  portion  of  Railroad  alley 
lying  between  East  Market  and  Mill  streets,  permitting  the  build- 
ing of  extra  trackage  there. 

The  Erie   depot   was    pushed   forward   to   completion    in   the 

.,*..:■  ■,.^..u.:u.^^,......  :_:.::■:■..  Spriug  of  1891,  aud  was  occupied 

July  1,  of  that  year.     It  is  a  hand- 

I  some    structure    costing    about 

Jk     ^^"^^^  $20,000,  and  as  much  of  an  orna- 

^^^M^         '■'  ment,    as    the    old    tumble-down 

^^Mr    ^^^  wooden  depot  was,  for  a  genera- 

A            ipj^^f    Fi^^L.  tion,    an    eye-sore    and    reproach. 

A^  ^^^^JSraftli^^aBJ^BI^ip  The  C,  A.  &  C.  depot  which  was 

■,<^jW^il!«g-"-- '^__^^^^LgJmmL' '  built  of  pressed  brick  and  in  the 

l^^ar^ieg^^^SjffljMBW^^EL:!  Romanesque   style  of   architect- 

rg  r-'  'WtS^^'^wSSESBSSSv  *^  ure,   cost   about   $30,000.     It  was 

i^S^^gj' Z^^      -Wi^^^^^^ ^,:_2, ■  ■  finished  in  the  early  Summer  of 

New  York.  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Kail-  1891,    but     the     WOrk    of   widening 

road  Depot-firected  in  iHw).  'm.  ^j^^  g^g^  Market  street  bridge  and 

of  preparing  the  depot  surroundings  delayed  occupancy  until  the 
latter  part  of  the  season.     The  whole  expense  of  the  depot  and  of 


628 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


New  Union  Passenger  .Station,  Cleveland, 

Akron  and  Columbus  and  Baltimore 

&    Ohio    Kailroads,    East  Market 

Street— 1891. 


the  other  itiiprovenients  made  idong;  with  it — excavation  of  the 
east  portion  of  the  Bates  property,  building  of  retaining  walls,  new 
tracks,  etc.,  was  fully  $100,000. 

In  May,  1891,  there  was  incorporated  at  Columbus  the  Akron 
Union  Depot  Company.  'Its  prominent  projectors  were.  President 
N.  Monsarrat,  of  the  C,  A.  &  C,  and  Wm.  Thornburg,  president  of 

the  Akron  &  Chicago  Junction 
Kailroad  Company.  The  ccnii- 
pany  was  the  result  of  an  agree- 
ment by  which  the  two  lines  are 
to  use  the  C,  A.  &  C.  depot  in 
common.  The  occupancy  of  this 
depot  l)y  the  A.  &  C.  J.  means 
that  all  B.  &  O.  trains  through 
Akron  are  to  run  into  it,  and  it  was 
the  expectation  that  the  Valley 
road,  also  the  B.  &  O.'s  property, 
would  eventually  abandon  the 
W.  Market  street  depot  and  have 
all  its  trains  run  in  from  Old  Forge  to  the  C,  A.  &  C.  depot,  to  con- 
nect with  through  B.  Sc  O.  trains.  A  neat  frame  station  was  built 
by  the  C,  A.  &  C.  in  South  Akron,  near  McCoy's  crossing,  in 
the  fall  of  1890,  to  accommodate  the  rapidly  growing  population  of 
that  part  of  the  city.  Another  important  move  of  the  C,  A.  &  C, 
made  in  June  of  1891,  was  the  acquisition  cfi  several  acres  of  land 
in  the  tract  of  the  South  Akron  Land  Syndicate  (Steiner  &  Co.) 
It  is  the  intention  to  cov^er  this  land  with  sidings,  and  being  close 
to  the  new  shops  built  on  the  city's  southern  edge,  it  was  expected 
that  they  would  add  largely  to  the  traffic  of  the  road  and  be  of  ben- 
efit to  present  and  future  manufacturing  establishments  in  that 
rapidly  grow^ing  suburb. 

"THE  ATLANTIC  AND  GREAT  WESTERN." 

In  1850,  Hon  Marvin  Kent,  an  enterprising  young  business 
man  and  large  property  ow^ner  of  the  village  noAv  bearing  his  name 
(but  then  called  Franklin  Mills),  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Cleve- 
land &  Pittsburg,  then  being  built,  had  given  that  village  the  cold 
shoulder,  by  running  tvt^o  miles  to  the  northward,  conceived  the 
idea  of  forming  a  direct  line  from  New  York  to  St.  Louis,  nearly 
1,200  miles,  by  connecting  with  the  Erie  road,  at  Salamanca,  on  the 
east,  and  by  the  Dayton  &  Hamilton  with  the  Ohio  &  Mississippi, 
at  Cincinnati,  on  the  west. 

Having  matured  his  plans,  in  the  winter  of  1850,  '51,  Mr.  Kent 
applied  to  the  Legislature  for  a  charter  for  a  seemingly  purely  local 
road,  under  the  title  of  the  "Coal  Hill  Railroad,"  changed  previous 
to  its  passage  to  the  "  Franklin  and  Warren  Railroad."  This  char- 
ter included  among  its  incorporators  the  names  of  the  following 
Summit  county  gentlemen:  Simon  Perkins,  Lucius  \'.  Bierce, 
Harvey  B.  Spelman  and  Dr.  Daniel  Upson,  the  charter,  written  by 
Mr.  Kent  himself,  providing  for  a  capital  stock  in  any  amount  not 
exceeding  $2,000,000,  Avith  power  to  continue  to  the  State  line,  on 
the  east,  and  in  the  southwesterly  direction  to  connect  w^ith  any 
other  road  in  the  State  as  may  be  deemed  advisable;  also  to  con- 
solidate its  capital  stock  with,  and  use  the  name  of,  an}'  company 
w^ith  -wdiich  it  might  connect. 


ATLANTIC   &   GREAT   WESTERN. 


629 


HON.  MARVIN  KENT,  born  in 
Kcivenna,  Ohio,  September  21, 
1810;  academic  education;  bred  a 
merchant,  at  niajoritj'  becoming-  a 
partner  with  liis  father,  Mr.  Zenas 
Kent,  in  the  mercantile  business  at 
Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent) ;  also  for 
man}'  years  engaged  in  milling,  man- 
ufacturing- the  celebrated  brand  of 
flour  known  as  "  Kent's  Extra,"  and 
carrjing-  on  quite  an  extensive  tan- 
nery- ;  in  1850  Mr.  Kent,  with  others, 
established  a  window-glass  factory 
in  Kent,  and  about  the  same  time  lie 
inaugurated,  and  b}'  his  influence, 
unstinted  liberalitj-  and  indomitable 
perseverance,  consummated  the 
great  enterprise  \vhich  has  proved 
so  beneficial  to  the  people  of  Portage 
and  Summit  counties — the  Atlantic 
and  Great  Western  Railway  (now  the 
N.Y.,P.&0.),fullj' written  of  elsewhere, 
Mr.  Kent  being  its  President  for  man  j' 
years,  and  also  President  of  the  Kent 
National  Bank  since  the  death  of  his 
father,  in  ISiirt.  In  the  histor}-  of 
Portage  count}'  it  is  written :  "  In 
early  days  the  pioneers  devoted  them- 
selves to  the  task  of  building-  up  a 
town  on  the  Cuyahoga  with  remark- 
able energy  ;  not,  however,  until  the 
various  enterprises  were  taken  hold 
of  by  the  master  hand  of  Marvin 
Kent,  did  theories  of  progress,  put 
forward  by  the  old  settlers,  assume 
practical  shape."  Thus,  to  his  aid 
and  fostering-  care  may  properly  be 
ascribed  the  industrial  and  comnier- 


HOX.    NAKVIN   KENT. 

cial  prosperity  which  the  jjleasant 
village  bearing  his  name  now  enjoys. 
In  October,  1875,  Mr.  Kent  was  elected. 
State  Senator  for  Portage  and  Sum- 
mit counties,  ably  serving-  two  years. 
Deceinber  24,  1840,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Maria,  Stewart,  daughter  of  Col. 
William  Stewart,  formerly  of  Middle- 
bury  ;  of  the  two  sons  born  to  them. 
Henry  L.  Kent,  born  February  14, 
1843,  died  suddenly,  in  New  York  City, 
April  21,  1873;  William  S.  Kent,  born 
August  21,  1847,  is  now  a  merchant  in 
Kent. 


The  company  was  organized  June  19,  1851,  with  Mr.  Kent  as 
president,  and  Dr.  Daniel  Upson,  of  TaUniadge,  as  one  of  the 
directors,  the  name  being  changed  to  the  "Atlantic  &  Great  Western 
Railroad  Company,"  in  1854. 

Skirmishing  for  Connections, — Being  unable,  after  repeated 
<ifforts,  to  secure  from  the  Pennsjdvania  Legislature,  a  charter  for 
a  direct  connecting  link,  because  of  the  detriment  it  was  supposed 
the  road  would  be  to  the  commercial  interests  of  Philadelphia,  the 
compan}'  finalh-  bought  for  $4(X),(K)()  the  existing  charter  of  the 
"I^ittsburg  and  Krie"  road,  with  branching  powers  sufficient  to 
span  the  State,  and  to  connect  with  the  New  York  branidi  at  the 
state  line  upon  the  east  and  the  Ohio  branch  upon  the  west. 

Subsequently  the  states  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania 
authorized  the  organization  of  a  company  in  each  state,  under  the 
same  title  as  in  Ohio,  with  a  separate  board  of  directors  for  each, 
the  three  companies  finally  uniting  under  the  general  title  of  "The 
Atlantic  &  Great  Western  Railway  Company,"  with  a  central  board 
of  directors  and  officers,  with  its  headqiuirters  at  Meadville,  Pa., 
the  Ohio  board  being  represented  in  the  central  board  by  Hon. 
Marvin  Kent  and  Dr.  W.  S.  Streator,  now  a  wealthy  gentleman  of 
Cleveland, 

Large  Contract  and  Rapid  Work. — The  contract  for  the 
entire   line  was  awarded  to   Mr,  Henry    Doolittle  and    Dr.    W.    S. 


630  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Streator,  at  figures  aggregating  nearly  $7,000,000,  and  the  work  was 
commenced,  on  the  Ohio  division,  July  4,  1854,  President  Marvin 
Kent  removing  the  first  earth,  the  people  of  Summit  county  hav- 
ing promptly  subscribed  their  full  quota  of  $100,000  to  the  stock  of 
the  company.  Mr.  Joy  H.  Pendleton,  late  president  of  the  Second 
National  Bank  of  Akron,  and  Mr.  William  Doolittle,  brother  of  the 
principal  contractor,  w^ere  sub-contractors  for  the  construction  of 
the  section  between  Urbana  and  i3ayton.  The  work  was  vigor- 
ously prosecuted,  and  the  grading  pretty  evenly  distributed  all 
along  the  line,  one  of  the  conditions  of  the  local  subscriptions 
being  that  the  money  should  be  expended  in  the  counties  where 
raised. 

Embarrassment,' Suspension,  Etc. — Through  financial  compli- 
cations the  w^ork  w^as  practically  suspended  in  1855,  and  entirely 
stopped  in  1858.  But  its  plucky  president,  and  a  few  faithful 
friends  in  both  Summit  and  Portage  counties,  were  so  persevering 
that  European  capitalists  were  finally  enlisted  in  the  enterprise, 
one  of  whom,  Mr.  James  McHenry,  of  London,  entered  into  a  con- 
tract to  complete  the  entire  line,  Mr.  Henry  Doolittle  having  died 
in  1860,  and  Dr.  Streator,  the  surviving  partner,  declining  to  com- 
plete the  work. 

Work  Kesumed — Completion  of  Road,  Etc. — The  work  under 
the  new^  contract,  w^as  somevt^hat  delayed  by  the  breaking  out  of 
the  civil  war,  but  in  the  spring  of  1862,  under  the  energetic  and 
somewhat  extravagant  management  of  the  new^  chief  engineer, 
Thomas  W.  Kennard,  of  London,  the  work  was  pushed  so  vigor- 
ously for^vard,  that  the  chief  engineer's  palace  car,  with  the  officers 
and  directors  on  board,  drove  into  Akron  on  the  17th  day  of  April, 
1864,  and  its  final  completion  to  Dayton  was  celebrated  in  that  city,. 
June  21,  1864,  President  Kent  laying  the  last  rail  and  driving  the 
last  spike,  as  he  had  thrown  the  first  shovelful  of  earth,  nearly 
eleven  years  before.  In  the  meantime  the  capital  had  been 
increased  to  $6,000,000,  and  on  July  1,  1863,  the  entire  Ohio  division 
had  been  conveyed  by  deed  of  trust  to  the  attorney  of  the  road, 
William  H.  Upson,  Esq.,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  loan  of 
$4,000,000,  with  which  to  finish  and  equip  the  road. 

Prosperity,  Adversity,  Sale,  Etc. — Space  will  not  permit  a 
detailed  history  of  the  varying  vicissitudes  of  the  road  during  the 
quarter  of  a  century  of  its  existence.  Though  at  once  entering  into 
a  large  passenger  and  freightage  business,  it  was  substantially  at 
the  mercy  of  the  connecting  roads  at  either  end,  through  whicli, 
and  a  combination  of  other  causes,  the  road  in  1869  passed  into  the 
hands  of  Judge  Reuben  Hitchcock,  of  Painesville,  as  receiver,  who, 
under  a  decree  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Summit  county, 
on  the  26th  day  of  July,  1871,  sold  the  road  to  Gen.  George  B. 
McClellan,  Hon.  Allen  G.  Thurman,  and  William  Butler  Duncan, 
as  trustees  for  certain  creditors,  at  the  follow^ing  figures:  New 
York  division,  $655,000;  Pennsylvania  division  and  its  various 
branches,  $600,000;  Ohio  division  (subject  to  first  mortgage  lien  of 
$2,400,000),  including  its  lease  of  the  Mahoning  branch,  for  $4,435,- 
000— total,  $5,690,000. 

Further  Complications — ^^Second  Sale,  Etc. — The  new  pur- 
chasers organized  under  the  title  of  "The  Atlantic  &  Great  West- 
ern Railway'  Companj'^,"  l)ut  owing  to  innumerable  complications. 


THE    VALI.EY    RAILWAY,    ETC.  631 

in  December,  1874,  its  affairs  were  again  brought  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Summit  county,  and  John 
H.  Devereaux  was,  appointed  receiver,  pending  litigation  extend- 
ing more  than  live  years,  and  involving  many  millions  of  dollars, 
and  participated  in  by  the  most  eminent  legal  talent  of  both 
Burope  and  America. 

January  6,  1880,  Keceiver  Devereaux,  as  Special  Master  Com- 
missioner, again  sold  the  road,  as  a  whole,  to  S.  A.  Strang,  and  K. 
G.  Rolsten,  as  trustees  for  the  parties  in  interest,  for  the  sum  of 
$6,(XX),()0(),  the  new  owners,  mostly  foreign  bond-holders,  organizing 
under  the  name  of  the  "  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  Kail- 
road  Company,"  which  name  it  still  bears,  being  now  operated, 
under  lease,  by  the  New  York  and  Erie  Railroad  Compan3% 

THE  "BALTIMORE  AND  OHIO." 

In  the  Spring  of  1870,  a  proposition  was  made  to  extend  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad,  from  its  intermediate  connection,  the 
Pittsburg  &  Connellsville,  from  Pittsburg  to  Chicago,  to  run 
through  Akron,  provided  her  citizens  would  subscribe  for  if3(10,00() 
of  its  capital  stock.  A  subscription  book  was  opened  and  circu- 
lated for  signatures,  authorizing  David  L.  King,  Lewis  Miller  and 
Charles  Brown  to  pledge  and  guarantee  the  re(]uired  amount,  the 
subscriptions  being  pa^'aljle,  10  per  cent,  when  the  road  should  be 
located  through  Akron,  and  the  balance  in  monthly  installments 
as  the  work  jjrogressed. 

Through  public  meetings  and  the  personal  efforts  of  the  gen- 
tlemen named,  an  excess  of  the  sum  required  sufficient  to  cover 
all  contingencies  was  raised,  in  sums  ranging  from  single  shares 
to  thousands  of  dollars,  and  high  hopes  were  indulged  in  that  the 
road  would  be  speedily  built,  but  for  reasons  never  satisfactorily 
explained,  in  the  Spring  of  1871  the  project  w^as  indefiniteh^  post- 
poned. The  Baltimore  &  Ohio,  however,  still  kept  its  eye  turned 
Akronward  and  a  revival  of  its  old  plan,  though  differing  in  detail, 
has  within  the  past  year  made  Akron  a  point  on  a  B.  &  O.  New 
York-Chicago  line,  as  is  told  farther  on  in  this  chapter. 

THE  "  VALLEY  RAILWAY." 

In  1869,  largely  through  the  influence  of  David  Iv.  King,  Esq., 
of  Akron,  a  charter  had  l)een  obtained  for  the  "Akron  and  Canton 
Railway,"  which,  no\v  that  the  Baltimore  extension  scheme  had 
failed,  speedily'  developed  into  the  larger  and  more  important 
enterprise  of  the  "\'alley  Railway  Company,"  which  was  incorpo- 
rated August  21,  1871,  Mr.  King  being  one  of  the  incorporators. 

The  authorized  capital  of  this  company  was  $3,(KX),000,  and  the 
road  w^as  to  run  from  Cleveland  via  Akron  and  Canton  to  Bowers- 
tow^n,  on  the  "Pan  Handle"  road.  Meetings  were  held,  committees 
appointed  and  stock  subscriptions  vigorously  canvassed  for,  and 
Akron's  quota  of  $150,000  was  speedily  raised,  the  subscription  of. 
the  entire  county  amounting  to  $191,7(K). 

Organization,  Construction,  Etc.  —  The  company  was 
organized  at  Cleveland,  April  24,  1872,  David  L.  King  and 
John  F.  Seiberling  being  elected  directors  for  Summit 
county,      Mr.       King      also      being     elected      vice     president      of 


632  AKWUX    AXD    Sl'MMIT    COL'.XTV. 

the  conipaii}'.  May  10,  1872,  P.  H.  Dudley,  then  city  engi- 
neer of  Akron,  was  elected  chief  engineer  of  the  road.  The 
surveys  being  completed,  the  contract  for  the  entire  line,  between 
Cleveland  and  Canton,  was  awarded  to  Col.  Arthur  L.  Conger  and 
Mr.  Nicholas  K.  X^ansickle,  of  Akron,  February- 3,  1873,  ground  being 
broken  in  Springtield  township  earlj'  in  March  of  that  year.  The 
work  was  so  vigorously  prosecuted  b^^  the  contractors,  that  on  the 
loth  day  of  August,  1873,  Engineer  Dudley'  reported  that  the  grad- 
ing was  about  two-thirds  completed,  with  all  the  bridges  under 
contract  and  part  of  them  up. 

Contract  Caxcelleo,  Work  Stspexded,  Etc. — Differences 
arising  1)etween  the  directors  and  the  contractors,  the  contract  w^as 
canceled  and  the  work  suspended  May  14,  1874.  September  25,  1874, 
Mr.  King  was  elected  president  of  the  road,  the  directors,  as  a  con- 
dition precedent  to  his  acceptance  of  the  position,  individually 
iissuming  the  entire  liabilities  of  the  company',  then  amounting  to 
about  $150,(K)C),  from  \vhich,  owing  to  the  monetar}'-  stringency 
growing  out  of  the  panic  of  1873,  the}'  were  not  fully  relieved 
until  1879. 

President  Krxo  X^isirs  Europe. — Failing,  through  the  strin- 
genc3'  of  the  money  market;  to  secure  the  necessary  aid  at  home 
to  com{)lete  the  work,  President  Xing  visited  England  in  Febru- 
ar}^  1875,  to  interest  the  capitalists  of  London  in  the  enterprise. 
After  many  discouragements,  Mr.  King^  flnall}'^  .secured  a  highly 
favorable  proposition  for  the  sale  of  the  company's  bonds,  but, 
unfortunatel3\  on  the  eve  of  closing  the  matter  up,  a  report  from 
a  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  inveighing  against 
American  securities  generally,  and  railroad  securities  especially, 
Avas  published,  simultaneously  with  which  came  a  cablegram 
from  America  announcing  the  appointment  of  a  receiver  for  the 
Wabash  &  Western  Kailroad,  large  blocks  of  whose  bonds  w^ere 
held  in  Ivondon,  and  the  proposition  was  withdrawn. 

Success  at  La.st. — Returning  home,  President  King  brought  the 
merits  of  the  line  to  the  attention  of  Cleveland  and  New  York 
capitalists  (the  capital  stock  having  been  increased  from  $3,000,000 
to  $6,500,000)  his  negotiations  linally  resulting  in  placing  the  bonds 
of  the  company  with  prominent  capitalists  of  the  two  cities 
named.  The  new  contractors,  Messrs.  Walsh  and  Moj^nahan, 
resumed  work  upon  the  road  August  7,  1878,  the  first  rail  being 
laid  b}'  President  King  at  a  point  near  the  Old  Forge,  in  Akron,  on 
the  26th  day  of  Octol^er,  1878,  at  high  noon.  Track-laying  was  at 
once  proceeded  with,  in  ])oth  directions,  as  well  as  from  Cleveland 
southw^ard  a  few  days  later. 

The  First  Through  Traix. — Another  misunderstanding  occur- 
ring between  the  directors  and  contractors,  work  was  again  tem- 
porarily suspended  January  25,  1879.  June  3,  1879,  a  new  contract 
Avas  entered  into  \vith  Messrs.  vStrong  and  Carey,  who  finally  com- 
pleted the  road  through  from  Cleveland  to  Canton  in  the  Winter 
of  1879,  '80. 

The  first  through  train,  with  the  directors,  officers  and  other 
friends  of  the  road,  left  Cleveland  at  9:30  a.  m.,  January  28,  1880. 
With  brief  stops  at  the  several  stations  along  the  route,  the  train 
reached  Canton  at  1  o'clock  p.  m.  On  the  return  trip,  the  run  of 
22  miles  l>etween  Canton  and  Akron  was  made  in  38  minutes,  and 


SOME   OTHKR    KAILKOAD    PROJECTS.  033 

the  entire  trip  froin  Canton  to  Cleveland,  59  miles,  in  just  two 
hours,  evincing  the  remarkable  thoroughness  of  the  grading,  track- 
laying  and  ballasting. 

Regular  trains,  both  passenger  and  freight.'commenced  run- 
ning February  2,  1880,  and  the  road  has  proved  itself  a  ver}^  valu- 
able acquisition  to  the  travel  and  transportation  facilities  of  the 
entire  region  which  it  traverses,  as  well  as  an  enduring  monument 
to  the  enterprise  and  prosperity  of  the  people  of  Summit  count}', 
and  is  one  of  the  very  few  railway  lines  of  the  country  that, 
for  nearly  20  years,  remained  continuously  in  the  hands  of  its 
original  proprietors. 

EviDEXx'Es  OF  Prosperity. — About  1884,  the  Vallej'  Railway 
extended  its  main  line  from  Canton  southward  to  Valley  Junction, 
on  the  Wheeling  &  Lake  Erie  Railroad,  26  miles,  forming  at  that 
point  a  connection  with  the  Cleveland  &  Marietta  Railroad.  The 
Valley  Railway',  proper,  is  therefore  75  miles  in  length,  with  19 
miles  of  branches  and  35  miles  of  side-tracks  (including  a  two 
mile  track  completed  in  1888  from  Mineral  Point  to  the  extensive 
coal  mine  now  being  developed  by  John  F.  Seiberling,  Esq.,  and 
other  Akron  gentlemen). 

At  the  West  Market  street  crossing  of  its  costl}^  side  track 
running  to  the  principal  mills  in  Akron,  a  fine  new  passenger 
depot  was  completed  in  1888,  which  has  proved  a  great  conven- 
ience to  the  people  of  the  entire  cit}'^  and  vicinity,  and,  in  addition 
to  its  constantly  increasing  freight  traffic,  its  passenger  ])usiness 
may  be  jutlged  by  the  fact  that  four  regular  trains  run  dailj'  each 
way  between  Cleveland  and  Valle}'  Junction,  and  an  additional 
daily  train  each  way  between  Cleveland  and  Akron. 

Baltimore  &  Ohio  Gets  the  Valley. — Figuring  for  the 
acquisition  of  the  Valley  road,  to  make  it  part  of  a  system,  or  to 
give  access  to  Cleveland  to  an  important  road  that  had  hitherto 
been  debarred  from  that  city,  began  in  the  spring  of  1889.  For 
some  time  it  was  generally  believed  that  a  Pittsburg  syndicate, 
composed  of  Andrew  Carnegie  and  associates,  had  secured  control 
of  a  majority  of  the  stock  and  expected  to  build  an  extension  to 
Pittsburg,  making  a  competing  line  to  the  Cleveland  &  Pitts- 
hurg.  Such  a  plan  reall}'  was  in  contemplation,  but  w^hen  the 
details  came  out,  of  the  long  looked-for  Valley  deal,  it  was  found 
to  be  in  the  hands  of  the  B.  &  O.  Taintor  &  Holt,  New  York 
brokers,  bought  up  a  majority  of  the  stock  and  turned  it  over  to 
the  B.  &  O.,  in  the  fall  of  1889.  Early  in  1890  Thos.  M.  King,  of  the 
B.  iSc  O.,  was  elected  president  of  the  X'alley,  on  the  resignation  of 
J.  H.  Wade. 

SEVERAL  OTHKK  KAKEY  ROADS. 

In  the  chapter  on  Hudson  township,  is  given  sketches  of  the 
"Clinton  Line"  eastward  from  Hudson,  to  the  Pennsjdvania  state 
line,  and  the  "Clinton  Line  Extension"  westAvard  from  Hudson  to 
Tiffin,  as  links  in  "The  Creat  American  Railwaj',"  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  I*acific,  and  also  of  the  "Hudson  and  Painesville 
Railroad,"  commenced  in  1852,  '53.  The  stock  of  all  these  roads  was 
liberall}'  subscribed  for,  by  the  people  of  Hudson,  and  elsewhere 
along  the  line,  and  several  hundred  thousand  dollars  expended  in 
grading,  masonry,  etc.,  but  tinally  suspended  in  1850. 


634  AKKON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

The  "Clinton  Line"  was  so  named  in  honor  of  Gov.  DeWitt 
Clinton,  the  projector  of  New  York's  great  water  highway,  the 
Krie  Canal,  and  ^vho,  previous  to  his  death,  in  1828,  had  suggested 
the  plan  of  building  a  great  continental  railroad  from  the  city  of 
NevkT  York  to  the  Missouri  River.  By  reason  of  financial  embar- 
rassments, the  three  roads  in  question  w^ere  sold  under  decrees  in 
foreclosure,  the  Clinton  Line  being  purchased,  in  April  1861,  b}'  John 
P.  Converse  as  trustee  for  the  bondholders.  Mr.  Converse  dying,  Mr. 
A.  D.  Kibbie  was  appointed  trustee  by  the  United  States  Court. 
Attempts  were  made  from  time  to  time,  under  the  authority  of 
the  trustees,  to  revive  the  project,  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining 
their  title  to  the  road. 

The  Clinton  Line  Redivivus. — In  the  Summer  of  1887,  Prof.  M. 
C.  Read,  of  Hudson,  about  the  only  person  in  the  place  w^ho  had 
faith  that  the  road  would  ever  be  built,  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  D.  M. 
Yeomans,  an  enterprising  capitalist  and  contractor  of  Kinsman, 
Truml)ull  county,  and  several  other  wealth^"  gentlemen,  spent  sev- 
eral months  in  an  endeavor  to  secure  from  the  original  bond- 
holders and  their  heirs  and  assigns,  authority  to  convey,  on  a  given 
percentage,  their  claims  to  any  company  which  would  undertake 
the  construction  of  the  road. 

Having  obtained  authority  from  over  two-thirds  of  the  parties 
in  interest,  to  act  as  their  agent  to  sell  the  road  on  the  terms  pro- 
posed, Mr.  Read  was  appointed  by  the  United  States  Court,  trustee 
for  all  the  bondholders,  in  the  place  of  A.  D.  Kibbie,  deceased. 

The  New  York  and  Ohio  Railway. — Mr.  Yeomans,  with  four 
associates,  organized  the  New  York  and  Ohio  Railway  Company,^ 
together  subscribing  $U)0,(XX)  to  its  capital  stock,  having  later,  as 
w^as  alleged,  placed  a  sufficient  amount  of  its  stock  to  make  the 
enterprise  an  assured  success.  In  March,  1888,  Mr.  Read,  as  trus- 
tee for  the  bondholders,  entered  into  a  contract  w^ith  the  company 
to  transfer  their  several  interests  to  the  new  organization,  on  the 
condition  of  the  construction  of  the  road  to  Hudson  w^ithin  two 
years  from  that  date,  and  the  company  confidently  expected  to  com- 
plete the  road  within  that  year. 

On  the  east  it  secured  a  favorable  connection  w^ith  the  Che- 
nango sj^stem,  and  on  the  west,  w^ith  Cleveland  by  the  Cleveland 
and  Canton  road  at  Streetsboro,  in  Portage  county.  The  company 
hoped,  in  time,  to  make  it  the  central  link  in  the  great  Continental 
Line  projected  by  Prof.  Henry  N.  Day,  and  his  associates,  in 
1851,  '52;  the  managers,  while  claiming  that  they  could  give  a 
a  shorter  route  between  Cleveland  and  Pittsburg  to  the  traveling 
public  than  at  that  time  existed,  believing  that  the  transportation 
of  coal  from  the  Pennsylvania  mines  might  be  made  to  yield  a  fair 
rate  of  interest  upon  their  investinent.  For  some  reasons  not  now^ 
apparent,  the  w^ork  upon  this  road  was  not  prosecuted  as  contem- 
plated, and  in  the  Spring  of  18JK)  Mr.  Yeomans  sold  his  interest  to 
Benjamin  F.  Holmes,  of  New  York  City,  president  of  the  American 
Live  Stock  Kxpress  Company,  who  was  then  elected  president  of 
the  railway  company-.  The  express  cattle  cars,  forty-seven  in 
number,  with  the  patents,  were  transferred  to  the  railway  com- 
pany, and  it  is  stated  that  Mr.  Holmes  is  actively  engaged  in 
maturing  his  plans  for  the  speedy  completion  of  the  road,  and  the 
construction  of  a  large  number  of  additional  cattle  cars,  it  being 
understood  that  if  the  work  is  dehu^ed  l)eyond  the  extended  period 


OUR    LATER    ACQUISITIONS.  635 

of  time  granted  by  the  trustee  for  the  bondholders,  he  has  an 
arrangement  for  the  sale,  to  other  parties,  who  w^ill  surely  build 
the  road. 

The  Massillon  Branch. — In  the  middle  sixties  a  short  line 
of  road  was  built  from  Clinton,  in  Summit  county,  to  Massillon, 
in  Stark  county,  some  eight  or  ten  miles  in  length  only,  by  the  "  Mas- 
sillon and  Cleveland  Kailroad  Company."  This  road  was  leased 
to  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Railroad  Company, 
June  22,  1869,  the  lease  being  assigned  to  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road Company,  July  1,  1869,  and  by  that  company,  in  turn,  to  the 
Cleveland,  Mount  Vernon  and  Dela\vare  Railroad  Company, 
November  4,  of  the  same  year.  It  was  operated  by  that  company, 
until  its  sale,  as  heretofore  set  forth,  to  the  Cleveland,  Akron  and 
Columbus  Railw^ay  Company,  since  w^hich  time  it  has  been  opera- 
ted by  the  Pittsburg,  Ft.  Wayne  and  Chicago.  Betw^een  one  and 
two  miles  only  of  this  road  is  in  Summit  county,  running  through 
the  southwest  corner  of  the  tow^nship  of  Franklin,  but  is  properly 
here  briefly  mentioned  as  one  of  Summit  county's  railroads. 

L/AKE  Shore  and  Tuscarawas  Valley. — This  road,  built  in 
the  latter  seventies,  runs  from  Black  River,  in  Lorain  county,  on 
Lake  Erie,  in  a  southeasterly  direction,  cutting  across  the  south- 
w^est  corner  of  Franklin  township,  and  crossing  the  Cleveland, 
Akron  and  Columbus  Railw^ay  at  Warwick,  a  short  distance  south 
of  Clinton.  Its  length  is  157  miles  and  its  eastern  terminus  is 
Bridgeport,  opposite  Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  on  the  Ohio  river.  This 
road  is  moderately  beneficial  to  the  people  of  Summit  county  in 
reaching  points  in  Stark  and  other  eastern  counties  of  the  State, 
and  in  the  shipment  of  coal  and  other  products  to  points  on  Lake 
Erie,  west  of  Cleveland. 

The  "  Cleveland  and  Canton  Railway." — About  1880,  a  nar- 
row gauge  (three  foot  track)  railroad  w^as  built  from  Bowerstown, 
on  the  Pan  Handle  road,  in  Harrison  county,  to  Cleveland,  passing 
through  Canton,  in  Stark  county,  touching  Summit  at  Mogadore 
on  the  east  line  of  the  county,  going  from  there  to  Kent,  in  Portage 
county,  and  from  thence  northwesterly  direct  to  Cleveland,  passing 
diagonally  through  Twinsburg,  in  Summit  county.  This  road  is 
chiefly  serviceable  to  the  people  of  Summit  county  in  affording 
the  village  of  Mogadore  facilities  for  the  procurement  of  its  coal 
and  other  supplies,  and  for  the  shipment  of  the  large  amount  of 
stoneware  w^hich  is  yearly  manufactured  at  that  point;  and  as  a 
means  of  transporting  from  Twinsburg  the  products  of  its  mag- 
nificent quarries  and  its  extensive  dairies,  and  in  bringing  in  mer- 
chandise and  other  articles  from  abroad.  This  road  was  originally 
named  "  The  Connotton  Valley  Railway,"  but  some  two  or  three 
years  ago  changed  its  title,  as  above  indicated,  and  has  since 
brought  its  track  to  standard  gauge,  with  first-class  rolling  stock 
to  match. 

The  "F*ittsburg  and  Western." — Early  in  1881,  Chauncey  H. 
Andrews,  Esq.,  and  other  w^ealthy  gentlemen  of  Youngstown, 
projected  what  was  then  called  the  "  Pittaburg,  Youngstown  & 
Chicago  Railroad."  The  company  w^as  organized  March  18,  1881, 
with  Mr.  Andrews  as  its  president,  at  which  time  it  was  reported 
that  three-fourths  of  its  authorized  capital  of  $2,000,000  had  been 
subscribed.  It  was  at  first  intended  that  the  line  should  enter 
Summit  count3^  at  Mogadore,   passing  westward  down  the  Valley 


636  AKKOX    AND    SUMMIT    COUNTY. 

of  the  Little  Cu3'ahoga  to  the  Sixth  ward,  in  Akron,  and  from 
thence  along  Wolf  Ledge  in  the  southern  part  of  the  cit}',  westward 
to  its  destination.  But  modifications  and  changes  were  made  by 
which,  following  the  bed  and  banks  of  the  defunct  Pennsylvania 
Canal  from  New  Castle,  Pa.,  passing  through  Ravenna,  Kent  and 
Cuj'^ahoga  Falls,  it  enters  Akron  at  the  Old  Forge,  its  present 
western  terminus. 

For  several  3'ears  this  road  has  had  an  arrangement  with  the 
Cleveland,  Akron  &  Columbus  RaiUvaj',  by  w^hich  its  cars  are  run 
over  the  track  of  the  latter  from  Cuyahoga  Falls  to  Orrville,  where 
it  connects  with  the  Wheeling  and  Lake  Erie  road.  The  most 
important  move  for  Akron  in  the  P.  &  W.'s  history,  was  its  lease 
by  the  B.  &  O.  road,  in  the  Spring  of  1891,  w^hich  made  it  an 
important  link  in  a  New  York-Chicago  through  line,  under  B.  & 
O.  control,  as  is  more  full}'  explained  below  in  connection  with  the 
histor}'  of  the  Akron  &  Chicago  Junction  R.  R. 

"New  Yokk,  Mahoxixg  axd  Westerx." — In  1887,  '88,  a  com- 
pany figured  in  Wadsw^orth,  Seville  and  Lodi,  in  Medina  county 
and  other  points  west,  under  the  above  title,  of  w^hich  Mr.  Norvin 
Green,  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company',  was  the  presi- 
dent. Mr.  Green  confidently  said:  "I  believe  that  the  company  will 
have  no  serious  difficulty  in  raising  funds  for  the  early  completion 
of  the  line  of  road  across  the  State  of  Ohio,  eastward  to  the  Penn- 
sylvania line,  near  Youngstown,  and  westward  through  Indiana  as 
far  as  Fort  Wayne." 

"It  is  contemplated  that  this  line  of  road  shall  form  a  part  of 
the  long  projected  American  Midland  Railroad  from  New  York  to 
Chicago,  on  or  near  the  41st  parallel,  and  on  which  much  work  has 
been  done  in  various  places."  Work  went  on  for  some  months  at 
various  points  on  the  survej^exl  line  of  the  N.  Y,,  M.  &  W.,  but  the 
funds  expected  bj'the  projectors  could  not  be  secured  v^dien  needed. 
Sul)-contractors  and  others  levied  on  ties  and  other  material  at 
Findla}',  O.,  and  one  or  two  other  places;  and  with  the  beginning 
of  litigation  came  the  end  of  the  project  as  far  as  the  then  exist- 
ing organization  was  concerned. 

PITTSBURG,  AKRON  &  WESTERN. 

In  1883,  the  Ohio  Railroad  Compan^^  was  incorporated,  at  Col- 
umbus, by  W.  A.  Lj'nch,  of  Canton,  and  others,  including  Col.  A. 
L.  Conger,  Lewis  Miller  and  David  E.  Hill,  of  Akron.  The  com- 
l^an}'  proposed  to  construct  from  Akron  westward,  to  Chicago 
Junction,  or  to  some  other  good  connecting  point,  the  link  that  had 
long  been  desired,  to  make  a  new^  east  and  west  line.  At  Chicago 
Junction  the  B.  &  O.  road  could  be  connected  with,  and  at  Akron 
the  Pittsburg  &  Western,  leading  directly  to  Pittsburg.  It  was 
expected  that  the  building  of  the  link  would  materially  shorten 
the  distance  between  New  York  and  Chicago  b}^  existing  routes. 
Considerable  interest  was  aroused  in  the  project  in  Akron  and 
Medina,  and  in  the  latter  place,  and  in  the  townships  of  Medina, 
considerable  money  and  right  of  way  was  subscribed.  Surve3's 
were  made  and  the  route  determined  upon.  Funds  for  construc- 
tion purposes  could  not  readilj^  be  negotiated,  however,  and  the 
project   lagged.      Mr.    Lj'nch,    who   was    general    counsel   for    the 


PITTSBURG,    AKRON    &   WESTERN.  637 

c<)nii)aiiy,  kept  at  work,  however,  and  in  the  end  his  patience 
and  energy  were  rewarded  with  success. 

The  name  of  the  company  was  changed  November  10,  1883,  to 
the  Pittsburg,  Akron  &  Western  Railway  Company.  That  was 
the  chief  event  in  the  history  of  the  enterprise  for  six  years.  In 
October,  1889,  new  life  was  given  to  the  "Lynch  line"  project,  as 
it  was  called,  hy  a  consolidation  of  the  Pittsburg,  Akron  &  West- 
ern Railw^ay  Company  and  the  Cleveland  &  Western  Railroad 
Company,  the  new^  compatiy  taking  the  name  of  the  Pittsburg,^ 
Akron  &  Western  Railroad  Company.  The  Cleveland  &  Western 
w^as  a  narroAV  gauge  road,  running  between  Delphos  and  CarcA'.'O. 
Its  principal  owners  were  William  Semple,  an  Allegheny  merchant, 
and  James  Callery,  the  latter  for  a  time  president  of  the  Pitts- 
burg &  Western.  This  consolidation  made  Carey  the  western 
terminus  of  the  link  from  Akron  westward,  instead  of  Chicago 
Junction.  Arrangements  for  funds  to  begin  construction  work 
had  been  consummated  at  length,  and  on  March  17,  1890,  mortgage 
bonds  in  the  sum  of  $3,630,000  were  issued  to  the  American  Loan 
and  Trust  Company,  as  trustees.  An  election  of  directors  was 
held  about  this  time,  resulting  in  the  choice  of  D.  E.  Hill,  A.  L, 
Conger,  Lewis  Miller,  of  Akron;  James  M.  Semple,  of  Toledo,  [tak- 
ing the  place  of  William  Semple,  Sr.,  of  Pittsburg,  then  recently 
deceased];  Chas.  G.  Milnor,  of  Pittsburg,  [to  take  the  place  of 
James  Callery,  deceased];  A.  W.  Jones,  Youngstown;  James 
Schoonmaker  and  Josiah  N.  Davidson,  Allegheny;  James  D. 
Callery,  Pittsburg.  An  election  of  officers  resulted  in  the  choice 
of  James  D.  Callery,  president,  in  place  of  Wni.  Semple,  Sr., 
deceased;  W.  A.  Lynch,  secretary  and  general  counsel;  Chas.  G, 
Milnor,  treasiirer;  William  Semple,  general  manager;  James  H. 
Sample,  chief  engineer. 

The  contract  for  the  building  of  the  line  from  Akron  to  Care}', 
Wyandot  county,  was  let  to  W.  V.  McCracken,  of  New  York,  and 
Wm.  Semple,  of  Allegheny,  under  the  firm  name  of  'McCracken  & 
Semple.  Work  began  in  the  latter  part  of  May,  1890,  and  on  Jan- 
uary 24,  1891,  the  track  was  completed  to  Silver  street,  Akron.  The 
right  of  way  in  Akron  l)egins  at  Old  Forge,  runs  along  the  old  P. 
&  O.  canal,  almost  to  Summit  street,  crosses  over  to  the  north  side  of 
the  water  w^ay,  crosses  North  High  street  and  North  Main  street, 
striking  North  Howard  street  at  the  old  Beebe  property,  thence 
across  North  Howard  street  by  bridge,  spanning  the  valley  of  the 
Ohio  canal  w^ith  an  immense  trestle,  then  striking  the  north  brow 
of  West  Hill,  out  to  Silver  street,  and  thence  on  to  Coplej^.  From 
Copley  the  line  goes  to  Medina,  and  then  on  to  Greenwich,  New^ 
London  and  Plymouth. 

Trains  began  running  from  Akron  west,  early  in  the  Spring  of 
1891.  The  principal  offices  are  in  this  city,  for  the  present  in  the 
old  brick  homestead  of  the  Beebe  family,  the  company  purchasing 
that  property.  C.  W.  Risley  is  superintendent  and  auditor,  and  W. 
S.  Taylor,  general  freight  and  passenger  agent.  The  depot  is  to 
be  on  the  west  side  on  North  Main  street,  just  east  of  the  Beebe 
property. 

For  the  present  the  P.,  A.  &  W.  runs  no  farther  than  Akron. 
The  capture  of  the  Pittsburg  &  Western  by  the  B.  &  O.  dashed 
the  calculations  of  the  P.,  A.  &.  W.  Company,  which  had  expected 
to  get  to  l^ittsburg  over  the  P.  &  W.,  while  the  B.  &c  O.  lease  made 


(V3H  AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 

the  p.  &c  W.  the  eastern  connection  at  Akron,  of  the  Akron, 
&  Chicago  Junction,  the  Pittsburg,  Akron  &  Western's  rival. 

Plans  are  being  laid,  hoAvever,  by  which  the  P.,  A.  &  W.  will  get 
an  eastern  outlet.  Surveys  have  been  made  from  Akron  to  Moga- 
dore,  from  which  place  it  is  proposed  to  build  to  Youngstown. 
Here  the  Pittsburg  &  Lake  Erie  will  be  connected  with,  and 
access  afforded  to  Pittsburg.  Thence  New  York  can  be  reached 
by  way  of  the  Philadelphia  &  Eastern  New  York,  and  the  Dela- 
ware, Lackawanna  &  Western. 

At  Delphos  the  P.,  A.  &  W.  connects  with  the  P.,  Ft.  W.  «&  C. 
Koad  and  the  Toledo,  St.  Louis  &  Kansas  City  ("Clover  Leaf"). 
With  the  latter  it  has  close  working  relations,  enabling  it  to  reach 
St.  Louis,  Kansas  City  and  other  w^estern  points. 

AKRON   &  CHICAGO  JUNCTION. 

In  the  Summer  of  1890,  Akron  w^as  headquarters  for  two  rail- 
road construction  companies.  They  were  rivals,  too,  each  giving 
out  that  it  was  to  build  the  long  expected  east  and  west  link.  One 
of  these  companies  w^as  McCracken  &  Semple,  building  the  P.,  A. 
&  W.,  as  sketched  above.  The  other  was  Ryan  &  McDonald,  who 
had  under  contract  the  building  of  what  w^as  called  the  Akron  & 
Chicago  Junction  Railroad.  Each  of  these  roads  depended  upon 
getting  the  P.  &  W.  as  an  eastern  outlet.  Each  affirmed  that  the 
other  would  never  be  built;  but  each  went  so  far  in  its  operations 
that  when  Fall  came  there  were  tv^^o  lines  well  under  way,  and  in 
the  Spring  of  1891,  both  ^vere  practically  done,  giving  two  links 
w^here  but  one  was  needed. 

The  Akron  &  Chicago  Junction  Railway  Company,  which 
w^as  understood  from  the  beginning  to  be  an  arm  of  the  B.  &  O., 
w^as  incorporated  at  Columbus  early  in  the  Summer  of  1890.  W^il- 
liam  Thornburg,  who  had  been  general  manager  of  the  Valley, 
was,  after  its  acquisition  by  the  B.  &  O.,  elected  president ;  J.  T. 
Johnson,  superintendent;  and  Henry  M.  Keim,  auditor.  Head- 
quarters were  established  at  Cleveland.  The  surveyed  lines 
started  at  Chicago  Junction,  in  Huron  county,  on  the  B,  &  O.,  and 
went  east  by  way  of  Greenwich,  Lodi,  Creston,  Sterling,  Rittman, 
Barberton  and  New  Portage  to  Akron,  making  seventy-five  miles 
of,  for  the  most  part,  straight  road.  On  July  1,  1891,  the  line  was 
finished  from  Chicago  Junction  to  Warwick,  on  the  C,  A.  &  C. 
Negotiations  had  meantime  been  made  w^ith  the  C,  A.  &  C.  for 
right  of  way  alongside  the  latter's  track  from  Warwick  to  Akron; 
and  pending  construction  of  the  Warwick- Akron  part,  an  arrange- 
ment w^as  made  to  run  over  the  C,  A.  &  C,  betw^een  Warw^ick  and 
Akron. 

The  Akron  &  Chicago  Junction  is  kno^vn  as  the  Akron  Divis- 
ion of  the  B.  &c  O.  Trains  began  running  on  August  10,  1891,  and 
on  that  date  Akron  took  on  a  new  importance  as  a  pivotal  point  on 
a  great  east  and  west  trunk  line.  The  royal  blue  trains  over  the 
B.  &  O.,  out  of  New  York,  run  through  this  city,  and  all  the  fast 
freight  trains  carrying  New  York  and  Chicago  freight. 

Akron  thus  became,  also,  the  connecting  point  for  B.  &  O. 
passenger  traffic  from  Cleveland  to  Chicago,  coming  over  the 
Valley.  The  route  from  Cleveland  to  Chicago,  by  Valley,  Chicago 
Junction  and  main  B.  &  O.  is  ohlj^  thirteen  miles  longer  than  over 
the  Lake  Shore. 


AKRON    AS    A    RAILROAD   CENTER.  639 

An  important  part  of  the  B.  &  O's  plans,  that  had  Akron  for 
their  point  of  gravitation,  -was  the  acquisition  of  the  Pittsburg  & 
Western.  This  took  place  in  the  fall  of  1890.  The  B.  &  O.  interest 
had  been  for  some  time  largely  represented  among  the  P.  &  W. 
stockholders,  and  at  the  time  indicated,  enough  more  stock  was 
secured  to  put  the  B.  &  O.  in  control.  Harry  Oliver  remained  for 
some  time  president  of  the  P.  &  W,,  but  J.  \V.  Patton,  of  the  B.  «& 
O.,  Avas  made  general  manager.  This  stroke  was  the  sensation  of 
a  month  in  railroad  circles,  as  it  gave  the  B.  &  O.  the  desideratum 
of  years,  a  direct  line  westw^ard  from  Pittsburg.  The  connection 
of  P.  &  W.  and  A.  &  C.  J.  tracks,  and  of  Valley  tracks  with  both, 
was  made  at  Old  Forge,  w^hich  thus  became  a  most  important 
transferring  point. 

RAILROADS   A   PUBLIC   BENEFACTION. 

Other  important  lines  to  pass  through  Summit  county  are 
being  talked  up,  but  as  yet  nothing  can  be  said  of  them.  The 
large  list  already  given — the  completed  and  uncompleted — shows 
that  during  the  past  half  century,  the  people  of  Akron  and  of  Sum- 
mit county  have  been  fully  alive  to  the  value  of  the  railroad  in  all 
matters  of  human  enterprise  and  social  progress. 

Though  fev/  of  the  local  promoters  of  any  of  the  roads  named 
have  ever  directly  realized  a  penny  upon  the  money  thus  invested, 
all,  individually  and  collectively,  have  been  vastly  benefited  by 
their  construction.  Without  our  railroads,  and  the  speedy  mode 
of  transportation  afforded  thereby,  Akron  would  have  remained 
the  little  water-poAver  village  of  less  than  2,000  inhabitants  that  it 
>vas  forty  years  ago — if  it  had  not  retrograded — instead  of  the 
magnificent  manufacturing  and  commercial  city  of  30,000  souls 
that  it  is  to-day ;  w^hile  the  farm  lands  of  the  county,  instead  of 
commanding  from  $75  to  $300  per  acre  as  they  now^  do,  would 
have  been,  like  the  most  of  the  lands  of  the  non-railroad  counties 
of  the  State,  unremunerative  and  almost  unsaleable  at  any  price. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  TOWNvSHIP  OF  BATH— EAKLY  SETTLEMENT— INDIANS  AND  WILD  BEASTS 
THE  WAR  OF  1812  — PEKRY'S  VICTORY  ON  LAKE  ERIE  ORGANIZATION, 
NAME,  ETC.  — MANUFACTURES— GHENT  AS  A  RAILROAD  CENTER  EARLY 
AND  MODERN  CROOKEDNESS  -LATTA'S  TAVERN— PROPRIETOR  IN  LIMBO- 
FORFEITS  HIS  BAIL-  vSKIPS  TO  INDIANA  BROUGHT  BACK  ON  THE  AFFI- 
DAVIT OF  HIS  FORMER  CAPTAIN  "JIM"  BROWN — FINAL  ACQUITTAL— BATH 
IN   THE  WAR  OF  THE   REBELLION— FN   COUNTY    AND    STATE    AFFAIRS,    ETC. 

BATH   TOWNSHIP— TOPOGRAPHY,   ETC. 

'T'HE  Tow^nship  of  Bath,  topographically  considered,  is  far  less 
-*-  attractive  to  the  average  agriculturist  than  the  majority  of 
the  townships  of  Summit  county.  The  eastern  portion  of  the 
township,  overhanging,  and  extending  down  into,  the  valley  of  the 
Cuyahoga  river,  is  largely  composed  of  precipitous  hills  and  deep 
gullies,  though  occasional  w^ell-tilled  farms  are  found  on  the 
broader  plateaus  of  the  bluffs,  and  in  the  intervening  valleys. 

The  central  and  w^estern  portion  of  the  tow^nship,  however,  is^ 
well  adapted  to  general  agriculture,  and  especially  to  stock-growl- 
ing, some  of  the  finest  cattle,  sheep,  etc.,  in  the  county  being  found 
in  that  vicinity. 

WATER   POWER,   MANUFACTURES,  ETC. 

About  one  mile  south  of  the  geographical  center  of  the  town- 
ship, running  from  w^est  to  east,  is  a  considerable  stream  of  water 
called  "  Yellow  Creek,"  which,  passing  under  the  Ohio  Canal, 
empties  into  the  Cuyahoga  river,  at  w^hat  w^as  formerly  known  as 
Yellow  Creek  Basin;  afterwards,  for  many  years,  as  the  village  of 
Niles,  and  now,  as  a  station  for  the  Valley  Railway,  called  Botzum. 
In  the  original  building  of  the  canal,  there  was  no  berme-bank  at 
this  point,  the  waters  of  the  creek  covering  quite  a  large  area  upon 
the  w^est  side ;  and  hence  its  original  name.  Yellow  Creek  Basin. 

This  stream,  rising  in  the  adjoining  township  of  Granger,  on 
the  w^est,  and  having  quite  a  number  of  smart  tributaries,  on  either 
hand,  as  it  passes  through  the  township,  with  quite  a  rapid  descent^ 
has  furnished  a  large  amount  of  motive  power  for  manufacturings 
operations,  both  at,  and  above  and  below^,  the  village  of  Ghent,, 
consisting  of  grist  and  merchant  flouring  mills,  saw  mills,  woolen 
mills,  planing,  turning  and  bending  mills,  hub,  spoke  and  felloe 
factories,  etc.,  a  number  of  w^hich  establishments,  in  spite  of  the 
vicissitudes  of  time,  fires,  floods  and  other  disasters,  are  still  in 
successful  operation. 

BATHS   PIONEER  SETTLERS. 

It  is  not  now^  know^n  as  to  precisely  when  the  first  white  people 
took  up  their  abode  in  what  is  now^  the  towmship  of  Bath.  It  wia& 
not  ceded  by  the  Indians  to  the  United  States  until  1805,  at  the 
treaty  of  Fort  Industr3^  The  township  was  surveyed  into  lots  by 
Col.   Kial   McArthur,   in    18()o,   who,  in   his  field-l)ook,  gave  it  the 


BATH  vS    JJKCIINNING. 


641 


name  of  "  Wheal  field,"  the  reason  win'  not  hein^  now  apparent,  as 
its  topography  and  soil  are  not  especially  adapted  to  the  raising  of 
w^heat.  The  first  two  permanent  settlers  in  the  townsliip  were 
Jonathan  Hale,  of  Glastenhur}-,  and  Jason  Hammond,  of  ISolton, 
Connecticut.  In  June,  1810,  these  gentlemen,  having  exchanged 
their  Old  Connecticut  property  with  Ezekiel  Williams  and  Thomas 
Bull,  of  Hartford,  two  of  the  original  proprietors  of  the  township, 
immediately  started  for  their  new  possessions  in  what  was  then 
called  New  Connecticut,  where  they  arrived  sometime  in  July  ; 
from  twenty  to  thirty  days  then  being  required  to  make  the 
journey  that  can  no\v  be  accomplished  in  about  half  as  nlany 
hours. 


JONATHAN  HALE,  -Born  in  Glas- 
I  tenbxiry,  Conn.,  April  23, 1777;  mar- 
ried to  Mercy  S.  Piper.  July  11,  1802; 
moved  to  Ohio  1810,  Mr.  Hale,  by 
two-horse  team,  starting  alone,  June 
12,  and  reaching'  his  purchase  in 
what  is  now  Bath,  July  13,  being  the 
first  bona  fide  settler  in  that  town- 
ship, though  a  squatter  named  Miller 
had  built  a  cabin  and  made  some 
improvements  upon  his  land,  for 
which  Mr.  Hale,  on  taking  posses- 
sion, duly  paid  hiin;  Mr.  Hale's  fam- 
ily coming  on  with  Mr.  Jason  Ham- 
inond  and  famil}^  later  the  same  sea- 
son. In  the  War  of  1812,  both  Mr. 
Hale  and  Mr.  Hammond  were  drafted, 
but  owing  to  the  exposure  of  their 
families  to  Indian  depredations,  were 
permitted  to  return  home.  On  organ- 
ization of  township,  in  1818,  it  was 
named  Bath,  at  Mr.  Hale's  suggest- 
ion. Mrs.  Hale  died  October  16,  1829, 
leaving  six  children — Sophronia, 
William,  Pamela,  Andrew,  Abigail 
and  James  M.,  the  latter  only,  now  76 
years  of  age,  surviving,  and  residing- 
in  Akron.  Mr.  Hale  was  again  luar- 
ried,  Nov.  2,  1830,  to  Mrs.  Sarah  Cozad 
Mather,  a  widow  with  three  children 
— George  Mather,  now  living  in  Men- 
tor ;  Jane,  now,  as  widow  of  her  step- 
brother, Andrew  Hale,  living  on  the 
old  homestead,  and  Betsey,  now  Mrs. 


JONATHAN   HALE. 

Rogers,  of  Mt.  Dora,  Florida.  The 
second  Mrs.  Hale  bore  her  husband 
three  children — Jonathan  D.,  Mercy 
A.  and  Samuel  C,  the  latter,  a  resi- 
dent of  Cleveland,  only,  now  surviv- 
ing. Mr.  Hale  died  May  14, 1854,  aged 
77  years  and  21  days,  his  remains 
reposing  in  the  little  cemetery  upon 
the  old  homestead. 


Mr.  Hammond's  purchase  consisted  of  lots  26,  27,  28,  29  and  30, 
extending  from  the  north  and  south  center  road  eastward  to  the 
township  line,  building  for  himself  a  house  at  or  near  what  is  now^ 
known  as  Hammond's  Corners  ;  hence  the  name.  Mr.  Hale's  pur- 
chase consisted  of  lots  11,  12, 13  and  part  of  14,  immediately  north  of, 
but  not  running  so  far  west  as  Mr.  Hammond's ;  Mr.  Hale  locating 
in  the  valley,  about  one  mile  west  of  the  river. 

THERE   WERE  SQUATTERS   IN   THOSE  DAYS. 

From  the  most  reliable  sources  available,  it  is  probable  that 
Messrs.  Hale  and  Hammond  were  preceded  by  Moses  Latta,  Aaron 
Miller,  Hezekiah  Burdit,  Gibson  Gates,  and  Moses  and  Aaron 
Decker,  who  had  located  themselves  in  the  township  as  squatters, 

41 


642 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


most  of  them,  probabl}^,  the  previous  year;  Aaron  Miller  having 
built  a  cabin  upon  the  purchase  of  Mr.  Hale,  and  into  which  Mr. 
Hale  moved  with  his  family,  residing  therein  for  several  years,  and 
until  the  present  brick  structure  now  occupied  b}^  his  grandson, 
Mr.  C.  O.  Hale,  was  erected.  Moses  Latta  squatted  on  a  lot  upon 
the  Smith  road,  a  short  distance  east  of  what  was  afterwards  for 
many  years  known  as  Latta's  Corners — so  named  from  the  some- 
Avhat  notorious  Latta's  tavern,  erected,  and  for  many  years  kept  by 
William  Latta  (presumably  a  son  of  Moses) — afterwards  as  Ellis's 
Corners  and  now  called   Montrose. 


WILLIAM  HALE,  Eldest  son  of 
Jonathan  Hale,  born  in  Glasten- 
bury.  Conn.,  July  5,  1806,  came  with 
parents  to  Bath  in  1810,  where,  on  a 
portion  of  the  old  homestead,  he 
resided  until  his  death,  January  24, 
1862,  excepting-  the  years  1856,  '57,  '58,  '59 
and  '60.  spent  in  Hudson.  November 
13, 1828,  Mr.  Hale  was  married,  to  Miss 
Sally  C.  Upson,  of  Tallinadge,  who 
died  June  25,  1829.  For  his  second 
Av^ife  Mr.  Hale  married  Miss  Harriet 
Carlton,  an  orphan  whose  father  was 
killed  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  whose 
mother  died  when  she  was  born,  who 
was  raised  by  her  aunt,  Mrs.  Sarah 
Cozad  Mather,  then  the  stepmother 
of  Mr.  Hale.  Five  children  were  born 
to  them— Sarah  C.  Lucy  E.,  Othello 
W.,  Olivia  H.  and  Josephine  H., 
Othello,  onl}',  now  living*,  in  his  51st 
year.  Mrs.  Hale  dying-  August  7, 
1854,  Mr.  Hale  was  ag-ain  married,  Feb- 
ruary 15,  1855,  to  Miss  Adeline  R. 
Thompson,  of  Peninsula,  who  bore 
him  three  children — Herbert  T. 
(deceased),  William  B.,  now  of  St. 
Paul,  Minn.,  and  Harriet  A.,  now  with 
her  mother  at  Oberlin,  Ohio.  At 
his  death,  as  above  stated,  Mr.  Hale 


WILLIA.M    HALK. 

was  aged  51  jears,  6  months  and  19 
days.  He  was  a  man  of  sterling- 
integrity,  a  conscientious  christian 
and  highl}-  respected  by  all  who 
knew  him. 


THE  WAR  OF  1812-  PERRY'S  VICTORY,  ETC. 

Though  not  so  rapidly  settled  as  many  of  the  contiguous 
townships,  "  Wheatfield,"  or  as  it  had  then  come  to  be  called, 
"Hammondsburgh,"  is  said  to  have  furnished  quite  a  number  of 
soldiers  for  the  defense  of  the  frontier  against  the  combined  forces 
of  the  "Red-coats"  and  "Red-skins"  in  the  War  of  1812,  but  whose 
names  cannot  now^  be  ascertained.  There  are  many  yet  living 
w^ho  distinctly  heard  the  cannonading  during  the  memorable 
battle  on  Lake  Erie,  September  10,  1813,  in  which  Commodore 
Oliver  Hazard  Perry,  with  his  comparatively  small  squad- 
ron of  hastily  constructed  and  meagerly  equipped  ves- 
sels, carrying  but  55  guns  and  490  officers  and  men,  won 
such  a  splendid  victory  over  the  British  fleet  of  65  guns  and 
502  officers  and  men,  thus  establishing  the  supremacy  of 
America  on  the  Lakes,  causing  the  immediate  evacuation  of 
Detroit  by  the  British  forces,  and  very  materially  hastening  the 
close  of  the  war,  in  favor  of  the  stars  and  stripes.  It  is  said  that 
the  people  of  Bath  very  materially  aided  the  authorities  in   the 


THK   BATTLE  OF   LAKE   ERIE. 


643 


construction  of  two  boats — which  were  built  at  Old  Portage  in  the 
Sumnier  of  1813,  and  which,  being  floated  dow^n  the  Cuyahoga 
riv^er  to  Lake  Erie,  formed  a  portion  of  Perry's  fleet  in  the  above- 
named  naval  engagement.  Of  this,  however,  there  is  now  no 
positive  evidence  available;  but  as  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  sev- 
<iral  small  vessels  for  the  Lake  trade  were  built  at  the  point 
named,  about  that  time,  and  as  most  of  the  vessels  in  the  victorious 
fleet  were  of  that  character  (though  the  squadron  had  been 
organized  at  Erie,  Pa.,)  there  is  reasonable  grounds  for  giving 
credence  to  the  tradition.  That  victory,  w^ith  the  laconic  dispatch 
of  Commodore  Perry  to  Gen  Harrison:  "We  have  met  the  enemy 
and  they  are  ours — two  ships,  tw^o  brigs,  one  schooner  and  one 
sloop,"  has  been  commemorated  in  various  ways — -the  conferring 
of  gold  medals,  by  Congress,  upon  Commodore  Perry  and  his 
Chief  Lieutenant,  Jesse  Duncan  Elliott;  the  erection  by  the  govern- 
ment of  a  suitable  monument  on  Put-in-Bay  Island  over  the 
remains  of  those  killed  in  the  engagement;  a  fine  marble  statue  of 
the  Commodore  in  the  Central  Park  of  Cleveland;  while  the  anni- 
versary has,  for  a  third  of  a  century,  been  annually  celebrated  in 
the  township  of  Bath,  by  the  Pioneer  Association  of  Summit  and 
Medina  counties. 


A  NDREW  HALE,^son  of  Jonathan 
■^  Hale,  first  actual  white  settler  in 
Bath  township,  was  born  in  that 
township,  December  5.  1811,  and  was 
the  lirst  white  child  born  in  Bath  ; 
educated  in  pioneer  township 
schools  and  raised  to  farm  life ; 
April  12,  1838,  was  married  to  Jane 
Mather,  who  bore  him  six  children — 
Pamela  h.  (Mrs.  Charles  Oviatt,  now 
living-  in  Florida);  Sophronia  Jane, 
(Mrs.  S.  J.  Ritchie,  of  Tallmadg-e); 
•Clara,  (Mrs.  L.  H.  Ashmun,  of  Tall- 
madg-e);  Charles  Oviatt,  now  resid- 
ing- on  the  old  homestead;  Alida 
(Mrs.  Truman  Humphrey,  of  Rich- 
field); and  John  P.,  now  a  jeweler  in 
Akron.  Mr.  Hale  was  a  life-long- 
member  of  the  Congregational 
•church,  a  thorough-going  Republi- 
can, a  genial  and  accommodating- 
neighbor,  a  great  lover  of  music, 
unostentatious,  generous,  and  in  its 
broadest  sense  a  strictly  honest  man. 
For  three  years  before  his  death  Mr. 
Hale  was  a  great  sufferer  from  a 
neuralgic  affection  of  the  head,  his 
death    occurring,     upon     the     farm 


ANDREW   HALE. 


where  he  was  born,  July  29, 1884,  aged 
72  years,  7  months  and  25  days.  Mrs. 
Hale,  now  ()9  years  of  age,  is  affection- 
ately cared  for  by  her  eldest  son,  C. 
O.  Hale,  at  the  old  family  homestead. 


INDIANS,  WOLVES,  BEARS,  ETC. 

When  first  opened  for  settlement,  remnants  of  the  several 
tribes  of  Indians,  who  had  originally  inhabited  the  neighborhood, 
still  lingered  in  the  vicinity,  mingling  quite  freely  among  the 
whites,  and  there  exists  to  this  day,  within  the  limits  of  Bath,  the 
remains  of  mounds,  forts,  villages,  altars,  etc.;  while  flint  spear 
and  arrow  heads,  stone  hammers  and  axes,  mortars,  pestles,  pottery- 
w^are,  etc.,  are  still  occasionally  found  on  the  hills  and  in  the 
valleys  of  the  township.     It  does  not  appear  that  there  were  any 


644 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


of  those  deadly  feuds  between  the  Indians  and  the  whites  of  Bath^ 
that  were  experienced  by  the  early  settlers  of  many  of  the  contigu- 
ous tow^nships,  though,  after  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  the 
Indians  generally  fraternizing  with  the  British,  there  was  very 
great  anxiety,  and  some  very  narrow  escapes  from  collision  and 
disaster.  After  the  battle  upon  Lake  Erie,  and  the  subsequent 
capitulation  of  Detroit,  how^ever,  the  "Noble  Red  Man"  was  no 
more  seen  within  the  limits  of  the  tow^nship. 

Kvery  species  of  ^vild  beast  was  also  very  plenty  on  the  advent 
of  the  earlier  white  settlers  of  the  township,  many  of  virhom 
proved  to  be  very  expert  hunters,  and  many  thrilling"  hair  breadth 
'scapes  "  v^rere  formerly,  and  perhaps,  are  still  to  be  found  in  the 
traditionary  lore  of  the  tov^nship.  Wolves,  bears  and  catamounts 
were  sufficiently  numerous  to  keep  the  inhabitants  constantly  on 
the  qui  vive  for  the  safety  of  both  their  stock  and  themselves. 
The  writer  has  often  listened  with  the  most  intense  interest  to  the 
graphic  stories  of  the  late  venerable  William  Cogswell,  and  other 
old  timers,  of  their  encounters  w^ith  the  denizens  of  the  forest, 
w^hich,  if  they  could  be  correctly  put  in  print,  would  make  mights" 
interesting  reading. 


RICHARD  ENGLISH  PARKER,— 
born  in  Northampton,  March  9, 
1811,  and  said  to  be  the  first  male 
white  child  born  in  that  township  ; 
at  14,  witnessed  the  laying-  of  the  cor- 
ner stone  of  the  first  lock  built  upon 
the  Ohio  Canal ;  in  1825,  drove  team 
and  otherwise  assisted  in  building- 
the  canal ;  at  21,  bought  a  farm  and 
built  a  cabin  on  the  north  line  of 
Copley.  April  18,  1833,  Mr.  Parker 
was  married  to  Miss  Martha  M.  Rich- 
ardson, of  Bath,  who  bore  him  nine 
«*hildren,  all  of  whom  are  still  living 
— Henry  A.,  Hartwell  A.,  and  Frank 
W.,  of  Akron;  David  L.,  of  Coplej'  and 
Perry  R.,  of  Bay  City,  Mich.;  Mrs. 
Dora  S.  Trumbull,  of  Orangeville, 
Trumbull  county ;  Mrs.  Phcebe  M. 
Low,  of  Granger,  Medina  county ; 
Mrs.  Mary  L.  Harris,  of  Copley,  and 
Mrs.  Cordie  M.  Stadler,  of  Akron.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Parker  lived  happily 
together  over  half  a  century,  celebra- 
ting their  golden  wedding-  anniver- 
sary April  18,  1883,  in  Akron,  having 
removed  thither  in  1871.  Mrs.  Parker 
died  August?,  1884,  aged  69  years  and 
17  days, Mr.  Parker  survivinghis  com- 
panion four  j^ears  and  one  week, 
dying  August  14,  1888,  aged  77  years. 


RICHARD  ENGLISH  PARKER. 

5  months  and  5  days.  Mr,  Parker 
was  a  successful  farmer,  a  model 
husband  and  father,  and  a  liberal 
and  patriotic  citizen,  in  politics  a 
stanch  Republican,  and  in  religion  a 
sincere  and  earnest  Universalist. 


ORGANIZATION,  NAME,   ETC. 

The  township  was  not  organized  until  1818,  eight  years  after 
the  first  regular  settlement  was  made,  having  previously  been 
attached  to  Northampton.  There  is  no  record,  or  even  authentic 
tradition,  of  the  organization  now  available,  other  than  that  Dr. 
Henry  Hutson  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace,  and  Eleazer  Rice, 
constable.     An  undated  tally-sheet  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  James 


bath's  civil  status.  645 

]>!.  Hale,  announcing  Jonathan  Hale  as  a  trustee,  and  Jason  Ham- 
mond as  supervisor.  At  this  first  regular  "Town  Meeting,"  as, 
following  the  good  old  New  England  custom,  local  elections  were 
called,  the  question  of  a  permanent  name  for  the  township  was 
considered.  As  before  stated,  by  reason  of  the  Hammond  element 
and  influence,  the  original  name  of  "  Wheatfield "  had  gradually- 
been  superseded  by  that  of  "Hammondsburgh."  This  was  dis- 
tasteful to  many,  both  on  account  of  its  length,  and  on  personal 
grounds,  and  quite  a  number  of  other  names  were  mooted  and 
urged  with  considerable  spirit,  until  Mr.  Jonathan  Hale,  really  the 
first  regular  settler  in  the  township,  getting  out  of  patience,  and 
being  a  little  waggish,  withal,  exclaimed:  "O,  call  it  Jeru- 
salem, Jericho,  Bath,  or  anything  but  Hammondsburgh !"  A 
motion  was  thereupon  immediately  made  to  call  it  Bath,  w^hich 
was  carried  by  a  large  majority,  and  Bath  it  has  remained«to  the 
present  day,  and  is,  alphabetically,  the  leading  township  of  the 
county,  being  first  upon  the  roll-call  at  all  political  and  other  con- 
ventions of  Summit  county. 

BATH  IN  COUNTY  AND  STATE  AFFAIRS. 

The  industrial,  commercial,  educational  and  religious  history 
of  Bath,  has  already  been  pretty  fully  written  up  by  others,  and 
may  very  properly  be  passed  in  this  series  of  papers,  w^ith  the 
remark  that  in  point  of  agricultural  achievements,  manufacturing 
enterprises,  and  educational  and  moral  worth,  Bath  stands  fully  at 
par  with  the  average  of  the  townships  of  Summit  county,  though 
in  the  remote  past  subjected  to  certain  malign  influences  tending 
to  somewhat  becloud  her  fair  fame  and  name,  to  be  more  fully 
alluded  to  hereafter.  In  county  and  State  affairs  Bath  has  had  a 
fair  representation,  indeed,  as  follows: 

Peter  Voris,  in  1843,  was  elected  county  surveyor,  the  duties  of 
which  important  office  he  successfully  performed  for  one  full  term 
of  three  years. 

In  1847  Mr.  Voris  was  chosen  as  one  of  the  two  representatives 
Summit  county  was  that  year  entitled  to  in  the  State  Legislature, 
and,  in  connection  with  his  colleague,  Capt.  Amos  Seward,  of 
Tallmadge,  served  his  constituents  thoroughly  and  w^ell. 

In  the  Spring  of  1850  Mr.  Voris  was,  by  Governor  Seabury 
Ford,  appointed  associate  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas, 
to  fill  the  v^acancy  occasioned  by  the  resignation  of  Judge  Samuel 
A.  Wheeler,  of  Akron,  which  office  he  held  until  the  taking  effect 
of  the  new  constitution,  in  February,  1852. 

Under  the  new  constitution  Summit  county's  first  probate 
judge  was  Charles  G.  Ladd,  brother-in-law  and  law-partner  of  the 
late  L.  V.  Bierce,  elected  in  October,  1851.  Judge  Ladd  being  taken 
sick,  between  the  election  and  the  time  fixed  by  law  for  entering 
upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  Alvin  C.  Voris,  son  of  Judge  Voris,  of 
Bath,  was  appointed  deputy  clerk  by  Judge  Ladd,  and  organized 
and  very  acceptably  performed  the  Probate  business  of  the  county 
until  the  date  of  Judge  Ladd's  death  in  August,  1852,  having  pre- 
viously served  as  deputy  county  clerk  for  about  two  years. 

Roland  O.  Hammoxo,  a  native  of  Bath,  though  then  residing 
in  Akron,  on  the  death  of  Judge  Ladd,  in  August,  1852,  was 
appointed  by  Gov.  Reuben  Wood  to  fill  the  vacancy  until  the  ensu- 
ing  election    in    October,  making  a  very  prompt  and  remarkably 


646 


AKKON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


efficient  officer  during  his  brief  incumbency.  Mr.  Hammond  also- 
officiated  as  postmaster  of  Akron  for  four  years,  under  the  admin- 
istration of  President  James  Buchanan. 

JOHN  McFARLIN —born  in  Bristol. 
J  Ontario  county,  N.  Y.,  July  27. 
1805 ;  came  to  Ohio  with  parents 
when  a  bo3%  settling  in  Sharon  ;  edu- 
cation limited ;  married  to  Miss 
Azubah Lowe,  born  in  Canandaigua, 
N.  Y.,  August  2,  1812,  and  settled  on 
farm  on  west  line  of  Bath,  about  1830, 
live  children  having-  been  born  to 
them — Anthony,  Adeline,  Emily 
Eliza,  Jane  and  Harriet,  the  former 
only  now  surviving,  and  now  occupy- 
ing the.old  family  homstead.  Mrs. 
McFarlin  dying  .  October  11,  1862, 
Mr.  M.  was  again  married,  to  Miss 
Elsie  A.  Codding,  of  Granger,  Octo- 
ber 13,  1863,  who  bore  him  one  child, 
Jessie  E.,  born  February  20,  1865,  and 
died  March  21,  1869.  Mr.  McFarlin 
died  September  14,  1877,  aged  72  years, 
1  month  and  17  days,  Mrs.  McFarlin 
now  residingin  Medina.  Mr.  McFarlin 
was  a  thrifty  farmer  and  public- 
spirited  citizen,  having  been  a  justice 
of  the  peace  for  many  years,  and 
twice  elected  by  the  people  of  his 
county  to  the  responsible  office  of 
county  commissioner — first  in  1858, 
serving  three  years,  and  again  in 
1864:;  during  his  second  term  of  three 
5'ears,  amid  much  opposition,  join- 
ing heartily    with    the    other   mem- 


JOHN   M'FARLIN. 

bers  of  the  Board  in  the  erection  of 
the  present  elegant  and  extensive 
Infirmary  buildings,  which  are  at 
once  a  credit  to  the  county  and  their 
projectors. 


John  McFarlin,  one  of  the  pioneers  and  most  substantial  citi- 
zens of  Bath,  served  as  county  commissioner  from  1858  to  1861,. 
and  again  from  1864  to  1867,  six  years  in  all. 

Alvin  C.  Voris,  in  1859,  though  then  permanently  located  in 
Akron,  was  elected,  in  connection  with  Jud'ge  Sylvester  H.  Thomp- 
son, of  Hudson,  to  represent  Summit  county  in  the  State  Legis- 
lature, holding  that  office  two  years.  In  1861,  that  gentleman 
entered  the  army  as  lieutenant  colonel,  of  the  67th  Regiment,  O, 
V.  I.,  which  he  personally  recruited,  serving  through  the  war,, 
and  w^inning  for  himself  the  title  of  Brevet  Major  General  of  Vol- 
unteers. This  whilom  Bath  boy  was  also  a  member  of  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention  of  1873,  in  the  deliberations  of  which  he 
bore  a  conspicuous  and  honorable  part.  In  November,  1890,  Gen. 
Voris  was  elected  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  Sum- 
mit, Medina  and  Lorain  counties,  which  position  he  is  now  al)ly  . 
filling. 

GrenvIlle  Thorp,  one  of  Bath's  brave  soldier  boys,  who  lost 
an  arm  in  the  service,  was  elected  recorder  of  Summit  county, 
October,  1870,  for  three  years,  but  died  before  the  expiration  of  his 
term,  in  February,  1872. 

Hiram  H.  Mack,  of  Bath,  ably  represented  his  county  in  tlie 
State  Legislature  from  1873  to  1875,  and  again  from  1877  to  1879. 

J.  Park  Alexander,  born,  reared  and  educated  in  Bath  town- 
ship,   besides   long  service  as  member  and   president  of  the    city 


BATH  S    ROLL   OF    HONOR. 


e47 


council  of  Akron,  ably  served  ihe  people  of  Suniniit  county  as  their 
representative  in  the  State  I^egislature  from  January  1,  1882,  to 
January  1,  1884,  and  as  State  senator  from  the  Summit-Portage- 
Geauga-Ashtabula  district,  from  1887  to  1891. 

Sumner  Nash,  of  Bath,  besides  his  honorable  war  record, 
faithfully  and  efficiently  served  the  people  as  clerk  of  courts  six 
years,  from  1879  to  1885,  while 

Othello  W.  Hale,  another  Bath  boy,  "held  the  fort"  in  the 
clerk's  office,  not  only  as  Clerk  Nash's  deputy  for  six  years,  but 
also  as  princiipal  from  February,  1885  to  February,  1891,   six   years. 

Charles  Oviatt  Hale,  as  this  chapter  goes  to  pres-s  (October, 
1891),  is  the  regular  Republican  nominee  for  representative  to  the 
State  Legislature,  to  which  position  he  will  undoubtedl}'  be  elected. 


pHARLES  OVIATT  HALE,  —  son 
^  of  Andrew  and  Jane  (Mather) 
Hale  ;  was  born  in  Bath,  March  14, 
1850,  on  the  farm  upon  which  his 
grandfather,  Jonathan  Hale,  the  first 
bona-fide  inhabitant  of  that  town- 
ship, settled  in  1810,  of  which  farm, 
consisting- of  200  finely  kept  and  cul- 
tivated acres,  he  is  now,  by  inherit- 
ance and  purchase  from  other  heirs, 
the  sole  owner,  and  entirelj^  free  from 
debt ;  besides  attendance  upon  the 
schools  of  the  neighborhood,  Mr. 
Hale  attended  the  preparatorj-  school 
in  Oberlin,  commercial  college,  etc., 
two  or  three  winters,  and  two  winters 
at  Hudson  ;  an  extensive  reader,  and 
thoroughly  posted  in  public  affairs, 
as  well  as  an  earnest  Republican, 
Mr.  Hale  has  never  missed  voting-  at 
a  State  or  National  election  since 
attaining  his  majority,  though  living 
four  miles  from  polling  place,  and 
very  rarely,  if  ever,  absent  from  party 
caucuses,  and  has  probably  repre- 
sented his  township  in  more  county 
conventions  than  any  other  man 
of  his  age  in  the  county ;  has 
officiated  three  j^ears  as  township 
trustee  and  several  years  as  school 
director,  and  is  now  (October  1891) 
the  duly  nominated  candidate  of  hie 


CHAKLKS  OVIATT   HALK. 

party  for  Representative  to  the  State 
Legislature  for  Summit  countj-.  May 
20,  1875,  Mr.  Hale  was  married 'to  Miss 
Pauline  Cranx,  of  Bath,  previously, 
for  five  jears,  a  teacher  in  Akron 
public  schools.  They  have  no  chil- 
dren. 


BATH'S  MILITARY  RECORD. 

Besides  doing  her  full  duty  in  defense  of  the  frontier,  in  the 
War  of  1812,  in  proportion  to  the  meagerness  of  her  population, 
Bath  is  said  to  have  furnished  quite  a  number  of  soldiers  for  the 
Mexican  War  of  1846-48,  but  whose  names  and  records  are  not  now 
ascertainable,  though  the  quite  general  sentiment  of  this  section 
of  Ohio  against  the  justice  of  that  war  was  not  conducive  to  patri- 
otic ardor  nor  military  enlistments. 

In  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  also,  Bath  was  fully  abreast  with 
her  sister  townships  of  the  county,  in  her  allegiance  to  the  old 
flag,  as  the  foUow^ing  substantially  accurate  roster,  compiled  from 
the  assessors'  returns  of  1863, '64, '65,  and  the  recollection  of  Messrs. 
P.  H.  Alexander,  Sumner  and  Thomas  W.  Nash  and  others,  abun- 
dantly demonstrates: 


648  AKKOX    AMJ    SLMMIT    COUXTV. 

Perrj^  H.  Alexander,  Nathaniel  Averill,  Benjatiiin  Allnian, 
Byron  Albro,  Edward  Baird,  Jacob  Buck,  Lester  Bruno,  Edward 
Bishop,  John  M.  Bissell,  Ebenezer  Baird,  Ebenezer  Bissell,  Rich- 
mond Bissell  (died  in  service),  George  A.  Bisbee,  Henry  Bruno, 
R.  N.  Brinsley,  Thomas  Barne3%  John  Cox  (died  in  Anderson- 
ville  prison),  David  Castetter,  John  Carver  (died  in  service), 
Orlen  Capron,  Alfred  Capron,  Henry  Cover,  Ira  Capron,  Theo- 
dore Craig,  David  Conrad,  John  Davis,  Thomas  Davis  (killed 
in  battle),  William  Davis,  Jr.,  Willard  Dennison  (died  in  service), 
George  D.  J)amon,  Cassius  Evans,  James  L.  Ferguson,  Arthurton 
H.  Farnam,  Reuben  Farnam,  Darwin  Farnam,  Orrin  C.  Fields, 
Edward  Foley,  Everett  Foster,  Lewis  Harris  (killed  in  battle),  John 
S.  Harris,  Lyman  Hale,  Merchant  S.  Hurd,  Harvey  Hopkins, 
George  Harris  (lost  on  Sultana),  Reuben  Hickox,  Smith  Hancock, 
Othello  W.  Hale,  Samuel  Hale,  George  Hines,  Henry  Ingraham, 
Wesley  Johnson  (died  in  service),  Chipman  Johnson,  Philetus 
Johnson,  Andrew  Johnson,  William  Johnson,  David  B.  Kittinger, 
Charles  H.  King,  Calvin  Kent,  William  Lutz,  Noah  Lenhart,  Will- 
iam Long,  William  H,  Liggett  (died  in  service),  Benjamin  F*.  Lee 
(killed  in  battle),  Charles  Loomis  (died  in  service),  Henry  Mack, 
Isaac  Miller,  Luther  A.  Miller,  Henry  Morrill,  Roswell  More,  John 
R.  More,  Perry  S.  Moore,  Samuel  Marshall,  Lester  Moore,  Thomas 
W.  Nash,  Sumner  Nash,  Dr.  E.  K.  Nash,  Joseph  Pierson  (died  in 
service),  Silas  Payne,  Lorin  L.  Porter,  Harmon  Prior,  Russell  Phil- 
lips, James  Pierson  (died  in  Andersonville  prison),  Elisha  Pursell, 
Galen  Richmond,  James  Randall,  Charles  Robinson  (killed  in 
battle),  Ciiarl'^s  Richmond,  Norman  Salisbury  (died  in  service), 
F'ranklin  J.  Smith.  James  Stanbridge,  Joseph  Scanlin,  Adam 
Stoner,  Philenus  Smith,  William  Stoton,  William  H.  Spears> 
Ephraim  Sutton,  Williatn  Sherman,  Richmond  Shaw,  John  Spears, 
Thomas  G.  Trembath,  Edward  Te\vksbury  (see  also  Copley),  Gren- 
ville  Thorp,  H.  Thompson,  James  Turner,  Robert  Volentine,  Peter 
White,  George  W.  Worden  (died  in  service),  W.  W.  Williamson,  S. 
A.  Waite,  George  H.  Youells,  Adam  Zealy,  Jacob  Zimmerman. 

BATH  AS  A  RAILROAD  CENTER. 

In  1833,  the  Clinton  Line  Extension  Railroad,  from  Hudson  to 
Tiffin,  was  organized,  with  Prof.  Henry  N.  Day,  of  Hudson  presi- 
dent, and  Hon.  Van  R.  Humphrey  as  one  of  the  directors.  From 
Hudson  the  line  extended  southwesterly  through  Northampton 
and  Bath,  crossing  the  Cuyahoga  Valle}'^  near  the  residence  of  the 
late  James  R.  Brown,  in  Northampton,  and  running  up  the  Yellow 
Cre»ek  valle3s  through  the  township  of  Bath. 

About  $7(),01X)  were  expended  in  grading  the  road  between 
Husdon  and  Ghent,  a  large  quantity  of  stone  for  bridging  the 
creek  flowing  into  Yellow  Creek  from  the  north,  were  hauled  upon 
the  ground.  Quite  a  business  boom,  in  fact;  was  created  in  and 
about  Ghent;  manufactures  Avere  stimulated,  stores  multiplied, 
hotels  flourished,  etc.;  the  northernmost  of  the  two  hotels,  then 
existing  there,  near  w^here  the  road  was  laid,  being  rechristened 
the  "  Railroad  House." 

But  alack!  and  alas!  for  the  metropolitan  hopes  of  the  confid- 
ing Ghentites,  and  the  local  subscribers  to  the  capital  stock.  In 
1856,  the  bottom  fell  out  of  the  Clinton  Line  Extension,  and  the 
various  other  "lines"  that  were  to  form  the  Great  Through  Line 


bath's  moral  status.  (549 

loetween  Philadelphia  and  Council  Bluffs,  and  the  work  was  never 
completed.  But  amid  the  multiplicity  of  surveys  now  being  made 
(1891),  and  new  roads  now  being  projected,  it  is  not  improbable  that 
the  early  hopes  of  the  good  people  of  Bath,  as  a  railroad  center,  may 
yet,  ere  long,  be  realized. 

EARLY  CROOKEDNESS— WILLIAM  LATTA.  ETC. 

In  its  early  history,  the  fair  reputation  of  Bath  was  somewhat 
smirched  by  the  depredations  of  the  gang  of  "  crooks,"  whose  princi- 
pal theater  of  operations  was  in  the  valley  of  the  Cuyahoga,  upon 
its  eastern  border.  The  labj'rinthine  and  heavily  timbered  hills 
and  gullies  of  the  eastern  portion  of  the  township  were  admirably 
adapted  to  clandestine  mintage  and  banking,  and  the  concealment 
of  horses,  sheep,  and  such  other  animals  or  property,  as  it  might  be 
deemed  advisable  to  place  in  hiding. 

In  the  southern  central  part  of  the  township,  also,  L,atta's  Tav- 
ern w^as  one  of  the  chief  resorts  and  marts  of  the  fraternity,  its 
proprietor,  William  Latta,  being  one  of  the  principal  lieutenants  of 
the  "great  captain,"  w^hose  biography  will  be  found  in  full  in 
another  chapter  of  this  history.  This  man,  Latta,  w^as  a  fine  speci- 
men of  phj^sical  manhood,  tall,  w^ell-proportioned,  pleasant  featured 
and,  though  of  quite  a  limited  education,  was  singularly  urbane 
and  persuasive  in  his  manners  and  conversation,  always  su- 
perbly dressed,  with  ruffle-shirt  front,  gold  watch,  elaborate  fob- 
chain,  seals,  etc.  Beside  the  regular  traveling  custom  of  the  time, 
this  house  was  well  "patronized"  by  the  most  influential  members 
of  the  fraternity,  alwaj^s  well  dressed  and  w^ith  plenty  of  money 
which  was  liberally  dispensed  in  the  way  of  "treats"  to  the  local 
frequenters  of  the  hotel.  It  is,  perhaps,  scarcely  to  be  wondered  at, 
that  many  of  the  really  honest,  and  hard-working,  but  illy  remu- 
nerated, 3^eomanry  of  the  neighborhood,  should  have  yielded  to  the 
blandishments  of  these  seeming  gentlemen,  or  to  have  been 
drawn  into  their  nefarious  schemes  and  practices.  Hence,  w^hen 
a  united  effort  was  made,  by  the  authorities  of  Portage,  Medina 
and  Cuyahoga  counties,  in  the  middle  and  later  thirties,  to  break 
up  the  gang,  it  is  not  at  all  singular,  that  quite  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  citizens  of  Bath  should  have  been  seriously  implicated. 
It  is  but  justice  to  the  township,  however,  to  say,  that  in  consider- 
ation of  their  having  been  the  victims  of  malign  and  adverse 
influences,  rather  than  inherentl}-^  dishonest,  and  of  the  valuable 
information  imparted  to  the  officers  in  regard  to  the  leaders  of  the 
gang,  the  most  of  those  who  had  been  taken  into  custody,  or  placed 
under  surveillance,  were  not  proceeded  against,  and  thenceforth 
led  honora])le  lives  in  the  several  communities  where  they  resided. 

A  MIDNIGHT  ADVENTURE. 

Of  course,  there  w^ere  exceptions  to  this  rule,  in  w^hich  the 
evil-doers  were  either  brought  to  merited  punishment  or  driven 
out  of  the  State,  and  even  at  a  later  date  some  very  serious 
offenses  were  perpetrated  and  the  w^rong-doers  duly  punished  or 
forced  to  leav^e  the  neighborhood.  But  ever,  and  alw^ays,  the 
majority  of  the  early  inhabitants  of  Bath  were  honest,  and  ready 
toco-operate  Avith  tlie  authorities  in  the  detection  and  punishment 
of  crime.  Without  disparagement  to  others,  among  the  most 
active,  in  this  direction,  were  Mr.  Peter  Voris  (father  of  judge  A.  C. 


650 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Voris)  and  Mr.  John  Alexander  (father  of  Hon.  J.  Park  Alexander), 
Many  laughable,  as  well  as  perilous,  incidents  might  be  men- 
tioned, did  space  permit,  but  this  one  must  suffice.  In  endeavor- 
ing to  trace  a  stolen  horse,  which  was  supposed  to  be  temporarily- 
concealed  in  the  jungles  of  Eastern  Bath,  Marshal  Mills  procured 
the  assistance  of  Mr.  Alexander,  whom  he  stationed  at  the  ford 
near  Yellow  Creek  basin,  while  Mills  himself  kept  guard  over  the 
ford  at  Old  Portage.  About  midnight  two  men,  riding  one  horse, 
approached  the  lower  ford,  and  were  requested  by  Mr.  Alexander, 
to  set  him  across  the  river.  Refusing  to  do  so,  with  many  oaths 
and  abusive  epithets,  Mr.  Alexander  seized  the  rein  of  the  bridle, 
whereupon  the  fellow  in  the  rear  slipped  off  the  horse,  on  the 
opposite  side,  and  ran  into  the  bushes.     The  other  one  started  to 


JOHN  ALEXANDER,  JR.,~born  in 
J  Washing-ton  county.  Pa.,  Novem- 
ber 18,  179^) ;  common  school  educa- 
tion ;  raised  a  farmer;  married,  Sep- 
tember 16,  1828,  to  Miss  Mary  Scott ; 
came  to  Ohio  in  February.  1831,  set- 
tling- on  a  farm  near  the  southeast 
corner  of  Bath  township,  among  the 
few  permanent  residents  of  the  town- 
ship, at  that  time,  being  the  Hales, 
the  Hammonds,  the  N ashes,  the  Bald- 
w^ins,  the  Millers,  and  later.  Peter 
Voris,  with  his  large  family  of  iiojs, 
including  Judge  Alvin  Voris,  now  of 
Akron.  Mr.  Alexander  was  a  man  of 
great  energy  and  courage,  largely 
aiding  the  authorities  in  breaking  up 
the  strong  and  influential  gang  of 
counterfeiters  and  horse  thieves  then 
infesting  the  valley  of  the  Cuyahoga , 
fully  written  of  elsewhere,  and 
though  often  warned  that  if  he  did 
not  leave  the  township  he  would  be 
killed,  he  lived  to  see  the  disreputable 
gang  entirely  eliminated  from  the 
valley.  He  was  an  earnest  supporter 
of  the  church,  the  school  and  all  pub- 
lic improvements.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Alexander  were  the  parents  of  seven 
children— David  S.,  born  July  7,  1829, 
died  November  17,  1890;  Joseph  H., 
born  March  11,  1832,  now  residing  in 
Kansas ;  John  Park,  whose  portrait 
and  bio^aphy  are  given  elsewhere; 


ft 

JOHN   ALEXANDER,  JR. 

and  William  G.,  of  Toledo,  born 
November  12,  1839,  the  other  three 
dying  in  infancy.  Mr.  Alexander 
died  September  25,  1855,  at  the  age  of 
55  3'ears,  10  months  and  7  days  ;  Mrs. 
Alexander,  born  February  14,  1799, 
dying  June  29,  1878,  aged  79  years,  4 
months  and  15  days. 


follow,  w^hen  Alexander,  stepping  quickly  to  the  other  side  of  the 
horse,  caught  him  as  he  struck  the  ground,.  In  the  tussle  which 
ensued,  Alexander  finally  settled  his  man  by  a  few  vigorous  blows 
upon  the  head  with  a  solid  hickory  cane  w^hich  he  carried.  Being 
obliged,  in  the  melee,  to  release  his  hold  upon  the  bridle,  the  horse 
started  back  tow^ards  the  Basin,  and  Mr.  Alexander  went  in  pur- 
suit of  it.  Having  secured  his  horse  he  returned  to  gather  up  his 
prisoner,  but  found  him  non  est'.  Alexander  then  mounted  the 
horse  and  joined  Mills  at  the  upper  ford,  whereupon  the  two 
reconnoitred  the  river  and  canal  as  far  north  as  Johnnj"  Cake 
Lock,  which  they  reached  just  at  day  light.  Suspecting  that  one 
or  both  of  the  men  which  Mr.  Alexander  had  encountered,  might 
be  secreted  about  the  grocery  kept  at  that  point,  a  search  of  the 


ROUTIX(;    OUT   THE    "CROOKS."  651 

premises  was  made,  and  a  fellow  was  fished  out  of  the  loft  w^ith  a 
"bunged"  eye  and  a  freshly  bruised  head.  Though  protesting  that 
he  had  got  hurt  by  being  squeezed  between  a  boat  and  the  lock, 
the  evening  before,  he  was  taken  into  custody  and  lodged  in  jail. 
The  captured  horse,  though  not  the  one  they  were  in  pursuit  of, 
proved  to  have  been  stolen  from  a  neighboring  county,  and  the 
man  thus  curiously  arrested  proved  to.be  the  thief,  and  was  duly 
convicted  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary. 

WILLIAM  LATTA  IN  LIMBO. 

Though  then  a  resident  of  Medina  county,  the  grand  jury  of 
Portage  county,  at  the  January  term,  1834,  through  the  efforts  of 
Prosecuting  Attorney  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  found  a  bill  of  indictment 
against  Latta  on  the  charge  of  counterfeiting,  or  of  having  coun- 
terfeit money  in  his  possession  with  intent  to  pass  the  same.  To 
this  indictment  Latta  entered  a  plea  of  not  guilty,  and  gave  bail  in 
the  sum  of  $1,000  for  his  appearance  at  the  March  term  of  court,  to 
answ^er  to  said  charge. 

Latta  Forfeits  His  Bail. — At  the  March  term,  on  his  case 
being  called,  Latta  failed  to  appear,  and  his  bail  was  duly  declared 
forfeited.  On  investigation  it  was  found  that  Latta  had  disposed 
of  his  interests  at  the  Corners,  closed  up  his  business  affairs,  and 
skipped  to  parts  unknown.  Though  as  diligent  inquiries  as  the 
condition  of  the  country,  and  the  facilities  then  in  vogue,  w^ould 
admit  of,  were  instituted,  no  trace  of  him  could  be  found,  though 
in  the  latter  part  of  1837,  after  the  arrest  of  Col.  William  Ashley, 
as  elsewhere  stated,  Latta  clandestinely  visited  Boston,  and  recov- 
ered that  portion  of  the  "assets"  of  the  firm  of  Latta,  Holmes  & 
Ashley,  that  w^ere  not  found  by  the  authorities,  when  the  latter 
w^as  arrested.  These  "assets"  consisted  of  counterfeit  plates  as 
follows:  One  $50  plate  on  the  Mechanics'  Bank  of  New  York;  two 
$10's  on  the  United  States  Bank,  letters  H.  &  G.;  one  $2,  on  the 
Bank  of  Newport,  R.  I.;  $1,  $2,  $3,  $5,  $10,  and  $50,  on  the  Bank  of 
Toronto,  together  with  some  $40,000  of  Toronto  bills. 

Latta  Again  in  the  Toils. — In  1838,  after  Ashley's  conviction 
and  incarceration  in  the  penitentiary,  as  elsewhere  detailed,  and 
w^hile  the  great  "generalissimo"  of  the  fraternity,  "Jim"  Brown,  was 
under  $10,000  bonds  in  Medina  county,  $9,00()  in  Portage  county, 
and  $1,000  in  Cuyahoga  county  ($20,0(X)  in  all),  on  similar  charges, 
the  latter  (whether  in  the  interest  of  public  justice,  or  to  "curry 
favor"  with  the  officers,  deponent  sayeth  not),  gave  Latta  away, 
informing  the  authorities  of  his  whereabouts,  and  deposing,  before 
Justice  Jacob  Brown,  to  having  seen  the  two  $10  United  States 
plates  in  Latta's  possession,  and  of  Latta's  telling  him,  ^vhile  in 
Boston,  that  he  also  had  the  other  plates  and  the  money  above 
spoken  of.  On  this  affidavit,  a  warrant  \^as  issued,  and  Constable 
Warren  H.  Smith  (brother  of  the  late  L.  N.  Smith),  following  the 
clue  given  by  Brow^n,  w^ent  to  Indiana,  secured  Latta's  arrest,  and, 
as  he  was  unw^illing  to  come  to  Ohio  w^ithout  a  requisition,  lodged 
hitn  in  jail,  and  returned  home  to  procure  one.  This,  it  should  be 
remembered,  was  before  there  were  any  railroads  or  telegraph 
facilities  here,  as  no>v. 

Latta's  Extradition  to  Ohio. — Deputy  United  States  Marshal, 
Ithiel  Mills,  Esq.,  immediately,  on  Smith's  return,  went  by  stage  to 


^52  AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 

Columbus,  and,  securing  a  requisition,  proceeded  b}'^  stage  to  Indian- 
apolis, where  he  obtained,  from  the  Governor  of  that  State,  a 
warrant  for  Latta's  extradition  to  Ohio.  On  his  arrival  at  the 
place  where  Constable  Smith  had  left  him,  however,  Mills  found 
that  his  bird  had  flown,  having  been  released  from  jail  under  a 
writ  of  habeas  corpus.  Anticipating  another  visit  from  the  Ohio 
officer,  Latta  w^ent  into  concealment,  but  by  a  little  strategy,  Mills 
succeeded  in  tracing  him  to  his  lair,  and  bringing  him  safely  to 
Akron. 

Here,  on  the  testimony  of  "  Jim  "  Brow^n,  Justice  Jacob  Bro^vn 
held  Latta  to  bail  in  the  sum  of  $15,000,  in  default  of  which  he  Avas 
committed  to  jail,  at  Ravenna.  This  was  the  latter  part  of  August, 
1838.  On  the  same  testimony,  the  grand  jury  of  Portage  county- 
found  a  bill  of  indictment  against  Latta,  but,  under  one  pretext 
or  another,  the  trial  w^as  postponed  until  the  September  term  of 
court,  1839. 

Latta  Again  at  IvIBERty. — In  the  meantime,  as  w^ill  be  seen 
by  a  perusal  of  the  chapter  pertaining  to  that  gentleman,  "Jim" 
Brow^n,  had  so  succeeded  in  ">vorking"  the  witness  against  him,  as 
to  be  beyond  immediate  danger.  Latta's  case  w^as  called,  a  jury 
empanelled  and  the  preliminary^  statements  of  counsel  made  in 
due  form.  Brown,  the  principal  witness  for  the  State,  being  called 
to  the  stand,  to  the  great  surprise  of  the  officers  who  had  so  inde- 
fatigably  worked  up  the  case,  peremptorily  declined  to  ansvirerany 
questions  touching  the  accused,  on  the  ground  that  doing  so  would 
tend  to  criminate  himself.  This  ended  the  trial  and  Latta  was 
accordingly  set  at  liberty.  The  former  charge,  in  which  his  bail 
had  been  forfeited,  having  meantime  been  noUied,  Latta  imme- 
diatel}^  disappeared,  and  so  far  as  the  Avriter  is  aware,  was  never 
again  seen  in  this  vicinity,  but  was  for  many  years  thereafter 
reputed  to  be  pursuing  the  same  dark  and  devious  ways,  so  char- 
acteristic of  him  here,  in  the  State  of  Indiana. 

EDUCATIONAL,  RELIGIOUS,  ETC. 

Though  not  maintaining  any  academical  or  so-called  high 
schools  within  her  borders,  the  educational  facilities  of  Bath,  ^\ath 
a  full  complement  of  snug  and  well-equipped  district  school  build- 
ings, have  alvt^a^^s  been  exceptionally  good.  In  religious  matters, 
the  Presbyterians  for  many  years  maintained  a  house  of  worship 
at  the  center  of  the  town,  and  the  Methodists  at  Hammond's  Cor- 
ners, her  people  also  having  ready  access  to  the  United  Brethren 
^'Centennial"  Church,  on  the  Richfield  line'  upon  the  north,  the 
Disciple  Church  on  the  Granger  line  upon  the  west,  and  the 
United  Brethren  Church  at  Montrose  upon  the  south,  her  people 
at  the  present  time  being  among  the  most  intelligent  and  moral 
on  the  Western  Reserve;  maintaining,  also,  a  most  flourishing 
Grange  of  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry,  now  such  a  potent  factor  in 
promoting  the  intellectual,  social  and  material  interests  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  rural  districts  of  the  country. 

RETROGRADE  IN  POPULATION. 

During  the  first  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  after  the  first  settle- 
ment in  Bath  began,  its  growth  in  population  was  steady  and 
comparatively  rapid,  so  that  in  1840  its    population  was  1,425.     For 


POPULATION — OFFICIAL    ROSTER,    ETC. 


653 


the  past  twenty-five  or  thirty  years,  ho\\rever,o>ving  to  the  changed 
conditions  of  doing  business — merging  the  small  industries  of  the 
villages  and  country  places  in  the  larger  establishments  in  the 
cities,  and  the  irltroduction  of  agricultural  labor-saving  machinery, 
by  w^hich  less  human  muscle  is  needed  to  accomplish  the  same 
results  as  formerly  upon  the  farm — to  say  nothing  about  that 
formerly  expended  in  the  clearing  of  their  lands — the  population 
of  most  of  the  townships  of  the  Reserve  has  materially  receded,  the 
decennial  enumeration  for  1890  giving  to  Bath  a  population  of  990 
souls  only,  a  falling  off  of  435  in  50  years. 

Present  Official  Roster  (1891). —  Trustees,  John  Hershey,  A. 
W.  Shade,  Robert  Y.  Robinson;  Clerk,  George  Youells;  Treasurer, 
William  H.  Spears;  Justices  of  the  Peace,  Henry  Pardee,  William 
Davis;  Postmasters,  Bath  (at  Hammond's  Corners),  Siegel  B.. 
Whitcraft;  Ghent,  Otis  R.  Hershey;  Montrose,  Samuel  Briggs. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

BOSTON  TOWxVSHIP—EARLY  SETTLEMENT— ORGANIZATION,  NAME,  ETC.— PIO- 
NEER INCIDENT  AND  EXPERIENCE— THE  INDIAN'S  PARADISE— MANUFAC- 
TURING RE.SOURCES— MILITARY  PROWESS— BOSTON  IN  COUNTY  AND  STATE 
AFFAIRS  — COUNTERFEITING  HEADQUARTERS  —  THE  GANG  BROKEN  UP  — 
"COL."  WILLIAM  ASHLEY'S  ARREST,  CONVICTION,  IMPRISONMENT  AND 
DEATH— FULL  HISTORY  OF  THE  NOTORIOUS  "JIM"  BROWN— SUBvSEQUENT 
EXCITING  CRIMES,  MURDERS,  BURGLARIES,  ETC.  -MODERN  BOSTON,  MORAL 
INTELLIGENT,  ENTERPRISING. 

BOSTON'S    TOPOGRAPHY. 

The  township  of  Boston,  like  most  of  the  tow^ns  along  the  line 
of  the  Cuyahoga  river  through  Summit  county,  is  largely  broken 
up  into  precipitous  hills  and  deep  gullies,  though  beyond  these 
bluffs,  on  either  side,  there  are  some  fine  farming  lands,  and  occa- 
sional fertile  and  tillable  areas  along  the  river  bottoms. 

The  river  is  exceedingly  tortuous  through  the  entire  town- 
ship, and,  a  little  north  and  w^est  of  the  geographical  center,  it 
makes  an  abrupt  turn  to  the  eastward,  and  circling  around  to  the 
north  and  w^est,  enclosing  some  18  or  20  acres  of  rich  bottom  land, 
comes  back  to  within  about  50  or  60  feet  of  the  point  of  divergence, 
whence  it  again  resumes  its  general  northwesterly  course  to 
Lake  Erie. 

The  Village  of  Peninsula. — In  making  this  peninsular  cir- 
cuit, there  is  a  fall  in  the  river  of  nearly  eight  feet,  so  that  by 
the  erection  of  a  low^  dam  on  the  upper  side,  and  tunneling  through 
the  narrow^  neck  of  land  indicated,  a  fine  water  powder  is  secured, 
w^hich  has  been  utilized  for  milling  purposes  for  nearly  three- 
quarters  of  a  centur3\  This  eccentricity  of  the  river  has  furnished 
its  very  appropriate  name  for  the  flourishing  village  of  Peninsula, 
the  principal  business  center  of  the  township;  a  dam  a  short  dis- 
tance higher  up  the  river  furnishing  a  large  volume  of  additional 
w^ater-pow^er  for  manufacturing  purposes,  upon  both  sides  of  the 
river. 

•In  the  construction  of  the  Valley  Railway,  the  entire  volume 
of  the  water  of  the  river  has  been  let  through  the  narrow^  neck  of 
the  peninsula,  east  of  the  mill.  The  w^ater  pow^er  of  the  mill  is 
considerably  improved  thereby,  w^hile  the  bottom  lands  of  the 
peninsula  are  less  liable  to  overflow  in  case  of  freshet.  This 
arrangement  also  greatly  facilitates  the  operations  of  the  railw^ay, 
and  the  making,  harvesting  and  shipping  of  ice  from  the  old  bed 
of  the  river,  w^liich  is  amply  supplied  for  that  purpose,  through  a 
small  creek  formed  bj^  several  large  springs  in  the  ledges  to  the 
eastw^ard. 

The  Ancient  Village  of  Boston. — A  mile  and  a-half  further 
north  is  the  original  business  point  of  the  township,  the  village  of 
Boston.  Here,  too,  by  means  of  a  substantial  darn  thrown  across 
the  river,  its  waters   have  been   used   for  milling  purposes  since 


BOSTON  S    BEGINNING. 


605 


1821 ;  at  first  upon  the  west  side  of  the  river,  but  after  the  con- 
struction of  the  Ohio  Canal,  transferred  to  the  east  side;  the 
original  improvement  of  this  character  in  the  tow^nship  being 
made  here,  in  the  year  named,  by  Capt.  Watrous  Mather,  who 
afterward,  in  the  early  thirties,  removed  to  Akron,  erecting  a 
story  and  a-half  frame  house  on  Brown  street,  which  is  still 
standing,  and  in  which  he  died  May  18,  1844,  aged  66  years. 


r^  EORGE  STANFORD,  -  born  in 
^  Beaver  count)%  Pa.,  October  9, 
1800 ;  came  with  parents  to  Warren, 
O.,  in  1802.  and  to  Boston  in  1800. 
which  township  his  father,  James 
Stanford,  assisted  Alfred  Wolcott, 
Sr.,  in  survejuug  the  year  previous, 
and  being  the  second  faniil}-  to  set- 
tle in  the  township,  the  196  acre  farm 
on  the  east  bank  of  the  Cuyahog-a 
river  being-  now  occupied  by  the 
grandson  of  the  original  proprietor, 
George  C.  Stanford,  Ksq.  George 
Stanford  was  married  to  Catharine 
Carter,  of  Boston  township,  Januar}- 
17.  1828,  who  died  December  20,  1872. 
aged  68  j'ears,  having  borne  him 
eight  children,  one  or  whom  onl3% 
George  C,  now  survives.  Mr.  George 
Stanford  was  a  model  farmer,  ster- 
ling citizen  and  a  consistent  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  church,  being- 
appointed  bj^  the  people  of  the  town- 
ship to  man}-  positions  of  trust  and 
for  six  years  officiating  as  justice  of 
the  peace.  Mr.  Stanford  died  March 
7,  188;^,  aged  82  years,  4  months  and  8 
days.  George  C.  Stanford,  born 
April  18, 1839,  was  married  to  Miss 
lyida  Wetmore,  daughter  of  William 
Wetmore,  Esq.,  one  of  Stow's  pioneer 


GEORGE    HTAXFORD. 

settlers,  December  23,  1869.  They 
have  three  children  —  Ellen,  born 
February  6,  1871 ;  Perkins  W.,  born 
May  2,  1874  ;  Clayton  J.,  born  August 
4,  1877.  George  C.  was  postmaster  at 
Boston  from  1875  to  1885. 


"Johnny  Cake"  Lock, — Near  the  south  line  of  the  township  is 
quite  a  hamlet  known  for  many  years  by -the  above  "toothsome" 
and  "gustatory"  appellation,  from  these  alleged  circumstances:  A 
short  distance  above  the  lock,  at  this  point,  Furnace  Run,  an  incon- 
si<lerable  stream,  ordinarily,  empties  into  the  canal,  as  a  feeder. 
In  the  spring  of  1828,  during  a  heavy  freshet,  so  much  sand  was 
w^ashed  into  the  bed  of  the  canal  as  to  entirely  impede  navigation 
for  several  days.  This  brought  together  a  number  of  boats  from 
both  above  and  below,  with  not  only  their  crew^s  but  a  consider- 
able number  of  passengers  to  be  subsisted,  pending  the  making  of 
the  necessary  repairs.  Commissary  supplies  running  short  on 
''shipboard,"  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  vicinity  being  sparse  and 
meagerly  su^^plied  with  provisions,  corn  meal — ^"  Johnny-cake 
timber" — soon  became  the  only  edible  obtainable,  and  Johnny 
Cake  it  was,  inorning,  noon  and  night,  until  the  blockade  was 
raised,  and  Johnny  Cake  Lock  it  has  been  ever  since,  though  for  a 
number  of  years  it  was  sought  to  change  it  to  "  Unionville,"  and 
since  the  advent  of  the  Valley  Railway,  a  station  and  a  post- 
office  have  been  established  there  under  the  official  name  of 
'' Everett." 


656 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Line  Boat  AND  "Packet  Navigation. — Previous  to  the  advent 
of  railroads,  in  addition  to  the  transportation  of  merchandise  and 
produce,  canal  passenger  travel  Avas  considered  the  very  acme  of 
spettd,  comfort  and  convenience.  For  this  purpose  quite  large  bow- 
cabins  were  fitted  up  in  good  style,  with  sleeping  and  table  accom- 
modations for  from  12  to  20  passengers,  w^ith  corresponding  culi- 
nary accommodations  at  the  stern;  the  midships,  only,  being 
devoted  to  freight.  Instead  of  every  boat  owner  going  upon  his 
own  hook,  as  now,  regular  freight  and  passenger  lines  were  estab- 
lished, w^ith  stations  at  convenient  points  for  the  care  and 
exchange  of  horses,  no  horses  being  carried  upon  any  boat  except 
such  as  were  then  called  scows.  One  of  the  most  important  of  these 
stations  was  Johnny  Cake  Lock,  the  largest  land  owner  of  the 
vicinitj^,  the  late  Alanson  Swan,  erecting  commodious  stables,  a 
grocery  store  and  quite  an  extensive  warehouse,  so  that  for  many 
years  "Johnny  Cake"  was  regarded  as  quite  a  business  emporiuinr 
especially  during  the  packet-boat  era  from  about  1837  to  1852. 


MR.  HERMON  BRONSON. 


MRS.  HERMON  BRONSON. 


MR.  AND  MRS.  HERMON  BRONSON, -were  natives  of  Waterbury,Cotin., 
the  former  born  December  17,  1774,  the  latter  (Mary  Hickox)  December 
17,  1777  ;  were  married  in  Waterburj^  Deceml)er  18,  1795 ;  moved  to  Ohio  in 
1801,  settling-  in  Cleveland,  then  a  ver3'  small  hamlet,  Mr.  B.  working-  at  the 
carpenter's  trade  ;  in  1812,  he  enlisted  in  the  armj-,  she  returning  to  Waterbury 
on  horseback,  with  her  four  children,  the  joungest  a  babe.  At  the  close  of 
the  war  they  removed  to  Lorain  countj^  and  engaged  in  farming,  in  1821 
returning  to  Cleveland,  and  three  years  later,  in  1824,  locating  at  Peninsula, 
Boston  township.  Here  Mr.  Bronson  became  a  large  land  owner,  and  built, 
and  for  many  years  successfullj^  conducted  the  pioneer  saw  and  grist  mills 
at  that  place,  besides  liberallj^  promoting  the  various  other  industrial  and 
business  enterprises  of  the  village.  Their  children  were — Julia,  afterwards 
Mrs.  Pope  ;  Hannah,  afterwards  Mrs.  White  ;  Rhoda,  afterwards  Mrs.  Pajaie, 
and  later  Mrs.  Jacob  Barnhart ;  and  Hiram  Volnej,  whose  pprtrait  and  biog- 
raphy will  be  found  on  another  page.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bronson  were  both 
liberal  and  public  spirited,  he  having  filled  niany  local  positions  of  trust 
and  honor  ;  in  1835,  organizing  a  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  btiilding  at 
his  own  expense,  a  comfortable  house  of  worship  (still  standing),  dedicated 
by  Bishop  Mcllvaine,  in  1839,  as  "Bethel  Episcopal  Church,"  the  building 
being  reiuodeled  in  1889,  by  his  daughter-in-law,  Mrs.  Ruth  Ranney  Bronson, 
and  its  name  changed  by  decree  of  courts  to  "  Bronson  Memorial  Church." 
Mr.  Bronson  died  December  18,  1853,  aged  79  years  and  one  day  ;  Mrs.  B. 
dying  Februiary  18,  1858,  aged  80  j-ears,  2  months  and  1  day. 


BOSTON  S   PIONEER    SETTLERS. 


657 


Early  Settlement,  Pioneers,  etc. — Boston  township  was  not 
settled  as  early  as  Hudson,  and  perhaps  two  or  three  otfier  town- 
ships of  Suinniit  county.  The  first  actual  settler  is  supposed  to 
have  been  Alfred  Wolcott,  Sr.,  the  father  of  the  late  Hon.  Alfred 
Wolcott,  ex-representative  of  Summit  county  in  the  State  Legis- 
lature. Mr.  Wolcott  w^as  a  native  of  Connecticut  and  had  early 
emigrated  to  Trumbull  county.  Being  a  practical  surveyor,  he 
was  sent  by  General  Simon  Perkins  and  others  to  survey  the  lands 
owned  by  them,  in  what  afterwards  came  to  l)e  known  as  Boston 
township.  This  was  probably  in  1805,  as  in  the  early  Spring  of 
1806,  having  in  the  meantime  been  married  to  Miss  Hannah  Craig, 
of  Youngstown,  he  erected  a  log  cabin  on  the  tract  of  115  acres  of 
land,  w^hich  he  had  selected  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  township, 
and  being  a  part  of  the  same  farm  lately  occupied  by  his  son,  Hon. 
Alfred  Wolcott.  Mr.  Wolcott's  first  selection  w^as  in  the  valley, 
w^here  Mr.  George  C.  Stanford  now  lives,  a  short  distance  north  of 
the  village  of  Boston,  but  was  given  up,  at  the  instance  of  his 
young  wife,  on  account  of  the  supposed  unhealthiness  of  that 
location.  Two  other  men,  Samuel  Kwart  and  John  Teale,  accom- 
panied Wolcott  to  the  township,  but  of  whose  subsequent  history 
little  is  now^  known,  except  that  Ewart  died  in    Sandusky  in  1815. 


HON.  ALFRED  WOLCOTT,— son 
of  Boston's  pioneer  settler,  Al- 
fred Wolcott,  Sr.;  born  in  Boston, 
Januar}^  28,  1812;  educated  in  district 
schools.  His  father  dying  in  1835, 
April  18,  1836,  Mr.  Wolcott  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Mary  Scovill,  who  was 
born  in  Connecticut,  in  1821;  pur- 
chasing- a  farm  in  Northfield,  soon 
afterwards  exchanging-  with  his 
brother  for  the  old  homestead  in 
Boston,  which,  having  greatly  en- 
larged and  itnproved,he  continuously 
occupied  until  his  death,  March  17, 
1891,  aged  79  j-ears,  1  month  and  19 
days.  In  1869  Mr.  Wolcott  was 
elected,  on  the  Republican  ticket,  to 
the  State  Legislature,  serving  two 
years;  also  served  as  assessor  and 
in  man}'  other  positions  of  trust  and 
honor  in  his  township.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wolcott  were  the  parents  of  six 
children— Hon.  Simon  Perkins  Wol- 
cott, a  graduate  of  Western  Reserve 
College,  late  senator  for  Summit 
and  Portage  counties,  now  practic- 
ing law  in  Kent;  John  M.  Wolcott,. 
furniture  manufacturer  in  Grand 
Rapids,  Mich.;  Anna  M..  wife  of  Rev. 
Lem.  B.  Bissell,  Congregational 
preacher  in  Monroe,  Mich  ;  Alfred 
Wolcott,    Jr.,    gTj^duate    of    Western 


HOiV.  ALFRED  WOLCOTT. 


Reserve  College,  now  practicing  law 
in  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.;  Charles 
Fremont,  farmer  on  the  old  home- 
stead; Andrew  A.,  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany D,  29th.  O.  V.  L,  died  at  Alex- 
andria, Va.,  September  4,  1862. 


About  simultaneously  with  the  advent  of  Wolcott,  1806,  came 
James  Stanford,  Adam  and  William  Vance  and  Abner  Robinson, 
the  former  settling  upon  the  tract  in  the  valley,  which  had  been 
rejected  by  Wolcott  as  above  stated,  and  which  has  proved  to  be 
one  of  the  most  fertile  farms,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  salubrious 
locations  in  the  township ;  for  it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that 

42 


658 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY 


high  lands  are  always  health}'  and  low  lands  always  unhealthy  ; 
miasmatic  vapors  often  rising  above  the  habitations  in  the  river 
valley  and  invading  those  of  the  higher  table  lands  on  either  side. 
Organization,  Name,  etc. — ^From  this  time  on,  the  settlement 
of  the  neighborhood  was  quite  rapid,  the  three  present  townships 
of  Boston,  Richfield  and  Northfield  being  one,  so  that  at  the  first 
election  of  township  officers,  held  by  order  of  the  county  commis- 
sioners of  Portage  county,  January  15,  1811,  at  the  house  of  Tim- 
othy Bishop,  there  were  about  30  voters  present.  There  is  some 
discrepancy  of  opinion  as  to  the  naming  of  the  township,  Mrs.  Eli 
Gayldrd,  of  Stow,  daughter  of  Alfred  Wolcott,  Sr.,  claiming  that  it 
was  named  by  her  father,  w^hen  making  the  survey,  as  above 
stated,  while  other  accounts  show  that  about  1807  Messrs.  Wolcott, 
Stanford,  Ew^art,  Teale,  and  a  few  others,  held  a  consultation  upon 
the  subject,  at  which  Mr.  Wolcott  suggested  the  name  of  Wolcotts- 
burg,  and  Mr.  E^vart  that  of  Ewartsville,  neither  of  which  cogno- 
mens found  favor  with  the  majority,  and  that  finally  Mr.  Stanford 
proposed  the  name  of  Boston,  w^hich  was  unanimously  adopted. 


HIRAM  VOLNEY  BRONSON,— 
son  of  Hernion  and  Mary 
(Hickox)  Bronson,  was  born  in  Cleve- 
land. December  12,  1811  ;  removing 
with  parents  to  Peninsula,  in  1824 ; 
educated  in  schools  of  vicinitj-  and 
aided  his  father  in  conducting  his 
large  farming- and  milling' interests  in 
and  about  Peninsula.  Mr.  Bronson 
was  active  in  politics,  first  as  a  Whig 
and  later  as  a  Repviblican,  served 
several  years  as  justice  of  the  peace, 
was  Peninsula's  first  postmaster, 
serving  eight  years,  was  also  Penin- 
sula's first  maj-or,  and  during  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion  was  Deputy  U. 
S.  Internal  Revenue  Assessor. 
Thoroughly  posted  in  affairs,  Mr. 
Bronson  was  authority  in  political 
and  historical  matters,  local,  state 
and  national.  June  7,  1835,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Ruth  L.  Ranney,  a 
native  of  Boston  township,  daughter 
of  Comfort  Rannej',  one  of  the  earli- 
est pioneer  settlers  of  that  vicinity, 
who  bore  three  children— Lucy,  born 
May  1,  1838,  now  Mrs.  P.  H.  Dudley,  of 
New  York  City ;  Emilj^  born  May  7, 
1843,  now  Mrs.  Col.  A.  L.  Conger,  of 
Akron,  and  Hermon,  born  August  15, 


HIKAM   VOLXEY    BRONSON. 


1843,  now  residing  in  Cleveland.  Mr. 
Bronson  died  November  1,  1881,  aged 
69  years,  10  months  and  19  days.  Mrs. 
Bronson  still  survives. 


This  initial  election  was  only  a  temporary  affair,  the  officers 
elected  holding  only  till  the  regular  election  on  the  first  Monday  of 
the  ensuing  April.  Alfred  Wolcott  and  Moses  Cunningham  w^ere 
chosen  as  justices  of  the  peace;  William  Beers,  clerk;  Aaron 
Miller,  Andre\v  Johnson  and  Timothy  Bishop,  trustees;  Jonathan 
Iddings  and  Isaac  Bacon,  overseers  of  the  poor;  Launcelot  Mays, 
treasurer,  and  James  Jordan,  constable. 

At  the  April  election  the  justices,  trustees,  clerk,  overseers  of 
the  poor  and  constable  previously  chosen,  virere  re-elected,  John 
Duncan  being  substituted  for  Launcelot  Mays  as  treasurer,  and 


POPULATION,    GROWTH,    ETC. 


659 


additional  offices  filled  as  follows:  Alfred  Wolcott  and  James  Stan- 
ford, fence  viewers;  Moses  Cunningham  and  William  Beers,  list- 
ers; Aaron  Miller,  John  Cunningham  and  James  Stanford,  super- 
visors, and  Robert  Donaldson  as  an  additional  constable. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  four  of  the  parties  above  natned  were 
elected  to  t>vo  positions  each;  viz:  Alfred  Wolcott,  justice  of  the 
peace  and  fence  viewer;  Moses  Cunningham,  justice  of  the  peace 
and  lister;  William  Beers,  clerk  and  lister;  Aaron  Miller,  trustee 
and  supervisor;  a  proceeding  that,  even  if  lawful,  would  hardly  be 
sanctioned,  in  the  general  scramble  for  office  in  these  latter  days. 


■LTRASTUS  JACKSON,— born  Sep- 
-L>  teniber  16,  1810,  in  the  Province 
of  Upper  Canada,  50  miles  west  of 
Kingston,  reinoving  with  parents, 
in  infanc}',  to  Western  New  York; 
educated  in  common  schools;  minor- 
ity passed  on  farm;  in  Winter  of  1831, 
'32  taug^ht  school;  in  Spring-  of  1832 
came  West,  clerking  one  Summer  in 
store  at  Boston  Village;  in  the  Fall 
returned  to  Western  New  York  and 
engaged  in  teaching-;  in  1837,  again 
came  to  Boston;  clerked  in  grocery 
at  the  "Lock"  through  the  Summer 
and  taught  school  the  first  Winter;  in 
Spring  of  1838  went  into  grocery  busi- 
ness for  himself,  continuing  four 
years;  in  1842,  started  a  furnace, 
which  he  ran  two  years;  in  1844,  in 
company  with  Mr.  John  Cong-er,  en- 
gaged in  brick  making,  supplying 
brick  for  the  Empire  House,  and 
manj^  of  the  earlier  business  blocks 
and  private  residencefe  of  Akron. 
Mr.  Cong-er  dying-  November  30,  1853, 
Mr.  Jackson  continued  the  business 
for  two  years  in  partnership  with  the 
two  sons  of  Mr.  Conger,  when  he 
withdrew  and  has  since  been  suc- 
cessfully engaged  in  farming, 
having,  in  June,  1854,  married  the 
widow  of  his  former  partner,  Mrs. 
Hannah  (Beals)  Conger,  who  was 
born   in  Goshen,   Mass.,   in    1805.     In 


ERASTUS    JACKSON. 

politics  an  earlj-  Whig-,  and  later  an 
ardent  Republican,  besides  serving 
as  township  clerk  five  j'ears,  justice 
of  the  peace  twelve  years,  and  treas- 
urer several  years,  Mr.  Jackson  was 
postmaster  of  Boston  from  1849  to 
1853,  and  postmaster  of  Peninsula 
from  1877  to  1885. 


Pioneer  Incident  and  Experience. — The  settlement  of  the 
township  of  Boston,  proper,  after  its  separation  from  Northfield 
and  Richfield,  though  not  remarkably  rapid,  was  steady,  so  that 
on  the  organization  of  Summit  county,  in  1840,  it  numbered,  as 
shown  by  the  census  of  that  year,  845  souls,  the  census  of  1880 
giving  the  population  at  1,225,  an  increase  of  a  trifle  over  50  per 
cent,  in  40  years,  the  census  of  1890  show^ing  a  slight  increase,  the 
total  population  of  the  township  (including  Peninsula,  562),  being 
1,273,  a  far  better  showing  than  the  majority  of  the  townships  of 
the  county.  The  first  male  child  born  in  the  township  was 
Andrew  J.,  son  of  James  Stanford,  born  March  27,  1806;  the  first 
female  child  being  the  daughter  of  Alfred  Wolcott,  Melinda,  born 
April  14,  1807.  The  first  marriage  in  the  township,  on  the  29th  of 
July,  1812,  was  William  Carter  to  Elizabeth  Mays;  the  first  one  to 
die  in  the  township  being  Mary  Ann  Post,  daughter  of  Henry 
Post,  Sr.,  June  9,  1808.  . 


# 


660 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


The  township  is  rife  with  traditions  of  pioneer  incidents  and 
adventures  with  Indians  and  wild  beasts,  both  serious  and  com- 
ical, too  numerous  and  voluminous  to  be  fully  embodied  in  this 
Avork.  Boston  and  vicinity  \^^as,  however,  previous  to  the  advent 
of  the  whites,  a  sort  of  Indian  paradise:  the  bottom  lands  being- 
planted  to  orchards,  corn,  etc.,  the  hills  and  gullies  abounding  in 
all  kinds  of  game,  and  the  river  and  smaller  streams  well  stocked 
with  an  almost  infinite  variety  of  fish.  Here,  also,  were  found,  by 
the  early  white  settlers,  the  remains  of  Indian  villages,  dwellings, 
forts,  mounds,  burial  places,  altars,  idols,  etc.,  some  of  which  are 
still  visible,  while  innumerable  relics  of  Indian  life,  labor  and 
sport,  have  been  gathered  up  by  their  pale-faced  successors  to  the 
aboriginal  domain. 


LEWIS  M.  Janes,— born  in  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  Feb.  6,  1798,  in  early 
manhood  engaged  in  merchandising- 
in  Central  New  York  and  Montreal, 
Canada  ;  in  the  early  thirties  moved 
to  York,  Medina  County,  Ohio,  and 
about  1834  to  Peninsula,  where  he 
engaged  in  the  lumber  trade.  In 
1844,  Mr.  Janes  was  elected  sherrff  of 
Summit  county,  which  office  he  ably 
filled  two  full  terms,  afterwards  offi- 
ciating as  deputy  for  several  of  his 
successors.  In  1863,  Mr.  Janes  was 
elected  a  justice  oi  the  peace  for 
Portage  township,  acceptably  filling- 
that  position  until  his  death  by 
drowning,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
sinking  of  the  propeller  Pewabic,  on 
which  he  and  his  son  Edward  P. 
were  passengers,  bj^  the  steamer 
Meteor  upon  Lake  Huron,  on  the 
night  of  August  9,  1865.  Mrs.  Janes, 
w^hose  maiden  name  was  Abby  Phil- 
lips Allen,  was  an  invalid  for  many 
years,  her  death  occurring  in  Akron, 
October  23,  1847,  at  the  age  of  50  years 
and  15  days.  They  were  the  parents 
of  eight  children — Thomas  Mumford, 
Martha  Cornelia,  Frances  Henrietta, 
Mary  Mumford  (wife  of  Rev.  Abra- 


LEWIvS  M.  JANES. 

ham  E.  Baldwin),  Lewis  Frederick^ 
Elizabeth  Louise,  Edward  Plyiupton 
and  Henry  Dwight,  the  latter,  only, 
surviving,  and  with  his  wife  and  two 
children  residing  in  Plainfield,  N.  J. 


BOSTON'S   MILITARY  PROWESS. 

Of  Boston's  early  inhabitants  several  were  well  known  to  have 
participated  in  the  Revolutionary  War  of  1776  to  1783,  but  unfor- 
tunately their  names  and  records  are  not  noAV  available,  excepting 
in  the  case  of  Mr.  Henry  Brown,  who  served  during  the  entire 
seven  years'  struggle,  dying  in  Boston,  October  17,  1837,  in  the 
104th  year  of  his  age,  and  Mr.  Simeon  Tupper,  74,  reported  as  a 
pensioner  by  the  census  of  1840.  In  the  War  of  1812,  also,  Boston 
took  a  lively  interest,  furnishing  a  number  of  soldiers  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  frontier,  but  whose  names  are  not  now  ascertain- 
able. In  the  scrimmage  with  Mexico,  in  1846-48,  Boston  does  not 
seem  to  have  w^orked  up  any  special  enthusiasm,  the  names  of 
George  Paige,  wounded  at  Churubusco,  William  Mory,  who  died  in 
the  service,  Charles  Parker  and  Frank  Brannan,  only  having  been 
handed  down  as  soldiers  in  that  war. 


boston's  military  status. 


661 


But  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  Boston  was  "  up  and  fully 
dressed."  Party  lines,  which  had  theretofore  been  tightly  drawn — 
with  the  Democratic  part}^  generally  ahead — were  obliterated,  and 
the  members  of  that  party  vied  with  their  Republican  neighbors 
in  responding  to  the  several  calls  for  troops  during  the  existence 
of  that  bloody  struggle,  as  the  complete  roster  given  below  abun- 
dantly demonstrates: 


PDMUND  H.  COLE,  — Born  in 
J-^  Niagara  County,  N.  Y.,  in  1824; 
removed  with  parents  to  Ohio  in 
1832,  settling-  in  Northampton  town- 
ship (near  Hawkins'  Bridge);  edu- 
•cated  in  district  schools;  afterwards 
engaging  in  teaching,  and  later  in 
buying  and  shipping  stock ;  in  1856 
dissociated  himself  with  Frederick 
^nd  Thomas  Wood,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Wood,  Cole  &  Co.,  in  the 
mercantile  business  at  Peninsula ; 
in  1863  bought  out  his  partners,  suc- 
cessfully continuing  the  business 
until  his  death,  Jan.  11,  1876 ;  was 
married  November  15,  1848,  to  Miss 
Ann  L.  Boies,  of  Peninsula,  who  bore 
him  four  children— Arthur  M.  and 
Herbert  W.,  whose  portraits  and 
biographies  appear  elsewhere; 
Nellie,  now  wife  of  Dr.William  Boers 
tier,  of  Peninsula,  and  Fred.  Hay- 
den,  now  a  member  of  the  Akron  Sil- 
ver Plate  Company.  Enterprising 
and  energetic,  Mr.  Cole  took  a  just 
pride  in  forwarding  the  best  interests 
of  his  village  and  county — agricul- 
tural, educational,  etc.— for  several 
years  acting  as  marshal  of  the 
Count}^  Fair,  and  during  the  war 
g-iving  freely  of  his  time  and  money 


EDMUND  H.  COLE. 

in  securing  enlistments,  and  the  pro- 
motion of  the  cause  of  the  Union. 
Mrs.  Cole  still  resides  at  Peninsula, 
the  three  sons  all  being  now  enter- 
prising business  men  of  the  citj''  of 
Akron. 


BOSTON'S  ROLL  OF  HONOR. 

Robert  L.  Andrew,  Emanuel  R.  Andrew,  Angelo  Andrew, 
Robert  Andrew,  Isidore  M.  Bishop,  Levi  B.  Boody,  Jacob  Barn- 
hart,  William  H.  Barnhart,  Thomas  Blackburn,  Frederick  W. 
Boies,  Charles  E.  Boies,  Charles  Bryant,  Edward  Brady,  John 
Cady,  Rufus  Cook  (died  in  service),  Simon  Cook,  Miles  J.  Collier, 
James  Cassidy,  John  C.  Conger,  Arthur  L.  Conger,  Thomas  Cody 
(lost  on  Sultana),  George  Chamberlin,  James  Courtney  (killed  in 
battle),  William  H.  Chapman,  Samuel  Case,  Adelbert  B.  Coe, 
George  Corp,  George  Cassie  (died  in  service),  James  Dolan  (lost  on 
Sultana),  George  H.  Dotts,  O.  A.  Davis,  William  Everhart  (died  in 
service),  William  Emory,  James  N.  Edgerly,  Elijah  Everett  (died 
in  service),  Amzi  Eddy,  Charles  Felton,  William  Fields,  Philetus 
Foster,  John  G.  Garrison  (lost  on  Sultana),  John  Greenover,  Joseph 
Gould,  E.  Harrington,  William  V.  Rowland,  Asa  D.  Hatch,  Darwin 
R.  Hall,  Richard  Hickin  (killed  in  battle),  Freeman  Humes  (lost  on 
Sultana),  Edward  S.  Haskell,  Wallace  W.  Humphrey,  Alonzo  W. 
Hancock,  John  Halpin,  John  D.  Hall,  Andj-ew  Hall,  Adar  H. 
Johnson,  Daniel  Kilbow,  Josiah  A.  Kellogg,  Frederick  W.  Kellogg, 
George  C.  Kellogg,  Cyrus  E.  Kellogg,  Albert  A.  Kellogg,  Nicholas 


662 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Knapp,  Edward  Lee,  David  Lee  (died  in  service),  William  Long,. 
William  Lewis,  Henry  Livingston,  Orson  J.  Mott,  Amos  Mott, 
Oliver  Mott  (died  in  service),  John  Mott,  Lorenzo  Mott,  RoUin  H. 
Morgan,  Joseph  McCleaf,  Robert  Mcllwain  (killed  in  battle),  Daniel 
McAffee,  John  Mclntyre,  Marvin  Myers,  Sylvester  Miller,  Peter  J. 
Murphy,  James  Mahan,  James  Moore,  Charles  Mead,  Charles  F. 
Miles,  Adam  McLaughlin,  James  Martin,  Charles  Napp,  Elmus 
Noah  (died  in  service),  Andre^v  Ozman,  Willjam  Patterson,  George 
Post,  Samuel  W.  Perry,  Clark  Pierce,  George  H,  Post,  Sumner 
Pixley,  Benjamin  F.  Price,  Luinan  F.  Pickle,  Arthur  H.  Pickle,  C. 
Rannej',  Irwin  Richardson,  Nathan  E.  Rose  (died  at  home  in  1864),. 
Alvin  C.  Rose  (killed  at  Five  Forks),  John  Russell,  O.  C.  Risden,^ 
John  R,  Richardson  (died  in  service),  Samuel  Ready,  William  R. 
Richardson,  Henry  Richardson,  E.  Robinson,  Andrew  Robinson^ 
William  Robinson,  M,  R.  Risden,  Charles  Scobie  (killed  in  battle)^ 
Daniel  Schoonover,  James  Seeley,  Cyrus  Singleton  (died  in  service), 
Perkins  W.  Stanford  (died  in  Andersonville  prison),  Barney 
Schoonover,  John  Scofield,  William  Smith,  Benjamin  Sovacool 
(wounded  in  foot  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  carried  to  rear  and  not 
heard  from  afterwards),  Richard  H.  Snow,  Eli  N.  Scofield,  Isaac 
Tupper  (died  in  service),  Joseph  Timms,  John  Timms,  John  Trac}^^ 
William  Van  Orman,  Ozro  W.  Van  Orman,  Francis  Van  Orman,^ 
George  Van  Orman,  George  L.  Waterman  (killed  by  rebel  sympa- 
thizers while  doing  guard  duty  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  at  the  time  of 
Clement  L.  Vallandingham's  arrest  for  treason,  in  May,  1863),  H.  H. 
Wells,  John  Welton,  Calvin  Wilds  (died  in  service),  George  L. 
Wilson,  AndrcAV  Wolcott  (died  in  service),  Jerome  O.  Wing,  George 
Welton,  Edward  Whitney,  John  H.  Zerly. 

SIDNEY  P.  C  O  N  G  E  R,— Born  in 
Vermont,  Sept.  17,  1829;  when  a 
boy  coming'  with  his  parents  to  Ohio, 
settling  in  Boston  township  and 
working  at  brickmaking ;  also  later 
engaging  largely  in  farming,  dairy- 
ing, etc.  Nov.  6,  1853,  Mr.  Conger 
•was  married  to  Miss  Bridget  I.  Cody, 
of  Boston,  who  died  in  lanviary,  1861, 
leaving  two  children — Lucia  Jean- 
ette  (now  Mrs.  Frank  Warburton,  of 
Akron),  and  Sidney  John,  now  a  resi- 
dent of  Akron.  April  10,  1862,  Mr. 
Conger  was  again  married,  to  Miss 
Rose  Ann  Mcllwain,  of  Boston,  who 
bore  him  three  children — George  C, 
now  a  book-keeper  in  office  of  Whit- 
man Barnes  &  Co.,  in  Akron  ;  Marj^ 
Belle  and  Allie  Blanche  ;  Mr.  Conger 
dying  August  20.  1874,  at  the  age  of 
44  years,  11  months  and  3  days.  Mr. 
Conger  was  a  prominent  member  of 
Meridian  Sun  Lodge,  No.  266,  F.  &  A. 
M.;  was  patriotic  and  liberal  during 
the  War  of  the  Rebellion  ;  active  in 
township  and  county  affairs,  filling 
many  local  positions  of  trust,  and 
ably  serving  as  county  commis- 
sioner, to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned 


SIDNEY   P.  COXGEK. 


by  the  death  of  Commissioner  Nelson 
Upson,  from  May  to  December,  1866. 
Mrs.  Conger  and  her  children  now 
reside  in  Akron. 

MUNIFICENT  MEMORIAL. 

Col.  Arthur  Latliam  Conger,  now  a  citizen  of  Akron,  was  born 
in  Boston  township,  and  was  also  one  of  her  Union  s  )ldiers  in  the 


MUNIFICENT   MEMORIAL. 


663 


late  war,  his  wife,  Mrs.  Emily  Bronson  Conger  (daughter  of  the  late 
Hiram  V.  Bronson,  deputy  United  States  assessor  during  the 
■war),  being  also  a  native  of  that  township.  Having  been  highly 
prosperous  in  business,  since  the  close  of  the  bloody  struggle,  and 
cherishing  a  high  degree  of  affection  for  their  native  town,  as  well 
as  a  strong  sense  of  gratitude  towards  her  patriotic  soldiery,  on  the 


4th   day  of  July,   1889,   pre- 
beautiful    granite    monu- 
w^hich  is  herewith  given,  a 
dress    being    delivered     by 
donors,  Kenyon  B.  Conger; 
ment  being  done   by  their 
Conger,  Jr.,  a  still  younger 
Conger,  dressed  in  the  uni- 
of  the  Republic,  and  mount- 
acting    as    orderly    of    the 
The  monument  is  of  West- 
stone    being    six    feet    two 
ing  over  five  tons.      This  is 
base  stones,  on  the  upper 
three  foot  square  pedestal, 
"Presented    to    Boston 
tham   and    Emily  Bronson 
the  bravery  and  patriotism 
in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion 
1889;"  the  other  three  sides 
141  soldiers  as  above  given, 
base  are  the  names  of  four 
in    which    her    brave    boys 
Five    Forks,    Cedar  Creek, 
sur-base    stands    a     hand- 
shaft,    of   nearly 
surmounted     by 
carved  capitol, 
somely    execu- 
badge    on   the 
w^hole  being  sur- 
finely  propor- 
a  soldier,  six  feet 
height,   in    fa- 
standing    at  pa- 
entire    structure 


Soldiers'  Monument,  presented  to  Bost 
Township,  bv  Col.   and  Mrs.  A. 
L.  Conifer,  July  4, 188.9. 


sented    to  the    township    a 
ment,  a    representation    of 
very  fine  presentation    ad- 
the      eldest      son     of     the 
the  unveiling  of  the  monu- 
second      son,      Arthur      L. 
son,     Master     Latham    H. 
form    of  the    Grand    Army 
ed  on  a  fine  Arabian  pony, 
dedication  procession, 
erly  granite  entire,  the  base 
inches  square,  and  w^eigh- 
surmounted  by  tvt^o  smaller 
one    of    which    stands    the 
thefrontbearingthelegend: 
Township,    by   Arthur   La- 
Conger,    to     ccmmemorate 
of  the  soldiers  who  served 
1861-65  — erected   July   4, 
bearing   the  names    of  the 
Immediately  under  the  sur- 
of  the  many  engagements 
participated:     Nashville, 
and  Appomattox.     On  the 
somely    tapering     square 
twenty  five  feet, 
a    beautifully 
with     a     hand- 
ted  Grand  Army 
front    side,    the 
mounted   by  the 
tioned   figure    of 
and  six  inches  in 
tigue    uniform, 
rade    rest,    the 
being  a  superb 
patriotism    of  the 


w^ork   of  art,  and  a  monument  not  only  to  the 

township,  but    to  the   liberality  of  its    public-spirited  donors,  its 

entire   cost    being  over  three  thousand  dollars. 

Boston's  Industries. — In  addition  to  the  quite  extensive  flour 
and  lumber  mills  at  Boston  Village,  and  the  two  saw  mills  and 
flour  mill  at  Peninsula,  and  similar  mills  in  other  parts  of  the 
township,  a  large  variety  of  other  manufactures,  broom  handles, 
cheese  boxes,  etc.,  have  from  time  to  time  been  carried  on,  while 
in  the  earlier  and  palmy  days  of  the  canal,  both  at  Boston  Vil- 
lage, Peninsula,  and  one  or  tAvo  other  points,  large  boat  yards  and 
dry  docks  for  building  and  repairing  boats  were  operated,  giving 
employment  to  a  large  number  of  men  ;  but  at  present  nothing 
whatever  is  done  in  that  line  at  the  points  named. 


664 


AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


JOHN  C.  CONGER,  born  in  Bos- 
J  ton  villag-e,  December  29,  1835; 
educated  in  district  schools  ;  on  leav- 
ing school  served  one  season  under 
Lieutenant  Kaynolds,  upon  the  Uni- 
ted States  topographical  survey  of 
the  lakes  ;  returning  home  engaged 
in  farming  and  brick-making  until 
August,  1861,  when  he  enlisted  in 
Company  A.,  2nd  O.  V.  C,  following 
the  fortunes  of  that  patriotic  regi- 
ment until  April  8, 1863.  On  receiving 
his  discharge  from  the  army,  for  dis- 
ability, Mr.  Conger  again  engaged 
in  farming,  continuing  that  occupa- 
tion to  the  present  time,  upon  his 
finely  improved  135  acre  farm,  adja- 
cent to  the  village  of  Peninsula.  Mr. 
Conger  has  served  as  township  clerk 
and  in  other  positions  of  honor  and 
trust ;  is  a  meinber  of  Meridian  Sun 
Lodge,  No.  266,  and  Summit  Chapter 
F.  &  A.  M.,  and  an  active  member  of 
Geo.  L.  Waterman  Post,  G.  A.  R.  Sep- 
tember 17,  1867,  Mr.  Conger  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Eunice  M.  Stillman,  who 
was  born  in  Hopkinton,  R.  I.,Januar5^ 
23,  1844,  who  has  borne  him  seven 
children — Fannie  S.,  born  December 
26.  1868,  married  to  Dr.  W.  O.  Huston, 
December  28, 1887  ;  Luen  J.,  born  June 


JOHN   C.  CONGER. 

20,1870;  Elmer  B.,  born  Februarys, 
1875  ;  Pamelia  P.,  born  March  24, 1877  ; 
Mary  G.,  born  December  13,  1880; 
John  C,  Jr.,  born  December  9,  1873, 
and  Emily  B.,  born  October  28,  1886, 
all  now  living  in  Peninsula. 


Since  the  decadence  of  that  interest,  however,  largely  through 
the  advent  of  railroads,  other  elements  of  industry  have  been 
developed,  so  that,  as  a  whole,  the  township  is  fairlj'^  holding  its 
own  at  the  present  date  (1891),  if  not  slowly  on  the  increase;  large 
shipments  to  Akron  and  Cleveland,  and  more  distant  cities.  East 
and  West,  of  some  of  the  finest  building  stone  in  the  United  States, 
are  now  being  made  from  the  quarries  here,  together  with  most 
excellent  flagging,  a  fine  quality  of  grindstones,  etc.;  immense  ice 
houses  are  here  yearly  filled  with  thousands  of  tons  of  the  choicest 
ice  for  the  Cleveland  market;  cheese  and  butter  factories  dispense 
thousands  of  pounds  of  their  rich  products  to  the  various  markets 
of  the  country  yearly;  while  a  large  number  of  private  dairies,  by 
trains  run  for  that  special  purpose,  supply  the  good  people  of 
Cleveland  with  a  large  proportion  of  their  daily  milk. 

BOSTON  IN  COUNTY  AND  STATE  AFFAIRS. 

In  county  and  State  affairs,  Boston  has  fairly  divided  the 
honors  and  responsibilities  writh  her  sister  townships  of  Summit 
county,  during  the  nine-tenths  of  a  century  of  its  existence  now 
nearly  accomplished. 

Lewis  M.  Janes,  Esq.,  an  early  prominent  business  man  of 
Peninsula,  was  Summit  countj^'s  second  sheriff,  elected  in  1844, 
and  holding  the  position  two  full  terms  of  two  years  each;  also 
acting  as  the  efficient  deputy  of  several  of  his  successors.  Mr. 
Janes,  besides  being  severely  injured,  in  1856,  by  a  pistol  shot,  at 
the  hands  of  a  party  \v^hose  property  he  was  selling  on  legal  pro- 
cess, afterwards  lost  his  life  on  the  ill-fated  steamer,  Pewabic,  on 
Eake  Huron,  in  August,  1865. 


BOSTON  S   CIVIL   SERVICE    RECORD. 


665 


HON.  SIMON  PERKINS  WOL- 
COTT.-son  of  Hon.  Alfred  and 
Mary  (Scovill)  Wolcott,  born  in 
Northfield,  January  30,  1837,  in  infancy 
reaioving-  with  parents  to  Boston; 
in  boyhood  worked  on  farm  and  at- 
tended district  school;  spent  several 
winters  preparing-  for  college,  at 
Hiram  Eclectic  Institute  where  Hon. 
James  A.  Garfield  was  then  a  student, 
finishing  his  preparatory'  course 
under  Prof.  Garfield,  after  his  gradu- 
ation from  Williams  College;  gradu- 
ated froin  Western  Reserve  College 
in  1862;  studied  law  with  Horace  B. 
Foster,  Esq.,  of  Hudson,  and  one 
year  with  Hon.  Newell  D.  Tibbals,  in 
Akron;  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1864, 
locating  in  Kent,  Portage  county, 
where  he  has  since  continviousl}^ 
resided.  In  addition  to  his  law  prac- 
tice, Mr,  Wolcott  has  officiated  as 
Mayor  of  Kent  two  terms;  inember  of 
the  Board  of  Education  ten  years, 
and  as  state  senator  for  Portage  and 
Summit  counties,  in  the  65th  and  66th 
sessions  of  the  General  Assemblj^ 
1881  to  1885.  July  17, 1866,  Mr.  Wolcott 
was  married  to  Miss  Marj-  Helen 
Brewster,  daughter  of  the  late 
Anson  A.  Brewster,  of  Hudson,  who 


HON.  SIMON  PERKINS  WOLCOTT.  - 

has  borne  him  three  children — Nellie 
Brewster  Wolcott,  born  February  12, 
1868;  Jennie  Brewster  Wolcott,  born 
May  14,  1870;  Duncan  Brewster  Wol- 
cott, born  May  9,  1873. 


AUGUSTUS  CUKTISS. 


AUGUSTUS  CURTISS,  — born  in 
Boston  township,  February  17, 
1836 ;  moved  with  parents  to  North- 
field   in   184<);    worked    on    farm    till 


1852;  at  house  painting  till  1855; 
in  gold  mines  of  California  1855  to 
1859 ;  served  in  2nd  Ohio  Cavalry 
1861  to  1862,  discharged  at  Fort 
Leavenworth  for  disability  received 
at  Carthag-e,  Mo.;  1863  farmer  and 
dairyman  in  Stow ;  1864  bought  tim- 
ber farm  in  Portage  township,  three 
miles  north  of  Akron  ;  October,  1868, 
elected  sheriff  of  Summit  county, 
and  re-elected  in  1870,  serving  two 
terms,  followed  for  four  years  as 
chief  deputy  of  his  successor.  Sheriff 
Levi  J.  McMurray,  the  most  impor- 
tant event  of  his  own  incumbency 
being  the  execution  of  John  H. 
Hunter,  for  the  murder  of  Mr.  and 
and  Mrs.  Robert  Gargett,  in  1872,  as 
elsewhere  detailed ;  Januaiy,  1877, 
returned  to  his  farm,  superintending- 
same  until  the  Fall  of  1884,  when, 
because  of  asthma,  he  went  to  New 
Mexico,  where,  both  as  agent  for  the 
Akron  Live  Stock  Companj',  and  on 
his  own  account,  he  has  for  the  past 
eight  years  followed  the  business  of 
growing  cattle.  November  23,  1865, 
Mr.  Curtiss  was  married  to  Miss 
Helen  A.  Barnhart,  daughter  of  the 
late  William  Barnhart,  Esq.,  of  Penin- 
sula, Mrs.  Curtiss  now  sharing-  ranch 
life  with  her  husband  in  the  wilds  of 
New  Mexico. 


666  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Hiram  Volney  Bronson,  on  the  inauguration  of  the  Internal 
Revenue  system,  during  the  war,  was  appointed  deputy  assessor, 
by  Assessor  John  E.  Hurlbut,  making  a  most  faithful  and  efficient 
officer  throughout. 

Sidney  P.  Conger,  a  substantial  and  level-headed  farmer  of 
Boston,  in  May,  1866,  was  appointed  county  commissioner,  to  fill 
the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  resignation  of  Commissioner  Nel- 
son Upson,  of  Twinsburg,  which  position  he  very  acceptably  filled 
until  the  foUow^ing  December.  Mr.  Conger  died  in  August,  1874,. 
at  the  age  of  45  years. 

Arthur  L.  Conger,  one  of  Boston's  volunteer  soldiers  in  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion,  having,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  returned  to  hi& 
farm,  w^as,  in  1866,  elected  county  treasurer,  which  office  he  filled 
w^ith  marked  ability  and  satisfaction  for  two  successive  terms,- 
afterwards,  taking  an  interest  in  the  Whitman  &  Barnes  Manufac- 
turing Company,  of  Akron,  extensive  manufacturers  of  reaper  and 
mow^er  knives,  sickles,  etc.,  of  which  corporation  he  is  still  an 
activp  and  influential  member  and  officer. 

Alfred  Wolcott,  Jr.,  the  honored  son  of  Boston's  pioneer  set- 
tler, Alfred  Wolcott,  Senior,  was,  in  1869,  elected  to  represent  his- 
native  county  in  the  popular  branch  of  the  Ohio  Legislature,  and 
of  his  tw^o  years'  record  in  that  body,  his  constituents  have  no 
reason  to  be  ashamed. 

Simon  Perkins  Wolcott,  eldest  son  of  Hon.  Alfred  Wolcott,  a 
graduate  of  Western  Reserve  College,  now  practicing  law  in  Kent, 
Avas,  in  October,  1881,  elected  State  Senator  for  Portage  and  Sum- 
mit counties,  and  re-elected  in  1883,  serving  his  joint  constituency 
w^ith  more  than  average  ability  and   satisfaction. 

Arthur  M.  Cole,  also  a  Bostonian,  "  native  to  the  manor 
born,"  Avas  called  from  his  drugs  and  his  dry  goods,  at  the  pleas- 
ant village  of  Peninsula,  by  the  voice  of  the  people  of  Summit 
county,  in  October,  1882,  to  become  the  custodian  and  disburser 
of  the  public  funds,  being  again  invested  with  that  important 
trust  for  a  second  term  in  1884,  serving  in  all  four  years. 

Robert  L.  Andrew,  now  a  resident  of  Akron,  served  as  mem- 
ber of  city  council  two  terms — 1886  to  1890 — the  last  two  years  as- 
president. 

Angelo  Andrew,  also  residing  in  Akron,  has  been  for  three  terms 
— 1887  to  1893 — a  very  efficient  member  of  the  board  of  education, 

William  H.  Payne,  for  many  years  a  resident  of  Boston,  ha& 
also  been  honored  by  a  seat  in  the  city  council  of  Akron,  since 
residing  there. 

BOSTON'S  CROOKEDNESS. 

But  though  Boston's  pioneer  settlers  w^ere  among  the  most 
worthy  of  New  England's  sons  and  daughters,  and  the  great 
majority  of  their  descendants  true  scions  of  the  original  stock  ;^ 
and  though  she  has  ever  manifested  commendable  industry  and 
enterprise,  and  a  ready  alacrity  in  supporting  the  national  flag 
and  the  national  honor;  and  though,  as  seen  above,  she  has  justly 
secured  some  of  the  richest  civil  and  political  prizes  virithin  the 
gift  of  the  people  of  Summit  county,  the  fact  still  remains  that  her 
fair  fame  has  been  smirched,  and  her  bright  escutcheon  sadlj'^ 
tarnished,  by  certain  early  adverse  influences,  the  prevalence   of 


boston's  wrong-doers.  667 

many  corrupt  and  demoralizing  practices,  and  the  perpetration  of 
numerous  serious,  and  some  most  fearful,  crimes  within  her 
borders. 

The  barest  allusion  to  most  of  the  matters  referred  to  above 
can  only  be  given  here:  viz.,  the  counterfeiting  operations  of 
"Dan"  and  "Jim"  Brown,  and  their  confederates,  Taylor,  Holmes, 
Ashley,  et  al.— the  burglarizing  of  Kdgerly's  hotel,  the  store  of 
Wood,  Cole  &  Co.,  and  the  dwelling  house  of  Frederick  Wood, 
Ksq.,  in  1860;  the  Kerst  wife-murder  in  1861;  the  Washburn- 
Peeples  tragedy  in  1871,  etc.,  to  the  most  of  w^hich  separate  chap- 
ters w^ill  have  to  be  devoted. 

"Col."  William  AvSHLEY. — William  Ashley  was  a  native  of  the 
state  of  Vermont,  and  though  of  good  family,  carefully  reared  and 
well  educated,  early  became  associated  w^ith  an  expert  band  of 
counterfeiters  in  his  native  State.  In  the  middle  twenties  Ashley 
w^as  arrested  by  the  Vermont  authorities,  and  placed  under  bonds 
to  answ^er  to  the  charge  of  making  and  having  in  his  possession, 
with  intent  to  pass,  counterfeit  bank  notes.  Forfeiting  his  bail  he 
fled  to  Canada,  a  year  or  two  later  floating  over  into  the  then  wilds 
of  Ohio,  making  his  first  stop  in  Geauga  county,  where  he  soon 
afterwards  found  himself  in  trouble,  and  eluding:  the  vigilance  of 
the  officers,  again  took  to  wing,  next,  in  the  last' of  the  twenties,  or 
first  of  the  thirties,  alighting  in  the  then  congenial  climateof  Boston. 
Here^  he  became  a  favorite  with,  and  a  part  of.  Brown,  Taylor, 
Holmes,  Latta  &  Co.,  though  still  carrying  on  some  very  impor- 
tant "financial"  operation  upon  his  own  hook. 

In  his  prime,  Ashley  w^as  a  remarkably  fine  specimen  of  physi- 
cal manhood,  handsome  of  feature,  majestic  of  stature,  and  of  most 
gentlemanly  deportment.  Though  never  in  the  military  service, 
his  martial  bearing  spontaneously  attached  to  his  name  the  mili- 
tary prefix  of  "Colonel." 

"MovLXG  ON  Their  Works." — Though  spasmodic  efforts  had 
from  time  to  time  previously  been  made,  and  though  a  few  of  the 
subordinates  and  undergraduates  of  the  gang  had  been  arrested 
and  punished,  no  concerted  and  determined  action,  by  the  authori- 
ties of  Portage  and  contiguous  counties,  had  been  taken  until  1837. 
At  this  time  Gen.  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  prosecuting  attorney,  George 
Y.  Wallace,  sheriff,  and  Marshal  Ithiel  Mills,  in  co-operation  with 
similar  officers  in  Cuyahoga  and  Medina  counties,  made  a  con- 
certed effort  to  break  up  the  gang,  being  ably  seconded  in  their 
efforts  by  local  officers  and  citizens  of  the  several  townships 
affected.  Among  the  most  active  in  "spying  out  the  land"  in 
Boston  township,  and  in  furnishing  the  officers  with  "pointers," 
were  Alfred  Wolcott,  Esq.,  James  Stanford,  Hermon  and  Hiram  V. 
Bronson,  Lewis  M.  Janes,  George  H.  Haskell,  Esq.,  with  others 
whose  names  do  not  now  readily  recur  to  the  writer. 

"Col."  Ashley  Arrested. — In  the  latter  part  of  the  Suinmer 
of  1837,  the  officers  obtained  such  clews  as  enabled  them  to  pounce 
upon  Ashley  in  the  very  midst  of  his  "financial"  labors,  sur- 
rounded by  his  entire  counterfeiting  paraphernalia,  consisting  of 
bank-note  plates,  dies,  presses,  paper,  ink,  etc.,  with  large  quanti- 
ties of  bills  in  blank,  and  several  thousand  dollars  fully  executed; 
Prosecuting  Attorney  Bierce  afterwards  presenting  the  writer 
with  a  fine  mahogany  double  cylinder  copper-plate  press,  which 
was  preserved  as  a  relic,  and  for  use, .for  several  years,  until  finally 


668  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

destroyed  by  fire.  Ashley  was  taken  into  custody,  and  on  being 
arraigned  before  Jacob  Brown,  Ksq.,  of  Akron,  waived  an  exami- 
nation and  \vas  held  in  the  sum  of  $10,000  to  answer  to  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas  of  Portage  county,  in  default  of  ^vhich  he  was 
committed  to  jail  at  Ravenna.  He  was  indicted  at  the  September 
term  of  the  court,  for  having  counterfeit  money  in  his  possession 
w^ith  intent  to  pass  the  same,  to  w^hich,  on  being  arraigned,  he 
entered  a  plea  of  not  guilty. 

The  hearing  was  postponed,  by  reason  of  the  ill-health  of  the 
accused,  until  the  March  term  1838,  w^hen,  after  a  full  and  fair  trial, 
Ashley  w^as  pronounced  guilty  as  charged  in  the  indictment. 

SENTENCE— IMPRISONMENT— DEATH. 

In  pronouncing  sentence  upon  "Col."  Ashley,  Judge  Van  R. 
Humphrey,  w^ho  had  personally  know^n  him  for  several  years,  w^as 
greatly  affected,  remarking  that  passing  sentence  upon  a  fellow^- 
being,  under  any  circumstances,  w^as  truly  a  solemn  duty;  but  in 
this  instance,  where  the  court  had  been  intimately  acquainted 
w^ith  the  prisoner  for  many  years;  a  man  w^hose  intelligence  and 
address  better  fitted  him  to  occupy  a  high  seat  in  the  counsels 
of  the  Nation,  than  the  cot  of  a  felon's  cell,  and  especially  in  view^ 
of  the  apparent  frail  condition  of  his  health,  the  task  w^as  difficult 
and  painful  in  the  extreme. 

"Col."  Ashley's  naturally  vigorous  constitution  had  been 
gradually  undermined  by  the  excesses  incident  to  his  peculiar 
calling,  and,  from  the  time  of  his  arrest,  it  w^as  evident  that  quick 
consumption  had  marked  him  for  its  own.  Though  he  was  sen- 
tenced to  seven  years'  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary,  it  w^as 
thought  to  be  almost,  if  not  quite,  impracticable  to  convey  him 
thither.  But  he  w^as  finally  taken  by  Sheriff  Wallace,  by  easy 
private  carriage,  to  Columbus,  and  delivered  at  the  prison  May  30, 
1838,  where  he  died  June  10th,  surviving  his  incarceration  only 
twelve  days. 

CHURCHES,  SCHOOLS,  ETC. 

At  Peninsula  there  are  three  handsome  church  edifices,  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  "Bronson  Memorial  Church"  founded  by  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hermon  Bronson  (>vhose  portraits  and  biographies  will 
be  found  herein),  on  the  west  side,  the  Methodist  Kpiscopal 
upon  the  east  side,  and  the  Catholic,  with  a  membership  of  23 
families.  Rev.  F.  B.  Doherty  holding  mass  therein  every  other 
Sabbath.  The  township  is  also  thoroughly  supplied  -with 
good  school  buildings  and  competent  teachers,  the  Union  or 
graded  system  being  liberally  maintained  at  Peninsula,  so  that 
notwithstanding  the  early  adverse  influences  above  and  hereafter 
alluded  to,  Boston  township,  for  nearly  half  a  century,  has  held  as 
high  a  rank  in  point  of  morality  and  intelligence,  as  any  other 
township  in  Summit  county,  or  elsewhere. 

PRESENT  OFFICIAL  ROSTER. 

Boston's  township  officers  for  the  current  year  (1891)  are  as 
follows:  Trustees,  Hiram  Lee,  Anthony  Pfaus,  James  Cassidy; 
clerk,  Jorgen  Petersen;  treasurer,  Henry  Kerst;  justices  of  the 


OFFICIAL   KOSTER   FOR    1891. 


669 


peace,  Henry  C.  Currier,  Joseph  Drake;  constables,  Orrin  Mark- 
ham,  Alfred  Wolcott. 

Peninsula  Municipal  Officers. — Mayor,  H.  C.  Currier;  clerky 
Charles  M.  Petersen;  treasurer,  Henry  Kerst;  marshal,  Brigham 
Roswell;  councihnen,  Lorenzo  Seeley,  Michael  Myron,  Joseph 
Simon,  Conrad  Kerst,  John  Tracy,  D.  P.  Chamberlin. 

Postmasters.  —  Frederick  Wood,  Peninsula;  Thomas  Smith, 
Boston;  Thomas  Smith,  Everett. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

DARING  BURGLARIES  IN  PENINSULA — SINGULAR  DETECTION  OF  THE  BURGLAR 
—SON  OF  A  FORMER  WEALTHY  RESIDENT  OF  PORTAGE  COUNT Y— ARREST, 
EXAMINATION  AST)  COMMITTAL— INDICTMENT  BY  GRAND  JURY— INGEN- 
IOUS ESCAPE  FROM  JAIL,  AIDED  BY  A  LUNATIC— ABETTING  TREASON^ 
CONFINEMENT  IN  FORT  LAFAYETTE— DISCHARGE  BY  ORDER  OF  SECRETARY 
STANTON— DETAINED  BY  NEW  YORK  CHIEF  OF  POLICE  -REQUISITION  FROM 
GOVERNOR  TOD  ON  THE  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  YORK  FOR  HIS  EXTRADITION 
—IN  HIS  OLD  QUARTERS  AGAIN— ENTERS  A  PLEA  OF  GUILTY— NINE  YEARS 
IMPRISONMENT  —  LEADER  OF  REVOLT  IN  PENITENTIARY  —  THOROUGH 
REFORMATION  —  UNITED  STATES  MAIL  CARRIER  —  HIGHLY  RESPECTED 
CITIZEN,  ETC. 

A   MIDNIGHT   RAID. 

ON  the  night  of  July  12,  1860,  a  series  of  the  most  adroit  burgla- 
ries w^ere  committed  in  the  compact  little  village  of  Peninsula, 
fourteen  miles  north  of  Akron,  upon  the  Ohio  Canal.  Stephen 
Edgerly  \vas  proprietor  of  the  only  hotel  in  the  village  at  that 
time,  the  "Edgerly  House,"  later  kept  by  Mr.  Andrew  R.  Cassidy, 
under  the  name  of  the  "  Cassidy  House."  Mr.  Edgerly  himself 
w^as  quite  deaf,  and  consequently  a  good  subject  for  burglars  to 
w^ork  upon.  But  Mrs.  Edgerly  was  in  possession  of  all  her  facul- 
ties, and  generally  a  very  wide-awake  sort  of  a  w^oman.  Some 
time  during  the  night  in  question,  Mrs.  Edgerly  heard  the  house- 
dog sounding  an  alarm,  and  got  up  and  let  the  dog  out  of  the 
house,  and  hearing  nothing  further  from  him  soon  w^ent  to  sleep 
again.  In  the  morning  it  \v'as  discovered  that  Mr.  Edgerly's  sleep- 
ing apartment  had  been  entered  and  from  $60  to  $75  had  been 
extracted  from  the  sleeping  landlord's  pockets. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  at  the  west  end  of  the 
"  Long  Bridge,"  stood  the  store  of  Wood,  Cole  &  Co.  (Frederick 
Wood  and  Thomas  Wood,  still  living  in  Peninsula,  and  the  late 
Edmund  H.  Cole,  father  of  ex-County  Treasurer  Dr.  A.  M.  Cole). 
In  this  store  the  clerk,  Mr.  Ransom  Cole,  was  asleep  on  the  coun- 
ter, w^ith  his  w^atch  in  the  pocket  of  his  vest  under  his  pillow. 
Noiselessly  entering  the  store,  the  burglar  proceeded  to  rifle  the 
money  drawer  of  its  contents  (about  $30),  excepting  a  couple  of 
counterfeit  five-dollar  bills,  Avhich  he  seems  to  have  been  too 
shrewd  to  appropriate.  He  then  manipulated  the  clerk's  vest  out 
from  under  his  head,  and  transferred  the  watch  and  chain  from 
the  clerk's  vest  pocket  to  his  own,  together  w^ith  about  $20  in 
money  ;  some  $400  in  cash,  in  another  place,  not  being  found  by 
the  burglar.  On  getting  outside  the  door  the  burglar  seems  to 
have  struck  a  light  and  examined  his  booty,  as  a  w^orthless  one- 
dollar  bill  was  thrown  away,  w^hile  the  mark  made  by  lighting  a 
match  w^as  found  upon  the  side  of  the  store.  Both  the  hotel  and 
the  store  had  been  entered  by  the  front  doors,  the  keys  in  the 
locks  being  readily  turned  from  the  outside  by  means  of  burglars' 
"nippers." 


THE  BURGLAR  UNDER  ARREST.  671 

From  the  store  of  Messrs.  Wood,  Cole  &  Co.  the  burglar,  >vith 
rare  good  judgment,  went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Frederick  Wood, 
which  he  entered  through  a  window  which  had  been  left  unfas- 
tened. Here,  proceeding  to  the  sleeping  room  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wood,  he  overhauled  Mr.  Wood's  clothes,  in  the  pockets  of  which 
w^as  a  small  sum  of  money  which  he  confiscated,  and  also  a  $150 
gold  watch,  with  which,  and  his  previous  gatherings,  he  made  a 
successful  retreat,  not  only  from  the  house  of  Mr.  Wood,  but  from 
the  village. 

It  w^as  supposed  at  the  time  that  the  several  victims  must 
have  been  chloroformed  by  the  skilful  operator,  but  my  subsequent 
acquaintance  Avith  him  led  me  to  believe  that  the  lightness  of  his 
step,  the  softness  of  his  touch,  and  the  celerity  of  his  movements, 
would  render  all  such  extraneous  aids  in  the  exercise  of  his 
chosen  "profession"  entirely  unnecessary.  Mr.  Wood  and  his 
family  had  that  evening  attended  the  commencement  concert  at 
Hudson,  returning  home  an  hour  or  tw^o  after  midnight,  and  itw^as 
surmised  that  the  thief  got  sight  of  his  watch  there,  and  foUow^ed 
him  to  Peninsula  after  the  close  of  the  concert. 

Tracing  the  Burglar. — Nearly  a  month  elapsed  without  any 
trace  of  the  burglar,  though  the  best  skill  and  vigilance  of  our 
local  detectives  had  been  put  forth.  In  the  meantime  Messrs. 
Wood,  Cole  &  Co.  had,  in  addition  to  efforts  of  the  officers,  and  the 
publicity  which  had  been  given  to  the  affair  through  the  news- 
papers, issued  a  private  circular,  minutely  describing  the  watches 
w^hich  had  been  stolen.  One  of  these  circulars  fell  into  the  hands 
of  a  merchant  by  the  name  of  Converse,  at  the  center  of  Roots- 
tow^n,  in  Portage  county,  Mr.  Converse  also  being  the  postmaster 
of  that  tow^n. 

In  the  same  tow^n,  making  his  headquarters  with  his  father- 
in-law,  a  Mr.  Bassett,  about  two  miles  south  of  the  center,  near 
the  Randolph  line,  Avas  a  young  man  of  rather  doubtful  reputation, 
by  the  name  of  Sobieski  Burnett.  He  was  the  son  of  a  former 
highly  respected  resident  of  that  neighliorhood,  General  Joel  B. 
Burnett,  then,  I  believe,  residing  in  Missouri,  but  now,  if  living,  as 
I  think  he  is,  a  wealthy  citizen  of  New  York  City. 

Young  Burnett  had  been  so  incorrigible,  as  a  boy,  that  his 
father  had  finally  cast  him  adrift,  and  for  a  time  he  had  been 
received  by  General  L.  V.  Bierce,  an  old  friend  of  the  father,  as  an 
office  boy,  and  embryo  law  student.  This  was  altogether  too  tame 
for  his  restless  and  "enterprising"  turn  of  mind,  and  he  drifted  off 
down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers,  and  into  all  the  evil  asso- 
ciations at  that  time  pertaining  thereto;  occasionally,  however, 
returning  to  Rootstow^n,  and  finally  marrying  a  playmate  of  his 
childhood,  a  Miss  Bassett,  with  whose  parents  they  were  then 
making  their  home  as  above  stated.  Having  no  visible  business, 
but  always  w^ell-dressed  and  seemingly  flush  of  money,  je\velry, 
etc.,  young  Burnett  was  more  than  suspected  of  being  a  "crook," 
and  was  generally  pretty  closely  watched  by  the  business  men  of 
the  vicinity  whenever  he  visited  their  establishments. 

"  Putting  His  Foot  in  it." — Somewhere  about  the  9th  day  of 
August,  1860,  young  Burnett  visited  the  store  of  Mr.  Converse,  to 
make  some  small  purchases,  and  while  there  rather  conspicuously 
displayed  the  pretty  little  gold  watch  that  he  was  carrying.  Mr. 
Converse  remarked,  "What  a  pretty  locket  you've  got,"  whereupon 


672  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

Burnett  replied:  "  It's  not  a  locket,  but  a  watch,"  and  proceeded 
to  exhibit  it  in  detail  to  Mr.  Converse,  it  being  one  of  those  then 
very  rare,  and  not  very  plenty,  reversible  pieces  of  mechanisrii, 
that  can  be  changed  from  open-face  to  hunting-case,  and  vice- 
versa,  at  will.  Burnett  soon  afterward  leaving  the  store,  Mr. 
Converse  proceeded  to  consult  Mr.  Wood's  circular,  and  finding 
that  the  description  of  the  stolen  watch  precisely  tallied  with  that 
exhibited  by  Burnett,  Mr.  Converse  immediately  dispatched  a 
messenger  to  Peninsula  to  apprise  Mr.  Wood  of  the  fact. 

Early  Sunday  Morning  Call. — Thereupon,  on  Saturday^ 
August  11,  Mr.  Wood  drove  to  Akron  and  laid  the  case  before  the 
writer,  who  was  then  sheriff  of  Summit  county,  who  the  same 
evening  dispatched  his  efficient  deputy,  Mr.  Alfred  R.  Townsend, 
accompanied  by  the  late  David  A.  Soott,  with  Mr.  Wood,  to  Roots- 
tow^n  to  investigate  the  matter.  Arriving  in  the  center  of  the 
town  late  at  night,  they  held  a  quiet  consultation  with  Mr. 
Converse,  and  becoming  satisfied  that  they  were  on  the  right 
track,  they  proceeded  to  the  residence  of  Mr.  Bassett,  w^hich  they 
rather  unceremoniously  invaded  just  as  the  day  was  breaking 
on  Sunday  morning. 

Mr.  Burnett  and  his  wife,  aroused  from  their  matin  slumbers 
by  the  stir  that  w^as  being  made  by  the  entrance  of  the  officers, 
had  already  arisen  from  their  bed,  though  hardly  in  appropriate 
costume  for  receiving  visitors.  Burnett  ^^as  immediately  placed 
in  irons,  the  officers  assisting  him  to  dress,  while  the  wife  was 
incautiously  permitted  to  gather  up  her  Avardrobe  and  leave 
the  room  before  the  proper  search  was  instituted.  The  missing 
w^atches  were,  therefore,  not  found,  nor  anything  else  that  could  in 
any  Avay  implicate  him  in  the  Peninsula  robberies,  but  sundry 
burglarious  implements  and  other  evidences  of  crookedness  were 
brought  to  light  in  the  search. 

The  statement  of  the  merchant  in  question  in  regard  to  the 
peculiar  make  of  the  watch  which  Burnett  had  shown  him  was 
sufficient  to  warrant  his  apprehension,  and  he  was  accordingly 
brought  to  Akron  and  lodged  in  jail. 

Preliminary  Examination. — Warrants  were  issued  by  Justice 
John  W.  Stephens,  upon  vvhich,  on  the  15th  day  of  August,  1860, 
a  preliminary  examination  was,  had.  The  testimony  of  Mr. 
Converse,  and  other  circumstances  surrounding  the  case,  were 
deemed  sufficient  by  Justice  Stephens  to  hold  the  young  man  to 
bail  in  the  sum  of  $2,000  and  $1,000  respectively,  for  both  the  Wood 
and  the  Edgerly  burglaries,  and  in  default  of  bail  he  was  remanded 
to  jail  to  await  the  action  of  the  grand  jury,  at  the  coming  Novem- 
ber term  of  the  court  of  Common  Pleas.  In  the  meantime  other 
indications  of  his  guilt  became  manifest;  other  parties  had  seen 
the  watch  described,  in  Burnett's  possession;  he  had  let  slip  sun- 
dry damaging  admissions;  in  short  a  very  strong  chain  of  circum- 
stantial evidence  was  being  formulated,  link  by  link,  tending  to 
prove  his  guilt  beyond  a  peradventure. 

Planning  to  Escape. — The  grand  jury,  at  the  November  term 
of  the  court  of  Common  Pleas,  returned  bills  of  indictment  against 
Burnett,  in  both  of  the  cases  in  which  he  had  been  bound  over  to 
court,  and  it  was  expected  that  his  trial  w^ould  take  place,  in  due 
course,  at  that  term  of  court.  In  the  meantime  there  had,  in  Octo- 
ber, been  an  election  at  w^hich  Mr.  Jacob  Chisnell  had  been  elected 


PLANNING   TO    BREAK   JAIL.  673 

to  succeed  me  as  sheriff,  his  term  to  begin  on  the  first  Monday  of 
January,  1861.  During  the  time  that  Mr.  Burnett  had  been  in  jail, 
several  unsuccessful  attempts  had  been  made,  by  the  prisoners,  to 
dig  through  and  under  the  walls,  necessitating,  of  course,  consid- 
erable expense  to  the  county  for  repairs.  After  one  of  these 
attempts,  in  the  latter  part  of  November,  f  ordered  my  jailer  to 
keep  each  prisoner  confined  to  his  own  cell,  instead  of  giving  them 
the  customary  range  of  the  corridors,  during  the  da}';  letting  them 
out  a  few-minutes,  onU',  morning  and  evening  for  exercise. 

After  a  few  days'  confinement,  Burnett  sent  word  by  the  jailer 
that  he  wanted  to  see  me.  On  repairing  to  his  cell,  Burnett 
inquired  w^hy  I  was  keeping  him  and  his  fellow  prisoners  in  such 
close  confinement. 

"Well,  Burnett,"  T  replied,  "I'll  tell  you.  It  isn't  because 
we  have  an}'  fears  of  you  fello\vs  breaking  out  of  jail,  as  we  do  not 
depend  upon  the  strength  of  these  soft  sancistone  walls  for  keeping 
you,  but  upon  the  'length'  of  our  ears  and  the  sharpness  of  our 
eyes.  But  every  few  days  you  make  the  attempt,  putting  us  to  the 
trouble  and  expense  of  repairs,  and  I  am  keeping  3'ou  shut  up 
simply  to  keep  3'ou  from  mutilating  the  walls." 

"  Now,  sheriff,"  said  Burnett,  "I  want  to  make  a  bargain  with 
you.  I  am  going  to  get  my  trial  put  over  until  the  Januar}'  term, 
which  vi'ill  carry  it  beyond  your  time  as  sheriff.  Now,  if  3'ou  will 
give  us  the  run  of  the  jail  again,  I  pledge  you  my  irorr/  and  honor 
that  there  shall  be  no  more  attempts  to  break  out,  while  I'o?/  are 
sheriff.  I  won't  try  it  myself,  and  I  wont  let  any  of  the  rest  of  the 
fellows  try  it." 

"Well,  Burnett,"  I  responded,  "I'll  do  it,"  and  calling  to  the 
jailer  for  the  keys,  I  then  and  there  unlocked  all  the  cell  doors,  and 
as  I  was  leaving  the  jail,  Burnett  sung  out:  "Now,  boys,  three 
cheers  for  Sheriff  Lane!  "  and  the  cheers  were  given  with  a  will 
indicative  of  sound  lungs  at  least,  I  did  not  then  live  in  the  jail 
myself,  and  though  I  had  a  very  faithful  jailer  and  turnkey — the 
late  Mayor  John  L.  Robertson — it  was  my  custom  to  personally 
visit  and  inspect  the  jail  two  or  three  times  a  week,  and  when 
passing  through,  Burnett  would  say:  "All  right!  sheriff;  no  more 
quarrying  done  while  you  are  sheriff,  but  when  that  new  chap 
comes  j/3  I'm  going  out! 

And  Out  He  Does  Go. — Mr.  Jacob  Chisnell,  hitherto  a  resident 
of  Green  township,  superseded  ir»e  as  sheriff,  on  Monday,  January 
7,1861.  Previous  to  this,  Mr.  Chisnell  had  had  no  experience  in 
the  handling  of  criminals.  On  the  day  of  his  accession,  both 
myself  and  County  Auditor  Charles  B.  Bernard,  Ksq.,  now  of  Cleve- 
land, took  occasion  to  warn  the  new  incumbent  on  the  slippery 
character  of. this  particular  prisoner,  and  to  advise  him  of  the  fact 
that  Burnett  had  secured  a  continuance  of  his  case  for  the  express 
purpose  of  taking  advantage  of  his  inexperience.  "Never  you 
fear;"  replied  the  new  sheriff,  "he'll  have  to  be, smarter  than  I 
think  he  is,  if  he  gets  away  from  tne! " 

I  immediately  entered  upon  my  new  duties,  as  editor  of  the 
Beacon,  and  gave  the  matter  no  further  thought,  until  some  ten 
days  later,  when,  on  meeting  Mr.  Chisnell  upon  the  street,  I 
inquired  how  he  was  getting  along?  "First  rate,"  said  he.  "Why, 
that  man  Burnett,  that  you  cautioned  me  about,  is  a  real  clever 
fellow^,  and  a  perfect  gentleman."     "  He'll   be  gentleman  enough 

43 


674  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY.  ^ 

to  get  away  from  you,  if  you  don't  keep  your  eye  'peeled,'"  I  laugh- 
ingly responded,  and  with  another  "never  you  fear,"  from  Mr.  C. 
-we  parted.  About  five  days  later  Mr.  Chisnell  called  into  my  office 
quite  early  in  the  morning  and  in  answer  to  my  question,  "What's 
the  news?"  rather  huskilj'^  replied,  "Burnett's  gone!" 

How  IT  WAS  Accomplished. — In  the  construction  of  the  jail, 
the  floor  betw^een  the  prison  proper  and  what  was  then  called  the 
"Debtors'  Rooms,"  in  the  upper  story,  was  coiuposed  of  ten-inch 
square  oak  timbers  laid  side  by  side,  with  a  covering  of  regular 
matched  flooring  on  top,  and  a  sheathing  of  common  sheet  iron 
underneath.  The  southeast  cell  of  the  upper  tier,  being  unoccu- 
pied at  the  time,  had  been  unlocked  and  unvisited  by  the  new 
turnkey,  Mr.  Ben  Chisnell,  prisoners  having  free  access  thereto  at 
any  time  when  not  locked  up  in  their  own  respective  cells. 

Burnett's  wife  and  other  Portage  county  friends  were  very 
attentive  to  him,  some  of  them  visiting  him  almost  everj^  day,  and 
some  of  whom,  by  reason  of  not  being  closely  searched  by  the  new 
turnkej^  before  entering  the  jail,  had  managed  to  convey  to  him  a 
long-handled  tw^o-inch  auger.  Having  wrenched  off  a  section  of 
the  iron  sheathing  in  this  unoccupied  and  unvisited  cell,  he  had 
leisurely  twice  bored  off  one  of  the  timbers  overhead,  and  through 
the  upper  floor,  making  a  hole  about  ten  by  eighteen  inches, 
through  w^hich  he  would,  of  course,  find  no  difficulty  in  elevating 
himself  to  the  room  above,  at  his  convenience. 

Aided  by  a  Lunatic. — At  this  time,  the  only  inmate  of  the 
upper  jail  ^'as  a  lunatic  by  the  name  of  William  Pierce,  well 
known  to  all  old  residents,  and  who  was  afterwards,  until  his 
recent  death,  an  inmate  of  the  insane  ward  of  our  county  infirm- 
ary. His  lunacy,  at  that  time,  being  of  a  mild  type,  he  was  per- 
mitted, during  the  day,  to  pass  in  and  out  as  he  pleased,  and 
busied  himself  in  assisting  about  the  kitchen,  yard,  stable,  etc. 

How  Burnett  finally  escaped  is  best  told  by  the  lunatic  him- 
self. When  questioned  upon  the  subject  Pierce  said:  "One  day 
I  heard  noise  that  sounded  like  the  gnawing  of  a  rat.  It  would 
gnaw^  awhile,  and  then  it  would  stop  a  while,  and  kept  at  it  tw^o  or 
three  days.  But  there  was  one  thing  curious  about  it,  it  did  not 
gnaw  any  during  the  night.  Well,  I  thought  a  rat  had  got  under 
the  floor  and  was  trying  to  gnaw  through,  and  I  began  to  look  in 
the  different  rooms  to  see  Avhere  it  would  come  out. 

"By  and  by  I  saw^  virhat  I  thought  was  the  rat's  tooth  coming 
through  the  floor  in  the  corner,  there,  but  after  w^atching  it  a  few 
minutes,  I  found  it  was  the  point  of  an  auger,  and  pretty  soon  the 
auger  itself  came  through.  I  stooped  down  and  said,  'hello,  there!' 
and  some  one  below  said  'Is  that  you,  Pierce?'  I  said  'Yes,  who 
are  you?'  He  said  'I'm  Burnett.  You  keep  quiet;  don't  say  any- 
thing, and  I'll  come  up,  by  and  by,  and  see  you.'  So  he  keep  on 
boring  until  he  made  a  hole  big  enough  to  crawl  through,  and  last 
night,  just  at  dark,  he  called  to  me  to  give  him  a  lift.  I  reached 
dow^n  and  took  hold  of  his  hands  and  helped  him  up  through. 
Then  I  asked  him  what  he  was  going  to  do  next?  He  said  he 
vvranted  to  get  outside,  if  the  coast  w^as  clear,  and  I  told  him  I 
would  go  dow^n  and  see.  So  I  went  doAvn,  and  the  family  were  all 
eating  supper  in  the  dining  room.  I  came  back  up  stairs  and  told 
him  if  he  Avas  going,  I  thought  he  had  better  go  then,  and  that 
-when  he  got  out  of  the  back  door  he  had  better  run.     After  he  left, 


AIDING    AND   ABETTING   THE    REBELS.  675 

I  looked  out  of  the  back  window,  and  I  saw^  him  jump  over  the 
fence  north  of  the  barn  and  start  east  across  the  commons,  and  he 
did  run  like  the  devil!'' 

EFFORTS  TO  RECAPTURE  THE  FUGITIVE. 

Though  the  escape  was  soon  afterwards  discovered,  and  a  vig- 
orous pursuit  at  once  instituted,  his  tracks  vsrere  so  carefully  con- 
cealed as  for  several  days  to  entirely  baffle  the  efforts  of  his 
pursuers,  it  afterwards  transpiring  that  a  team,  by  preconcerted 
arrangements  with  his  friends,  ^vas  waiting  in  the  gloaming  to 
rapidly  carry  him  to  some,  previously  provided,  secure  hiding 
place. 

Prosecuting  Attorney,  Henry  McKinney,  Esq.,  had,  t^vo  w^eeks 
before  the  escape  of  Burnett,  been  succeeded  in  that  office  by 
Newell  D.  Tibbals,  Ksq.  The  new  prosecutor  was,  of  course, 
deeply  chagrined  that  so  important  a  prisoner  should  have  been 
allowed  to  escape;  in  fact,  he  did  his  utmost  to  prevent  it;  for, 
being  in  Randolph,  late  on  the  afternoon  of  the  day  of  the  escape, 
he  received  a  hint  that  a  party  of  Burnett's  friends  had  gone  to 
Akron  to  aid  him  to  break  jail.  Mr.  Tibbals  hurried  home  to  thwart 
their  game,  but  arrived  a  few^  minutes  too  late;  it  afterwards  recur- 
ring to  hirrl  that  the  fugitive  must  have  passed  him  between  Akron 
and  Middlebury,  as  he  met  a  team  driving  very  rapidly  in  that 
xiirection,  though  it  was  too  dark  to  recognize  any  of  the  party  in 
the  wagon. 

Prosecutor  Tibbals  also  organized  a  posse,  in  Randolph,  to 
recapture  the  prisoner,  who  was  supposed  to  be  concealed  about 
the  premises  of  his  father-in-law.  This  house  was  placed  under 
surveillance,  but  it  transpired  that  he  had  been  concealed  else- 
w^here,  and  on  being  driven,  late  in  the  night,  to  his  father-in-law's 
residence  to  bid  his  >vife  good  bye,  preparatory  to  leaving  the 
country,  on  discovering  that  the  house  w^as  being  watched,  Bur- 
nett was  driven  rapidly  away,  and  on  being  closely  followed  up, 
jumped  from  the  wagon  and  secreted  himself  in  a  dense  piece  of 
timber,  thus  finally  making  good  his  escape. 

Giving  "Aid  and  Comfort"  to  Rebels. — But  the  indefatiga- 
ble prosecutor,  was  not  to  be  thus  baffled,  and  at  once  adopted  a 
system  of  tactics  that  ultimately  secured  the  return  and  proper 
punishment  of  the  fugitive  burglar.  Through  certain  order-lov- 
ing and  patriotic  citizens  of  Randolph  and  Rootstown,  a  strategetic 
policy  >vas  adopted  by  which,  from  mysterious  letters  received  and 
mailed,  as  well  as  from  words  dropped  by  Burnett's  friends,  it  was 
soon  ascertained  that  the  fugitive  w^as  in  "Egypt,"  or  southern 
Illinois,  and,  through  Detective  James  Burlison,  it  was  sought  to 
locate  him  with  sufficient  accuracy  to  "go  for  him;"  but  as  he  was 
rather  migratory  in  his  habits,  and  as  the  first  excitement  of  the 
w^ar  was  then  on,  it  was  deemed  inadvisable  to  incur  the  expense  of 
doing  so  upon  an  uncertainty.  During  the  latter  part  of  1861,  how- 
ever, Prosecutor  Tibbals  learned  that  the  young  man  had  been 
arrested  by  the  government  for  giving  aid  and  encouragement 
to  rebels,  and  that,  with  other  prisoners  of  State,  he  w^as  con- 
fined in  Fort  Lafayette,  in  New  York  harbor.  He  immediately 
arranged  with  J.  A.  Kennedy,  Esq.,  chief  of  police  of  New  York 
City,  to  keep  an  eye  upon  him,  and  in  case  of  his  release  from  the 
fort,  to  detain  him  until  sent  for. 


676  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

In  His  Old  Quarters  Again. — Secretary  of  War,  Edwin  M. 
Stanton,  in  the  latter  part  of  February,  1862,  issued  an  order  for  the 
release  of  all  State  prisoners  confined  in  the  several  government 
forts.  On  Saturday,  March  1,  1862,  about  noon.  Prosecutor  Tib- 
bals  received  a  telegram  from  Chief  Kennedy  that  the  gentleman 
w^as  in  his  custody  subject  to  requisition.  He  at  once  secured  the 
services  of  ex-Deputy  Sheriff,  but  then  Deputy  U.  S.  Marshal, 
Townsend,  who  at  once  started  for  N^w  York,  via  Pittsburg  and 
Philadelphia  (the  A.  &  G.  W.  was  not  then  finished),  where  he 
arrived  Monday  afternoon. 

Meantime  Sheriff  Chisnell  went  to  Columbus  to  procure  from 
Governor  David  Tod  a  requisition  upon  the  governor  of  New  York. 
This  was  received  by  Mr.  Tow^nsend  b}^  mail,  on  Tuesday,  and  on 
Wednesday  he  went  to  Albany,  where  he  secured  the  necessary 
documents  for  returning  the  fugitive  to  Ohio.  On  Thursday  after- 
noon, with  his  prisoner  securely  ironed,  he  started  on  the  return 
trip,  via  the  New  York  &  Krie  and  Lake  Shore  route,  arriving  in 
Akron  Saturday  noon,  just  one  week  after  the  receipt  of  Chief 
Kennedy's  telegram.  Of  course,  Burnett  w^as  received  with  "open 
arms"  by  Sheriff  Chisnell,  who  did  not  thereafter  take  any  consid- 
erable amount  of  stock  in  his  "gentlemanly"  pretentions,  but 
exercised  the  strictest  surveillance,  over  both  him  and  those  of 
his  friends  who  thenceforth  called  upon  him. 

Finally  Pleads  Guilty. — At  the  March  term  of  coui-t,  1862,. 
the  case  of  the  State  of  Ohio  vs.  Sobieski  Burnett  being  called,  the 
attorney  for  the  defense,  General  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  moved  for  a  con- 
tinuance, on  the  ground  of  the  absence  of  a  material  witness. 
This  moi^on  was  promptly  overruled  by  Judge  Stephenson  Burke, 
w^ith  the  remark  that  the  accused  had  had  ample  time,  during  the 
year  or  more  that  he  had  been  out  of  jail,  to  hunt  up  all  the  testis 
mony  necessary  for  his  defense.  Thereupon  Burnett  changed  his 
plea  from  not  guilty,  to  guilty,  and  was  at  once  sentenced  by  Judge 
Burke  to  nine  years'  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary. 

This  abrupt  termination  of  the  affair  was  somewhat  of  a  sur- 
prise to  Prosecutor  Tibbals,  who  had  expected  from  General  Bierce, 
and  his  associates,  a  most  stubborn  resistance,  at  every  point,  to 
meet  which,  by  the  most  indefatigable  labor,  he  had  forged  an 
unbroken  and  irresistible  chain  of  circumstantial  evidence;  trac- 
ing Burnett  from  point  to  point,  both  before  and  after  the  commis- 
sion of  the  burglaries  in  question,  with  other  incriminating  facts 
that  could  not  possibly  have  failed  to  w^ork  a  conviction  i|  spread 
out  before  the  court  and  jury.  It  Avas  probabl}'  a  knowledge  of 
these  efforts  that  induced  the  defendant's  attorneys,  on  the  failure 
of  their  motion  for  another  continuance,  to  so  suddenly  advise  him 
to  change  his  plea  from  not  gui^lty  to  guilty,  a  proceeding,  too, 
w^hich  probably  lessened  the  magnitude  of  his  sentence,  at  the 
hands  of  Judge  Burke,  by  from  one  to  three  years,  because  of  the 
considerable  expense  thus  saved  to  the  county. 

The  Watches  Recovered. — Burnett,  when  at  first  arrested, 
acknowledged  the  robberies  to  his  attorneys,  Messrs.  Bierce  & 
Baldwin,  and  to  them  confided  the  place  of  concealment  of  the 
stolen  watches.  They  went  to  Rootstown  to  get  them,  but  the 
first  time  failed  to  find  them  and  returned  to  the  jail  for  more 
definite  directions.  The  second  effort  was  more  successful,  the 
w^atchea,  wrapped  in  cotton  batting,  and  enclosed  in  an  old  oyster 


Burnett's  thorough  reformation.  677 

<"aii,  having  been  buried  near  the  barn  of  Mr.  Bassett,  the  father- 
in-law.  These  watches  were  placed  in  the  safe  of  Messrs.  Bierce 
<k  Baldwin,  and  after  his  escape  from  jail,  restored  to  their  ow^ners, 
b_y  General  Bierce,  upon  their  paying  to  him  $40,  to  cover  ejcpenses, 
that  being,  as  he  alleged,  the  only  compensation  the}^  received  for 
their  services  in  Burnett's  defense — Burnett  having  probably  ex- 
pended the  money  stolen  at  Peninsula,  previous  to  his  first  arrest, 
as  above  stated. 

Burnett's  Life  in  Prison. —  The  prison  life  of  Burnett  seems 
to  have  been  of  the  "gentlemanly"  order  for  a  long  time,  insomuch 
that  he  had  gained  over  three-fourths  of  a  year,  under  the  prison 
rules,  for  good  behavior,  which,  had  it  continued,  would  have 
secured  his  release  in  about  seven  years.  Then  an  infraction  of  the 
rules  occurred,  by  which  all  the  time  he  had  thus  gained  was 
forfeited.  The  prison  records  do  not  state  the  nature  of  the  infrac- 
tion, but  there  was,  at  that  time,  a  report  in  circulation  among  his 
Portage  county  acquaintances,  that  in  a  similar  manner  to  that  in 
which  he  had  been  supplied  with  tools  to  w^ork  himself  out  of  jail, 
here,  he  had  been  furnished,  through  the  friends  who  had  been 
permitted  to  visit  him,  with  a  couple  of  revolvers,  and  that  he  had 
headed  an  emeute  which  came  very  near  liberating  a  large  num- 
ber of  prisoners.  It  w^as  also  rumored  that  for  this  act,  he  was  sub- 
ject to  the  severest  punishment  known  to  prison  rules — the  pump 
process — until  all  evidence  of  insubordination  had  been  washed 
out  of  him.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  entire  score  of  previous  good 
behavior  was,  by  that  infraction  of  the  rules,  entirely  canceled. 
But  from  that  time  on,  his  conduct  was  exemplary,  and  he  again 
earned  for  himself  a  credit  of  about  90  days,  his  release  from  the 
penitentiary  being  on  the  17th  day  of  December,  1870,  just  eight 
years  and  nine  months  from'the  date  of  his  incarceration. 

Burnett's  Thorough  Reformation. — Previous  to  going  to  the 
penitentiary,  Burnett  had  sworn  dire  vengeance  against  certain 
prominent  citizens  of  Rootstown  and  Randolph,  who  had  taken  an 
active  part  in  securing  his  arrest,  and  particularly  those  who  had 
been  instrumental  in  effecting  his  recapture.  As  the  time  for  his 
release  drew  near,  the  threatened  parties  w^ere  consequently  some- 
what fearful  for  the  safety  of  their  property  and  persons,  when  his 
liberation  should  finally  take  place.  But  immediately,  on  gaining 
his  liberty,  Burnett  visited  all  of  the  persons  he  had  threatened, 
and  frankly  told  them  tliat  he  had  enough;  that  they  need  have 
no  fears  from  him,  for  that  henceforth  he  intended  to  lead 
the  life,  of  an  honest  man  and  a  law-abiding  citizen.  And  this 
resolution,  I  am  glad  to  learn,  he  has  consistently  adhered  to, 
being  not  only  highly  respected  in  that  portion  of  Portage  county 
w^here  he  for  many  years  resided,  but  having  also,  for  a  portion  of 
the  time,  been  honored  with  an  important  public  trust — that  of 
United  States  mail  carrier — the  responsible  duties  of  which  he 
is  said  to  have  discharged  w^ith  the  utmost  fidelity.  He  is  now 
located  in  the  western  part  of  the  State,  and  said  to  be  doing  well. 

Both  a  Warning  and  Example. — The  career  of  Sobieski  Bur- 
nett should  serve  as  a  warning  to  boys  against  waywardness  and 
w^rong  doing,  and  as  an  example  to  those  whose  derelictions  have 
impelled  them  in  the  direction  of  a  life  of  crime,  to  "  right  about 
face,"  and  earn  for  themselves  that  honorable  position  in  society 
that  an  upright  life  will  always  bring. 


CHAPTER     XXX. 

THE  PENINSULA  UXORICIDE-  HENRY  KERST,  THE  WIFE  MURDERER— CAUSES- 
LEADING  TO  THE  TRAGEDY  —  INTEMPERANCE  AND  ABUSE  —  DIVORCE 
PRAYED  FOR— SHOT  TO  DEATH  ON  THE  PUBLIC  HIGHWAY— GREAT  EXCITE- 
MENT—SEARCH FOR  THE  MURDERER— SHOOTS  AT  HIS  PURSUERS— ARREST 
AND  PRELIMINARY  EXAMINATION— COMMITTED  TO  JAIL  -INDICTMENT  AND- 
TRIAL— THE  INSANITY  "DODGE" — MURDER  IN  THE  FIRST  DEGREE— MOTION 
FOR  NEW  TRIAL  OVERRULED  — SENTENCED  TO  BE  HUNG— WRIT  OF  ERROR^ 
DENIED— PREPARATIONS  FOR  EXECUTION— SUICIDE  IN  HIS  CELL— GHASTLY 
EXHIBITION— CORONER'S  INQUEST,  ETC. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

"LJENRY  KERST,  or  "Kasch,"  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  was  a 
-*■  ^  native  of  Germany,  and  with  his  German  wife  and  several 
children,  had  emigrated  to  America  some  time  in  the  early  fifties,, 
settling  in  Peninsula,  in  this  county.  Kerst  was  a  quarryman  and 
stone-cutter  by  trade,  w^hich  business  he  followed  at  Peninsula,^ 
but,  after  a  few^  years,  sought  to  increase  his  income  by  the  sale  of 
Avhisky,  at  his  house  on  the  bank  of  the  canal,  in  the  south  part  of 
the  village,  his  w^ife,  in  addition  to  her  household  duties,  aiding  in 
the  sale  of  whisky  as  occasion  seemed  to  require. 

It  soon  became  evident  to  the  neighbors  that  "Kasch"  w^as  one 
of  his  own  best  customers,  being  frequently  intoxicated,  and  at 
such  times  exhibiting  great  violence  of  temper,  especially  tow^ards 
his  ow^n  family.  Finally  the  wife  sickened  and  died,  and  "  Kasch  "^ 
seemed  to  do  better  for  a  time,  so  much  so  that  after  a  reasonable 
period  had  elapsed,  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  he  secured  a  second 
w^ife  in  the  person  of  Miss  Marian  Wiman,  or  Viman,  to  whom  he 
"was  married  by  Justice  Merill  Boody,  at  Peninsula,  on  the  18th 
day  of  May,  1860. 

THE  BEGINNING  OF   THE  TROUBLE. 

For  a  few  months  the  relations  of  Mr.  Kerst  and  his  new  wife 
seem  to  have  been  amicable  and  pleasant,  but  his  drink  habit 
increasing  upon  him,  he  soon  began  to  sharply  criticise  the  con- 
duct of  wife  number  two — she  didn't  manage  household  matters 
as  economically  as  w^ife  number  one  did;  she  didn't  sell  as  much 
whisky  and  didn't  account  to  him  for  all  money  received  for  what 
she  did  sell,  etc.  In  short,  he  became  very  violent  and  abusive 
towards  her,  threatening  to  kill  her,  her  cries  at  one  time,  "Kasch 
is  trying  to  kiiil  me,"  bringing  a  neighbor  to  the  house  to  quiet  the 
disturbance;  proceedings  being  instituted  against  him  for  assault 
\vith  intent  to  kill.  Through  the  intervention  of  friends,  and  on 
his  promise  of  better  treatment,  Mrs.  Kerst  withdrew  her  com- 
plaint, and,  as  on  several  occasions,  after  being  driven  away  by 
hie  cruelty,  returned  to  her  wifely  duties. 

Divorce  Proceedings. — But  about  the  1st  of  May,  1861,  the 
conduct  of  Kerst  became  so  outrageously  abusive  that  Mrs.  Kerst 
left  him  for  good,  taking  refuge  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Frederick  N. 


THE    MURDER,    ARREST,    ETC.  679 

« 

Boies,  a  short  distance  south  of  the  village,  on  the  upper  road, 
upon  the  west  side  of  the  river,  and  immediately  instituted  pro-* 
ceedings  for  divorce  on  the  charge  of  extreme  cruelty,  the  court 
granting  her  a  writ  of  injunction  restraining  him  from  disposing 
of  certain  property  to  which  she  looked  for  alimony,  in  case  her 
prayer  for  divorce  should  be  granted. 

The  Fatal  Day. — Thus  matters  stood  on  Tuesday,  the  I4th 
day  of  May,  1861.  Early  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  accompanied 
by  Mrs.  Boies,  Mrs.  Kerst  went  to  the  village  to  hold  a  consulta- 
tion with  her  attorneys,  Wilbur  F.  Sanders  and  Jacob  A.  Kohler, 
Esqs.,  in  regard  to  her  suit  for  divorce.  There  she  encountered 
her  irate  husband,  who  \vas  swaggering  about  the  village  carrying 
a  gun,  which  circumstance  \vas  not  thought  to  have  any  special 
significance,  inasmuch  as,  beingtheti  in  the  height  of  the  excitement 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  quite  a  number  of  persons  had  met 
there  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  local  military  company,  many 
of  them  also  carrying  guns. 

Lying  in  Ambush. — On  leaving*the  attorneys,  Mrs.  Kerst  and 
Mrs.  Boies  started  for  home.  Kerst  followed  them,  showering 
upon  his  wife  such  abusive  epithets  and  threats,  that  they  turned 
back  to  remain  until  his  wrath  should  abate,  or  until  they  could 
procure  proper  protection.  Kerst  soon  afterwards  departing  in  the 
direction  of  his  own  house,  the  two  women,  about  4  o'clock,  again 
started  for  the  Boies  homestead.  When  about  half  waj',  and  nearly 
opposite  the  residence  of  Mr.  Lawson  Waterman,  Kerst  suddenly 
raised  himself  up  from  behind  the  fence,  on  the  east  side  of  the 
road,  and,  resting  his  gun  upon  a  rail  of  the  fence,  deliberately 
tired  at  his  wife,  the  charge — two  bullets  and  several  buck  shot — 
horribly  shattering  her  left  wrist  and  entering  her  body  immedi- 
ately below  the  breast  bone.  Both  women  turned  and  fled  towards 
the  village  screaming  for  help,  Mrs.  Kerst  running  about  ten  rods, 
only,  when  she  fell  to  the  ground  and  expired  in  about  twenty 
minutes.  ' 

The  Murderer  Arrested. — The  utmost  consternation  and 
excitement  immediately  prevailed,  in  and  about  Peninsula,  and  a 
searching  party  for  the  capture  of  the  rnurderer  was  at  once 
organized.  The  house  of  the  murderer  was  thoroughly  searched, 
and  the  thicket  and  ravine,  beyond,  between  the  canal  and  the 
road  where  the  shooting  occurred,  Avere  carefully  explored,  and  at 
length  he  was  dragged  from  the  thick  jungle  where  he  had  hid- 
den, but  not  until  he  had  discharged  his  gun  once  or  twice  at  his 
pursuers,  though  fortunately  without  serious  consequences. 

Preliminary  Examination. — Notwithstanding  the  desire  of 
several  of  those  present  to  deal  summary  justice  to  the  murderer, 
better  counsel  prevailed,  and  the  law  was  permitted  to  take  its 
course.  Jacob  A.  Kohler,  Esq.,  being  present,  as  above  stated,  filed 
an  affidavit,  before  Justice  Merrill  Boody,  and  a  preliminary  hear- 
ing was  at  once  had,  the  witnesses  examined,  besides  Mrs.  Boies, 
being  T.  B.  Fairchild,  Isaiah  Humphrey,  Dr.  Elwyn  Humphrey,  Dr. 
William  E.  Chamberlain,  Wilbur  F.  Sanders,  Jacob  A.  Kohler, 
John  Crissick,  Jorgen  Petersen  and  James  Seeley. 

After  hearing  the  evidence  in  regard  to  the  shooting,  and  the 
previous  and  subsequent  conduct  of  the  accused.  Justice  Boody 
held  him  to  answ^er  to  the  critne  of  deliberate  and  premedi- 
tated   murder,    placing    the     mittimus   in    the    hands    of    Special 


680  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COL'NTY. 

Constable  Richard  P.  Clark,  who,  within  four  hours  from  the  com- 
mission of  his  fearful  crime,  by  private  conveyance,  safely  lodged 
the  prisoner  in  the  county  jail,  14  miles  distant.  At  the  ensuing 
term  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  commencing  May  28,  1861, 
Judge  James  S.  Carpenter  on  the  bench.  Prosecuting  Attorney, 
Newell  D.  Tibbals,  Esq.,  brought  the  matter  to  the  attention  of  the 
grand  jury,  who  returned  an  indictment  of  several  counts,  charg- 
ing the  defendant  with  malicious,  premeditated  and  deliberate 
murder. 

PJvEa  of  Not  Guilty. — Continuance. — On  Monday,  June  3d, 
1861,  the  prisoner  was  brought  into  court  by  Sheriff  Jacob  Chisnell, 
who,  on  hearing  the  indictment  read  by  Prosecutor  Tibbals, 
entered  a  plea  of  not  guilty.  Counsel  for  the  defense,  consisting 
of  William  McNeil,  Esq.,  of  Peninsula,  and  Lucius  V.  Bierce  and 
Charles  A.  Baldwin,  Esqs.,  of  Akron,  then  asked  for  a  continuance  of 
the  case  until  the  next  term  of  court,  to  enable  them  to  properly 
prepare  their  defense,  which,  owing  to  the  short  time  that  had 
elapsed  since  the  commission'  of  the  crime,  was  granted  by  the 
court. 

The  Final  Trial. — At  the  following  term  of  the  court,  with 
Judges  James  S.  Carpenter  and  William  H.  Canfield  upon  the 
bench,  the  defendant  was  put  upon  his  trial,  on  the  26th  day  of 
November,  1861.  After  the  jurj^  had  been  impaneled,  another 
motion  was  made  for  continuance  on  account  of  the  illness  of  one 
material  witness,  and  the  absence  of  another,  on  behalf  of  the 
defense,  but  the  court  overruled  the  motion,  and  the  trial  pro- 
ceeded, the  "sick"  witness,  a  daughter  of  the  accused,  residing  in 
Cleveland,  being  present  and  testifying  in  behalf  of  her  father, 
notwithstanding  her  alleged  disability. 

The  Insanity  Dodge. — The  trial  occupied  nearly  two  weeks, 
about  70  witnesses  being  examined,  including  several  professional 
experts  on  lunacy,  and  the  case  was  very  closely  contested  on  both 
sides,  Hon.  William  H.  Upson  assisting  Prosebutor  Tibbals  on 
behalf  of  the  State.  The  killing  at  the  time  and  place,  and  in  the 
manner  charged  in  the  indictment,  -was  admitted  by  the  defense, 
the  plea  of  insanity  being  interposed,  and  all  the  testimony  on  the 
part  of  the  defense  being  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  that 
theory.  Defendant's  daughter  (and  perhaps  others)  testified  that 
about  twelve  years  before,  he  had  been  afflicted  >vith  sun-stroke  in 
Germany,  and  that  five  or  six  years  later,  after  coming  to  America, 
he  had  a  similar  attack,  quite  a  number  of  witnesses  testifying 
that  he  had  often  acted  in  a  strange  and  unusual  manner,  indicat- 
ing that  he  w^as  of  unsound  mind.  Prosecutor  Tibbals,  on  the  other 
hand,  introducing  a  number  of  medical  experts,  who  testified,  from 
professional  examination,  to  their  belief  that  the  prisoner  was 
sane,  among  others  Superintendent  Kendrick,  of  the  Northern 
Ohio  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  at  Newburg. 

In  addition  to  the  testimony  thus  adduced  in  his  behalf,  the 
"insane"  demonstrations  of  the  defendant,  throughout  the  trial, 
were  constant  and  unremitting,  consisting  mainly  of  facial  con- 
tortions, unintelligible  mutterings  and  a  seeming  utter  indifference 
and  oblivion  to  the  proceedings  that  were  being  had,  though  at  one 
time,  during  the  argument  of  Prosecutor  Tibbals,  while  setting 
forth  the  quarrelsome  character  of  the  defendant,  and  his  brutal 
and  inhuman  treatment  of  his  wife,  he  so  for  forgot  the  role  he 


SENTENCED  TO  BE  EXECUTED.  681 

"was  playing,  that,  in  his  anger,  he  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  seizing 
the  chair  upon  w^hich  he  had  been  sitting,  essayed  to  strike  that 
official  down,  but  was  was  prevented  from  doing  so  by  the  court 
constable  who  had  the  prisoner  in  charge. 

Charge,  Verdict,  Etc. — At  the  close  of  the  testimony  for  the 
defense,  the  case  was  ably  argued  on  both  sides,  occupying  nearly 
two  full  da^^s.  Judge  Carpenter  charged  the  jury  in  a  very  clear 
and  impartial  manner,  lucidly  expounding  the  law  relating  to 
homicides,  and  the  rule  of  applying  evidence  in  such  cases,  par- 
ticularly'^ in  cases  like  the  one  on  trial,  where  insanity  is  interposed 
as  the  sole  defense.  The  jury  retired  to  their  room  at  about  11 
o'clock  A.  M.  on  Thursday,  December  5,  1861,  and  in  less  than 
three-fourths  of  an  hour  had  agreed  upon  a  verdict  of 

MURDER  IN    THE  FIRST   DEGREE. 

Counsel  for  the  defense  immediately  moved  for  a  new  trial, 
because  the  verdict  was  not  warranted  by  the  evidence,  and  for 
several  other  alleged  reasons,  mostly  of  a  technical  nature,  which 
motion,  after  full  argument  for  and  against,  was  overruled  by  the 
court,  on  the  18th  day  of  December,  1861.  The  defendant  being  in 
court,  was  ordered  by  Judge  Carpenter  to  stand  up  for  sentence, 
to  which  command  no  attention  was  paid.  He  was  raised  then  to 
a  perpendicular  by  Sheriff  Chisnell  and  his  deputy,  and  held  in 
that  position  during  the  delivery  of  the  sentence,  and,  in  the 
language  of  the  newspaper  reporter  of  the  scene,  "in  the  mean- 
time keeping  up  the  crazy  dodge,  but  more  success<fully  imitating 
a  driveling  idiot,  or  the  stupid,  maudlin  appearance  of  a  drunken 
man." 

The  court  room  was  crowded,  and  many  believing  his  "  insane" 
demonstrations  genuine,  expressed  great  sympathy  for  the  doomed 
man,  but  after  leaving  the  court  room,  and  getting  past  the  crowd 
in  the  corridors,  on  his  return  to  jail,  he  so  far  recovered  his  sanity 
as  to  inquire  of  the  jailer  when  he  was  to  hang.  After  reviewing 
the  testimony,  the  fairness  of  the  trial,  the  verdict  of  the  jury  and 
the  full  concurrence  of  the  court  therewith,  Judge  Carpenter  said: 

"The  history  of  your  case  is  briefly  this:  You  married  the 
victim  of  your  crime  about  a  year  before  her  death.  You  did  not 
live  happily  together.  Perhaps  she  had  not  all  the  art  of  soothing 
your  ferocious  temper  that  a  former  Avife,  who  had  follow^ed  you 
from  Germany,  had  had.  You  complained  that  she  was  not  as 
obedient  as  the  other;  that  she  would  not  sell  whisky  at  your 
grocery  like  the  other,  and  that  she  kept  back  the  money.  You 
complained  that  she  v^^as  not  as  good  a  housekeeper  as  the  other; 
that  your  affairs  were  not  as  prosperous;  that  you  were  not  as 
happy  with  her  as  with  the  other.  You  grew  abusive,  violent, 
and  at  length  drove  her  from  your  house.  *  *  *  After  repeated 
interference  of  neighbors  in  her  defense,  she  at  length  left  you 
and  instituted  proceedings  for  divorce.  She  was  returning  from 
an  interview^  with  her  counsel  and  a  preparation  of  papers  for 
that  purpose,  to  a  neighbor's  where  she  had  taken  refuge  from 
your  violence,  w^hen,  having  waylaid  her  path,  with  a  gun  you 
had  carefully  loaded,  you  took  deadly  aim  and  fired  upon  your 
•wife.  She  fled  from  you  and  fell  dow^n  and  died,  and  her  spirit 
"went  to  her  God  and  your  God. 


682  .        AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

"The  stormy  out-bursts  ot  your  temper,  probably  the  result  of 
habitual  license  under  intoxicating  stimulants,  easily  suggested 
your  defense  of  insanity,  a  defense  which  you  attempted  to  aid 
before  the  jury  by  simulating  paroxysms  of  the  terrible  visitation. 
But  the  twelve  jurors,  while  too  humane  to  be  indifferent  to  the 
slightest  indications  in  your  favor,  were  too  discerning  and  reflect- 
ive to  be  the  dupes  of  imposture. 

"How  vain,  then,  how  utterly  unavailing  w^ill  be  all  simula- 
tions and  dissemblings — all  pretenses  and  self-deceivings — before 
the  God  who  looks  upon  the  heart!  Think,  I  beseech  you,  of  your 
crime.  Think  of  your  past  life.  Think  how  you  will  answer  ta 
Him  who  declared  in  His  own  great  law  for  you,  and  for  us  all^ 
'Thou  Shalt  not  kill.' 

"And  now,  as  you  are  soon  to  pass  beyond  the  reach  of  human 
pity,  I  pray  you  fly  to  Him  whose  pity  is  ever  interceding,  whose 
atoning  blood  can  blot  out  the  hand-writing  of  your  guilt,  whose 
arins  are  ever  open  to  your  repentant  soul. 

"The  judgment  of  the  court,  and  the  sentence  of  the  law  is,, 
that  you  be  taken  hence  to  the  jail  of  the  county,  that  you  be  there 
safely  kept  by  the  jailer  thereof,  until  Friday,  the  25th  day  of 
April,  1862,  and  that  on  said  25th  day  of  April  you  be  taken  to  the 
place  of  execution,  and  there,  on  Friday,  the  said  25th  day  of  April, 
1862,  between  the  hours  of  10  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  and  3^ 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  said  day,  3^ou,  Henry  Kerst,  be  hanged 
by  the  neck  until  you  are  dead;  and  may  He  who  is  the  Resurrec- 
tion and  the  Life,  stand  by  you  in  that  hour  of  need." 

Supreme  Court  Appealed  to. — A  carefully  drawn  bill  of  excep- 
tions having  been  prepared  by  defendant's  counsel,  application 
was  made  to  the  Supreme  Court  for  the  allowance  of  a  writ  of 
error,  which  w^as  argued  before  that  body,  at  Columbus,  on  Satur- 
day, January  4,  1862,  by  General  L.  V.  Bierce  in  behalf  of  the  con- 
demned prisoner,  and  Prosecutor  N.  D.  Tibbals  on  behalf  of  the 
State — the  latter's  first  plea  before  the  Supreme  Court.  The  appli- 
cation was  denied,  the  decision  being  announced  by  Chief  Justice 
Scott.  Strong  efforts  were  also  made,  by  counse}  and  friends,  ta 
secure  from  Governor  David  Tod  a  commutation  of  sentence  from 
death  to  imprisonment  for  life.  But,  after  a  full  review  of  the 
case,  Governor  Tod  declined  to  interfere,  so  that  there  was  nothing^ 
left  but  to  proceed  with  the  preparations  for  the  execution. 

His  own  Executioner. — ^Sheriff.  Chisnell  was  therefore  getting 
the  necessary  paraphernalia  ready  for  carrying  out  the  sentence  of 
the  court  upon  the  doomed  man.  The  gallows — the  same  which 
had  originally  been  provided  for  the  execution  of  James  Parks,  as 
hereafter  recorded — w^as  stored  in  the  loft  of  the  jail  barn,  ready  ta 
be  set  up  when  the  fatal  day  arrived.  The  rope,  manufactured  by 
Nahum  Fay,  Esq.,  of  Akron,  had  been  procured,  and  the  proper 
assistants  and  witnesses  had  been  provided,  but  the  customary 
provision  for  a  "dead  Avatch"  had  been  neglected,  and  on  the 
morning  of  April  23d,  two  days  before  the  execution  was  to  have 
taken  place,  it  was  found  that  the  brutal  uxoricide  had  taken  the 
law  into  his  own  hands,  and  had  inflicted  upon  himself  the  just 
penalty  due  to  his  terrible  crime. 

A  Ghastly  Spectacle. — When  the  fact  became  known  through- 
out the  tow^n  that  Kerst  had  committed  suicide,  the  excitement 
was  intense  and  hundreds  of  men  and  boys  rushed  to  the  jail  to' 


HIS   OWN   EXECUTIONER.  683 

learn  the  particulars,  and  gratify  a  morbid  curiosity  of  viewing  the 
body  of  the  double  murderer — Sheriff  Chisnell  very  properly  per- 
mitting the  body  to  remain  in  the  position  in  w^hich  it  w^as  found, 
for  several  hours,  to  await  the  action  of  the  coroner — and  the  dis- 
torted features,  the  staring  eyes,  the  protruding  tongue,  have  doubt- 
less haunted  many  sensitive  witnesses  of  .the  ghastly  spectacle  to 
the  present  time. 

How  IT  WAS  Done. — The  prison  beds  at  that  time  were  com- 
posed of  strips  of  heavy  canvas,  fastened,  bj^  strong  cords,  to 
hooks  in  the  walls,  about  two  and  a  half  or  three  feet  from  the  cell 
floor.  Kerst  had  unfastened  his  bed  from  the  hooks,  and  laid  it 
upon  the  floor,  at  the  back  side  of  the  cell.  He  had  then  made  a 
loop  at  the  end  of  one  of  the  cords,  at  the  corner  of  the  sacking, 
and  twisting  the  cord  about  his  neck,  slipped  the  loop  over  one  of 
the  hooks,  and,  by  simply  lying  down,  had  deliberately  strangled 
himself  to  death,  an  act  that  must  have  required  the  utmost  cool- 
ness of  mind  and  strength  of  nerve  to  accomplish. 

The  Coroner's  Inquest. — A  messenger  was  sent  to  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  to  notify  Coroner  Joseph  T.  HoUoway,  who  the  same  day 
issued  a  warrant  to  Constable  Merrick  Burton  to  summon  a  jury 
of  inquest,  w^hich  Avas  done  accordingly.  The  jury  after  viewing 
the  body,  and  its  surroundings,  and  hearing  the  testimony  of 
Sheriff  Jacob  Chisnell  and  Joel  Honeywell,  returned  their  verdict 
as  follows: 

"We,  the  jury,  do  find  that  the  deceased  came  to  his  death 
by  hanging  or  strangling  himself  with  a  small  rope  or  cord,  about 
four  feet  long,  which  w^as  by  him  fastened  to  a  hook  in  the  wall, 
about  three  feet  from  the  floor,  evidently  procured  by  himself  from 
his  hammock  in  the  cell  of  said  jail." 

Apropos  of  the  death  penalty,  w^hile  the  writer,  in  his  eight 
years'  experience,  as  sheriff  of  Summit  county,  w^as  fortunately 
spared  the  disagreeable  duty  of  executing  a  human  being — though 
having  one  or  two  very  narrow^  escapes — ^he  w^as  an  early  advocate 
of  the  measure,  recently  enacted  into  a  law,  of  having  all  the  exe- 
cutions of  the*State  performed  in  the  State  Penitentiary,  thus 
obviating  the  excitements,  and  frequent  disturbances,  and  some- 
times barbarous  scenes,  incident  to  local  executions  at  county- 
seats. 

It  is  proper  to  state,  in  concluding  this  chapter,  that  the  chil- 
dren of  the  legally  condemned,  and  self-executed  w^ife-murderer, 
are  all  highly  honorable  people,  and  greatly  respected  in  the  com- 
munities in  which  they  reside;  the  fearful  crime  of  the  father 
doubtless  being  the  result  of  indulgence  in  intoxicating  liquors 
rather  than  innate  depravity — another, w^arning  to  all,  especially  the 
young,  to  forever  totally  abstain  from  the  use  of  every  species  of 
intoxicating  drinks. 


«iS5©J<S>^©jiS>:©*^©?^S>^S>Sp 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

boston's  last  great  sensation —the  washburn-peoples  homicide— an 
irate  husband's  vengeance  on  the  invader  of  his  marital  domain 
—preparations  for  the  bloody  deed -confronting  his  victim  in 
his  own  house  — victim  flees  for  his  life— avenger  gives  chase, 
shooting  as  he  runs— four  shots  take  effect,  two  fatal— mur- 
derer walks  four  miles  to  give  himself  up— magistrate  fails  to 
comprehend  the  situation— walks  back  home  again  and  yuietly 
retires  to  bed— arrested  on  mayor's  warrant— coroner's  inquest 
on  victim — murderer  committed  to  jail — indictment  by  grand 
jury— hearing  in  court  of  common  pleas  -both  hereditary  insan- 
ity and  uncontrollable  impulse  urged  in  defense— exciting  trial 
—verdict,  murder  in  second  degree— imprisonmemt  for  life— still 
doing  penance— the  convict's  family— wife  divorced  and  remar- 
ried—children  highly  respectable  young  ladies,  etc. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

T7ROM  1835  to  1838,  there  lived  in  Akron,  with  his  family,  a  very 
^  clever  but  rather  eccentric  man  by  the  name  of  Ebenezer  Sumner 
Washburn,  a  native  of  Haddam,  Conn.,  then  about  40  years  of  age. 
Though  not  college-bred,  Mr.  Washburn  was  w^ell  educated,  studi- 
ous and  of  quite  a  literary  turn  of  mind,  often  contributing  articles 
to  the  local  press,  and  possessing  considerable  talent  as  a  poet.  Mr. 
Washburn  w^as,  by  profession,  a  teacher,  and  while  in  Akron  taught 
during  the  Winter  season  in  one  or  more  contiguous  districts  not 
now  remembered;  in  the  Summer  performing  such  convenient 
manual  labor  as  he  could  find  to  do  in  the  village  and  among  the 
neighboring  farmers. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1838,  Mr.  Washburn  rem«ived  his  family 
into  a  cabin,  standing  between  the  canal  and  the  river,  a  short  dis- 
tance south  of  "Johnny  Cake  Lock,"  near  the  north  line  of  North- 
ampton, and  in  the  Winter  of  1838,  '39  was  engaged  in  teaching  a 
school  near  w^hat  is  now^  known  as  the  Mix  farm,  on  the  east  side 
of  the  river,  ferrying  himself  over,  morning  and  night,  in  a  "dug- 
out," or  log  canoe,  generally  accompanied  by  several  of  his  ow^n 
and  neighbor's  children,  who  were  in  attendance  upon  his  school. 

A  Terrible  Catastrophe. — On  the  morning  of  February  ,14, 
1839,  taking  w^ith  him  three  of  his  own  children  and  a  12-year-old 
daughter  of  Mr.  William  Hardy,  he  started  to  cross  the  river  in  his 
frail  craft,  which,  from  the  turbulence  of  the  current,  owing  to  a 
recent  freshet,  was  capsized  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  and  all  four 
of  the  children  drow^ned,  Mr.  Washburn  himself  narrowly  escaping 
a  similar  fate. 

This  sad  bereavement  cast  a  deep  gloom  over  the  minds  of 
both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Washburn,  producing  settled  melancholy  and 
despondency  in  both,  though  he  continued  to  teach  for  many  years 
in  Bath  and  Richfield,  where  they  afterwards  lived,  while  Mrs. 
Washburn  continued  to  minister  faithfully  to  the  care  and  comfort 
of  their  increasing  and  growing  family. 


A    PATRIOTIC   SOLDIER.  685 

Vendruth  Washburn. — To  mitigate  the  sorrow  of  the  bereaved 
family  for  the  loss  of  their  little  ones,  other  children  were  from 
time  to  time  born  to  them,  among  the  rest,  on  the  7th  day  of  Janu- 
ary, 1845,  a  son,  whom  they  christened  Vendruth.  This  son  grew^ 
vigorously,  and  being  bright  as  a  child,  and  sprightly  as  a  lad^ 
though  not  taking  very  readily  to  his  books,  his  father  gave  him 
as  good  an  education  as  his  circumstances  would  admit  of,  at  the 
same  time  requiring  him,  as  he  grew  older,  to  aid  in  the  support  of 
the  family,  by  performing  such  labor  as  could  be  found  for  such  a 
boy  to  do  among  the  farmers  of  the  neighborhood. 

The  Boy  Soldier. — Thus  matters  stood  at  the  breaking  out  of 
the  w^ar,  in  1861.  Though  then  but  16  years  old,  the  heart  of 
young  Washburn  >vas  at  once  fired  Avith  patriotic  ardor,  and 
though  considered  rather  too  young  to  be  received  into  the  volun- 
teer service,  yet,  being  robust  of  stature,  by  representing  himself 
as  18  years  of  age,  he  secured  enlistment  in  the  regular  army,  w^ith 
w^hich  he  served  three  full  j^ears,  afterwards  going  into  the  veteran 
volunteer  service,  in  which,  after  serving  about  six  months,  he  was 
taken  prisoner,  and  being  afterwards  paroled  returned  home,  but 
making  a  most  faithful  soldier  throughout. 

That  Middle  Initial  "  D." — The  reader  will  have  noticed  that 
the  name  given  to  the  boy  in  question,  w^as  "Vendruth,"  only.- 
But,  probably  from  the  fact  that  the  accent,  in  the  pronunciation 
of  the  name,  w^as  placed  upon  the  last  syllable,  on  his  enlisting  in 
the  army  it  was  taken  to  be  a  double  name,  and  he  was  accord- 
ingly entered  upon  the  army  rolls  as  "V.  D.  Washburn,"  and  for 
the  purpose  of  future  identification  as  such  honorably  discharged 
soldier,  should  circumstances  make  such  identification  necessary, 
these  initials  were  adopted  and  retained. 

He  Takes  to  Himself  a  Wife.— On  the  5th  da}^  of  October, 
1865,  the  ex-soldier  boy,  then  but  little  more  than  21  years  of  age, 
applied  to  Probate  Judge  Stephen  H.  Pitkin,  for  a  marriage  license 
for  himself  and  Miss  Ellen  Elizabeth  Kelly,  a  resident  of  the  town- 
ship of  Boston,  the  marriage  being  solemnized  the  same  day  by 
Justice  Wm,  L.,. Clarke,  of  Akron.  The  new^ly  wedded  couple  estab- 
lished themselves  in  a  small  single-room  cabin  in  the  northwestern 
portion  of  Boston  township,  a  short  distance  south  of  the  residence 
of  the  mother  of  the  bride,  and  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  east 
of  the  parents  of  the  groom.  Here  they  lived  quietly  and,  so  far  as 
is  known,  happily,  until  the  Summer  of  1870,  two  little  girls,  then 
respectively  four  and  two  years  old,  having  in  the  meantime  been 
born  to  thein ;  the  husband  comfortably  supporting  his  little  family 
by  general  labor  among  the  neighboring  farmers. 

Trouble  in  Stork  for  Them.— Charles  Peoples,  a  young  sin- 
gle inan  of  the  neighborhood,  and  about  the  same  age,  or  perhaps 
a  little  older,  also  an  ex-soldier,  was  own  cousin  to  Mrs.  Washburn, 
and,  working  about  from  farm  to  farm,  with  no  definite  place  of 
abode,  made  the  house  of  his  friend  a  sort  of  headquarters,  his 
cousin,  Mrs.  Washburn,  doing  his  ^vashing  and  mending,  and 
sometimes  caring  for  him  for  days  at  a  time  when  sick  or  unable 
to  secure  employment. 

Thus  matters  stood  on  the  first  of  July,  1870,  soon  after  w^hich, 
from  certain  developments,  Washburn  became  cognizant  of  the 
fact  that,  taking  advantage  of  his  absence,  and  in  spite  of  the  rela- 
tionship  existing    betw^een    them.   Peoples    had    criminally    and 


686  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

forcibly  invaded  the  sanctity  of  his  home.  This  knowledge  very 
naturally  aroused  within  him  a  very  deep  sense  of  indignation, 
and  he  deterinined  to  call  the  betrayer  of  his  confidence,  and  the 
despoiler  of  his  domestic  happiness,  to  account,  for  the  great  wrong 
he  had  done  to  him  and  his. 

Though  Peoples  had  visited  the  house  several  times,  nothing 
had  been  said  to  him  by  Washburn  about  the  matter  up  to  Satur- 
day, the  16th  day  of  July,  1870.  In  the  meantime,  on  Sunday,  the 
10th  day  of  July,  being  already  the  owner  of  a  revolver,  he  had  pur- 
chased a  supply  of  ammunition  at  the  grocery  store  of  Mr.  Daniel 
Peck,  in  Peninsula,  and  returning  home,  had,  in  the  presence  of  a 
neighbor  by  the  name  of  John  H.  Johnson,  cleaned  and  loaded  the 
revolver  therewrith.  This,  it  w^as  afterwards  claimed  by  Washburn, 
w^as  done  without  any  intention  of  using  the  w^eapon  upon  Peoples, 
himself,  but  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  his  ^fe  to  defend  herself 
against  the  advances  of  her  libidinous  cousin,  should  he  again 
attempt  to  criminally  assault  her. 

The  Fatal  Day. — On  Saturday  morning,  July  16,  1870,  Wash- 
burn w^ent  to  the  farm  of  Mr.  James  W.  Lockert,  in  the  northeast 
part  of  Richfield,  taking  his  oldest  little  girl  along  w^ith  him  as 
far  as  the  house  of  his  parents,  leaving  her  in  the  care  of  her 
grandmother  Washburn,  until  his  return.  Working  through  the 
forenoon,  and  taking  dinner  at  Mr.  Ivockert's,  he  started  to  return 
home  between  1  and  2  o'clock. 

Soon  after  reaching  his  mother's.  Peoples  came  along,  traveling 
in  the  same  direction.  Washburn  inquired  of  Peoples  if  he  was 
going  to  his  house,  and  being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  the  two 
men,  w^ith  the  little  girl,  soon  started  on  together.  It  does  not 
appear  that  their  conversation,  or  their  actions  towards  each  other, 
w^ere  anything  but  cordial  on  the  w^ay,  no  hint  whatever  having 
been  communicated  to  Peoples,  by  Washburn,  in  regard  to  his 
grievances. 

A  Fearful  Tragedy. — On  arriving  at  the  house,  Peoples  was 
greeted  kindly  by  his  cousin,  Mrs.  Washburn,  and  the  two  men 
seated  themselves  upon  the  lounge.  Presently  the  nearest  neigh- 
bor, Mr.  John  H.  Johnson,  returning  from  the  spring  Avith  a  pail  of 
w^ater,  came  in  and  setting  his  pail  upon  the  table,  picked  up  an 
accordion  and,  seating  himself  in  the  door,  commenced  playing  on 
it,  the  conversation  becoming  general;  after  a  little  all  three  tak- 
ing seats  outside  the  house  and  entertaining  each  other  with 
stories  and  incidents  of  the  war. 

A  little  later,  Washburn  requested  Johnson  to  go  home,  as  he 
wanted  to  have  a  private  talk  w^ith  Peoples,  and  Johnson,  pleas- 
antly remarking  that  he  virould  have  gone  before  if  he  had  told 
him  to,  took  up  his  pail  of  water  and  started.  He  had  gone  but  a 
short  distance  w^hen  Washburn  called  him  back  and  requested  him 
to  take  the  children  along,  as  had  frequently  been  his  custom;  so 
again  setting  down  his  pail  of  w^ater,  he  took  the  youngest  child  in 
his  arms  and  the  other  by  the  hand  and  started  for  his  own  cabin, 
some  fifteen  or  twenty  rods  distant. 

On  the  departure  of  Johnson,  Washburn  and  Peoples  again 
seated  themselves  upon  the  lounge.  After  some  general  conversa- 
tion, Washburn  accused  Peoples  of  his  perfidy  and  wrong  doing, 
w^hich  accusation  Peoples  at  first  denied,  but  finally  acknowledged, 
and  to  Washburn's  inquiry  as  to  what  he  (Peoples),  would  do  were 


PLANNING   HIS   DEFENSE.  687 

he  in  his  (Washburn's),  place,  he  replied  that  he  would  try  and  settle 
it  if  he  could,  so  as  not  have  the  affair  become  public.  Washburn 
then  demanded,  as  his  ultimatum  for  settlement,  that  Peoples 
should  leave  the  country,  and  never  return,  to  which  Peoples 
demurred,  and  finally  announcing,  w^ith  an  oath,  that  he  w^ould  do 
as  he  had  a  mind  to,  started  from  the  lounge,  when  Washburn 
raised  his  revolver,  which  he  had  previously  taken  from  the  nail 
Avhere  it  was  hanging  behind  the  door,  and  fired.  Peoples  rushed 
from  the  house  and  fled  into  the  woods,  Washburn  following  and 
firing  as  they  ran,  both  climbing  over  the  fence  in  the  rear  of  the 
house  in  their  flight.  About  thirty  or  forty  rods  from  the  fence 
Peoples  fell  upon  his  face,  and  Washburn  coming  up  placed  the 
muzzle  of  the  revolver  against  the  back  of  his  head  and  sent  a 
bullet  crashing  through  his  .brain.  The  autopsy  disclosed  four 
wounds;  a  flesh  w^ound  in  the  left  hand,  a  flesh  w^ound  in  the  right 
■ear,  a  fatal  wound  in  the  left  breast  and  a  fatal  wound  in  the  back 
jjart  of  the  head. 

Another  "McFarland  Affair." — About  a  j^ear  previous  to 
the  events  here  written  of,  there  had  been  enacted  a  domestic 
tragedy  in  the  city  of  New^  York,  which  had  created  intense  excite- 
ment, not  only  in  that  city,  but  through  the  entire  country,  the 
parties  to  which  were  a  shyster-lawyer  by  the  name  of  Daniel 
McFarland,  his  divorced  wife  (who,  as  Miss  Abby  Sage,  had  won 
success  and  popularity  as  a  w^riter),  and  Mr.  Albert  Deane  Richard- 
son, a  writer  on  the  New  York  Tribune,  and  w^ho  had  been  one  of 
its  most  brilliant  army  correspondents  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion, 
and  after  the  war  had  written  a  very  graphic  and  popular  life  of 
•General  Grant. 

McFarland  had  become  extremely  jealous  of  the  attentions 
bestowed  upon  his  talented  wife,  by  her  many  male  admirers,  and 
at  length  became  so  unkind  and  abusive  that  a  separation  w^as 
had,  the  oldest  of  their  two  children  remaining  w^ith  the  father  and 
the  youngest  with  the  mother.  Temporarily  migrating  to  Indiana, 
she  had,  under  the  then  free  and  easy  divorce  laws  of  that  State, 
secured  a  divorce  from  her  husband,  w^ith  the  custody  of  the 
younger  child  confirmed  to  her,  soon  afterw^ards  returning  to  New 
York  and  resuming  her  literary  labors. 

In  these  troubles  she  had  been  especially  befriended  by  Mr. 
Richardson,  w^ho,  after  her  return  from  Ne^v  York,  became  very 
attentive  to  her,  with  a  view^  to  matrimony.  This  very  greatly 
exasperated  the  ex-husband,  McFarland,  who,  going  to  the  Trib- 
une building  on  the  1st  day  of  December,  1869,  made  a  deadly 
assault  upon  the  unarmed  victim  of  his  w^rath,  fatally  shooting 
him  as  he  was  fleeing  for  his  life.  Richardson,  after  lingering  a 
few  hours,  died  from  the  effects  of  his  wounds,  but  not  until  he 
Tiad  been  married,  by  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  to  the  lady,  for 
befriending  whom,  he  had  lost  his  life,  and  had  executed  a  will 
endowing  her  with  such  property  as  he  possessed.  McFarland  was, 
-of  course,  arrested,  but  admitted  to  bail,  and  after  a  delay  of  many 
months,  and  w^ith  full  opportunity,  by  himself  and  through  his 
counsel  and  friends,  for  w^itness  and  jury  mixing,  was  brought  to 
trial  w^ith  the  anticipated  result  of  a  triumphant  acquittal,  on  the 
ground  that  the  murderous  attack  and  fatal  shooting  were  done 
tinder  the  influence  of  an  "uncontrollable  impulse,"  notwithstand- 
ing the  evident  preparation  he  had  made  to  accomplish  that  result. 


688  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

On  finding  that  he  had  probably  killed  his  victim,  Washburn 
called  to  his  neighbor  Johnson,  who,  though  hearing  the  shot& 
had  no  conception  of  their  fatal  import.  Being  busy  reading,  in 
his  own  cabin,  he  did  not  immediately  respond  to  the  call,  when 
Washburn,  in  a  louder  tone,  called  again.  On  going  to  the  door 
and  inquiring  what  was  wanted,  Washburn  replied,  w^ith  an  oath^ 
"I  have  shot  Charlie  Peoples,  and  I  want  you  to  come  over  and 
help  take  care  of  him,"  On  going  with  him  to  where  Peoples  lay,  in 
the  woods,  some  40  or  more  rods  from  Washburn's  house,  and 
speaking  to  him,  there  was  but  a  single  gasp  before  life  wa& 
extinct.  Telling  Johnson  why  he  had  killed  Peoples,  and  request- 
ing him  to  get  another  neighbor,  by  the  name  of  Sutton,  to  help 
take  care  of  Peoples'  body,  said  he  was  going  to  Peninsula  to  give 
himself  up,  at  the  same  time  telling  Johnson  to  take  care  of  the 
revolver,  and  not  disturb  the  two  remaining  loads, 

"Giving  Himself  Up," — On  reaching  Peninsula,  Washburn 
first  went  to  the  store  of  Justice  Merrill  Boody,  who,  at  the 
moment,  was  in  the  midst  of  a  business  transaction  w^ith  a  gentle- 
man from  Cleveland,  and  inquired  as  to  whether  any  money  had 
been  paid  in  on  a  small  judgment  in  his  favor  against  his  mother- 
in-law.  On  receiving  a  negative  answer,  Washburn  said  that  he 
believed  he  would  give  himself  up.  Having  been  a  good  deal  annoyed 
about  the  judgment  in  question,  and  feeling  a  little  provoked 
at  the  interruption  to  his  business  transaction  with  the  Cleveland 
gentleman,  and  not  having  the  remotest  idea  of  what  he  wanted 
to  "give  himself  up"  for.  Justice  Boody  curtly  replied,  "I  don't 
want  you — I  wouldn't  give  two  cents  for  you!" 

Thereupon  Washburn  went  to  the  office  of  Dr.  Sumner  Pixley 
and  on  meeting  the  doctor  exclaimed:  "Here's  another  McFar- 
land  affair!"  In  reply  to  the  doctor's  question  as  to  what  he 
meant,  Washburn  told  him  what  he  had  done,  and  why  and  how- 
he  did  it,  and  asked  the  doctor  to  advise  him  what  to  do.  The  doc- 
tor advised  him  to  go  and  give  himself  up  to  the  authorities. 
Washburn  replied  that  he  had  already  been  to  'Squire  Boody,  but 
that  Boody  said  that  he  did  not  want  him,  that  he  wouldn't  give 
two  cents  for  him,  etc.  The  doctor  then  advised  him  to  go  back 
home  and  attend  to  his  own  business. 

Prompt  Action  by  Mayor  McNeil, — Washburn  took  the  doc- 
tor's advice,  went  home,  ate  his  supper  and  went  to  bed,  night 
setting  in  about  the  time  he  left  the  village  for  his  home. 
Doctor  Pixley  spread  the  news  of  the  homicide,  as  detailed  to  him 
by  the  perpetrator  thereof.  In  the  meantime,  too,  Johnson  had 
summoned  the  neighbors,  a  number  of  whom  had  assembled  about 
the  scene  of  the  bloody  tragedy,  though,  under  the  prevailing 
notion  that  a  dead  body  must  not  be  removed  from  the  place  where 
found,  until  the  coroner  has  first  viewed  it,  it  was  left  in  the  woods 
all  night.  Mr,  Henry  Crissick  filed  an  affidavit  before  Mayor 
William  McNeil,  of  Peninsula,  who  placed  his  warrant  in  the 
hands  of  Constable  Otis  W.  Fitts,  for  the  murderer's  arrest.  Sum- 
moning a  posse,  the  constable  started  for  the  scene  of  the  murder, 
arriving  at  the  house  of  Washburn  about  midnight.  He  offered 
no  resistance,  but  begged  the  constable  to  allow  him  to  remain 
with  his  family  until  morning,  when  he  would  report  at  any  place 
that  officer  might  name,  which,  had  his  request  been  granted,  he 
undoubttedly  would  have  done. 


THE    PRISONER   ON   TRIAL. 

A  LAvSt  Look  at  His  Victim. — But  that  indulgence  Constable 
Fitts  could  not  grant,  and  he  accordingly  dressed  himself,  and  was 
soon  ready  to  start.  Going  with  the  officer  and  others  to  where  the 
body  of  his  victim  lay,  by  the  light  of  a  lantern,  carried  by  one  of 
the  party,  he  gazed  for  th^  last  time,  as  he  supposed,  upon  the 
earthly  remains  of  his  former  friend  and  comrade  in  arms,  slain 
by  his  own  hand,  without  any  audible  expression  of  regret,  or 
visible  emotion,  the  party  reaching  Peninsula  about  daylight  on 
Sunday  morning. 

Post-Mortem  Examination,— Though  the  cause  of  the  death 
of  Charles  Peoples  was  abundantly  apparent,  from  the  repeated 
declarations  of  Washburn,  Mayor  McNeil  deemed  it  necessary  to 
hold  a  coroner's  inquest  over  the  remains.  The  body,  therefore, 
Avas  removed,  on  Sunday  morning,  to  the  tow^n  house  in  Penin- 
sula, w^here,  during  the  day,  an  autopsy  was  made  by  Drs.  Sumner 
Pixley  and  Elwyn  Humphrey,  to  enable  them  to  intelligently  tes- 
tify before  the  mayor,  on  the  preliminary  examination  of  the 
prisoner,  in  regard  to  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  wounds,  which 
had  been  inflicted  upon  the  deceased;  Washburn  inquiring  after- 
wards, of  Dr.  Humphrey,  whether  what  he  had  suffered,  from  the 
conduct  of  Peoples,  would  not  be  considered  sufficient  to  drive 
him  insane? 

PRELIMINARY   HEARING,  INDICTMENT.  ETC. 

In  mayor's  court,  on  Monday  morning,  July  18,  a  preliminary 
examination  was  held  before  Mayor  McNeil,  who,  after  the  exam- 
ination of  a  large  number  of  witnesses,  held  the  accused,  without 
bail,  to  answer  to  the  charge  of  willful  and  premeditated  murder, 
and  on  the  same  day  he  was  duly  committed  to  jail  by  Constable 
Fitts.  At  the  October  term,  1870,  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for 
Summit  county,  Prosecuting  Attorney,  Jacob  A.  Kohler,  Esq.,  laid 
Mayor  McNeil's  transcript  before  the  grand  jury,  which  returned 
a  "True  Bill,"  containing  some  live  or  six  counts,  charging  the 
prisoner  with  the  premeditated  and  malicious  murder  of  Charles 
Peoples. 

To  this  indictment,  on  its  being  read  to  him,  in  open  court,  by 
Prosecutor  Kohler,  the  defendant  entered  a  plea  of  not  guilty,  and 
being  destitute  of  means  to  employ  counsel.  General  Alvin  C. 
Voris  and  Hon.  Henry  McKinney  were  assigned  to  defend  him  on 
the  trial,  which  was  set  for  Monday,  November  7,  1870,  Governor 
Sidney  Edgerton,  being  assigned  to  assist  in  the  prosecution. 

The  Final  Hearing. — ^At  the  time  designated.  Judge  Wash- 
ington W.  Boynton  presiding,  the  prisoner  was  put  upon  his  final 
trial.  The  36  jurors  originally  summoned  having  been  exhausted 
without  securing  a  full  panel,  several  other  venires  were  issued, 
and  three  full  days  were  consumed,  and  about  90  persons  exam- 
ined as  to  their  qualifications,  before  twelve  jurors  satisfactory  to 
both  the  State  and  defendant  were  secured,  the  panel  finally 
agreed  upon  being  as  follow^s:  Rees  J.  Thomas,  Loten  Hartle, 
Nathan  Swinehart,  Edwin  R.  Newell,  Melchiah  Sherbondy, 
Vincent  G.  Harris,  Thomas  Wright,  Elias  Rothrock,  Isaac  Winters, 
Sylvester  Van  Hyning,  Alpheus  Myers,  William  T.  Bell. 

The  Plea  of  Insanity. —  The  case  was  opened  with  a  clear 
and  concise  statement,  by  Prosecuting  Attorney  Kohler,  giving 
the  main  facts  pertaining  to  the  homicide,  and  the  proofs  which 

44 


690  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

would  be  offered  by  the  State,  General  Voris  making  a  compre- 
hensive statement  in  behalf  of  the  accused,  from  which,  as  show- 
ing the  theory  of  the  defense,  \v^e  quote  as  follows: 

"The  subject  of  this  awful  visitation  was  born  in  this  county, 
in  1845,  and  has  always  lived  in  this  vicinity,  except  the  four  years 
of  the  late  war,  v/hen  he,  from  the  16th  to  the  20th  years  of  his  age, 
served  as  a  soldier — three  years  in  the  regular  army  and  one  year 
in  a  volunteer  regiment.  We  shall  prove  that  in  October,  1865,  he 
was  married  to  the  lady  sitting  here,  who  is,  unfortunately,  but 
innocently,  the  cause  of  the  tragic  death  of  Charles  Peoples;  that 
two  children,  one  little  girl  of  four  and  another  of  two  years  of' 
age,  are  the  result  of  their  union;  that  up  to  the  time  of  his  mar- 
riage, the  accused  had  filled  the  full  measure  of  obligations  to  the 
laws  and  to  community,  exhibiting  nothing  in  his  conduct  of  w^ay- 
wardness  more  than  usual  in  the  history  of  American  boys." 

After  commenting  at  length  on  the  conduct  of  Peoples,  and 
the  causes  leading  to  the  fatal  event.  General  Voris  concluded  as  fol- 
low^s:  "  We  expect  to  show  that  the  seeds  of  insanity  w^ere  planted 
in  his  system  by  the  laws  that  gave  him  existence,  and  from  maternal 
and  paternal  ancestors;  that  in  the  Summer  of  1863,  while  struggling 
on  the  fated  field  of  Chickamauga,  he  had  a  sun-stroke  from  which 
he  never  fully  recovered;  that  he  was  laboring  under  delusions 
at  the  time  of  the  alleged  homicide;  that  whatever  he  may  have 
done  on  the  16th  day  of  July  last,  and  however  atrocious  his  acts 
may  appear  to  have  been,  they  v^^ere  the  offspring  or  product  of  an 
insane  mind,  overpowered  by  the  overwhelming  miseries  that 
fiercely  took  possession  of  this  unfortunate  man." 

Examination  of  Witnesses,— Witnesses  in  chief,  on  behalf  of 
the  State,  were  introduced  as  foUow^s:  Daniel  Peck,  Mrs.  New^ell 
Stocker,  Miss  Dustine  Stocker,  John  H.  Johnson,  Lorenzo  Seeley, 
Dr.  Sumner  Pixley,  Merill  Boody,  John  Cole,  Otis  W.  Fitts,  Dr. 
Elwyn  Humphrey  and  Wallace  Humphrey,  a  day  and  a-half  being 
occupied  in  their  examination. 

The  w^itnesses  for  the  defense  were:  Merrill  Boody,  Dr.  Sum- 
ner Pixley,  Dr.  William  Bowen,  J.  B.  Lambert,  Harmon  Graves,  E. 
S.  Washburn  (father  of  the*  prisoner),  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Washburn 
(mother  of  accused),  Ellen  Elizabeth  Washburn  (wife  of  the 
accused,  but  who,  being  objected  to  by  the  State,  was  ruled  out), 
Vendruth  D.  Washburn  (the  defendant).  Dr.  A.  E.  Ewing,  Dr.  Will- 
iam Bowen,  about  the  same  time  being  consumed  in  the  exami- 
nation in  chief  and  cross-examination  as  for  the  State. 

Testimony  in  Rebuttal. — Though  interposing  the  plea  of 
justifiable  homicide,  the  entire  effort  of  the  defense  was  to  establish 
their  theory  of  the  mental  unsoundness  of  their  client,  and  his 
lack  of  responsibility  for  the  act  ^which  he  had  perpetrated.  In 
rebuttal,  to  controvert  the  insanity  hypothesis,  witnesses  w^ere 
introduced  as  follows:  James  W.  Lockert,  George  Greenleese,  S. 
M.  Campbell,  John  Cole,  Dr.  W.  C.  Jacobs,  Sidney  P.  Conger, 
Alexander  Snow,  Holland  Sno\\r,  Jane  Kelly  (sister  of  the  defen- 
dant's wife),  Dr.  George  P.  Ashmun,  Dr.  Thomas  McEbright, 
Charles  Lemoin,  Warren  S.  Wicks,  John  Chapman,  William  Chap- 
man, Dr.  C.  F.  H.  Biggs,  James  Black,  Peter  Baumgardner,  James 
Brittain,  A.  J.  Sovacool,  V.  C.  Carpenter,  M.  B.  Roach,  E.  D.  Han- 
cock, Henry  S.  Barnhart,  Levi  Newell,  Patrick  Agnew,  Charles 
Reed,  Thomas  Smith  and  J.  C.  Templeton. 


ARGUMENTS   OF  COUNSEL — CHARGE,   ETC.  691 

Arguments  of  Counsel. — Testimony  closed  on  Monday  even- 
ing, the  seventh  day  of  the  trial.  On  Tuesday  morning.  Governor 
Edgerton  addressed  the  jury,  on  behalf  of  the  State,  for  about  two 
hours  in  a  full  and  candid  review  of  the  circumstances  attending 
the  homicide,  and  of  the  evidence  tending  to  show  that  the  crime 
was  not  only  deliberately  planned,  but  inexorably  carried  out; 
giving  especial  emphasis  to  the  increasing  tendency  and  the 
imminent  danger  of  interposing  the  plea  of  insanity  as  an  excuse 
for  the  perpetration  of  the  most  flagrant  and  ruthless  crimes. 

Hon.  Henry  McKinney  followed  in  a  very  lucid  analysis  of  the 
testimony  bearing  upon  the  mental  derangement  of  the  accused, 
and  of  the  effect  that  the  real  or  supi^osed  invasion  of  his  marital 
rights,  w^ould  be  likely  to  have  upon  a  sensitive  mind,  especially 
a  mind  predisposed  to  insanity  by  hereditary  taint. 

General  Voris  followed  his  colleague,  on  the  defense,  by  a  full  and 
clear  presentation  of  authorities  on  the  subject  of  insanity  and 
its  relation  to  crime,  and  in  an  earnest,  eloquent  and  solemn 
appeal  to  the  jury  for  the  acquittal  of  his  unfortunate,  rather  than 
criminal,  client. 

Prosecuting  Attorney  Kohler,  closing  on  behalf  of  the  State, 
gave  a  brief  but  perspicuous  review^  of  the  laws  governing  the 
trials  for  homicide,  the  utter  fallacy  of  the  theory  of  insanity, 
either  hereditary  or  iftipulsive,  as  applicable  to  the  case  on 
trial,  because  of  the  manifest  planning  and  deliberation — the  pro- 
<!uring  of  the  ammunition  and  the  careful  cleaning  and  loading  of 
the  revolver,  nearly  a  week  in  advance;  the  sending  away  of  his 
children:  the  pursuit  of  his  wounded  victim  when  he  was  fleeing 
from  his  murderous  fury,  and  the  ruthless  sending  of  a  bullet 
through  his  brain  while  already  in  the  agonies  of  death;  and  of 
his  preconceived  line  of  defense,  by  saying  to  one  doctor,  "there  is 
another  McFarland  affair,"  and  inquiring  of  another,  while  return- 
ing from  holding  an  autopsy  upon  his  victim,  whether  the  treat- 
ment he  had  received  at  the  hands  of  the  man  he  had  slain 
would  be  considered  enough  to  drive  him  insane,  etc.,  all  pointing 
to  a  most  deliberate  and  malicious  murder;  closing  with  a  most 
powerful  appeal  to  the  jury  to  do  full  and  impartial  justice 
between  the  accused  and  the  State,  to  the  end  that  her  laws  should 
be  vindicated  and  her  citizens  protected  in  their  persons  and  their 
lives. 

Judge  Boynton's  Charge. — Judge  Boynton  occupied  about  an 
hour  in  delivering  his  charge  to  the  jury,  carefully  defining  the 
several  degrees  of  homicide,  and  the  law  applicable  thereto,  and 
especially  when  hereditary  insanity  or  uncontrollable  impulse  is 
interposed  as  a  defense,  closing  as  follows: 

"In  view  of  what  was  said  to  you  by  one  of  the  counsel  for  the 
defense,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  say  that  public  sentiment  is  not  the 
law  of  the  land.  It  may  be  made  so  by  legislation,  but  until  so 
made  it  should  be  entirely  disregarded  in  courts  of  justice.  The 
personal  safety  of  the  victim— the  common  welfare  of  the  com- 
munity, and  the  social  order  of  the  State,  alike  demand  that  the 
law,  as  it  is,  should  be  strictly  enforced.  The  result  to  be  reached 
by  you  should  be  controlled  bv^  and  arise  from,  an  honest,  careful 
and  dispassionate  consideration  of  the  evidence,  and  by  that  only. 
That  the  accused  took  the  life  of  Charles  Peoples  is  conceded.  If 
he  was  insane  when  he  fired  the  fatal  shot,  as  I  have  before  said 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

to  you,  you  should  acquit  him.  If  not,  and  you  are  clearly  satis- 
fied of  his  guilt,  it  is  your  duty,  equally  solemn  and  binding,  to  so- 
declare  by  your  verdict." 

The  Verdict,  Sentence,  Etc. — Under  the  charge  of  Judge 
Boynton,  after  a  fe>v  hours'  deliberation,  the  jury  returned  their 
verdict  as  follows:  "We,  the  jury,  impaneled  and  sworn  to  well 
and  truly  try,  and  true  deliverance  make  between  the  State  of 
Ohio  and  the  prisoner  at  the  bar,  Vendruth  D.  Washburn,  do  find 
him  guilty  of  murder  in  the  second  degree.  Kdwin  R.  Newell, 
foreman," 

Counsel  for  the  defense  having  achieved  the  main  object  of 
their  efforts,  in  reducing  the  verdict  from  the  first  to  the  second 
degree,  thus  averting  the  death  penalty  from  their  client,  inter- 
posed no  motion  for  a  nevir  trial,  or  arrest  of  judgment,  by  proceed- 
ings in  error,  and  on  Mondaj^,  November  21,  1870,  the  prisoner  w^as^ 
brought  into  court  for  sentence.  On  being  asked  the  usual  ques- 
tion by  Judge  Boynton  as  to  whether  he  had  anything  to  say  why 
the  sentence  of  the  law  should  not  be  pronounced  against  him  in 
accordance  with  the  verdict,  the  prisoner  passed  up  to  the  judge  a 
slip  of  paper,  on  which  was  written  a  request  for  a  private  inter- 
view w^ith  the  judge.  On  reading  it  Judge  Boynton  said  that  he 
could  not  grant  the  request,  but  that  the  prisoner,  by  himself  or 
his  counsel,  could  make  any  statement  he  desired,  whereupon 
Washburn  then  said: 

"I  claim  that  justice  has  not  been  done  me.  I  don't  know 
much  about  law,  for  I  never  read  much,  but  I  know  that  any  man 
would  do  just  as  I  did  under  the  same  circumstances.  There  was 
enough  reason  for  my  doing  as  I  did.  I  have  served  my  country 
several  years,  but  I  don't  know  as  the  lives  I  have  saved,  and  the 
service  I  have  done  the  government,  and  the  sufferings  I  have  gone 
through,  w^ill  make  any  difference  with  what  will  be  done  wdth 
me  in  this  case.  When  I  shot  it  w^as  under  an  impulse  that  I  could 
not  resist,  and  I  don't  think  that  I  ought  to  be  held  responsible,  for  I 
couldn't  help  it.  I  think  I  ought  to  have  a  new  trial.  This  would 
be  right  and  fair,  for  the  judge  and  jury  that  tried  me  would  have 
done  just  as  I  did.     It  is  unjust  to  punish  me  for  what  I  did." 

Judge  Boynton,  continuing  said:  "However  brave  you  may 
have  been  in  defense  of  the  government  furnishes  no  reason  to 
treat  lightly  the  crime  of  which  you  stand  convicted.  The  man 
w^ho  shoots  another  must  suffer  the  penalty  the  law  has  affixed  to 
the  crime.  From  the  evidence  offered  in  the  case,  it  seems  that 
you  were  bent  on  killing  Peoples.  You  got  him  into  your  house, 
aw^ay  from  all  help,  closed  the  door,  took  down  the  pistol  from 
w^here  it  w^as  hanging,  and,  as  your  victim  Avas  hitching  along  the 
lounge  towards  the  door,  in  the  vain  hope  of  escaping,  you  delib- 
erately shot  him,  and  follovsred  him,  shooting  again  and  again.  In 
passing  sentence  upon  you,  the  court  has  no  discretion.  The 
statute  prescribes  the  punishment  for  murder  in  the  second 
degree,  of  w^hich  crime  the  jury  have  found  you  guilty,  w^hich 
punishment  is  imprisonment  in  the  State's  prison  for  the  term  of 
your  natural  life.  It  is,  therefore,  the  judgment  of  this  court  that 
you  be  taken  hence  to  the  jail  of  the  county,  and  thence,  within 
thirty  days,  to  the  penitentiary,  there  to  be  confined  during  your 
natural  life.  It  is  no  part  of  the  sentence  of  this  court  that  you  be 
put  into  solitary  confinement." 


IN    PRISON — DIVORCE,    ETC.  693 

Conduct  of  the  Prisoner.— The  bearing  of  the  prisoner  in  jail 
Siad  been  generally  pacific  and  amiable  up  to  the  finding  of  the 
verdict  of  the  jury  and  the  certainty  that  a  new  trial  would  not  be 
granted.  He  then  became  somewhat  ill-natured,  and  on  going 
from  the  jail  to  the  court  house  to  receive  his  sentence,  stoutly 
resisted  Sheriff  Curtiss  and  his  deputy  in  their  attempt  to  lock  arms 
Avith  him.  He  also  became  a  good  deal  agitated  during  the 
•delivery  of  the  sentence,  by  Judge  Boynton,  but  quietly  accom- 
panied the  officers  back  to  jail. 

In  the  Penitentiary. — From  this  time  on,  while  awaiting 
transportation  to  Columbus,  the  prisoner  was  somew^hat  morose 
and  irritable,  and  on  starting  with  him,  on  November  28,  1870,  the 
sheriff  anticipated  considerable  trouble  on  the  way,  but  was 
happily  disappointed,  the  prisoner,  having  evidently  concluded  to 
submit  to  the  inevitable  w^ith  the  best  grace  possible,  being  per- 
fectly quiet  and  amiable  throughout  the  entire  journey.  The 
total  cost  of  the  trial  (exclusive  of  transportation  fees),  paid  by  the 
state  treasurer  to  Sheriff  Curtiss,  was  $734.05. 

His  Prison  Deportment. — For  twenty-one  years  has  Vendruth 
Washburn  been  separated  from  the  world  by  the  gloomy  w^alls 
of  his  prison-house,  and  though  he  is  reported  by  the  prison 
officers  to  have  a  clean  record  as  to  deportment  and  conformity  to 
prison  rules,  he  is  very  restive  under  his  protracted  confinement, 
as  is  evidenced  by  the  earnest  appeals  that  he  has  from  titne  to 
time  made  to  his  counsel,  and  others,  to  intervene  in  his  behalf  in  an 
effort  to  secure  a  pardon,  still  claiming  that,  admitting  his  sanity 
at  the  commission  of  the  act  for  which  he  w^as  convicted,  he  has 
been  sufficiently  punished  for  visiting  summary  vengeance  upon 
the  invader  of  his  domestic  rights  and  marital  sanctities. 

Petition  For  Divorce — Curious  Answer. — The  wife,  Ellen 
Elizabeth  Washburn,  remained  true  to  her  original  marital  rela- 
tions for  nearly  four  years,  when,  on  the  7th  day  of  October,  1874, 
through  her  attorney,  William  McNeil,  Esq.,  she  filed  her  petition 
in  the  court  of  Common  Pleas,  setting  forth  that  ever  since  her 
marriage  to  the  said  Vendruth  D.  Washburn,  on  the  5th  day  of 
October,  1865,  she  had  conducted  herself  toward  him  as  a  "faithful 
and  obedient  wife;"  and,  after  reciting  the  fact  of  his  conviction, 
sentence  and  incarceration  in  the  penitentiary,  asking  that  she 
might  be  divorced,  with  custody  of  children,  etc. 

A  copy  of  this  petition,  accompanied  by  the  usual  summons, 
w^as  duly  served  upon  Washburn  in  the  penitentiary,  by  the  sheriff 
of  Franklin  county.  Washburn  at  once  returned  the  copy  of  the 
petition  to  County  Clerk  George  W.  Weeks,  with  the  following 
request  endorsed  thereon: 

State  Prison,  Columbus,  Ohio,   ) 
October  27, 1874.         ) 

Geo.  W.  Weeks,  Esq. — Sir  :  I  write  a  few  lines  which  1  request  you  to 
read  to  the  court  in  the  presence  of  the  plaintiff,  Ellen  E.  Washburn  : 

I,  V.  D.  Washburn,  defendant ,  ask  that  the  plaintiff  above  named  with- 
draw her  petition  for  divorce.  First,  because  she  cannot  obtain  the  divorce 
without  committing-  the  crime  of  perjury;  she  cannot  truthfully  affirm  that 
she  has  been  a  true  and  a  faithful  and  obedient  wife  of  Defendant  V.  D. 
Washburn.  Second,  for  her  to  obtain  a  divorce  under  suclbcircumstances  as 
exist  in  this  case,  and  to  marry  ag-ain  is  for  her  to  live  in  adulterJ^  Third, 
if  she  persists  in  pressing  the  suit  for  divorce,  it  may  compel  me  to  reveal 
that  which  will  be  seriously  to  her  disadvantage  ;  it  may  bring-  her  to  the 
same  humiliating  position  in  which  I  am  now  placed.     Fourth,  I  still  have 


694 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


80  great  a  degree  of  regard  for  the  tnother  of  my  children  as  to  desire  her 
best  good,  and  to  desire  that  she  commit  no  further  crime.  Fifth,  I  do- 
therefore  send  her  this  soleinn  warning — warning  her  to  turn  from  sin  and 
from  crime,  and  to  escape  temporal  and  eternal  punishiuent  before  it  is  ever- 
lastingly too  late  *  *  *  before  she  drags  herself  and  her  own  flesh  and 
blood  down  to  the  world  of  eternal  woe.  I  have  warned  you,  my  once  loved 
wife.    Beware!     Beware!     BEWARE! 

V.  D.  Washburn. 

Decree  of  Divorce  Granted. — Yet,  notveithstanding  this 
solemn  warning,  the  petition  w^as  not  w^ithdraw^n,  and  the  decree 
of  divorce  was  duly  granted,  with  the  custody  of  the  children,  then 
eight  and  six  years  old,  respectivel}^  confirmed  to  the  mother. 
Mrs.  Washburn  was  subsequently  married  to  Mr.  James  Hall,  of 
Boston  tow^nship,  with  whom  she  is  still  living.  The  tw^o  daugh- 
ters, noAV  grown  to  womanhood,  -with  commendable  perseverance^ 
in  the  face  of  poverty  and  the  odium  inseparable  from  the  wrong- 
doing and  misfortunes  of  the  father,  have  secured  for  themselves 
a  first-class  education,  with  a  view  of  teaching,  and  are  both  highly 
respected  by  all  who  know  them. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

COPLEY  IN  EMBKYO— TOPOGRAPHY — THE  BIG  SWAMP—A  GAMY  LOCALITY — 
DANGER  AND  DEATH  THERE,  TOO— EFFORTS  AT  RECLAMATION—EARLY 
SETTLEMENT  ORGANIZATION,  ETC.— GROWTH,  POPULATION,  ETC.— BUSINESS 
STATUS  "SPIRIT"  MANIFESTATIONS-  PIONEER  TEMPERANCE  SOCIETY- 
EDUCATION  AND  RELIGION  —  MILITARY  RECORD  —  COPLEY  IN  PUBLIC 
OFFICE— HER   NEW   RAILROAD— INSANE   HOMICIDE,  ETC. 

THE  STARTING  POINT. 

IDREVIOUS  to  the  erection  of  Summit  county,  in  1840,  Copley 
-■-  was  part  and  parcel  of  Medina  county,  w^hich,  though  desig- 
nated as  a  separate  county,  was  legally  associated  with  Portage 
county  until  its  ow^n  distinct  organization,  in  1818.  -Copley  was 
originally  a  part  of  w^hat  w^as  designated  as  Wolf  Creek  township, 
embracing  the  present  townships  of  Copley,  Norton,  Wadsw^orth, 
Sharon,  Guilford,  and  Montville.  In  the  original  survey,  Copley 
w^as  officially  known  as  "Township  2,  Range  12,  of  the  Western 
Reserve,"  and  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Bath,  east  by  Portage, 
south  by  Norton  and  west  by  Sharon. 

Topographical. — Though  not  bordered  upon,  or  traversed  by, 
any  considerable  streams  of  water,  like  some  of  the  tow^nships  both 
north  and  south  of  it,  quite  a  large  proportion  of  the  tow^nship 
originally  was,  and  in  fact  still  is,  quite  wet.  Pigeon  Creek, 
Chocolog  Creek  and  Wolf  Creek  traversing  nearly  its  entire  length 
and  breadth,  from  the  north  and  w^est,  culminating  in  a  succession 
of  ponds  and  marshes,  pretty  generally  known  as  Copley  swamp, 
but  embracing  about  equal  proportions  of  Copley,  Portage  and 
Norton  tow^nships. 

Upon  the  confines  of  this  swamp,  on  the  west  side,  are  three 
quite  extensive  bodies  of  water,  designated,  respectively,  Chocolog 
Pond,  White  Pond  and  Black  Pond,  w^hich  in  the  past  have  afforded 
fine  sporting  grounds  for  the  hunters  and  fishermen  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. White  Pond,  in  later  years,  furnishing  large  quantities  of 
the  very  purest  ice  for  the  Akron  market. 

There  Was  Sport  in  Those  Days. — Besides  the  several  vari- 
eties of  fish  and  small  game  formerly  abounding  in  and  about  the 
ponds  in  question,  the  swamp,  every  Autumn,  for  inanj'  years, 
swarmed  with  myriads  of  pigeons,  of  w^hich  thousands  upon  thou- 
sands were  captured  and  slaughtered  annually  by  the  surrounding 
inhabitants.  At  an  early  day,  also,  larger  game — w^olves,  bears, 
deer,  w^ild-turkeys,  etc., — was  abundant,  a  circular  hunt  occurring 
in  December,  1821,  in  w^hich  some  2(X)  persons  participated,  sur- 
rounding Copley  sw^amp,  and  at  a  given  signal  marching  towards 
the  center.  The  result  of  the  day's  ^vork,  according  to  the  recol- 
lection of  the  late  Julius  A.  Sumner,  was  the  killing  of  75  deer, 
four  bears  and  two  wolves,  and,  according  to  the  recollection  of  the 
late  Avery  Spicer,  (whose  father.  Major  Miner  Spicer,  w^as  one  of 
the  chief  managers  of  the  hunt),  100  deer,  18  bears  and  two  wolves, 
besides  a  great  variety  of  smaller  game. 


696 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


DR.  BYRON  CHAPMAN— son  of 
Ashbel  and  Polly  (Lane)  Chap- 
man, was  born  near  Skeneatteles,  N. 
Y.,  January  8,  1822;  at  the  ag-e  of  13,  in 
1835,  came  with  parents  to  Ohio,  set- 
tling" in  Coplej';  raised  on  farm  with 
common  school  education;  at  22, 
commenced  the  study  of  medicine 
with  his  brother  William,  then  prac- 
ticing in  Coplej',  attending  lectures 
two  terins  in  Cleveland  Medical  Col- 
lege, from  which  he  was  g-raduated 
in  March,  1847.  Dr.  William  Chapman 
dying,  soon  after  his  graduation,  he 
took  charge  of  his  brother's  patients 
and  has  been  in  constant  and  suc- 
cessful practice  in  Cople}'  and  vicin- 
ity ever  since.  Deceinber  23,  1847,  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Matilda  A.  Dils, 
of  New  Hudson,  Oakland  count3', 
Michigan,  a  native  of  Cajniga  county, 
New  York,  who  has  borne  him 
two  children — Willis  D.,  whose  por- 
trait and  biogfraphy  w^ill  be  found 
elsewhere,  and  Fanny  P.,  widow  of 
the  late  Albert  E.  Heistand,  now  liv- 
ing with  her  father  in  Cople3'. 
Though  an  ardent  Republican,  Dr. 
Chapman  has  never  sought  or  held 
office,  excepting  those  of  treasurer 
of  his  township  and  of  postmaster, 
but  has  ever  been  active  in  promot- 
ing the  educational  and  moral  inter- 


DK.  BYRON  CHAPMAN. 

ests  of  the  county,  state  and  nation, 
being  especially  efficient  in  supplj'- 
ing  the  government  with  the  sinews 
of  war,  during  the  great  slaveholder's 
rebellion. 


For  several  j^ears  after  the  writer  came  here,  (1835),  each 
recurring  Winter  would  bring  to  the  Akron  market  a  liberal  sup- 
ply of  v-enison  and  wild  turkey  from  the  Copley  swamp,  and  less 
than  thirty  years  ago  a  fine  deer  was  driven  from  the  swamp, 
and  after  circling  around  toward  New  Portage,  and  again  north- 
ward toward  Akron,  was  finally  brought  to  bay  and  killed  upon 
what  was  then  designated  as  the  "Island,"  between  Manning's 
Pond  and  Summit  Lake,  but  by  whom  is  not  now  rememliered; 
an  occasional  turkey  having  been  gathered  in  in  still  later  years. 

There  Were  Perils  There,  Also. — Though  there  are  many 
quite  extensive  areas  of  solid  land,  called  islands,  in  different  por- 
tions of  the  swamp,  much  of  it  was  extremely  soft  and  miry, 
especially  in  the  rainy  seasons  of  the  year.  Thus  it  was  quite  haz- 
ardous traveling  through  it,  except  in  cold  w^eather,  and  even  then, 
persons  inexperienced  in  woodcraft  were  in  imminent  danger  of 
becoming  lost,  many  instances  occurring  w^here  parties,  thus 
becoming  bewildered,  have  undergone  considerable  hardship 
before  finding  their  way  out,  the  universal  tendency,  it  is  said,  of 
persons  thus  lost,  being  to  travel  in  a  circle,  instead  of  in  a  straight 
line  in  any  desired  given  direction. 

It  is  not  now  remembered  that  loss  of  life  to  anj'^  adult  per- 
son ever  resulted  from  thus  becoming  bewildered  in  the  swamp, 
though  some  thirty  years  ago,  the  sad  death  of  a  six-year-old  boy 
occurred  therein,  under  the  following  circumstances:  Doctor 
Henry  Hetrick,  since  a  resident  of  Copley,  in  1861,  lived  near  the 
north  line  of  Coventry,  west  of  the  canal.  A  little  six-year-old  son 
of  Mrs.  Hetrick  (formerly  Mrs.  Houck)  was  living  with  an  uncle 
near  East  Liberty,  in  Green  township,  some  seven  miles  to  the 


NAME   OF   TOWNSHIP,    SETTLEMENT,    ETC.  697 

southeast.  On  Friday,  July  26,  little  Benny,  being  sent  by  his 
uncle  to  Watch  the  barn  door  to  keep  the  hogs  out,  while  the  farm 
hands  were  in  the  field  after  a  load  of  grain,  being  probably  seized 
w^ith  a  desire  to  see  his  mother,  unnoticed  by  the  family,  started  off 
in  the  direction  of  her  Coventry  home.  He  seems  to  have  traversed 
the  rather  difficult  route  correctly,  until  within  a  few  rods  of  his 
mother's  house,  when,  seeing  a  neighbor  at  his  gate,  being  of  a 
timid  nature,  the  little  fellow  climed  over  the  fence,  as  if  to  reach 
the  house  through  the  back  lot.  The  supposition  is  that  he  was 
unable  to  recognize  his  home  from  the  rear,  and  wandered  on,, 
climbing  into  the  road  beyond,  the  last  seen  of  him  alive  being  on 
Sherbondy  hill,  on  the  road  to  Loyal  Oak. 

The  Search^Fouxd  Dead. — The  parents  supposing  that  the 
child  was  still  at  his  uncle's,  and  the  uncle  supposing  that  he  was 
at  his  mother's,  several  days  elapsed  before  it  Avas  known  that  he 
was  missing.  Then  a  vigorous  search  was  instituted  by  the  fam- 
ily and  neighbors,  which  was  kept  up  for  about  ten  days,  but 
w^ithout  obtaining  any  clue  w4iatever,  other  than  above  indicated. 
On  Wednesday,  August  14,  some  twenty  days  after  his  disappear- 
ance, Curtis  Robinson  and  Abner  and  William  Scranton,  -while 
hunting  in  the  swamp,  found  the  dead  body  of  the  little  wanderer 
about  eighty  rods  south  of  Black  Pond,  the  child  evidently  having 
followed  the  ditch  leading  from  the  pond  to  Pigeon  Creek,  until 
he  sank  exhausted  do\vn  to  death.  The  body  -was  in  such  a  stage 
of  decomposition  as  to  be  recognized  only  by  its  clothing.  The 
parents  were  promptly  notified,  a  coffin  procured,  and  the  remains 
removed  to  the  family  residence,  Avhere  the  funeral  was  largely 
attended  by  sympathizing  friends  and  neighbors  on  Thursday, 
August  15. 

EfforTvS  at  Reclamation. — An  immense  amount  of  time  and 
money  have  already  been  expended  in  the  construction  of  public 
roads  through  different  portions  of  this  swamp,  and  in  ditching 
and  other  efforts  to  utilize  these  swamp  lands  for  grazing  and 
agricultural  purposes,  and  several  hundred  acres  have  thus  far 
been  reclaimed  and  put  under  cultivation.  But  owing  to  the 
peculiar  construction  of  the  Ohio  Canal,  near  the  junction  of  Wolf 
Creek  and  the  Tuscarawas  river,  the  full  benefit  of  the  reclamation 
project  b^'  drainage  has  not  yet  been  secured.  Through  the  efforts  of 
Senator  J.  Park  Alexander  and  Representative  Henry  C.  Sanford, 
the  Legislature  has  authorized  the  construction  of  a  culvert  under 
the  canal,  for  the  purpose  of  running  said  surplus  water  into  the 
Tuscarawas  river,  which,  if  successful,  it  is  confidently  expected 
will  add  several  thousand  acres  to  the  tillable  and  taxable  lands  of 
the  several  tow^nships  interested. 

A  "Lordly"  Name. — In  the  distribution  of  the  lands  of  the 
Western  Reserve,  Township  2,  Range  12,  fell  principally  to  one 
Gardner  Green,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  and  was  at  first  called  Greenfield, 
but  was  afterwards  changed  by  Mr.  Green  to  Copley,  in  honor  of 
his  wife,  whose  inaiden  name  was  Copley,  said  to  have  been  a 
lineal  descendant  of  Lord  Copley,  of  England.  Thus,  though 
largely  Republican  in  politics,  and  eminently  Democratic  in 
thought  and  habit,  the  good  people  of  Copley  can  justly  boast  that, 
in  name  at  least,  their  township  is  a  veritable  "  sprig  of  nobility." 

When  and  by  Whom  Settled. — The  first  actual  white  settler 
in  the  township,  is  believed  to  have  been  Jonah  Turner,  a  native 


698 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


of  Pennsylvania,  who,  in  1814,  located  on  "Stony  Ridge,"  about 
two  miles  w^est  of  Montrose.  Turner  was  a  member  of  Major  Crog- 
han's  battalion,  in  the  w^ar  of  1812,  and  is  said  to  have  selected  this 
location  while  encamped  near  by,  on  the  march  of  the  battalion 
from  Pittsburg  to  Fort  Stephenson,  at  Low^er  Sandusky,  in  the 
Summer  of  1813,  w^here,  w^ith  a  garrison  of  but  150  men,  and  a  single 
cannon,  such  a  gallant  and  successful  defense  was  made  against 
500  British  troops,  and  about  the  same  number  of  Indians  and  six 
pieces  of  artillery,  under  the  veteran  General  Proctor— Major 
Croghan  being  then  but  21  years  of  age. 

From  the  fact  that  the  Indians  of  this  vicinity  vanished  with 
the  breaking  out  of  the  w^ar,  allying  themselves  -with  the  British 
forces  as  above  indicated,  and  the  further  fact  that  Copley  was  not 
settled  as  early  as  many  of  the  other  townships  of  the  county,  no- 
stories  of  collisions  betw^een  Avhite  and  red  men,  are  to  be  found, 
among  the  traditionary  lore  of  this  toAvnship. 


T  UT.HER  H.  PARMELEE.-son  of 
-L'  Elisha  and  Roxa  (Stanley)  Par- 
melee,  natives  of  Goshen,  Conn.,  was 
born  in  Mt.  Morris, Livingston  connty, 
N.  Y.,  August  13,  1812;  educated  at 
Batavia,  Genesee  county',  N.  Y.;  at  17 
engaged  in  clerking  in  Westfield, 
Chautauqua  county,  N.  Y.;  February, 
1832  came  with  familj'  to  Hudson, 
Ohio,  working  on  father's  farm  Sum- 
mers and  teaching  school  Winters; 
in  Spring  of  1835,  entered  store  of 
Oviatt  &  Baldwin,  at  Copley  Center, 
as  clerk;  in  1838  formed  mercantile 
partnership  with  Leavitt  Weeks,  con- 
tinuing until  1845,  when  he  reinoved 
to  Akron,  where  he  resided  10  years. 
Maj^  14,  1838,  Mr.  Parmelee  was  mar- 
ried in  Copley,  to  Miss  Tamma  In- 
gersoll,  daughter  of  Noah  and  Mary 
(Stickels)  Ingersoll,  who  has  borne 
hiin  seven  children — Helen  E.,  wife  of 
George  O.  Rice,  of  Kent;  Walter  M., 
Caroline  G.,  wife  of  A.  L.  Ewell,  of 
Kent;  Luther  H.  (deceased);  Mary  H., 
wife  Henrj^  C.  Rea,  of  Kent;  Frank  H., 
of  Kent,  and  Roxa  S.,  wife  of  W.  I. 
Caris,  of  Kent;  the  family  having 
removed  to  Kent  in  the  Fall  of  18.55. 
While  a  resident  of  Copley,  Mr.  Par- 
melee served  as  township  clerk, 
assessor,  trustee  and  meinber  of 
board  of  education,  and  since  resid- 
ing in  Kent  has  held  the  offices  of 
township  trustee,  clerk,  school 
director,  justice  of  the  peace,  mem- 


LUTHER   H.  PARMELEE. 


ber  of  the  board  of  education  and' 
treasurer,  village  councilinan,  re- 
corder, treasurer,  treasurer  of  union 
school  board,  county  commissioner,, 
county  coroner,  cashier  of  the  Kent 
Savings  and  Loan  Association  and 
treasurer  of  Portage  and  Summit 
Pioneer  Association. 


It  will  be  impossible  to  give  the  names  of  all  the  early  settlers 
in  the  tow^nship,  but  of  those  coming  thither  previous  to  1820  w^e 
may  mention  the  following:  George  Hawkins,  1815;  Lawrence 
More,  1816;  Allen  Bosworth,  1817;  Jacob  Spafford,  Nathaniel  Davi» 
and  Jonathan  Starr,  1818,  and  Chester  Orcutt,  1819. 

Copley  w^as  organized,  as  a  distinct  tow^nship,  in  July  1819,  one 
year,  only,  after  the  organization  of  Medina  county,  of  w^hich  it 
w^as  then  a  part.     The  election   records  are  not  now  in  existence. 


,  GROWTH,    POPULATION,    ETC.  699 

and  it  is  not  remembered  by  any  of  the  present  residents  of  the 
township  who  the  original  officers  of  the  township  were,  though 
it  is  quite  certain  that  Mr.  Jonathan  Starr  w^as  the  first  town  clerk,, 
as  well  as  the  first  justice  of  the  peace  (elected  in  1820),  though 
Mr.  Law^rence  More,  w^ho  had  been  previously  elected  by  the  sev- 
eral associated  townships  above  named,  continued  to  act  until  the 
close  of  his  term. 

Growth,  Population,  Etc. — After  its  organization,  settlement, 
by  sturdy  and  enterprising  emigrants,  mostly  from  New  England, 
but  with  a  healthy  mixture  from  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  New 
Jersey  and  other  States,  was  quite  rapid,  so  that,  by  1835,  the  town- 
ship was  nearly,  if  not  quite,  as  populous  as  it  is  now.  The  census  of 
184()  gave  it  a  population  of  1,439,  while  that  of  1880  made  the 
number  but  1,337  (being  a  shrinkage,  in  the  forty  intervening  years, 
of  102  souls),  while  the  census  of  1890  credits  the  tow^nship  with 
1,321 ,  a  loss  of  16  during  the  decade — a  condition  of  things  accounted 
for  in  the  fact  that  the  services  of  the  timber-slasher  and  log- 
burner  are  no  longer  needed;  and  in  the  still  further  fact  that  the 
labor  of  the  country  has  been  largely  transferred  from  the  farm  to- 
the  work-shop,  for  the  fabrication  of  labor-saving  agricultural 
implements;  aided,  too,  by  the  concentration  of  mercantile  and 
mechanical  operations,  that  used  to  be  done  at  tow^nship  centers^ 
in  the  larger  villages  and  cities. 

Copley's  Business  Status. — Aside  from  the  sw^ampy  portion  of 
the  township,  described  above,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  stony 
ridges  in  different  localities,  the  land  is  of  a  gently  rolling  con- 
formation, and  of  a  general  fertility  equal  to  that  of  any  other 
township  on  the  Reserve;  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  its  farms  are  as 
well  tilled  and  cared  for,  and  its  farm  buildings  as  commodious 
and  carefully  kept,  as  those  of  anj^  other  community  in'Ohio.^ 
Copley  tnay,  therefore,  emphatically  be  called  an  agricultural 
township,  producing,  in  abundance,  nearly  every  species  of  grain,, 
vegetables  and  fruit  known  to  this  climate,  as  well  as  some  of  the 
very  best  stock  raised  in  Northern  Ohio. 

In  the  center^of  the  town  is  a  hotel,  store,  postoffice,  and  sundry 
mechanical  establishments,  though  for  reasons  stated  above,  these 
branches  of  business  are  on  a  much  smaller  scale  than  forty  years- 
ago.  Though  abounding  in  w^ater,  Copley  never  possessed  any 
considerable  amount  of  machiner^^-propelling  water  power,  the 
Zeigler  Flouring  Mill,  on  Wolf  Creek,  two  miles  south  of  the  cen- 
ter, originally  erected  by  Allen  Pardee,  being  the  only  permanent 
establishment  of  the  kind  in  the  township.  One  or  two  grist  mill& 
also  had  an  early  brief  existence,  while  quite  an  extensive  steam- 
driven  flour  mill,  with  three  run  of  stones,  was  established  at  the 
center  about  1858,  by  the  late  John  C.  Stearns,  and  Darwin  Clarke, 
which,  after  a  fairly  successful  run  of  about  two  j^ears,  was  unfor- 
tunately destroyed  by  fire,  and  never  rebuilt.  Quite  a  number  of 
sawmills  have  also  existed  from  time  to  time  in  the  tow^nshii), 
driven  by  both  water  and  steam  power,  some  of  w^hich^ — notably 
that  of  Mr.  William  C.  Sackett,  on  the  eastern  line  of  the  township 
— did  quite  an  extensive  business  for  several  years,  but  most  of 
them  are  now^  a  memory  only. 

The  manufacture  of  "  black  salts,"  or  potash,  was  also  Cj[uite  an 
industry  in  Copley,  and  surrounding  townships,  during  the  early 
forest-slashing  period,   "asheries"  being  then  quite  common,  the 


700 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


product,  in  large,  tight  casks,  finding  a  market  in  Pittsburg  (by 
w^agon),  previous  to  the  opening  of  the  Ohio  Canal,  and  afterwards 
in  Cleveland,  Buffalo  and  other  points  further  east. 

"  Evil  Spirits"  did  there  Abound. — The  fabrication  of  whisky, 
too,  "was  one  of  Copley's  most  prominent  early  "industries,"  some- 
thing like  a  dozen  distilleries  having  been  erected  at  different 
points  within  the  limits  of  the  township,  some  of  them  turning  out 
as  high  as  50  gallons  per  day,  and  one  of  them  continuing  in  oper- 
tion  as  late  as  about  1850. 

Though  some  of  these  establishments  were  a  source  of  consid- 
erable wealth  to  their  proprietors,  and  incidentally  pecuniarily 
beneficial  to  some  of  the  neighboring  farmers,  it  Avas  early  discov- 
ered, by  the  more  thoughtful  inhabitants  that  they  were  sadly 
interfering  with  the  industrious  habits  of  others,  and  rapidly 
sowing  the  seeds  or  immorality  and  disorder  in  the  community. 


WILLIAM  JOHNSTON.^son  of 
Cornelius  and  Elizabeth  (Wil- 
helm)  Johnston;  was  born  in  Green 
township,  Aug'ust  3,  1815;  raised  a 
farmer  with  such  education  as  the 
meag-er  schools  of  that  earl}'  daj^ 
afforded;  reinained  with  parents 
until  29  3'ears  of  age;  April  22,  1841, 
was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth  G. 
Moore,  daughter  of  the  late  John 
Moore,  of  Spring-field,  and  in  April, 
1844,  located  on  lot  15  in  Copley 
township,  where  he  continuously 
resided  until  his  death,  November  23, 
1885.  Mr.  Johnston  was  a  great 
reader,  and  thoroug-hly  posted  in  af- 
fairs, in  politics  orig-inally  a  Whig-, 
and  later  a  thorough-going  Republi- 
-can,  and  one  of  the  most  active  and 
influential  members  of  that  party  in 
his  township  and  countj^.  Besides 
filling  various  township  oflRces,  Mr. 
Johnston  was  a  member  of  the  County 
Board  of  Infirmary  Directors,  from 
1858  to  1861,  three  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Johnston  were  the  parents  of  two 
sons — Cornelius  A.,  born  July  16, 
1842,  now  a  successful  farmer  in  Tall- 
niadge,  and  John  M.,  born  August  13, 
1844,  now  residing-  upon  the   family 


WILLIAM   JOHNSON. 

homestead  in  Coplej%  the  latter  also 
having  ably  served  on  the  Infirmary 
Board  six  years— 1882  to  1888.  the  last 
two  years  as  clerk  of  the  board.  Mrs. 
Johnston  still  survives,  residing  with 
her  son  upon  the  old  homestead. 


Early  Temperance  Movement. — Hence,  as  early  as  October, 
1829,  a  temperance  organization  was  effected,  believed  by  some  to 
"be  the  first  regular  society  of  this  kind  in  Ohio,  although  the  sub- 
ject was  then  being  somewhat  agitated  in  Hudson,  Tallmadge  and 
several  other  towns  upon  the  Western  Reserve.  The  society  was 
called  "The  First  Temperance  Society  of  Medina  Count3%"  the 
second,  third  and  fifth  articles  of  its  constitution  being,  respect- 
ively, as  follows: 

Art.  2.  The  object  of  this  compact  shall  be  the  suppression  of  intem- 
perance, by  doing-  away  the  unnecessar}^  use  of  ardent  spirits. 

Art.  3.  The  members  of  this  society  ag-ree  not  to  use  ardent  spirits  them- 
selves, unless  necessary  for  the  promotion  of,  or  restoration  to,  health,  and 
.also  to  discourage  their  use  bj'  others. 


EDUCATIONAL — RELIGIOUS,    ETC.  701 

Akt.  5.  The  members  of  this  compact  shall  make  use  of  the  means  in 
their  power  to  prevent  the  intemperate  use  of  ardent  spirits;  and  shall  use 
their  endeavors  to  disseminate  a  knowledge  of  intemperance  upon  individ- 
uals and  upon  society  generally. 

This  society  increased  in  numbers  quite  rapidly,  and  through 
its  influence  similar  organizations  were  effected  in  contiguous 
localities,  considerably  diminishing  the  use  of  distilled  liquors  and 
the  respectability  of  their  manufacture  and  sale,  though  it  was  not 
until  the  Washingtonian  movement,  originating  in  Baltimore  in 
1840,  struck  Ohio,  a  few  years  later,  that  the  manufacture  of  "blue- 
ruin"  was  entirely  discontinued  in  Copley,  since  which  time  the 
township  will  compare  favorably,  for  sobriety  and  morality,  with 
any  other  community  in  the  State  of  Ohio. 

Lacteal  Operations. — Some  eighteen  or  twenty  years  ago,  the 
Cheese  Factory  system  was  inaugurated  in  Copley;  one  establish- 
ment being  located  near  the  center  or  the  town  and  another  upon 
its  eastern  border,  upon  the  farm  of  Mr.  William  C.  Sackett.  The 
patrons  of  the  latter,  being  residents  of  both  Copley  and  Portage 
townships,  it  w^as  denominated  the  "Summit  Union  Cheese  Com- 
pany," and  for  a  time,  under  the  superintendence  of  Mr.  Sackett, 
did  quite  an  extensive  business;  but  differences  arising  among  the 
stockholders  in  regard  to  its  management,  the  business  w^as  aban- 
doned some  ten  years  ago  and  the  large  milk  production  of  the 
neighborhood  is  now^  daily  distributed  from  wagons,  among  the 
inhabitants  of  the  rapidly  gro>ving  city  of  Akron. 

At  the  present  time  there  is  very  little  cheese  made  in  the 
township,  the  private  dairies  of  those  w^ho  do  not  sell  their  milk,  as 
above  noted,  being  devoted  to  butter  making,  large  quantities  of 
which,  of  a  most  excellent  quality,  find  a  ready  maket  at  remu- 
nerative prices. 

Education  and  Religion. — It  is  a  little  difficult  to  determine, 
at  this  late  day,  w^ho  was  the  first  school  teacher  in  the  township, 
recollections  being  about  equal  in  favor  of  John  Codding  and 
Jonathan  Starr.  It  is  a  fact,  however,  that  Copley  has  been  sup- 
plied w^ith  as  good  school  houses,  and  as  efficient  teachers,  from 
the  beginning,  as  any  of  its  neighbors,  while,  for  a  good  share  of 
the  time,  an  academy,  or  high  school,  has  been  maintained  at  the 
center  of  the  town;  the  center,  becoming  incorporated  as  a  separate 
school  district  some  25  years  ago,  the  school  then  being  placed  in 
charge  of  Rev.  John  Encell,  who  made  himself  so  efficient  as  an 
instructor,  and  so  popular  as  a  citizen,  that  in  1865  he  was  selected 
as  Summit  county's  representative  in  the  State  Legislature,  as 
elsewhere  noted. 

In  religious  matters,  Copley  holds  a  fair  average  with  her 
sister  townships.  In  the  early  forties,  the  Congregationalists  and 
Methodists  jointly  erected  a  church  building,  a  short  distance 
south  of  the  center,  in  which  Sunday  services  have  been  held  by 
one  or  other  of  the  societies,  with  slight  interruptions,  to  the  present 
day.  During  a  portion  of  the  time,  also,  there  has  been  a  Metho- 
dist society  on  the  north  line  of  the  township,  jointly  maintained 
by  citizens  of  Copley  and  Bath,  while  A\'ithin  the  past  few  years, 
a  small  but  fine  house  of  w^orship  has  been  erected  one  mile  east 
of  the  center,  at  Boughton's  Corners,  by  the  society  of  the  "Church 
of  God"  (commonly  known  as  "Winebrennarians"),  the  Disciples, 
also,  having  erected  a  snug  little  church  edifice  at  the  center,  and 


702  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

the  United  Brethren  a  similar  house  of  worship  at  Montrose, 
^  short  distance  east  of  the  corners,  on  the  Copley  side  of  the  line, 
within  the  past  year  or  two. 

Copley's  War  Record.— In  the  line  of  patriotism  and  military 
-ardor,  Copley's  record  is  remarkably  fine.  Of  her  ex-Revolutionary 
heroes,  nothing  can  now  be  definitely  learned.  In  the  War  of  1812, 
Colonel  Jonas  Schoonover,  in  his  contribution  to  Hardesty's  Mili- 
tary History  of  Ohio,  gives  the  names  of  Copley's  participants  as 
follows:  Joel  Thayer,  Josiah  Arnold,  Chester  Cole,  Hezron  Thomp- 
son and  John  Beatty.  In  the  Mexican  War:  Ezra  and  Noah 
Tryon,  and  Otis,  George  and  Elias  Capron,  w^hile  in  the  War  of  the 
Rebellion,  a  roster  of  one  hundred  and  forty-one,  is  compiled 
from  Colonel  Schoonover's  list,  and  the  assessor's  returns  for  1863, 
"64, '65,  as  follows: 

Lyman  J.  Adair,  Andrew^  A.  Adair,  Ransom  J.  Arnold,  Charles 
F.  Arnold,  Samuel  Arnold,  Nathaniel  Averill,  Mervin  H.  Ayres 
(died  in  service),  James  Andrews,  Rice  Brockway,  Willard  Bos- 
worth,  Leuas  Ball,  Benjamin  F.  Boughton,  More  Briggs,  Jacob 
Ballinger,  Conrad  Ballinger,  Samuel  Briggs,  J.  T.Barnett, Stephen 
Bloomfield,  W.  H.  Bloomfield,  David  Conrad,  Daniel  Conrad  (killed 
in  battle),  Albert  Capron,  Christopher  Conrad,  Joseph  Chalfant, 
Albert  Coon,  William  Conrad,  Marion  Cogswell  (died  in  service), 
Ira  Capron,  Guerdon  A.  Cook,  William  S.  Dale,  Joseph  De  Long, 
Thomas  Dreuery,  William  H.  Durant  (died  in  service),  Almeron 
Francisco,  Franklin  A.  Foster,  Edward  Foley,  John  H.  Francisco, 
John  Fairbanks  (died  in  service),  Robert  Fairbanks,  Henry  Fair- 
banks, Robert  Ferryman  (died  in  service),  Curtis  Gingery,  Stephen 
Oriffith,  Amos  Griffith,  Alma  Griffith,  James  Griffith,  Emanuel  Ging- 
ery (died  in  service).  Freedom  Green,  Aaron  Golden,  George  W.  Hollo- 
w^ay,  Samuel  Hoagland  (died  in  service),  Harvej^HuU  (died  in  service), 
IrvingHull,  Martin  Hutchinson,  Amos  Hutchinson,  Dieterich  Heath- 
man  (died  in  service),  George  Heppart,  Sylvester  Hull,  Luther  Hollo- 
way,  James  Heathman,  John  Hatfield,  A.  Hoagland,  William  Hawk, 
Oeorge  Hogan,  Enoch  Hastings,  E.  Hamilton,  John  Jones,  W.  H. 
Jones,  Henry  Keck,  Hiram  King,  Martin  Keller,  Samuel  King, 
Samuel  Kennedy,  George  Loomis,  Benjamin  R.  Lee,  John  Mann, 
William  Medsker,  Isaac  Medsker,  John  Moore,  Perry  Moore,  Robert 
Mech,  R.  Mech,  George  Mann,  Samuel  Moore,  Henry  Null,  Ira  S. 
Nash,  Andrew  Null,  Charles  P.  Nash,  Nelson  D,  Oviatt,  Luman  B. 
Oviatt,  Hartwell  A.  Parker,  Henry  A.  Parker,  Calvin  R.  Porter 
{died  in  service),  Gardner  Pratt,  Nathan  Pursell,  Edy  Randall, 
Walter  Randall,  Lebeus  Robinson,  Ezra  Randall,  Lester  Robinson, 
Charles  Robinson,  John  C.  Steans,  Jr.,  Thurlow  Scudder,  A.  A. 
Stonebrook,  William  G.  Stoughton,  Irving  Spafford,  Leonard 
Squires  (died  in  service),  N.  J.  Smith,  J.  W.  Shonts,  Arthur  W. 
Scudder,  James  W.  H.  Snyder,  Martin  Squires,  Samuel  Shanafelt 
(died  in  service),  Washington  Shanafelt,  Simon  Starr,  Charles  W. 
Stearns  (died  in  service),  Henry  Stroel,  C.  J.  Spelman,  Seth  Thomas, 
Coral  W.  Taylor  (died  in  service),  Ed.  Tew^ksbury,  Mortimer  Van 
Hyning,  Peter  Weeks,  Jr.,  Paul  E.  Wylie,  David  L.  Winkler,  Jona- 
than Welker,  George  Welch,  Orlow  West,  Jacob  Winters,  Harrison 
Weeks,  Mandred  Weeks,  George  D.  Woodruff  (died  in  service), 
Martin  Welker,  James  Winkler  (died  in  service),  John  Warner,  Nel- 
son Wager,  Alvin  West,  William  Wagoner,  Robert  Weeks,  John 
Yoey. 


COPLEY    IN    PUBLIC    OFFICE.  703 

In  addition  to  the  ever  efficient  and  active  influence  of  the  late 
Chester  Orcutt,  James  Hammond,  Morgan  D.  Pratt,  Dr.  Byron 
■Chapman,  Vincent  G.  Harris,  William  C.  Sackett,  Esq.,  and  others, 
in  promoting  the  agricultural  and  other  industrial  interests  of  the 
-county,  Copley  has  maintained  fully  an  average  standing  with 
her  sister  townships,  in  public  office,  since  the  organization  of 
Summit  county,  in  1840. 

Jonathan  Starr  was  a  member  of  the  first  Board  of  County 
Commissioners,  being  elected  in  April,  1840,  to  serve  until  the 
ensuing  regular  election,  and,  in  October  of  that  year,  re-elected 
for  the  full  term  of  three  years,  making  a  most  efficient  officer,  for 
nearly  four  years,  in  orgariizing  the  business  machinery  of  the  new 
county,  erecting  the  public  buildings,  etc.  Mr.  Starr,  on  the  18th 
day  of  December,  1851,  while  visiting  his  son  (the  lately  deceased 
Jonathan  Starr,  Jr.,  of  Akron),  who  w^as  then  clerking  for  Mr.  P.  D. 
Hall,  in  looking  through  the  new^  store  building,  then  nearing 
completion,  accidentally  fell  through  an  open  scuttle  from  the 
second  story  to  the  floor  belo^v,  13  feet,  and  was  instantly  killed. 

William  Johnston  was  not  only  a  model  farmer  and  patriotic 
public-spirited  citizen,  but  most  efficiently  filled  the  important 
office  of  Infirmary  director,  from  1858  to  1861,  three  years. 

Francis  T.  Husong,  by  appointment  of  the  Board  of  Directors, 
in  June,  1861,  became  superintendent  of  the  Infirmary,  holding 
the  position,  and  ably  performing  its  responsible  duties,  until 
April,  1868,  nearly  seven  years,  during  which  time  the  main  build- 
ing of  the  present  fine  Infirmary  edifice  w^as  erected,  Superinten- 
-dent  Husong's  services,  in  the  planning  and  building  thereof, 
laying  out  the  grounds,  etc.,  being  almost  invaluable.  In  October, 
1867,  Mr.  Husong,  having  in  the  meantime  become  a  resident  of 
Akron,  was  elected  a  director  of  the  Infirmary,  which  position  he 
^bly  filled  for  three  years. 

I^Ev.  John  Encell,  then  a  resident  of  Copley,  as  the  nominee 
■of  the  Republican  party,  in  October,  1885,  was  elected  to  represent 
Summit  county  in  the  State  Legislature,  which  he  ably  and  effi- 
ciently did  for  two  years. 

George  W.  Weeks,  Esq.,  was,  in  October,  1872,  elected  clerk  of 
Courts,  and  re-elected  to  that  important  office  in  1875,  retiring 
therefrom,  after  six  years'  faithful  service,  in  February,  1879,  with 
the  public  plaudit  of  "Well  done,  Good  and  Faithful  Servant." 

George  W.  Weeks,  Jr.,  besides  rendering  valuable  aid  to  his 
father,  during  his  six  years'  incumbency  of  the  clerk's  office,  as 
above  stated,  also  efficiently  served  the  people  of  Summit  county 
as  deputy  county  auditor  during  the  six  years'  administration  of 
that  office,  from  1881  to  1887,  by  Aaron  Wagoner,  Esq. 

John  M.  Johnston  was  elected  a  director  of  the  County 
Infirmary  in  1882,  and  so  faithfully  performed  the  duties  devolved 
upon  him,  that  he  w^as  re-elected  in  October,  1885,  serving  six 
jrears. 

Dr.  Mason  Chapman,  a  native  of  Copley,  for  many  years  past 
a  resident  of  Akron,  served  as  a  member  of  City  Council  from  1878 
to  1880. 

Willis  D,  Chapman,  also  a  native  of  Copley,  now  an  accom- 
plished civil  engineer  and  scientist,  served  as  city  engineer  in 
Akron  from  1886  until  1889,  besides  holding  other  positions  of 
xesponsibility,  as  stated  elsewhere. 


704  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Copley's  Railroad  Facilities, — One  of  the  principal  disad- 
vantages \vith  Avhich  Copley  has  had  to  contend,  is  that 
hitherto,  since  the  advent  of  railroads  into  Summit  county, 
she  has  been  thoroughly  "inland,"  all  her  travel  and  transpor- 
tation having  to  be  done  by  teams,  over  mud  roads,  nearly 
impassable  several  months  in  the  year.  Now,  however,  the  com- 
pletion of  the  new  Pittsburg,  Akron  &  Western  Railroads 
through  the  central  portion  of  the  township,  from  east  to  west^ 
w^ith  the  passenger  station  a  few  rods  north  of  the  center,  will 
give  her  people  easy  access  to  Akron,  Medina  and  other  desired 
points,  not  only  proving  a  great  personal  and  public  convenience,, 
but,  doubtless,  very  considerably  increasing  her  dairy  and  other 
business  operations,  and  the  general  value  of  her  real  estate. 

Present  Official  Status  (1891). — Township  trustees,  C.  C. 
Frederick,  R.  R.  Stimson  and  J.  Quincy  Adams;  clerk,  C.  E. 
Francisco;  treasurer.  Dr.  Byron  Chapman;  postmaster,  Henry 
Harris. 

COPLEY'S  CRIMINAL  RECORD. 

Though  some  of  her  citizens  became  somewhat  tainted  with 
the  counterfeiting  virus  with  which  several  of  the  neighboring 
townships  were  so  largely  infected,  in  the  early  days,  and  though 
one  of  her  sons,  then  temporarily  residing  in  Akron,  figured  in  an 
infamous  crime  some  thirty  years  ago,  she  has  been,  almost,, 
exceptionally  exempt  from  flagrant  crime,  during  her  nearly  three- 
quarters  of  a  century's  existence,  the  only  reallj^  exciting  epi- 
sode in  her  history  being  the  insane  killing  of  his  son,  by  her 
native-born,  and  hitherto  highly  respected  citizen,  Mr.  Delos  Bos- 
w^orth,  on  the  morning  of  March  3,  1891,  a  brief  history  of  the  sad 
affair  being  as  follows: 

Delos  Bosworth,  a  native  of  Copley,  born  January  11,  1818,. 
was,  in  early  and  middle  life,  one  of  the  most  enterprising  and 
influential  citizens  of  the  tow^nship,  March  16,  1841,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Christina  Wagoner,  who,  after  bearing  him  three 
children,  died,  September  3,  1855.  April  8,  1858,  he  was  again  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Abbie  W.  Whinery,  of  Columbiana  county,  ^who  bore 
him  one  son,  John  C,  born  December  25,  1860,  who,  grown  to  man- 
hood, became  the  sole  dependence  of  the  family  in  the  management 
of  the  farm  and  household.  For  the  last  eight  or  ten  years  of  his 
life,  Mr.  Bosworth  was  "affected  by  a  peculiar  nervous  malady, 
w^hich  not  only  very  greatly  impaired  his  physical  health  and 
enterprise,  but  also  very  greatly  weakened  and  deranged  his  mental 
powers,  involving  serious  financial  embarrassment,  by  which  the 
family  homestead  w^as  about  to  be  sold  for  his  indebtedness. 
Though  the  son,  John,  was  arranging  for  its  purchase,  and  to  secure 
for  his  parents  a  comfortable  home  in  their  declining  years,  the 
old  gentleman,  as  is  common  in  cases  of  mental  derangement,  con- 
ceived the  notion  that  the  w^ife  and  son  were  largely  responsible 
for  their  troubles  and  determined  upon  putting  them  out  of  the 
w^ay. 

The  Deed  Partially  Accomplished, — For  some  time  he  had 
been  carefully  watched,  lest  he  should  do  violence  to  himself,  his 
care-takers  little  dreaming  of  any  immediate  personal  danger  to 
themselves,  though  frequent  threats  of  that  nature  had  been  made. 
Thus  matters  stood   on  the  morning  of  Tuesday,  March  3,  1891, 


STRIKING   THE   FATAL   BLOW.  705 

the  family  having  breakfasted  as  usual,  Mr.  Bosworth  eating 
quite  heartily.  John,  having  done  the  barn  chores,  the  weather 
being  quite  cold,  had  seated  himself  in  an  easy-chair,  by  the  din- 
ing room  stove,  and  engaged  in  reading  a  paper,  Mrs.  Bosworth 
being  busy  with  her  household  duties.  From  having  been  some- 
what broken  of  his  rest  during  the  night,  and  from  the  warmth  of 
the  room,  after  having  been  out  in  the  cold,  John,  at  length, 
dropped  asleep  in  his  chair.  With  insane  cunning  the  demented 
father  now  saw  his  opportunity,  and  instantly  acted  upon  it. 
Though  the  room  was  abundantly  warm,  he  handed  the  empty 
coal  bucket  to  his  wife,  and  requested  her  to  get  some  coal,  which 
she  at  once  proceeded  to  do,  passing  through  the  summer  kitchen 
and  woodshed  to  the  coal  house  in  the  rear.  Noiselessly  following 
her  to  the  ^woodshed,  he  secured  an  ax,  and  retraced  his  steps,  as 
he  did  so  locking  the  door  between  the  kitchen  and  the  dining 
room.  Then,  with  the  superhuman  strength  of  a  madman, 
instead  of  the  nerveless  invalid  that  he  really  was,  he  raised  the 
ax  and  struck  the  fatal  blow,  the  blade  crashing  through  the  skull 
and  up  to  the  eye  into  the  brain  of  his  unconscious  son. 

Ax  Attempt  on  Mrs.  Bosworth's  Life,  Also. — On  returning 
with  the  bucket  of  coal,  and  finding  the  door  locked,  Mrs.  Bos- 
w^orth  instantly  divined  the  cause,  and  setting  down  the  bucket, 
she  hurried  around  through  the  w^oodshed  to  the  porch  door  open- 
ing into  the  dining  room,  where  she  met  her  infuriated  husband, 
with  the  blade  of  the  ax  dripping  with  the  warm  life-blood  of  her 
son.  He  rushed  at  her  with  the  bloody  weapon,  but  she  evaded 
him,  and  fled  to  the  road  screaming  for  assistance. 

Attempt  to  Take  His  Own  Life. — Attracted  by  the  screams 
of  Mrs.  Bosworth,  neighbors  were  soon  at  the  house,  the  first  one, 
Mr.  Isaiah  Jacoby,  grappling  with,  and  taking  from,  Mr.  Bosworth, 
a  large,  but  not  very  sharp,  pocket-knife,  with  which  he  was 
attempting  to  cut  his  own  throat.  Though,  of  course,,  totally 
unconscious,  the  son  continued  to  breathe  several  hours,  finally 
expiring  at  2:13  p.  m. 

The  facts  of  the  killing  were  so  patent  that  Coroner  Brewster 
did  not  deem  it  necessary  to  hold  an  inquest  over  the  remains. 
Police  Sergeant  Dunn,  the  same  da}^  brought  the  unfortunate  old 
man  to  Akron,  and  placed  him  in  an  upper  room  in  the  jail,  though 
he  was,  the  same  evening,  taken  to  the  County  Infirmarj^.  A  few 
days  later  he  was  brought  before  Probate  Judge,  E.  W.  Stuart,  by 
w^hom,  after  proper  hearing,  he  was  adjudged  to  be  insane,  and  on 
account  of  Summit  county's  quota  being  full,  at  the  Newburg 
Asylum,  he  was  remanded  to  the  Infirmary,  where,  continuing  to 
grow  feeble,  and  paralysis  intervening,  he  died  on  Sunday  evening, 
March  22,  1891,  his  age  being  73  years,  2  months  and  11  days. 

Though  the  loss  of  so  promising  a  young  man  as  was  John  C. 
Bosworth,  in  so  tragic  a  manner,  is  deeply  mourned  and  regretted 
by  the  entire  community,  the  fearful  wreckage  of  body  and  mind, 
without  any  known  moral  or  physical  obliquity,  of  so  prominent 
and  influential  a  native-born  citizen  as  Delos  Bosworth,  is  most 
deeply  deplored  by  the  great  majority  of  the  people  of  the  town- 
ship, and  by  his  hundreds  of  acquaintances  in  other  portions  of 
the  county. 


45 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

THE  "STATE  OF  COVENTRY"— WHY  SO  CALLED— WHERE  AXD  WHAT  IT  IS— AN 
ABORIGINAL  "GARDEN  OF  EDEN"— EARLY  WHITE  SETTLEMENT — AGRI- 
CULTURAL AND  MINERAL  RESOURCES,  MILLING,  MANUFACTURES,  ETC. — 
THE  RESERVOIRS,  WHEN  AND  WHY  CONSTRUCTED -THE  CELEBRATED  OLD 
STATE  MILL— NEW  PORTAGE  THE  ANCIENT  METROPOLIS—"  QUEER  "  FINAN- 
CIAL OPERATIONS  — HONORABLE  MILITARY  AND  CIVIL  RECORD  — FRAT- 
RICIDAL HOMICIDE  IN  1837— TERRIBLE  FAMILY  AFFLICTION- DEATH  OF 
FRATRICIDE  OF  GRIEF,  IN  PRISON  THE  LEY-SVV^ARTZ-THOMAS  TRAGEDY 
OF  1878— IMPRISONMENT,  PARDON,  SUBSEQUENT  GOOD  CONDUCT,  ETC.— IM- 
PRESSIVE LESSON  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 

WHERE  AND   HOW  LOCATED. 

npHE  township  of  Coventry  is  located  immediately  south  of  the 
city  of  Akron,  a  narrow  strip  of  the  northern  part  being,  in 
fact,  w^ithin  the  city  limits,  and  that  portion  of  its  inhabitants 
denizens  thereof.  On  the  east  lies  the  township  of  Springfield,  on 
the  south  portions  of  Franklin  and  Green,  and  on  the  west  the 
township  of  Norton.  The  south  line  of  the  toAvnship  is  also  the 
south  line  of  the  famous  "Western  Reserve." 

Unlike  most  of  the  townships  of  the  Reserve,  which  w^ere  laid 
out  with  mathematical  precision,  five  miles  square,  Coventry  is 
quite  irregular  in  shape;  that  portion  east  of  Portage  Path  extend- 
ing about  one-fourth  of  a  mile  further  north  than  the  portion  on 
the  west  side;  of  said  Path,  w^hile  south  of  New  Portage,  follow^ing 
the  course  of  the  Tuscarawas  river,  it  trenches,  in  places,  nearl3^  a 
mile  upon  the  fair  proportions  of  Norton  township,  on  the  w^est.  This 
w^as  owing  to  the  fact  that  some  twenty  years  elapsed  between 
the  two  treaties;  that  of  Fort  Mcintosh,  in  1785,  ceding  to  the 
United  States  all  the  territory  east  of  Portage  Path  and  the  Tus- 
carawas river,  and  that  of  Fort  Industry,  in  1805,  all  the  territory 
w^est  of  those  points;  and  to  the  variation  in  the  lines  of  the  two 
sets  of  surveyors  employed  to  lay  the  tw^o  sections  out. 

Aboriginal  "Garden  of  Eden." — Previous  to  the  advent  of  the 
wrhites,  the  territory  embraced  w;ithin  the  tow^nship  of  Coventry 
must  have  been  literally  the  Garden  of  Eden  of  the  Red  man.  In 
the  first  place,  at  or  a  little  above  the  present  village  of  New  Port- 
age, w^as  the  southern  terminus  of  the  Portage  Path — a  veritable 
port  of  entry  and  dfelivery — being  the  head  of  navigation  on  the 
Tuscaraw^as  river,  whence  there  vt^as  constant  passage  to  and 
fro  betw^een  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio  river;  for  be  it  remembered 
that  neither  the  Cuyahoga  nor  the  Tuscarawas  w^ere  then  the 
diminutive  rivulets  that  the  denudation  of  the  country  of  its  tim- 
ber, and  the  drainage  appliances  of  civilization,  have  reduced  them 
to.  In  fact,  for  many  years  after  white  settlement  began,  this  point 
(New^  Portage)  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  favorable  business 
locations  in  Northern  Ohio,  flat-boats  being  built  and  freighted 
writh  such  products  as  the  neighborhood  afforded  for  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  trade. 


EARLY  SETTLEMENT. 


707 


JONAH  ALLEN,  — son  of  Jesse 
Allen,  Sr.,  was  born  in  Tompkins 
county,  N.  Y.,  October  14,  1798 ;  came 
to  Coventrj^  with  parents,  in  1811,  the 
father  officiating-  as  justice  of  the 
peace  in  Coventrj^  township  for  many 
years.  Mr.  Allen  was  married  to 
Miss  Cynthia  Spicer,  sister  of  the  late 
Major  Spicer,  Maj^  12,  1821,  and  estab- 
lished a  farm  home  for  himself  in 
Coventr}',  which  he  successfullj'-  car- 
ried on  until  his  death,  May  15,  1874, 
.at  the  ag-e  of  75  years,  7  months  and 
1  day,  Mrs.  Allen  having-  died  Sep- 
tember 11,  1860,  aged  57  years,  3 
months  and  20  days.  Mr.  and  Mrs; 
Allen  were  the  parents  of  five  chil- 
dren— Catharine,  born  November  5, 
1822,  aftersvards  Mrs.  Oren  Beckwith, 
who  died  January  23,  1855 ;  Edward, 
born  August  18,  1824,  died  July  9, 
1841 ;  William,  born  February  18, 1827, 
died  November  28,  1886;  John,  born 
October  20,  1829,  still  residing  upon 
the  old  homestead  in  Coventr}' ; 
Cynthia,  who  died  in  infancj' ;  the 
surviving  son,  John,  like  the  brother, 
William,  the  father,  Jonah,  and  the 
grandfather,  Jesse,  being  among 
the  most  enterprising  and  honored 
residents  of  Coventry  township  ;  in 
politics  an  ardent  Republican,  and 
in  religion  an  earnest  supporter  of 
the  Disciple  faith.     John  Allen  was 


JONAH  ALLEN. 

married,  December  9,  1857,  to  Ann 
Morgan,  of  Newburg,  Cuyahoga 
county,  who  has  borne  him  four 
children^Emma  C.  (now  Mrs.  Henry 
B.  Sisler,  of  Akron),  born  November 
2,  1858 ;  Jesse  M.,  now  working  in 
Barberton,  born  April  6,  1864  ;  Isham 
F.,  born  Jan  2,  1868;  John  R.,  born 
March  23, 1871,  now  in  Worthington's 
hardware  store,  in  Cleveland. 


Besides  the  Tuscarawas  river,  Summit  Lake,  then  consid- 
erably larger  than  now,  Manning's  Lake,  Nesmith's  Lake,  Long 
Lake,  and  several  other  similar  bodies  of  water  in  the  vicinity, 
afforded  a  great  variety  of  fish,  the  adjacent  forests  being  amply 
stocked  with  game,  while  the  gentle  slopes  surrounding  the  lakes, 
w^ith  the  rich  bottom  lands  of  the  streams,  supplied  them  with 
maize  and  such  other  products  of  the  soil,  as  their  rude  implements 
^nd  limited  knowledge  and  methods  of  husbandry  could  secure. 

It  is  also  certain,  from  modern  developments  and  findings, 
that  the  Tuscaraw^as  Valley,  and  the  neighborhood  of  the  lakes, 
was  formerly  the  seat  of  quite  a  large  volume  of  Indian  manu- 
factures and  industry,  such  as  the  fabrication  of  canoes,  and  of 
flint  arrow-heads,  spear-heads,  hammers,  axes,  kettles,  mortars, 
pestles,  and  such  other  stone  implements  of  warfare,  sport,  agri- 
culture, domestic  utensils,  etc.,  as  were  then  in  vogue,  though  the 
material  from  w^hich  the  most  of  them  were  made  must  have  been 
brought  from  a  distance,  as  nothing  of  the  kind  is  indigenous  to- 
the  neighborhood. 

Early  Settlement,  etc. — It  is  generally  conceded  that  Daniel 
Haines  (General  Bierce  has  it  David),  w^as  the  first  white  settler  in 
t;he  township,  having  removed  thither  from  Pennsylvania  in  1806. 
Mr.  Haines  built  himself  a  log  cabin  on  lot  4,  a  short  distance  south 
of  the  present  stone  residence  of  Miss  A.  Louise  Sumner,  in  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  township.  Though  Mr.  Haines  and  his 
family  w^ere  the  only  w^hite  settlers  in  the  neighborhood  for  several 
years,  sharing  with  the  Indians  the  bounties  of  both  forest,  lake 


708 


AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


and  stream,  on  which  they  had  to  largely  depend  for  subsistence^ 
it  does  not  appear  that  there  was  ever  any  trouble  between  them. 
Though  a  few  settlers  had  come  to  what  was  afterwards  called 
Middlebur}^,  where  a  mill  had  in  the  meantime  been  erected,  Mr. 
Haines  did  not  begin  to  feel  cro\vded  until  about  1811,  when  the 
Spicers,  the  Williams'  and  the  Aliens  came  into  the  neighborhood, 
Mr.  Haines  about  that  time  selling  out  his  cabin  and  improve- 
ments to  Mr.  Jesse  Allen  (father  of  the  late  Hiram,  Jacob,  Jesse 
and  David  Allen),  Mr.  Haines  then  settling  upon  or  near  lot  16, 
about  two  miles  to  the  southwest,  where  he  resided  until  his  death, 
at  a  very  advanced  age,  some  35  years  ago. 


LEVI  ALLEN,^-second  son  of  Jesse 
Allen,  one  of  the  very  earliest 
of  Coventry's  pioneer  settlers,  was 
born  in  Tompkins  count}',  N.  Y., 
February  10,  1799 ;  moved  with  par- 
ents to  Ohio,  by  ox  team,  in  1811,  Levi, 
then  but  12  years  old,  walking-  and 
driving  cattle  and  sheep  most  of  the 
way,  arriving  in  Middlebury  July  4. 
At  21  Mr.  Allen  purchased  the  farm 
now  occupied  bj^  Levi  Allen,  Jr.,  a 
short  distance  south  of  citj'  limits  ; 
in  1821,  was  married  to  Miss  Phcebe 
Spicer,  daughter  of.  Major  Miner 
Spicer,  who  bore  him  six  children — 
Levi,  Jr.,  born  July  28,  1824,  now  living 
on  the  old  homestead,  in  Coventry  ; 
Miner  S..  born  July  29, 1825,  died  Decem- 
ber20, 1825;  Albert  (whose  portrait  and 
biography  appear  elsewhere),  born 
March  12, 1827,  died  September  25, 1888; 
Miner  J.  (see  portrait  on  another 
page);  born  November  11,  1829; 
Walter  Scott,  born  March  24, 1834,  died 
September  13,  1834;  and  Cynthia  A., 
born  April  22, 1839.  Mr  Allen,  though 
not  an  office-seeker,  ever  took  a  lively 
interest  in  public  affairs,  both  local 
and  general,  and  for  sixty  j'ears  was 
an  active  and  influential  member  of 
the  Disciple  church.  In  1868  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Allen  gave  up  the  care  of  the 


LEVI  ALLEN. 

farm  and  removed  to  Akron,  to  reside 
with  their  children,  Albert  and  Cj-n- 
thia,  who  kindly  cared  for  theiu  to 
the  end — Mrs.  Allen  dying  January 
10,  1875,  aged  74  years  and  29  daj'S, 
and  Mr.  Allen  passing  away  May  11, 
1887,  aged  88  years,  3  months  and  one 
day. 


From  this  time  on,  settlements  became  quite  rapid,  the  Brew- 
sters,  the  Bellows',  the  Triplets,  the  Falors,  the  Viers',  the  Cahows, 
the  Heathmans,  the  Nashes,  the  Roots,  the  Keplers,  the  Barters, 
the  Wagoners,  the  Rexes,  the  Dixons,  and  others  of  the  pioneer  set- 
tlers, Avhose  names  are  not  noAV  recalled,  coming  into  the  township 
in  rapid  succession  and  speedily  converting  it  from  its  primitive 
■wilderness  condition  into  thrifty  lields,  fertile  meadows  and  fruit- 
ful orchards. 

Organization,  Name,  etc.^ — Coventry  first  came  under  town- 
ship organization  in  connection  with  Springfield,  under  the  juris- 
diction of  Trumbull  county,  in  April,  1808,  but  at  just  what  date  it 
was  organized  into  a  separate  township,  as  a  part  of  Portage 
county,  is  not  nowr  kno^vn,  nor  who  were  its  first  officers,  or  w^hy  it 
was  christened  "Coventry."  Jesse  Allen  was  early  and  long  a 
justice  of  the  peace,  the  names  of  the  other  justices  of  the  peace, 
previous  to  the  organization  of  Summit  county,  in  1840,  not  being 


FRATRICIDAL    HOMICIDE.  709 

now  ascertainable.  Since  1840,  the  law  and  justice  of  the  township, 
as  appears  by  the  record,  has  been  dealt  out  by  the  following  per- 
sons: Isaac  Fries,  nine  years;  Joshua  Clark,  three  years;  Ralph 
P.Russell,  three  years;  Martin  J.  Housel,  six  j^ears;  Taltnon  Beard- 
sley,  twelve  years;  William  High,  twelve  years;  John  R.  Buchtel, 
three  years;  Noah  IngersoU,  six  years;  John  Tooker,  three  years; 
Jacob  France,  six  years;  John  Donner,  three  years;  Henry  Behmer, 
three  years;  Jonathan  H.  Brewster,  three  years;  Oliver  P.  Falor, 
nine  years;  James  Iv.  Porter,  six  years;  Houston  Kepler,  six  years. 

The  "State  of  Coventry." — The  township  was,  for  many 
years,  and  by  some  still  is,  called  the  "State  of  Coventry,"  that 
cognomen  having  been  obtained  something  in  this  wise:  During 
the  building  of  the  canal,  there  ^vas  a  disturbance  betw^e.en  the 
w^orkmen  and  some  of  the  citizens,  w^hicli  w^as  likely  to  culminate 
in  a  riot,  when  a  neighboring  justice  of  the  peace,  who  had  been 
hastily  summoned,  with  law-book  in  hand,  proceeded  to  read  the 
Riot  Act,  and  getting  a  little  confused,  concluded  with:  "  There- 
fore, in  the  name  of  the  State  of  Coventrj^,  f  command  vou  to 
/fisperse.^' 

Early  Homicide. — In  the  year  1838,  there  lived  in  the  township 
of  Coventry,  upon  the  upper  road  leading  from  Akron  to  New 
Portage,  a  family  by  the  name  of  Heathman,  consisting  of  the 
w^idow  of  Bennett  Heathman,  and  five  sons,  John,  Sylvester,  Elijah, 
Elisha  and  Bennett,  and  one  daughter,  Mary.  One  of  the  sons, 
only,  Elijah,  w^as  married,  occupying  a  house  in  the  same  lot,  and 
but  a  few^  feet  distant  from  the  family  residency,  in  w^hicli  the 
other  four  sons  and  the  daughter,  all  grown  up,  resided  with  the 
widowed  mother  Two  of  the  sons,  John  and  Sylvester,  w^ere,  un- 
fortunately, somewhat  addicted  to  the  excessive  use  of  intoxicat- 
ing liquors;  and  on  the  12th  day  of  January,  1838,  had  spent  the 
day  away  from  home,  but  how,  or  w^here,  their  time  had  been 
employed,  is  not  now  remembered;  the  other  brothers,  Elisha  and 
Bennett,  also  being  absent  from  home  during  the  day.  The  first 
■one  of  the  brothers  to  return  in  the  evening  was  John,  considerably 
under  the  influence  of  liquor.  While  he  was  eating  his  supper 
Sylvester  came  in,  also  slightly  intoxicated.  John  asked  Sylvester 
■where  Elisha  w^as,  to  w^hich  question  Sylvester  made  the  evasive 
reply  that  he  had  "gone  up  north,"  to  which  John  immediately 
replied  "You're  a  d — d  liar  and  the  truth  isn't  in  you!"  at  the  same 
time  hurling  his  fork  at  Sylvester  and  slightly  wounding  him 
upon  the  nose,  accompanying  the  act  with  the  threat  if  S3dvester 
came  up  stairs  that  night  he  would  "be  the  death  of  him." 

The  Fatal  Blow. — The  mother  being  temporarily  absent  from 
the  room,  the  sister,  Mary,  and  the  little  six-year-old  son  of  Elijah 
^our  present  highly  respected  citizen,  Mr.  Alexander  M.  Heathman), 
^were  the  only  witnesses  of  the  fatal  affray,  Mary's  story,  as  told 
before  the  coroner,  and  upon  the  trial,  was  about  this:  that  almost 
immediately  after  the  above  threat  had  been  uttered,  she  heard  a 
rattling  of  knives  and  forks  near  the  place  where  John  had  been 
sitting  at  the  table,  and  on  looking  that  way,  saw  Sylvester  seize  a 
chair  and  strike  John  a  severe  blow  upon  his  side.  The  recollec- 
tion of  Mr.  A.  M.  Heathman  is  that  his  uncle  Sylvester,  instead  of 
striking  his  uncle  John  with  the  chair,  while  holding  it  between 
them,  to  prevent  John  in  his  anger  from  getting  at  him,  only 
pushed  it  against  him   somewhat  forcibl3\     Be  this  as  it  may,  on 


710  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

the  return  of  the  mother,  a  moment  after,  on  being  hastily  sum- 
moned by  Mary,  John  exclaimed,  "Oh,  mother,  I  am  going  to  fall!" 
and  immediately  sank  to  the  floor.  A  strong  smell  of  whisky  was 
at  once  observable,  and  at  the  same  time  a  large  quantity  of  blood 
"was  seen  to  be  running  from  John's  shoes  upon  the  floor.  The 
almost  frantic  mother  had  scarcely  time  to  kneel  besides  the  pros- 
trate form  before  it  Avas  evident  to  her  that  he  had  received  a  fatal 
w^ound,  and  w^hen  Sylvester,  on  comprehending  what  he  had  done, 
also  threw  himself  down  beside  the  body  of  his  brother,  exclaim- 
ing, "Oh,  John!  Brother  John!"  the  poor  mother  said:  "You  may 
call  him  now,  but  he  cannot  hear  you,  for  you  have  killed  him.'^ 
Sylvester  then  endeavored  to  secure  the  attendance  of  a  phj^sician, 
but  before  the  latter  could  be  got  to  the  house  John  was  dead,, 
having  lived  less  than  half. an  hour  after  the  fatal  blow  vt^as  struck. 

It  was  found,  on  examination,  that  in  addition  to  the  whisky 
that  John  had  drank,  during  the  day,  he  had  brought  home  about 
a  pint  in  a  junk  bottle,  in  the  right  pocket  of  his  pantaloons,  the 
force  of  the  blow  with  the  chair  not  only  breaking  the  bottle,  but 
driving  pieces  of  the  glass  into  the  groin  and  severing  the  femoral 
artery,  w^hich  of  course,  would  speedily  result  in  death,  w^ithout 
instant  attention  from  a  skillful  surgeon. 

A  Grief-Stricken  Family, — Not  only  the  mother,  the  sister,^ 
and  the  remaining  brothers,  Elisha,  Klijah  and  Bennett,  w^ere 
deeply  stricken  with  grief,  at  the  dreadful  calamity  which  had 
befallen  them,  but  Sylvester,  also,  w^as  almost  frantic  with  sorrow 
at  the  fearful  mischief  he  had  wrought.  He  not  only  made  no 
effort  to  escape,  but  frankly  told  the  story  of  the  sad  occurrence  at 
the  coroner's  inquest  over  the  remains  of  his  dead  brother,  and 
voluntarily  surrendered  himself  to  the  officers  of  the  law. 

Trial  and  Punishment. — On  being  brought  before  Justice 
Thomas  D,  Viers,  of  the  tow^nship  of  Coventry,  the  circumstances- 
of  the  fatal  affray  w^ere  briefly  narrated  by  the  distressed  mother 
and  sister,  and  corroborated  by  Sylvester  himself,  whereupon  he 
w^as  held  by  the  examining  magistrate  to  answer  to  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  of  Portage  county  for  the  crime  of  murder,  and 
duly  committed  to  jail  until  the  February  term  of  court,  1838,  w^hen 
he  w^as  indicted  by  the  grand  jury  for  murder  in  the  second  de- 
gree, and  put  upon  his  trial. 

The  case  Avas  conducted  by  Prosecuting  Attorney  Lucius  V.^ 
Bierce,  assisted  by  Rufus  P.  Spalding,  Esq.,  then  of  Ravenna,  on 
behalf  of  the  State,  and  the  accused  w^as  ably  defended  by  David 
K.  Cartter,  Esq.,  of  Akron,  and  Eben  Newton,  Esq.,  of  Canfield- 
The  charge  to  the  jury,  \^as  delivered  by  President  Judge,  Van  R. 
Humphrey,  and,  after  Jbrief  consultation,  a  verdict  was  returned 
finding  the  accused 

Guilty  of  Manslaughter. — Judge  Humphrey  thereupon 
immediately  proceeded,  in  a  very  impressive  manner — animad- 
verting upon  the  extreme  folly  and  danger  of  indulging  in  intoxi- 
cating liquors,  and  enlarging  upon  the  fact  that  such  indulgence 
w^as  the  cause  of  more  than  three-fourths  of  the  personal  violence 
and  crime,  the  world  over — to  sentence  the  sorrowing  fratricide 
to  one  year's  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary — the  shortest 
period  alloAvable  by  law  for  the  crime  of  manslaughter. 

Died  of  Grief  in  Prison. — Immediately  after  receiving  his 
sentence,  Sylvester  was  conveyed  to  the  penitentiary  at  Columbus,. 


Coventry's  industries.  711 

by  Sheriff  George  Y.  Wallace,  where  he  was  duly  turned 
over  to  the  prison  authorities  on  the  13th  day  of  February,  1838. 
Soon  after  his  incarceration  he  w^as  stricken  down  with  sickness, 
as  was  believed  by  those  in  charge  of  him  from  excessive  grief, 
from  which  he  never  rallied;  dying  in  prison  on  the  17th  day  of 
September,  1838,  five  months  before  the  expiration  of  his  term  of 
sentence.  The  entire  original  family  are  now^  dead,  Elijah  and 
Elisha  dying  in  Ohio  many  years  ago,  and  later,  Bennett,  in  Michi- 
gan, and  Mary,  in  Iowa,  having,  previous  to  her  removal  thither, 
been  married  to  Mr.  David  Lehman,  of  Pennsylvania;  the  mother 
going  to  Iowa  with  her  daughter,  where,  surviving  nearly  all  her 
children,  she,  too,  died  a  few  years  ago  at  the  age  of  about  100 
years. 

Agriculture,  Mining,  etc. — With  the  several  lakes  already 
alluded  to,  and  the  Tuscarawas  river  traversing  its  entire  width, 
from  east  to  west,  and  forming  fully  one-half  of  its  w^estern  bound- 
ary, there  was  originally  a  good  deal  of  what  might  properly  be 
called  ^vaste  land  within  the  limits  of  the  township.  Added 
to  this,  about  the  year  1840,  the  State  of  Ohio,  finding  the  Summit 
Lake,  and  other  sources  of  supply,  rather  deficient  in  dry  seasons, 
established,  by  the  erection  of  certain  embankments  from  one 
elevated  point  to  another,  a  system  of  artificial  lakes,  called  reser- 
voirs, for  the  purpose  of  storing  the  waters  of  the  contiguous 
streams,  and  the  surface  waters  of  the  neighborhood,  thus  con- 
verting several  thousand  acres  of  the  tillable  lands  of  Coventry, 
Green  and  Franklin  to-wnships,  into  permanent  bodies  of  water, 
with  which,  by  a  judicious  use  of  races,  sluices,  flood-gates,  etc., 
the  canal  is  kept  properly  supplied;  these  immense  bodies  of  water 
also  furnishing  fine  fishing  grounds,  pleasure  resorts,  etc.,  for  the 
inhabitants  of  the  surrounding  country. 

Though  somewhat  hilly  in  the  south  part,  Coventry  abounds 
in  fine  farms,  the  primitive  log  cabin  and  barn  having  given  place 
to  commodious  frame  and  brick  structures,  w^hich  w^ill  compare 
favorably  with  those  of  any  other  township  in  Summit  county. 

Portions  of  the  township,  during  the  past  40  years,  have 
yielded  vast  quantities  of  the  very  best  bituminous  coal,  and 
though  several  of  the  veins  opened  have  been  apparently  worked 
out,  the  supply  is  by  no  means  exhausted.  There  are,  also, 
apparently  inexhaustible  beds  of  an  excellent  quality  of  peat,  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  lakes,  which,  in  process  of  time,  may  become 
valuable,  but  which  now,  by  reason  of  the  abundance  of  coal,  can- 
not be  made  available. 

Manufactures,  etc. — In  an  early  day,  before  Akron  was,  and 
■while  Middlebury,  even,  w^as  in  its  infancy,  the  village  of  New  Port- 
age, on  the  line  between  Coventry  and  Norton,  was  putting  on  metro- 
politan airs.  Being  at  the  head  of  navigation,  on  the  Tuscarawas 
river,  as  elsewhere  explained,  quite  a  stroke  of  business  is  said  to 
have  been  done  in  the  boating  line;  and  quite  a  traffic  established 
w^ith  Zanesville  and  other  early  towns  on  the  Muskingum,  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  rivers,  by  which  the  inhabitants  of  the  vicinity 
were  supplied  with  salt,  sugar,  molasses  and  other  household 
necessaries  and  luxuries. 

In  about  the  year  1821,  also,  a  glass  factory  was  established  at 
New  Portage,  on  the  Norton  side  of  the  line,  by  Colonel  Ambrose 
Palmer,  in  which  quite  a  fair  quality  of  domestic   articles   were 


712 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


made,  the  late  Talmon  Beardsley,  having  had  a  bottle  in  his 
possession,  turned  out  of  that  establishment  in  1822.  The  business, 
however,  did  not  prove  remunerative,  and  was  abandoned  in  a  few 
years,  the  proprietor  afterwards  embracing  the  Mormon  faith  and 
emigrating  to  Utah. ' 

The  northeastern  portion  of  the  township  now  being  within 
the  corporate  limits  of  the  city  of  Akron,  embraces  quite  a  num- 
ber of  manufacturing  and  mechanical  establishments,  notably  the 
Roofing  and  Tile  Works  of  J.  C.  Ewart  &  Co.,  in  the  B'ourth  ward, 
and  the  Brick  Works  of  J.  B.  De  Haven,  in  the  Sixth  ward,  of  R. 
B.  Walker,  in  the  Fourth  ward,  and  a  large  number  of  manufac- 
turing establishments,  erected  south  of  the  city  limits  within 
the  past  three  years,  more  particularly  described  in  Chapter 
XVIII  of  this  volume. 


ISRAEL  ALLYN,— born  in  Groton, 
1  Conn.,  December  24,  1790;  raised 
to  trade  of  carpenter,  with  g-ood  com- 
mon school  education  ;  in  the  War  of 
1812  served  a  short  time  as  a  soldier ; 
Aug^ust  1,  1812,  was  married  to  Miss 
Lucy  Gallup,  and  in  March,  1819,  came 
to  Ohio,  settling  on  a  fartn  in  the 
north  part  of  Coventrj^,  now  occupied 
b}'  his  two  daughters,  Luc3"  R.,  and 
Hannah  S.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allyn  were 
the  parents  of  seven  children  — 
George  H.,  born  October  31,  1814,  died 
March  5,  1857;  Israel  M.,  born  June 
20,  1818.  died  May  13.  188.5;  Abel  G., 
born  October  i,  1820,  whose  portrait 
and  biographj'  are  given  elsewhere  ; 
Lucy  R.,  born  September  15, 1822,  now 
residing  on  the  old  homestead  in 
Coventr}' ;  Austin,  born  August  20, 
1828,  died  April  1.5,  1871  ;  Lydia,  born 
June  16,  1831.  first  wife  of  General 
Alvin  C.  Voris.  died  March  16,  1876  ; 
Hannah  S.,  born  August  1.5,  1833,  still 
residing  with  her  sister  Luc}^  on  the 
old  homestead  Mrs.  Allyn,  born 
March  22,  1789,  died  July  2,  18.50,  aged 
61  j^ears,  3  luonths  and  10  days,  Mr. 
Allyn  dying  May  7,  1873,  aged  82 
years,  4  months  and  13  days.  Mr. 
Allyn  was  one  of  the  most  enterpris- 
ing- farmers  of  his  day,  as  evidenced 


ISRAEL   ALLYN. 

b}^  his  finely  appointed  home  sur- 
roundings, and  nicel}-  cultivated 
fields,  was  patriotic  and  liberal  in  all 
public  affairs,  and  the  recipient  of 
many  local  honors  from  his  fellow 
townsmen. 


Milling  Operations. — Previous  to  1820,  Benjamin  Haines,  a 
son  of  Coventry's  pioneer  settler,  Daniel  Haines,  erected  a  small 
grist  mill  near  Avhere  the  present  north  and  south  road,  south  of 
Swartz's  Corners,  crosses  the  Tuscarawas  river,  traces  of  the  dam, 
race  and  mill  foundation,  being  still  visible.  Another  early,  and 
in  those  days  very  necessary,  industry,  was  a  distillery,  erected  by 
Adam  Falor,  in  the  north  central  portion  of  the  township,  a  little 
south  of  where  the  Akron  Iron  Company's  rolling  mill  now  stands, 
his  son,  Abram  Falor,  afterwards  building  a  saw-mill  upon  what 
has  since  been  known  as  Falor's  run,  at  w^hich,  by  a  judicious 
husbanding  of  the  waters  of  the  run,  quite  a  business  was  done 
for  several  years.  Another  early  grist  and  saw-mill  enterprise 
w^as  that  of  Daniel  Rex,  near  the  present  feeder  dam  of  the  Tus- 
carawas reservoir.     John  Buchtel,  Sr.,  also,  constructed  a  dam  and 


RESERVOIRS — STATE   MILL,   ETC. 


713 


race  and  commenced  the  erection  of  a  mill  in  the  eastern  part  of 
the  township,  half  a  mile  west  of  Wesley  Chapel,  but  for  some 
reason  not  now  apparent,  it  was  never  completed. 

The  present  well-known  mill  belonging  to  the  Brewster 
Brothers,  previously  called  Steese's  mill,  but  still  earlier  known  as 
Wylie's  mill,  was  built  about  1835,  by  Mr.  John  Wylie,  afterwards  a 
highly  prosperous  farmer  in  the  township  of  Copley,  recently 
deceased.  It  has  alwa3's  been  a  good  mill,  and  under  its  present 
management,  is  supplied  with  the  most  approved  modern  machin- 
ery, and,  besides  having  an  excellent  run  of  custom  trade,  produces 
annually  a  large  amount  of  first-class  flour  for  the  general  trade. 


A  3EL  G.  ALLYN.  —  son  of  Israel 
■^  and  Lucy  (Gallup)  Allyn,  was 
born  in  Coventry  Township,  October 
4,  1820;  educated  in  district  schools; 
raised  a  farmer,  working-  on  old 
homestead  until  1847,  when  he  pur- 
chased a  farm  a  short  distance 
further  west,  which  is  now  a  part  of 
the  city  of  Akron  ;  in  addition  to  gen- 
eral farming-  making-  dairying  a 
specialty  in  supplying  the  citizens  of 
Akron  with  milk.  October  10,  1847, 
was  married  to  Miss  Adeline  Capron, 
daughter  of  Ara  and  Eliza  (Sweet) 
Capron  of  Bath  and  Copley  Town 
Line,  who  bore  him  six  children — 
Addie,  born  July  23,  1848  (married 
February  20,  186(),  to  Preston  Barber, 
of  Akron,  who  died  December  13, 1886); 
Charles,  born  May  2o,  1851,  now  a 
farmer  in  Summit,  Greele}'  county, 
Nel)ra8ka,  of  which  place  he  has 
officiated  as  postmaster  for  several 
years ;  Ida,  born  Februarj-  15,  18,^4, 
now  wife  of  States  A.  McCoy,  a  native 
of  this  county,  now  a  prosperous  far- 
mer in  Leonidas  township  (Mendon 
P.  O.),  St.  Joseph  county,  Mich.; 
Leora,  born  Maj^  14,  1860;  Ettie,  Jan- 
uarj'  28,  1863,  and  Gertie,  November 
24,  1869,  now  a  teacher  in  Leggett 
school.  Mr.  Allyn  is  one  of  the  solid 
men  of  his  native  township,  having 
held  several  of  its  most  responsible 


ABEL  G.  ALLYX. 

offices,  and  being  for  some  or  twelve 
or  fifteen  years  Coventry's  member 
of  Board  of  Directors  of  Summit 
county's  highly  prosperous  Ag-ricul- 
tural  Society.  Mrs.  Allyn  died 
August  24,  1888,  aged  59  years,  8 
months  and  3  days. 


THE  CELEBRATED  OLD  STATE  MILL. 


The  construction  of  the  reservoirs,  as  above  stated,  with  their 
several  feeders,  destroyed  most  of  the  minor  mill-privileges  of 
both  Coventry,  Franklin  and  Green  township^,  A  partial  remedy, 
however,  was  provided  in  the  creation  of  quite  a  permanent  water- 
power  in  the  southern  central  part  of  Coventry,  at  the  point  w^here 
the  water  flows  from  the  reservoir  into  Long  Lake,  from  which,  in 
turn,  it  is  fed  into  the  canal  a  mile  or  so  further  north.  There 
had  previously  been  a  grist  mill  at  this  point,  with  rather  a  lim- 
ited fall  and  power,  but  by  whom  erected  is  not  now  remembered. 
Mr.  Talmon  Beardsley's  recollection,  however,  was  that  at  the  time 
the  reservoir  was  projected,  it  \eas  the  property  of  the  late  Kbene- 
zer  Pardee,  of  Western  Star,  and  that  he  drove  so  sharp  a  bargain 
•with  the  board  of  public  works,  in  their  appropriation  of  private 


714 


AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


property  for  the  reservoir,  that  they  paid  him  some  $25,000  for  the 
mill  and  power  in  question,  though  Doctor  John  Hill,  who  sub- 
sequently married  the  wido^v  of  Mr.  Pardee,  informed  us  that  the 
consideration  w^as  only  $7,000,  and  that  the  State,  by  the  subse- 
quent elevation  of  its  dams  and  embankments,  now^  occupies  con- 
siderably more  land  belonging  to  Mr.  Pardee's  estate,  than  it  orig- 
inally purchased. 


GEORGE  ADAM  FALOR,— born 
July  17,  1798,  in  Lower  Smith- 
ville,  Northampton  county,  Pa.; 
removed  with  parents  to  Stark 
county,  O.,  in  1809 ;  five  years  later 
locating  on  what  w^as  later  know^n  as 
the  Thornton  farm,  now  a  populous 
portion  of  the  city  of  Akron; 
remained  with  father  till  25,  when  he 
bovig'ht  the  well-known  Falor  farm, 
in  Coventry,  which,  in  addition  to 
somewhat  extensively  plying"  his 
trade  of  stonemason,  he  successfully 
cultivated  for  many  years.  Mr.  Falor 
was  three  times  inarried,  his  wives 
being"  sisters,  respectively  named 
Nancy  McCoy,  Rachael  McCoy  and 
Mrs.  Jane  (McCoy)  Wilson.  Several 
years  before  his  death  Mr.  Falor,  re- 
tiring froin  the  active  management  of 
his  farm,  took  up  his  residence  in 
Akron,  where  he  died  of  dropsy,  June 
29,  1868,  aged  69  years,  11  months 
12  days.  Mr.  Falor  was  the  father 
of  17  children,  13  of  whom  survived 
him— Milo  J.,  since  deceas»ed  ;  James 
M.,  Lucinda  R.  (now  Mrs.  John  (lOtt- 
walt);  Hiram  Silas,  George  W.,  now 
deceased  ;  Oliver  Perr}^,  Mary  Ann 
(now  Mrs.  J.  A.  Long);  Thomas  J., 
William  Wallace,  deceased ;  Henry 
Clay  (died    at  Massillon,  December 


GEORGE    ADAM    FALOK. 

27,  1890);  Martha  Ellen  (now  Mrs, 
Henry  Acker);  Lilly  Annette,  (now 
Mrs.  George  L.  Adkins);  Perr3^  Tod^ 
now  a  resident  of  Michigan. 


On  the  completion  of  the  reservoir,  the  State  either  built  a 
new  mill  at  this  point,  or  enlarged  or  improved  the  old  one,  which,, 
by  increase  of  water  and  fall,  was  now  one  of  the  most  permanent 
mill  privileges  in  this  part  of  the  State.  Soon  after  its  completion^ 
the  State  mill  was  leased,  in  perpetuity,  to  Mr.  Theobold  Baugh- 
man  (father  of  our  well-known  citizen,  Mr.  Harry  Baughman), 
w^ho  successfully  carried  it  on,  until  his  death,  in  1866,  nearl}'  a 
quarter  of  a  century. 

This  mill,  during  Mr.  Baughman's  lifetime,  was  a  very  popu- 
lar place  of  resort  for  the  farmers  of  the  surrounding  country,  who,, 
while  awaiting  the  grinding  of  their  several  grists,  w^ould,  in  turn, 
grind  out  large  grists  of  neighborhood  gossip  to  each  other,  or 
enter  into  friendly,  but  oftentimes  spirited,  discussions  upon  the 
social,  moral  and  political  questions  of  the  time,  the  conduct  of 
the  war,  etc. 

The  State  mill  w^as,  also,  for  many  years,  quite  a  fishing  and 
pleasure  resort,  Mr.  Baughman  keeping  quite  a  large  number  of 
boats  for  hire,  while  the  large  shady  grove  east  of  the  mill,  bor- 
dered by  the  clear  and  sparkling  waters  of  the  reservoir,  furnished 
delightful    camping    and    picnic   grounds^ — stabling  and    feed   for 


Coventry's  business  status. 


715 


horses,  and  also  the  most  bountiful  and  toothsome  meals  for  their 
drivers,  being  provided  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Baughman,  when  desired. 
The  State  mill,  after  Mr.  Baughman's  death,  though  run  by  a 
member  of  the  family  for  some  years,  was  not  properly  kept  up, 
though  its  ancient  water-wheel  is  still  running,  its  present  lessee 
being  Mr.  Robert  Mitsell,  a  ride,  westward,  from  the  old  Steese 
coal  bank,  around  the  head  of  the  reservoir,  following  its  innu- 
merable and  shady  s.inuosities,  past  the  old  State  mill  to  Lockwood,s 
Corners,  being  one  of  the  most  delightful  drives  in  Summit  county. 


HIRAM  SILAS  FALOR,— born  in 
Coventrj-,  March  22,  1829  ;  com- 
mon school  education;  harness 
maker  in  Akron  15  years ;  in  1860, 
clerked  in  wholesale  store  in  San 
Francisco,  worked  in  mines  and 
established  pioneer  harness  shop  in 
Virg^inia  City,  Nev.;  in  1861,  org-a- 
nized  and  as  captain  tendered  Vir- 
g-inia  City  Guards  to  the  g-overnment, 
but  for  lack  of  transportation  facili- 
ties offer  declined;  1863  returned  to 
Akron, 5  years  later  removing  to  farm 
in  Coventry,  where  he  has  since 
resided  ;  was  several  years  foreman 
of  one  of  Akron's  pioneer  fire  com- 
panies ;  deputy  village  marshal  two 
years  ;  secretary  Summit  County  Ag- 
ricultural Society  two  years  and 
assistant  secretary  two  years ;  mes- 
senger in  office  of  State  Treasurer 
Joseph  Turney,  at  Columbus,  1880-84; 
member  of  police  force,  in  charge  of 
music  hall  during  Ohio  Centennial 
Exposition  in  1888 ;  member  of 
Masonic  order  ;-{5  years  ;  filling  all 
the  offices  from  the  lowest  to  highest 
in  Summit  Lodge,  No.  50.  I.  O.  O.  F.; 
was  U.  S.  census  enumerator  for 
Coventry  in  1890.  Mr.  Falor  was 
married  to  Miss  Bertha  E.  Agard, 
July  4,  1854,  who  bore  him  four  chil- 
dren, two  of  whom,  only,  are  now 
living  —  Claude  Emerson,  now  in 
regular  arm)',  at  Fort  Sam   Houston, 


HIRAM  SILAS  FALOR. 

Texas,  and  Minnie  Florence,  now 
Mrs.  Elmer  C.  Ellsworth,  of  Coven- 
try. Mrs.  Falor  dying  Januarj^  4, 
1873,  Mr.  F.  was  again  married,  to 
Mrs.  Ph(ebe  A.  Lutz,  of  Westfield, 
Medina  county,  July  16,  1873.  They 
have  two  children — Hiram  Garcelon, 
born  August  12,  1879,  and  Phipbe 
Fannj',  born  March  6,  1881. 


The  Ancient  Metropolis. — New  Portage,  in  the  early  twenties, 
before  the  Ohio  Canal  had  been  projected,  or  the  c\iy  of  Akron 
ever  dreamed  of,  was  regarded  of  so  much  business  importance,  as 
to  require  the  service  of  one  or  more  lawyers,  and  here  the  late 
Van  R.  Humphrey  (father  of  C.  P.  Humphrey,  Esq.,  of  Akron), 
afterwards,  from  1837  to  1844,  president  judge  of  the  Third  Judi- 
cial District,  embracing  Ashtabula,  Trumbull,  Portage  and  Sum- 
mit counties,  first  huna:  out  his  professional  shingle. 

Simultaneously  with  the  building  of  the  Ohio  Canal,  in  1826, 
'27,  a  new  impetus  was  given  to  the  ancient  metropolis,  hitherto 
nearly  all  on  the  Norton  side  of  the  line.  Here  the  late  Jared 
Jennings  (step-father  of  court-bailiff,  Andrew  McNeil)  did,  for 
many  years,  quite  an  extensive  mercantile  and  commission  busi- 
ness, another  similar  establishment  being,  also,  carried  on  by  a 
party  whose  name  is  not  now  remembered.  A  commodious  hotel 
and  other  branches  of  business  were  also  carried  on,  there  being. 


716 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


later,  at  this  point,  quite  an  extensive  business  done  in  the  manu- 
facture of  friction  matches,  by  Mr.  George  Strawhacker,  still  resid- 
ing in  the  neighborhood.  At  the  south  end,  also,  in  later  years, 
Mr.  Jacob  Welsh,  now  of  Colorado,  besides  selling  merchandise 
and  officiating  as  postmaster,  carried  on  quite  an  extensive  pot- 
tery, a  siinilar  establishment  having  also  been  carried  on  upon  the 
canal,  south  of  Summit  Lake,  between  Akron  and  New  Portage. 
Within  the  past  few  years,  Akron  capitalists,  established  an 
•extensive  strawboard  and  straw  lumber  manufactory,  mammoth 
sewer  pipe  works  and  other  important  industries,  upon  the  Nor- 
ton side  of  the  line,  giving  employment  to  a  large  number  of  men 
and  teams;  so  that,  Avith  the  store,  postoffice,  railroad  stations,  and 
other  minor  branches  of  business  carried  on  there.  New  Portage  is 
now  enjoying  a  higher  degree  of  prosperity,  than  for  the  past  forty 
years. 


JOHN  BUCHTEL,^born  in  Mjers 
J  township.  Center  county,  Pa., 
November  6,  1797  ;  came  with  parents 
to  Ohio  1816,  settling-  in  Coventry  ;  a 
few  3^ears  later  removing  to  Green 
township.  January  18,  1821,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Catharine  Richards, 
of  Green  township,  who  bore  him 
live  children— three  daughters  and 
two  sons,  the  latter  of  whom,  onlj^, 
John  R.  and  William,  whose  portraits 
appear  elsewhere,  are  now  living. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Buchtel  pluckil3'  began 
their  marital  life  in  a  log  stable, 
until  a  more  comfortable  dwelling- 
could  be  provided.  After  13  years 
residence  in  Green,  they  sold  their 
farm  there  and  bought  another  in 
Coventry ,where  thej'  happilj"  lived  for 
41  years.  In  1875,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  B.  re- 
moved to  a  small  place  just  north  of 
Akron  cit5'  limits,  where  Mrs.  B.  died 
July  9, 1882,  aged  85  j^ears.  Mr.  B.,  now 
in  his  95th  j^ear,  and  still  in  possession 
of  all  his  faculties,  except  good  eye- 
sight, is  kindly  cared  for  by  his 
youngest  son,  William,  at  807  East 
Market  street.  Mr.  Buchtel  has  been 
a  consistent  inember  of  the  EvangeH- 
cal   church  for  nearly  50  years.     In 


JOHN  BUCHTEL. 

politics  he  was  originallj-  a  Jackson 
Democrat,  but  on  the  breaking  out  of 
the  slave-holdercs'  rebellion,  became 
an  earnest  RepubUcan,  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  which  party  he  still  gives  a 
vig'orous  support. 


Coventry  in  War. — There  were,  undoubtedly,  quite  a  number 
of  ex-Revolutionary  soldiers  and  pensioners  among  the  early  set- 
tlers in  Coventry,  though  only  the  names  of  Thomas  Granger, 
Lambert  Clement  and  John  Harrington,  as  such,  have  been  handed 
down.  Nor  are  we  much  wiser  in  regard  to  the  War  of  1812,  the 
only  name  falling  under  the  eye  of  the  writer,  iti  that  connection, 
being  that  of  Peter  Buchtel  (grandfather  of  Messrs.  John  R.  and 
William  Buchtel,  of  Akron),  though  there  must  have  been  several 
other  defenders  of  the  frontier  among  her  pioneer  settlers,  before, 
if  not  after,  their  coming  thither.  We  are  also  entirely  in  the  dark 
in  regard  to  the  Mexican  War. 

But  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  Coventry,  at  first  a  little 
tardy,  finally  most  gallantly  woke  up  to  her  whole  duty  in  the  prem- 
ises.    Up   to   July    24,  1862,  Coventry  had  been  credited    with    26 


COVENTRY   IN   WAR. 


71T 


recruits,  but  not  responding  so  promptly  to  subsequent  calls,  was- 
tw^ice  subjected  to  draft,  her  quota,  under  the  first  draft,  October,^ 
1862,  being  69,  the  larger  portion  of  w^horn  w^ere  supplied  by  volun- 
tary enlistments,  or  by  procuring  substitutes  before  the  draft  took 
place.  In  the  second  draft,  her  quota  was  one,  only,  which  was,  of 
course,  speedily  secured.  This  makes  a  total  of  96,  but  many  of 
the  earlier  enlistments  being  made  outside  of  the  townships  \^rhere 
volunteers  resided,  the  town  where  they  belonged  not  always 
receiving  the  proper  credit  therefor,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  Coven- 
try's contribution  to  the  Union  army  w^as  fully  one  hundred  men, 
the  assessors'  returns  for  the  j^ears  1863,  '64,  '65,  giving  the  names 
of  84  of  her  volunteers  as  follows: 


JONATHAN  H.  BREWSTER,-  sec- 
J  ond  son  of  James  G.  and  Martha 
(Hassen)Brevvster,  among  the  earliest 
settlers  of  Coventry  township,  was 
born  January  11,  1834;  educated  in 
district  schools;  raised  a  farmer,  and 
now  lives  upon  same  farm  upon 
which  his  grandparents,  Stephen  and 
Lydia  (Bellows)  Brewster  settled  in 
1811.  A  portion  of  the  farin  being 
underlaid  with  coal,  for  a  number 
of  years  the  Brewster  Brothers  car- 
ried on  quite  extensive  mining 
operations,  and  are  now  proprietors 
of  the  old  original  Wylie  Flouring 
Mill  elsewhere  described  in  this 
chapter.  They  are  also  largely  in- 
terested in  the  Buckeye  and  Summit 
Sewer  Pipe  Companies,  (Mr.  J.  H. 
Brewster  being  president  of  the 
former  and  a  director  in  the  latter), 
the  United  States  Stoneware  Com- 
pany, and  several  other  industrial 
enterprises.  In  politics  Mr.  Brewster 
is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  though 
his  township  is  overwhelmingly 
Democratic,  he  was  once  elected 
justice  of  the  peace,  acceptably  fill- 
ing the  office  three  years;  was  town- 
ship real  estate  assessor  for  the 
year  1870,  and  also  held  the  impor- 


JONATHAN  H.  BREWSTER. 

tant  position  of  county  infirmary 
director  three  full  terms  (9  years) 
from  1866  to  1875,  the  last  four  years  as 
president  of  the  Board. 


Sylvester  Adams,  Christopher  Beck  (died  in  service),  Urias  H. 
Buchtel,  Benjamin  F.  Buchtel,  Ephraim  Bellows,  Daniel  Boyer, 
Philip  Burgy,  W.  F.  Brown,  William  Buchtel,  Henry  Curtis,  Har- 
rison Crosier,  Charles  Clark,  John  W.  Crosier,  Alexander  Camp- 
bell, James  Crosier,  EdAvin  N.  Clough,  Walter  Clough,  Peter  Cro- 
sier, Freeman  Cormany,  Lorenzo  Crosier,  James  S.  Dickson,. 
Jacob^  Foster,  Edward  Farr,  Aaron  Farr  (died  in  service),  Jacob 
Filtz,  Daniel  France,  John  Gougler,  James  Getz  (died  in  service), 
James  B.  Haynes,  Jatiies  Head,  William  D.  Haynes,  Solomon  Hen- 
line,  John  Holley,  J.  D.  Heathman,  George  Heintz,  William  Havoc, 
John  Huffman,  William  Hartong,  William  H.  Jones  (died  in  ser- 
vice), James  Jones,  David  Kittinger,  Levi  Kittinger  (died  in  service), 
William  Leach,  George  Ley,  John  Ley,  Samuel  McCoy,  Benjamin 
McCoy  (died  in  service),  John  Male,  Sr.,  Henry  Mandebaugh,  Adam 
K.  Marsh,  Ephraim  Marsh,  Michael  McQueeney,  Eli  Moore,  John 
Male,  Jr.,  States  A.  McCoy,  Henderson  Mendenhall,  Hiram  Neil, 


718 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Benjamin  F.  Pontious  (died  in  service),  Samuel  Pipher,  Jacob 
Rosenbaum  (died  in  service),  Freeman  Robinson,  Henry  Robinson, 
L.  B.  Raber,  Adam  Rinehart,  William  Seigfried,  Benjamin  F.  Stall, 
Charles  Steese,  J.  Shaffer  (died  in  service),  Joshua  Sellers  (died  in 
service),  William  Seigfried,  Daniel  Stetler  (died  in  service),  William 
H.  Tooker,  Charles  G.  Tooker,  William  L.  Turner,  Charles  D.  Tift, 
A.  A.  Triplett,  Valentine  Viers,  Samuel  Winkleman,  Adam 
Weaver,  Jonathan  Weaver,  Oliver  Wagner  (died  in  service), 
Oeorge  Weyant,  Elijah  Yarnold,  Abner  H.  Yonker. 


r^EORGE  W.  BREWSTER,— fifth 
^^  son  of  James  G.  and  Martha 
XHassen)  Brewster,  was  born  in  Cov- 
ventry,  March  21,  1837;  raised  on 
farm,  with  common  school  educa- 
tion; in  the  middle  fifties  spent  sev- 
eral years  in  California,  on  his  re- 
turn eng'ag'ing'  with  his  four  brothers, 
Stephen,  Jonathan  H.,  James  G.,  Jr. 
and  Hiram,  in  coal  mining-,  and 
later  in  milling-,  manufacturing 
sewer  pipe,  stoneware,  etc.  Mr. 
Brewster  was  married,  October  19, 
1876,  to  Miss  Marie  L.  Kent,  daughter 
of  Josiah  and  Lucia  (Miller)  Kent, 
pioneer  settlers  in  Suffield,  Portage 
county,  who  was  born  June  1,  1843. 
Four  children  have  been  born  to 
them — Georgie  Marie,  born  Septem- 
ber 20,  1877:  Hiram  Wallace,  born 
September  27,  1879,  died  May  4,1881; 
Arthur  Kent,  born  December  20,  1880, 
and  Bessie  Bell,  born  December  20, 
1883.  During  the  War  of  the  Rebellion 
the  Brewster  brothers  were  most  lib- 
eral contributors  to  the  various 
bounty  and  sanitary  funds,  and 
otherwise  active  in  securing  recruits 
for  the  Union  army,  and  averting 
the  draft.  Though  an  active  Repub- 
lican from  the  organization  of  the 
party,  Mr.  Brewster  has  never  sought 


GEO.  W.  BREWSTER. 

office,  but  in  1890  the  Republican 
County  Convention  voluntarily,  and 
with  great  unanimit}^  placed  him  in 
nomination  for  coroner,  to  which  re- 
sponsible position  he  was  duly 
elected  for  the  term  of  two  years, 
and  is  still  ably  serving. 


COVENTRY  IN  PEACE. 

Hon.  Charles  Sumner,  father  of  Miss  A.  Louise  Sumner,  and 
brother  of  the  late  Julius  A.  Sumner,  after  a  service  of  nine  years 
in  the  same  capacity  in  Portage  county,  was  appointed  bj'^  the 
Legislature  of  Ohio,  one  of  the  first  associate  judges  of  the  new- 
county  of  Summit,  on  its  organization  in  1840,  and  as  all  probate 
business  wras  transacted  by  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  mostly 
by  the  associate  judges.  Judge  Sumner  rendered  very  faithful  and 
efficient  service  to  the  people  of  the  newr  county  up  to  the  time  of 
his  death,  June  19,  1845. 

Jared  Jennings,  an  early  and  successful  business  man  of  New^ 
Portage,  on  the  Coventry  side  of  the  line,  was,  in  1849,  elected 
recorder  of  Summit  county,  filling  that  office  very  acceptably  for 
the  period  of  three  years. 

Avery  Spicer,  one  of  the  most  thorough-going  and  prosperous 
farmers  of  Coventry  township,  was,  at  sundry  times,  between  1849 
and   1866,   elected  to   the   important   office   of   Infirmary   director, 


Coventry's  civil  service  record. 


719 


holding  that  position  in  all  13  years  and  3  months,  and  it  is  no 
disparagement  to  others  to  say  that  Mr.  Spicer  was  as  competent 
and  faithful  an  overseer  of  the  poor,  as  Summit  county  ever  had. 
Noah  Lxgersoll,  Esq.,  father  of  Charles  F.  Ingersoll,  of  Akron, 
and  George  W.  Ingersoll,  of  Coventry,  besides  serving  two  full 
terms,  from  1859  to  1865,  as  justice  of  the  peace,  \sras  the  very  care- 
ful and  pains-taking  coroner  of  the  county  for  two  consecutive 
terms  from  1857  to  1861. 


NOAH  INGERSOLL,  ESQ.,— son  of 
James  and  Mary  (Hoyt)  Ing-er- 
soll;  born  in  Stanford,  Dutchess 
county,  N.  Y.,  April  18,  1783;  common 
school  education;  raised  on  farm; 
married  to  Miss  Mary  Stickels,  April 
3,  1814;  soon  after  marriag-e  removed 
to  Albion,  Orleans  countjs  N.  Y., 
where  he  filled  many  important  local 
official  positions;  in  1836  came  to 
Ohio,  settling-  on  a  farm  in  Copley, 
afterwards  removing- to  Coventr)%  the 
last  year  of  his  life  being  spent  in 
Akron,  his  death  occurring  April  7, 
1870,  Mrs.  Ingersoll  having  passed 
awaj"  some  hve  years  earlier.  Mr. 
Ingersoll  ably  served  as  justice  of 
the  peace  for  Coventry  two  consecvi- 
tive  terms — 18.59  to  1865,  and  was  also 
elected  coroner  of  Summit  county  in 
1857.  and  re-elected  in  1859,  holding 
that  important  position  two  full 
terms.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ingersoll  were 
the  parents  of  seven  children,  five  of 
whom  are  now  living — Mrs.  Eliza 
Folger,  of  Eljria;  Mrs.  Tamma  Par- 
melee,  of  Kent;  Miss  Mary  Ingersoll, 
of  Akron,  George  W.  Ingersoll,  a 
farmer  in  Coventry  and  Charles  F. 
Ingersoll,  insurance  and  real  estate 
agent,  Akron;  the  oldest  son,  Walter, 
a  resident  of  Detroit,  dying  inAugust, 


NOAH  INGERSOLL,  ESQ. 

1885,  and  a  daughter,  Caroline,  in 
June,  1842.  In  religion  Mr.  Ingersoll 
was  a  consistent  Congregationalist; 
in  politics  a  zealous  Republican,  and 
in  social  life,  upright,  affable  and 
gentlemanly. 


Jonathan  H.  Brewster,  for  three  successive  terms,  of  three 
years  each,  from  1866  to  1875,  was  a  prompt,  humane  and  efficient 
member  of  the  Infirmary  board,  of  which  body  he  was  president 
from  1868  to  1872.  ' 

Hon.  John  R.  Buchtel,  besides  serving  his  native  township 
three  years,  from  1853  to  1859,  as  justice  of  the  peace,  was,  in  1872, 
presidential  elector  for  the  18th  Congressional  District,  composed 
of  Summit,  Wayne,  Medina  and  Lorain  counties,  casting  his  vote  in 
the  electoral  college  for  Ulysses  S.  Grant  for  president,  and  Henry 
Wilson  for  vice  president,  though  an  ardent  personal  and  denom- 
inational friend  of  Hon.  Horace  Greeley,  who  that  year  accepted  a 
nomination  at  the  hands  of  th^  Democratic  party.  Mr.  Buchtel 
w^as  also  appointed  by  Governor  Hayes  one  of  the  original  direc- 
tors of  the  Ohio  Agricultural  College  at  Columbus,  and  was  vet-y 
active  in.  planning  and  constructing  the  buildings,  laying  out  the 
grounds  and  organizing  that  institution,  while  his  liberal  gifts  to 
the  college  in  Akron,  which  bears  his  name,  his  open-handed 
benevolence,  his  public  spirit  and  indomitable  enterprise  are 
well  known  to  all. 


.720 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Hiram  S.  Falor,  born  in  Coventry,  March  22,  1829,  and  now- 
residing  on  a  portion  of  the  original  family  homestead,  by  appoint- 
ment of  council,  served  two  years,  1853,  '54,  as  assistant  marshal 
of  the  incorporated  village  of  Akron,  also  served  as  deputy  sheriff, 
under  Sheriff  Seward,  during  the  Parks  murder  trial  in  1853-54; 
and  from  1880  to  1884,  faithfully  and  efficiently  performed  the 
responsible  duties  of  messenger  of  the  State  treasury,  in  Columbus, 
during  the  administration  of  Treasurer  Joseph  Turney,  and  retain- 
ing the  position  tw^o  months  under  "  Uncle  Jo's"  Democratic  suc- 
cessor, Hon.  Peter  Brady. 


T  EVI  ALLEN,  Jr.,  son  of  Levi 
-L'  and  Phoebe  (Spicer)  Allen; 
among-  the  earliest  settlers  in  Coven- 
try, was  born  in  that  township,  July 
28, 1824  ;  raised  on  farm,  with  common 
school  education  ;  in  1850  went  over- 
land to  California,  where,  with  varied 
success  at  mining,  merchandising-, 
etc.,  he  remained  nearly  17  3'ears. 
December  25,  1856,  was  married  in 
Sacramento  City,  to  Miss  Mary  E. 
Ware,  born  near  Richmond,  Va., 
March  24,  1830.  Three  children  were 
born  to  them— Marj^  E.  P.,  born 
August  16,  1858,  now  wife  of  Henrj- 
Stone,  Esq.,  Denver,  Colorado  ;  Albert 
W.  H.  and  Alvin  L.  M.  (twins),  born 
September  12,  1862,  Albert  dying 
October  8,  1864,  and  Alvin  Januar}^  8, 
1865.  Mrs.  Allen  dying  June  9,  1866. 
Mr.  Allen  was  again  married,  at  Inde- 
pendence, Cuyahoga  county,  Novem- 
ber 4,  1868,  to  Miss  Cornelia  Knapp, 
born  in  Cleveland.  April  27,  1830. 
Two  children  have  been  born  to 
them — Cornelia  C.  A.,  born  January 
13,  1871,  and  Albertina  M.  D.,  born 
May  14,  1872,  both  now  students  in 
Hiram  College.  Quiet  and  unosten- 
tatious, Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allen,  success- 
full}^  cultivating  the  old  homestead, 
are  among  the  most  substantial  citi- 


LEVI  ALLEN,  JK. 

zens  of  Coventry  township,  Mr.  Allen 
being  in  politics  an  earnest  Republi- 
can, and  both  being  members  and 
liberal  svipporters  of  the  first  Dis- 
ciples' church  in  Akron,  Mr.  Allen 
having  served  as  a  m'ember  of  the 
Coventry  Board  of  Education  some 
12  or  14  years. 


Joseph  C.  Hill,  appointed  county  commissioner  on  the  death 
of  Commissioner  David  C.  Miller,  in  November,  1886,  holding  the 
office  one  year,  to  the  general  acceptance  of  his  constituents. 

George  W.  Brewster  was  elected  coroner  of  Summit  county, 
November,  1890,  and  is  still  serving. 

Growth,  Population,  Etc. — In  1840,  the  population  of  the  town- 
ship w^as  1,308,  rather  over  the  average  of  the  Reserve  townships 
of  the  new^  county,  because,  probably,  of  her  contiguity  to,  and 
constituting  a  part  of,  the  village  of  Akron.  For  a  like  reason  she 
shows  a  larger  proportionate  increase  than  the  general  run  of  her 
neighbors,  the  census  of  1880  giving  her  2;305  inhabitants,  exclu- 
sive of  that  portion  lying  w^ithin  the  city  limits,  and  after  con- 
tributing another  large  slice  of  territory  in  1886,  the  census  of  1890 
still  gives  her  a  population  of  2,309. 

Indian  and  Pioneer  Traditions, — It  would  give  the  writer 
great  pleasure  to  make  individual  mention  of  each  of  the  pioneer 
residents  of  Coventry,  and  their  w^onderf  ul  experience  with  savage 


INDIANS   AND   INDIAN   HUNTERS.  721 

beasts  and  savage  men,  were  reliable  data  available  and  did  space 
permit.  These  matters,  however,  have  already  been  quite  fully- 
treated  of  by  General  Bierce  and  other  history-mongers  who  have 
preceded  me;  and  besides,  the  object  of  this  work  is  more  partic- 
ularly to  record  certain  important  events — civil,  criminal,  military, 
etc. — during  the  past  fifty  or  sixty  years,  though,  of  course,  making 
occasional  allusions  to  matters  and  things  still  more  remote. 

There  is  a  tendency,  too,  I  fear,  among  local  historians,  to  exag- 
gerate; that  is  to  say,  the  original  story  of  prowess  or  adventures  of 
the  early  settler,  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation,  is 
not  apt  to  lose  any  of  its  primitive  Munchhausenish  proportions  by 
frequent  repetition,  while  the  chronicler  thereof  is  prone  to  add 
such  embellishments  as  his  own  more  or  less  lively  imagination 
may  suggest. 

Apropos  of  this,  in  tVie  latter  part  of  the  18th  century,  the 
region  of  the  country  about  the  lakes  and  the  head-waters  of  the 
Tuscarawas,  was  inhabited  by  the  powerful  Delaware  tribe  of 
Indians,  of  which  "  Captain  Pipe,"  as  called  by  the  whites,  but  whose 
Indian  name  was  "Hopocan,"  was  chief,  or  king,  who  is  celebrated 
in  history  as  the  avenger  of  the  slaughtered  Moravian  Indians  at 
Gnadenhutten,  in  the  early  Spring  of  1782,  by  the  burning  and 
torturing  to  death  of  Colonel  William  Crawford,  on  the  upper  San- 
dusky, in  June  of  the  same  year,  with  which  fearful  episode  the 
most  of  the  readers  of  these  sketches  are  probably  familiar;  Captain 
Pipe  also  being  an  alleged  participant  in  compassing  the  historical 
defeat  of  Governor  Arthur  St.  Clair,  on  the  upper  Wabash,  in  1791. 

Though,  on  the  advent  of  the  early  w^hite  settlers  in  Coventry, 
in  1806-11,  a  remnant  of  the  Delawares  still  lingered.  Captain  Pipe 
had  long  since  migrated  to  the  "happy  hunting  grounds,"  and  it 
does  not  appear  tbat  there  w^as  ever  any  serious  trouble  between 
the  Indians  and  the  whites,  though  possibly  some  "  onpleasant- 
nesses"  might  have  resulted  from  a  too  free  use  of  fire-water  on  both 
sides  of  the  color  line. 

The  blood-thirsty  character,  therefore,  attributed  to  one 
Liverton  Dixon,  an  early  settler  in  Coventry,  some  of  whose 
descendants  probably  still  live  in  the  township,  may  be  properly 
regarded  as  largely  apocryphal.  A  former  historian  represents 
him  as  "an  early  Indian  hunter  and  fighter, between  whom  and  the 
red-skins  a  deadly  hatred  existed  which  often  led  to  the  shedding 
of  blood."  Several  specific  instances  of  Indian  killing,  in  cold 
blood,  by  Dixon,  are  reported,  one  as  late  as  1815.  This,  however,, 
is  scarcely  probable,  as,  simultaneous  with  the  breaking  out  of  the 
War  of  1812,  the  Indians  of  this  vicinity  entirely  disappeared,  as 
allies  of  the  British  troops,  few  of  whom,  if  any,  afterwards 
returned,  none  certainly  as  hostile  to  the  resident  and  victorious 
white  population.  And  as  all  the  instances  narrated  purport  to  be 
based  on  the  say-so  of  the  said  Liverton  Dixon  himself,  though 
the  writer  would  by  no  means  undertake  to  impugn  his  veracity, 
justice  to  his  memory,  as  well  as  to  his  descendants,  would  war- 
rant the  belief  that  a  portion,  at  least,  of  the  tales  attributed  to  him^ 
were  due  more  to  his  love  of  romance  than  to  the  actual  perpetra- 
tion of  the  specific  acts  of  innate  savagery  they  import. 

Fabricators  of  the  "Queer." — In  the  late  twenties  and  early 
thirties,  Coventry,  like  many  contiguous  towns,  was  more  or  less 
infected  with  the  counterfeiting  mania,  and  besides  the  well-known 

46 


722  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

metallic  operations  of  Jo.  Keeler,  elsewhere  alluded  to,  illegitimate 
paper  was  also  dealt  in  to  a  considerable  extent.  Thus,  in  the 
Spring  of  1838,  w^hen  the  raid  of  the  officers  of  Portage,  Medina  and 
Cuyahoga  counties  was  made,  one  or  more  of  the  denizens  of  Cov- 
entry, were  included  in  the  arrests  made,  in  speaking  of  which  an 
Akron  paper  of  the  time  says:  *'  The  Western  Keserve  Real  Estate 
and  Farmers'  Bank  is  located  near  Lock  One,  south  of  New  Port- 
age, where  a  shanty  is  banking-house,  tavern,  meeting-house  and 
village."  The  "  deposits  "  were  taken  possession  of  by  the  officers, 
but  as  it  transpired  that  the  parties  arrested  v^ere  not  the  real  pro- 
prietors of  the  plant,  they  were  not  proceeded  against.  Several 
young  men,  in  later  years,  got  their  fingers  seriously  scorched  by 
dabbling  in  the  "queer,"  but  happily  escaping  from  the  toils  of  the 
law,  and  the  evil  influences  by  which  they  w^ere  "  roped  in,"  have 
since  lived  upright  and  honorable  lives  and  are  now  among  the 
most  respectable  citizens  of  the  tow^nship. 

The  Ley-Swartz-Thomas  Tragedy. — On  the  night  of  Satur- 
day, February  9,  1878,  there  occurred  in  the  township  of  Coventry, 
one  of  those  terrific  and  fatal  affrays,  so  frequently  incident  to  the 
excessive  use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  and  the  holding  of  social 
dances  at  places  where  such  intoxicating  liquors  are  kept  for  sale; 
the  fatal  blow,  too,  in  this  instance,  as  so  often  happens,  falling  upon 
a  peaceable  citizen,  in  no  w^ay  participating  in  the  affray. 

Near  the  Steese  Coal  Mines,  in  the  middle  southern  portion  of 
the  tow^nship,  were  two  or  three  saloons  for  the  accommodation  of 
thirsty  miners  and  the  bibulous  farmers  and  farmers'  sons  of  the 
neighborhood.  One  of  these  saloons  w^as  kept  by  one  Peter 
Shaffer,  a  clever,  good-natured  German-American,  who  thought 
it  no  harm  to  "turn  an  honest  penny'"  by  selling  beer,  whisky,  etc. 
to  his  thirsty  neighbors.  Nor  did  he  deem  it  at,  all  reprehensible 
for  him  to  give  an  occasional  "shake  down"  in  the  dwelling  por- 
tion of  his  establishment,  w^ith  a  view  to  such  pecuniary  benefits 
as  might  accrue  from  the  sale  of  refreshments  to  the  boys  and  girls 
in  attendance. 

The  Origin  of  the  Row. — There  seem  to  have  been  at  least 
two  classes,  or  factions,  among  the  boys  of  the  neighborhood,  w^ho 
were  not  on  very  friendly  terms  with  each  other,  the  enmity  being 
particularly  strong  between  Charles  Lej'^  and  Samuel  Pierce.  On 
the  night  in  question,  the  Ley  party  were  having  a  social  dance  at 
Shaffer's,  "Pete"  himself  being  quite  a  skillful  manipulator  of  the 
fiddle  and  the  bow.  Soon  after  the  festivities  commenced,  Pierce 
came  upon  the  scene.  Getting  into  a  w^rangle  with  Charles  Ley, 
the  tw^o  went  outside  to  "  have  it  out."  There,  according  to  Ley's 
statement,  he  found  that  Pierce  was  backed  up  by  two  or  three 
companions,  all  of  w^hom  he  soon  placed  /jors  de  combat,  w^ith  a 
stove-poker,  which  he  had  thoughtfully  taken  along.  Having 
thus  "cleaned  out"  the  crow^d.  Ley  returned  to  the  house,  and  the 
festivities  w^ere  resumed. 

In  a  short  time  the  Pierce  crowd,  now  augmented  in  number 
to  about  fifteen,  returned  and  commenced  a  furious  attack  upon 
the  house  with  bricks,  stones,  clubs,  etc.,  breaking  in  the  windows, 
and,  as  was  alleged,  firing  three  or  four  shots  through  the  door. 
Thereupon  the  Ley  crowd,  consisting  of  Charles  Ley,  Joseph  Ley, 
Louis  Ley  and  Wilson  Swartz,  arming  themselves  with  poker, 
rolling-pin,  and  such  other  weapons  as  w^ere  available,  sallied  out, 


UNFORTUNATE   HOMICIDE.  723 

-when  a  terrible  conflict  ensued,  bricks,  stones,  clubs,  billies,  fence 
rails,  etc.,  promiscuously  filling  the  air,  and  inflicting  serious 
■wounds  and  bruises  upon  the  heads,  limbs  and  bodies  of  those 
engaged  on  both  sides. 

In  the  meantime,  a  peaceable,  law-abiding  miner,  by  the  name 
of  Thomas  Thomas,  living  near  by,  hastened  to  the  spot  to  look 
after  his  own  son,  who  had  left  home  in  company  with  the  Pierce 
party.  Coming  within  range  of  a  club  which  Joseph  luey  was 
plying  promiscuously  to  the  heads  of  the  assailing  party,  Mr. 
Thomas  received  two  fearful  blows  upon  tlie  head,  felling  him  to 
the  ground,  and  rendering  him  totally  unconscious. 

On  finding  that  Mr,  Thomas  did  not  rise,  hostilities  soon  ceased, 
the  injured  man  was  removed  to  his  home,  and  physicians  sent  for. 
The  trepanning  process  temporarily  restored  Mr.  Thomas  to  con- 
sciousness, his  statement  being  that  just  as  he  was  about  to  enter 
the  door  of  the  house,  Joseph  Ley  struck  him  on  the  head  with  a 
slung-shot.  Mr.  Thomas  soon  again  became  insensible,  in  which 
<;ondition  he  remained  until  February  14,  when  he  expired. 

Arrested  for  Manslaughter.  —  Joseph  Ley  and  Wilson 
Swartz  were  arrested  on  a  warrant  issued  by  Justice  Henry  Purdy, 
who  held  them  both  to  bail  in  the  sum  of  $2,(X)0,  each,  for  the  crime 
of  manslaughter,  one  witness  testifying  that  after  Mr.  Thoinasfell 
from  the  blow  or  blows  at  the  hands  of  Ley,  Swartz  had  struck 
him  on  the  head  w^ith  a  piece  of  fence-rail.  Tlie  respective  fathers 
of  the  accused,  Mr.  George  Ley  and  Mr.  John  Swartz,  going  bail  for 
-them,  they  w^ere  released  from  custody  to  await  the  action  of  the 
grand  jury. 

At  the  May  term  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  1878,  the 
grand  jury  returned  a  true  bill  of  indictment  against  both  of  the 
accused,  charging  them  w^ith  the  crime  of  manslaughter. 

To  this  indictment  both  entered  a  plea  of  not  guilty,  and, 
through  their  counsel,  demanded  separate  trials.  Ley  w^as  first 
arraigned  for  trial  before  Judge  N.  D.  Tibbals  and  a  traverse  jury, 
constituted  as  follows :  George  F.  Kent,  George  Daily,  John  Harter, 
W.  H.  Norton,  W.  A.  Gaylord,  A.  V.  Amerman,  John  F.  Perry, 
Timothy  Erasmus,  Harvey  Warner,  S.  D.  Miller,  John  M,  Kirn  and 
Talmon  Beardsley.  The  case  was  conducted,  on  the  part  of  the 
State  by  Prosecuting  Attorney  E.  W.  Stuart,  assisted  by  C.  P. 
Humphrey,  Esq.,  and  on  the  part  of  the  defense  by  H.  C.  Sanford,^ 
J.  A.  Kohler  and  George  K.  Pardee,  Esqs.  The  trial  commenced 
June  13,  and  ended  June  17,  resulting  in  a  verdict  of  guilty, 
but  with  a  plea  from  the  jury  for  the  sympathy  of  the  court  in 
behalf  of  the  accused. 

Immediately  on  the  rendition  of  the  verdict,  counsel  for  the 
defendant  moved  for  a  new  trial  on  the  grounds:  1st,  that  one  of 
the  jurors  had  formed  and  expressed  an  opinion  previous  to  the 
trial;  2nd,  that  the  verdict  was  not  sustained  by  the  evidence;  3rd, 
by  reason  of  newly  discovered  evidence;  4th,  for  errors  of  law;  5th, 
verdict  contrary  to  law;  6th,  error  of  court  in  charging  the  jury. 

This  motion,  after  full  argument,  pro  and  con,  was  overruled 
bj'^  Judge  Tibbals,  and  young  Ley  was  sentenced  to  three  years' 
imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary. 

Defendant's  counsel  then  moved  for  a  suspension  of  execution 
of  the  sentence,  pending  the  application  for  a  writ  of  error  to  the 
Supreme    Court,    which    motion    was    also    overruled    by    Judge 


724  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Tibbals.  A  very  long  bill  of  exceptions,  covering  many  pages  of 
the  record,  was  then  prepared,  which  w^as  duly  signed  by  Judge  Tib- 
bals, though  a  hearing  of  the  case  was  never  had  in  the  Supreme- 
Court,  by  reason  of  the  early  pardon  of  the  defendant.  Young  Ley 
was  conveyed  by  the  writer,  then  serving  as  sheriff,  to  Columbus, 
on  the  30th  day  of  July,  1878,  and  w^as  pardoned  by  Governor 
Bishop  on  the  6th  day  of  the  foUow^ing  November,  after  a  service 
of  three  months  and  one  Aveek,  only. 

Trial  of  Wilson  Swartz. — On  the  27th  day  of  June,  1878,  the 
trial  of  Wilson  Swartz,  under  indictment  for  manslaughter,  as 
above,  was  begun  before  the  following  jury:  Washington  M.  Hef- 
felman,  David  C.  Gillett,  Isaac  B.  Hargett,  Curtis  C.  Wilcox,  John 
G.  Caskey,  Josiah  Williams,  William  C.  Steele,  Kzra  Tyron, 
George  W.  Fairbanks,  George  C.  Esty,  Joseph  M.  Atkinson  and 
Jonas  Schoonover.  Counsel  for  prosecution  and  defense  same  as- 
in  previous  trial.  The  trial  lasted  three  days,  the  jury  returning  a 
verdict  of  "not  guilty  of  manslaughter,  as  charged  in  said  indict- 
ment, but  guilty  of  assault  and  battery."  No  exceptions  to  the 
verdict  being  taken  by  the  defendant's  counsel,  Judge  Tibbals 
immediately  sentenced  him  to  30  days'  imprisonment  in  the  county 
jail,  and  the  costs  of  the  trial,  and  to  stand  committed  until  costs 
were  paid,  which  sentence  was  duly  carried  into  execution. 

A  Spartan  Mother. — While  young  Ley  was  awaiting  trans- 
portation to  Columbus,  (30  days  being  allow^ed  the  sheriff  in  which 
to  execute  the  sentence),  a  confidence  operator  by  the  name  of 
Louis  La  Rock,  who,  a  year  later,  ^vas  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for 
horse  stealing,  called  on  Mrs.  George  Ley,  offering,  for  $30,  to  aid 
Joe  to  escape  from  jail.  After  hearing  him  through,  Mrs.  Ley 
opened  the  door,  saying:  "Now,  young  man,  get  right  out  of  my 
house!  If  my  boy  escapes  from  jail  he'll  have  to  run  away,  and  I 
may  never  see  him  again;  but  if  he  goes  to  Columbus,  w^hen  he  is 
released  from  the  prison,  there,  he  can  come  home  and  be  my  own 
good  boy  again  as  he  alw^ays  has  been." 

Coventry's  Present  Township  Official  Status  (1891). — Trus- 
tees, Frank  E.  Reninger,  John  Rose  and  Solomon  Warner;  clerk, 
Simon  P.  Marsh;  treasurer,  William  A.  Warner;  assessor,  Thomas 
Conlin;  justices  of  the  peace,  James  L.  Porter,  Houston  Kepler; 
constable,  Gomer  W.  Thomas;  township  school  board,  sub-district 
No.  1,  George  W.  Brewster;  No.  2,  N.  R.  Steiner;  No.  3,  James  L. 
Porter;  No.  5,  Timothy  Vaughn;  No.  6,  Samuel  Kepler;  No.  7, 
Charles  Jaquith;  No.  8,  Elias  Cormany;  No.  9,  Houston  Kepler; 
No.  11,  William  Sours  (president);  No.  12,  Allen  Kiplinger;  clerk,, 
ex-officio,  tow^nship  clerk,  Simon  P.  Marsh. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

CUYAHOGA  FALLS  —  ORIGIXALLY  CALLED  "  MANCHESTER  "  — MAGNIFICENT 
WATER  POWER^PIOXEER  SETTLERS— EARLY  ENTERPRISES,  SUCCESSES  AND 
REVERSES— ALLEGED  FRAUDULENT  TRANSACTION— ONE  YEAR  A  COUNTY 
SEAT— PIONEER  TEMPERANCE  vSOCIETY  OF  OHIO— FIRST  WHISKY  "STRIKE" 
ON  RECORD— PIONEER  CYLINDER  PAPER  MILL  WEST  OF  THE  ALLEGHANIES 
—QUITE  A  COINCIDENCE— ORGANIZATION  OF  TOWN,  TOWNSHIP  AND  VIL- 
LAGE—EARLY AND  MODERN  NEWSPAPERS— MUSICAL,  SOCIAL  AND  FRATER- 
NAL—EARLY AND  MODERN  HOTELS— THE  WOMEN'S  CRUSADE  OF  1858— 
"  SHINPLASTER  "  MILL  AND  OTHER  BANKING  OPERATIONS— EARLY  INSUR- 
ANCE COMPANY— FINE  PLEASURE  RESORTS— DESTRUCTIVE  FIRES— SPLEN- 
DID MILITARY  RECORD— THE  SULTANA  DISASTER— BEAUTIFUL  SOLDIERS' 
MONUMENT— HONORABLE  CIVIL  SERVICE— LIGHT  CRIMINAL  CALENDAR- 
EDUCATIONAL  AND  CHURCH  MATTERS— PRESENT  BUSINESS  STATUS,  ETC. 

PRELIMINARY. 

To  give  the  full  early  history  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  would  largely 
be  anticipating  the  matters  and  things  contained  in  the  sketches 
herein  to  be  given  of  Stow  and  Tallmadge  townships,  the  larger 
portion  of  its  territory,  and  all  of  its  water-power,  having  been 
■embraced  -within  the  original  limits  of  those  two  townships;  that 
north  of  the  tow^nship  line,  (crossing  the  river  a  short  distance 
south  of  Portage  street),  belonging  to  Judge  Joshua  Stow,  of  Mid- 
dletown,  Conn.,  and  that  south  of  the  line  being  a  part  of  the  1,000 
acre  tract  draw^n  by  Roger  Newberry,  of  Windsor,  Conn. 

Though  Judge  Stow,  w^hose  portrait  appears  in  the  chapter 
bearing  his  name,  made  several  visits  to  Ohio,  he  never  became  a 
permanent  resident  here.  Judge  William  Wetmore  acting  as  his 
^gent  for  the  sale  of  his  lands,  and  the  transaction  of  all  business 
relating  thereto.  Judge  Wetmore  afterwards,  (about  1824),  pur- 
<:hased  an  undivided  one-half  interest  in  120  acres  of  land  covering 
Judge  Stow's  portion  of  the  w^ater-pow^er  in  question,  thus  becom- 
ing a  partner  ^vith  Judge  Stow^  in  sundry  important  business 
enterprises  to  be  hereafter  written  of. 

Roger  Newbery  died  in  1813,  his  Tallmadge  lands  thus  coming 
into  the  possession  of  his  son,  Henry,  who,  in  1814,  came  out  to 
view  them,  and  was  so  well  pleased  with  them,  and  the  promise 
they  gave  of  future  value,  both  in  an  agricultural  and  manufactur- 
ing point  of  view,  that  he  determined  to  remove  thither  for  per- 
manent settlement,  though  it  was  nearlj'^  10  years  before  he  finally 
removed  to  Ohio,  so  that  the  improvement  of  both  sections  was 
about  simultaneous,  in  1825. 

Pioneer  Mills,  Name,  etc. — As  early  as  1815,  under  some 
arrangement  with  Judge  Wetmore,  as  Judge  Stow's  agent,  a  dam 
w^as  thrown  across  the  river,  by  Francis  Kelsey  and  Isaac  Wilcox, 
^bout  w^here  the  C,  A.  &  C.  Railroad  bridge  now  is,  at  which  point 
a  saw-mill  was  erected  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the  "navy 
j-ard"  at  Old  Portage  with  lumber.  Judge  Wetmore  being  com- 
missary for  the  troops  stationed  at  Old  Portage  during  the  War  of 
1812-15. 


726  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Other  milling  operations — grist  inill,  linseed  oil  mill,  etc. — 
were  also  entered  into,  at  this  point,  and  quite  a  number  of  dwell- 
ing houses  were  erected  along  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  several 
of  which  are  still  standing,  having  for  many  years  past  been 
known  as  the  "Old  Village." 

This  village  was  at  first  called  "Manchester,"  probably  after 
the  great  English  manufacturing  town  of  that  name,  in  view  of 
the  manufacturing  possibilities  of  the  locality.  Later,  however^ 
when  postal  facilities  were  asked  for,  in  about  1826,  it  being  found 
that  there  w^ere  several  other  Manchesters  in  the  State,  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  postmaster  general,  the  name  of  Cuyahoga  Falls 
was  adopted,  the  appropriateness  of  which  is  apparent,  being 
located  at  the  more  important  of  the  numerous  falls  and  rapids  of 
the  Cuyahoga  river,  Mr.  Henry  Newberry  being  the  first  post- 
master of  the  village. 

The  Name  of  Indian  Origin. — The  name  of  the  river  itself,  is 
from  an  Indian  word,  generally  supposed  to  signify  "crooked," 
because  of  the  remarkably  tortuous  course  of  the  stream,  rising, 
as  it  does,  in  Ashtabula  and  Geauga  counties,  and,  after  a  south- 
westerly course  through  Portage  and  Summit,  to  within  about 
two  miles  of  Akron,  turning  abruptly  to  the  north,  and  with  an 
almost  infinite  variety  of  zig-zag  turnings  and  twistings — often 
almost  doubling  upon  itself,  as  at  Peninsula — emptying  into  Lake 
Erie,  at  Cleveland. 

This  meaning  of  the  word,  I  am  assured  by  Mr.  D.  E.  Shongo^ 
of  Salamanca,  N.  Y.,  an  educated  Seneca  Indian,  and  a  highly 
accomplished  civil  engineer,  is  erroneous,  Mr.  Shongo  giving  the 
real  derivation  of  the  name  as  follows:  "'Cuyahoga'  is  a  Seneca 
Indian  word,  giving  a  geographical  locality  to  the  word  o-vo-har 
which  means  a  'jaw^,'  or  *  jaw-bone.'  The  prefix  *ca'  is  definitive 
of  position,  from  'caia,'  meaning  (lying  or  existing,  not  living)  on 
'the  ground.'  'Ga'  is  an  affix,  giving  definite  geographical  locality 
(not  direction).  So  by  prefix  and  affix  we  have  'Ca-yo-ha-ga,'  the 
geographical  locality  of  the  jaw-bone.  In  the  pronunciation,  c  is^ 
hard  like  g  or  k;  a  is  like  the  English  in  the  word  ah;  j^is,  like  the 
English  e,  and  j^o  is  pronounced  as  in  the  English  yeo;  ha  is  a& 
ah;  ga  is  as  gate,  leaving  off  the  te.  The  Senecas  gave  the  river 
and  locality  in  the  vicinity  of  Cleveland,  the  name  of  'Cayohaga,' 
because,  in  the  long  dim  past,  and  before  the  advent  of  the  white 
man,  a  mammoth  ja^v-bone,  etc.,  w^as  found  along  the  sedimentary 
deposits  and  morasses  of  the  river,  about  five  miles  easterly  of 
Cleveland,  at  or  near  New^burg;  from  all  accounts  it  must  have 
been  the  skeleton  of  the  mastodon." 

The  Present  Village. — Cuyahoga  Falls,  proper,  was  first  laid 
out  in  1825,  by  Judge  Elkanah  Richardson,  who  had,  in  1822,  built 
the  house  long  known  as  the  "Red  House"  and  afterwards  as  the 
"Peck  House,"  on  the  west  side  of  Front  street,  a  little  north  of  the 
"Big  Spring."  A  new  survey,  and  an  official  plat,  was  afterw^ards 
made,  and  duly  recorded  in  the  Records  of  Portage  county,  by  Bird- 
sey  Booth,  Esq.,  a  small  addition  being  later  made  thereto  from 
land  lying  east  of  the  210  acre  tract  of  Stow  and  Wetmore,  and 
north  of  the  Tallmadge  line,  by  Joseph  Hale,  platted  and  recorded 
in  1837  by  Russell  H.  Ashmun,  of  Tallmadge,  afterwards  Summit 
county's  first  county  surveyor,  as  elsewhere  stated. 


PIONEER   INDUSTRIES.  727 

In  the  early  Spring  of  1825,  Stow  &  Wetmore  commenced 
operations  in  the  new^  village,  the  first  step  being  the  erection  of  a 
log  house  on  the  east  side  of  Front  street,  just  north  of  where 
Gilbert's  livery  stable  now  stands.  In  April  of  this  year,  William 
Wetmore,  Jr.,  superintended  a  gang  of  about  30  men- in  constructing 
a  dam  across  the  river,  north  of  Portage  street,  which  was  com- 
pleted in  the  following  June,  the  company  erecting  at  this  point  a 
saw-mill,  a  grist-mill  and  a  linseed  oil-mill.  The  erection  of  this 
dam  destroyed  the  power  at  the  old  village  and  the  works  there 
were  abandoned,  the  dam  and  buildings  being  taken  down  and 
removed. 

Death  of  Judge  Wetmore. — Judge  Wetmore  died  at  his  resi- 
dence, on  the  east  margin  of  Silver  Lake,  October  27,  1827,  his  sons, 
Henry,  Ogden,  William,  Jr.,  and  Kdw^in,  succeeding  to  his  property', 
and  the  three  former  to  his  business  interests,  the  firm  of  Stow  & 
Wetmores  long  continuing  prominent  in  the  manufacturing  and 
mercantile  operations  of  the  village. 

In  1826,  the  year  previous  to  the  death  of  his  father,  William 
Wetmore,  Jr.,  erected  the  building  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Front 
and  Portage  streets,  for  a  dwelling  house  and  store.  It  was  so 
used  until  1828,  w^hen  the  stock  of  goods  was  removed  to  the  build- 
ing now  occupied  by  the  Cuj^ahoga  Falls  Reporter,  on  the  south- 
west corner  of  the  streets  named.  The  original  building  was  then 
converted  into  a  hotel,  its  first  proprietor  being  Benjamin  F.  Hop- 
kins, followed  by  Ezra  B.  Morgan,  S.  A.  Childs,  Ira  Loomis,  Henry 
Cooke,  A.W.Hall  and  perhaps  others,  under  the  title  of  the  "Ameri- 
can House,"  and  by  John  F.  Perry  and  John  B.  Perry,  as  the  "  Perry 
House,"  the  present  proprietor,  Mr.  George  Marvin,  having  made 
important  additions  and  improvements  and  changed  its  name 
to  "  Clifford  Inn." 

Pioneer  Paper  Mill. — In  1830,  Stow  &  Wetmores,  in  connec- 
tion w^ith  Mr.  John  Rumrill,  a  practical  paper-maker,  from  Spring- 
field, Mass.,  and  still  living  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  over  90  years  of  age, 
completed  and  equipped  a  large  paper  mill,  near  their  dam,  on  the 
east  side  of  the  river,  the  remains  of  which  are  still  visible  on  the 
bank  of  the  river.  This  was  the  pioneer  of  the  many  subsequent 
paper-making  ventures  rhade  in  the  new^  village,  and  in  the  matter 
of  making  paper  by  machinery  (substantially  as  at  the  present 
time),  instead  of  by  the  old  hand  process,  is  believed  to  have  been 
the  pioneer  mill  in  Ohio.  The  first  sheet  of  paper  was  run  from 
the  cylinder  December  8,  1830,  by  Mr.  Rumrill,  and  it  is  related  as 
quite  a  coincidence  that  Mr.  Henry  Wetmore,  the  business  inan- 
ager  of  the  firm,  being  at  that  moment  about  to  start  to  Franklin 
Mills  to  be  married,  took  the  first  sheet  of  paper  along  to  exhibit 
as  a  trophy  of  the  enterprise  of  his  firm,  to  his  bride  and  her 
friends,  Mr.  Wetmore  being  that  evening  married  to  Eliza  Bradford 
Price,  at  the  house  of  her  uncle.  Captain  William  H.  Price,  then 
the  only  merchant  there,  and  the  owner  of  a  large  part  of  the  land  on 
w^hich  the  village  of  Kent  now^  stands.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wetmore  are 
still  living,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  fair  degree  of  physical  and 
mental  vigor,  the  former  90,  and  the  latter  81  years  of  age. 

Mr.  Newberry's  Operations. — Lower  down  the  river,  Mr. 
Newberry,  during  this  time,  w^as  pushing  a  variety  of  manufactur- 
ing enterprises,  upon  his  property  there.  Coming  to  Ohio,  in  1824, 
he  lived  for  about  two  years  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Hiratn 


728 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 


Gaylord,  immediately  south  of  Silver  Lake,  dividing  his  time 
between  his  farm  and  his  village  operations.  The  first  building 
erected  on  his  property  was  a  log  house,  for  the  accommodation  of 
his  workmen,  in  1825,  just  north  of  the  hotel  of  Mr.  George  L. 
Bouys,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river;  a  year  later  buying  a  two- 
story  frame  building  that  was  being  erected  for  a  store,  corner  Kast 
Broad  and  Kast  Front  streets  (still  standing),  "which  he  converted 
into  a  dwelling  house  for  his  own  use,  and  which  he  occupied 
until  the  cotnpletion  of  his  fine  stone  residence  on  the  hill  to  the 
eastward,  in  1840,  where  he  lived  until  his  death,  in  1854. 


HENRY  NEWBERRY,  —  born  in 
WindvSor,  Connecticut,  January 
27.  1783 ;  educated  at  Yale  College ; 
Avas  for  several  years  a  merchant  in 
Hartford,  where,  October  9,  1803,  he 
Avas  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Strong^, 
born  April  29,  1782.  His  father,  Gen- 
eral Roger  Newberry,a  Revolutionary 
ffoldier,  was  one  of  the  original  pro- 
prietors of  Tallmadge,  purchasing 
b\'  draft,  in  1798,  one  thousand  acres 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  township. 
On  the  death  of  his  father,  in  1814, 
Mr.  Newberry  visited  Ohio,  and  again 
in  1818  and  1822,  and  in  1824  removed 
his  famil5'^  thither,  being  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  village  of  Cuj^ahoga 
Falls,  erecting  dams  and  inills  upon 
the  river,  and  engaging  largelj'  in 
farming,  mining  and  inanufacturing, 
one  of  the  present  evidences  of  his 
enterprise  being  the  felegant  brown 
*<tone  dwelling  house  directly  east  of 
the  covered  bridge,  still  known  as 
the  "  Newberry  house."  He  was  the 
first  postmaster  of  Cuj^ahoga  Falls, 
and  filled  manj^  other  important 
official  positions.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  New- 
berry were  the  parents  of  nine  chil- 
dren—Elizabeth, the  firvSt  Mrs.  E.  N. 
Sill,  born  October  28,  1804,  died  No- 
vember 29,  1829 ;  Mary  Strong,  born 
September  13,  1808,  died  Deceinber  30, 
1855  ;  Fanny,  the  second  Mrs.  E.  N. 
Sill,  born  April  4,  1810,  died  February 
14.  1849;  Julia,  Mrs.  H.  S.  Holbrook, 
born  April  1.  1812;  Almira,  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam   Fogle,     born    March    18,    1814; 


HENRY  NEWBERRY. 

Eunice,  Mrs.  C.  S.  Sill,  born  Septem- 
ber 18,  1815,  died  September  2,  1867; 
Henry,  count}-  auditor  of  Summit 
county,  1852  to  1854,  born  June 29, 1817, 
died  December  21,  1875;  John  Strong, 
now  a  professor  in  Columbia  College, 
New  York  City,  born  December  22, 
1822 ;  Sarah  E..  Mrs.  J.  P.  Holbrook, 
born  February  8,  1825.  Mr.  Newberry 
died  December  5,  1854,  and  Mrs.  New- 
berry, November  24,  18.58. 


In  1825  Mr.  Newberry  built  the  dam  now  (1891)  used  bj'  the 
Variety  Works  of  The  Turner,  Vaughn  &  Taylor  Co.,  erecting 
thereon  a  saw-mill  on  the  w^est  side,  and  a  linseed  oil-mill  on  the 
east  side.  The  oil-mill  being  carried  away  b3^  a  flood,  in  1832,  was 
immediately  rebuilt  and  for  a  w^hile  ^vas  run  as  an  oil-mill,  by  E. 
N.  Sill  and  Ogden  Wetmore,  but  after^vards  converted  into  a  paper- 
mill  by  Prentiss  Dow  and  John  Kumrill,  and  later,  for  some  years, 
run  by  Prentiss  and  George  Dow. 

Magnificent  Water-Power. — It  is  not  the  province  of  this 
w^ork,even  were  data  and  space  available,  to  present  a  detailed  his- 
tory of  the  many  manufacturing  and  business  operations — suc- 
cesses and  disasters — that  have  obtained  in  Cuyahoga  Falls,  during 
the  three-fourths  of  a  century  of  its  existence.     With  water-power 


EARLY    INHABITANTS.  729 

— then  the  great  desideratum  of  manufacturing  operations — second 
to  no  other  point  in  Ohio,  and  with  a  population  unsurpassed  for 
intelligence  and  enterprise,  its  prospects  at  the  beginning,  and  for 
a  number  of  years  thereafter,  were  bright  and  promising  in  the 
extreme. 

Located  some  500  feet  above  the  level  of  Lake  Erie,  with  the 
very  finest  of  agricultural  surroundings,  it  had  within  its  corporate 
limits,  and  immediate  vicinity,  an  aggregate  fall  of  about  150  feet, 
furnishing  at  the  low^est  stage  of  water,  fully  4,000  cubic  feet  per 
minute.  Only  a  part  of  this  power,  however,  owing  to  causes  to 
be  hereafter  w^ritten  of,  has  ever  been  utilized,  though  a  large 
variety  of  manufactures  are  now  being  driven  by  three  other  dams 
besides  those  already  nained,  the  five  representing  a  total  fall  of 
nearly  75  feet,  as  follows:  Upper,  or  rolling  mill  dam,  15  feet; 
Newberry,  or  Turner,  Vaughn  &  Taylor  dam,  10  feet;  paper  mill 
dam,  18  feet;  Prentiss,  or  sewer  pipe  dam,  20  feet,  less  31/2  feet  taken 
by  "Chuckery;"  Hinde  dam,  12  rods  above  old  Chuckery  dam, 
15  feet. 

Early  ResidenTvS. — Among  the  earlier  settlers  in  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  besides  those  already  named,  are  recalled  the  following: 
Rowland  Clapp  and  Grant  B.  Turner,  1828,  (died  in  1881);  John 
RumriU,  (still  living);  Colonel  Asa  Stanley,  1829;  Elisha  N.  Sill, 
1829,  (died  April  25,  1888,  aged  88  years);  John  Eadie,  George 
Dailey,   Oliver  Dewey  and  Israel   James,   1830;   Oliver  B.    Beebe, 

1831,  (deceased);    Major  Charles  W.   Wetmore,   Seth   D.   Wetmore, 

1832,  (both  deceased);  and  earlier,  or  soon  afterw^ards,  Joseph  T. 
Hollowaj^,  William  A.  Lawson,  Preston  Sawyer,  Noah  E.  Lemoin, 
Henry  Orrin  and  C.  H.  James,  Noah  and  Dr.  Chester  W.  Rice,  J. 
A.  Beebe,  J.  Blair,  George  H.  Lodge,  John  Willard,  S.  D.  Clark, 
Alexander  English,  J.  H.  Reynolds,  Thomas  and  Isaac  Sill,  Asa 
Mariner,  John  Alexander,  William  Perkins,  John  Stouffer,  Charles, 
William  and  Henry  A.  Sill,  Horace  Canfield,  Timothy  Phelps 
Spencer,  Thomas  Santom,  R.  H.  Shellhorn,  H.  H.  Smoke,  B.  Thal- 
himer,  William  Turner,  William  H.  Taylor,  Charles  Thornburg, 
William  H.  Withey,  George,  Hiram  S.  and  Almon  Vaughn,  Salmon 
and  Sylvester  Loomis,  Jabez  and  Charles  R.  Hamlin,  Simon  Brown, 
J.  Jenkins,  John  and  Epaphroditus  Wells,  Abraham  Yockey,  Henry 
Barger.  John  H.  Brainard,  Nathaniel  Rose,  William  and  James 
Alley,  Dr.  Richard  Fry,  A.  B.  Gilespie,  Samuel  Goodrich,  B.  R. 
Manchester,  "Judge"  Burgess,  H.  N.  Pool,  Isaac  Cooke,  S.  A. 
Childs,  R.  Chaffee,  L.  W.  and  Theodore  R.  Butler,  David  and 
ApoUos  Wadsworth,  Cyrus  C.  and  Livy  L.  Wilcox,  Isaac  A.  Ballou, 
Enoch  Adams,  and  somewhat  later,  Asa  G.  and  Henry  W.  Bill, 
Hosea  Paul,  Henry  and  Orrin  Cooke,  Andrew  Dailey,  John  B. 
Harrison,  Timothy  L.  and  Horace  A.  Miller,  George  H.  Penfield, 
Sylvester  Pease,  William  A.  Hanford,  Giles  and  Joshua  L'Homm- 
€dieu,  William  W.  Lucas,  Ezra  S.  and  Samuel  Comstock,  A.  R. 
Knox,  John  Cochran,  Captain  Isaac  Lewis,  Martin  Griswold, 
Colonel  J.  P.  Lee,  William,  Henry,  Frank  and  Samuel  Rattle, 
Samuel  W.  McClure,  Seymour  Demming,  William  A.  Taylor,  Julius 
A.  and  Dr.  G.  C.  Upson,  Dr.  Porter  G.  Somers,  R.  S.  Williams, 
Charles  Hunt,  Shubel  H.  Lowery,  Seth  Ely,  George  Hubbard, 
Robert  Peebles,  Henry  E.  Howard,  Henry  Plum,  William,  Samuel 
and  Thomas  Wills,  George  and  Henry  E.  Parks,  Austin  Babcock, 
Edward  Youmans,  Stephen  Powers,  Esq.,  Sherman  Peck,  Joy  H. 


730  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Pendleton,  George  E.  Clarke,  J,  M.  Smith,  Edwin  Starr,  James  and 
Charles  W.  Chamberlain,  George  A.  Stanley,  C.  Reed,  William  H, 
Van  Tyne,  Henry  Holbrook,  Thomas  W.  Cornell,  Benjamin  Phelps,^ 
F.  S.  and  Dr.  T.  F.  Heath,  and  many  others  whose  names  are  not 
readily  recalled. 

Early  Business  Matters. — Cuyahoga  Falls,  it  will  be  seen  by 
a  comparison  of  dates,  was  quite  a  smart  manufacturing  village 
before  Akron  was  ever  dreamed  of,  and,  in  the  early  twenties,  bid 
fair  to  soon  outstrip  that  ancient  business  emporium,  Middlebury,. 
and  become  the  great  manufacturing  center  of  the  Western  Re- 
serve. Her  natural  resources  were  adequate  to  the  full  realization 
of  this  anticipation,  but  certain  artificial  schemes  soon  began  ta 
materialize,  which  served  to  retard  the  progress  of  both  herself 
and  Middlebury,  while  favoring  their  mutual  rival,  Akron,  which,, 
like  a  full-armored  gladiator,  had  suddenly  stalked  into  the  busi- 
ness arena  of  the  vicinage. 

The  first  of  these  artificial  schemes  w^as  the  construction  of  the 
Ohio  Canal  in  1825-27.  Neither  Middlebury  nor  Cuyahoga  Falls 
lying  directly  upon  the  canal,  they  could  not,  of  course,  reap  the 
full  measure  of  its  benefits  of  travel  and  transportation,  the  result 
being  the  establishment  along  the  line  of  sundry  villages  and 
hamlets,  as  at  Akron,  Old  Portage,  Niles,  Peninsula,  Boston,  etc., 
that  drew  off  a  large  proportion  of  the  business  that  would  other- 
wise have  come  to  the  earlier  villages  named. 

The  second  scheme  to  militate  against  Cuyahoga  Falls,  was 
the  construction  of  the  Cascade  mill  race  from  Middlebury  to 
Akron,  by  Dr.  Eliakim  Crosby,  in  1832,  thus,  by  the  creation  of  a 
considerable  water  power  at  that  point,  dividing  the  attention  of 
manufacturers  between  the  two  places,  which  otherw^ise  w^ould 
have  been  concentrated  upon  Cuyahoga  Falls  alone. 

The  third  blow^  to  the  manufacturing  interests  and  growth  of 
Cuyahoga  Falls  was  the  famous  "Chuckery"  project,  described  at 
length  in  another  chapter,  by  which  more  than  one-half  of  the 
immense  pow^er  above  described,  within  her  borders,  w^as  sought 
to  be  diverted  to  "Summit  City,"  by  the  "Portage  Canal  and  Man- 
ufacturing Company"  in  1836,  but  which,  through  the  ultimate 
failure  of  that  corporation,  has  remained  substantially  unimproved 
and  unproductive  to  the  present  time. 

It  is  but  simple  justice  to  the  people  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  and  ta 
the  memory  of  Mr.  Henry  New^berry,  to  state,  in  this  connection, 
that  it  w^as,  and  is,  claimed  that  the  diversion  alluded  to  was 
effected  through  absolute  fraud,  the  late  Hon.  E.  N.  Sill,  Grant 
B.  Turner,  Esq.,  and  Mr.  Henry  Wetmore,  and  other  well-informed 
old-time  residents,  now  living,  who  were  perfectly  familiar  with 
Mr.  Newberry's  business  and  feelings,  at  the  period  named,  hold- 
ing to  this  opinion. 

The  fourth  back-set  to  the  prosperity  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  wa& 
the  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  Canal  scheme,  inaugurated  in  1836, 
and  completed  in  1840.  This,  it  was  supposed  would  greatly 
benefit  the  village,  by  giving  it  communication  with  the  outer 
w^orld,  in  receiving  its  supplies  of  iron,  coal,  lumber,  merchandise, 
etc.,  and  in  shipping  its  manufactured  products,  to  say  nothing 
about  the  matter  of  passenger  travel. 

To  a  certain  extent  this  expectation  was  realized.  But  is  was 
found  that  being  supplied  with   water  from  the  river  at  Kent,  and 


CUYAHOGA    FALLS    AHEAD   OF   CHICAGO.  731 

in  turn,  besides  being  used  for  navigation  purposes,  with  nine 
locks  between  Cuyahoga  Falls  and  Akron,  it  was  so  largely  utilized, 
to  augment  the  hydraulic  privileges  at  Akron,  that  a  shortage 
of  water  in  the  river  was  created,  that,  in  dry  seasons,  very 
largely  interfered  with  the  manufacturing  operation  of  the  village. 

This  disadvantage  was  patiently  endured,  long  after  the  use- 
fulness of  the  canal  to  the  people  of  Cuyahoga  Falls  had  ceased,  by 
reason  of  the  completion  ^f  the  "Hudson  Branch"  railroad  from 
Hudson  to  Akron,  in  1852,  and  until,  by  reason  of  the  building  of 
the  Mahoning  Branch  of  the  A.  &  G.  W.  R.  R.,  navigation  on  the 
canal  was  entirely  suspended,  w^hen  the  slow  process  of  the  law 
for  its  formal  closing  was  anticipated  by  the  parties  in  interest 
summarily  draining  off  its  waters  at  points  both  above  and  below 
Cuyahoga  Falls,  in  the  Spring  and  Summer  of  1868,  since  which 
the  wheels  of  the  shops  and  mills  upon  the  river,  have  had  the 
benefit  of  all  the  water  the  stream  affords,  though,  of  course,  con- 
siderably diminished,  from  early  times,  by  the  clearing  up  of  the 
timber  lands  contiguous  to  its  sources  and  along  its  banks. 

To  THE  Contrary,  Notwithstanding. — Yet,  in  spite  of  all  these 
drawbacks,  Cuyahoga  Falls  has  been,  and  still  is,  a  town  of  large 
business  resources  and  enterprise.  Up  to  1836  its  population,  as 
well  as  the  volume  of  its  manufactures,  were  fully  equal  to,  if  they 
did  not  surpass  those  of  Akron,  with  even  brighter  propects  for  the 
future.  A  newspaper  description  of  the  business  of  the  town,  at 
that  time,  is  as  follows: 

"  Eight  dry-goods  stores,  two  drug  stores,  two  groceries,  one  hat 
store,  one  clothing  store,  four  tailors'  shops,  one  milliner's  shop, 
three  shoe  shops,  one  book  store,  one  book-bindery,  one  printing 
office,  four  blacksmiths'  shops,  two  tin  shops,  two  cabinet  shops, 
one  pump  shop,  two  paper  mills,  one  flouring  mill,  two  saw  mills, 
one  oil  mill,  one  tilt-hammer,  ax  and  scythe  factory,  one  w^oolen 
mill,  one  stone  saw  mill,  one  planing  mill,  one  chair  factory,  one 
foundry,  one  engine  and  machine  shop,  and  sundry  other  smaller 
w^orks,"  placing  the  amount  of  goods  sold  during  the  year  at 
$407,000  and  the  sales  of  real  estate  at  $200,000. 

Ahead  of  Chicago. — In  illustration  of  the  life  and  business 
activity  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  at  this  period,  it  is  related  that  while  Mr. 
Ezra  S.  Comstock,  long  a  prominent  business  man  of  the  Falls, 
was,  in  1836,  prospecting  for  a  location,  after  visiting  several  places 
in  this  vicinity,  having  heard  of  a  place  called  Chicago,  thought 
he  would  take  a  look  at  that  town  before  locating.  But  he  soon 
returned  to  Cuyahoga  Falls,  saying  that  it  was  more  of  a  business 
place  than  Chicago,  and  always  would  be,  locating  here  accord- 
ingly. 

The  panic  of  1837,  however,  added  to  the  prospective  loss  of 
one-half,  or  more,  of  its  w^ater-pow^er,  in  the  manner  above  set  forth, 
was  a  severe  blow  to  its  prosperity  and  growth.  Values  of  real 
estate  rapidly  diminished,  contemplated  business  enterprises  were 
indefinitely  postponed,  mercantile  failures  ensued,  and  the  general 
effects  of  the  panic,  as  at  Akron  and  other  points  heretofore  de- 
scribed, were  here  felt  in  their  fullest  force. 

A  "  Shinplaster"  Mill. — Yet,  the  people  of  Cuyahoga  Falls 
pluckily  struggled  on.  To  partially  remedy  the  stringency  of  the 
money  market,  incident  to  the  failure  of  a  large  proportion  of  the 
banks  of  the  country,  and  the  suspension  of  specie  payments  by 


r 

732  AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

all,  following  the  example  of  many  other  towns,  a  quasi-bank  was 
organized,  called  the  "Cuyahoga  Falls  Real  Estate  Association," 
the  paper  issued  being  in  denominations  of  25  cents  to  $5,00,  a  bill 
of  the  latter  denomination  now  in  the  hands  of  the  writer,  reading 
thus:  "Treasurer  of  the  Cuyahoga  Falls  Real  Estate  Association: 
Pay  on  demand,  Five  Dollars  to  William  G.  Oatman,  or  bearer. 
Cuyahoga  Falls,  April  1,  1838"  —  bearing  also  upon  its  face  the 
legend:  "Real  Estate  pledged  by  depd  of  trust  to  double  the 
excess  of  issue  beyond  the  capital  stock  paid  in,  and  stockholders 
liable,"  and  signed  by  Moses  Thompson,  president,  and  Ogden 
Wetmore,  cashier,  the  cashiership  afterguards  devolving  upon 
Birdsey  Booth,  Esq. 

This  "currency,"  loaned  to  merchants,  manufacturers  and 
speculators,  obtained  quite  a  large  circulation,  and  for  a  time  all 
seemed  to  be  lovely  for  both  those  who  issued  and  those  who 
handled  it.  But  by  and  by,  holders  began  to  find  it  difficult  to  get 
rid  of  it,  and  speculators  began  buying  it  up  at  a  discount,  and 
presenting  it  in  such  considerable  sums  for  redemption  that  the 
institution  soon  found  itself  short  of  the  v^herevv^ith  for  its  redemp- 
tion, its  embarrassments  being  increased  by  the  fact  that  many 
borrowers  were  unable  to  meet  their  paper  at  maturity.  Added  to 
all  this,  the  rapid  decline  in  value  of  real  estate,  and  other  prop- 
e:rty,  and  their  inability  to  realize  upon  their  securities,  compelled 
the  company  to  go  into  liquidation,  bringing  disaster  to  most  of  its 
managers,  and  leaving  considerable  sums  of  its  issues  in  the  hands 
of  holders  to  be  kept  as  relics  of  the  financial  crisis  of  1837-44. 

Subsequent  Banking  Operations.— During  the  existence  of 
the  panic  above  alluded  to,  nearly  all  of  the  banks  of  the  country 
went  by  the  board,  the  Western  Reserve  Bank,  at  Warren,  and  the 
Oeauga  Bank,  at  Painesville,  being  the  only  ones  in  Northeastern 
Ohio  to  stand  the  pressure.  The  Ohio  State  Bank  system,  similar 
to  the  present  National  Bank  system,  having  been  inaugurated  in 
the  early  forties,  in  1845  the  Summit  county  branch  of  the  State 
Bank  of  Ohio,  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  w^as  organized,  with  a  capital  of 
$100,000,  by  Joseph  Hale,  Henry  B.  Tuttle,  William  Rattle,  Horace 
A.  Miller,  Charles  R.  Miller  and  others,  Mrith  Joseph  Hale  as  presi- 
dent and  H.  B.  Tuttle  as  cashier.  The  stock  of  this  bank  was 
bought,  in  January,  1851,  by  Elisha  N.  Sill,  Samuel  W.  McClure, 
Ezra  S.  Comstock,  Charles  Cjiirtis,  and  others,  E.  N.  Sill  becoming 
its  president  and  E.  S.  Comstock  it  cashier,  James  H.  Stanley 
succeeding  Mr.  Comstock  as  cashier  in  1862.  The  charter  of  this 
bank  expiring  in  1866,  the  First  National  Bank  of  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  with  $50,000  capital,  w^as  organized  by  Thomas  W.  Cornell, 
Elisha  N.  Sill,  Chas.  S.  Sill,  Henry  Newberry,  and  others,  Avith  E. 
N.  Sill  as  president,  and  J.  H.  Stanley  as  cashier.  In  1869  the 
franchise  of  this  bank  w^as  transferred  to  the  First  National  Bank 
of  Akron,  its  stockholders  organizing,  as  a  private  partnership, 
■"The  International  Bank  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,"  with  the  same  offi- 
cers as  before,  J.  H.  Stanley  becoining  its  sole  proprietor  Sept.  1, 
1881,  but  a  series  of  losses  sustained  by  "over-confidence  in  the 
integrity  of  its  customers"  compelled  its  final  suspension  on  the 
26th  day  of  October,  1886. 

Another  Shin-Plaster  Era. — At  the  commencement  of  the 
Civil  War,  all  the  gold,  silver  and  copper  currency  of  the  country 
disappeared  as  if  by  magic,  so  that,  after  shifting  along  for  a  time 


BANKS    AND   FINANCES. 


13S 


Avith  postage  stamps  for  small  change,  another  avalanche  of  mer- 
cantile and  personal  shin-plasters  flooded  the  country,  until  the 
more  reliable,  and  really  very  convenient,  National  Fractional 
Currency  scheme  was  adopted.  Among  those  to  avail  themselves 
of  such  private  issues,  was  Mr.  William  A.  Hanford,  then  exten- 
sively engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  paper  at  the  Falls,  Mr. 
Hanford  having  kindly  presented  us  with  specimens  of  his  entire 
series,  of  the  denominations  of  50,  25,  10  and  5  cents,  worded  as 
follow^s: 

SUMMIT  COUNTY  BANK,  pay  the  bearer  FIVE  CENTS  when  like 
orders  are  presented  in  amounts  of  one  or  more  dollars. 

W.  A,  HANFORET. 

Cuyahoga  Falls,  O.,  1862. 

Unlike  the  issues  of  1837,  '38,  however,  all  of  this  scrip  was 
eventually  fully  redeemed  by  Mr.  Hanford. 

Present  Banking  Facilities. — In  the  Spring  of  1891,  The 
Akron  Savings  Bank,  of  w^hich  Mr.  William  Buchtel  is  president, 
Judge  Charles  R.  Grant,  vice  president,  and  Aaron  Wagoner^ 
cashier,  established  a  branch,  in  the  old  bank  building  in  Cuya- 
hoga Falls,  in  charge  of  Mr.  Archie  B.  Clarke,  which  is  proving  a. 
very  great  convenience  to  the  people  of  that  village. 

HON.  ELISHA  NOYES  SILL, -son 
of  Dr.  Elisha  N.,  and  Chloe 
(Allyn)  Sill,  born  in  Windsor,  Con- 
necticut, January  6,  1801,  graduating- 
from  Yale  College  in  1820,  and  for 
several  years  engaged  in  teaching; 
in  1829  came  to  Cuyahoga  Falls,  for  a 
short  time  engaging-  in  manufactur- 
ing, but  in  1833  became  the  secretar}^ 
of  the  Portage  Mutual  Fire  Insurance 
Company,  which  position  he  ably 
filled  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
Mr.  Sill,  besides  serving  Portage 
county  as  representative,  was  the 
first  State  senator  for  Portage  and 
Summit,  after  the  erection  of  the  lat- 
ter, holding  the  position  two  years^— 
1840  to  1842  ;  was  State  fund  commis- 
sioner seven  years  ;  president  Sum- 
mit County  Branch  of  Ohio  State 
Bank,  and  its  successors,  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Cuj^ahoga  Falls 
and  the  International  Bank,  from  1851 
to  1869;  and  also  a  director  in  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Akron.  Octo- 
ber 4,  1824,  Mr.  Sill  was  married,  in 
Windsor,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Newberrj', 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Elizabeth 
Newberry,  who  died  Noveiuber  27, 
1829,  leaving  two  sons  — Alfred  H.  and 
Ethelbert  —  both  now  residents  of 
Cuyahoga  Falls.  June  17, 1834,  he  was 
again  married  to  Miss  Fanny  New- 
berry, sister  of  the  first  Mrs.  Sill,  who 
died  February  14,  1849,  having  borne 
him  two  daughters — Elizabeth  New- 


HON.  ELISHA  NOYES  SILL. 

berry,  born  in  1838,  now  widow  of  the- 
late  Edward  R.  Sill,  who  with  her 
brother  Ethelbert  occupies  the  fine 
old  family  homestead,  and  Mary,  born 
in  1841.  who  died  in  1883.  May  1,  1867,,. 
Mr.  Sill  was  again  married  to  Mrs. 
Laura  (Dowd)  Cooke,  widow  of  the 
late  Henry  Cooke,  who  died  Septem- 
ber 26,  1873,  Mr.  Sill  himself  dying 
April  26, 1888,  aged  87  years,  3  months 
and  20  days. 


PIONEER  TEMPERANCE  SOCIETY. 

Though  millions  of  gallons  of  whisky  have  since  been  made  in 
Cuyahoga  Falls,  and  though  still,  like  similar  towns  all  over  the 


734  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

<:ountry,  cursed  AA^ith  the  beer  and  whisky  saloon,  and  its  natural 
sequence,  drunkenness  and  disorder,  the  community  has,  as  a 
"whole,  been  a  model  of  sobriety  and  good  order.  Indeed,  it  may 
safely  be  affirmed  that  Cuyahoga  Falls  is  the  pioneer  town  of  the 
Western  Reserve,  if  not  of  the  State,  in  organized  temperance  Tvork. 

Howe's  History  of  Ohio,  published  in  1848,  claims  for  Gran- 
ville, Licking  county,  the  honor  of  organizing  the  first  temperance 
society  west  of  the  Allegheny  mountains,  July  15,  1828,  and  in  this 
w^ork,  Copley  is  credited  w^ith  organizing  a  society  in  October, 
1829,  which  was  supposed  to  be  the  first  in  the  State.  But  Stow 
and  Cuyahoga  Falls  claim,  \srith  positive  assurance,  that  they  are 
entitled  to  the  priority.  A  letter  written,  several  years  since,  by 
Dr.  Orlando  Wilcox,  late  of  Hinckley,  a  resident  of  Cuyahoga  Falls 
from  1827  to  1831  (father  of  Orlando  Wilcox,  Esq.,  now  a  practicing 
attorney  at  Cuyahoga  Falls),  states  that  in  the  Fall  of  1827,  the 
temperance  question  was  discussed  by  the  Medical  Association  of 
Portage  county,  of  which  himself  and  Drs.  Joseph  Cole,  of  Akron, 
Amos  and  Philo  Wright,  of  Tallmadge,  Titus  Chapman,  of  Middle- 
bury,  and  Israel  To^vn,  of  Hudson,  w^ere  members;  that  on  return- 
ing he  presented  the  matter  to  Mr.  Henry  Wetmore,  then  in  charge 
of  Stow  &  Wetmores'  store,  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  in  ^vhich  liquors 
^^ere  kept  for  sale;  that  at  Mr.  Wetmore's  request  he  drew  up  a 
constitution,  to  which  seven  names  were  then  and  there  attached, 
as  follows:  Henr}-  Butler,  Washington  L.  Butler,  John  J.  Gaylord, 
Henry  Wetmore,  Ogden  Wetmore,  Rev.  David  Bacon  and  Dr. 
Orlando  Wilcox;  that  in  the  latter  part  of  December,  1827,  Rev. 
Oeorge  Sheldon,  of  Franklin  Mills  (Kent),  delivered  a  lecture  on 
temperance,  at  which  Judge  Stow  was  present,  that  gentleman 
proposing  that  if  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the  township  (Stow) 
"would  join  the  societj^  he  would  deed  to  the  township  any  160 
acres  of  land  a  committee,  appointed  for  that  purpose,  might 
select,  the  proceeds  to  be  devoted  to  the  purchase  of  a  pall  and 
bier,  and  for  educational  purposes.  The  requisite  number  of 
signatures  to  the  constitution  (65)  was  obtained,  and  the  lot  duly 
selected,  but,  for  reasons  not  novt^  explainable,  the  convej^ance  was 
never  consummated  by  Judge  Stow^,  though  it  has  been  known  as 
the  "Temperance  Lot"  to  this  day.  The  next  Fourth  of  July  (1828) 
there  was  a  temperance  celebration  at  the  Falls,  with  Mr.  Ogden 
W^etmore  as  the  orator  of  the  day. 

A  Whisky  Strike. — Apropos  of  this  temperance  movement, 
Mr.  Henry  Wetmore  relates  that  at  the  time  of  its  inauguration, 
Stow  Sc  Wetmores  w^ere  employing  some  thirty  mechanics  and 
laborers,  on  their  varied  improvements  upon  the  river,  to  w^hom 
rations  of  grog  w^ere  regularly  dealt  out  at  stated  hours  of  the  day, 
amounting  to  nearly  a  barrel  a  week.  On  the  announcement  that 
no  further  rations  of  whisky  would  be  supplied,  the  entire  force 
w^ent  on  a  strike;  but  w^ithin  a  few  days  fully  one-third  resumed 
work,  and  gradually  others  came  back,  or  their  places  were  filled 
with  new  men,  and  with  considerable  improvement  in  the  quality 
and  quantity  of  labor  performed. 

The  first  large  building  to  be  raised  in  Cuyahoga  Falls,  with- 
out the  help  of  grog,  was  the  paper  mills  of  Stow  &  Wetmores,  in 
1829,  in  the  absence  of  su^cient  local  help,  a  number  of  recruits 
coming  over  from  Tallmadge  to  help  elevate  the  heavy  timbers 
and  the  cause  of  temperance  at  the  same  time. 


TOWN    AND   TOWNSHIP   ORGANIZATION.  735 

Yet,  notwithstanding  the  entire  absence  of  whisky,  in  the  rais- 
ing of  this  building,  Mr.  William  Alley  received  a  fatal  injury  from 
the  falling  of  a  heavy  stick  of  timber,  from  the  effects  of  w^hich  he 
died  w^ithin  a  very  few  days. 

Dr.  Orlando  Wilcox,  who  was  a  native  of  Berlin,  Conn.,  and  a 
distant  relative  of  Mr.  Isaac  Wilcox,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in 
Stow,  after  a  residence  of  54  years  in  Hinckley,  returned  to  Cuya- 
hoga Falls,  the  scene  of  his  early  temperance  labors,  in  1885,  where 
he  died  April  3,  1886,  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  84  years. 

Municipal  Organization.— The  town  of  Cuyahoga  Falls  w^as 
incorporated,  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  on  the  5th  day  of  March, 
1836,  the  people  of  the  village,  prior  to  that  date,  being  under  the 
legal  jurisdiction  of  their  respective  original  to w^nships,  Tallmadge 
and  Stow^.  The  boundaries  of  the  corporation  were  tixed  by  the 
charter  as  follows:  "Beginning  at  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
towrnship  of  Tallmadge  and  running  south,  on  the  line  of  said 
township  240  rods;  thence  east  240  rods;  thence  north  to  the  north 
line  of  lots  one  and  two  in  said  tow^nship  of  Stow;  thence  west 
240  rods;  thence  to  the  place  of  beginning,  and  any  addition  that 
may  hereafter  be  platted  and  recorded." 

It  w^ill  thus  be  seen  that  about  an  equal  amount  of  territory 
was  taken  from  the  two  townships  named,  with  power  to  add 
thereto  indefinitely,  w^ithout  resort  to  any  further  Legislative 
action.  The  act  of  incorporation  fixed  the  first  Tuesday  of  the 
ensuing  April,  as  the  day  for  electing  municipal  officers,  but  for 
reasons  not  now  apparent,  due  notice  of  the  passage  of  the  act, 
Avas  not  received  until  that  day  had  passed,  and  to  avoid  the  possi- 
bility of  illegality,  the  organization  was  postponed  to  await  the 
further  action  of  the  General  Assembly. 

The  next  Winter — ^1836-37 — the  act  was  amended,  fixing  the 
time  of  holding  the  election  "on  the  first  or  any  succeeding  Tues- 
day of  April  next,"  the  elective  officers  being  mayor,  recorder,  and 
five  trustees;  the  treasurer,  marshal  and  other  necessary  subordi- 
nate officers  to  be  appointed  by  the  town  council,  when  duly 
organized. 

The  first  election,  therefore,  was  held  on  Tuesday,  April  4, 1837, 
with  the  following  result:  Mayor,  Henry  Newberry;  recorder, 
Grant  B.  Turner;  trustees,  O.  B.  Beebe,  Asa  G.  Bill,  Elisha  N. 
Sill,  Henry  Wetmore  and  E.  B.  Dennison;  the  council,  w^hen 
organized,  appointing  Ogden  Wetmore,  treasurer,  and  Sherman 
Peck,  marshal.  The  town,  under  this  charter,  continued  for  a 
period  of  about  15  years,  its  successive  mayors,  during  that  time, 
after  Mr.  Newberry,  being  Charles  W.  Wetmore,  Hosea  Paul, 
Charles  W.  Wetmore,  Birdsey  Booth,  Hosea  Paul,  Oliver  B.  Beebe 
and  Charles  W.  Wetmore. 

Township  Organization. — Excepting  in  strictly  municipal 
matters,  the  people  of  Cuyahoga  Falls  were  still  under  the  juris- 
diction of  their  respective  original  townships,  having  to  go  to  either 
Stow  Corners  or  the  center  of  Tallmadge  to  vote  for  national, 
state,  county  and  township  officers.  To  obviate  this  necessity,  on 
petition,  the  county  commissioners,  on  the  5th  day  of  March,  1851, 
pursuant  to  authority,  granted  them  by  statute,  created  the  town- 
ship of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  appropriating^for  that  purpose,  from  the 
corners  of  the  four  original  townships  of  Tallmadge,  Stow,  North- 
ampton and  Portage,  territory  described    by    metes    and   bounds, 


736 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


covering  an  area  of  about  two  and  a  quarter  miles,  north  and  south, 
by  one  and  three-quarter  miles  east  and  west. 

The  first  election  in  the  new  township  was  held  April  7,  1851, 
with  the  following  result:  Trustees,  Horace  A,  Miller,  Henrj^ 
New^berry,  Jr.,  and  Porter  G.  Somers;  clerk,  Grant  B.  Turner; 
treasurer,  Lucius  Bradley;  assessor,  William  H.  Taylor;  constables, 
William  W.  Lucas  and  William  J.  Wilson;  supervisor;  Seymour 
Deming. 


HENRY  WETMORE,-  son  of  Judge 
William  Wetmore,  one  of  the 
earliest  pioneer  settlers  in  Stow  town- 
ship, was  born  in  Hartford,  Connect- 
icut, February  10,  1801,  coniing^  with 
parents  to  Ohio  in  1804 ;  with  such 
limited  education  as  the  pioneer 
schools  afforded,  young-  Wetinore 
aided  his  father  on  the  farin  and  in 
the  mercantile  and  manufacttiring 
operations  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  de- 
tailed elsewhere,  later  becoming  a 
member  of  the  well-remembered  hrm 
of  Stow  &  Wetmores,  and  erecting  the 
first  mill  in  the  West  to  manufacture 
paper  bj'  cylinder  machinery  similar 
to  the  process  now  in  vogue.  Decem- 
ber 8,  1830,  Mr.  Wetmore  was  married, 
at  Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent),  to  Miss 
Eliza  Bradford  Price,  niece  of  Cap- 
tain William  H.  Price,  then  the  only 
merchant  in  that  now  enterprising 
village.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wetmore,  both 
still  living,  the  former  90  and  the  lat- 
ter 80  years  of  age,  have  had  two 
children — Henry  W.,  born  November 
16,  1834,  died  March  14,  1879,  and 
George  Prentiss,  born  September  19, 
1836,  died  August  23,  1869,  the  latter 
having  three  sons,  all  now  deceased. 
Though  never  seeking-  or  accepting 


HENRY   WETMORE. 

public  office,  Mr.  Wetmore  has  ever 
sought  to  advance  the  best  interests 
of  his  village  and  county,  and  both 
he  and  his  faithful  companion  are 
very  highly  esteemed  by  all  who 
know  them. 


Corporation  Abandoned. — A  year  or  two  later,  it  coming  to  be 
thought  that  a  double  set  of  officers  for  the  government  of  sub- 
stantially the  same  people  was  unnecessary,  and  that  the  town- 
ship organization  would  answer  for  all,  at  a  meeting  of  the  coun- 
cil, held  on  the  evening  of  April  30,  1853,  it  was  voted  "to  commit 
the  interests  of  Cuyahoga  Falls  to  the  trustees  of  Cuyahoga  Falls 
township"  after  \vhich  the  council  adjourned  without  date. 

Municipal  Functions  Resumed. — The  single  to\v^nship  govern- 
ment, though  for  a  time  harmonious,  did  not  in  the  end  prove 
entirely  satisfactory,  the  urban  portion  of  the  inhabitants  having 
tastes  and  needs  that  the  rural  portion  of  the  population  could  not 
appreciate,  and,  on  the  petition  of  215  voters  of  the  township,  the 
county  commissioners,  on  the  3d  day  of  June,  1868,  duly  authorized 
the  organization  of  said  township,  under  the  name  of  the  "Incor- 
porated Village  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,"  thus  making  the  village  and 
the  township  co-extensive,  but  separate  and  distinct  organizations. 
The  first  election,  of  the  village,  was  held  on  September  1,  1868, 
with  the  following  result:  Mayor,  William  A.  Hanford;  recorder, 
Porter  G.  Somers;  treasurer,  Henry  C.  Lockwood,  trustees,  T,  F. 
Heath,   Charles  Hunt,  L.  W.   Loomis,  W.   M.  Griswold   and  John 


ONE    YEAR    A    COUNTY    SEAT.  737 

Hinde;  its  successive  mayors  to  the  present  time  (February  1891; 
have  been:  W.  A.  Hanford,  October  19,  1865,  to  April  5,  1869) 
Richard  Blood,  April  5,  1869,  to  April  4,  1870;  C.  P.  Humphrey, 
April  4,  1870,  to  April  15,  1872;  Joshua  L'Hommedieu,  1872,  1873; 
H.  B.  Camp,  1874,  1875;  George  Rice,  1876,  1877;  W.  A.  Hanford, 
1878,  1881;  J.  C.  Castle,  1882,  1883;  A.  B.  Curtis,  April  7,  1884,  to  May 
28,  1884;  Samuel  Higgs,  May  28,  1884,  to  April  6,  1885;  C.  D.  Crum, 
April  6,  1885.  to  August  31,  1885;  Thomas  F.  Walsh,  August31,  1885, 
to  April  6,  1886;  John  I  Jones,  April  6,  1886,  till  his  resignation  in 
October,  1889,  Mr.  Samuel  Higgs  being  appointed  to  fill  the 
vacancy,  who,  in  the  Spring  of  1890,  was  elected  for  two  years,  and 
is  still  serving.  Other  officers:  M.  J.  Betts,  Dr.  J.  D.  Dodge,  M.  H. 
Howe,  George  Marvin.  C.  P.  Richardson  and  William  Weaver, 
councilmen;  D.  F.  Felmly,  clerk;  Orlando  Wilcox,  solicitor;  Ira  B. 
Goldwood,  marshal;  J.  D.  Dodge,  health  officer. 

A  Well-Remembered  Institution, — One  of  the  early  and  most 
w^idely  known  institutions  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  was  the  "Portage 
Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company."  It  was  at  first  organized  at 
Ravenna,  in  1832,  under  a  charter  Avhich  had  been  granted  by  the 
Legislature  of  Ohio,  in  1831.  The  officers  then  elected  were,  Wil- 
liam Coolman,  Jr.,  Cyrus  Prentiss,  Frederick  Wadsworth,  Edwin 
Wetmore,  Elias  Smith,  Charles  Clapp,  and  George  Y.  Wallace,  as 
directors,  and  Samuel  D.  Harris,  as  secretary. 

Under  this  organization  no  business  was  transacted,  and  a 
year  later,  August  1833,  a  reorganization  was  had,  with  Henry 
Newberry,  Henry  Wetmore,  William  Coolman.  Jr.,  Edwin  Wet- 
more  and  George  Y.  Wallace  as  directors,  Henry  Newberry  as 
president,  and  Elisha  N.  Sill  as  secretary.  Under  this  organiza- 
tion the  office  of  the  company  w^as  located  at  Cuyahoga  Falls.  The 
organization,  as  above  given,  w^as  (Continued  during  the  25  years  of 
the  existence  of  the  company,  except,  that,  on  the  resignation  of 
Mr.  Newberry,  as  president,  in  1839,  Colonel  Justus  Gale,  of  Akron, 
was  appointed  in  his  place,  and  on  the  death  of  Colonel  Gale,  in 
1847,  the  late  Frederick  Wadsworth  w^as  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

Many  millions  of  dollars  of  property  ^vere  insured,  and  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  dollars  of  losses  were  paid  by  this  company. 
The  mode  of  procedure  w^as  about  this:  Instead  of  a  given  per 
cent,  in  cash  on  the  amount  insured,  being  paid  to  the  company, 
so-called  premium  notes  were  given  by  the  insured,  for  an  esti- 
mated sum  sufficient  to  cover  that  particular  policy's  proportionate 
amount  of  probable  losses,  during  the  lifetime  thereof,  assessment 
bills  on  said  notes  being  from  time  to  time  sent  to  agents  for  col- 
lection from  policy  holders,  to  cover  such  losses  as  may  have 
accrued. 

This  arrangement  worked  smoothly  enough  for  several  years, 
but  makers  of  premium  notes  occasionally  becoming  insolvent, 
and  others,  feeling  that  assessment  bills  were  being  presented 
oftener  and  for  larger  sums  than  had  been  anticipated,  refusing  to 
pay  (resulting  in  a  large  amount  of  litigation),  losses  could  not  be 
promptly  met,  legal  embarrassments  followed,  by  w^hich,  in  1858, 
the  company  w^as  compelled  to  suspend  operations,  and  go  into 
liquidation. 

One  Year  a  County  Seat. — When  the  project  of  a  new 
county  w^as  first  inooted  by  the  people  of  Akron  and  Middlebury, 
in  1833,  the  people   of   Cuyahoga   Falls   opposed   the  movement^ 

47 


738  *  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

rather  favoring  the  retention  of  the  regular  county  seat  at  Ravenna, 
with  a  half-shire  arrangement  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  or  in  the  failure 
of  that  project,  of  the  removal  of  the  county  seat  from  Ravenna  to 
Franklin  Mills  (Kent),  as  the  people  of  the  latter  place  were 
endeavoring  to  have  done.  When,  however,  the  new  county  of 
Summit  was  finally  erected,  in  18iO,  Cuyahoga  Falls  put  in  her 
claim  to  county  seat  honors,  not  only  because  of  her  superb  manu- 
facturing resources,  and  her  more  central  location,  but  because  of 
her  superior  healthfulness,  her  better  topographical  features  for 
the  building  up  of  a  large  manufacturing  and  commercial  city, 
w^hile  the  opening  of  the  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  canal,  then  near- 
ing  completion,  would  give  her  transportation  facilities  fully  equal 
to  those  of  Akron,  and  vastly  superior  to  those  of  "Summit  City" 
(Chuckery),  also  a  vigorous  competitor  for  the  capitalistic  prize. 

The  locating  commissioners  named  by  the  Legislature,  on 
viewing  the  several  locations,  listening  to  propositions  and  argu- 
ments in  favor  of  each  of  the  points  named,  decided  in  favor  of 
Akron,  and  buildings  were  commenced  in  the  Autumn  of  that  year 
(1840).  During  the  ensuing  year,  however,  Hon,  E.  N.  Sill,  State 
Senator  for  the  Summit-Portage  district,  secured  the  passage  of 
an  act  reopening  the  question,  and  appointment  of  a  committee  of 
revicAv,  w^hich  committee,  in  the  Summer  of  1841,  after  partially 
sticking  the  stakes  on  the  "Chuckery,"  finally  located  the  build- 
ings in  Cuyahoga  Falls,  on  the  very  handsome  site  now  occupied 
by  the  Congregational  church,  on  the  south  side  of  Broad  street, 
between  Front  and  Second.  Legal  hindrances  intervening  no 
steps  w^ere  taken  towards  the  erection  of  public  buildings  on  the 
site  named,  other  than  the  donation  of  the  land  and  the  raising,  by 
subscription,  of  the  requisite  construction  fund;  the  succeeding 
Legislature  again  reopening  the  question,  and  providing  for  a 
special  election,  at  which  the  voters  of  the  county  should  deter- 
mine by  ballot,  where  their  county  seat  should  be.  The  result,  as 
will  be  seen  by  a  perusal  of  the  chapter  on  that  subject,  was  a  plu- 
rality of  1594,  in  favor  of  Akron,  over  Cuyahoga  Falls,  and  a  major- 
ity over  all  of  1469,  in  a  total  vote  of  4,487. 

EDUCATIONAL  MATTERS. 

Mostly  of  Connecticut  origin  and  antecedents,  the  people  of 
Cuyahoga  Falls  have  ever  given  especial  attention  to  the  cause  of 
education.  In  addition  to  common  district  schools,  as  the  popula- 
tion increased  select  schools  were  from  time  to  time  established, 
with  varying  success.  The  first  of  these,  probably,  -was  by  Mr. 
J.  H.  Reynolds,  who  announces  in  the  Ohio  Revien^,  of  September 
27,  1831,  that  he  w^ill  open  a  select  school  on  the  29th  inst.  (place 
not  named),  "tuition  fee  $2.00  to  $2.50,  according  to  branches 
taught,"  Mr.  Reynolds  being  recommended  by  Henry  Newberry, 
Elisha  N.  Sill,  Henry  Wetmore,  Richard  Fry  and  Ogden  Wetmore. 
In  the  Spring  of  1836,  Miss  Sarah  Carpenter  (a  sister  of  the  late 
Judge  James  S.  Carpenter),  established  a  seminary  for  girls,  in  the 
school  room  attached  to  St.  John's  Church,  which  met  witn  a  fair 
degree  of  success,  being  succeeded,  in  1840,  by  Miss  Frances  C. 
Barron,  and  she,  in  turn,  by  Miss  Eliza  Deaver,  the  exact  date  of 
the  discontinuance  of  the  school  not  being  now^  ascertainable. 
Miss  Carpenter  is  still  living  (October,  1891)  in  Akron,  now  in  the 
97th  year  of  her  age. 


EDUCATIONAL   MATTERS. 


739 


Cuyahoga  Falls  Institute. — In  the  Fall  of  1837,  Rev.  Roswell 
Brooks,  A.  M.,  and  Charles  Clark,  Esq.,  established  the  "Cuyahoga 
Falls  Institute,"  which  was  afterwards  duly  chartered  by  legisla- 
tive enactment.  This  school  was  conducted  in  the  Lyceum  build- 
ing, on  the  present  site  of  the  Congregational  church,  with  Mr. 
Brooks  as  principal,  Mr.  Clark  teaching  music  and  mathematics, 
and  Elethea  S.  Brooks  superintendent  of  female  department.  In 
the  Summer  of  1840,  Mr.  Brooks  alone  conducted  the  school,  but 
on  his  removal  to  Western  New  York,  in  the  Fall  of  that  year,  Mr. 
Clark  resumed  control,  Avith  a  primary  department,  in  charge  of 
an  assistant,  continuing  until  about  1848,  virhen,  by  reason  of 
impaired  health,  the  school  was  given  up  by  Mr.  Clark.  Mr, 
Clark  is  still  living  and  has  been  for  many  years  the  very  effi- 
cient clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  village. 


r^RANT  B.  TURNER,  ESQ.— born 
^J^  in  Blooming'  Grove,  New  York, 
■October  17, 1810,  moving-  with  parents 
to  Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  in  1818, 
coming  to  Cuyahoga  Falls  in  1828 ; 
■coiumon  school  education ;  learned 
printer's  trade  in  office  of  Western 
Intelligencer,  Hudson;  wavS  four 
years  deputj^  sheriff  for  Portage 
county  ;  studied  law,  practicing-  that 
profession  for  several  years,  a  portion 
of  the  time  as  a  partner  of  Judg^e 
James  S.  Carpenter  and  Samuel  W. 
McClure  ;  in  1856,  in  companj^ '  with 
several  other  gentlemen,  founded  the 
Variety  Iron  Works,  under  the  firm 
iiaine  of  Turner,  Parks  &  Co.,  after- 
wards changed  to  Turner,  Vaughn  & 
Co.,  incorporated  January  11, 1889,  as 
The  Turner,  Vaughn  &  Taylor  Com- 
pany, which  has  more  than  a  national 
reputation  for  the  excellence  of  its 
manufactures.  April  30,  1835,  Mr. 
Turner  was  married  to  Miss  Ada 
Morley,  of  Canandaigua,  New  York, 
w^ho  bore  him  three  children — Au- 
g-usta,  married  to  Mr.  James  M.  Edson, 
.an  early  merchant  in  Akron,  and  now^ 
Mrs.  H.  C.  Lockwood,  of  Cleveland  ; 
Harriet,  now  Mrs.  Charles  S.  Hanford, 
■of  Cleveland,  and  Alice,  wife  of  Mr. 
Clayton  Whittlesy,  but  now  deceased. 
An   invalid,   from   partial   |)aralysis, 


GRANT  B.  TURNEK,  ESQ. 

though  for  most  of  the  time  able  to 
be  about,  and  in  full  possession  of 
his  mental  faculties,  Mr.  Turner  was 
not  active  in  the  business  affairs  of 
his  firm  for  several  years  previous  to 
his  death,  February. 21,  1891,  at  the 
age  of  80  years,  -1  months  and  4  daj'S, 
Mrs.  Turner  dying  May  18, 1891. 


Cuyahoga  Falls  High  School. — After  the  organization  of 
Cuyahoga  Falls  township,  as  above  described,  school  district  num- 
ber one,  and  that  part  of  district  number  eight  lying  within 
the  limits  of  the  new  tow^nship,  were  organized,  on  the  24th  day  of 
April,  1854,  as  the  "Cuyahoga  Falls  School  District,"  of  which  Rev. 
Levi  L.  Holden  was  appointed  acting  manager. 

May  15,  1855,  the  Board  of  Education  employed  Mr.  H.  K. 
Taylor  as  principal  and  Mrs.  Taylor  as  assistant,  at  a  joint  salary 
of  $700  for  forty  weeks.  In  1857,  there  was  a  total  pupilage  of  482, 
w^ith  seven  teachers — one  male  and  six  females.  The  High 
School  at  this  time  was  in  a  building  north  of  St.  John's  Church, 
originally  built  for  a  house  of  worship  by  the  Wesleyan  Methodists, 


740  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

and  -which,  since  the  removal  of  the  High  School  to  its  present 
location,  has  been  occupied  by  one  of  the  primary  schools  of  the 
village. 

Mr.  Taylor  was  succeeded,  as  principal,  by  Mr.  L.  H.  Delano,  in 
1861,  followed  by  Professor  William  I.  Chamberlain  (late  president  of 
the  lo-vva  Agricultural  College),  in  1863;  Mr.  George  McLaughlin, 
in  1865;  Mr.  W.  C.  Rogers,  in  1866;  B.  B.  Tremlin,  September,  1866 
Virgil  P.  Kline,  Esq.,  July,  1867;  Edward  R.  Sill,  September,  1869 
Miss  Almeda  A.  Booth,  July,  1871;  Mr.  George  L.  McMillen,  1874 
and  by  Professor  Augustus  N.  Bernard,  as  superintendent  and  master 
of  the  Union  schools,  in   1875.      Mr.   Bernard's    incumbency   con- 
tinued until  September,  1883,  his  successor  being  W.  H.  Rowlen, 
for  the  term  of  two  years,  followed,  in  1885,  by  Professor  Frederick 
Schnee,  the  present  incumbent.     Present  enumeration  (1891),  742; 
present  pupilage:    Primaries,  370;    Grammar    School,    175;    High 
School,  65;  total,  610.     Besides  the  superintendent  twelve  regular 
teachers,  and  one  writing  and  one  music  teacher  are  employed. 

The  present  fine  three-story  brick  High  School  building  w^as 
commenced  in  1866  and  completed  in  1871,  at  a  cost,  including  heat- 
ing apparatus,  seating,  etc.,  of  $39,020.02;  the  stone  and  brick  work 
being  done  by  Mr.  George  Allison,  of  Tallmadge,  and  the  carpen- 
ter work,  plastering,  painting,  etc.,  by  George  Thomas  &  Son,  of 
Akron.  The  fine  site,  of  twro  acres  of  land,  on  a  sightly  elevation, 
overlooking  the  village  on  the  east,  was  donated  by  the  late  James 
H.  Cooke. 

The  Board  of  Education  maintains  its  ow^n  Board  of  Examin- 
ers of  teachers,  seeking  only  to  secure  the  very  best,  the  branches 
taught  in  the  several  departments  being  reading,  spelling,  Avriting, 
arithmetic,  geography,  grammar,  oral  lessons,  vocal  music,  draw- 
ing. United  States  history,  physical  geography,  natural  philoso- 
phy, algebra,  Latin,  German,  etc.,  and  the  schools  of  Cuyahoga 
Falls  are  now,  as  they  ever  have  been  under  the  present  sj'^stem,. 
in  a  high  state  of  proficiency  and  prosperity. 

CHURCH  AND  RELIGIOUS  STATUS. 

St.  John's  Episcopal  Church. — A  pretty  full  history  of  the 
origin  and  history  of  St.  John's  Church,  will  be  found  in  the  chap- 
ter on  Stow,  the  Episcopal  Church  and  society  organized  there,  in 
1830,  under  that  title,  being  permanently  located  at  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  in  1832;  The  present  church  edifice,  on  the  southeast  corner 
of  the  public  square,  fronting  on  Second  street,  w^as  erected  in 
1835,  and  consecrated  as  a  house  of  worship,  by  Bishop  Mcllvaine, 
July  16,  1836.  The  first  rector  of  the  society,  after  its  location  at 
the  Falls,  ^^^as  Rev.  William  H.  Newman,  of  Bristol,  R.  I.,  from 
November  10,  1835,  to  January  18,  1837.  Rev.  Newman  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Rev.  Zachariah  Mead,  of  Virginia,  w^ho,  not  finding 
northern  people  and  customs  congenial,  relinquished  his  charge, 
after  serving  the  parish  about  one  month,  and  returned  to  Old 
Virginia.  Next  came  Rev.  Mr.  Cushman,  w^hose  term  of  service 
was  also  very  brief,  follow^ed  by  Rev.  Albert  T.  Bledsoe,  who,  after 
a  pastorate  of  about  four  months,  resigned  both  the  rectorship 
and  the  ministry,  to  accept  a  professorship  in  the  University  of 
Virginia. 

Successive  rectors  since  have  been:  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Fair- 
child,  1840  to  1844;  Rev.  Alvah  Guion,  about  one  year;  Rev.  David 


CHURCH   ORGANIZATIONS.  741 

J.  Burger,  who  died  suddenly  after  a  few  months'  service  only; 
Rev.  Levi  L.  Holden,  1847  to  1867,  two  full  decades;  Rev.  George 
Bosley,  1867  to  1871;  Rev.  T.  B.  Fairchild,  1871,  until  his  death, 
March  8,  1879;  Rev.  George  W.  Williams,  1879  to  1884;  Rev.  J.  W. 
Cracraft,  1884  to  1891.  The  present  membership  (October  1891)  of 
St.  John's  Church  is  175,  the  original  church  structure  having 
been  recently  remodeled  and  very  greatly  improved. 

Congregationalism. — The  Congregational  Church,  of  Cuya- 
hoga Falls,  was  organized  February  14,  1834,  by  Revs.  B.  C.  Bald- 
en, of  Middlebury,  and  J.  C.  Parmelee,  of  Tallmadge,  with  a 
membership  of  five  men  and  five  women,  Mr.  Baldwin  supplying 
the  pulpit  until  January  1, 1835,  followed  by  Professor  J.  Longof  West- 
ern Reserve  College  until  October,  1835;  Professor  Gregg  until  May, 
1836;  various  ministers  until  November  23,  1836;  Rev.  Joel  B3ang- 
ton  until  May,  1838;  Rev.  William  C.  Clark  being  installed  as  the 
first  regular  pastor  of  the  church,  October  24,  1838,  his  pastorate 
continuing  until  April  5,  1847,  nearly  eight  j'^ears  and  a  half,  when 
he  was  dismissed  at  his  own  request  on  account  of  failing  health. 
After  Mr.  Clark's  retirement  the  pulpit  was  chiefly  supplied  by 
Rev.  William  C.  Foster  until  October  12,  1847,  at  which  date  he 
was  installed  as  pastor,  serving  in  that  capacity  until  May  24,  1849, 
Avhen  he,  too,  was  dismissed  at  his  own  request.  From  May  24, 
1849,  Rev.  S.  P.  Leeds  officiated  as  stated  supply  until  June  23,  1855, 
his  dismissal  also  being  at  his  own  request.  The  pulpit  w^as  then 
supplied  by  Professors  H.  B.  Hosford  and  Henry  N.  Day,  of  Western 
Reserve  College,  and  Rev.  J.  L.  Tomlinson,  until  May  2,  1858,  when 
Rev.  Titus  S.  Clark,  D.  D.,  was  ordained  as  pastor,  his  pastorate 
continuing  until  June  1,  1862.  Various  supplies,  chiefly  members 
of  faculty  of  Western  Reserve  College,  were  followed  by  Rev.  D. 
M.  Rankin,  as  stated  supply  from  April  11,  1865,  to  April,  1866, 
about  one  year.  After  about  six  months'  varied  supply.  Rev. 
Edgar  V.  H.  Danner  assumed  the  pastorate  on  the  26th  day  of 
October,  1866,  though  not  formally  installed  until  January  3,  1867, 
his  incumbency — eminently  satisfactory  to  both  pastor  and  people 
— covering  a  period  of  nearly  23  years  and  considerably  more  than 
•one-third  of  the  entire  lifetime  of  the  society,  Mr.  Danner  dying 
suddenly,  March  25,  1889,  from  the  effects  of  exposure  at  the  inau- 
guration of  President  Harrison.  The  pulpit  has  since  been  filled 
by  Rev.  Charles  E.  Hitchcock.  The  present  membership  of  the 
church  is  193. 

The  meetings  of  the  Congregational  Society  were  held  for 
about  one  year  in  the  school  house  and  afterw^ards  in  the  Lyceum 
building,  near  the*  site  of  the  present  brick  edifice,  on  the  south 
side  of  Broad  street,  between  Front  and  Second,  which  w^as  finished 
and  dedicated  in  the  Spring  of  1847,  but  which  was  greatly 
enlarged  and  improved  in  1870,  at  a  cost  of  over  $6,000. 

Methodist  Episcopals. — The  Methodist  Episcopal  Society  of 
Cuyahoga  Falls  was  originally  the  Stow  appointment  of  the 
Twinsburg  Circuit,  in  May,  1830,  the  meetings  being  held  in  a 
store  building  at  the  "Old  Village,"  the  presiding  elder  being 
Rev.  W.  B.  Mark,  with  alternate  circuit  preaching  by  Revs. 
Thomas  Carr  and  John  E.  Akin.  The  present  church  edifice  on 
the  public  square,  fronting  on  I^ortage  street,  was  commenced  in 
1836,  but  was  not  fully  completed  until  1840,  the  meetings,  Sunday 
school,  etc.,  being   meantime  held  in  the  basement.     The  house. 


742  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

as  originally  built,  was  dedicated  December  31,  1840,  but  enlarged 
and  internally  remodeled  in  1864.  Like  the  other  houses  named,, 
it  is  supplied  with  a  first-class  organ,  the  cost  of  which  was  $1,600^ 
and  in  its  handsome  tower  is  the  only  tow^n  clock  in  the  village, 
the  funds  for  the  purchase  of  w^hich  were  contributed  by  the  citi- 
zens of  the  village  generally.  We  cannot  name  the  scores  of 
ministers  w^ho  have  officiated  in  this  church  during  the  more  than 
half  a  century  of  its  existence,  many  of  w^honi  were  very  able  men^ 
several  serving  to  the  full  limit  (three  3^ears)  allowed  by  the  rules 
of  the  denomination.  Pastor  from  1888  to  1891,  Rev.  M.  W.  Dallas, 
D.  D.;  present  pastor  (October,  1891),  J.  W.  Robbins,  the  present 
membership  being  267. 

The  Wesleyan  Methodists,  an  off-shoot  from  the  above  society^ 
at  an  early  date  not  now^  remembered,  perfected  an  independent 
organization,  and  built  for  themselves  a  small  church  edifice,  on 
the  public  square  fronting  on  Second  street,  north  of  St.  John's 
Church,  but  not  meeting  with  the  encouragement  anticipated,  the 
house  was  sold  to  the  Board  of  Education  for  a  High  school,  and 
w^as  so  used  until  the  completion  of  the  present  High  school 
structure,  in  1872,  and  is  now  occupied  by  one  of  the  primary 
schools  of  the  village. 

The  Disciples  of  Christ. — The  Church  of  Christ,  of  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  the  offspring  of  the  very  flourishing  organization  of  that 
denomination  in  Stow,  was  organized,  as  an  independent  church,, 
March  27,  1881,  the  way  for  the  movement  having  been  prepared 
by  a  series  of  meetings,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Ohio  Christian 
Missionary  Society,  held  by.  Elder  T.  D.  Garvin,  of  Columbus,  in 
January,  1879,  and  in  December,  1879,  and  January,  1880,  in  Apollo 
Hall,  and  by  a  protracted  meeting  held  by  Elder  C.  C.  Smith,  of 
Akron,  December,  1880. 

These  special  efforts,  supplemented  by  the  diligent  and  effi- 
cient labors  of  Elder  Leonard  Southmayd,  resulted  in  large  addi- 
tions to  the  present  church  in  Stow.  Many  of  these  new  accessions, 
as  well  as  quite  a  number  of  the  former  members,  being  residents 
of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  at  their  request.  State  Evangelist  Elder  R. 
Moffat  convened  a  conference,  to  consider  the  propriety  and 
practicability  of  organizing  a  church  in  Cuyahoga  Falls.  The 
conference  reporting  in  favor  thereof,  and  the  church  in  Stow- 
formally  assenting  thereto,  57  members  of  the  old  were  transfered 
to  the  new  organization  w^hich  was  effected  by  Elder  Moffat,  on 
the  date  above  given.  The  first  officers  in  the  new^  society  were: 
A.  S.  Wheeler,  William  Southmayd,  elders;  O.  M.  Hart,  John  L 
Jones  and  T.  J.  Ream,  deacons ^  W.  M.,  Griswold,  treasurer,  and 
Charles  Fillius,  clerk.  The  society,  after  worshiping  for  some  time 
in  a  public  hall,  built  for  itself  a  snug  little  church  upon  the  north- 
east corner  of  the  public  square,  fronting  on  Second  street.  The 
present  pastor  is  Frank  Mantel,  and  the  present  membership 
(October,  1891)  is  65. 

Catholicism. — The  Catholics,  also,  have  something  of  a  fol- 
lowing in  and  about  Cuyahoga  Falls,  St.  Joseph's  Church  having 
been  organized  there  about  1885,  their  handsome  little  brick  church 
edifice  being  located  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Second  and  Pool 
streets.  Present  pastor,  in  connection  with  the  Hudson  and  Pen- 
insula societies.  Rev.  F.  B.Dougherty;  present  membership  (1891),, 
about  tw^enty-five  families,  or  one  hundred  souls. 


A   STIRRING   TEMPERANCE   EPISODE. 


743 


JOSEPH  T.  HOLLOWAY.  —  com- 
J  nionly  called  "  Father  Holloway," 
was  born  in  Sunbury,  Pennsylvania, 
Aug^ust  1,  1796 ;  when  quite  a  young- 
man  spent  some  time  in  the  then 
truly  "Wild  West,"  mostly  among  the 
Indians  of  Western  Missouri ;  return- 
ing to  the  home  of  his  mother  (his 
father  having  been  dead  several 
years),  October  20,  1821,  he  was  mar- 
ried at  Newbury,  Pa.,  to  Miss  Susan 
Hawk,  with  whom,  packing  their 
treasures  in  a  one-horse  wagon,  he 
again  started  Westward,  settling  in 
Uniontown,  Stark  county,  working  at 
his  trade  of  cabinet  maker,  in  the  Fall 
of  1831,  moving  to  Cuyahoga  Falls; 
here,  in  addition  to  successfullj' 
carrying  on  his  trade  for  several 
years,  he  became  a  faithful  local 
Methodist  preacher,  doing  a  large 
amount  of  missionary  labor  in  the 
rural  districts,  and  especially  in  the 
valley  of  the  Cuyahoga,  probably 
officiating  at  more  meetings,  more 
weddings  and  more  funerals  than 
any  other  one  minister  in  Summit 
count3\  "Father  Holloway"  also 
served  as  justice  of  the  peace  for 
many  years,  and  two  full  terms— 1848 
to  1850  and  1861  to  1863  as  county 
coroner.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holloway  were 
the  parents  of  eight  children — Jo- 
sephus  F.,  now  a  successful  mechani- 
cal engineer  and  business  man  in 
New  York  City ;  Harriet,  died  in  in- 
fancy ;  Mary  E.,  married  to  Rev.  Dil- 
lon Prosser,  died  in  June,  1855;  John 
Weslej^  well-known  railroad  master 


JOSEPH  T.  HOLLOWAY. 

mechanic  in  Akron  ;  Almira,  now 
Mrs.  Henrj^  Hitchcock,  of  Cuj-ahoga 
Falls;  Eouisa  H.  (Mrs.  H.  C.  Lock- 
wood),  died  in  1865;  Wilbur  Fisk, 
inventor  and  manufacturer,  Cu3^a- 
hoga  Falls;  Albert  E.,  late  of  Akron, 
deceased.  "Father  Holloway"  died 
August  22,  1878,  aged  82  years  and  21 
days,  the  wife  of  his  youth,  and  the 
motherof  his  children,  having- passed 
away  March  13,  1863.  at  the  age  of  62 
years. 


ORIGINAL  TEMPERANCE  CRUSADERS. 


To  the  good  women  of  Cuyahoga  Falls  is  due  the  credit  of 
being  the  original  Anti-Whisky  Crusaders — not,  indeed,  with  the 
spiritual  weapons  employed  in  later  years,  by  Mother  Stuart  and 
her  contemporaries — prayer  and  praise — but  with  such  carnal 
weapons  as  axes,  hatchets,  hammers,  etc.,  Avielded  by  their  oAvn 
good  right  arms. 

The  Washingtonian  reformation  of  the  early  and  middle  forties, 
followed  by  the  efficient  operations  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance  for 
several  years,  made  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Akron  and  many  other  vil- 
lages on  the  Western  Reserve,  practical  prohibition  towns.  In 
the  early  and  middle  fifties,  however,  the  encroachments  of  the 
beer  and  whisky  traffic  w^ere  such  as  to  produce  serious  alafm 
among  the  good  women  of  Cuyahoga  Falls  for  the  safety  of  their 
husbands,  sons  and  brothers,  and  a  vigorous  revival  of  the  temper- 
ance cause  was  inaugurated.  Committees  were  appointed  to  visit 
the  various  dealers  and  plead  with  them  to  abandon  the  traffic,  but 
w^ith  only  partial  success. 

An  Army  With  Banners.^U  was  at  length  determined  to 
resort  to  sterner  measures  than  "soft  persuasion  and  mild  elo- 
quence," and  on  Saturday  morning,  March  6,  1858,  a  large  volun- 
teer   force    of  w^omen,    in   solid    phalanx,    armed    with   hammers, 


744  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

hatchets,  axes,  etc.,  started  out  to  make  an  assault  upon  King 
Alcohol,  in  his  intrenchments.  The  first  place  visited  was  the 
room  of  Captain  Isaac  Lewis,  over  the  postoffice.  On  reaching 
the  top  of  the  stairs,  finding  the  door  locked  against  them,  they 
battered  it  down  and  proceeded  to  demolish  sundry  jugs,  bottles, 
etc.,  removing  a  barrel  of  ale  to  the  street  below  and  emptying  its 
foaming  contents  into  the  gutter.  Next  the  grocery  and  liquor 
store  of  Joshua  L'Hommedieu,  on  the  lower  floor  of  the  same 
building,  was  invested.  Having  heard  of  the  intended  raid,  "Josh" 
had  removed  his  liquors  from  the  cellar  to  a  smoke-house  in  the 
rear.  But  the  crusaders  w^ere  equal  to  the  emergency,  and  soon 
Mrhisky,  Otard  brandy,  and  other  liquors,  were  flowing  in  miniature 
torrents  tow^ards  the  Cuyahoga  river. 

Courteous  Reception. — The  next  point  visited  was  the  place 
of  Mr.  John  Tifft,  w^ho  received  his  callers  w^ith  great  courtesy, 
placing  before  them  a  collation  of  doughnuts,  pies,  etc.,  pleasantly 
turning  over  to  them  all  the  liquors  he  had  left — part  of  a  barrel  of 
beer — which  they  also  poured  into  the  street  gutter.  At  Rock- 
well's place  nothing  was  found.  Jones'  variety  store  on  the  south 
side  of  Broad  street,  near  the  covered  bridge,  had  been  "cleaned 
and  garnished  "  for  their  reception,  by  the  removal  of  all  liquors 
to  the  rear  of  his  store  and  covering  them  with  rubbish.  But  the 
w^omen  were  too  keen-scented  and  sharp-sighted  for  the  success  of 
this  ruse,  and  Jones'  two  barrels  of  wrhiskN',  and  other  liquors  were 
soon  mixing  with  the  pellucid  waters  of  the  Cuyahoga.  The 
saloon  of  "  Hen"  Lindsey,  across  the  way,  was  next  visited,  a  few 
bottles  only — said  to  have  been  filled  ^vith  water — being  demolished, 
his  main  stock  in  trade  having  been  previously  "spirited"  away. 

Reading  the  Riot  Act. — At  the  American  House,  the  proprie- 
tor refused  to  give  his  visitors  access  to  his  liquor  cellar  and  they 
became  so  demonstrative  that  Justice  Charles  W.  Wetmore  was 
called  in  to  read  the  Riot  Act,  and  admonish  them  to  "  disperse  and 
depart  to  their  several  homes  and  lawful  employments."  But  they 
didn't  disperse  "  worth  a  cent,"  and  were  proceeding  to  batter  dow^n 
the  cellar  door,  w^hen  an  armistice  was  brought  about  by  the  land- 
lord pledging  himself  not  to  furnish  any  more  liquors  to  the  people 
of  the  town. 

The  last  place  visited  was  Heath's  drug  store,  the  door  of  which 
w^as  barred  against  them,  and  forcible  entrance  prevented,  by  sim- 
ilar assurances  from  the  proprietors,  as  those  made  by  the  landlord 
of  the  American,  though  it  w^as  stated  that  such  arrangements  had 
been  made,  that  had  entrance  to  the  store  been  effected,  the  dis- 
charge of  certain  chemicals  w^ould  have  made  the  visit  anything 
but  agreeable. 

Legal  Proceedings  Instituted. — Though  these  proceedings 
were  irregular  and  illegal  in  their  nature,  it  is  but  just  to  say  that 
the  great  majority  of  the  law-abiding  people  of  the  village  sympa- 
thized in  the  movement,  the  more  so  because  of  the  proneness  of 
dealers  themselves  to  disregard  the  laws  regulating  the  traffic,  by 
furnishing  liquors  to  minors  and  otherw^ise.  Among  the  ladies 
participating  in  the  crusade  was  Mrs.  Elizabeth  W.  Wait,  wife  of 
Mr.  George  A.  Wait,  a  dealer  in  millinery  and  fancy  goods.  Against 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wait,  Mr.  Joshua  L'Hommedieu  brought  suit  before 
Justice  Charles  W.  Wetmore  for  one  hundred  dollars  damages  for 
the  destruction  of  one  barrel  of  brandy,  the  justice  giving  him  a 


MUSICAL,    FRATERNAL,    ETC.  745 

judgment  for  $60.  The  defendants  appealed  the  case  to  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas,  K.  N.  Sill  and  J.  T.  HoUaway  going  upon  the 
appeal  bond.  The  trial  of  the  case  was  postponed,  from  time  to 
time,  until  June,  1859,  when  it  was  marked  "Settled  at  Plaintiff's 
costs,"  said  costs  being  collected  from  "Josh"  on  execution  some 
two  or  three  months  later,  by  the  writer,  then  serving  his  second 
term  as  sheriff. 

Musical,  Social,  Fraternal,  and  Otherwise. — In  society  and 
social  matters,  Cuyahoga  Falls  has  always  been  fully  abreast  with 
the  most  intelligent  and  refined  of  her  Western  Reserve  contem- 
poraries, the  large  number  of  her  church  and  benevolent  associa- 
tions, and  the  various  civic  and  beneficial  organizations  that  have 
existed,  from  time  to  time,  indicating  the  fraternal  instincts  of 
her  people.  Ever  appreciative  of  good  music,  she  has  produced 
several  vocalists  and  pianists  of  more  than  local  reputation, 
while  her  general  instrumental  talent  has  always  been  of  a  high 
order. 

The  original  Cuyahoga  Falls  Band,  organized  in  1834,  was  one 
of  the  best  of  its  class  in  Northern  Ohio.  The  original  members 
of  this  band  were:  Henry  W.  Bill,  Elisha  N.  Sill,  Charles  W. 
Wetmore,  Theodore  R.  Butler,  Charles  C.  Bronson,  Cyrus  C.  and 
Ivivy  L.  Wilcox,  John  H.  Brainard,  Reuben  Upson,  Lyman  Sperry, 
Horace  Y.  Beebe,  Chas  Thornburg,  and  Israel  James,  Mr.  Bill 
Toeing  the  leader.  This  band,  too,  had  more  than  a  local  repute, 
being  called  to  Cleveland  to  aid  in  celebrating  the  4th  of  July,  in 
1835,  going  from  and  returning  to  Old  Portage  by  packet  on  the , 
Ohio  Canal.  The  band  also  participated  in  the  celebration  of  the 
openingof  the  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  Canal,  in  1840,  and  about  that 
time  made  an  excursion  to  Massillon,  w^here  they  gave  a  concert 
which  was  largely  attended  and  highly  appreciated  by  the  music- 
loving  denizens  of  that  lively  town.  Mr.  Bill  and  Mr.  Bronson 
retained  their  musical  skill  and  ardor  to  the  end  of  their  long  lives, 
as  attendants  upon  the  annual  meetings  of  the  Portage-Surhmit 
Pioneer  Association,  at  Kent,  who  have  listened  so  delightedly  to 
the  old-time  music  of  the  pioneer  band,  can  testify. 

In  1858,  a  most  excellent  band  organization  was  effected,  under 
the  leadership  of  Mr.  Ethelbert  Sill,  and  was  for  many  years 
known  as  "Sill's  Band."  The  band,  which  had  a  continuous  exist- 
ence, under  different  leaders,  for  nearly  thirty  years,  w^as  reorganized 
in  1885,  under  the  name  of  the  Cuyahoga  Falls  Brass  Band,  with 
Mr.  James  Brown  as  leader,  being  in  all  respects  a  first-class 
organization. 

Anti-slavery,  missionary,  temperance  and  other  reformatory 
movements  have  in  their  "day  and  generation"  received  due  atten- 
tion from  the  good  people  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  w^hile  all  of  the  mod- 
ern civic  and  beneficiary  orders  and  associations,  are  fully  repre- 
sented among  her  people  and  may  be  briefly  enumerated  thus: 

Star  Lodge,  F.  A.  M.,  No.  187;  Howard  Lodge,  No.  62, 1.  O.  O.  F.; 
Enterprise  Council,  No.  234,  Royal  Arcanum;  Security  Coun- 
cil, No.  51,  National  Union;  Pavonia  Lodge,  301,  Knights  of 
Pythias;  Eadie)Post,No.37,G.  A.R.;  Wood  Camp,  No.  66,  Sons  of  Vet- 
erans; Independent  Order  Good  Templars,  No.  59;  Ladies'  Relief 
Corps,  G.  A.  R.;  Ladies'  Relief  Corps,  Sons  of  Veterans;  Knights 
of  Labor;  Rebecca  Lodge,  L  O.  O.  F.,  Elm.  227;  Ladies'  Aid, 
No.    5;  Protected  Home  Circle,  Glen,  No.  85;    Pythian  Sisterhood, 


746 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Ivy  Lodge,   No.  8;  Women's  Christian  Temperance   Union;    Ath- 
letic   Club;  Public  Library  Association;  Volunteer  Fire  Company. 

SUMMER  PLEASURE  KESORT. 

For  the  past  twent}^  five  years,  Cuyahoga  Falls  and  vicinity^ 
has  been  one  of  the  best  ktiow^ii  pleasure  resorts  in  Northern  Ohio. 
The  river,  with  its  deep  gorges,  its  rumbling  water- falls,  its  leaping 

cascades,  its  over-hanging  cliffs, 
its  caves  and  grottos,  its  shady 
groves,  its  variegated  shrubbery 
and  picturesque  views,  has  ever 
been  a  source  of  delight  to  lovers 
of  the  beautiful  in  nature,  both 
savage  and  civilized. 

As  being  more  ready  of  access,, 
from  the  surrounding  heights, 
the  "Old  Maid's  Kitchen,"  a 
large  open  cave  in  the  north 
bank  of  the  river,  overlooking 
the  "Big  Falls,"  a  mile  or  so 
below  the  village,  has  for  a 
third  of  a  century  been  the 
resort  for  pleasure  seekers,  quite 
an  extensive  hotel  having  fur- 
nished refreshments  and,  danc- 
ing facilities  to  visiting  parties 
for  many  years  past. 

Later,  "Gaylord's  Grove,"  over- 
looking the  river,  on  the  w^est,^ 
opposite  the  "Old  Village,"  fitted 
up  with  appropriate  buildings, 
tables,  swings,  etc.,  with  a  large 
number  of  row  boats,  and  for 
some  years  a  handsome  little 
steamer,  with  a  sailing  range  of 
about  one  mile  between  Cuya- 
hoga and  Munroe  Falls,  has  been 
liberally  patronized  by  Sabbath 
school  and  other  picnic  parties 
for  many  years. 
Still  later,  a  large  amount  of  money  has  been  expended  at 
Avhat  is  denominated  "High  Bridge  Glens,"  at  the  head  of  the 
gorge,  in  the  south  part  of  the  village,  in  the  construction  of  stairs, 
suspension  bridges,  walks,  etc.,  and  in  the  erection  of  pavilions, 
parlors,  refreshment  rooms,  dancing  halls,  skating  rinks,  roller 
coasters,  etc.,  the  stroll  through  the  gorge,  a  hundred  feet  below 
the  surrounding  surface,  along  the  far-famed  "Chuckery"  race, 
w^ith  the  tempestuous  river  roaring  and  foaming  fifty  feet  below,, 
on  a  hot  Summer  day,  being  invigorating  in  the  extreme. 

And,  too,  at  Silver  Lake,  a  mile  to  the  north^ward,  as  described 
in  another  chapter,  thousands  of  people,  daily,  during  the  heated 
term,  congregate  to  enjoy  the  delightful  shade  of  the  grove,  the 
splendid  sailing  upon  the  lake,  both  by  steamer  and  skiff,  the 
invigorating  bath,  and  the  general  physical  and  social  good  cheer^ 
which  there  and  thereabouts  abounds. 


View  from  lower  dam,  in  the  Glens,  at 
the  Falls  of  the  Cuyahoga. 


A   PICTURESQUE   VIEW. 


747 


View  in  HIk'i  Bridge  CJIens,  Cuyahoga  River,  below  the  Village  of  Cii5-ahoga  Falls. 


748  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

To  these  various  resorts  come  parties  from  near  and  far,  both 
in  carriages  and  on  regular  and  special  trains,  from  Akron,  Cleve- 
land, Canton,  and  other  points,  even  as  far  south  as  Columbus,  and 
Cuyahoga  Falls  will,  doubtless,  for  man^  years  to  come,  maintain 
her  standing  as  one  of  the  most  picturesque  and  popular  pleasure 
resorts  in  Northeastern  Ohio. 

CUYAHOGA  FALLS  NEWSPAPERS. 

In  the  Summer  of  1833,  Judge  Stow  made  an  arrangement 
with  Horace  Canfield  and  Timothy  Phelps  Spencer,  a  couple  of 
enterprising  young  printers  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  to  remove  to  Ohio, 
and  start  a  newspaper  and  job  printing  office  at  Cuyahoga  Falls. 
Shipping  their  outfit  in  the  early  Autumn,  via  the  Connecticut 
river  and  Long  Island  Sound,  to  New^  York,  thence  Kiathe  Hudson 
river  to  Albany;  and  thence  via  the  Erie  Canal,  Lake  Erie 
and  Ohio  Canal  to  "Boothsport"  (Old  Portage),  the  young  printers 
started  by  stage  to  Albany,  and  thence  via  the  last  named  water- 
ways to  Ohio,  reaching  Cuyahoga  Falls  several  weeks  in  advance 
of  their  press  and  types.  The  intervening  time  was  spent  in  fit- 
ting up  their  office  in  a  one-story  building  on  the  north  side  of 
Broad  street  (still  standing),  east  of  Front,  and  in  soliciting  sub- 
scribers and  advertising  for  the  *^  Cuvahoga  Falls    Witness." 

In  their  prospectus,  after  premising  that  the  Witness  would 
be  devoted  to  "agriculture,  manufactures,  commerce,  the  arts  and 
sciences,  news,  politics,  public  morals,  history,  biography  and  other 
objects  of  general  utility,"  the  publishers  say: 

A  section  of  country  combining-  such  great  advantagfes  as  are  possessed 
by  this  vicinity,  must  present  a  strong  inducement  for  tne  settlement  of  a 
numerous  and  industrious  population.  As  a  means  of  diffusing  correct 
information,  enlightening  public  sentiment,  and  increasing'  the  prosperity 
and  happiness  of  the  community,  nothing  as  yet  has  been  found  more  effi- 
cient, or  more  cheaply  obtained,  than  the  circulation  of  periodical  newspapers. 

Before  issuing  the  initial  number,  however,  on  consultation 
w^ith  prominent  business  men,  the  name  of  the  paper  >\^as  changed 
to  "  The  Ohio  Review." 

Volume  1,  number  1,  bears  the  date  of  November  30,  1833.  It 
is  a  24-column  folio,  the  columns  being  19  inches  in  length  and 
about  two  "ems"  wider  measure  than  the  present  columns  of  the 
daily  and  weekly  Beacon.  Its  opening  editorial  occupies  nearly  a 
column  and  a  half,  in  setting  forth  the  principles  by  which  it  was 
to  be  governed,  but  which  cannot  be  repeated  here. 

Besides  nearly  two  columns  of  local  business  advertisements, 
there  is  an  editorial  setting  forth  the  advantages — manufacturing 
and  otherwise — of  Cuyahoga  Falls;  the  report  of  a  meeting  at 
Warren,  favoring  the  construction  of  the  "Cross  Cut,"  or  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Ohio  Canal,  and  a  communication  from  E.  N.  Sill,  Esq., 
on  the  recent  celebrated  meteoric  shower  on  the  night  of  Novem- 
ber 13,  1833. 

Suspension  of  the  "Rev^iew." — The  paper  seems  to  have  run 
along  smoothly  enough  through  the  first  year,  and  to  have  entered 
upon  its  second  volume,  without  any  indications  of  the  financial 
distress  incident  to  very  many  of  the  newspaper  ventures  in  the 
West,  at  that  early  day;  having  about  six  columns  of  advertise- 
ments, and  opening  the  new  volume  with  a  cheerful  editorial  view 
of  the  situation  for  the  village  and  for  itself. 


NEWSPAPER   MATTERS.  749 

Yet,  notwithstanding  its  cheerful  words,  the  next  issue  of  the 
Review,  under  Messrs.  Canfield  &   Spencer,  dated  December  12, 

1834,  was  the  last,  the  cause  for  the  suspension  not  being  now^ 
apparent,  those  gentlemen  at  once  going  to  Cleveland,  Mr.  Can- 
field  soon  afterwards  removing  to  Medina,  and,  in  1842,  to  Akron, 
where  he  died  December  9,  1853,  Mr.  Spencer  remaining  in  Cleve- 
land until  his  quite  recent  decease  in  that  city. 

The  printing  material  remaining  in  Cuyahoga  Falls,  in  June^ 

1835,  the  Review  seems  to  have  passed  into  the  hands  of  H.  T. 
Townley  and  J.  M.  Bassett,  afterwards  being  run  by  "An  Associa- 
tion of  Gentlemen" — names  not  given — w^ith  James  Lowery  as 
printer.  The  exact  date  of  its  final  discontinuance  is  not  now 
remembered,  but  a  stray  copy  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Henry  Wetmore, 
dated  April  13,  1837,  is  evidence  that  it  was  then  running,  and 
may  have  continued  several  years  longer. 

In  the  meantime — 1838-40—  several  transient  publications — the 
Renovator,  the  Young  Buzzard,  the  Telescope,  etc.,  w^ere  run  for 
longer  or  shorter  periods,  and  possibly  some  others  which  have 
passed  from  the  public  mind.  During  the  Harrison-Van  Buren 
campaign  of  1840,  a  spirited  Whig  campaign  paper  was  published, 
called  the  American  Eagle,  but  by  w^hom  edited  is  not  now 
remembered, 

"The  True  American." — During  the  county  seat  contest — 
1840-42 — a  vigorously  conducted  weekly  new^spaper,  under  the 
above  title,  was  published,  devoted  generally  to  the  business  and 
social  interests  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  and  especially  to  the  work 
of  securing  the  location  of  the  seat  of  justice  of  the  new  county  of 
Summit  in  that  village.  The  general  editorial  management  of  the 
True  American,  according  to  the  recollection  of  the  w^riter,  was 
devolved  upon  Grant  B.  Turner,  Esq.,  though  it  is  quite  probable 
that  Hon.  E.  N.  Sill,  S.  W.  McClure,  Esq.,  and  others,  contributed 
many  of  the  able  and  incisive  articles  that  appeared  in  its  columns 
during  that  extremely  lively  period.  We  are  without  further  data 
in  regard  to  the  beginning  and  ending  of  the  True  American,  but 
it  did  not  long  survive  the  final  settlement  of  that  vexed  question, 
in  1843. 

"Cuyahoga  Falls  Reporter. — In  1870,  Mr.  E.  O.  Knox,  a  prac- 
tical printer,  commenced  the  publication  of  a  handsome  nine- 
column  folio,  under  the  above  title,  which,  being  filled  with 
sprightly  miscellany,  general  news,  and  crisp  local  happenings,  as 
w^ell  as  from  the  advertising  facilities  w^hich  it  furnished  to  the 
business  men  of  the  village,  has  made-itself  an  indispensable  neces- 
sity to  the  people  of  Cuyahoga  Falls  and  surrounding  country.  It 
is  now  called  the  Cujvahoga  Falls  Reporter  and  Western  Reserve 
Farmer,  and  published  in  quarto  form,  enjoying  a  substantial 
advertising  patronage  and  a  large  circulation,  both  in  Cuyahoga 
Falls  and  surrounding  tow^nships,  the  mammoth  steam-driven 
cylinder  press,  upon  which  it  is  printed,  being  in  marked  contrast 
to  the  medium  lever  hand  press  upon  which  the  Review  was 
printed  58  years  ago.  Mr.  Knox  dying  March  7,  1891,  the  business 
is  now  being  successfully  managed  by  his  w^idow^,  Mrs.  Ellen 
Knox. 

The  "  Weekly  Journal."— April  15, 1881,  Frederick  H.Duffy  and 
Frederick  A.  Douglass,  a  couple  of  enterprising  youn^  printers  of 
Cuyahoga  Falls,  commenced  the  publication  of  a  sprightly  paper 


750 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


under  the  above  title,  but  as  the  venture  did  not  prove  remunera- 
tive, the  paper  was  discontinued  on  the  28th  day  of  April,  1882. 
This  paper  was  independent  in  politics,  though  both  proprietors 
w^ere  ardent  Republicans. 

pAPTAIN  ISAAC  LEWIS,  — born 
^  in  Utica,  New  York,  January  15, 
1809 ;  at  two  years  of  ag-e  inoved  with 
parents  to  Deerfield,  New  York,  at- 
tending' common  schools  and  work- 
ing- on  farm  till  18,  when  he  learned 
the  wagon-making  trade,  later  going 
to  West  Turin,  Lewis  county.  New 
York,  where,  March  2,  1833,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Maria  Swartz,  in  Sep- 
tember of  that  5^ear  coming  to  Ohio, 
and  a  few  months  later  settling  in 
Cuyahoga  Falls ;  worked  at  trade 
until  1841,  when  he  commenced  boat- 
ing upon  the  Ohio  canal,  which  busi- 
ness he  followed  ten  years,  owning 
and  running,  successively,  the 
^'Joshua  Stow,"  the  "Joseph  S.  Lake," 
the  "Alice"  and  the  "Cuyahoga;" 
also  owniHg  a  one-eighth  interest  in 
the  two  packet  boats,  "Akron"  and 
•"Cleveland,"  himself  running  the 
latter,  between  Cleveland  and  Akron, 
the  canal,  up  to  1851,  being  the  most 
popxxlar  mode  of  travel  in  this  vicin- 
ity. In  1851,  Captain  Lewis  engaged 
with  the  "Akron  Branch,"  now  the  C, 
A.  &  C.  R.  R.,  as  conductor,  running 
the  first  train  into  Akron,  July  4, 1852, 
and  freighting  the  first  lump  coal  bj^ 
rail  to  Cleveland,  continuing  on  the 
road  between  Hudson  and  Millers- 
burg,  five  years.  May  13,  1858,  em- 
barked in  grocery  trade  in  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  which  he  successfully  carried 
on  over  a  third  of  a  century.  Captain 
and  Mrs.  Lewis  had  three  children 
born  to  them — Richard  Aimer,  born 


CAPTAIN  ISAAC  LEWIS. 

July  10,  1836,  died  September  20,  1879; 
Mary,  born  May  10,  1838,  died  July, 
1840;  Arthur  Isaac,  born  December 
10, 1849,  in  partnership  with  his  father, 
under  the  firm  name  of  I.  Lewis  & 
Son,  until  the  death  of  Captain  Lewis, 
September  2,  1891,  at  the  age  of  82 
years,  7  inonths  and  17  da3^s. 


The  "Republican."— Early  in  September,  1882,  Messrs.  H.  E. 
Howard,  W.  O.  Beebe,  George  P.  Sperry,  Charles  F.  Harrison  and 
Frederick  A.  Douglass  filed  the  necessary  papers  with  the  secre- 
tary of  the  State,  for  the  incorporation  of  the  "Akron  and  Cuya- 
hoga Falls  Printing  Company,"  with  a  capital  stock  of  $1,500  for 
the  purpose  of  publishing  a  Republican  paper  simultaneously  at 
Cuyahoga  Falls  and  Akron,  the  material  of  the  late  Journal  to  be 
used  for  that  purpose.  Though  the  paper  was  duly  started  by  Mr. 
Douglass  on  the  30th  day  of  September,  1882,  the  company  alluded 
to  was  never  organized,  and  Mr.  Douglass,  not  being  adequately 
supported  in  his  enterprise,  discontinued  the  Republican  on  the 
10th  day  of  March,  1883,  transferring  his  material  and  subscription 
list  to  the  Reporter,  and  himself  taking  the  foremanship  of  that 
office;  Mr.  Duffy,  w^ith  his  brother  Isaac  S.  Duffy,  carrying  on  a  job 
printing  office,  in  the  village,  under  the  firm  name  of  Duffy 
Brothers,  as  elsewhere  stated. 

Military  Matters.— The  early  military  history  of  Cuyahoga 
Falls  is  necessarily  blended  with  those  of  the  several  original 
townships  out  of  which  it  was  carved — Tallmadge,  Stow,  Portage 


CUYAHOGA   FALLS    IN    WAR.  751 

and  Northampton,  Besides  the  regular  militia  of  the  townships 
named,  in  which  the  early  inhabitants  did  "training"  duty,  sev- 
eral independent  companies  have  from  time  to  time  existed, 
though  we  are  without  adequate  data  in  regard  to  them.  Her 
Revolutionary  prowess  is  also  obscure,  as  is  also  that  of  the  War 
of  1812,  and  the  Mexican  War,  though  it  is  certain  that  those  wars 
w^ere  participated  in  by  some  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Cuyahoga 
Falls. 

But  in  the  sanguinary  struggle  of  1861-65,  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  Union,  Cuyahoga  Falls  manifested  her  patriotism  and 
her  valor  as  only  intelligent  and  high-minded  freemen  can  do. 
With  the  reverberation  of  the  first  gun  fired  at  Fort  Sumter, 
party  lines  were  abolished  and  both  Democrats  and  Republicans 
w^orked  shoulder  to  shoulder  in  swelling  the  ranks  of  loyalty  in 
defense  of  the  dear  old  flag. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Beacon,  under  date  of  May  16,  1861, 
said:  "The  war  fever  has  not  passed  our  place  without  showing 
some  signs  of  progress,  29  of  our  young  men  having  enrolled  them- 
selves in  the  Akron  company  now  in  Camp  Taylor,  in  Cleveland, 
and  a  fund  of  over  $4,000  has  been  subscribed  for  the  benefit  of 
volunteers  and  their  families.  A  rifle  company  is  being  formed  in 
w^hich  many  of  our  best  and  most  prominent  citizens  are  to  be 
found.  It  is  to  be  organized  under  the  law  regulating  the  State 
militia,  and  some  sixty  are  already  enrolled." 

Through  the  kindness  of  Grant  B.  Turner,  Esq.,  Mr.  William 
O.  Beebe  and  others,  in  1887,  w^e  were  provided  with  the  following 
roster  of  the  soldiers  furnished  by  Cuyahoga  Falls,  during  the  prog- 
ress of  the  war  in  question: 

Robert  Allen,  George  L.  Allen,  W.  A.  Allen,  D.  Ackerman,  Jus- 
tin E.  Angel,  W.  O.  Beebe,  Richard  Blood,  Seneca  Blood,  Josiah 
Brown,  Jacob  Bental,  Oscar  Brewster,  Charles  Buchanan,  F.  E. 
Brainard,  H.  E.  Brown,  Lyman  W.  Boys,  George  Bitterman,  Or- 
lando Beardslej',  M.  H.  Birzley,  J.  Birzley,  Henry  Bruner,  Fred- 
erick Bethel,  Henderson  Cowen,  John  Cowen,  John  C.  Castle, 
James  Cook,  J.  C.  Cook,  Gurley  G.  Crane,  Warren  B.  Crane,  Fred- 
erick Craig,  Ira  Culver,  William  Culver,  Ransom  B.  Clark,  Charles 
E.  Curtiss,  W.  E.  Chamberlain,  Henry  Cochran,  Anthony  Coler, 
Andrew  H.  Cowan,  Horace  Cochran,  T.  M.  Crochan,  Asa  Clapp, 
Dennis  Condon,  John  Condon,  George  Dye,  John  Davis,  Cornelius 
Dunn,  C.  Downey,  Lawrence  Dunn,  Menzo  Diffendorf,  Marsh 
Daugherty,  John  Eadie,  James  Eadie,  Henry  Eadie,  John  Ely,  M. 
Evans,  Henry  Fogle,  C.  W.  Faze,  H.  C.  Grant,  Robert  Green,  Ed- 
ward Green,  John  Green,  Prentiss  Gill,  William  Gaylord,  O.  K. 
Graham,  R.  A.  Gray,  Arthur  Goodrich,  A.  Goble,  Edwin  Hoyt,  Nel- 
son Holcomb,  William  Hinde,  John  M.  Hinde,  G.  P.  Huddleston, 
N.  S.  Harrington,  George  Holden,  H.  E.  Howard,  Dickinson  Heach- 
cock,  Charles  Hawn,  Charles  Herberth,  George  Husted,  F.  L. 
Hitchcock,  A.  E.  HoUoway,  Isidore  Hagle,  Harry  Ingalls,  Harri- 
son Ingalls,  James  W.  Inskeep,  Alonzo  Inskeep,  A.  J.  Konkle, 
Demming  Lowery,  Charles  Lewis,  Nelson  T.  Lee,  Henry  Lindley, 
Charles  A.  Lawson,  John  H.  Lyons,  John  Lyons,  F.  Lyons,  Wesley 
Loomis,  Lewis  Mack,  John  Murphy,  William  H.  Murphy,  Gilbert 
Morgan,  Ely  Moon,  W.  Moon,  Gaston  Moon,  J.  D.  Marshall,  John 
McCullough,  Henry  McClelland,  Charles  Maloney,  C.  A.  Maloney, 
David  McGrath,  L.H.  McAdams,  George  Musson,  Nelson  Marshall, 


752 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


John  McLeish,  George  Ne^vberry,  Amaziah  Nelson,  James- 
Nelson,  Henry  Ormsby,  Christopher  Post,  Henry  Patterson, 
George  F.  Patterson,  John  Patterson,  James  J.  Patterson,  George 
Paul,  George  M,  Patterson,  William  J.  Patterson,  A.  Prior,  C.  T. 
Parks,  William  Pease,  George  Payne,  S.  B.  Porter,  William  Pow^ell, 
Rees  Purine,  F.  B.  Purine,  Patrick  Quinn,  J.  T.  Rheams,  John  C. 
Reid,  Isaac  N.  Reid,  Charles  C.  Reid,  Richard  Reid,  George  W. 
Rice,  Fritz  Roethig,  J.  Shellhorn,  Dwight  Shumway,  Edgar 
Somers,  William  Shaffer,  John  G.  Schnabel,  A.  H.  Sill,  A.  L. 
Somers,  John  H.  She\\rey,  J.  Sapp,  George  Smith,  C.  J.  Spellman, 
Albert  A.  Squires,  Charles  Squires,  William  Searles,  M.  C.  Tifft, 
Horace  Tifft,  John  Toseland,  N.  L.  Upson,  Amos  Wills,  C.  A. 
Wadsworth,  Isaac  J.  Woods,  Vincent  Warner,  John  Williams,  H. 
F.  Waters,  H.  S.  Wetmore. 


OLIVER  B.  BEEBE,— born  in  New 
London,  Connecticut,  October 
17,  1807  ;  in  childhood  removed  with 
parents  to  Middletown,  where,  in  ad- 
dition to  receiving-  a  good  common 
school  education,  he  learned  the 
book-binder's  trade.  After  working 
some  time  as  a  journe3'man,  and  one 
year  for  himself  in  Middletown,  he 
came  to  Cuj^ahaga  Falls  and  estab- 
lished himself  as  a  book-binder  and 
stationer ;  in  1848,  embarking  in  the 
dry  goods  trade,  which  he  success- 
fully conducted  until  his  death,  Sep- 
tember 1,  1881,  at  the  age  of  73  3^ears, 
10  months  and  14  days.  September 
30,  1832,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah 
A.  Babcock,  of  Middletown,  who  still 
survives,  having  borne  him  four  chil- 
dren— Jane,  Mary,  William  Oliver  and 
Robert,  the  eldest  son,  only,  now  sur- 
viving, who,  after  several  years'  suc- 
cessful business  at  Cu5^ahoga  Falls, 
as  partner  with,  and  successor  to,  his 
father,  is  now  a  member  of  the  dr}^ 
goods  firm  of  Oberholser,  Beebe  & 
Co.,  of  Wooster,  Ohio.  Originally  a 
Democrat,  Mr.  Beebe  was  postmaster 
of  Cuyahoga  Falls  under  the  admin- 


OLIVER  B.  BEEBE. 

istration  of  President  James  K.  Polk,, 
but  later,  as  a  stanch  Republican, 
held  the  office  of  mayor  and  other 
positions  of  trust  and  honor. 


The  assessors'  returns  for  1863,  '64,  '65  (found  since  the  foregoing 
list  was  compiled)  show  the  following  additional  names,  though 
a  number  of  those  above  given  do  not  appear  upon  the  returns  in 
question:  Sheldon  Alley,  Julius  Beck,  Andrew  Brock,  Christopher 
Cook,  James  Condon,  Barney  Conley,  Lewis  F.  Derrick,  Bd-svard 
Damp,  Henry  Durstine,  L.  H.  Delano,  D.  Douglass,  Edgar  C.  Edsil, 
James  Etsmingher,  Edw^in  Farmer,  Noah  N.  Faze,  William  Finkle, 
Joseph  Freeby,  Amos  E.  Griffith,  Harvey  Hogue,  Watson  Hoyt, 
Curtis  A.  Hall  (died  in  service),  Hiram  Ingalls  (died  in  service), 
William  H.  James,  John  Jones,  George  W.  Koons,  John  Lapp, 
William  Lyons,  Frank  Moore,  Christian  Maley,  Wallace  Perry, 
Lawrence  Pfeisterer,  Charles  Payne,  Sherman  Seymour,  Frank 
Thorp,  George  H.  Wetmore,  Daniel  Williams,  Samuel  Weeks. 

The  Sultana  Disaster.— On  page  372  will  be  found  a  full 
account  of  the  destruction  of  the  steamer  Sultana,  presumably 
through    rebel    malevolence,    by   w^hich    the    lives    of  nearly   1,000 


CASUALTIES    DUKING    THE    WAR.  753 

Union  soldiers — exchanged  prisoners  of  war — were  sacrificed,  the 
folloAving  Cuyahoga  Falls  boys  being  among  the  number:  Captain 
Demming  N.  Lowery,  Lieutenant  John  Eadie,  Corporal  John  W. 
Eadie,  J.  C.  Cook,  2d  Lieutenant  John  C.  Ely,  Thomas  Evans, 
Robert  Gaylord,  C.  Nealy,  James  J.  Patterson  and  Isaac  J.  Woods, 
a  total  of  10,  probably  not  more  than  one-third  of  Summit  county's 
victims  of  the  disaster  in  question. 

Other  Casualties  and  Deaths. — Seneca  Blood,  died  at  Knox- 
ville,  Tenn.,  May  10,  1864;  Albert  Buchanan,  died  April  16,  1863; 
John  Condon,  died  at  Hazle  Grove,  Ky.,  Oct.  2,  1861;  1st  Lieutenant 
Gurley  G.  Crane,  died  at  home,  of  disease  contracted  in  the  service, 
April  27,  1865;,  George  W.  Deering,  of  consumption,  1864;  Charles 
A.  Downey,  mortally  wounded  at  Dalton,  Ga.,  May  9,  1862;  Henry 
E.  Eadie,  died  at  Platte  City,  Mo.,  Feb.  19,  1862;  Arthur  K.  Good- 
rich, died  at  Murfreesboro,  Tenn.,  Nov.  .30,  1864;  Edward  Green, 
died  at  Andersonville,  July  17,  1864;  Robert  Green,  shot  by  rebel 
guard  at  Atlanta,  July  1,  1864;  Isidore  Hagle,  died  at  Hilton  Head, 
S.  C,  Oct.  22,  1863;  George  L.  Holden,  died  at  Cincinnati,  Aug.  23, 
1863;  Hiram  Ingalls,  killed  at  Cold  Harbor,  May  31,  1864;  John  B. 
Lj'ons,  died  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  Sept.  26,  1862;  William  Lyons,  killed 
at  Murfreesboro,  Dec.  28,  1864;  David  McGrath,  died  in  Anderson- 
ville prison;  Charles  E.  Moon,  died  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  July  9,  1864;  1st 
Lieutenant  John  Murphy,  wounded  at  Stone  River  and  died  at 
Nashville,  Jan.  9,  1863;  F.  B.  Purine,  killed  at  North  Anna  River, 
Aug.  25,  1864;  John  Patterson,  died  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  March  14, 
1862;  John  Shellhorn,  died  in  field  hospital,  near  Atlanta,  Ga.,  in 
1864;  John  G.  Schnabel,  died  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  May  4,  1865. 
Quite  a  number  of  the  ex-soldiers  of  Cuyahoga  Falls  have  died 
since  the  close  of  the  w^ar  w^hose  names  cannot  be  here  given. 

Munificent  Tribute  to  Patriotism. — That  the  people  of  Cuy- 
ahoga Flails  duly  appreciated  the  patriotism  and  heroism  of  her 
volunteer  soldiery,  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  is  evidenced  by 
the  splendid  monument  which  she  erected  to  their  memory  and 
valor  at  the  close  of  the  war.  The  monument  occupying  a  sightly 
position  in  the  village  cemetery,  consists  of  a  finely  wrought  mar- 
ble shaft,  upon  a  triple  sandstone  base.  It  is  ornamented  with  a 
variety  of  military  devices,  the  whole  originally  surmounted  by  a 
life-like  representation  of  the  American  eagle,  standing  upon  a 
globe,  and  gallantly  sustaining  and  protecting  the  Shield  of  Liberty 
and  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  A  few  years  later,  by  some  means,  the 
wings  of  the  eagle  were  broken,  and  the  apex  remodeled  so  that 
the  shaft  is  now  a  simy^le  obelisk.  On  the  squares  of  the  shaft  the 
names  of  the  soldiers  of  the  township  w^ho  died  in  the  service  are 
neatly  inscribed,  together  with  the  regiment  to  vi^hich  they 
belonged,  and  the  date  and  manner  of  their  deaths.  On  the  four 
sides  of  the  plinth  sustaining  the  shaft,  in  relief,  are  patriotic  and 
w^ar-like  emblems,  as  follows:  East  side,  flag  and  anchor,  repre- 
senting the  Navy;  south  side,  stack  of  muskets,  representing 
Infantry;  west  side,  cannon,  representing  Artillery;  north  side, 
crossed  swords,  representing  Cavalry,  the  front  of  the  marble  sur- 
face bearing  the  Latin  motto:  "  Dulce  et  decorum  est  pro  patria 
mori" — "It  is  sweet  and  honorable  to  die  for  one's  country." 

Meager  Criminal  Calendar. — Though  the  atrociously  cruel 
and  ghastly  murder  of  William  Beatson  by  James  Parks,  on  the 
night  of  the  13th  day  of  April,  1853,  elsewhere  fully  detailed,  was^ 

48 


754  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

perpetrated  within  the  corporate  limits  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  that 
fearful  crime  should  by  no  means  be  debited  to  that  generally 
peaceable  and  orderly  v^illage;  but,  on  the  contrary,  her  people 
should  be  credited  with  the  promptness  and  energy  with  which 
they  entered  upon  the  search  for  the  body  of  the  victim  and  the 
apprehension  of  the  murderer.  While  not  entirely  exempt  from 
the  occasional  disturbances  incident  to  aggregated  heterogeneous 
humanity,  especially  where  the  traffic  in,  and  use  of,  intoxicating 
liquors  prevail,  no  fatal  collisions,  so  far  as  the  writer  is  advised, 
have  ever  occurred  among  her  citizens. 

The  Wright-Parker  Affair. — The  nearest  approximation 
thereto,  was  the  unfortunate  affray,  between  Mr,  William  Wright 
and  Mr.  Isaac  Parker,  on  the  2d  day  of  August,  1842.  The  exact 
cause  of  the  collision,  except  that  one  or  both  were  inflamed  with 
liquor,  is  not  now  remembered,  the  result  being  that  Mr.  Parker 
very  narrowly  escaped  death  from  the  discharge  of  a  loaded  musket 
at  the  hands  of  Mr.  Wright.  At  a  preliminary  hearing,  before 
Justice  Charles  W,  Wetmore,  Mr.  Wright  was  bound  over  to  court 
to  answer  to  the  charge  of  shooting  with  intent  to  kill. 

Summit  county's  first  Prosecuting  Atttorney,  William  M, 
Dodge,  Esq.,  at  the  September  term,  1842,  laid  the  transcript  before 
the  grand  jury,  who  returned  a  bill  against  Mr.  Wright  for  shoot- 
ing with  intent  to  kill.  Without  any  of  the  vexatious  circumlocu- 
tions incident  to  modern  criminal  proceedings,  the  case  was 
brought  to  trial  at  the  same  term,  before  fudges  Van  R.  Humphrey, 
Charles  Sumner,  Hugh  R.Caldwell  and  Robert  K.  ]3uBois,  and  the 
regular  jury  for  that  term,  who,  after  a  careful  investigation 
returned  a  verdict  of  guilty  of  shooting  v/ith  intent  to  wound,  and 
Judge  Humphrey,  with  impressive  remarks  about  the  danger  of 
indulging  in  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  sentenced  Mr.  Wright 
to  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary  for  the  period  of  four  years. 
After  an  incarceration  of  about  one  year,  a  numerously  signed 
petition  was  presented  to  Governor  Wilson  Shannon,  w^ho  finding 
that  his  conduct  had  been  exemplary  during  his  confinement, 
restored  Mr.  Wright  to  liberty  and  citizenship  on  the  14th  day  of 
October,  1843.  Mr.  Wright  returned  to  Cuyahoga  Falls,  and 
though  he  never  fully  reformed  from  his  intemperate  habits,  w^as 
ever  thereafter  a  law-abiding  citizen,  and  the  father  of  quite  a  large 
familj^  of  highly  respectable  sons  and  daughters. 

The  Birzley-Jackson  Affray. — Mortimer  H.  Birzley,  was  one 
of  the  patriotic  young  men  of  Cuyahoga  Falls  \i^ho  served 
in  the  Union  army  in  the  Civil  War.  But,  alas!  like  too  many 
other  young  men,  both  in  and  out  of  the  army,  he  had  acquired  the 
habit  of  using  intoxicating  liquors  to  excess.  Andrew  Jackson, 
<or  "Tobe"  Jackson  as  he  is  familiarly  called)  was  a  plantation 
slave  up  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  w^ar,  in  the  early  portion  of 
w^hich  "Tobe"  was  sent  as  a  "contraband"  to  Akron,  by  the  late  Dr. 
B.  S.  Chase,  then  assistant  surgeon  of  the  16th  O.  V.  I.,  afterwards 
surgeon  of  the  53rd  Mississippi  (colored)  Infantry.  "Tobe"  w^as 
industrious  and  enterprising,  and  is  now  one  of  the  well-to-do  col- 
ored citizens  of  Akron.  In  the  early  part  of  October,  1865,  three 
bibulous  young  residents  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  being  on  a  drinking 
bout,  in  Akron,  managed  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  "Tobe"  who  hap- 
pened to  visit  the  beer-selling  grocery  store  where  they  were 
carousing,  and  inflicted  very  serious  injuries  upon  him,  with  their 


PUBLIC    BUILDINGS,    LITERATURE,    ETC.  755 

iists,  iron  weights,  etc.  A  few  days  later,  and  before  "Tobe"  had 
fully  recovered  from  his  injuries,  he  was  again  assailed,  upon  the 
street,  by  a  portion  of  the  same  crowd,  during  which  Mortimer  H. 
Birzley  deliberately  drew  a  revolver  from  his  pocket  and,  at  near 
range,  discharged  its  leaden  contents  into  "Tobe's"  body.  Birzley 
was  immediately  apprehended,  and  examined  before  Justice  Wil- 
liam L.  Clarke,  who  held  him  to  answer  to  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas,  on  the  charge  of  shooting  with  intent  to  kill. 

At  the  November  term.  Prosecuting  Attorney  Kdward  Oviatt 
brought  the  matter  to  the  attention  of  the  grand  jury.  Three 
indictments  w^ere  returned  against  the  accused — two  for  shooting 
with  intent  to  kill,  and  one  for  shooting  with  intent  to  wound. 

The  defendant  was  arraigned  on  the  28th  of  November,  1865, 
and  entered  a  plea  of  not  guilty  on  all  three  indictments.  The  next 
day,  how^ever,  he  changed  his  plea  to  guilty  of  shooting  Avith 
intent  to  Avound,  which  >vas  accepted  by  Prosecutor  Oviatt,  and 
the  defendant  ^vas  sentenced  by  Judge  Burke  to  two  years'  impris- 
onment in  the  State  Penitentiary. 

Birzley  w^as  conveyed  by  Sheriff  Burlison  to  the  penitentiary 
on  the  5th  day  of  December,  1865,  and  on  the  petition  of  a  large 
number  of  the  most  respectable  people  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  he  was 
pardoned  by  Governor  Jacob  D.  Cox,  on  the  6th  day  of  April,  1866, 
his  term  of  service  being  four  months  and  one  day,  onl3\  Young 
Birzley  did  not  return  to  Cuyahoga  Falls,  after  his  release  from 
prison,  but  is  still  a  resident  of  Summit  county,  and  is  represented 
to  have  been  exemplary  in  his  conduct,  industrious  in  his  habits 
and  a  good  citizen. 

Early  Births,  Marriages,  Deaths,  etc. — The  first  birth  in  the 
"New  Village"  of  Cuyahoga  Falls  is  said  to  have  been  that  of 
Edw^ard  Wetmore,  a  son  of  William  Wetmore,  Jr.,  in  1827,  the 
"boy"  being  now  a  gray-haired  resident  of  Northampton  township; 
the  first  death  a  young  son  of  the  same  family,  about  one  year  old, 
in  1826;  the  first  adult  death  the  wife  of  Hon.  Elisha  N.  Sill,  and 
daughter  of  Henry  Newberry,  Esq.,  in  1829;  the  first  marriage,  a 
daughter  of  Deacon  Jabez  Hamlin  to  Washington  Butler,  given 
name  of  the  bride  and  date  of  marriage  not  now  remembered. 

Public  Buildings. — ^Besidesthe  churches  and  school  buildings, 
Clifford  Inn,  the  hotel  of  George  S.  Buoys,  and  the  several  pleasure 
resorts  already  alluded  to,  Apollo  Hall,  in  the  third  story  of  the 
brick  block,  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Portage  and  Front  streets,  is 
arranged  with  a  fine  stage,  dressing  rooms,  etc.,  has  a  seating 
capacity  of  about  500,  with,  in  cases  of  emergency,  standing  room 
for  about  200  additional.  Hitherto  dependent  upon  chance  accom- 
modations for  trustee  and  council  meetings,  caucuses,  elections, 
etc.,  in  1883  a  fine  two-story  town  hall,  45x80  feet,  with  basement, 
was  erected  on  the  northw^est  corner  of  Front  and  Broad  streets  at 
a  cost  of  about  $10,000.  First  story.  Council  Chamber,  School 
Board,  library  (two  rooms),  band.  Upper  floor,  one  room,  used  for 
caucuses,  gymnasium,  etc.  Basement,  fire  department,  mar- 
shal's office  and  lock-up. 

Lyceum,  Library,  etc. — At  an  early  day  a  village  lyceum  w^as 
organized,  the  Ohio  Review  of  April  5,  1833,  giving  the  officers 
elected  at  the  last  meeting  as  foUow^s:  President,  Henry  New^- 
berry ;  vice  president,  William  H.  Taylor;  treasurer,  Oliver  B.  Beebe; 
secretary,  Charles  W.  Wetmore;  curators,  Henry  Wetmore,  Timothy 


756 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


P.  Spencer  and  Dr.  Richard  Fry.  The  question  for  discussion 
at  the  next  meeting  A^as:  "Ought  United  States  senators  in  all 
cases  to  be  bound  by  the  instructions  of  their  respective  State 
Legislatures?"  But  we  are  entirely  in  the  dark  as  to  the  decision 
of  the  judges  on  this  important  question. 

Members  w^ere  requested  to  bring  to  this  meeting  such  books- 
as  could  be  conveniently  spared  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a 
library,  in  accordance  "with  a  late  resolution  of  the  society  to  that 
effect.  This  "was  the  beginning  of  the  fine  public  library,  of  prob- 
ably 1,000  to  1,200  volumes,  so  highly  enjoyed  and  cherished  by  the 
people  of  the  village  at  the  present  time. 


HOSEA  PAUL,  SR.,— born  at  North- 
tield,  Vermont,  April  6,  18(X); 
common  school  education  ;  in  early 
life  clerking-  in  drug  store  and  study- 
ing surveying;  in  1833,  at  Canaan, 
Vermont,  of  which  village  he  "was 
postmaster,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Ellen  Gamble,  a  native  of  County 
Down,  Ireland ;  in  1834  inoved  to 
Ohio,  living  one  year  in  Wadsworth, 
then  settling-  in  Cuyahoga  Falls, 
where  he  passed  the  balance  of  his 
life  ;  for  a  time  engaged  in  the  inanu- 
facture  of  tlour,  later  resuming  his 
profession  of  surve3'or  and  civil  engi- 
neer, doing  much  of  the  original  sur- 
veying, establishing  grades,  etc.,  in 
the  then  new  village  of  Akron  ;  also, 
officiating  as  division  engineer  in  the 
building  of  both  the  C,  A.  &  C,  and 
N.  Y.,  P.  &  O.  railroads.  In  October, 
185.0,  Mr.  Paul  was  elected  county 
surveyor,  on  the  Repvxblican  ticket, 
being-  successively  re-elected  in  18.08; 
'61,  '64  and  '67,  continously  holding 
the  office  until  his  death,  May  29, 1870, 
nearly  15  j^ears,  being  also  occupied 
during  part  of  1863  and  1864  as  assist- 
ant U.  S.  engineer  on  militarj''  rail- 
roads and  fortifications,  District  of 
Kentucky.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paul  were 
the  parents  of  seven  children — Har- 
rison D.,  born  August  3, 183.T  ;  George, 
September  8,  1837  ;   Mary,  September 


^' 


HOSEA  PAUL,  SR. 


0,  1839;  Robert  S.,  October  .3,  1842; 
Hosea,  Jr.,  January  17, 184o;  T.  Dwight, 
July  21,  1848;  Edward  J.,  November 
30,  1851,  all  of  whom  have  attained 
and  maintained  honorable  positions 
in  life.  Mrs.  Paul  died  November  9, 
1889,  aged  76  years  and  18  days,  the 
age  of  Mr.  Paul,  at  the  tiine  of  his 
death,  being  61  years,  1  month  and  23 
days. 


UNION  FAIR  ASSOCIATION. 


In  1859,  the  Summit  County  Agricultural  Society,  needing 
more  extensive  grounds  than  they  "were  then  occupying,  and  the 
management  being  at  loggerheads  in  regard  to  location,  the  peo- 
ple of  Cuyahoga  Falls  offered  the  Society  a  bonus  of  $6,000  in  cash 
to  locate  in  or  near  that  village.  The  proposition  not  being  accepted, 
a  number  of  the  citizens  of  the  village  and  contiguous  townships 
organized  a  "Union  Fair  Association,"  and  handsomely  fitted  up 
grounds  a  short  distance  north  of  the  village,  on  the  Hudson  road. 
The  first  meeting,  September  1,  2,  3,  1859,  was  a  decided  success, 
both  in  display  and  attendance,  the  receipts  being  some  $600  above 
expenses.  A  supplemental  meeting  w^as  held  October  28,  the  same 
year,  for  a  trial  of  speed  between  the  then  celebrated  trotters, 
Flora  Temple  and  "Ike  Cook."     The  weather  proving  inclement,. 


POPULATION — CONFLAGRATIONS,  ETC.  757 

the  attendance  was  slim,  the  expenses  of  this  meeting  eating  up 
the  profits  of  the  first,  thougli  the  trot  came  off  according  to 
programme,  Flora  winning  the  first  and  third  heats — time,  2:28; 
2:34;  2:33. 

In  1860 — October  5,  6,  7 — there  was  a  fine  exhibition  but  slim 
attendance,  the  receipts  scarcely  covering  expenses.  In  1861 — 
September  23,  24,  25 — the  display  was  also  fine,  with  special  attrac- 
tions, in  the  military  line,  prizes  being  contested  for  by  the  Bath 
Guards,  Captain  Schoonover;  the  Buckeye  Zouaves,  of  Copley, 
Captain  Sackett,  and  the  Cowles  Tiger  Zouaves,  of  Bedford,  the 
first  prize,  a  silk  banner,  being  won  by  the  Bath  Guards  and  the 
second  prize,  a  w^orsted  banner,  by  the  Copley  Zouaves,  the  Bed- 
ford Company  being  ruled  out  on  account  of  being  one  member 
short  of  the,  stipulated  number.  The  "Secesh"  army  was  also 
.represented*  by  a  company  of  75  or  80  mounted  "fantasticals" 
^Cuyahoga  Falls  boys),  while  the  Tallmadge  Artillery,  Captain 
Barnes,  and  the  Young  America  Gun  Squad,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls, 
furnished  "thunder"  for  the  occasion. 

As  a  show^,  this  third  fair  was  a  success,  but  financially  a  fail- 
ure, the  expenses  largely  over-balancing  the  receipts.  The  war, 
then  fairly  on,  thenceforth  engaging  the  public  attention,  no 
further  meetings  were  held,  and  the  Union  Fair  Association  of 
Cuyahoga  Falls,  of  1859-61,  is  no^v  a  pleasant  reminiscence,  only. 

POPULATION  GRADUALLY  INCREASING. 

A  writer  on  Cuyahoga  Falls,  in  1837,  says:  "The  population 
of  the  village  is  now,  probably,  about  1,250;  three  years  ago  it  w^as 
but  375."  The  decennial  listings  do  not  even  proximately  show^ 
the  distinct  population  of  the  villasfe  during  the  first  half  century 
of  its  existence,  for  the  reason  that  its  inhabitants  w^ere  included 
in  the  census  returns  of  the  several  tovt^nships  out  of  which  it  had 
been  formed.  The  census  of  1870  gave  the  population  of  the 
village  and  township  at  1,861,  and  the  census  of  1880  at  2,294,  a 
gain  of  433  in  the  ten  years,  the  census  of  1890  placing  the  number 
at  2,614,  showing  a  gain  in  the  last  decade  of  320. 

Cuyahoga's  Fierce  Fires. — While  Cuyahoga  Falls  has  never 
been  visited  Avith  any  such  sweeping  fires,  as  have  from  time  to 
time  devastated  Akron,  and  other  near-by  tow^ns,  yet  many  thou- 
sands of  dollars  of  valuable  property,  have  been  sacrificed,  and 
serious  injury  to  her  industries  has  been  caused,  by  the  devouring 
element,  during  the  past  60  years,  as  w^ill  be  seen  by  what  follows: 

In  1833,  a  large  paper  and  paper-stock  warehouse  belonging  to 
Stow  &  Wetmores,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  was  destroyed 
with  all  its  contents.  Loss  and  amount  of  insurance  if  any,  not 
now^  remembered. 

Sometime  in  the  early  forties,  probably,  the  woolen  factory 
and  the  stone  saw-mill,  heretofore  alluded  to,  standing  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  river,  north  of  the  present  w^orks  of  The  Turner, 
Vaughn  &  Taylor  Co.,  w^ere  burned  to  the  ground,  the  factory 
belonging  to  Ogden  Wetmore  and  the  mill  to  Henry  Newberry; 
amount  of  the  losses  is  not  now  remembered.  They  were  never 
rebuilt. 

In  1851,  the  large  flouring  mill  of  Stow  &  Wetmores,  on  the  east 
side  of  the  river,  north  of  Portage  street,  was  totally  destroyed, 
believed  to  have  been  the  work  of  an  incendiary.     Loss  not  stated, 


758  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

On  the  night  of  November  25,  1853,  the  fine  new  paper  mill  of 
J.  M.  Smith  &  Co.,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  was  entirel}^ 
burned.  The  mill,  stock  and  machinery  was  valued  at  $20,000,  but 
about  $5,000  -worth  of  machinery  being  saved,  made  the  net  loss^ 
about  $15,000.  The  mill  had  been  in  operation  but  a  fe^v  days, 
Mr.  William  A.  Hanford,  the  "Co."  of  the  firm,  had  made  applica- 
tion for  insurance,  and  the  papers  were  to  have  been  executed  the 
next  day,  so  that  the  loss  was  total. 

For  many  years  the  bagging  and  twine  factory  of  John  Hinde 
&  Sons,  in  the  south  part  of  the  village,  (now  know^n  as  the  Glen 
Wire  Mill  property,)  Avas  one  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  varied 
industries  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  giving  employment  to  a  large  num- 
ber of  hands,  and  consuming  immense  quantities  of  flax  from  the 
farms  of  the  surrounding  country.  This  mill  w^as  destroyed  by 
fire  about  the  year  1860,  entailing  a  very  heavy  loss  upon  its  pro-  • 
prietor,  but  it  Avas  at  once  rebuilt,  and  soon  in  running  order  again. 
The  exact  date  of  the  fire,  losses,  etc.,  and  the  causes  of  the  final 
decline  of  that  industry  are  not  now  accessible  to  the  w^riter. 

On  the  morning  of  October  24,  1866,  several  business  blocks  on 
Front  street,  including  Gillett's  grocerj'^  store,  Tifft's  meat  market^ 
Dr.  P.  G.  Somers'  office,  postoffice,  Stead  man's  jewelry  store,  and 
the  fine  stone  block,  known  as  the  Bank  Building,  the  lower  floor 
of  w^hich  w^as  occupied  by  H.  C.  Lockwood,  as  a  dry  goods  store, 
were  consumed  by  fire.  The  town  having  no  fire  engine  of  its 
ow^n,  sent  a  messenger  to  Akron,  hunted  up  Mr.  Thomas  W^.  Cor- 
nell, then  a  recent  comer  from  Cuyahoga  Falls  to  Akron,  who  got 
permission  from  Mayor  Mathews  for  Akron's  steamer  to  go  to  their 
assistance.  Engineer  Julius  S.  Lane,  and  his  faithful  driver,  Mose& 
Cummins,  with  their  new^ly  purchased  $550  team,  \vere  promptly 
on  hand,  but  not  a  livery  man  w^ould  furnish  an  extra  team  to  help 
draw  the  steamer  up  the  "Chuckery"  hills.  (Howard  street  exten- 
sion had  not  then  been  made.)  "Come  on,  boys!"  exclaimed  Cor- 
nell, "we  can  double  up  on  the  hills,"  and  some  18  or  20  Eagle  Hose 
boys,  with  hose  reel,  and  others,  actually  made  the  run  -with  the 
steamer,  on  foot,  manning  the  ropes,  and  pulling  for  dear  life  on 
heavier  grades.  Their  progress  was,  of  course,  comparatively^ 
slow,  and  they  were  met  about  a  mile  from  the  village  by  a  mes- 
sage that  the  fire  w^as  under  control. 

The  goods  in  the  several  establishments  burned  were  mostly 
removed,  but  the  buildings  were  a  total  loss,  amounting  to  many 
thousands  of  dollars;  but  the  saddest  result  was  the  death  of  Mr. 
John  M.  Hinde,  a  young  recently  married  man  of  24,  and  a  soldier 
of  the  late  war.  Though  young  Hinde  was  troubled  at  times  with 
heart  disease,  he  was  among  the  foremost  in  trying  to  save  the  prop- 
erty of  those  who  were  being  burned  out,  and  vi^hile  thus  engaged 
in  removing  goods  from  Lockwood's  store,  he  sank  exhausted 
behind  the  counter,  and  though  afterwards  found  and  carried  into 
the  open  air,  and  every  effort  made  for  his  resuscitation,  he  did 
not  recover  consciousness,  and  soon  afterw^ards  expired. 

Handsomely  Done. — Under  the  above  heading  the  Beacon,  of 
October  24, 1866,  said:  "The  citizens  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  notwith- 
standing their  own  severe  loss  by  fire  this  morning,  contributed 
$105.00  to  the  firemen  of  this  city,  who  so  promptly  turned  out 
w^ith  steamer,  hose,  etc.,  to  aid  them  in  subduing  the  fire.  Though 
they  were  in  readiness  to  start  within   fifteen    minutes  from   the- 


DESTRUCTIVE    FIRES.  759 

time  of  receiving  the  notice,  and  made  all  possible  speed,  the  fire 
had  nearly  spent  itself  before  their  arrival,  the  messenger  to  turn 
them  back  meeting  them  about  a  mile  this  side  of  the  village." 

The  west  side  paper  mill  of  J.  M.  Smith  &  Co.,  burned  as  above 
stated,  in  November,  1853,  was  immediately  rebuilt  by  that  firm, 
and  rechristened  the  "  Phcenix."  Passing  into  the  possession  of 
Hanford  &  Yeomans,  it  w^as  again  burned  at  noon,  on  the  30th  day  of 
October,  1867.  Loss  $25,000  to  $30,000;  insurance  about  $12,000.  The 
mill  was  again  rebuilt  by  Messrs.  H.  &  Y.  and  supplied  with  first- 
class  machinery  and  is  now  a  part  of  the  plant  for  some  years 
past  operated  by  the  Cuyahoga  Paper  Company. 

About  1  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  September  18,  1872,  the  large 
machine  shop  of  Alford,  Pitkin  &  Co.,  successors  to  A.  G.  &  H.  W, 
Bill,  on  the  east  side  of  Water  street,  was  discovered  to  be  on  fire, 
and  owing  to  the  stiff  breeze  that  was  blowing  at  the  time,  and  the 
Avant  of  proper  fire-extinguishing  appliances,  was  speedily  con- 
sumed. The  main  building  was  a  two-story  frame,  35x130  feet  in 
size,  with  office,  blacksmith's  shop  and  other  small  buildings 
attached,  all  of  w^hich,  Avith  their  valuable  machinery,  tools,  etc., 
were  totally  destroyed.  Loss,  $20,000;  insurance,  $3,000;  net  loss, 
$17,000. 

Nearly  across  the  street  stood  the  fine  new^  brick  "Empire 
Mill"  of  Hanford  Brothers,  devoted  to  the  manufacture  of  fine 
cover  papers,  the  structure  being  part  tw^o  and  part  three  stories 
high,  above  the  basement,  and  all  filled  w^ith  first-class  machinery 
and  valuable  stock.  The  wind,  blowing  briskly  from  the  east,  soon 
carried  the  flames  from  the  combustible  machine  shop  to  the  mill, 
and  soon  that,  too,  was  being  rapidly  consume'd,  and  was  totally 
destroyed.  Loss,  $32,000;  insurance,  $14,000.  At  this  fire,  Thomas 
O'Neil  stumbled  and  fell,  a  large  box  falling  on  his  leg,  breaking 
it  above  the  knee,  and  Mr.  James  Peebles  was  overcome  by  heat 
and  carried  to  his  home  in  an  unconscious  condition,  but  both 
speedily  recovered.  This  mill  was  immediately  rebuilt,  and,  after 
a  great  variety  of  vicissitude,  together  Avith  the  Phoenix,  is  now 
owned  by  George  Sackett,  Esq.,  and  has  for  several  years  past  been 
operated  by  the  Cuyahoga  Paper  Company. 

On  the  night  of  March  31,  1881,  the  three-story  building  of  the 
Falls  Wire  Manufacturing  Company,  was  discovered  to  be  on  fire 
in  the  roof,  about  10  o'clock,  by  Marshal  Richard  Reid  and  Mr.  C. 
A.  Vaughn.  The  alarm  was  immediately  sounded,  and  though  the 
citizens  promptly  rallied,  and  fought  the  fire  vigorously,  the  second 
and  third  stories  were  destroyed,  the  lower  stor^^  with  its  machinery 
and  a  large  (juantity  of  Avire  ready  for  shipment  being  saved, 
though  in  a  somewhat  damaged  condition.  The  large  new  Avare- 
house  and  annealing  rooms  were  saved  by  the  faithful  Avork  of  the 
**  bucket  brigade."     Loss  from  $8,000  to  $10,000,  covered  by  insurance. 

At  this  fire  Mr.  Carleton  H.  Reeve  was  quite  seriously  hurt,  by 
the  falling  of  the  ladder  on  w^hich  he  was  working;  Mr.  Charles  F. 
Harrison  injured  in  one  of  his  eyes,  and  another  man  somewhat 
bruised  by  a  falling  ladder,  though  fortunately  none  of  the  injuries 
w^ere  fatal. 

On  the  evening  of  September  28,  i882,  the  hollow-brick  block 
belong  to  the  estate  of  George  H.  Lodge,  the  lower  floor  occupied  by 
G.  C.  Cook,  groceries;  A.  Seadschlag,  merchant  tailor,  and  George 
Martin,  pretzel  baker,  and  the  upper  floor  by  the  Reporter  office  of 


760  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

E.  O.  Knox;  the  offices  of  Dr.  A.  H.  Bill,  physician,  and  Dr.  E.  A. 
Cramer,  dentist,  and  the  reading  room  of  Mr.  John  H.  Brainard, 
together  with  a  small  dwelling  house  belonging  to  the  same  estate, 
^were  entirely  consumed.  Losses:  Cook,  $3,500,  insurance,  $1,000; 
Knox,  $5,000,  insurance^  $500;  Lodge  block,  $4,000,  insurance,  $2,500; 
dwelling,  $1,200,  insurance,  $700;  Brainard,  loss  $100,  no  insurance. 
Fearing  a  general  conflagration,  Mayor  J.  C.  Castle  solicited  the 
aid  of  the  Akron  Fire  Department,  which  w^as  promptly  granted  by 
Mayor  Lane,  but  o\^ing  to  the  delaj^  in  shipping  steamer  b}^  rail, 
did  not  reach  the  Falls  until  the  fire  was  under  control,  though  the 
run  w^as  made  inside  of  twenty  minutes  when  they  did  get  started. 

About  10:30  o'clock,  on  the  night  of  July  1st,  1886,  the  Phoenix 
Lumber  Company's  Planing  Mill,  opposite  the  Empire  Paper  Mill, 
on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  with  all  its  machinery,  lumber  sheds, 
piles  of  lumber,  etc.,  w^as  totally  destroyed,  the  size  of  the  mill 
being  53  by  112  feet.  The  hollow-brick  works  belonging  to  the 
estate  of  J.  B.  Harrison,  occupied  by  J.  T,  Davis  in  the  manufacture 
of  chains,  and  the  dwelling  house  of  Mrs.  Edward  Rockwell,  were 
also  consumed,  while  the  Empire  Paper  Mill,  and  the  buildings  of 
the  Sterling  Chain  Company,  owned  by  Turner,  Vaughn  &  Taylor 
w^ere  considerably  damaged.  The  planing  mill  buildings  w^ere 
owned  hy  Mr.  H.  Snyder  and  the  machinery  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Murphy, 
these  gentlemen  forming  the  lumber  company  in  question.  Their 
joint  loss  was  claimed  to  be  $40,000,  on  which  there  was  a  total 
insurance  of  $12,050  only.  Harrison  building  loss,  $3,500,  insurance 
not  stated;  Davis'  loss,  $500,  no  insurance;  Mrs.  Rockwell's  loss, 
$1,200,  insurance  $800;  Turner,  Vaughn  &  Taylor's  loss,  $150, 
covered  by  insurance.  This  fire  vv^as  supposed  to  have  been 
caused  by  the  firing  off  of  Roman  candles  from  a  passing  train  on 
the  P.,  C.  &  T,  Road,  in  anticipation  of  the  approaching  Fourth  of 
July. 

At  the  hour  of  6:30,  on  the  evening  of  December  8,  1887,  the 
roof  of  the  moulding  department  of  the  Falls  Rivet  Company  w^as 
discovered  to  be  on  fire  near  the  cupola  stack,  from  which  it  is 
supposed  the  fire  caught.  The  building  was  a  story  and  a  half  frame, 
32x120.  Finding  the  fire  beyond  the  control  of  the  "bucket 
brigade,"  and  the  capacity  of  the  hose  attached  to  the  steam  pump 
of  the  engine  belonging  to  the  works.  Chief  B.  F.  Manderbach,  of 
the  Akron  Fire  Department,  w^as  appealed  to  for  aid,  and  in  the 
briefest  time  possible  was  at  the  scene  of  the  fire  with  steamer  No. 
1  and  its  hose  cart,  fully  manned.  But  by  cutting  away  the  sup- 
ports and  letting  the  foundry  roof  fall  in,  the  'danger  to  the  main 
■works  was  averted,  and  the  services  of  the  Akron  "laddies"  were 
not  needed,  but  their  promptness  in  responding  to  the  call  for  aid 
was  duly  appreciated  all  the  same  by  the  owners  of  the  works,  as 
Avell  as  by  the  citizens  generally,  the  company  contributing  $20  to 
the  Firemen's  Relief  Fund  as  a  token  of  such  appreciation.  In 
addition  to  the  foundry,  a  contiguous  storage  shed  was  burned. 
Loss,  $22,000,  insurance,  $13,000. 

Many  minor  conflagrations  have  occurred  during  the  period 
covered  by  those  above  given,  involving  serious  losses,  which  can- 
not all  be  here  enumerated,  even  w^ere  full  data  at  hand,  but  among 
them  may  be  mentioned  in  brief,  barn  of  J.  F.  Perry,  $700;  house  of 
Orrin  James,  $500;  house  of  Mrs.  Duerr,  $500;  barn  of  John  I.  Jones, 
$1,000;  grocery  of  Callahan  &  Williams,  $1,500. 


CIVIL   SERVICE   RECORD. 


761 


Inadequate  Fire  Protection. — Cuyahoga  Falls  has  never 
been  the  owner  of  a  tire  engine.  For  several  years  past  there  have 
been  lines  of  pipe  from  the  Variety  Works  and  the  Pearl  Mill, 
through  the  main  business  street  upon  the  west  side,  driven  by 
pumps  attached  to  the  water-wheels  of  those  establishmepts,  which, 
with  the  few  hundred  feet  of  hose  they  possess,  has  afforded  par- 
tial protection  to  a  limited  area,  the  defect  in  this  partial  system 
being  that,  not  having  the  pressure  constantly  on,  valuable  time  is 
consumed,  after  the  fire  is  discovered,  before  a  stream  of  water  can 
be  had  for  its  extinguishment  in  its  incipiency. 

Since  the  above  was  written  this  system  has  been  considerably 
extended  and  improved,  with  hydrants  at  convenient  points, 
hose  and  hook  and  ladder  trucks,  and  a  well  organized  fire  com- 
pany, paid  for  services  when  on  duty,  so  that  the  property  of  the 
village  may  now  be  said  to  be  reasonably  well  protected. 

TJEZEKIAH  CAMP,— son  of  Keziah 


and  Seth  Camp,  born  inWhite.«- 
town,  New  York,  Januarj-  .3,  1797; 
<>;'ood  common  school  education  ;  in 
1827  came  to  Ohio,  teaching-  in  Can- 
ton and  Kendall,  now  a  part  of  Mas- 
sillon,  hiter,  in  Trenton,  Tuscarawas 
county,  engaging-  in  the  coal  trade, 
being  one  of  the  pioneer  operators  in 
that  industry  in  Northern  Ohio;  in 
1840,  with  William  Philpot,  opened 
the  De  Haven  mine  in  Spring-field, 
Mr.  Camp  locating  in  Cleveland  for 
the  sale  and  shipment  of  their  prod- 
uct on  the  Lakes  ;  in  1852,  dissolving 
with  Mr.  Philpot.  removed  to  Middle- 
bury,  as  a  inember  of  the  firm  of  Hill, 
Merrill  &  Co.,  pioneer  manufacturers 
of  water  and  sewer  pipe  in  Summit 
county,  later  locating  at  Cuyahoga 
Palls,  Avhere  his  onU'  son,  Mr.  Horace 
B.  Camp,  as  senior  member  of  the 
firm  of  Camp,  Thoinpson  &  Co.,  is 
now  extensively  engaged  in  the  saine 
line  of  business.  Deceinber  7,  1830, 
Mr.  Camp  was  married  to  Miss  Abi- 
g-ail  Fosdick,  of  Kendall,  born  in  New 
Baltimore.  New  York,  September  18, 
1812,  their  only  living  child  being  the 
son    above    mentioned.       Mr.    Camp 


HEZEKIAH  CAMP. 

died  Aug-ust  1,  1872,  ag-ed  75  years,  6 
inonths  and  28  days.  Mrs.  Camp,  in 
full  possession  of  both  her  physical 
and  mental   faculties,  still   survives. 


Street  Lighting. — Hitherto  for  several  years  the  streets  of  the 
village  have  been  lighted  by  gasoline  vapor  lamps,  but  as  this 
<:hapter  closes  (October,  1891),  electric  lighting  is  in  full  tide  of  suc- 
cessful experiment. 

Official  Civil  Record. — Without  going  back  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  Summit  county,  in  1840,  although  Judge  William  Wetmore, 
Judge  Elkanah  Richardson,  and  others  living  in,  or  largely  inter- 
ested in  Cuyahoga  Falls,  had  previously  filled  iiuportant  official 
positions  in  Portage  county,  and  notwithstanding  her  original 
opposition  to  the  erection  of  the  new  county,  the  civil  service 
record  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  in  Summit  county,  is  one  that  she  may 
^vell  feel  proud  of. 

BiRDSEY  Booth,  at  the  initial  election,  in  April,  1840,  was  elected 
*;ounty  auditor,  and  in  October  of  the  same  year  was  re-elected  for 


762  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

the  full  term  of  two  years,  giving  the  best  of  satisfaction  to  all, 
except  in  the  matter  of  officially,  as  \vell  as  personally,  discrimi- 
nating in  favor  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  during  the  heated  controversy 
for  the  permanent  location  of  the  county  seat. 

Hon.  Elisha  N.  Sill  was  the  first  State  senator  for  the  Sum- 
mit-Portage district,  elected  in  October,  1840,  for  two  years.  Mr, 
Sill's  official  action  was  also  highly  satisfactory  to  all  his  constitu- 
ents, except  those  in  favor  of  Akron  as  the  county-seat,  Mr.  Sill,, 
as  elsew^here  stated,  nearly  compassing  its  removal  and  permanent 
location  at  Cuyahoga  Falls. 

Hon.  Samuel  W.  McClure  was  elected  prosecuting  attorney 
in  1846,  serving  two  years;  w^as  elected  State  representative  in 
October,  1848,  for  one  year;  was  United  States  commissioner  for 
Summit  county  from  1846  to  1850;  also  most  ably  serving  as  Com- 
mon Pleas  judge  of  the  second  sub-division  of  the  fourth  judicial 
district  five  years  from  October,  1870,  then  declining  re-election 
and  resuming  his  law^  practice. 

Timothy  L.  Miller  was  elected  a  member  of  the  board  of 
Infirmary  directors  in  October,  1849,  but  owing  to  a  press  of  other 
duties  declined  to  qualify,  the  vacancy  being  filled  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  Avery  Spicer,  of  Coventry,  by  the  county  commissioners- 

Joseph  T.  Holloway,  besides  his  early  ministerial  labors  and 
long  years  of  service  as  justice  of  the  peace,  served  as  coroner  of 
Summit  county  from  1848  to  1850,  and  again  from  1861  to  1863,  two 
full  terms,  with  general  satisfaction. 

Henry  Newberry,  Jr.,  was  elected  county  auditor  in  October, 
1852,  making  in  all  respects  a  first-class  officer,  though  serving  but 
a  single  term  of  two  years. 

Dr.  Chester  W.  Rice  was  elected  county  treasurer  in  1872, 
faithfully  performing  the  duties  of  that  important  office  two- 
years. 

Dr.  Porter  G.  Somers  represented  Summit  county  in  the 
State  legislature  from  1853  to  1855,  also  serving  as  county  coroner 
from  1863  to  1868,  five  years,  besides,  under  the  appointment  of 
President  Lincoln,  officiating  as  postmaster  at  Cuyahoga  Falls  for 
many  years. 

HosEA  Paul,  Sr.,  Avas  elected  county  surveyor  in  October,  1855, 
and  successively  re-elected  in  1858,  1861,  1864  and  1867,  serving  in 
that  capacity  until  his  death,  in  June,  1860,  nearly  fifteen  years. 

Robert  S.  Paul  was  appointed  county  surveyor  by  the  county 
commissioners,  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  death  of  his- 
father  in  June,  1870,  elected  to  the  office  in  October,  of  the  same 
year,  for  three  years;  again  appointed  in  February,  1874,  to  fill  the 
vacancy  occasioned  by  resignation  of  Surveyor-elect  Jacob  Mishler, 
of  Springfield,  serving  until  October,  1877;  again  elected  in  187T 
and  1880,  giving  to  the  position,  in  all,  about  ten  years  efficient 
service. 

Hon.  Henry  McKinney  w^as  elected  prosecuting  attorney  in 
October,  1856,  and  re-elected  in  1858,  making  a  first-class  officer  for 
two  full  terms;  w^as  draft  commissioner  for  Summit  county  during 
the  w^ar;  State  senator  for  the  Summit-Portage  district,  1869  ta 
1871;  and  since  his  removal  to  Cleveland,  in  1873,  has  officiated  as- 
judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Cuyahoga  county  some 
seven  or  eight  years. 


PRESENT    BUSINESS   STATUS.  763 

George  Sackett  was  elected  county  commissioner  in  October, 
1867,  serving  one  full  term  of  three  years,  and  in  October,  1879,  \\ra& 
elected  a  member  of  the  State  board  of  equalization  for  the  Sum- 
mit-Portage senatorial  district,  to  adjust  and  equalize  the  1880 
decennial  valuation  of  real  estate,  between  the  several  districts  and 
counties  of  the  state. 

Giles  L'Hommedieu  succeeded  Mr.  Sackett  as  county  commis- 
sioner in  1874,  also  serving  three  years. 

Charles  R.Grant,  after  the  death  of  Probate  Judge  Nathaniel 
W.  Goodhue,  was,  on  the  15th  day  of  September,  1883,  appointed  by 
Governor  Charles  Foster,  to  fill  the  vacancy;  was  elected  to  the 
office  in  October,  1884,  and  re-elected  in  1877,  it  being  conceded  by 
all,  that  this  important  office  never  had  a  more  faithful  or  efficient 
incumbent. 

Hon.  George  Paul,  besides  filling  several  important  positions 
as  civil  and  mechanical  engineer,  was,  from  Septetnber,  1862,  to 
September,  1865,  assistant  engineer  in  the  United  States  Navy,  in 
the  regular  service,  eight  months  on  the  monitor  "  Nahant,"  and  in 
all  engagements  off  Charleston  during  the  w^ar;  engaged  in  rail- 
road construction  in  Georgia,  Iowa,  Illinois,  Indiana  and  Ohio  from 
1868  to  1877,  being  chief  engineer  on  the  Chicago  &  Atlantic,  nearly 
five  years;  was  member  of  the  board  of  public  w^orks  of  Ohio  from 
1878  to  1884,  twofuU  terms,  having  special  charge  of  the  Ohio  canal 
from  Cleveland  to  Hebron,  185  miles,  the  Walhoding  canal,  25 
miles,  and  the  Western  Reserve  and  Maumee  road,  46  miles. 

HosEA  Paul,  Jr.,  reared  to  the  profession  of  civil  engineer;  on 
the  resignation  of  Auditor  S.  M.  Burnham,  October  9,  1871,  was 
appointed  by  the  county  commissioners  to  fill  the  vacancy,  serving 
in  that  important  office  until  the  second  Tuesday  of  the  following 
November,  and  has  since  devoted  himself  to  locating  and  construc- 
tion of  railroads  in  Michigan,  Indiana,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania  and 
Nebraska. 

T.  DwiGHT  Paul,  student  of  Polytechnic  College,  Philadelphia- 
employed  in  railroad  construction  on  Cleveland,  Lorain  &  Wheel- 
ing, Canada  Southern,  Bellaire  &  Southwestern,  Chicago  &  Atlan- 
tic; engineer  first  division  Ohio  public  works,  and  employed  in 
locating  branches  of  the  Union  Pacific  railroad  in  Kansas,  Nebraska 
and  Idaho. 

PRESENT   BUSINESS    STATUS. 

The  present  manufacturing  and  business  status  of  Cuyahoga 
Falls  may  briefly  be  stated  thus: 

Variety  Works. — The  Turner,  Vaughn  &  Taylor  Company, 
established  in  1856,  incorporated,  January  11,  1889;  William  A. 
Taylor,  president;  George  .W.  Rice,  secretary;  C.  W.  Vaughn,  super- 
intendent— manufacturers  of  clay-working,  wire-drawing,  paper- 
mill,  chain,  hydraulic,  steam  and  other  machinery.  Men  em- 
ployed, 45  to  50. 

The  Falls  Rivet  and  Machine  Company,  E.  L.  Babcock,  presi- 
dent; J.  A.  Long,  vice  president;  H.  J.  Stambaugh,  secretary;  Sam- 
uel Higgs,  treasurer;  manufacturers  of  patent  steel-rim  pulleys,, 
friction  clutch  couplings  and  pulleys,  shaftings,  hangers,  power- 
transmitting  machinery,  rivets,  riveting  burrs,  small  washers,  etc; 
new  three-story  brick  shop,  62x174  feet;  hands  employed,  about  250. 


764 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Pearl  Flouring  Mill,  Howe  &c  Co.  (Miner  H.  Howe,  Cor- 
nelius M;  Walsh  and  G.  W.  Walsh);  manufacturers  of  best  quality 
of  roller  process  flour;  capacity,  125  barrels  per  day.  , 

Camp  &  Thompson  (Horace  B>  Camp  and  Harry  Thompson), 
manufacturers  of  best  quality  of  vitrified  sewer  pipe,  drain-tile, 
paving  and  hollow  building  brick,  flue  linings,  fire-proofing,  chim- 
ney tops,  etc.,  corner  Water  and  Main  streets;  capacity,  100  car 
loads  per  month. 

The  Cuyahoga  Paper  Company,  Empire  and  Phoenix  Mills; 
fine  cover  and  w^rapping  papers;  capacity  w^hen  running  full- 
handed,  five  tons  per  day,  now,  October,  1891,  operated  in  part  only. 

The  Holloway  Reading  Stand  and  Dictionary  Holder,  use- 
ful and  popular;  Wilbur  F.  Holloway,  inventor  and  manufacturer. 

GEORGE  SACKETT,— son  of  Aaron 
and  Huldah  (Tanner)  Sackett, 
was  born  in  Warren,  Litchfield 
<;ount3',  Connecticut,  Januarj^  (5,  1821, 
nioving-  with  parents  to  Tallmadge 
in  1838;  educated  in  common  schools 
and  Tallmadge  Academy;  raised  a 
farmer,  later  purchasing-  alarg-e  tract 
of  land  contigiaous  to  the  village  of 
Cuyahoga  Falls,  a  portion  of  which 
has  since  been  laid  out  into  town 
lots.  Mr.  Sackett  is  an  earnest  Re- 
publican—as the  candidate  of  his 
party,  being  elected  county  commis- 
sioner in  October  1867,  ably  serving- 
three  years  ;  in  1879,  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  State  board  of  equali- 
zation for  the  Summit-Portage  sena- 
torial district,  and  in  the  Spring  of 
1880  was  chosen  real  estate  assessor 
for  Cuyahoga  Falls  township.  In 
addition  to  his  extensive  farming 
operations,  Mr.  Sackett  is  now  largelj^ 
interested  in  manufactures,  being 
president  of  the  Cuj'ahoga  Paper 
Company,  extensive  manufacturers 
of  every  variety  of  print  and  colored 
papers.  September  5,  1848,  Mr.  Sack- 
ett was  married  to  Miss  Helen  Wil- 
liams of  Cuyahoga  Falls,   who  died 


GEORGE  SACKETT. 

June  10,  1851 ;  February  9.  1854,  was 
again  married  to  Miss  Fanny  V. 
Grant.  They  have  one  child,  Mary 
P.,  born  January  3,  1867,  now  at  home. 


W.  L.  Kittleberger,  tanner  and  currier,  successor  to  Chris- 
tian Kittleberger,  manufacturer  of  calf,  kip  and  harness  leather; 
capacity,  200  sides  per  w^eek. 

Lewis  W.  Loomis,  corner*  Front  and  Portage  streets,  stoves, 
tin,  sheet-iron  and  copper  ware,  crockery,  glassware,  notions,  etc., 
w^ith  five  and  ten  cent  store  attached;  reliable  and  prosperous 
establishment. 

Joseph  R.  Sapp,  Front  street,  south  of  Portage,  full  line  of 
staple  hardware,  cutlery,  paints,  oils,  furnishing  goods,  etc. 

George  W.  Blackburn,  Front  street,  first-class  custoin  sad- 
dle and  harness  w^ork,  and  dealer  in  horse  furnishing  goods,  bri- 
dles, blankets,  trunks,  etc. 

Henry  Plum,  a  resident  of  Cuyahoga  Falls  for  over  half  a 
century,  practical  boot  and  shoe  maker,  with  a  large  stock  of  leather, 
cloth  and  rubber  goods,  findings,  etc. 


PRESENT  BUSINESS   STATUS. 


765 


James  Haver,  practical  saddler  and  dealer  in  light  and  heavy 

ness,  robes,  nets,  saddlers'  hardware,  oils,  etc. 

Henry  E.  Howard,  clothing  merchant  of  many  years'  stand- 
ing; men's  and  boys'  clothing,  hats,  caps,  shirts,  collars,  cuffs,  ties,. 
etc. 

F.  S.  Heath  &  Co.,  old  and  reliable  drug  house,  with  every- 
thing that  the  name  implies,  to  which  has  recently  been  added  a 
full  line  of  school  books,  stationery,  etc. 

Arthur  1.  Lewis,  dealer  in  staple  groceries  and  provisions, 
country  produce,  etc.,  Front  street. 

Simon  Brown,  an  old  residenter,  practical  cabinet  maker,  keeps 
fully  abreast  Avith  the  times,  with  a  full  stock  of  furniture,  under- 
taking goods,  etc. 

David  H.  Jones,  confectioner,  Front  street,  manufacturer  of  all 
kinds  of  candies  and  pastry,  and  serves  to  order,  oysters,  ice  cream, 
etc. 

Perry  L.  Norton,  Front  street,  home  and  table  supplies,  choice 
groceries,  teas,  coffees,  sugars,  syrups,  illuminating  oils,  notions,^ 
etc. 

Mrs.  Ellen  Knox,  successor  to  Eugene  O.  Knox,  publisher 
Reporter  and  Western  Reserve  Farmer,  and  general  book  and 
job  printer,  corner  Front  and  Portage  streets. 

George  Bitterman,  Front  street,  restaurant,  warm  meals,, 
lunches,  candies,  fruits,  nuts,  etc. 

M.  A.  Seadschlag,  merchant  tailor,  full  assortment  of  fashion- 
able cloths,  trimmings,  furnishing  goods,  etc.;  custom  work  a 
specialty. 

Michael  Moore, 
merchant  tailor, 
Front  street,  full 
line  of  sample 
piece  and  ready 
made  goods,  fur- 
nishing goods,  etc. 

John  Clayton, 
opposite  high 
bridge  glens,  car- 
riage and  wagon 
manufacturer,  re- 
pairing, etc. 

William  Baker, 
practical  worker  in 
iron  and  steel,  gen- 
eral blacksmith, 
horse  shoer,  etc. 

WiEMER  Broth- 
ers, (Fred  and 
Christ)  west  side  of 
Front  street,  practi- 
cal marble  cutters, 
and  dealers  in  mar- 
ble and  granite 
monuments,  head 
stones,  etc. 


Siispotisioii   liridge  over  the  Rapids  in  tlie  Glens,  be- 
low the  Village  of  Cnyahoga  Falls. 


766 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Moses   Schloss,    clothier,   corner   Front   and    Portage   streets, 
ready  made  clothing,  furnishing  goods,  etc. 

William  Blong,  corner  Front  and  Broad,  carriages,  platform 
and  spring  wagons,  repairing,  etc. 

Harv^EY    Westov'ER,    stone    quarry,    contractor 
sidewalks,  cisterns,  etc. 

Thomas   Brothers  (Reese   J.    and    Thomas   J.), 
miners  and  w^holesale  and  retail  dealers  in  coal. 

Henry    L.    Shumway,    photographer.    Front    street,    north    of 
Clifford    Inn. 

J.  M.   Porter,  contractor  and  builder,  corner  Broad  and  Main 
streets. 

J.  F.  Weidn^r,  cooper,  North  Front  street,  west  side. 


for    masonry, 
Broad    street, 


HON.  GEORGE  PAUL,  —  second 
son  of  Hosea  and  Ellen  (Gamble) 
Paul ;  was  born  at  Cuyahoga  Falls, 
September  8, 1837  ;  educated  in  public 
and  select  schools  of  Cuyahog"a  Falls, 
and  a  private  school  in  Philadelphia  ; 
meantime  assisting-  his  father  as  sur- 
veyor and  civil  engineer ;  1857  to  1860 
learned  machinist  trade,  planning 
the  first  steamboat  that  plied  on  the 
Ohio  canal  ;  1860  to  1862,  worked  in 
various  Eastern  shops  ;  in  1862  en- 
tered the  regular  service  in  U.  S. 
Navy,  serving  three  years  in  South 
Atlantic  Squadron,  under  Admirals 
Dupont,  Dahlgren  and  others ;  at 
close  of  war,  resumed  the  business 
of  surveyor  and  civil  engineer,  also 
for  a  time,  in  1867,  carrying  on  ma- 
chine shop  at  Cuj-ahoga  Falls  ;  from 
1868  to  1878,  engaged  in  railroad  con- 
struction in  Georgia,  Iowa,  Illinois, 
Indiana  and  Ohio,  being  chief  engi- 
neer on  Chicago  &  Atlantic,  nearly 
five  years  ;  in  1878  was  elected  mem- 
ber of  State  board  of  public  works, 
and  re-elected  in  1881,  serving  six 
years,  and  president  of  board  three 
years,  having  special  charge  of 
Ohio   canal,  from    Cleveland  to    He- 


HON.  GEORGE  PAUL. 

bron,  185  miles;  Walhonding,  25  miles, 
and  Western  Reserve  and  Maumee 
road,  46  miles.  May  10,  1871,  Mr.  Paul 
w^as  married  to  Miss  Olive  A.  Babcock, 
daughter  of  Austin  and  Eliza  (Taj^lor) 
Babcock,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls.  They 
have  no  children. 


Duffy  Brothers,  Portage  street,  east  of  Front,  book,  com- 
mercial and  general  job  printers. 

Clifford  Inn,  corner  of  Front  and  Portage  streets,  George 
Marvin,  proprietor,  a  first  class  hotel. 

George  L.  Buoys,  hotel  and  boarding  house.  Main  street,  east 
side  of  the  river. 

Physicians. — Drs.  George  C.  Upson,  H.  W.  Carter,  A.  H.  Bill, 
T.  F.  Heath,  W.  S.  Hough,  Jerome  D.  Dodge. 

Dentists.— Dr.  Frank  A.  Sabin. 

Attorneys  at  Law. — Charles  H.  Howland,  Thomas  F.  Walsh, 
Orlando  Wilcox,  T.  L.  Childs. 

Albert  Letts,  house  painter  and  decorator,  Front  street,  south 
of  Broad. 


PRESENT   BUSINESS    STATUS. 


767 


D,  VoGAN,  practical  horse  shoer,  and  dealer  in  buggies, 
sleighs,  cutters,  etc.,  Broad  street,  near  Front. 

Livery  Stables. — C.  H.  Moon  &  Son  (Charles  H.  and  George  A.), 
Front  street,  opposite  Clifford  Inn;  Robert  Adams,  Broad  street, 
near  covered  bridge;  Robert  Boyd,  South  Front;  Russell  Post, 
north  side  of  Broad  street;  Fred  J.  Smith,  Broad  east  of  Front 
street. 

C.  N.  Faze,  barber  and  fashionable  hair-dresser.  Front  street. 

Justices  of  the  Peace. — George  Parks  and  L.  F.  Reimer. 

E.  D.  Brewster,  tin  roofing,  spouting  and  general  jobbing 
shop,  in  alley,  south  of  Broad,  west  of  Front. 

Edward  Coates,  general  blacksmith,  horse  shoer,  etc.,  corner 
Broad  and  Water  streets. 

Augustus  Duffy,  barber  aud  hair  dresser,  Front  street. 


PUGENE  OAKLEY  KNOX, -born 
-L-'  in  Danville,  Living^ston  county, 
New  York,  November  17,  1849,  remov- 
ing to  Cuyahoga  Falls  with  parents 
when  young;  educated  in  Cuyahoga 
Falls  public  schools ;  at  17,  com- 
menced reading-  medicine  with  an 
uncle  in  Corning,  New^  York,  a  year 
and  a  half  later,  on  account  of  failing 
health,  returning  home,  and  for  a 
time  assisting  his  father,  Alanson  R. 
Knox,  in  the  book-binding  business, 
soon  afterwards  starting  a  small  job 
printing  office  on  his  own  account. 
In  December,  1870,  Mr.  Knox  com- 
menced the  publication  of  the  Cuyn- 
hog;a  Falls  Reporter,  a  28-column 
folio  weekly  newspaper,  which,  not- 
withstanding the  total  destruction  of 
his  office  in  September,  1882,  through 
his  indomitable  energy,  attained  a 
phenomenal  success,  in  later  years 
being  made  a  48-column  quarto.  De- 
•ceiTiber24, 1874,  Mr.  Knox  was  married 
to  Miss  E)llen  Lyttleton,  of  Cleveland, 
who  bore  him  four  children — Oscar 
Albert,  born  March  8, 1877,  now  a  stu- 
■dent  in  Western  Reserve  Academ3'^ ; 
Percival  Angelo,  born  October  18, 
1878,  died  February  2,  1881;  Portia 
Irene,  born  November  3,  1882,  and 
Kenneth  Julian,  born   November  21, 


EUGKXK  OAKLKY  KNOX. 

1884.  Never  phj^sically  rugged,  in 
Januar}',  1891,  Mr.  Knox  was  taken 
seriousl}'  ill,  and  though  seeking  re- 
lief in  the  warmer  climate  of  the 
South,  the  end  came,  frotn  valvular 
disease  of  the  heart,  at  Hot  Springs, 
Arkansas,  Maj^  7,  at  the  age  of  41 
years,  i^  months  and  20  days.  The 
Reporter  is  now  being  ably  con- 
ducted by  Mrs.  Knox. 


George  F.  Callahan,  groceries  and   provisions.  Front  street. 

TowLER  &  Inskeep,  dealers  in  dry  goods.  South  Front  street. 

B,  B.  McConnaughey,  standard  and  fancy  dry  goods.  South 
Front  street. 

F.  Chart,  dealer  in  fruits,  candies,  etc..  South  Front  street. 

Joseph  Brand,  barber,  confectioner,  etc.,  South  Front  street. 

John  EichenbergeR,  baker,  confectioner,  etc..  South  Front 
street. 

George  C.  Tifft,  general  family  meat  market,  dealer  in  fresh 
and  salt  meats,  fish,  etc..  South  Front  street. 

N.  A.  BucKLiN,  general  meat  market  and  family  supplies, 
South  Front  street. 


768 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


RoETHiG  Brothers  (William  \V.  and  Edward  L.).  meat  market^ 
dealers  in  choice  meats,  fish,  etc.,  South  Front  street. 

Cleveland  &  Company,  dealers  in  choice  family  groceries  and 
provisions,  country  produce,  etc..  South  Front  street.    ' 

Misses  M.  and  M.  Hughes,  dealers   in    millinery,   ladies'  fur- 
nishing goods  and  notions.  South  Front  street. 

W.  L.  Udall,  groceries  and  family  supplies.  South  Front  street, 
William   M.    Smith,    Front  street,    near  town    hall,   dealer   in 
groceries,  provisions,  etc. 

W.  C.  Maynard,  practical  watch  iTiaker  and  jeweler,  near  town 
hall.  Front  street. 

The  Enterprise  Cigar  Company',    manufacturers  and  whole- 
sale and  retail  dealers  in  cigars.  Front  street. 

Curl  &  Son  (Isaiah  and    Charles   A.),   dealers   in    boots   and 
shoes.  South  Front,  near  post  office. 

Miss  Helen  E.  Mc- 
Leish,  ncAvs  dealer,, 
stationery,  etc.,  South 
Front  street. 

Henry  C.  Mans- 
field, photographer, 
Glens. 

Elmer  W.  Saxe, 
manufacturer  of 
stoneware,  novelties^ 
etc.,  corner  Tallmadge 
and  Reid  streets. 

F.  ScHNEE  &  Com- 
pany (F.  Schnee  and 
M.  S.  Kirk),  drugs^ 
books,  stationery,  oils, 
paints,  etc..  South 
Front  street. 

Branch  Akron 
Savings  Bank,  Archie 
B.  Clarke,  teller. 
South  Front  street. 

The  Falls  Savings 
and  Loan  Associa- 
tion, office  South 
Front  street;  L.  W. 
Loomis,  president;  J. 
R.  Sapp,  vice  presi- 
dent; George  Parks, 
secretary;  M.  H. 
Howe,  treasurer;  Or- 
lando Wilcox,  attor- 
ney. 

FallsHollowStay- 
BOLT  Company',  manu- 
facturers of  hollo^v 
staybolt  iron,  extra 
refined  iron  for  spec- 
ial use.  Portage  street, 
west  of  bridge. 


Scene  on  the  celebrated  "Chuckery"  Race,  in  the 
Glens,  below  Cuyahoga  Falls*. 


PRESENT  BUSINESS   STATUS.  769 

John  L.  Longshore,  drugs,  stationery,  paints,  oils,  etc..  South 
Front  street. 

George  H.  Lowrey,  boots  and  shoes,  South  Front  street. 

Express  Companies. — Adams,  office  with  Cleveland,  Akron  & 
Columbus  R.  R.,  J.  O.  Davis,  agent;  Wells,  Fargo  &  Company, 
office  with  Pittsburg  &  Western  R.  R.,  S.  S.  C.  McGrew,  agent. 

Barbers. — David  Berkheimer,  North  Front;  Charles  N.  Faze, 
Nathan  H.  Rook. 

Coopers. — Andrew  Schnidt,  North  Front  street. 

Insurance  Agent. — Charles  Clark,  city  hall;  Frank  T.  Heath, 
South  Front  street. 

Thomas  J.  Francisco,  cigar  manufacturer.  South  Front  street. 

Harry  A.  Hinman,  cigars  and  tobacco.  South  Front  street. 

Railroads.  —  Cleveland,  Akron  &  Columbus,  J.  O.  Davis, 
agent;  The  Pittsburg  &  Western,  S.  S.  C.  McGrew,  agent. 

Western  Union  Telegraph  Company,  South  Front,  Frank 
Ragsdale,  manager. 

Cuyahoga  Falls  Postoffice,  John  C.  Reid,  postmaster. 

Telephone  Exchange,  Miss  Laura  M.  Hall,  manager.  Front 
street,  connections  with  Akron  and  other  neighboring  telephone 
towns. 

Miscellaneous.  —  Albert  R.  Bates,  contractor  and  builder; 
Matthew^  Craw^ford,  horticulturist;  John  W.  Culbertson,  fruit  stand 
near  Glens;  George  Cunningham,  pool  room;  C.  A.  Davis,  solici- 
tor; William  H.  DeWitt.  dining  hall,  etc.,  corner  Front  and  Brown; 
Randall  Douds,  sample  room;  Daniel  Duerr,  small  fruit  grower; 
William  Duerr,  lunch  room;  L.  C.  Fenton,  boarding  housfe,  fruit 
stand,  etc.,  near  Glens;  George  Fiedler,  saloon.  Broad;  Fisher 
Brothers  (William  and  Isaiah),  saloon  near  Glens;  David  Rosen- 
bom,  w^ines  and  liquors,  South  Front  street. 

Possibly  some  names  and  branches  of  business  that  should 
have  been  included  in  the  foregoing  list,  have  been  inadvertently 
overlooked,  but  a  sufficiency  has  been  given  to  shovsr  that  with  all 
its  misfortunes  in  the  past,  Cuyahoga  Falls  is  decidedly  a  "live 
town"  yet. 


49 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 

THE  PARKS-BEATSON  MURDER— ONE  OF  THE  MOST  COLD-BI/OODED  BUTCHERIES 
IN  THE  ANNALS  OF  CRIME— THE  VICTIM  RUTHLESSLY  DECOYED  TO  HIS 
DOOM,  BARBAROUSLY  DECAPITATED,  AND  HEADLESS  TRUNK  THROWN  INTO 
THE  RIVER— BODY  RECOVERED,  BUT  HEAD  NEVER  FOUND— FLIGHT,  PURSUIT 
AND  CAPTURE  OF  THE  MURDERER— TRIAL,  CONVICTION,  SENTENCE  AND 
PREPARATIONS  FOR  EXECUTION — WRIT  OF  ERROR  OBTAINED  AND  NEW 
TRIAL  GRANTED— EXCITEMENT  OF  THE  POPULACE— CHANGE  OF  VENUE  TO 
CUYAHOGA  COUNY— SECOND  TRIAL,  CONVICTION  AND  SENTENCE— ATTEMPTS 
TO  ESCAPE  FROM  JAIL — TWO  DESPERATE  ATTEMPTS  AT  SUICIDE— SPEECH 
ON  THE  SCAFFOLD— EXECUTION— SUIT  BY  WIFE  AGAINST  PROSECUTING 
ATTORNEY  EDGERTON  FOR  $600  IN  GOLD,  SUPPOSED  TO  BELONG  TO  BEATSON, 
BUT  CLAIMED  BY  HER— EDGERTON  WINS  THE  SUIT — WONDERFUL  ROMANCE 
OF  CRIME. 

fThoug-h  the  parties  to  the  horrible  aflfair  now  to  be  written  of  were  not, 
in  the  remotest  sense,  citizens  of  Ciiyahog-a  Falls,  the  fact  that  the  fearful 
crime  narrated  was  perpetrated  within  her  borders,  and  of  the  active  part 
taken  by  her  people  in  bring-ing-  the  perpetrator  of  that  crime  to  justice, 
makes  it  especially  proper  that  the  account  thereof  should  follow  the  very 
full  history  of  that  village  given  in  the  preceding  chapter.] 

AN  UNDESIRABLE  ACCESSION. 

Sortie  time  in  the  year  1838  there  emigrated  from  England  to 
America  a  reputed  daring  and  desperate  young  poacher,  highway 
robber  and  burglar,  by  the  name  of  James  Dickinson,  then  about 
26  years  of  age.  It  was  currently  reported,  but  denied  by  him, 
that  before  he  was  25  years  old  he  had  spent  about  seven  years  in 
prison.  The  climate  of  England  at  length  becoming  "too  warm" 
for  him,  on  account  of  the  vigilance  of  the  police,  he  took  the 
alarm  and  fled  to  America,  first  going  to  Rhode  Island  and  after- 
Avard  making  his  headquarters  at  or  near  Philadelphia. 

A  Ghoulish  Operation. — While  a  resident  of  Rhode  Island,  he, 
writh  a  confederate,  robbed  the  grave  of  a  rich  ex-sea  captain, 
named  De  Wolfe,  reputed  to  have  been  buried  in  a  silver  coffin, 
but  found  the  name-plate  only  upon  the  coffin  to  be  of  silver.  This 
he  appropriated,  mutilated  and  sol4>  and  being  detected  w^as 
throw^n  into  prison.  While  thus  confined,  aw^aiting  trial,  he  pro- 
cured a  pair  of  pistols  from  a  political  prisoner  (a  participant  of 
the  Dorr  rebellion),  who  was  carelessly  incarcerated  without  being 
properly  searched,  with  w^hich  he  intimidated  the  jailer  and 
effected  his  escape.  Being  retaken  he  was  tried  on  both  charges 
and  sentenced  to  two  years'  imprisonment  on  the  first  and  four 
years  on  the  last  offense,  the  longer  to  include  the  shorter  term. 

On  the  expiration  of  his  sentence  he  w^as  concerned  in  a  high- 
Avay  robbery,  in  w^hich  his  accomplice  was  arrested  and  convicted, 
but  he  escaped.  From  there  he  found  his  way  to  Philadelphia, 
in  the  vicinity  of  w^hich  he  participated  in  several  robberies  and 
burglaries,  in  one  of  which — the  robbery  of  the  house  of  a  w^ealthy 
manufacturer    named    Kempton,     at    Manayunk,     Pa. — he     w^as 


PLANNING   TO    ROB    HIS   FRIEND.  771 

•detected,  and  being  convicted,  was  imprisoned  for  a  term  of  four 
years  in  the  Moyamensing  penitentiary.  On  the  expiration  of  his 
sentence,  under  various  aliases  he  visited  Harrisburg,  Pittsburg 
and  other  points,  finally  landing  in  Cleveland,  about  the  year  1851, 
where,  under  the  alias  of  James  Parks,  he  opened  a  saloon,  mak- 
ing, in  connection  with  the  pro  tetn.  wife  he  had  associated  him- 
.self  with,  so  notorious  a  "dive"  as  to  attract  the  especial  atten- 
tion of  the  authorities.  In  1852,  "  Parks"  revisited  England,  where 
he  married  his  cousin,  Betsy  Dickinson,  with  whom,  and  her  two 
brothers,  John  and  George  Dickinson,  he  again  sailed  for  America, 
landing  in  New  York  early  in  March,  1853. 

On  the  same  vessel  w^ith  the  Dickinsons,  was  another  English- 
man, by  the  name  of  William  Beatson,  a  butcher  by  trade,  who 
•came  with  the  party  to  near  Buffalo.  On  parting.  Parks  gave 
Beatson  his  address:  "James  Parks,  Inn-keeper,  Cleveland, 
Ohio,"  urging  him  to  come  on  to  Cleveland,  if  things  did  not  go  to 
his  liking  in  Buffalo. 

A  month  later,  Beatson  left  Buffalo  to  go  to  Pittsburg,  arriv- 
ing at  Cleveland,  en  route,  on  the  morning  of  April  13,  1853.  Here 
he  found  his  friends,  Mr,  and  Mrs.  Parks,  occupying  apartments  in 
a  private  boarding  house,  and  he  accordingly  took  up  his  quarters 
at  the  United  States  Hotel.  Parks,  however,  was  v^ery  attentive  to 
him,  taking  him  around  among  the  saloons,  and  plying  him 
liberally  with  liquor,  taking  dinner  with  him  at  a  restaurant,  and 
supper  with  him  at  the  United  States,  Beatson  not  only  paying  all 
the  bills,  but  displaying  a  large  amount  of  money,  mostly  in  gold 
coin,  of  Avhich  commodity,  it  was  intimated  at  several  places,  by 
Parks,  his  friend  w^as  the  posssessor  of  from  $800  to  $1,000  w^orth. 
During  the  day,  Beatson  had  become  very  greatly  intoxicated,  but 
still  held  to  his  purpose  of  continuing  on  to  Pittsburg  that  even- 
ing, which  Parks  endeavored  to  dissuade  him  from  doing. 

Robbery  Deliberately  Planned. — Finding  him  resolute  in 
his  determination.  Parks  volunteered  to  accompany  him,  as  guide 
and  care-taker,  w^hich  Beatson  assented  to.  Tickets  were  accord- 
ingly bought,  being  paid  for  w^ith  Beatson's  money,  his  heavy, 
iron-clad  English  chest,  was  duly  checked,  and  the  7:30  evening 
train  taken  for  Pittsburg.  From  the  well-filled  bottle  provided  by 
Parks,  Beatson  w^as,  from  time  to  time,  plied  with  liquor,  so  that 
by  the  time  the  train  reached  Bedford,  the  latter  w^as  considerably 
drunker  than  when  they  started,  w^hile  Parks,  though  taking  as 
frequent  pulls  at  the  bottle,  ^vas  comparatively  sober.  Soon  after 
leaving  Bedford,  Parks  "accidentally"  lost  his  hat  out  of  the  car 
window,  and  persuaded  Beatson  to  let  him  have  his  check  and  the 
key  to  his  chest  to  get  an  extra  cap  w^hich  he  knew  could  be  found 
therein. 

Change  of  Programme. — ^Finding  and  donning  the  cap  of 
which  he  had  gone  in  search,  but  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events, 
not  finding  the  coveted  treasures  which  he  knew,  or  supposed, 
his  friend  to  possess,  in  the  chest,  a  change  of  tactics  was  deter- 
mined upon.  Accordingly,  instead  of  remaining  quietly  in  their 
seats,  as  Parks  well  knew^  they  should  do,  to  go  to  Pittsburg,  on 
reaching  Hudson  he  aroused  his  friend  from  the  drunken  sleep 
into  which  he  had  by  this  time  fallen,  and  hustled  him  on  to  the 
Akron  train,  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  depot.  Of  course,  when 
the  conductor  came  around,  the  "mistake"  w^as  discovered,  and  the 


772  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

twain  were  set  down  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  in  the  midst  of  a  drivings 
rain,  and  at  about  10  o'clock  at  night,  the  Pittsburg  train  having 
been  delayed  for  some  time  at  or  near  Macedonia  by  a  fallen  tree 
across  the  track. 

Going  from  the  depot  to  the  American  House,  kept  by  Mr.  A. 
W.  Hall,  the  matter  of  getting  back  to  Hudson  was  discussed,  and 
although,  drunk  as  he  w^as,  Beatson  wanted  to  stay  at  the  hotel 
over  night,  and  though  assured,  by  Mr.  Hall  and  others,  that 
nothing  could  be  gained  by  reaching  Hudson  in  advance  of  the 
first  train  from  Akron  in  the  morning,  Parks  insisted  upon  footing 
•it  to  Hudson  that  night,  and  at  length,  after  taking  several  drinks 
at  the  bar,  and  from  their  bottle,  the  stronger  will  of  Parks  pre- 
vailed, and,  as  Mr.  Hall  w^as  shutting  up  his  house  for  the  night,  a 
little  after  11  o'clock,  the  two  men  went  out  of  the  door  of  the 
hotel  into  the  darkness  and  the  storm. 

A  Ghastly  Discovery. — Nothing  further  was  seen  of  the 
inebriated  and  boisterous  Knglishmen  during  the  night.  But 
early  the  next  morning,  while  a  young  man,  named  Henry  F. 
Waters,  was  passing  along  the  wagon  road,  leading  from  Cuyahoga 
Falls  to  what  is  now  known  as  Gaylord's  Grove,  he  was  startled  at 
discovering  large  splashes  of  fresh  blood  high  up  on  one  of  the 
abutment  walls  of  the  railroad  bridge,  under  w^hich  the  wagon 
road  passes,  and  upon  the  earth  underneath.  Following  up  the 
clew^,  marks  of  blood  and  other  indications  were  found  that  a 
heavy  bleeding  body  had  been  dragged  along  the  road  and  thrown 
from  the  wagon  bridge  into  the  Cuyahoga  river;  a  inetal  button  of 
the  same  j^ttern  as  those  •worn  upon  the  vest  of  the  drunker  of 
the  tw^o  Bnglishmen,  the  stock  which  he  wore,  and  the  cane  w^hich 
he  carried,  together  with  the  neck  of  a  bottle  corresponding  to  that 
from  w^hich  they  had  so  frequently  drank  on  the  cars  and  w^hile  at 
the  hotel,  the  evening  before,  were  also  picked  up  near  by. 

Headless  Body  Found. — The  alarm  was  immediately  sounded 
and  almost  the  entire  population  of  Cuyahoga  Falls  rushed  to  the 
scene  of  the  tragedy,  and  the  vt^ildest  excitement  prevailed.  A 
thorough  dragging  of  the  river  was  at  once  inaugurated,  resulting 
in  bringing  to  the  surface,  a  short  distance  below  the  bridge,  a 
naked  and  headless  body.  Prolonged  search,  how^ever,  failed  to 
discover  the  severed  head,  though  the  clothing  of  the  murdered 
man  Tvas  found  scattered  about  the  adjacent  woods  and  in  the  P. 
&  O.  canal,  a  short  distance  southeast  of  the  river  bridge,  cut  to 
pieces,  as  though  the  several  garments  had  been  searched  for 
money  secreted  therein. 

On  the  Track  of  the  Murderer. — Of  course,  the  conclusion 
was  irresistible  that  the  mutilated  body  w^as  that  of  the  more 
intoxicated  stranger  of  the  car-exchange  episode  of  the  night 
before,  and  that  he  had  been  brutally  murdered  by  his  less  inebri- 
ated, but  stronger-minded,  companion.  An  accurate  description 
of  the  supposed  murderer  w^as  immediately  forwarded  to  Akron, 
Cleveland  and  other  points.  About  the  time  the  telegram  w^as 
received  in  Akron,  Mr.  Tyler  Robinson,  a  farmer  living  some  three 
miles  w^est  of  tow^n,  called  upon  Constable  Merrick  Burton  to 
ascertain  the  genuineness  of  a  five  dollar  bill  which  a  suspicious 
stranger  had  early  that  morning  paid  to  his  neighbor,  Mr.  Willard 
Mathews,  for  the  use  of  his  horse  and  buggy  and  his  hired  boy, 
Hiram    Cory,    in  being  driven  to  Cleveland;  while   at  about  the 


TRACING   THE    MURDERER — ARREST,    ETC.  773 

same  time  the  captain  of  a  boat  upon  the  P.  &  O.  canal  stated  that 
late  in  the  night  a  stranger,  judged  by  his  speech  to  be  an  English- 
man, had  boarded  his  boat  at  Bettes'  Corners,  and  after  passing 
through  the  nine  locks  (lying  down  upon  a  large  box  and  appar- 
ently going  to  sleep  in  the  meantime),  had  left  the  boat  near  the 
Old  Forge  and  gone  down  the  Valley  of  the  Little  Cuyahoga. 

Mr,  Mathews'  description  of  his  liberal-handed  customer 
tallying  with  that  telegraphed  from  Cuyahoga  Falls,  and  it  also 
transpiring  that  the  same  stranger  had  taken  breakfast  with 
Mrs.  Henry  Horn,  living  opposite  the  Infirmary  farm,  at  a  still 
earlier  hour — relating  to  Mrs.  Horn  and  her  daughter  Matilda  a 
funny  anecdote  during  the  meal — and  had  also  endeavored  to 
negotiate  with  Mr.  James  McAllister,  a  short  distance  beyond,  to 
take  him  to  Cleveland,  Constables  Merrick,  Burton  and  J.  J. 
Wright  immediately  procured  as  fast  a  rig  as  could  be  had  in 
Akron,  and  started  in  pursuit,  via  Bath,  Richfield,  Brecksville, 
etc.  The  roads  w^ere  heavy  and  rough,  and  being  considerably 
delayed  by  the  breaking  down  of  their  buggy,  near  Kichfield,  they 
did  not  overtake  the  fugitive,  but  on  nearing  Cleveland  they  met 
young  Cory,  and  took  him  back  with  them  to  the  point  where,  at 
his  request,  he  had  set  his  passenger  down  in  the  open  street  in 
Ohio  City  (now  West  Cleveland);  but  they  were  unable  to  trace 
him,  the  fugitive  having  some  two  hours  the  start  of  them,  the 
•officers  at  this  time,  of  course,  having  no  clew  to  the  name  or  local 
habitation  of  the  man  thej^  were  pursuing. 

Sheriff  Dudle3^  Seward  also,  on  the  same  day,  started  in  pur- 
suit, going  by  rail  to  Cleveland,  taking  with  him  such  an  accurate 
description  of  the  supposed  murderer,  that  the  police  of  that  city 
\vere  speedily  enabled  to  fix  his  identity  as  that  of  James  Parks, 
former  proprietor  of  one  of  the  most  disreputable  saloons  ever 
kept  in  that  city,  and  but  recently  returned  from  England.  The 
next  morning  the  premises  occupied  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parks  were 
■carefully  searched,  by  Sheriff  Seward  and  posse,  and  while  finding 
no  trace  of  Parks  himself,  they  drew  from  Mrs.  Parks  the  admission 
that  he  had  stayed  there  the  night  before,  but  had  again  left  early 
that  morning.  To  add  to  their  suspicion,  the  officers  ascertained, 
during  the  day,  that  Mrs.  Parks  herself  had  hastily  packed  her 
personal  effects,  and,  w^ith  hef  two  brothers,  John  and  George 
Dickinson,  had  started  East,  affecting  great  indignation  at  the 
^suspicions  against  Mr.  Parks,  and  declaring  their  intention  of 
immediately  returning  to  England. 

ARREST  OF  THE  ASSASSIN,  HIS  WIFE  AND  BROTHERS. 

In  the  meantime  the  search  for  the  murderer  was  continued 
"with  unremitting  diligence  by  the  officers  of  the  law,  and  others, 
the  county  commissioners  promptly  authorizing  Sheriff  Sew^ard 
to  offer  a  reward  of  $50()  for  his  apprehension.  The  vigilance  of 
the  authorities  was  finally  successful,  United  States  Deputy  Mar- 
ishal  Joseph  K.  Tyler,  of  Buffalo,  having  spotted  and  taken  him 
into  custody,  w^hile  working  his  way  through  that  city,  on  Monday, 
April  18th,  five  days  after  the  commission  of  the  dreadful  crime. 
Mrs.  Parks  and  her  two  brothers  were  also  arrested  at  Utica,  N. 
Y.,  and  brought  to  Akron.  Upon  the  person  of  Parks  w^as  found 
between  $40  and  $50  in  gold,  and  on  Mrs.  Parks  and  her  brothers 
between  $800  and  $900,  also  in  gold,  making  in  all,  with  what  had 


774  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

been  paid  out  for  passage  money  and  other  expenses,  about  $1,000^ 
^vhich  was  supposed  to  have  been  taken  from  the  body  of  the 
murdered  man. 

The  alleged  murderer  -was  brought  from  Buffalo  to  Akron,  by 
Sheriff  Se^vard,  and  Chief  of  Police  Mike  Gallagher,  of  Cleveland, 
on  Tuesday,  April  19;  the  newrs  of  his  arrest  and  progress  towards 
the  scene  of  his  horrible  crime,  attracting  large  crowds  of  excited 
people  at  almost  every  station  along  th^  route.  The  prisoner  being 
committed  to  jail,  b}^  Sheriff  Sew^ard,  at  his  request  the  prelimi- 
nary examination  w^as  deferred  one  week,  commencing,  before 
Justice  Daniel  B.  Hadley,  assisted  by  Justice  Abel  B,  Berry,  and 
Mayor  Philip  N.  Schuyler,  on  the  26th  day  of  April,  just  13  days 
after  the  perpetration  of  the  crime,  and,  though  but  few  witnesses 
were  introduced,  occupied  tw^o  full  days,  the  court  room  being 
densely  crowded  throughout. 

On  the  part  of  the  State,  Prosecuting  Attorney  Sidney  Kdger- 
ton,  Esq.,  was  assisted  by  William  H.  Upson,  Nathaniel  W.  Goodhue, 
Roland  O.  Hammond  and  Edw^in  P.  Green,  Esqs.,  w^hile  the  defense 
was  conducted  by  William  S.  C.  Otis,  Christopher  P.  Wolcott, 
George  Bliss  and  John  A.  Pleasants,  Esqs.  The  counsel  for  the 
defense  offered  no  testimony,  and,  without  argument,  the  sitting^ 
magistrates  remanded  the  prisoner  to  jail  to  ansv^^er  to  the  charge 
of  murder,  at  the  June  term  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for 
Summit  county. 

Search  for  the  Missing  Head. — It  had  been  deemed  impor- 
tant, for  the  full  identification  of  the  murdered  man,  that,  if  possi- 
ble, the  missing  head  should  be  secured.  To  this  end  Sheriff 
Seward  obtained  permission  from  the  canal  authorities  to  dra-w  off 
the  water  from  the  nine-mile  level  between  the  upper  lock,  at 
Bettes'  Corners,  and  Kent,  which  was  accordingly  done,  but 
without  avail.  The  nine  locks  and  intervening  levels  were  also 
thoroughly  explored,  as  far  dow^n  as  the  Old  Forge,  at  which  point 
it  w^as  supposed  the  fleeing  murderer  had  left  the  canal,  and  below 
w^hich  the  Little  Cuyahoga  river  was  carefully  dragged  and  raked, 
both  by  the  authorities  and  private  parties — the  aid  of  spiritualism 
also  being  invoked — but  without  result,  and  the  head  was  never 
found;  though  the  prisoner  himself,  at  alater  stage  of  proceedings, 
offered  to  take  the  officers  to  the  sj^t  where  he  had  thrown  it  inta 
the  Big  Cuyahoga  river,  if  they  w^ould  conduct  him  thither.  But 
as  by  this  time  the  identity  of  the  body  had  been  admitted  by 
defendant's  counsel,  and  as  from  lapse  of  time  the  features  of 
the  dead  man  would  hardly  be  recognizable,  even  if  found,  the  offer 
was  respectfully  declined. 

Indictment,  Arraignment,  Etc. — At  the  next  term  of  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas,  commencing  June  14,  1853,  with  Judge  Samuel 
Humphreyville,  of  Medina,  upon  the  bench,  the  grand  jury  returned 
a  true  bill  against  the  defendant,  for  murder  in  the  first  degree, 
embracing  eight  counts,  as  follows:  1st.  That  James  Parks,  alias 
James  Dickinson,  did  murder  William  Beatson,  by  sticking  him 
in  the  throat  with  a  knife.  2nd.  That  James  Parks,  alias  James- 
Dickinson,  did  murder  William  Beatson,bythrow^ing  a  stone  against 
his  head.  3d.  That  James  Parks,  alias  James  Dickinson,  did  murder 
William  Beatson,  by  shooting  him  in  the  head  with  a  pistol.  4th, 
That  James  Parks,  alias  James  Dickinson,  did  murder  William 
Beatson  in  some  w^ay  or  manner  and  by  some  means,  instruments- 


A  CURIOUS  DEFENSE.  775 

and  weapons,  to  the  grand  jurors  unkno^vn.  The  remaining  four 
counts  were  the  same  as  the  above,  except  that  the  person 
murdered  was  to  the  grand  jury  unknow^n. 

On  Monday,  June  20,  1853,  the  accused  was  brought  into  court 
for  arraignment,  and  entered  a  plea  of  not  guilty,  w^hereupon  a 
motion  was  made  by  his  counsel  for  a  continuance  of  the  case  until 
the  November  term  of  court,  which  ^was  granted.  The  trial  com- 
menced on  Monday,  December  26,  1853,  before  Judge  Humphrey- 
ville,  and  the  follow^ing  array  of  jurors:  Robert  G.  Marshall,  of 
Norton;  Houston  Sisler,  of  Franklin;  Peter  Weeks,  of  Copley;  Wel- 
lington Johnson,  of  Northfield;  William  C.  Oviatt,  of  Tallmadge; 
Frederick  Baldwin,  of  Hudson;  James  W.  Wallace,  of  Northfield; 
Julius  Humphrey,  of  Richfield;  Talmon  Beardsley,  of  Coventry; 
Isaac  T.  Welton,  of  Richfield;  John  C.  Wallace,  of  Northfield,  and 
Orrin  P.  Nichols,  of  Twinsburg.  Judge  Humphreyville  assigned 
Messrs.  Bliss  and  Wolcott  to  the  defense,  w^ho  were  assisted  in  their 
labors  by  their  respective  law  partners,  Messrs.  Pleasants  and  Otis, 
while  Prosecuting  Attorney  Edgerton  was  assisted  by  Messrs.  Up- 
son and  Bierce. 

The  Theory  of  the  Prosecution. — The  statement  of  the  case 
on  the  part  of  the  prosecution,  was  made  by  Mr.  Upson,  setting 
forth  the  facts  substantially  as  related  above,  only  considerably 
more  in  detail,  the  theory  of  the  prosecution  being  that  on  leaving 
the  hotel  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Parks  and  Beatson  started  north  on 
the  wagon  road  leading  to  Hudson;  that  on  reaching  the  intersect- 
ing road  leading  across  the  river,  tovt^ard  what  is  now^  known  as 
Gaylord's  Grove,  they  followed  it  to  a  point  where  it  passes  under 
the  railroad,  a  short  distance  west  of  the  river  bridge;  that  they 
stopped  to  take  a  drink,  and  that  while  Beatson  stood  with  head 
throAvn  back,  in  the  act  of  drinking  from  a  bottle,  he  was  stabbed 
in  the  neck  by  Parks,  the  carotid  artery  being  partially  severed, 
and  the  blood  spurting  against  the  abutment  stones  as  indicated, 
and  saturating  the  gijound  w^here  he  fell,  as  he  must  have  almost 
instantly  done,  after  which  the  body  of  the  murdered  man  was 
stripped,  rifled,  beheaded,  dragged  to  the  bridge  and  thrown  into 
the  river  as  stated. 

Singular  Line  of  Defense. — Mr.  Otis  then,  to  the  general 
surprise,  made  a  statement  on  the  part  of  the  defense,  giving  an 
apparently  candid  and  truthful  history  of  the  accused  froin  the 
time  of  his  landing  in  America,  at  the  age  of  26  years,  to  his  return 
from  England  to  Cleveland  in  March,  1853,  substantially  as  above 
given,  also  in  substance,  following  the  statement  of  counsel  for 
the  prosecution  until  the  pair  left  the  hotel  at  Cuyahoga  Falls  on 
the  night  of  the  murder.  At  this  point  Mr.  Otis  stated  that  on 
emerging  from  the  hotel,  instead  of  starting  up  the  wagon  road 
towards  Hudson,  they  crossed  the  river  and  started  north  upon  the 
railroad  track;  that  they  fell  into  several  cattle-guards,  but  that 
they  crossed  the  railroad  bridge,  over  the  river,  all  right;  that  they 
proceeded  but  a  few  steps  beyond  tlie  river  bridge  w^hen  they  fell. 
Parks  ^was  much  stunned,  and  when  he  came  to  he  missed  Beat- 
son,  and  went  up  on  to  the  railroad  embankment  to  search  for  him. 
Getting  no  response  to  his  calls  he  again  went  below,  and  on 
groping  around,  first  placed  his  hand  on  Beaton's  thigh;  then 
feeling  along  up,  found  his  head  to  be  warm,  soft  and  wet;  felt  his 
pulse  and  found  that  he  was  dead. 


776  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

He  then  sat  himself  down  to  reflect;  he  knew  that  he  w^ould 
be  suspected  of  murder,  as  his  past  character  was  bad;  his  only 
safety  seemed  to  be  in  concealment;  he  dragged  the  body  to 
the  bridge  and  thought  that  if  he  removed  the  head  it  would  be 
more  difficult  to  identify  it;  he  stripped  it  of  its  clothing,  tied 
Beatson's  coat  by  the  sleeves  around  his  own  Avaist,  and  proceeded 
to  sever  the  head  from  the  body,  taking  Beatson's  own  knife  for  the 
purpose;  that,  meeting  with  resistance  from  the  bone  of  the  neck, 
he  drove  the  knife  through  with  a  stone;  he  then  threw  the  body 
in  the  river,  and  took  the  head  with  him  below,  where  he  also 
threw  that  in  the  river;  the  clothing  being  disposed  of  w^herever 
he  could  get  rid  of  it,  avoiding  people  as  he  passed  along. 

Mr.  Otis  said  that  counsel  at  first  doubted  Parks'  story,  the 
substance  of  which  he  had  stated,  but  on  examining  the  ground 
and  the  facts,  they  had  become  satisfied  of  its  truth,  the  theory  of 
the  defense  being  that  in  falling  through  the  bridge  Beatson  had 
plunged  obliquely  head-foremost  against  the  jagged  stone  abut- 
ment, crushing  his  skull  and  saturating  the  Avail  and  ground  w^ith 
his  blood. 

The  TevStimoxy — Arguments — Charge  to  the  Jury,  etc. — On 
the  conclusion  of  the  statements,  the  jurj^  were  taken  by  Sheriff 
Seward  to  Cuyahoga  Falls,  to  vie^v  the  scene  of  the  tragedy,  accom- 
panied by  Mr.  Upson  for  the  State  and  Mr.  Otis  for  the  defendant. 
On  returning  to  the  court  house,  the  trial  was  proceeded  with, 
occupying  just  14  days.  Thirty-one  witnesses  were  sworn  and 
examined  on  behalf  of  the  State,  and  sixteen  on  the  part  of  the 
accused;  the  main  effort  of  counsel  for  defense  being  to  show  not 
only  a  possibility,  but  a  probability,  that  Beatson's  death  w^as  caused 
b}^  his  falling  through  the  bridge  as  claimed,  and  the  lack  of 
motive  on  the  part  of  Parks  for  the  murder  of  his  friend,  by  assum- 
ing that  Parks  and  his  wife  and  her  brothers  had  plenty  of  money, 
w^hile  Beatson  possessed  comparatively  but  little.  The  argument 
of  the  prosecution  w^as  opened  by  General  Bierce,  occupying  about 
one  hour  and  a  half.  Judge  Bliss  opened  for  tne  defense  in  a  speech 
of  nearly  ten  hours,  Mr.  Wolcott  occupying  about  the  same  length 
of  time,  and  Mr.  Edgerton  devoting  about  four  hours  to  the  closing 
argument. 

On  Monday,  January  9,  1854,  at  2  o'clock  p.  m..  Judge  Humph- 
rej^ville  delivered  his  charge  to  the  jury,  which  w^as,  in  every 
respect,  a  well-considered,  fair  and  impartial  presentation  of  the 
law  in  the  case,  and  the  rules  of  applying  the  testimony  w^hich 
had  been  adduced  upon  the  trial,  together  w^ith  a  very  lucid  disser- 
tation on  the  nature  and  applicability  of  circumstantial  evidence 
and  a  full  and  clear  explanation  as  to  what  constitutes  a  reasona- 
ble doubt. 

Verdict — Motion  for  New  Trial. — On  the  conclusion  of 
Judge  Humphrey ville's  charge,  the  jury  retired  to  their  room  at 
3:30  p.  M.,  and  at  8:30  they  announced  to  the  sheriff  that  they  had 
agreed  upon  a  verdict,  and  the  court  and  counsel  were  sent  for. 
About  9  o'clock  their  verdict  of  murder  in  the  first  degree  w^as 
announced;  the  prisoner  looking  each  juror  square  in  the  face  as 
he  pronounced  the  fatal  word  "guilty,"  without  the  relaxation  of  a 
single  muscle,  or  the  slightest  tremor  of  nerve. 

The  next  day  the  prisoner  was  again  brought  into  court,  when 
Judge  Bliss  made  a  motion  to  have  the  verdict  set  aside,  and  the 


SENTENCE — STATEMENT  OF   PRISONER.  777 

"venue  changed  to  another  county  where  an  impartial  trial  might 
be  obtained.  Prosecutor  Bdgerton  declined  to  occupy  the  time  of 
the  court  in  opposing  the  motion,  and  Mr,  Wolcott  spoke  forcibly 
and  eloquently,  for  about  an  hour,  in  its  support.  The  court,  with 
a  few^  cogent  and  clearly  expressed  reasons,  overruled  the  motion, 
and  at  once  proceeded  to  pronounce 

THE  SENTENCE. 

"James  Parks: — You  have  been  indicted  by  the  grand  jury  of 
this  county  for  the  murder  of  William  Beatson;  you  have  been 
tried  by  a  traverse  jury,  before  whom  you  have  had  the  benefit  of 
able  counsel.  They  have  brought  to  your  defense  a  laborious  and 
searching  examination  of  the  evidence  against  you,  as  w^ell  as  an 
earnest  and  careful  presentation  of  everything  that  could  be  pro- 
duced in  your  favor.  The  jury  have  listened  patiently  and  atten- 
tively to  the  evidence,  and  the  pleadings  of  your  counsel,  and  have 
arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  you  are  guilty,  flave  you  anything 
to  say  why  the  sentence  of  the  law  should  not  be  pronounced 
against  you  ?" 

Mr.  Parks  responded  in  a  firm  voice: — "May  it  please  your 
Honor,  I  have  the  best  reason  in  the  w^orld  w^hy  sentence  should 
not  be  passed.  I  have  represented  that  through  my  counsel.  1 
have  nothing  more  to  add;  I  have  told,  through  them,  the  truth, 
the  w^hole  truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth." 

The  Court: — "You  have  had  a  fair  and  impartial  trial  by  an 
intelligent  and  unbiased  jury.  They  have  returned  a  verdict  of 
guilty  against  you,  and  with  that  verdict  tiie  court  is  satisfied. 
You  have  wilfully  and  deliberately  taken  the  life  of  a  fellow  being, 
and  in  so  doing  you  have  forfeited  your  own.  The  penalty  of  the 
law^  is  death.  It  is  a  painful  duty  to  pronounce  upon  you  the  sen- 
tence of  the  law,  but  having  given  full  consideration  to  every 
argument  urged  against  it,  I  can  find  nothing  to  excuse  ine  from 
the  discharge  of  this  duty.  The  sentence  of  the  court  is,  therefore, 
that  you  be  removed  hence  to  the  jail  of  this  county,  and  there 
safely  kept  until  the  26th  day  of  May  next,  when  you  will  be  taken 
thence  to  the  place  of  execution,  w^here,  betvsreen  the  hours 
of  9  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  and  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
you  w^ill  be  hanged  by  the  neck  until  you  are  dead." 

Parks  Makes  a  "  Statement." — The  report  of  the  trial  was 
soon  afterw^ards  published  in  pamphlet  form,  to  w^hich  was  added 
a  document  of  nearly  twenty  pages,  \srritten  by  Parks  himself. 
He  commenced  by  denying  that,  before  leaving  England,  he  had 
ever  engaged  in  poaching,  burglary,  etc.,  or  had  ever  been  in  prison 
there.  He  then  relates,  in  detail,  his  crookedness  and  imprison- 
ment in  this  country;  his  connection  with  a  "strange  woman"  and 
his  saloon-keeping. in  Cleveland;  his  visit  to  Kngland,  marriage  to 
his  cousin,  return  to  America,  substantially  as  stated  by  Mr.  Otis. 
He  then  reiterates  the  story  of  the  "  accidental "  death  of  Beatson 
at  the  railroad  bridge,  and  of  his  ghastly  w^ork  in  arraying  himself 
in  Beatson's  coat  tied  about  his  Avaist  for  an  apron,  and  in  cutting 
off  the  head  with  a  knife  taken  from  Beatson's  pocket,  and  his  dis- 
position of  the  body,  head,  clothing,  etc.,  attributing  his  proceed- 
ings to  his  fear  that  the  true  story  of  the  death  of  Beatson  would 
not  be  believed  because  of  his  (Parks')  previous  bad  character; 
saying,  in  that  connection:     "If  anybody  thinks  that  it  was  not 


778  AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

hateful  to  my  feelings,  they  are  very  much  mistaken.  I  conceived 
that  the  necessity  of  the  case  was  in  a  great  degree  excusable;  as- 
much  so  as  it  is  to  dispose  of  the  dead  in  the  various  ways  they  do^ 
in  order  to  prevent  them  from  injuring  the  living;  and  I  shall  here 
state,  with  all  due  respect  to  the  feelings  of  others,  that  I  think  it 
does  not  matter  >vhat  is  done  w^ith  a  dead  body,  providing  it  doe& 
not  injure  the  feelings  of  living  friends.  I  did  not  do  any  crime 
■whatever,  and  I  can  vindicate  myself  by  the  laws  of  heaven  and  of 
reason.  The  previous  tyrannical  conventionalism  of  society  imposed 
the  task  on  me;  I  never  sought  for  it,  and  did  not  like  it.  1  may 
have  sinned.  Nay,  I  have  sinned,  but  I  have  suffered,  have 
repented,  but  I  could  not  be  forgiven.  When  will  society  cease  to 
hunt  a  man  down  for  one  error?  After  punishing  him  with  a  pen- 
alty ten  times  greater  than  his  offense,  they  are  not  satisfied.  How 
often  is  the  law^  made  the  w^eapon  of  the  vilest  malignity  and  it& 
penalties  the  most  dire  revenge!" 

Writ  of  Error  Allowed — Execution  Postponed. — A  bill  of 
exceptions  having  been  prepared,  and  duly  signed  by  Judge  Hum- 
phreyville,  application  w^as  made  to  Judge  Hartley,  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  for  a  writ  of  error,  which  was  finally  granted,  and  the  case 
reserved  for  hearing  in  the  Supreme  Court.  The  granting  of 
the  w^rit  and  the  postponement  of  the  execution,  created  the  most 
intense  excitement  throughout  the  county.  Sheriff  Seward  had 
already  had  a  gallows  constructed,  and  w^as  making  other  prepa- 
rations for  the  execution,  all  of  which  w^ere  now^  indefinitely  post- 
poned. Yet,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  postponement 
w^as  widely  published,  and  notw^ith standing  the  hanging,  w^hen 
consummated,  w^ould  be  private,  and  within  the  walls  of  the  jail, 
on  the  day  set  for  the  execution  a  large  and  excited  croAvd  of  peo- 
ple, men,  w^omen  and  children,  assembled  about  the  jail,  it  being 
estimated  that  there  were  at  least  2,000  persons  from  outside  of 
Akron,  in  attendance. 

At  first,  Parks  was  quite  alarmed  at  the  size  and  somew^hat 
emphatic  demonstrations  of  the  crowd — fearing  an  uninvited  visit 
of  Judge  Lynch,  and  expressed  a  desire  to  be  locked  up  in  his  cell, 
but  at  length  becoming  reassured,  as  he  explained,  by  the  large 
number  of  "ladies"  in  the  throng,  he  not  only  sought  to  gratify 
morbid  curiosity,  by  exhibiting  himself  freely  at  the  grated  win- 
dow, but  also  harangued  the  crowd,  asserting  his  innocence,  and 
pointing  out  the  fearful  \\rrong  of  hanging  an  innocent  man.  Hi& 
speech,  however,  did  not  have  a  very  mollifying  effect  upon  the 
crowd,  for  many  of  them  intimated,  in  no  measured  or  stinted 
terms,  that  they  would  relish  no  better  sport  than  to  help  "  string 
him  up,"  and  so  intense  was  the  disappointment,  and  so  firm  w^as 
the  belief  that  he  was  guilty  of  the  horrible  crime  attributed  ta 
him,  it  only  needed  a  bold  and  determined  leader  to  have  essayed 
the  attempt,  though  the  authorities  were  pretty  w^ell  prepared 
against  the  consummation  of  such  an  effort. 

Planning  to  EvSCApe  From  Jail. — Among  the  prisoners  con- 
fined in  the  jail,  at  this  time,  w^as  a  man  named  Case,  whose 
brother,  from  Kent,  w^as  permitted  to  visit  him.  On  his  leaving 
the  jail,  the  second  time,  Sheriff  Seward  noticing  something 
peculiar  in  his  manner,  concluded  to  search  him  and  w^as  rcAvarded 
by  finding  concealed  upon  his  person  the  pattern  for  a  key  to 
the   jail    locks    then  in  use,    and    a    couple    of    notes    in     Parks' 


NEW   TRIAL— CHANGE   OF   VENUE.  779 

handwriting,  addressed  to  his  brother-in-law,  George    Dickinson, 
of  w^hich  the  following  are  copies: 

Dear  Brother:— The  bearer  of  this  is  a  friend  of  mine.  Help  him  to 
what  he  wants,  a  key  and  a  saw — g-ood  saw.  Be  sure,  if  you  do,  old  Copper 
Knob  is  safe.  Tatersley,  g-unsmith,  or  some  jeweler.  I  need  not  tell  you 
this  is  of  great  importance.  I  need  not  tell  you  more;  this  man  will  tell 
you  all. 

Yours,  Old  Copper  Knob. 
The  other  note  read: 

"The  saw  must  not  be  inore  than  three-quarters  of  an  inch  broad,  and 
the  back  of  it  must  not  be  any  thicker  than  the  edge.  It  should  have  a  sort 
of  a  handle,  as  a  bow  cannot  be  used  for  want  of  room  between  the  bars. 
The  barrel  of  the  key  must  run  down  as  far  as  the  shoulder,  but  about  four 
threads  at  the  nose  of  the  key  is  all  that  is  wanted.  I  send  you  an  exact  pat- 
tern of  wood,  only  make  a  better  shoulder,  and  a  better  handle.  The  barrel 
is  an  exact  fit,  and  impression  made  on  the  nose  of  the  wood  is  inade  with 
the  screw  that  is  inside  the  locks.  The  threads  on  the  screw  are  not  very 
fine.     If  we  had  some  lead  or  zinc  we  might  make  a  key." 

Hitherto,  Sheriff  Seward  had  shown  his  prisoner  great  lenity, 
granting  him  the  range  of  the  jail  corridors  during  the  day  and 
only  locking  hitn  in  his  cell  at  night.  From  this  time  on  he 
deemed  it  advisable  to  keep  him  confined  in  his  own  cell,  only  let- 
ting him  out  for  exercise  for  a  short  time  each  morning  and  even- 
ing. Parks  became  highly  indignant  at  this  further  curtailment 
of  his  liberty,  and  manifested  a  disposition  to  make  the  sheriff  and 
assistants  as  much  trouble  as  possible. 

At  length,  one  morning,  after  being  given  his  customary  exer- 
cise by  the  faithful  turnkey,  the  late  Chris.  Metzler,  Parks  utterly 
refused  to  re-enter  his  cell,  making  such  savage  demonstrations  as 
to  frighten  poor  Chris,  nearly  out  of  his  senses.  Deputy  Sheriff 
George  W.  Marriner,  was  called  in  to  quell  the  insubordination, 
and  ordered  Mr.  Parks  into  his  cell,  refusing  to  enter  which,  and 
making  some  hostile  demonstrations  towards  Marriner,  the  latter 
suddenly  planted  his  brawny  fist  between  the  eyes  of  the  former 
and  knocked  him  nearly  the  entire  length  of  the  corridor,  then 
seized  him  by  the  collar  and  dragged  him  into  the  cell.  From 
this  time  on,  while  he  remained  in  the  jail  here.  Parks  was  per- 
fectly docile  and  amiable. 

Writ  of  Error  Sustained — New  Trial  Granted- — The  hear- 
ing of  the  Parks  wrrit  of  error  case  was  taken  up  out  of  the  regular 
order,  on  the  calendar  of  the  Supreme  court,  and  after  being  ably 
argued,  pro  and  con,  by  counsel  on  either  side,  a  decision  was 
reached  early  in  August,  1854.  The  writ  was  sustained  and  ai  new 
trial  granted  on  the  single  ground  that  the  verdict  of  the  jury  was 
informal.  This  remanded  the  case  to  the  court  of  Common  Pleas 
of  Summit  county,  unless  a  change  of  venue  should  be  granted  by 
said  court.  At  the  November  term  of  court  a  motion  w^as  made  for 
a  change  of  venue,  on  the  ground  that  on  account  of  the  prejudice 
against  the  accused,  he  could  not  have  a  fair  and  impartial  trial  in 
Summit  county,  which  motion  was  granted  by  Judge  Humphrey- 
ville,  w^ho  ordered  the  case  to  be  transferred  to  Cuyahoga  county, 
though  Parks  himself  expressed  a  wish  to  be  tried  in  Portage 
county.  In  accordance  with  this  arrangement,  on  the  5th  day  of 
January,  1855,  Parks  was  taken  to  Cleveland  and  transferred  to  the 
custody  of  Sheriff  Spangler  by  Sheriff  Seward. 

The  case  w^as  set  for  trial  in  Judge  Starkweather's  court  about 
the  middle  of  January,  but,  at  the  request  of  defendant's  counsel. 


780  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

was  postponed  until  February  15, 1855.  When  the  case  was  called, 
on  the  day  named,  Mr.  Otis  announced  that  Messrs.  Bliss  and  Wol- 
cott,  who  had  been  assigned  to  the  defense  in  Summit  county, 
w^ould  be  unable  to  further  act  in  the  premises,  and  Mr.  Parks 
chose  Hiram  Griswold,  Esq.,  and  the  court  named  Amos  Coe,  Ksq., 
as  his  assistant,  while  A.  G.  Riddle,  Esq.,  was  called  to  the  assist- 
ance of  Prosecutor  Edgerton.  To  give  the  new  counsel  for  the 
defense  time  to  familiarize  themselves  with  the  case,  a  further 
postponement  was  granted  until  the  6th  day  of  March,  at  which 
time  the  trial  was  proceeded  with.  Prosecutor  Edgerton  made  a 
statement  of  the  case  to  the  jury  substantially  the  same  as  had 
been  made  by  Mr.  Upson  on  the  former  trial,  and  Mr.  Griswold, 
for  the  accused,  embodying  the  same  line  of  defense  as  before, 
giving,  in  addition,  as  a  reason  for  the  two  men  going  to  Pittsburg, 
that  "the  purlieus  of  that  city  were  much  more  favorable  for  the 
commission  of  crime  than  any  portion  of  Summit  county,"  and 
that  Beatson,  instead  of  Parks,  insisted  on  footing  it  back  to  Hud- 
son on  the  night  of  the  alleged  murder. 

The  jury  were  escorted  to  Cuyahoga  Falls,  to  view  the  scene 
of  the  murder,  by  Sheriff  Spangler,  accompanied  by  Messrs.  Edger- 
ton and  Grisw^old.  Most  of  the  witnesses  examined  upon  the  first 
trial  also  testified  in  this,  and  while  several  new  witnesses  were 
introduced  on  both  sides,  but  little  new  evidence  bearing  upon  the 
case  ^r^as  elicited.  The  testimony  closed  on  Monday,  March  12,  and 
the  arguments  of  counsel  occupied  nearly  three  days.  The  Cleve- 
land Herald,  in  its  report  of  the  trial,  after  a  very  glowing  tribute 
to  Mr.  Griswold  for  his  masterly  defense,  and  his  eloquent  plea 
in  the  behalf  of  the  accused,  and  his  wife  and  child,  and  after  giv- 
ing a  very  full  synopsis  of  Mr.  Edgerton's  closing  arg*ument,  on 
behalf  of  the  State,  concluded  as  follows: 

Mr.  Edg-erton  closed  his  remarks  with  a  powerful  and  eloquent  appeal 
to  the  jurj",  displaying-  the  enormitj^  of  the  offense,  and  the  horrible  facts 
connected  therewith;  characterized  the  case  as  without  a  parallel  in  the 
history  of  crimes  in  Ohio,  and  begged  of  the  jurj^  to  lose  sight  of  the  hus- 
band and  father,  and  see  only  before  them  their  duty  to  the  community  and 
to  a  fellow  man.  Mr.  Edg^erton  was  solemn,  eloquent  and  impassioned,  and 
spoke  with  such  feeling  as  showed  that  the  responsibilit}^  of  the  case  was 
resting-  heavily  upon  him.  Mr.  Edgerton  has  shown,  through  the  whole 
trial,  that  a  complete  discharge  of  a  stern  duty  towards  the  community  was 
his  aim;  not  the  triumph  in  a  mere  law  suit. 

CHARGE  OF  THE  COURT— VERDICT  OF  THE  JURY. 

Judge  Starkweather's  charge  to  the  jury  was  stated  by  the 
Herald  to  have  been  delivered  "in  a  style  at  once  simple  and  elo- 
quent," as  he  referred  to  the  long  and  exciting  trial;  the  responsi- 
bility resting  upon  the  jury;  the  nature  of  the  alleged  crime  and 
the  statutes  defining  and  punishing  the  same;  his  entire  charge 
occupying  about  three-quarters  of  an  hour.  The  jury  retired  at  3 
o'clock  p.  M.,  and  returned  into  the  court  with  their  verdict  at 
8  o'clock  in  the  evening,  again  pronouncing  James  Parks,  alias 
James  Dickinson,  "Guilty  of  Murder  in  the  First  Degree." 

Another  Motion  for  New  Trial — Sentence,  Etc. — Mr.  Gris- 
w^old  immediately  moved  for  a  new  trial,  for  six  alleged  reasons  of 
error  and  informality,  which  motion,  after  argument  in  its 
support  (Mr.  Edgerton  declining  to  speak  in  opposition),  was 
promptly   overruled    by    Judge    Starkweather,    who  immediately 


A   BLASPHEMOUS   TIRADE.  781 

proceeded  to  sentence  the  prisoner.  Asking  him  the  usual  question 
as  to  whether  he  had  anything  to  say  why  the  sentence  of  law^ 
for  the  crime  of  which  he  had  been  convicted,  should  not  be  pro- 
nounced, Parks  pulled  a  large  roll  of  manuscript  out  of  his 
pocket  and  commenced  to  read.  After  he  had  read  nearly  three 
hours  the  judge  interrupted  him,  and,  in  very  appropriate  and 
impressive  terms,  sentenced  him  to  be  hung  on  the  first  Friday  in 
June,  1855. 

His  faithful  counsel  again  applied  to  the  Supreme  Court  for  the 
allo^vance  of  a  writ  of  error,  on  several  purely  technical  grounds,^ 
which  application,  on  full  hearing,  was  denied,  and  preparations 
were  accordingly  made  by  Sheriff  Sew^ard,  of  Summit,  and  Sheriff 
Spangler,  of  Cuyahoga,  for  carrying  out  the  sentence. 

Attempts  at  Escape,  Suicide,  Etc. — Besides  making  a  desper- 
ate attempt  to  escape,  by  means  of  keys  and  a  revolver,  smuggled 
into  the  jail  by  his  wife  or  other  friends,  he  also  made  tw^o  nearly 
successful  attempts  at  suicide — one  by  poison,  on  the  Saturday 
evening  previous  to  the  day  set  for  his  execution,  and  another  by 
cutting  his  throat  on  the  night  preceding  his  execution,  both  of 
w^hich  w^ere  prevented  by  his  w^ary  custodians. 

A  Most  Blasphemous  Letter. — The  day  previous  to  his  exe- 
cution, and  before  his  last  desperate  attempt  to  take  his  ow^n  life,^ 
he  penned  a  bitterly  ribald  and  blasphemous  tirade,  from  u^hich 
the  follow^ing  is  an  extract: 

When  I  meet  Christ  in  the  King'doni  of  Heaven,  he  will  congratulate  nie, 
for  my  case  is  parallel  with  his,  with  only  a  little  exception.  There  were  only 
two  false  witnesses  against  him,  and  there  were  some  twenty  that  were  false 
witnesses  against  me.  But  I  attribute  that  to  the  alteration  of  the  statute  and 
the  increase  in  population  since  Christ's  time;  for  when  he  was  tried  they 
hunted  the  whole  kingdom  and  could  find  but  two,  but  they  had  to  hunt 
over  a  very  small  portion  of  the  kingdom  andfoundplenty  who  were  ready  to- 
testify  against  me.  The  reason  why  my  case  is  parallel  with  Christ's  is  this: 
They  have  parted  my  garments  as  they  did  his,  for  they  have  already  given 
away  my  boots  to  some  person.  I  know  not  who,  and  I  suppose  to-morrow 
upon  my  vestments  they  will  cast  lots,  and  then  the5^will  sit  down  and  watch 
my  bodj^  and  perhaps  steal  me.  They  set  up  over  his  head  his  accusation,, 
written:  "This  is  Jesus,  the  king  Of  the  Jews;"  but  I  suppose  they  will  set 
up  over  my  head  m}^  accusation,  written:  "This  is  James  Parks,  the 
murderer,"    Itmay  be  true  of  Christ,  but  it  is  a  lie  concerning  me. 

The  Execution — Dying  Speech,  Etc. — At  ten  minutes  before 
12  o'clock,  on  Friday  June  1,  1855,  Sheriff  Seward  and  Marshal 
Jabez  Fitch,  escorted  the  malefactor  to  the  scaffold  in  the  corridor 
of  the  Cleveland  jail — the  same  gallows  which  had  been  con- 
structed for  his  execution  here — in  addition  to  the  various 
"  statements"  previously  furnished  to  the  press,  by  permission  of 
Sheriff  Spangler,  making  the  following  speech: 

Well,  gentlemen,  there  are  but  comparatively  few  present,  and  mj^ 
words  will  be  few.  If  I  wished  to  say  more  I  have  not  the  strength  to  do  so. 
I  see  among  you  some  of  my  jurors.  I  have  no  reflection  upon  your  verdict; 
you  did  your  dut)^  I  should  have  been  glad  to  have  spared  the  people  the 
horror  of  an  execution.  My  attempt  to  do  so  yesterday,  by  ending  my  life 
by  my  own  hands,  was  not  for  my  benefit,  but  for  those  I  leave  behind.  I 
had  hoped  to  prevent  my  child  and  relations  from  the  reproach  which  this 
will  bring  upon  them.  I  knew  that  1  was  not  a  murderer,  and  had  a  right  to 
dispose  of  my  existence  as  much  as  the  laws  and  society  had  to  do  so.  That 
William  Beatson  fell  and  killed  himself,  is  true.  I  am  no  murderer  in  any 
way.  I  might  say  so  much,  commend  myself  to  God  and  stop.  But,  gentle- 
men, the  trial  by  jury  is  not  yet  perfected.  Human  approaches  to  truth  are 
but  difficult  and  uncertain.     I  regret  that  the  bent  of  my  mind  and  the  scope 


782  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

of  my  understanding-  are  misunderstood,  I  never  dreamed  of  murder.  M3' 
conscience  would  never  have  dared  to  conceive  of  it.  That  I  inurdered  Beat- 
son  for  his  money  is  absurd.  He  was  a  poor  man,  with  less  money  than 
myself.  I  had  no  malignity  towards  hiin,  and  feel  none  towards  any  huinan 
being. 

Continuing  for  some  time  in  laudation  of  his  wife,  and  com- 
mending her  and  their  child  to  the  kind  consideration  of  the 
public,  and  expressing  the  hope  that  the  intelligence  of  his 
ignominous  death  might  be  mercifully  kept  from  his  aged  parents 
in  England,  he  took  a  short  rest,  during  which  time  a  purse  of 
nearly  $50  was  contributed  by  the  spectators  for  the  benefit  of  his 
w^ife  and  child.  Resuming  his  remarks,  after  speaking  in  w^arm 
praise  of  Sheriff  Seward,  Sheriff  Spangler  and  the  other  officers 
vs'ho  had  had  him  in  their  care,  and  the  several  attorneys  w^ho  had 
defended  him,  concluded  his  speech  as  follows: 

We  cannot  recall  the  pa.st.  Would  to  God  that  I  could  do  so.  But  I  know 
no  such  thing  as  fear.  I  am  misunderstood;  have  had  little  or  no  education; 
have  tried  to  learn  much  by  resorting  to  books  that  good  men  search;  am 
familiar  with  the  scriptures,  and  believe  that  we  shall  only  arrive  at  that 
perfection  which  man's  heart  strives  after  in  the  next  world.  I  thank  you 
for  your  kindness  to  my  wife.  I  have  no  clergyman  present.  I  had  expected 
Dr.  Perry,  but  my  request  to  him  I  must  have  sealed  up  with  a  package  of 
papers  I  gave  to  my  wife  yesterday.  I  was  educated  in  the  belief  of  the 
Church  of  England,  like  my  forefathers.  I  leave  the  world  at  peace  with  all 
mankind,  without  censure  upon  any  one.  I  again  assure  all  that  I  am  no 
murderer  in  any  respect,  by  thought  or  deed.  With  these  words  I  prepare  to 
meet  my  God. 

At  precisely  1  o'clock,  his  arms  and  feet  were  pinioned;  the 
rope  w^as  adjusted  about  his  neck  and  he  took  his  stand  upon 
the  drop.  He  then  requested  to  be  permitted  to  give  the  signal 
himself,  which  w^as  granted  by  Sheriff  Spangler,  and  a  handker- 
chief w^as  placed  in  his  hand  for  that  purpose.  The  cap  was 
drawn  down  over  his  face;  a  moment  or  two  of  silence  follow^ed, 
w^hen  with  the  distinctly  uttered  words,  "I  die  an  innocent  man," 
he  dropped  the  handkerchief,  the  trap  instantly  fell,  the  body  drop- 
ping about  six  feet,  resulting  in  the  complete  dislocation  of  the  neck 
and  instant  death,  not  a  struggle  or  tremor  of  limb  or  muscle  being 
visible. 

Mrs.  Parks  Sues  Prosecuting  Attorney  Kdgerton. —  It  will 
be  remembered  that  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  mostly  in  gold 
coin,  wa^  found  upon  the  person  of  Mrs.  Parks  and  her  brothers, 
when  they  w^ere  arrested  at  Utica,  which  was  supposed  to  have 
been  taken  by  Parks  from  the  body  of  his  victim.  The  major  part 
of  this  money  w^as  claimed  by  Mrs.  Parks  to  be  her  individual 
property,  while  the  balance  w^as  claimed  by  her  t^vo  brothers,  the 
small  sum  of  about  $50,  only,  being  admitted,  by  Parks,  to  have 
been  taken  from  the  body  of  Beatson,  while  he  w^as  engaged  in  the 
bloody  work  of  preparing  it  for  concealment.  There  w^as  consider- 
able conflicting  testimony  as  to  the  amount  of  money  possessed 
by  Beatson,  and  some  evidence  tending  to  show^  that  w^hat  he  did 
possess  was  the  property  of  one  William  Gee,  then  deceased, 
obtained  by  fraud  or  forgery,  from  a  bank  in  Buffalo.  Ascertain- 
ing as  nearly  as  possible  the  amount  belonging  to  the  two  brothers 
of  Mrs.  Parks,  Mr.  Edgerton  paid  it  over  to  them,  and  retained  the 
balance,  as  the  property  of  the  heirs  of  William  Beatson,  or 
William  Gee,  as  the  proof  should  thereafter  determine,  cover- 
ing the  same  into  the  county  treasury. 


MR.    EDGERTON   TRIUMPHANT. 


783 


Some  time  after  the  execution  of  Parks,  his  wife  under  the 
name  of  Betsy  Dickinson,  instituted  proceedings  in  the  Court  of 
■Common  Pleas  of  Cuyahoga  county  against  Mr.  Edgerton,  for  the 
recovery  of  the  money,  her  attorneys  watching  their  opportunity 
to  get  service  upon  him  in  that  county.  The  case  ^vas  closely  con- 
tested in  the  Common  Pleas,  and  finally  carried  to  the  District 
Court  of  that  county,  where  it  came  to  a  final  hearing,  to  a  jury,  in 
September,  1861,  a  verdict,  under  instructions  from  the  court,  being 
rendered  for  the  defendant,  and  as  neither  the  heirs  of  William 
Beatson  or  William  Gee,  have  ever  appeared  to  claim  the  same, 
the  money  in  question  has  inured  to  the  benefit  of  the  people  of 
Summit  county,  as  a  partial  reimbursement  for  the  large  expense 
incurred  in  apprehending,  convicting  and  executing  the  perpetra- 
tor of  one  of  the  most  diabolical  murders  ever  committed  within 
her  borders. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP— CURIOUS  LEGAL  QUESTION— LOCATION,  EARLY  RESOUR- 
CES, ETC.— UNFORTUNATE  VILLAGE  PROJECTS — BUSINESS  EMPORIUMS — 
THREE  VILLAGES  IN  ONE— PIONEER  SETTLERS  AND  INCIDENTS— ORGANI- 
ZATION C»F  TOWNSHIP— FRANKLIN'S  INDUSTRIES— MILITARY  SERVICES— 
THE  SAUTER-SHEETES  TRAGEDY— OSTER-KERNAN  HOMJCIDE— HONORABLE 
CIVIL  RECORD,  ETC. 

FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP. 

T^7B  are  now^  about  to  extend  our  researches  and  observations 
^^  beyond  the  "sacred  precincts"  of  the  renowned  Western 
Reserve,  or  "  Cheesedom  "  as  the  rest  of  the  State  have  been  wont  ta 
call  us,  and  to  descend  into  "Dutchdom,"  as  Stark,  Wayne,  and 
other  Pennsylvania  and  German  settled  counties  w^ere  for- 
merly designated  by  the  dwellers  upon  said  Western  Reserve. 

Curious  Legal  Question. — Like  Coventry,  Franklin  township 
is  formed  of  two  distinct  parts,  from  two  separate  surveys;  that 
portion  lying  east  of  the  Tuscarawas  river  having  been  ceded  by 
the  Indians  to  the  United  States  in  1785,  and  surveyed  by  Bben- 
ezer  Buckingham  in  1800,  while  the  title  to  that  portion  west  of 
the  river  remained  in  the  Indians  until  1805,  the  survey  being 
made  by  Joseph  Harwell  in  1807. 

And,  in  this  connection,  arises  the  somew^hat  complex  legal 
question  as  to  the  ow^nership  of  the  Tuscaraw^as  and  Cuyahoga 
rivers,  the  Indians  having,  by  the  tw^o  separate  treaties  named,  ceded 
to  the  government  the  lands  east  and  w^est  of  those  rivers,  but  not 
the  rivers  themselves.  Suppose  the  lineal  descendants  of  the 
chief,  or  chiefs,  who  executed  said  treaties,  should  come  forward 
and  claim  said  streams,  ^vould  the  Ohio  law^  of  prescription,  or 
adverse  possession  of  over  twenty-one  years,  hold  good,  and  if  so^ 
to  whom,  the  United  States  government  itself,  the  State  of  Ohio,  or 
the  individual  ow^ners  of  the  abutting  lands  upon  either  side  of  the 
streams  in  question? 

Where  and  How  Located. — Franklin  is  designated  on  the 
records  as  Tow^nship  2,  Range  10,  and  though  somewhat  broken  in 
portions  by  hills,  rivers,  creeks,  lakes  and  marshes,  is  one  of  the 
best  farming  townships  in  the  county,  besides  being  largely  under- 
laid by  beds  of  the  most  excellent  quality  of  bituminous  coal.  This 
tow^nship,  and  its  eastern  neighbor,  Green,  are  each  nearly  six 
miles  square,  w^hile  it  w^ill  be  remembered  that  the  townships  of 
the  Reserve  are  uniformly  five  miles  square,  only.  Hence,  there 
is  a  breaking  of  joints  in  the  north  and  south  lines  between  the 
tw^o  tow^nships  originally  connected  w^ith  Stark  county,  and  their 
neighbors  upon  the  north,  Franklin  abutting  on  both  Norton  and 
Coventry,  with  Green  upon  the  east,  Lawrence,  Stark  county,  upon 
the  south,  and  Chippewa,  Wayne  county,  upon  the  west. 

Franklin's  Water-Courses,  Lakes,  Etc.— This  township  is 
traversed  its  entire  length,  diagonally  from  north  to  south,  by  the 
Tuscarawas  river,  being  joined  near  the  southwest  corner  by  the 


franklin's  business  emporiums.  785 

Chippewa  river  (formerly  Indian  Creek);  the  Ohio  Canal  also  fol- 
lowing the  general  course  of  the  Tuscarawas  through  the  tow^nship. 
There  are  also  quite  a  number  of  smaller  streams,  in  various  por- 
tions of  the  township,  which,  with  Mud  Lake,  in  the  southeast, 
covering  about  50  acres,  and  Turkey  Foot  Lake,  in  the  northeast 
corner,  covering,  with  its  numerous  lagoons,  sloughs  and  marshes, 
nearly  1,000  acres,  gives  to  the  township  a  most  abundant  w^ater 
supply— Turkey  Foot  now  forming  a  portion  of  the  great  chain  of 
contiguous  reservoirs  that  replenish  the  Ohio  canal  for  navigation 
purposes,  In  the  dry  season  of  the  year. 

Franklin's  Resources. — In  an  early  day,  the  marshes  adjacent 
to  Turkey  Foot  Lake,  and  the  several  water  courses  of  the  town- 
ship, bore  immense  quantities  of  cranberries,  which,  being  gathered 
by  the  inhabitants,  in  the  proper  season,  were,  through  local  mer- 
chants, shipped  overland  to  Pittsburg,  Philadelphia,  New  York, 
etc.,  thus  providing  many  a  luxury  to  the  pioneer  settlers  of  the 
neighborhood.  But  that  industry  no  longer  exists  in  Summit 
county,  not  even  to  the  extent  of  supplying  the  home  market. 
There  are,  also,  in  different  portions  of  the  township,  quite  exten- 
sive beds  of  a  pretty  fair  quality  of  peat,  which,  by  reason  of  the 
plentifulness  of  coal,  cannot  be  now  profitably  worked;  the 
quite  'large  deposits  of  bog  iron-ore,  formerly  worked  to  a  lim- 
ited extent  in  the  early  blast-furnace  days  of  Middlebury  and  Akron, 
being  entirely  overshadowed  by  the  iron  mines  of  Lake  Superior 
and  the  great  West. 

A  ViivLAGE  That  Was,  But  is  Not. — When  first  ceded  to  the 
United  States,  one  Richard  Carter,  a  well-to-do  and  enterprising 
Quaker,  of  Wheeling,  purchased  a  tract  of  land  at  the  junction  of 
the  Tuscarawas  and  Chippew^a  rivers,  in  the  southwestern  corner 
of  the  township,  employing  John  Harris,  Esq.,  and  David  McClure,. 
of  Canton,  to  survey  and  lay  out  a  village  at  that  point,  the  work 
being  completed  in  the  latter  part  of  1806,  and  in  honor  of  its 
proprietor,  the  prospective  village  was  named  "  Cartersville." 
Though  perhaps  some  slight  advance  towards  settlement  was 
made,  its  liability  to  inundation  by  every  considerable  rise  of 
water  in  the  streams  named,  led  to  an  early  abandonment  of  the 
project,  and  the  carefully  platted  lands  of  Cartersville  were  rele- 
gated to  the  use  of  the  pioneer  hunter  and  husbandman. 

A  Still  More  Unfortunate  Venture.-— About  1816,  one  David 
Harvey  laid  out  a  town  on  the  banks  of  the  Chippewa,  a  short 
distance  northwesterly  from  the  site  of  the  abandoned  village  of 
Cartersville,  above  referred  to.  Harvey  named  his  village  "  Savan- 
nah," and  for  a  few  years  it  had  quite  a  boom,  attaining  to  a  popu- 
lation of  some  60  or  70  souls,  Avith  mechanics,  merchants,  doctors, 
etc.,  Clinton  being  laid  out  about  the  same  time  by  William  Har- 
vey, a  son  of  David.  In  locating  the  Ohio  canal,  how^ever.  Savan- 
nah was  'left  out  in  the  cold,"  while  that  great  commercial  water- 
way passed  directly  through  Clinton.  This  gave  such  an  impetus  to 
the  latter  village,  with  a  corresponding  depression  to  the  former,  that 
by  the  time  the  canal  was  completed,  in  1827,  Savannah  had  largely 
merged  itself  in  its  more  favored  rival,  and  there  is  now  neither 
stick  nor  stone  to  mark  the  spot  where  Savannah  once  stood. 

Franklin's  Business  Emporium. — The  opening  of  navigation 
upon  the  canal,  in  1827,  as  before  intimated,  very  greatly  stimu- 
lated the  growth  and  business  importance  of  Clinton.     A  number  of 

so 


786  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COLNTY. 

stores  were  opened  and  stocked  with  goods  suited  to  the  times, 
hotels  were  established,  mechanics'  shops  erected,  schools  and 
churches  organized,  with  preachers,  doctors,  lawyers,  speculators 
and  all  the  paraphernalia  of  a  prosperous  and  enterprising  village. 
In  fact,  Clinton  almost  immediately  became  the  market  town  for  a 
large  area  of  country,  including  not  only  contiguous  towns  east 
and  west,  in  Stark  and  Wayne  counties,  but  extended  into  Medina 
and.  Richland  counties.  Three  or  four  large  warehouses,  capable 
of  storing  nearly  100,000  bushels  each  of  grain,  were  erected,  and 
scores  of  teams  laden  with  w^heat,  corn,  wool  and  other  farm 
products,  were  daily  seen  upon  her  streets,  while  large  numbers  of 
canal  boats  were  almost  constantly  loading  at  her  docks.  Large 
quantities  of  coal  from  the  Chippewa,  and  other  mines  of  the 
vicinage,  were  yearly  shipped  from  this  point,  the  operatives  in 
which  added  very  materially  to  the  business  importance,  though 
not  always  to  the  peace  and  order  of  the  village. 

Three  Villages  in  One. — The  original  village  of  Clinton  was 
laid  out  upon  the  west  side  of  the  river,  by  William  Harvey,  about 
1816,  as  already  stated,  additions  to  which  were  soon  afterwards 
made  by  Samuel  Rossitter,  William  Christmas  and  James  W. 
Lathrop.  The  opening  of  the  canal,  in  1827,  however,  necessitated 
the  building  of  warehouses  upon  that  thoroughfare,  and  the 
concentration  of  business  upon  the  east  side  of  the  river.  Hence, 
about  1835,  Gorham  Chapin  laid  out  a  village  on  the  southwest 
corner  of  section  29,  the  plat  of  which,  under  the  name  of  "  Oradeen," 
was  duly  recorded  in  Stark  County,  while,  in  1837,  William  and 
Francis  Pumro3^  laid  out  the  village  of  "Pumroy"  on  the  north- 
west corner  of  section  35,  immediately  south  of,  and  adjoining  Ora- 
deen, both  of  which  adjoined  Clinton  on  the  east. 

Many  lots  in  both  of  the  new  villages  w^ere  sold  and  deeded, 
under  the  names  designated,  and  though  the  three  villages  have 
long  been  known  to  the  public  by  the  general  name  of  Clinton, 
the  names  of  Oradeen  and  Pumroy  are  still  carried  upon  the 
records  and  tax  duplicates  of  Summit  county. 

Past  and  Present  Status. — In  the  early  days,  in  addition  to 
its  importance,  as  a  grain  and  produce  center,  Clinton  w^as,  for 
many  years,  a  veritable  mercantile  port  of  delivery,  merchants 
for  many  miles,  both  east  and  west,  consigning  their  eastern  pur- 
chases of  goods  to  the  commission  houses  at  this  point.  But  from 
about  1845,  owing  to  the  growing  importance  of  other  business  cen- 
ters— Akron,  Massillon,  Canal  Fulton,  etc. — Clinton  remained  about 
stationary  for  several  years,  and  finally,  ^vith  the  advent  of  railroad 
communication  with  near-b}^  localities,  in  the  early  fifties,  rapidly 
lost  its  prestige  as  a  grain  and  produce  shipping  point,  and  though 
for  a  number  of  years  holding  its  coal-shipping  and  mining  trade, 
it  has  since  been  gradually  declining  in  business  importance, 
though  still  fully  holding  its  own  in  point  of  population,  and  still 
enjoying  the  local  everyday  trade  from  quite  a  section  of  rich 
farming  territory  on  either  side,  besides  such  business  as  the  old 
canal  and  contiguous  railroads  naturally  bring  to  it. 

The  Village  of  Manchester. — About  the  year  of  1815 — a  year 
or  more  before  Clinton  was  platted— Mahlon  and  Adam  C.  Stewart 
laid  out  a  village  about  three  miles  northeasterly  from  the  village 
of  Clinton,  which  they  named  Manchester,  though  when  sufficiently 
advanced    to    be    accorded    postal    facilities,    there    being   another 


FRANKLIN  S   PIONEER   SETTLERS. 


787 


Manchester  somewhere  in  the  State,  the  postoffice  was  named  Nimi- 
silla,  probably  from  the  river  or  creek  of  that  name,  a  short  dis- 
tance south  of  the  village.  Mr.  Adam  Clarke  Stewart  was  the 
the  father  of  Mrs.  George  W.  Manly,  of  Canton,  and  Mrs.  Henry 
E.  Cantield  and  Mr.  Orlando  Stewart,  of  Akron,  Mr.  Stewart's 
first  wife  being  the  first  person  buried  in  the  Manchester  grave 
yard,  which  was  located  on   the  farm  of  the  two  brothers. 


A  DAM  CLARKE  STEWART,  — 
-^  born  in  Frederick  count}',  Marj'- 
land,  November  27,  1794,  in  earlj-  life 
renioving^  to  Ohio,  where,  in  connec- 
tion with  his  brother,  Mahlon  Stewart, 
he  founded  the  village  of  Manchester, 
in  Franklin  township,  as  elsewhere 
stated,  in  1815.  Having  buried  his 
wife  in  Manchester,  as  stated,  in  1819 
or  1820,  removed  to  Richmond,  Jeffer- 
son county,  Ohio,  where,  in  1824,  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  Beebout, 
who  bore  him  eight  children,  five  of 
whom  are  still  living — Hudson  Stew- 
art, now  residing  in  Richiuond ; 
Orlando  Stewart,  of  Akron ;  Mrs. 
George  W.  Manly,  formerly  of  Akron, 
now  of  Canton  ;  Mrs.  J.  R.  Hague,  of 
Cohnnbus,  and  Mrs.  Henry  E.  Can- 
field,  of  Akron.  Mr.  Stewart  was  a 
cabinet  maker  by  trade,  which  busi- 
ness, together  with  that  of  vinder- 
taking,  he  carried  on  in  Richmond 
for  about  forty  years,  also  officiating 
as  justice  of  the  peace  during  the 
last  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  of  his 


ADAM  CLARKE  STEWART. 

life,  his  death  occurring  December 
25,  1870,  at  the  age  of  76  years  and  28 
days. 


Manchester,  being  an  inland  town,  w^ith  no  transportation 
facilities  other  than  the  old-time  six-horse  Pennsylvania  wagon, 
has  never  been  blessed  or  cursed  with  "booms,"  but  has  kept  on 
the  even  tenor  of  its  way,  except  as  affected  by  the  general  busi- 
ness vicissitudes  of  the  world,  during  the  three-quarters  of  a  cen- 
tury of  its  existence.  With  its  tw^o  or  three  stores,  its  single  hotel, 
its  full  complement  of  mechanics,  its  skillful  physicians,  its  faith- 
ful preachers  and  teachers,  Manchester  has  proved  an  indispensa- 
ble adjunct  to  the  prosperity  of  the  staid  and  thrifty  farming 
community  by  which  it  is  surrounded. 

Though  Manchester  and  Clinton  are  each  some  distance  from 
the  geographical  center  of  the  township,  the  elections,  both  general 
and  local,  have,  until  very  recently,  alternated  betw^een  the  tw^o 
villages.  Now,  how^ever,  the  tow^nship  is  divided  into  two  sepa- 
rate election  precincts,  w^ith  voting  places  at  Manchester  and  Clin- 
ton respectively,  being  much  more  convenient,  generally,  than  the 
former  arrangement,  though  still  extremely  unhandy  for  the  voters 
in  the  northernmost  sections  of  the  township. 

The  first  person  to  have  really  settled  within  the  limits  of  the 
township,  is  supposed  to  have  been  Christopher  Johnson,  who 
located  upon  lot  14,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  township,  in  the  Spring 
of  1814.  It  is  not  known  where  Johnson  came  from,  but  from  the 
fact  that  he  was  designated  by  other  early  settlers  as  *'  Yankee 
Johnson,"  it  is  probable  that  he  w^as  of  New^  Kngland  origin.  The 
same  Spring,  and  but  a  few  days  later,  came  Thomas  Johnson, 


788  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

from  Westmoreland  county,  Pa.,  who  settled  on  lot  27,  near  Man- 
chester, and  about  the  same  time  William  Halli  well,  from  Steuben- 
ville,  who  settled  on  lot  28,  near  Clinton.  Johnson,  a  few^  years 
later,  removed  to  Norton,  where  he  built  a  tavern,  store  and  sev- 
eral mills,  and  founded  the  village  of  Johnson's  Corners.  Mr. 
Halliwell,  in  1833,  removed  to  the  southwestern  portion  of  Rich- 
field, where  he  lived  for  many  years,  a  highly  respectable  and  pros- 
perous farmer.  Jacob  Burgner,  from  east  of  the  AUeghanies^ 
settled  in  Jackson  township  in  1812,  and  in  April,  1814,  remov^ed  to- 
Franklin  township;  and  is  believed,  by  his  descendants,  to  have 
been  the  first  actual  settler  in  the  tow^nship.  Other  settlers  soon 
afterwards  began  to  flock  in,  among  them  Mr.  Jacob  HoUingex, 
Jacob  Sours,  Jacob  Balmer,  George  Rex,  Michael  Bradenburg,  John 
Snyder,  John  Hicks  and  others  not  now  remembered,  followed  rap- 
idly by  the  Vanderhoofs,  Himelrights,  Marshes,  Davises,  Swais- 
goods,  Lud^vicks,  Clays,  Spidels,  Waltenbergers,  McMurrays, 
Wholfs,  Rightleys,  Scotts,  Wises,  Browns,  Chapins,  Hooks,  Groves^ 
Rossitters,  Greenloes,  Stumps,  Wagoners,  Teeples,  Blilers,  Hoys,. 
Wirts,  Hamms,  Bears,  Rowes,  Troups,  Sorricks,  Wiltrouts,  Stew- 
arts, Harveys,  Flickingers,  and  others  w^hose  names  are  not  novv^ 
recalled. 

Births,  Marriages,  Deaths,  Etc. — The  first  birth  in  the  town- 
ship was  John  Johnson,  son  of  Christopher  Johnson,  in  1814;  the 
first  marriage  was  that  of  John  Hicks  to  Catherine  Flickinger,  in 
1815;  the  first  death  being  that  of  Mrs.  Jacob  Balmer,  in  the  Sum- 
mer of  1815,  from  the  bite  of  a  rattlesnake. 

Organization  of  Township. — So  rapid  was  the  settlement  of 
the  township,  that  in  1817,  a  school  was  established  at  Manchester, 
w^ith  Joseph  Mishler,  from  Lancaster,  Pa.,  as  teacher,  Mr.  Mish- 
ler  afterw^ards  settling  in  Springfield.  In  April,  of  the  same  year 
(1817),  by  proclamation  of  the  commissioners  of  Stark  county,  a 
township  organization  was  effected,  the  first  board  of  trustees 
elected  beihg  Mahlon  Stewart,  Jacob  HoUinger  and  Michael  Bra- 
denburg, with  David  Harve}'  and  Jacob  Balmer  as  justices  of  the 
peace.  The  first  store  in  the  township  was  kept  by  Jacob  Balmer, 
in  Manchester;  the  first  tavernkeeper  being  a  Pennsylvanian  by 
the  name  of  John  Schneider,  while  the  first  local  dispenser  of 
"  pills  and  potions  "  in  the  township  was  Dr.  Levi  Brooks,  after- 
■wards,  for  many  years,  a  resident  of  Oberlin,  Lorain  county. 

Franklin's  IndUvSTries. — In  the  early  days  there  were  a  num- 
ber of  saw-mills  and  grist-inills  in  various  portions  of  the  town- 
ship, "which  cannot  be  well  mentioned  here,  though  all  most  use- 
fully served  their  "day  and  generation,"  in  bringing  old  Franklin 
forward  to  her  present  highly  prosperous  status  among  her  sister 
townships  of  Summit  county;  the  most  important  among  thena, 
probably,  being  the  grist-mill  of  George  Rex,  at  the  outlet  of  Turkey 
Foot  Lake,  erected  about  the  year  1817,  the  poAver  of  which  w^as 
destroyed  by  the  construction  of  the  reservoirs  in  1840.  Nearly 
thirty-five  j^ears  ago,  Harvey  Maranville,  Esq.,  with  the  promise  of 
pecuniary  assistance  from  others,  erected  a  four-story  building,  in 
the  Oradeen  portion  of  Clinton,  for  milling  purposes,  but  failing  to 
receive  the  promised  aid,  the  property  was  transferred  to  the  late 
Alexander  M.  Russell,  by  whom  it  was  used  as  a  store  and  ware- 
house, until  the  death  of  that  gentleman  in  1875.  A  few  years  ago 
it  was  purchased  b}'  a  company,  composed   principally  of  Akron 


FRANKLIN  S   MILITARY   PROWESS. 


789 


-capitalists,  under  the  corporate  name  of  the  Franklin  Milling  Com- 
pany, and  fitted  it  up  with  first-class  machinery  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  flour,  and  is  still  devoted  to  that  use,  Messrs.  C.  F.  Broseke 
&  Son  succeeding  to  the  business  in  December,  1887.  Among  the 
pioneer  "  industries  "  of  the  township  were  several  distilleries,  for 
the  transmutation  of  corn  and  other  cereals  into  w^hisky;  but  as 
the  fact  began  to  dawn  upon  the  minds  of  the  people  that  the  prod- 
uct of  those  establishments  was  a  prolific  source  of  poverty  and 
disorder,  the  business  began  to  wane,  and  long  years  ago  became 
totally  extinct.     Would  it  were  so  throughout  the  entire  w^orld! 

From  quite  an  early  day  the  mining  of  coal  has  been  quite 
extensive  in  several  portions  of  the  township,  but  at  the  present 
lime  little,  if  any,  more  than  supplies  the  local  demand  is  being 
mined.  It  is  thought,  however,  by  those  thoroughly  posted  upon 
Ihe  subject,  that  there  are  still  quite  extensive  veins  of  coal  under- 
lying the  broad  w^heat  fields  of  the  township,  that  are  only  await- 
ing better  facilities  for  transportation,  to  secure  their  profitable 
■development. 

r "  EORGE  WAGONER,  —  born  in 
^  Cumberland  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, November  22,  1790;  September 
43,  1812,  was  married  to  Miss  Sallie 
Rhodes,  two  weeks  later  starting-  with 
his  bride  for  Ohio,  settling  in  Law- 
rence township.  Stark  county.  March 
12.  1821,  Mrs.  Wagoner  died,  having 
borne  him  six  children,  four  of  whom 
survived  her.  June  17,  1821,  Mr. 
Wagoner  was  again  married  to  Miss 
Rebecca  Souers,  soon  afterwards  re- 
moving to  a  farm  one  and  a  half 
miles  north  of  Manchester,  in  what 
is  now  Summit  county.  Ten  children 
were  the  fruit  of  this  last  marriage, 
and  on  the  celebration  of  their  golden 
anniversary,  June  17,  1871,  there  were 
living  twelve  children,  fifty-three 
grandchildren  and  fifteen  great- 
grandchildren. Mr.  Wagoner  was 
among  the  most  substantial  and 
intelligent  citizens  of  Franklin  town- 
t*hip,  during  his  long  life  taking  an 
active  interest  in  public  affairs,  both 
local  and  general,  in  politics  being  a 
stanch  Republican,  and  in  every 
tense  an  upright  christian  gentle- 
man. Mr.  Wagoner,  after  an  illness 
of  three  days,  of  heart  disease,  died 
April  23, 1873.  aged  82  years,  o  months 
and  1  day.     Mrs.  Wagoner  died  March 


GEORGE   WAGONER. 


2,  1886,  aged  83  years,  3  months  and  15 
days.  Among  their  surviving  chil- 
dren are  Messrs.  John  J.  and  Aaron 
Wagoner,  well-known  business  men 
of  Akron,  Mr.  Philip  Wagoner,  one 
of  the  most  enterprising  farmers  of 
Franklin  township,  and  Henry  L. 
Wagoner,  postmaster  at  Krumroy. 


In  the  Military  Line. — Franklin  has  a  very  creditable  military 
fiistory.  Being  originally  mainly  settled  by  immigrants  from 
patriotic  old  Pennsylvania,  it  is  not  improbable  that  quite  a  num- 
ber of  ex-Revolutionary  heroes  w^ere  among  her  more  aged  early 
inhabitants,  and  though  the  War  of  1812  had  substantially  closed 
before  settlement  fairly  begun,  it  is  known  that  several  partici- 
pants in  that  struggle  settled  here,  though  their  names  cannot  now 
be  ascertained.  In  the  Mexican  War  of  1846-1848,  Franklin  was 
represented  by  Matthias  Weaver  and  several  others  whose  names 
cannot  now  be  given.     And  in  the  War  of  Rebellion,  Franklin  was 


790  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

equally  patriotic  with  the  average  of  her  sister  townships  of  Sum- 
mit county,  as  the  following  roster,  compiled  through  courtesy'  of 
Mr.  Joseph  M.  Kleckner,  and  from  the  assessors'  returns  for  1863, 
'64  and  '65  will  abundantly  show: 

Franklin  Union  Army  Soldiers. — Jacob  J.  Adams,  Jacob  Aue 
(died  in  service),  Harvey  Aue,  Samuel  Aue  (died  in  service),  George 
W.  Burns,  Solomon  J.  Bucher,  Joseph  Bucher,  John  Bucher  (died  in 
service),  O.  E.  Brownell,  Samuel  Butler,  L.  F.  Becker,  H.  G, 
Becker,  John  H.  Bliler,  Abram  Baughman  (died  in  service),  Lewis- 
Brenner,  George  Barkheimer,  Israel  Beck,  Franklin  Bennett,  Wil- 
liam F.  Bechel,  O.  M.  Brown,  Thomas  G.  Boake,  William  Beard 
(died  in  service),  Patrick  Costello,  Samuel  Cole,  Jefferson  Clay,. 
John  Cormany,  D.  S.  Copp,  Alexander  Campbell,  Richard  Cleary, 
N.  Gilbert  Clark,  Jeremiah  Diehl,  William  Diehl,  Isaac  Daily,  Ainos 
Dailey,  W^illiam  Demming,  John  D.  Dickerhoof,  Henry  •  Emrich, 
Joseph  Earnsberger,  David  Endiger,  Jacob  Fraze,  Alpheus  Grubb 
(died  in  service),  Simon  Grubb  (killed  in  battle),  John  Harbaugh, 
Jacob  D.  HoUinger,  Jr.,  David  HoUinger,  George  Haneline,  Solomon 
Haneline,  Jacob  Hoover,  John  Holler, David  Hose,  Isaac  Hose,  Levi 
D.  HoUinger,  David  Harbaugh,  John  H03',  Augustus  Hill  (died  in  ser- 
vice), Robert  Hilton,  N.  M.  Hoover  (killed  in  battle),  J.  J.  Hanshaw 
(killed  in  battle),  John  Hugh,  James  Hayes  (died  in  service),  John 
Henry,  Fred  Intermele  (died  at  home),  Theodore  Jones,  Andrew  Keck, 
George  Kleckner  (killed  in  battle),  Stephen  Kissinger  (died  in  ser- 
vice), John  S.  Killinger,  George  A.  Kellogg  (wounded  at  Town 
Creek,  N.  C,  February  20,  1865),  Simon  Keck,  Henry  Koehler,  John 
Koehler,  Doras  Lockwood  (lost  on  Sultana),  Samuel  Ludwick,  L. 
Loutzenhouser,  George  Leobold,  Ephraim  Marsh,  Christopher  C. 
Marsh,  George  A.  Miller,  Henry  C.  Miller,  Samuel  Marsh,  John 
Marsh,  Frank  Maranville,  George  B.  Myers,  Adam  Musser  (died  in 
service),  David  Marsh,  Leva  McMurray,  Charles  Myers,  A.  R.  Marsh, 
William  McCormish,  J.  H.  Oberlin,  Jefferson  Palmer,  William 
Pierce  (died  in  service),  Thaddeus  Pierce,  Alexander  Peling,  Isaac 
Phillips,  Willoughby  Rinehart,  Peter  Rinehart,  Eli  Roudebush, 
Darius  P.  Rinehart,  William  Sorrick,  John  H.  Spigelmyer,  Eli 
Stoudt  (died  in  service),  John  Stoudt,  J.  Saeman,  John  Sullivan, 
John  Smith  (killed  in  battle),  W^illiam  Sense,  Peter  Shibe,  Jere- 
miah Sullivan,  Philip  Stadler,  Lawrence  Shondle,  Winfield  Shaffer, 
Henry  Strohl,  Addison  Strong  (died  in  service),  Daniel  Swaisgood, 
Benj.  Swope,  David  Smith,  Davnd  Shanebrook,  George  Slusser, 
Samuel  Simmons,  William  Traxler,  Joseph  Traxler,  Aaron  Teepler 
Isaac  Teeple  (killed  in  battle),  George  Teeple,  Samuel  Teeters, 
William  Tagg,  Samuel  P.  Wolf,  Henry  Wolf,  Freeman  Whittlesey, 
Robert  Wilkins  (killed  in  battle),  William  Wolf,  Joe  Weil,  William 
Whittlesey,  David  Welty,  Alfred  Wolf,  John  Wolf,  J.  F.  Whittlesej', 
Aaron  Wagoner,  Isaac  Wells,  Silas  Williams,  Isaac  Winkleman, 
John  Wilson,  Samuel  Young  (killed  in  battle). 

FRANKLINS  CRIMINAL  RECORD. 

For  a  township  so  largely  peopled  by  staid,  sober,  industrious 
and  intelligent  inhabitants,  Franklin  has  been  cursed  with  a  large 
amount  of  turbulence  and  disorder,  during  the  past  40  or  50  years. 
It  is  but  just  to  the  good  people  of  the  township,  however,  to  say 
that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  disorder  indicated  has  come 
from  the  comparatively  transient  population  brought  to  the  vicinity 


franklin's  homicides.  791 

by  the  canal  and  mines,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  all  of  it  resulted 
from  the  traffic  in,  and  the  excessive  use  of,  intoxicating  liquors. 
Passing  by  the  almost  innumerable  brutal  assaults  and  bloody 
affrays,  that,  in  days  of  yore,  so  often  disgraced  Clinton,  and  sev- 
eral of  the  inining  settlements  of  the  township,  we  will  here  give 
the  particulars  of  the  two  following  cases,  only,  both  of  which 
resulted  fatally: 

The  Sauter-Sheetes  Tragedy. — On  the  night  of  June  26,  1856, 
occurred,  within  the  bounds  of  Franklin  tow^nship,  one  of  those  oft 
recurring  fatal  tragedies  incident  to  indulgence  in  intoxicating 
drinks.  The  parties  involved  were  Germans,  nained,  respectively, 
Plauseus  Sauter  and  Oswald  Sheetes,  living  near,  and  operatives 
in,  the  Chippewa  coal  mines,  a  short  distance  west  of  Clinton.  On 
the  day  in  question  there  had  been  a  gathering  in  the  village,  for 
the  purpose  of  organizing  a  military  company,  preparatory  to  cele- 
brating the  approaching  Fourth  of  Julj'.  Liquors  were  freely 
indulged  in  during  the  afternoon  and  evening,  and  a  portion  of  the 
party  became  considerably  intoxicated  and  quarrelsome.  Between 
10  and  11  o'clock  at  night,  Sheetes,  with  a  companion  named 
Hertz,  started  for  home.  Near  Chippew^a  bridge,  about  a  mile 
from  Clinton,  Sheetes  and  Hertz  sat  down  by  the  side  of  the  road 
to  rest.  Sauter  soon  afterwards  coming  up,  carrying  a  gun, 
Sheetes,  between  whom  and  Sauter  there  had  previously  been 
some  ill-feeling,  commenced  taunting  the  latter,  calling  him  a 
coward,  and  asking  him  w^hy  he  was  w^alking  around  at  that  time 
of  night  carrying  a  gun. 

Sauter  ordering  Sheetes  to  keep  off,  and  intimating  that  it 
"would  be  unsafe  to  approach  him,  passed  on,  Sheetes  continuing 
his  taunts  of  cowardice,  telling  him  that  he  durst  not  shoot;  that 
he  had  no  heart;  that  his  threats  were  all  in  his  belly,  etc.  In  the 
midst  of  this  drunken  bravado,  Sauter  aimlessly  fired  off  his  gun, 
the  charge  of  shot  entering  the  abdomen  of  Sheetes,  from  the 
effects  of  which  he  died  the  day  following;  the  wounded  man 
w^alking  some  distance  to  the  nearest  farm  house,  after  receiving 
the  fatal  wound. 

The  Homicide  Defiant. — Sauter  reloaded  his  gun,  shut  him- 
self up  in  his  house,  and  resisted  all  attempts  to  arrest  him, 
until  morning,  when,  the  effects  of  the  liquor  having  passed  off, 
he  became  entirely  subtnissive;  expressed  great  sorrow^  for  what 
had  taken  place;  declaring  that  though  he  distinctly  remembered 
discharging  his  gun,  he  had  no  recollection  of  the  occurrences  of 
the  evening.  He  was  duly  examined  before  Justice  David  Stump, 
w^ho  committed  him  to  jail,  w^ithout  bail,  to  answer  to  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  then  in  session,  on  the  charge  of  murder.  The 
May  term  of  the  Common  Pleas  being  then  in  session,  and  the 
regular  grand  jury  having  been  discharged,  the  court,  on  the 
application  of  Prosecuting  Attorney  Sidney  Edgerton,  ordered 
Sheriff  Dudley  Seward  to  summon  a  ^•pecial  grand  jury,  w^ho 
returned  a  bill  of  indictment,  against  Sauter,  charging  him  w^ith 
murder  in  the  first  degree.  To  this  indictment  Sauter  entered  a 
plea  of  not  guilty.  On  JFurther  investigation.  Prosecutor  Edgerton^ 
becoming  satisfied  that  the  killing  of  Sheetes  was  neither 
premeditated  nor  intended,  accepted  the  plea  tendered  by  the 
defendant,  upon  the  advice  of  his  attorneys,  Messrs.  Goodhue  and 
McClure,  of  guilty  of  manslaughter. 


792  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Sentence,  Pardon,  etc. — On  this  plea  Judge  Samuel  Humph- 
reyville  sentenced  the  defendant  to  ten  years'  imprisonment  in  the 
State  Penitentiary,  whither  he  was  accordingly  taken  by  Sheriff 
Seward,  July  16,  1856,  his  age  then  being  31  years.  Sauter  w^as 
pardoned  by  Governor  Chase,  October  14,  1859,  after  a  service  of 
three  years,  tw^o  months  and  twenty-one  days,  and,  so  far  as  the 
w^riter  is  advised,  thereafter  conducted  himself  as  a  peaceable  and 
law^-abiding  citizen. 

The  Oster-Kernan  Homicide. — Henry  Oster  was  the  keeper 
of  a  grocery  store  and  saloon,  in  the  village  of  Clinton,  for  several 
years,  in  the  late  fifties  and  early  sixties,,  having  among  his  cus- 
tomers a  somewhat  bibulous  denizen  of  the  place  by  the  name  of 
Martin  Kernan.  Mr.  Oster  having  deceased  early  in  1864,  his  son, 
Charles  Oster,  had  the  settling  up  of  his  affairs,  and  had  several 
times  attempted  to  collect  a  small  account  against  Kernan  for 
groceries  and  Avhisky,  chiefly  the  latter,  but  without  success.  On 
the  29th  day  of  April,  1864,  young  Oster,  seeing  Kernan  passing 
the  field  where  he  w^as  Avorking,  stepped  to  the  fence  and  again 
dunned  him  for  the  amount  of  his  indebtedness,  and  not  getting 
a  very  satisfactory  response,  told  Kernan  that  he  would  give  him 
until  the  25th  day  of  May  to  settle  the  matter,  and  if  the  bill  was 
not  paid  by  that  time  he  would  give  him  a  thrashing.  To  this 
Kernan  replied,  in  substance,  that  if  he  thought  he  could  thrash 
him,  he  could  try  it  then,  Avhereupon  Oster  jumped  over  the  fence 
and  made  an  attack  upon  Kernan,  knocking  him  down  twice,  and 
severely  kicking  him  several  times,  from  the  effects  of  which  he 
died  in  about  half  an  hour. 

A  post-mortem  examination  disclosed  the  fact  that  three  of 
Kernan's  ribs  were  broken,  and  his  spleen  badly  lacerated,  w^hich 
w^as  undoubtedly  the  cause  of  death;  though  the  liver  was  found 
to  be  very  greatly  enlarged.  Sheriff  Jacob  Chisnell  happening  to 
be  at  Clinton  at  the  time,  arrested  Oster  and  brought  him  to 
Akron  and  lodged  him  in  jail.  On  Frida3^  May  1,  Oster  was 
examined  before  Lewis  M.  Janes,  Esq.,  of  Akron,  and  held  to  bail 
in  the  sum  of  $1,000  to  answer  to  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  on 
the  charge  of  manslaughter. 

The  May  term  of  court  being  then  in  session,  with  Judge 
Stephenson  Burke  upon  the  bench,  and  Edwin  P.  Green,  Esq., 
acting  as  prosecuting  attorne3'  during  the  absence  of  the  regular 
prosecutor,  N.  D.  Tibbals,  in  the  100  day  service  in  defense  of 
Washington,  the  grand  jury  returned  a  bill  of  indictment  charging 
the  defendant  with  murder  in  the  second  degree. 

Nathaniel  W.  Goodhue,  Esq.,  and  Samuel  W.  McClure 
appeared  for  the  defendant,  who  entered  a  plea  of  not  guilty,  as 
charged  in  the  indictment,  but  on  the  advice  of  his  counsel,  ten- 
dered a  plea  of  guilty  of  manslaughter,  which  plea  was  duly 
accepted  by  Prosecutor  Green.  Thereupon  Judge  Burke,  after 
hearing  evidence  from  several  of  the  large  arra^^  of  w^itnesses  that 
had  been  summoned  to  testify  to  the  previous  good  character  of 
the  defendant,  sentenced  him  to  two  years*  imprisonment  in  the 
penitentiary  of  the  State,  and  to  pay  the  costs  that  had  accrued  in 
the  case,  amounting  to  $140.69. 

Young  Oster  was  but  17  years  of  age,  as  appears  by  the  prison 
records,  at  the  time  of  his  incarceration,  by  Sheriff  Chisnell,  on 
the  15th  day  of  June,  1864.     He  proved  obedient  and  faithful  in  his 


franklin's  civil  service  record.  793 

service  to  the  State,  securing  a  discount  from  his  two  years'  term 
•of  three  months  and  eight  days  for  good  behavior,  being  released 
from  confinement  on  the  7th  day  of  March,  1866,  thenceforth,  as 
the  writer  learns,  comporting  himself  in  all  respects  as  a  peaceable 
^nd  upright  citizen. 

HONORABLE  CIVIL  RECORD. 

In  the  civil  annals  of  Summit  county,  Franklin  holds  a  highly 
honorable  position,  as  the  follovv^ing  roster  will  demonstrate: 

Dr.  Hugh  R.  Caldwell,  a  successful  physician,  and  enterpris- 
ing business  man  of  Franklin  tow^nship,  residing  about  one  mile 
north  of  Clinton,  was  appointed,  by  the  Legislature,  one  of  the 
first  associate  judges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  on  the  organ- 
ization of  Summit  county,  in  1840,  serving  for  the  full  term  of 
seven  years,  with  great  ability  and  good  judgment,  though  unfor- 
tunately, at  times,  considerably  addicted  to  the  use  of  intoxicating 
liquors. 

Hon.  John  Hoy,  a  resident  of  Manchester,  w^as  elected  one  of 
the  first  commissioners  of  the  new  county,  in  April,  1840,  re-elected 
for  the  fractional  term  of  two  years  in  October  of  the  same  year, 
and  again  elected  in  October,  1842,  for  the  full  term  of  three  years, 
giving  to  the  position  five  years  and  seven  months  continuous  and 
faithful  service,  and  on  the  expiration  of  Judge  Caldwell's  term,  in 
1847,  was  appointed  to  the  exalted  position  of  associate  judge, 
which  he  filled  with  credit  to  himself  and  his  constituents  until  the 
taking  effect  of  the  new  Constitution  of  the  State  in  1852.  [A  fine 
portrait,  with  brief  biographical  sketch,  of  Judge  Hoy,  will  be 
found  on  page  98  of  this  volume.] 

Houston  Sisler,  Esq.,  of  Manchester,  was  elected  to  the  highly 
responsible  position  of  county  treasurer,  in  October,  1854,  and 
re-elected  in  1856,  filling  the  office  to  the  general  satisfaction  for 
the  constitutional  period  of  four  years. 

Harvey  Maranville,  Esq.,  a  resident  of  Clinton  from  1833 
until  his  removal  to  Akron,  in  1861,  served  for  five  consecutive 
terms  as  justice  of  the  peace  of  Franklin  township,  and  in  1862 
w^as  appointed,  by  the  treasury  department,  government  inspector 
of  liquors  and  oils  for  the  18th  Congressional  District,  and  after- 
Avards  commissioned  as  general  ganger  of  the  district;  serving  in 
that  capacity  until  the  w^inding  up  of  that  branch  of  the  revenue 
service,  here,  in  all  about  15  years;  by  his  skill  and  diligence  sav- 
ing to  the  treasury  many  thousands  of  dollars,  that  a  less  scrupu- 
lous officer  Avould  have  permitted  to  stick  to  the  fingers  of  the 
gentlemanly  operators  whose  products  he  had  to  pass  upon. 

Charles  Rinehart,  Esq.,  of  Clinton,  was  elected  clerk  of 
courts  for  Summit  county,  on  the  union  ticket,  1863,  and 
re-elected,  on  the  Republican  ticket,  in  1866,  filling  the  office  six 
3'ears,  very  acceptably  indeed. 

Dr.  William  Sisler,  of  Manchester,  was  elected  as  represen- 
tative to  the  State  Legislature  in  1867,  serving  through  the  sessions 
of  1867,  '68  and  1868,  '69;  Dr.  Sisler  also  filling  the  important  office 
of  county  commissioner  for  two  consecutive  terms,  from  1875  to 
1881,  and  also  was  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  Children's  Home  for 
tw^o  years. 


794 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Hon.  Jacob  A.  Kohler,  a  native  of  Franklin  township, 
but  a  resident  of  Akron  since  1853,  'was  elected  prosecuting  attor- 
ney in  1868  and  re-elected  in  1870,  ably  discharging  the  duties  of 
that  office  for  two  consecutive  terms;  served  as  representative  to 
the  State  Legislature  in  the  sessions  of  1883,  '84  and  1884,  '85,  two 
years,  and  as  attorney  general  of  the  State  of  Ohio  from  January, 
1886,  to  January,  1888. 

Lieutenant  Levi  J.  McMurray,  residing  near  Clinton,  was 
elected  sheriff  in  October,  1872,  and  re-elected  in  1874,  holding  the 
office  the  constitutional  term  of  four  years,  though  from  failing 
health  unable  to  give  his  personal  attention  to  official  business  the 
last  year  or  more  of  his  incumbency. 

DR.  WILLIAM  SISLER,— born  in 
Lj'coming'  county,  Pennsylva- 
nia, September  12, 1819 ;  came  to  Man- 
chester in  1840,  teaching'  and  farming 
three  j^ears ;  in  1843  began  the  study 
of  medicine,  commencing  to  practice 
in  Manchester  in  1846  and  continuing, 
in  partnership  with  his  brother,  until 
1873.  During  the  War,  at  the  call  of 
Governor  Tod,  served  in  hospitals, 
after  the  battles  of  South  Mountain 
and  Antietam.  In  Fall  of  1867  was 
elected  representative  to  the  State 
Legislature,  serving  two  years ;  on 
removing  to  Akron,  in  1873,  in  con 
nection  with  Mr.  John  F.  Hoy,  opened 
a  drug  store,  continuing  until  1879; 
in  October,  187.^,  was  elected  county 
cominissioner  and  re-elected  in  1878, 
serving-  six  years ;  in  1887  was  ap- 
pointed trustee  of  Children's  Home, 
serving  two  j^ears.  July  23,  1846,  Dr. 
Sisler  was  married  to  MissLorohama 
R.  Hoy,  daughter  of  Hon.  John  Hoy, 
of  Manchester,  one  of  the  first  com- 
missioners of  Suiumit  count}',  and 
associate  judge  from  184,5  to  18,52.  Of 
the  six  children  born  to  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Sisler,  three   only   are  now^   living — 


DR.   WILLIAM  SISLER. 

Mary  A.,  now  Mrs.  W.  H.  Diehl  - 
Emma  I.,  now  Mrs.  George  J.  Nieberg, 
and  Henry  B.,  now  a  successful  far- 
mer of  Northampton  township. 


Lieutenant  Aaron  Wagoner,  born  and  reared  upon  his  father's 
farm,  in  Franklin  township,  took  up  his  residence  in  Akron,  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  whence  he  viras  elected  county  auditor,  in 
October,  1880,  and  re-elected  in  1883,  intelligently,  faithfully  and 
courteously  discharging  the  intricate  duties  of  that  office  until  his 
resignation  thereof  on  the  1st  day  of  April,  1887,  to  accept  the 
cashiership  of  the  City  National  Bank,  of  Akron,  and  is  now 
(1891)  cashier  and  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Akron  Savings 
Bank,  established  in  1888.   . 

David  C.  Miller,  residing  near  Manchester,  was  elected 
county  commissioner  in  October,  1881,  and  re-elected  in  1884, 
assiduously  performing  the  laborious,  and  often  perplexing,  duties 
of  the  office  until  his  death,  wrhich  occurred  on  the  8th  day  of 
November,  1886. 

FRANKLIN'S   POPULATION. 

Unlike  most  of  the  out-lying  to\vnships  of  Summit  county, 
notw^ithstanding  the  decadence  in  business  of  its  villages,  through 


franklin's  present  official  roster.  795 

the  advent  of  railroads,  and  the  concentration  of  business  in  the 
larger  towns  and  cities,  Franklin  has,  from  the  beginning,  grad- 
ually gained  in  population — the  census  of  1840  placing  the  num- 
ber of  inhabitants  at  1,436,  and  that  of  1890  at  1,957 — showing  a 
gain  of  521  in  the  intervening  fifty  years. 

Present  Official  Roster.—  Trustees,  Jeremiah  Dice,  Hiram 
Stump,  Philip  Serfass;  clerk,  Harry  Miller;  treasurer,  Levi  M. 
Kauffman;  justices  of  the  peace,  Cyrus  Warley,  Andrew^  Donnen- 
wirth;  constables,  A.  Roudebush,  Ephraim  Stump;  postmasters, 
John  Sisler,  Nimisilla;  Frank  Maranville,  Clinton. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

CREEN  TOWNSHIP— WHEN  AND  BY  WHOM  SETTLED— A  FALSE  PREDICTION- 
INDIAN  TRADITIONS— ORGANIZATION,  EARLY  OFFICERS,  ETC.— TOPOGRA- 
PHY, RESOURCES,  BUSINESS  CENTERS,  ETC.— LONG  AND  HONORABLE  MER- 
CANTILE CAREER— GREENSBURG'S  GREAT  BOOM— EDUCATIONAL  MATTERS, 
GROSS  SLANDER  REFUTED,  ETC.— ELECTORAL  AND  POLITICAL  STATUS- 
CRIMINAL  AFFAIRS — HORRIBLE  DEATH  OF  MICHAEL  MYERS— THE  vSTRIPE- 
COOPER  HOMICIDE— THE  SEMLER-KEPLER  TRAGEDY— FINE  MILITARY  REC- 
ORD—GREEN IN  PUBLIC  AND  OFFICIAL  LIFE,  ETC. 

GREEN  TOWNSHIP. 

LIKE  its  neighbor  upon  the  west,  Green  w^as  a  portion  of  w^hat 
w^as  originally  designated  as  "Congress  Lands,"  so  called  from 
the  fact  that  they  were  surveyed  and  sold  by  government  agents, 
instead  of  having  been  transferred  in  bulk  to  private  companies, 
as  were  the  lands  north  of  the  41st  parallel — the  far-famed  West- 
■ern  Reserve— to  the  Connecticut  Land  Company,  Green  being 
known  upon  the  county  records  as  tow^nship  12,  range  9. 

A  False  Prediction. — In  the  discussion  preliminary  to  the 
■erection  of  Summit  county,  it  was  held  that  the  people  of  the  two 
tow^nships  to  be  taken  from  Stark  county,  being  largely  Pennsyl- 
vania Germans,  could  never  be  brought  to  fraternize  with  the 
•"  blue-bellied"  Yankees,  by  w^hom  the  Reserve  townships  had 
mainly  been  settled.  Senator  Hostetter,  from  the  Stark  district, 
•declaring,  in  a  speech  against  the  bill  in  the  Legislature,  that  "you 
might  as  w^ell  undertake  to  make  a  Dutch  plo^^^-horse  and  a  broad- 
horned  Yankee  ox.  w^ork  evenly  in  the  harness,  as  to  expect  the 
inhabitants  of  the  tw^o  sections  to  harmonize  and  pull  evenly 
together  in  county  affairs." 

In  fact,  the  majority  of  the  people,  of  both  Green  and  Frank- 
lin, w^ere  undoubtedly  averse  to  the  change,  though  the  most  of 
them  would  be  considerably  nearer  the  county-seat  under  the  new 
than  under  the  old  arrangement.  Many  and  curious  were  the  rea- 
sons against  the  change,  one  of  the  most  potent  being  that  of  the 
old  lady  who  is  alleged  to  have  said  that  she  did  not  w^ant  to  live 
where  it  w^as  so  unhealthy  as  the  Reserve  was  represented  to  be. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  opposition,  the  change  took  place, 
and  since  April,  1840,  Green  and  Franklin  townships  have  been 
contented  members  of  the  proud  and  prosperous  county  of  Sum- 
mit, sharing  both  its  honors  and  its  responsibilities,  except  that 
in  the  enabling  act  there  ^vas  a  proviso  that  those  tw^o  tow^nships 
should  be  exempt  from  taxation  for  public  buildings  for  the  period 
of  fifty  years,  w^hich  restriction  ceased  March  3,  1890. 

Early  Settlement. — There  is  considerable  diversity  in  the 
traditions  of  the  township,  and  the  recollections  of  the  older  por- 
tion of  the  inhabitants,  as  to  w^ho  w^as,  in  reality,  the  first  white 
settler  in  the  township.  John  Kepler,  from  Center  county,  Pa.,  is, 
however,  conceded  to  have  been  the  first  purchaser  of  government 
land  in  the  township,  section  17,  upon  which  he  settled  in  the  Fall 


INDIAN   EXPERIENCES,    ETC. 


797 


of  1809,  though  the  Dixons,  the  Triplets,  Basil  Viers,  John  Cruzen^ 
David  Hartmaii,  and  perhaps  others,  with  their  families,  had 
undoubtedly  temporarily  located,  as  squatters,  upon  section  16, 
earlier  the  same  year,  or  perhaps  even  sooner  than  that,  it  being 
claimed  by  some,  that  John  Cruzen  came  as  early  as  1807. 

But  it  is  not  the  province  of  this  work  to  undertake  to  fully 
trace  the  pioneer  history  of  the  township,  with  biographical 
sketches  of  its  early  inhabitants,  as  that  has  already  been  quite 
extensively  treated  of  by  previous  writers.  It  is,  therefore,  suf- 
ficient, for  the  purposes  of  this  work,  to  say,  that  the  majority  of 
the  early  settlers,  as  w^ell  as  those  w^ho  came  later,  w^ere  sterling 
men  and  women,  vt^ho  heroically  endured  the  hardships  and  priva- 
tions of  pioneer  life,  and  honestly  earned,  by  faithful  toil,  frugality 
and  sobriety,  the  solid  prosperity  and  comforts  which  the^^  and 
their  descendants  now  enjoy. 


ABRAHAM  W.  JOHNSTON,-born 
in  Center  county,  Pennsylvania, 
October  25, 1810;  moved  with  parents 
to  Green  township  in  1814 ;  educa- 
tional advantages  limited,  but,  by 
close  personal  application,  became  a 
thoroughly  well  informed  country- 
g-entleman  ;  in  early  life  learned  trade 
of  w^eaver,  at  which  he  worked  in 
Greentown  nine  j'ears ;  then  pur- 
chased the  old  family  homestead,  one 
mile  east  of  Greensburg-,  where  he 
resided  till  his  death.  August  25, 1877, 
at  the  age  of  66  years,  10  months  and 
2  days.  Mr.  Johnston  was  married 
May  25, 1835,  to  Miss  Catharine  Moore, 
born  in  Northumberland  count3\ 
Pennsylvania,  February  27,  1814,  who 
still  survives.  They  were  the  parents 
of  five  children — Washington  G.,  born 
February  18,  1836,  now  county  com- 
missioner ;  Cornelius,  born  March  4, 
1839,  died  in  early  childhood ;  Mary 
E.,  born  January  9,  1842,  married  Jan- 
uary 4,  1866,  to  S.  H.  Hunsberger,  now 
of  Ottawa,  Illinois  ;  Maggie  J.,  born 
April  4,  1849,  now  living  with  her 
mother ;  Isabella,  born  June  10,  1852, 
married  October  28,  1878,  to  Corbin 
Dillman,  now  of  Joliet,  Illinois,  the 
three   daughters   being  educated   at 


ABRAHAM  W.  JOHXSTOiX. 

Greensburg  Seminarj-,  and  the  son 
at  Oberlin  and  Mount  Union  Col- 
leges. Though  a  thorough  Repid)li- 
can,  Mr.  Johnston  filled  many  posi- 
tions of  trust  and  honor  bj-  the  votes 
of  his  Democratic  neighbors. 


Indian  Experiences. — Although  the  Indian  title  to  the  land& 
eml^raced  in  Green  township  had  been  extinguished  nearly  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  before,  (1785),  quite  a  number  of  the  red-skinned 
sons  of  the  forest  still  lingered  when  the  whites  first  came;  but 
they  entirely  disappeared  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  1812, 
But  as  brief  as  their  stay  among  their  pale-faced  successors  was, 
there  are  many  traditions  still  extant  of  deadly  encounters  between 
the  two  races,  the  alleged  exploits  of  Liverton  Dixon,  a  son  of 
Thomas  Dixon,  among  Green's  earliest  settlers,  being  still  listened 
to  by  open-mouthed  and  wonder-ej'^ed  Young  America,  around  the 
family  base-burner,  w^ith  thrilling  interest  and  solemn  awe. 

Township  Organization. — Green,  like  Franklin  on  the  west,  is- 
six  miles  square,  its  other  neighbors  beingCoventry  and  Springfield, 


798  *  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

on  the  north;  Lake,  Stark  county,  on  the  east  and  Jackson, 
also  in  Stark,  on  the  south.  It  was  originally  organized  in  con- 
nection with  Lake  and  Jackson,  and  that  portion  of  Franklin 
lying  east  of  the  Tuscarawas  river,  July  6,  1811,  with  Peter  Dicker- 
hoof,  of  Lake,  Christian  Balmer,  of  Jackson,  and  John  Yerrick,  of 
Green,  as  trustees;  Samuel  Spitler,  of  Lake,  as  clerk;  George 
Knoddle,  as  treasurer;  William  Ball,  as  assessor;  and  Simon  Harsh 
and  John  Kepler,  as  constables.  At  the  October  election,  the  same 
year,  sixteen  votes  were  polled,  while  at  the  presidential  election, 
a  year  later  (1812),  nine  ballots  only  were  cast.  The  first  justice 
for  the  territory  named,  w^as  Peter  Dickerhoof,  elected  in  1811;  the 
second  being  John  Wise,  elected  in  1812. 

A  distinct  organization  for  Green  was  effected  April  7,  1815, 
with  a  poll  of  seventeen  votes.  Joshua  Richards,  William  Ball 
and  George  McCormick  w^ere  chosen  trustees;  Robert  Lawson, 
clerk;  Daniel  Wise,  treasurer;  David  Hartman  and  Thomas  Parker, 
constables.  From  this  time  on  settlement  w^as  steady,  so  that 
upon  the  erection  and  organization  of  Summit  county,  in  1840,  the 
township  had  a  population  of  1,536,  w^ith  a  gradual  increase  to  the 
present  time,  the  census  of  1880  placing  the  number  of  inhabitants 
at  1,827,  and  that  of  1890  at  1,911.  Twenty  per  cent,  gain  in  fifty 
years  may  seem  like  a  very  small  ratio  of  increase,  but  ^vhen  it  is 
remembered  that  several  of  the  strictly  rural  towns  of  the  county, 
as  well  as  other  portions  of  the  State,  have  actually  fallen  off  in 
population,  during  that  period,  the  showing  for  Green  is  very  cred- 
itable indeed. 

Topography,  Resources,  ETc.^Though  somewhat  rolling,  and 
in  portions  quite  broken,  Green  township  is  one  of  the  most  pro- 
ductive and  thrifty  agricultural  townships  of  Summit  county,  its 
great  specialty  being  wheat,  though  equally  well  adapted  to  every 
other  variety  of  cereals  and  field  products,  fruits,  etc.  In  the 
northwest  corner  of  the  township  lies  a  portion  of  Turkey  Foot 
Lake,  and  a  small  section  of  the  Tuscarawas  reservoir,  with  three 
or  four  other  small  bodies  of  w^ater,  and  numerous  creeks  and  runs 
in  various  localities,  by  >vhich  the  township  is  quite  liberally 
watered  for  agricultural  purposes,  besides  affording  a  number  of 
sites  for  grist  and  saw-mills,  and  other  mechanical  enterprises 
which  have  from  to  time  existed  in  the  township — the  Tritt  flour- 
ing mill,  in  the  southw^estern  portion,  having  been  a  w^ell-known 
landmark,  since  its  erection  in  1827,  to  the  present  time,  though 
several  times  remodeled  during  that  period. 

In  the  matter  of  travel  and  transportation,  being  altogether 
inland,  Green  has  had  to  depend  upon  its  well-fed  and  well-trained 
farm  horses,  until  the  completion  of  the  Valley  Railway  along  its 
eastern  border,  in  1880,  which  with  Greentown  Station  in  the  south- 
east, and  Myersville  Station  in  the  northeast,  is  proving  a  very 
great  convenience  to  the  people,  both  as  a  means  of  travel  and  for 
the  shipment  of  their  produce  and  manufactures;  the  extensive 
elevator  of  the  American  Cereal  Company,  at  the  former 
station,  being  especially  convenient  to  contiguous  farmers  in 
marketing  their  wheat  and  other  cereals.  Unlike  most  of  the 
Reserve  townships  of  Summit  county.  Green  has  no  village  at  its 
exact  geographical  center.  A  mile  and  a  half  to  the  southeast, 
however,  is  the  village  of  Greensburg,  laid  out  in  1828  by  David 
Bair,  upon  the  lands  of  Abraham  Wilhelm.     Previous  to  the  laying 


A   GOOD    MERCANTILE    RECORD. 


799 


out  of  the  village,  Wilhelm  kept  a  tavern,  a  short  distance  to  the 
southward,  which  was  the  "  Stage  House,"  or  stopping  place  for 
the  old-fashioned  four-horse  stage-coach,  which  in  that  early  day 
used  to  make  tri-weekly  trips  between  Middlebury  and  Massillon. 
A  natural  concomitant. of  the  early  tavern — a  distillery — was  also 
run  for  several  years  by  one  of  the  Wilhelms,  and  after  its  disman- 
tlement, as  a  fabricator  of  "blue  ruin,"  viras  converted  into  a  chair 
and  bedstead  factory  by  a  man  named  Moulton. 

The  growth  of  the  village  was  slow,  containing  only  about  a 
dozen  frame  houses  as  late  as  1845.  The  first  store  viras  established 
in  the  early  thirties  by  John  Shick,  on  the  southwest  corner  of  the 
principal  street  of  the  new  village,  the  same  gentleman  also  about 
the  same  time,  erecting  a  hotel  upon  the  northeast  corner,  on  the 
same  site  of  the  hotel  now  (1891)  owned  by  Mrs.  Lydia  Thornton, 
and  kept  by  Levi  Mix,  both  the  original  building  and  its  immediate 
successor  having  been  destroyed  by  fire. 


WASHINGTON  G.  JOHNSTON,— 
son  of  AbrahainW.  and  Catharine 
(Moore)  Johnston,  was  born  in  Green 
township,  February  18, 1836 ;  educated 
at  Greensburg  Academy  and  Ober- 
lin  and  Mount  Union  Colleg-es  ;  at  20 
entered  store  of  his  uncle,  Cornelius 
Johnston,  in  Akron,  clerking;  two 
years;  then,  in  connection  with  his 
cousin,  Cornelius  A.  Johnston, 
opened  Johnston's  shaft  coal  mine, 
in  Franklin  township,  working  same 
for  four  or  five  years,  also,  during- 
that  time  manufacturing'  oil  in  Akron 
about  a  year  and  a  half;  then  re- 
moved to  Rochester,  New  York,  and 
for  some  four  years  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes ; 
then  returned  to  Summit  count}', 
after  the  death  of  his  father  pur- 
chased the  homestead,  153  acres, 
which  he  has  since  successfull}'^ 
farmed.  October  1.  ISSS,  Mr.  John- 
ston was  married  to  Miss  Anna  Irvin, 
adopted  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
James  Irvin,  of  Akron.  They  have 
five  children  —  James  Irvnn,  born 
August  13,  1864 ;  Katharine,  born 
March  19, 1870 ;  Grace  May,  born  June 
29.  1871 ;  Martha  Irvin,  born  June  6, 
1874,  and  George  Abraham,  born  Jan- 


WASHINGTON  G.  JOHNSTON. 

uary  26,  1882.  October,  1888,  Mr.  John- 
ston was  elected  county  commis- 
sioner, which  responsible  position, 
as  president  of  the  board,  he  is  now 
ably  filling. 


A  Long  and  Prosperous  Career. — After  one  or  two  changes 
of  proprietors,  the  store  above  alluded  to,  in  1838,  passed  into  the 
hands  of  Mr.  John  Berger,  who,  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years, 
emigrated  with  his  father's  family  from  Lancaster  county.  Pa.,  to 
Ohio,  in  1822,  having  meantime  served  a  four  years'  apprenticeship 
at  the  mercantile  business  with  Hart  &  McMillen,  in  Middlebury. 
For  over  half  a  century  the  Berger  store  has  been  the  leading, 
and  most  of  the  time,  the  only  store  in  the  village,  always  doing  a 
conservative  but  reasonably  profitable  business.  Some  tw^enty 
years  ago  Mr.  Berger  retired,  transferring  the  business  to  his  son. 
Captain  D.  F.  Berger,  who  in  turn,  having  removed  to  Akron,  has 
turned  the  business  over  to  his  son,  Sheridan  G.  Berger. 


800  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Postal  facilities  were  first  accorded  to  Greensburg,  under  the 
official  name  of  Inland,  in  1838,  Mr.  John  Berger  being  then 
appointed  postmaster  by  President  Van  Buren;  the  present  incum- 
bent (1891)  being  Sheridan  G.  Berger,  grandson  of  the  former;  the 
old  gentleman,  at  81  years  of  age,  dying  at  the  residence  of  his  son 
in  Akron,  May  30,  1889;  the  present  incumbent  being  one  of  the 
youngest  appointees  in  the  service — a  fcAv  days  past  21,  only,  on 
receiving  his  commission. 

Greensburg's  Great  Boom. — About  the  year  1854,  the  citizens 
of  Greensburg  and  vicinity  organized  a  stock  company  with  a  capi- 
tal stock  of  about  $2,000,  in  shares  of  $50,  for  the  purpose  of 
erecting  a  suitable  building  and  establishing  a  seminary  in 
the  village.  About  this  time  the  Evangelical  Association  were 
looking  about  with  the  view  of  establishing  an  educational  insti- 
tution in  the  interests  of  that  denomination,  similar  to  that  of  the 
Methodists  at  Mount  Union.  As  an  inducement  to  the  location  of 
the  proposed  school  in  Greensburg,  the  stock  w^as  transferred  to  the 
association,  some  as  a  donation  and  other  shares  at  fifty  cents  on 
the  dollar.  Under  this  arrangement  the  institution  was  organized,, 
under  competent  teachers,  and  for  many  years  enjoyed  a  remark- 
able degree  of  prosperity,  having,  at  one  time,  about  130  students 
in  attendance.  This  created  a  demand  for  boarding  houses,  and 
necessitated  an  increase  of  other  branches  of  business,  under  the 
stimulus  of  which  the  population,  and  private  and  public  build- 
ings of  the  village  rapidly  increased.  But  for  reasons  which  can- 
not now  be  well  defined,  differences  and  difficulties  arose,  by 
which  the  property  passed  into,  the  sole  ovt^nership  of  Bishop 
Joseph  Long  and  the  school  was  closed.  About  1869,  the  citizens 
again  organized,  purchased  the  property  from  Bishop  Long,^ 
refitted  the  building,  this  time  placed  it  under  auspices  of  the 
Disciples,  by  whom  it  w^as  quite  successfully  managed  for  some 
three  or  four  years.  It  Avas  then  placed,  rent  free,  under  the  con- 
trol of  Professor  J.  R.  Davis,  who,  for  two  or  three  j^ears,  kept  a 
most  excellent  private  academy  therein,  but,  by  reason  of  the 
multiplication  of  similar  and  larger  educational  institutions  in 
the  vicinity,  the  enterprise  did  not  prove  remunerative,  and  was 
given  up.  Complications  among  the  stockholders  forced  the 
property  to  legal  sale,  and  being  bought  by  private  parties,  the 
building  w^as  taken  down,  and  the  grounds  devoted  to  other  pur- 
poses. But  notwithstanding  its  decadence,  in  this  regard,  and 
notwithstanding  the  concentration  of  almost  every  kind  of  mer- 
cantile and  mechanical  business  in  the  larger  towns  and  railroad 
centers  of  the  country,  Greensburg  fairly  holds  its  ovi^n  as  the  local 
business  point  for  quite  a  large  section  of  the  rich  farming  country 
by  which  it  is  surrounded. 

Other  Village  Enterprises. — East  Liberty,  four  miles  north- 
westly  from  Greensburg,  was  laid  out  by  John  Castetter,  in  1839. 
This  village  has  usually  maintained  a  store,  tavern,  postoffice  (called 
Summit),  and  sundry  mechanical  establishinents,  but  not  possess- 
ing any  special  elements  of  enterprise,  and  being  so  near  the  city 
of  Akron,  can  hardly  expect  to  attain  to  an3'thing  more  than  the 
pleasant  hamlet  that  it  now  is.  Myersville,  three  miles  east  of 
East  Liberty,  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  location  of  the  Valley  Rail- 
way through  that  portion  of  the  township.  It  was  laid  out  on  the 
lands  of  John  B.  Myers,  about  1880,  and  as  a  railroad  station  is  of 


IXDUSTKIAL,    EDUCATIONAL,    ETC. 


801 


very  great  convenience  to  the  people  of  the  vicinity.  The  village 
maintains  a  store  and  postoffice,  with  quite  a  number  of  private 
residences,  and  may  be  regarded  as  a  permanent  adjunct  to  the 
business  interests  of  Green  township. 

DARIUS  F.  BERGER,  —  born  in 
Middlebury,  March  5,  1835  ;  edu- 
cated in  district  schools,  and  Marl- 
boro and  Greensburg  Seminaries ; 
raised  to  mercantile  life  in  store  of 
his  father,  Mr.  John  Berger,  in 
Greensburg",  in  1863,  with  his  brother, 
Clinton  F.,  succeeding  to  the  busi- 
ness, the  latter  retiring  in  1868 ;  was 
married  November  25,  1858,  to  Miss 
Arnestena  C.  Henkle,  of  Ashland 
county,  who  has  borne  him  six  chil- 
dren-Sheridan G.,  Arthur  F.,  Homer 
E.,  Lottie  C,  Arlin  E.,  and  John  H. 
During  the  War  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Ohio  National  Guards,  and  com- 
manded company  H.,  164th  regiment, 
in  its  100  days'  service  before  Wash- 
ington, as  elsewhere  stated.  In  1884, 
Captain  Berger  moved  to  Akron  and 
engaged  in  the  sale  of  engines  and 
threshing  machinery,  in  1887  trans- 
ferring his  Greensburg  business  to 
his  sons  Sheridan  G.,  and  Homer  E., 
the  former  also  assuming  the  duties 
of  postmaster,  which  position  had 
been  successively  held  by  his  grand- 
father and  father  for  nearly  half  a 
century,  and  probably  the  youngest 
officer  in  the  service,  being  barely  of 
age  when  appointed.   Captain  Berger 

Green's  Industries. — Agriculture,  as  before  intimated,  is  the 
principal  industry  of  Green  township,  as,  from  a  drive  in  any 
direction,  its  well-kept  farms,  neat  and  comfortable  residences, 
mammoth  barns,  and  magnificent  horses  and  cattle,  will  clearly 
indicate.  In  addition  to  this,  the  Tritt  mill,  already  spoken  of,  the 
Stauffer  mill,  and  sundry  other  mills  for  grinding  grain  and  saw- 
ing lumber,  were  of  infinite  service  to  the  early  settlers,  in  their 
domestic  and  farming  operations.  Blacksmiths,  wagon-makers, 
cabinet-makers,  shoemakers,  harness-makers,  tanners,  etc.,  have 
been  inaintained  in  different  locations,  wool-carding  and  cloth- 
dressing  also  being  an  early  industry  of  the  township.  The  town- 
ship is  also  largely  underlaid  with  coal,  hitherto  not  very 
extensively  worked  for  w^ant  of  proper  transportation  facilities, 
quite  an  extensive  mine  now  (1891)  being  operated  by  the  Lake 
View^  Coal  Company,  near  East  Liberty,  the  s^^itch  of  the  Valley 
Road  to  their  Coventry  mine,  being  extended  to  this.  Iron  ore 
w^as  tnined  to  a  limited  extent  in  the  days  of  the  Middlebury  fur- 
nace, 60  years  ago.  The  production  of  lime  for  building  purposes, 
in  different  portions  of  the  township,  has,  at  times,  been  quite 
extensively  carried  on,  while  the  manufacture  of  drain  tile,  from 
an  excellent  quality  of  clay  found  on  the  line  of  the  Valley  Rail- 
way, in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  township,  is  quite  an  extensive 
industry. 

Educational  Matters.  —  Green  has  been  represented  by 
former    "historians"    as   lacking   in    educational   enterprise   and 

61 


DARIUS  F.  BERGER. 

is  now  assisting  his  son,  Arthur  F., 
now  a  successful  dealer  in  groceries 
and  provisions,  at  262  West  Market 
street,  in  Akron ;  the  second  son. 
Homer  E.,  now  officiating  as  book- 
keeper for  County  Treasurer  E.  S. 
Oviatt. 


802  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

intelligence,  one  writer  saying:  "Most  of  the  early  settlers  were 
Pennsylvania  Dutch,  and  many  of  these  were  very  ignorant  and 
superstitious,  consequently  at  an  early  day  the  cause  of  education 
did  not  flourish."  This  statement  I  believe  to  be  at  variance  with 
the  facts.  True,  the  early  settlers  were  from  Pennsylvania,  and 
most  of  them  of  German  descent,  but  that  they  ^vere  especially 
"ignorant  and  superstitious"  beyond  the  general  ignorance  and 
superstition  of  their  neighbors,  and  of  the  time,  is  undoubtedly 
an  error,  if  not  a  downright  slander.  At  all  events,  during  the 
half  century  that  the  writer  has  been  familiar  with  the  people  of 
that  township,  though  simple  in  their  habits  of  life,  and  quaint  of 
speech  and  expression,  he  has  found  them  fully  abreast  of  the 
times  in  point  of  general  intelligence  and  current  events.  And 
certainly,  so  far  as  outward  appearances,  are  concerned,  the  numer- 
ous school  houses  of  the  to\^nship — all  commodious  brick  structures 
— have  always  been  far  in  advance  of  the  average  school  houses  of 
the  Reserve  townships  of  the  county. 

Electoral  and  Political  Matters. — For  several  years  after 
its  organization,  the  local  and  general  elections  of  the  township 
were  held  at  such  convenient  places  as  could  be  secured,  but  after 
the  village  of  Greensburg  -was  established,  the  elections  were  held 
there  until  about  the  year  1860,  since  which  time,  by  orders  of 
trustees,  they  have  alternated  between  that  village  and  Kast 
Liberty.  The  Legislature  of  1886,  '87,  however,  divided  the  town- 
ship into  two  separate  precincts,  with  voting  places  at  both 
villages,  a  much  more  convenient  arrangement,  considering  the 
great  distance  that  many  of  the  voters  had  to  travel,  in  w^hichever 
place  the  polls  might  be  located  under  the  former  plan.  Politi- 
cally, Green  is  quite  largely  Democratic,  and,  though  having 
many  earnest  and  thorough-going  Republicans  "within  her  bor- 
ders, has  never  failed  in  returning  a  Democratic  majority  but 
twice;  first,  by  scoring  a  majority  of  one  for  John  Brough  for 
governor,  over  Clement  L.  Vallandigham,  in  1863,  and  by  the  same 
majority  expressing  a  preference  for  General  Grant  for  president, 
over  Horatio  Seymour,  in  1868. 

Criminal  Catalogue. — Though  staid,  sober  and  honest  to  a 
degree  seldom  reached  by  so  large  an  area  of  territory,  Green  has  not 
been  entirely  exempt  from  criminal  depredations  and  excitements. 
Passing  by  many  minor  criminal  offences,  and  a  number  of  con- 
victions for  forgery,  burglary,  grand  larceny,  horse  stealing,  etc., 
we  will  only  notice  those  of  a  homicidal  nature,  in  which  citizens 
of  the  township  have  been  involved. 

Horrible  Death  of  Michael  Myers. — One  of  the  earliest 
sensations  of  Green  tow^nship  was  the  death  of  Michael  Myers, 
w^ho  w^as  employed  in  quarrying  lime  stone  at  the  lime  kiln  of  John 
Kepler,  near  his  coal  bank  at  East  Liberty.  Early  on  Sunday 
morning,  February  24,  1844,  the  dead  body  of  Mr.  Myers  was  found 
lying  near  the  edge  of  the  burning  kiln,  under  such  circumstances 
as  to  render  it  probable  that  he  had  been  foully  dealt  w^ith;  the 
forepart  of  one  leg,  from  the  knee  dow^n  to  the  foot,  being  burned 
to  a  coal,  and  the  foot  of  the  other  leg  charred  to  the  ankle,  while 
his  hands  and  other  portions  of  his  person  were  also  badly 
burned,  and  what  appeared  to  be  a  small  punctured  wound  also 
being  found  upon  the  back  part  of  his  head. 


green's  criminal  affairs.  803 

The  ghastly  discovery  created  the  most  intense  excitement, 
tiot  only  in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  but  in  the  adjoining 
lownships,  and  at  the  county  seat,  and  neighbors  and  interested 
parties  immediately  sought  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  his  sudden 
.and  horrible  "taking  off."  For  some  reason  or  other  suspicion  was 
•directed  against  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Reed  and  Klijah  Bowers, 
^and  warrants  were  sworn  out  for  their  apprehension.  The  prelim- 
inary examination  w^as  had  before  Justice  Jacob  Brown,  of  Akron, 
assisted  by  Justices  Joseph  D.  Baird,  of  Springfield,  and  Henry 
•Converse,  of  Akron,  and  Mayor  Harvey  H.  Johnson.  The  examina- 
tion resulted  in  the  commitment  of  both  of  the  men,  on  the  charge  of 
murder,  Mrs.  Reed  being  discharged.  NotAvithstanding  the  large 
array  of  magisterial  wisdom  before  "whom  the  examination  w^as  had, 
and  their  judgment,  from  the  testimony  adduced,  that  Reed  and 
Bowers  were  probably  guilty  of  the  murder  of  Myers,  no  record  what- 
ever of  the  case  can  be  found  in  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  nor  do 
the  new^spapers  of  the  day  again  allude  to  the  affair.  The  recollec- 
tion of  the  writer  is  that  Prosecuting  Attorney  George  Kirkum,  Esq., 
•on  a  fuller  investigation  of  the  case,  concluded  that  the  death  of 
Myers  was  either  suicidal  or  accidental,  and  that  Reed  and  Bowers 
were  entirely  innocent  of  any  complicity  in  the  sad  affair,  and 
simply  dropped  the  matter  without  bringing  it  to  the  attention  of 
grand  jury,  or  having  the  transcript  filed  in  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas. 

The  Stripe-Cooper  Tragedy.— In  1862,  Mr.  John  Stripe  and 
Henry  Cooper  w^ere  operating  contiguous  coal  mines,  in  the  south- 
eastern portion  of  Green  tow^nship,  Mr.  Stripe's  mine  being  in 
charge  of  his  son,  Isaac,  then  about  19  years  old.  Between  Isaac 
.and  Cooper  business  jealousies  had  arisen,  eliciting,  as  w^as 
alleged,  threats  of  personal  chastisement  against  Cooper  by  young 
Stripe,  w^ith  perhaps  counter  threats  on  the  part  of  Cooper.  With 
this  feeling  of  enmity  existing  between  the  two  men,  on  the  even- 
ing of  November  10,  1862,  in  passing  from  his  mine  to  his  home, 
Cooper  approached  Stripe,  saying,  as  is  alleged,  that  he  w^ished  to 
have  a  talk  w^ith  him,  but,  as  Stripe  maintained,  in  a  menacing 
manner,  with  a  stone  in  his  hand,  as  if  to  assault  him.  Whichever 
version  w^as  the  true  one.  Stripe  having  a  long-handled  shovel  in 
his  hands,  struck  Cooper  two  severe  blows  upon  the  head  and  face, 
felling  him  to  the  ground.  Stripe  then  ran  to  his  coal  bank,  saying 
to  one  William  Dickerhoof,  in  his  employ,  as  the  latter  stated  at 
the  coroner's  inquest,  that  he  had  hit  Cooper  w^ith  a  shovel,  and 
wanted  a  pick  or  something  to  make  it  sure.  But  when  Stripe, 
accompanied  by  Dickerhoof,  came  to  the  place  w^here  Cooper  had 
fallen,  he  was  not  there,  having  so  far  recovered  as  to  get  up  and 
and  w^alk  to  his  home,  distant  about  40  rods. 

After  informing  his  family  what  had  happened,  Mr.  Cooper 
w^as  immediately  taken  with  vomiting,  and  though  attended  by 
skillful  physicians,  rapidly  grew  worse  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  November  19.  A  little  son  of  Cooper,  who  had  been 
working  with  his  father  in  the  mine,  and  who  had  passed  on  home 
while  his  father  stopped  to  talk  w^ith  Stripe,  while  w^ashing  himself 
upon  the  door  step,  also  saw  the  blows  struck  and  his  father  fall. 

As  it  became  apparent  that  Cooper  was  likely  to  die  from  his 
injuries,  the  excitement  in  the  vicinity  became  very  great,  and  on 
the    17th   day   of   November,   an   affidavit    was   filed   by  Thomas 


804  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Highton,  before  Justice  Alexander  Johnston,  charging  Stripe  with 
assault  with  intent  to  murder,  Justice  Johnston,  on  preliminary 
hearing,  holding  him  to  bail  in  the  sum  of  $500,  to  answ^er  to  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  on  the  above  charge,  his  father,  John 
Stripe,  going  upon  his  bond. 

The  coroner's  inquest  found  that  Cooper  died  from  the  effects 
of  the  blow^s  inflicted  by  Stripe,  and  the  grand  jury  indicted  him 
for  murder  in  the  second  degree,  the  traverse  jury  on  final  trial,  at 
the  February  term,  1863,  finding  him  guilty  of  manslaughter. 
Judge  Canfield  sentencing  him  to  15  months'  imprisonment  in  the 
penitentiary.  He  was  taken  to  the  penitentiary  March  10, 1863,  and 
released  April  14, 1864 — adiscountfor  good  conduct  of  one  month  and 
26  days. 

Since  his  restoration  to-  liberty  Mr.  Stripe — never  addicted  to 
excessive  indulgence  in  intoxicating  liquors — has  been  a  sober, 
industrious  and  reputable  citizen  of  Green  township,  having  been 
for  several  years  the  proprietor  of  quite  an  extensive  tile  manufac- 
tory on  the  eastern  border  of  the  township,  and  contiguous  to  the 
Valley  Railw^ay. 

The  Semler-KepIvEr  Homicide. — On  the  1st  day  of  May,  1852, 
Godfrey  Semler  ^was  married  to  Sarah  Jane  Kepler,  daughter  of 
Andrew^  J.  Kepler,  of  East  Liberty.  Living  for  a  year  or  two  near 
Canal  Fulton,  in  Stark  county,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Semler  returned  to 
Kast  Liberty  and  engaged  in  hotel  keeping.  This  occupation  served 
to  augment  the  hitherto  somew^hat  tippling  habits  of  Semler,  and 
he  rapidly  fell  into  dissipation  and  consequent  domestic  infelici- 
ties, being  at  times  so  grossly  abusive  of  his  w^ife  as  to  compel  her, 
with  her  children,  to  seek  the  protection  of  her  parents  and  other 
friends  in  the  neighborhood,  her  life  at  such  times  often  being 
threatened  by  her  inebriated  husband. 

The  Fatal  Imbroglio. — On  Thursday,  August  10,1871,  Semler 
visited  Akron,  accompanied  by  one  of  his  little  girls,  whose  picture 
he  had  had  taken  duringtheday, as  usual  returning  homeconsidera- 
bly  intoxicated.  Showing  the  picture  to  his  wife,  and  asking  how 
she  liked  it,  she  replied  that  it  w^as  a  very  good  picture,  only  the 
hands  looked  rather  too  large  for  such  a  child.  At  this  Semler 
became  very  greatly  exasperated;  accused  his  -wife  of  making  fun 
of,  and  ridiculing  her  ow^n  child,  hurling  at  her  the  grossest  abuse 
and  threats  until  a  late  hour  of  the  night  and  until  finally  overcome 
by  drunken  slumber. 

On  finding,  tow^ards  morning,  that  he  Avas  at  length  sound 
asleep,  Mrs.  Semler  quietly  aAvoke  her  three  children — two  girls 
and  one  little  boy — and  dressing  herself  and  them  left  the  house, 
but  instead  of  this  tiitie  going  to  the  home  of  her  own  parents,  as 
she  had  so  often  done  before,  walked  nearly  four  miles  to  the  home 
of  Semler's  parents,  near  Greensburg,  to  solicit  their  intercession 
in  securing  better  treatment  from  her  husband. 

Failing  to  secure  the  sympathy  and  co-operation  of  father  and 
mother  Semler,  in  behalf  of  herself  and  children,  that  she  had 
anticipated,  towards  evening,  Friday,  August  11,  they  started  back 
again  on  foot  towards  East  Liberty,  but  getting  a  timely  ride,  a 
part  of  the  distance,  in  a  farmer's  wagon.  While  thus  riding,  they 
were  met  by  Semler,  carrying  a  gun,  who,  threatening  to  shoot  her, 
tw^ice  snapped  the  gun  at  her,  but  which,  by  reason  of  not  being 
loaded,  or  ow^ing  to  a  defect  in  the  lock,  failed  to  go  off. 


THE   SEMLER-KEMLER   HOMICIDE.  805 

Arriving  at  her  father's  house,  but  hesitating  about  obtruding 
her  domestic  troubles  further  upon  her  parents,  Avho  as  she  sup- 
posed had  retired  for  the  night,  she  seated  herself  with  her  chil- 
dren upon  the  porch.  The  little  ones,  being  weary  and  restless, 
soon  attracted  the  attention  of  the  old  people  by  their  cries  and 
moans,  and  were  at  once  taken  into  the  house  and  provided  with 
lodgings  for  the  night.  About  10  o'clock,  while  Mrs.  Semler  and 
her  parents  were  talking  the  matter  over,  Semler,  who  had  not 
been  inside  of  the  house  for  three  or  four  years,  knocked  at  the 
door,  and  was  invited  in  by  his  father-in-law.  Semler  demanded 
that  his  w^ife  should  go  home  v^rith  him,  w^hich  she  declined  to  do, 
as  the  children  had  gone  to  bed,  but  promised  to  do  so  early  in  the 
morning. 

Seeming  satisfied  Avith  this  promise,  Semler  left  the  house, 
and  the  two  women  went  to  bed,  the  old  gentleman  remaining  up, 
or  reclining  upon  the  settee  in  the  kitchen.  After  a  time  Semler 
returned,  and  being  again  admitted  to  the  house  by  Kepler,  again 
demanded  that  his  wife  should  at  once  go  home  with  him.  Kepler 
replying  that  she  was  probably  asleep,  urged  him  to  go  away, 
promising  that  she  should  go  early  in  the  morning.  Instead  of 
complying  with  Mr.  Kepler's  request,  Semler  forced  himself  into 
the  bed  room  in  search  of  his  wife.  In  the  meantime,  being 
alarmed  at  his  return,  Mrs.  Semler  had  taken  refuge  under  the  bed. 
Not  finding  her  in  the  bed,  by  the  aid  of  the  lantern  he  had  w^ith 
liim,  he  soon  discovered  her  hiding  place,  and  pulling  her  out, 
raised  her  to  her  feet,  and  began  choking  her  with  such  severity 
that  she  soon  sank  to  the  floor.  At  this  point  the  old  gentleman, 
seizing  a  cane-gun  which  was  standing  behind  the  door,  ordered 
Semler  to  leave  the  room,  w^hich  he  did. 

The  party  then  sat  down  in  the  kitchen  to  talk  the  matter  over, 
the  old  gentleman  in  the  meantime  standing  the  cane-gun  in 
one  corner  of  the  kitchen.  Semler  again  demanded  of  his  wife 
that  she  should  at  once  go  home  with  him,  but  she  declined  to  do 
so,  saying  that  he  had  snapped  his  gun  twice  at  her  that  evening, 
to  w^hich  he  replied,  "Oh,  that  was  all  in  fun!" 

Seeming,  at  length,  to  acquiesce  in  the  promise  of  Mrs. 
Semler  and  her  parents  that  she  would  return  to  him  in  the  morn- 
ing, Semler  invited  his  father-in-law  to  go  up  tow^n  w^ith  him 
and  get  a  drink  of  beer.  The  old  gentleman  declined  on  account 
of  being  too  tired,  whereupon  Semler  proposed  to  bring  some  beer 
to  the  house,  if  he  would  drink  with  him,  to  which  Kepler  assented. 
On  Semler's  return,  while  the  two  men  were  drinking  the  beer, 
the  entire  family  were  discussing  the  family  troubles.  At  length, 
under  the  inspiration  of  his  fresh  potations,  Semler  renewed  his 
demand  that  his  w^ife  should  go  home  w^ith  him,  w^hich  she  refused 
to  do.  again  reminding  him  of  his  attempt  to  shoot  her  earlier  in 
the  evening. 

A  Desperate  Struggle. — Finding  himself  again  repulsed, 
Semler,  setting  his  lantern  dow^n  near  the  door,  started  tow^ards  his 
wife,  as  if  to  forcibly  drag  her  home  w^ith  him.  Divining  his  inten- 
tion she  took  refuge  behind  the  settee  upon  w^hich  her  father  was 
sitting.  As  Semler  seized  hold  of  his  wife  the  old  gentleman  inter- 
posed, and  being  rather  the  stronger  of  the  two,  a  terrible  hand-to- 
hand  struggle  ensued,  both  falling  to  the  floor.  In  the  struggle, 
iBemler,  as  was  alleged,  managed  to  get  hold  of  the  cane-gun  in 


806  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

question,  which  he  discharged  at  the  old  gentleman  while  in  a 
recumbent  position,  in  such  a  manner  that  the  slug  shaped  bullet 
plowed  through  the  fleshy  portion  of  the  left  leg,  and  entered  the 
abdomen  about  two  inches  below  the  low^er  point  of  the  breast 
bone,  lacerating  the  liver  and  other  internal  organs,  from  the 
effects  of  which  the  old  gentleman  died  on  the  night  of  August  16, 
1871.  Semler  also  received  a  wound  in  his  arm,  in  the  melee,  and 
his  version  of  the  affair  was  that  while  he  and  Kepler  ^vere  strug- 
gling on  the  floor,  the  old  lady  discharged  the  cane-gun  at  him,  the- 
ball  of  which,  after  passing  through  his  arm,  also  wounded  the 
old  gentleman. 

Both  Semler  and  Mrs.  Kepler  Arrested. — The  shape  of  the 
wound  upon  the  person  of  Mr.  Kepler,  led  the  examining  physicians, 
Drs.  O.  E.  Brownell  and  C  A.  Perdue,  to  conclude  that  he  had 
been  stabbed  with  some  slim,  sharp  instrument  in  the  hands  of 
Semler,  and  both  Mrs.  Kepler  and  Semler  were  taken  into  custody, 
the  former  for  shooting  Semler,  and  the  latter  for  stabbing  Kepler. 
A  preliminary  examination,  in  Semler's  case,  was  had  before 
Justice  William  D.  Sweeten,  of  Greensburg,  w^ho  held  Semler  to 
bail,  in  the  sum  of  $1,800,  on  the  charge  of  stabbing  with  intent  to 
w^ound,  John  and  Michael  Semler  going  upon  his  bond  as  sure- 
ties. It  transpiring,  during  the  examination,  that,  after  being 
wounded  by  Semler,  while  lying  upon  the  floor,  Kepler  had  prob- 
ably struggled  to  his  feet  and  seizing  his  loaded  rifle  standing  in 
another  corner  of  the  kitchen,  had  fired  at  Semler  as  he  was  leaving 
the  room,  thus  accounting  for  the  ^vound  in  Semler's  arm,  the  old 
lady  was  not  proceeded  against. 

A  New  Phase  of  the  Affair. — Mr.  Kepler  dying  from  his 
injuries,  August  16,  1871,  a  post-mortem  examination  by  Dr. 
Thomas  McEbright,  revealed  the  fact  that  the  wound  in  the 
abdomen  of  the  deceased  w^as  caused  by  a  bullet,  instead  of  a  stab, 
and  Prosecuting  Attorney  Jacob  A.  Kohler,  Esq.,  filed  an  affidavit 
before  Justice  William  M.  Cunningham,  of  Akron,  charging  Semler 
with  murder  in  the  second  degree,  on  w^hich  charge  he  ^vas  held 
to  bail  in  the  sum  of  $3,000,  in  default  of  which  Semler  was  com- 
mitted to  jail,  the  proper  bond  being  filed  before  Probate  Judge  U. 
L.  Marvin,  September  2,  1871,  \srith  Michael  and  John  Semler  as 
sureties. 

Indictment,  Trial,  etc. — At  the  November  term,  1871,  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  Summit  county,  the  grand  jury  indicted 
Semler  for  murder  in  the  second  degree,  to  which,  on  the  advice  of 
his  attorneys.  General  A.  C.  Voris  and  Hon.  Henry  McKinney,. 
he  entered  a  plea  of  not  guilty,  and  was  duly  put  upon  his  trial 
before  Judge  Samuel  W.  McClure,  and  a  jury.  The  trial  lasted-sev- 
eral  days,  and  was  closely  contested  at  every  point.  Prosecutor 
Kohler  being  ably  assisted  by  his  law  partner,  Hon.  Sidney  Edger- 
ton,  on  behalf  of  the  State,  and  Messrs.  Voris  and  McKinney 
defending  w^ith  their  usual  vigor  and  ability. 

The  charge  of  Judge  McClure  w^as  an  able  exposition  of  the 
law  governing  homicides  and  the  rules  of  applying  evidence  in 
cases  of  that  character,  the  jury,  after  a  brief  consultation  return- 
ing,  through  their  foreman,  George  W.  Weeks,  Esq.,  a  verdict  of 
guilty  of  manslaughter. 

Motion  for  new  trial  being  overruled  by  Judge  McClure,  the- 
defendant  w^as  sentenced  to  the  State  Penitentiary  for  a  period  of 


GREEN   TOWNSHIP   IN    WAR.  807 

five  years,  whither  he  was  conveyed  by  Sheriff  August  Curtiss,  oii 
the  19th  day  of  December,  1872,  his  age  being  at  that  time  32  years. 

Pardoned  by  Governor  Allen. — It  afterwards  appearing, 
from  the  revised  recollections  of  the  two  women  of  the  badly  mud- 
dled events  of  the  fatal  evening,  that  in  the  struggle  between  the 
two  men,  the  cane-gun  in  question  was  probably  accidentally  dis- 
charged, and  that  Semler  was  entirely  innocent  of  even  the  milder 
form  of  homicide  for  which  he  had  been  convicted.  Prosecutor 
Kohler  and  others  interested  themselves  in  his  behalf,  and  he  was 
pardoned  by  Governor  William  Allen  on  the  27th  day  of  March, 
1874,  after  faithful  service  to  the  State  of  two  years,  four  months 
and  eight  days. 

Subsequent  History, — Satisfied  that  she  could  never  again 
live  happily  with  her  husband,  even  should  he  not  return  to  his 
cups,  on  leaving  the  prison,  Mrs.  Semler  applied  for  and  w^as 
granted  a  divorce,  at  the  January  term,  1872,  with  the  restoration  of 
her  maiden  name,  custody  of  children,  control  of  property,  etc., 
and  on  the  31st  day  of  December,  1874,  she  was  married  to  Freder- 
ick Gindling,  of  Green  tow^nship,  with  whom  she  is  now  living 
happily  in  the  state  of  Michigan. 

And  as  to  Semler,  himself,  instead  of  profiting  by  his  bitter 
experience,  and  reforming  his  habits,  while  not  regarded  as 
especially  vicious,  the  opinion  entertained  of  him  by  those  who 
know  him  best  may  be  summed  up  in  the  single  but  expressive 
word — "  worthless." 

GREEN'S  MILITARY   RECORD. 

It  is  presumable  that  among  the  large  number  of  sturdy  and 
patriotic  immigrants  from  Pennsylvania,  who  settled  in  Green 
township,  there  were  a  number  of  the  battle-scarred  survivors  of 
the  Revolutionary  War,  but  unfortunately  their  names  have  not 
been  preserved  in  the  local  traditions  of  the  township. 

Its  inhabitants  Avere  so  sparse,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  War 
of  1812,  that  but  few  recruits  were  furnished  by  Green  for  the 
defense  of  the  frontier,  and  not  all  of  those,  even,  have  been 
handed  down.  John  Kepler,  being  unable  to  go  himself  secured 
young  John  Dixon  as  his  substitute,  providing  him  with  the 
necessary  equipage,  consisting  principally  of  a  gun,  knapsack, 
and  blanket.  Andrew  Kepler  personally  entered  the  service,  and 
also  Peter  Buchtel,  who  died  of  disease  at  Sandusky;  William 
Triplet,  on  reporting  for  duty  at  Canton,  being  rejected  by  the 
examining  surgeon,  because  of  his  enfeebled  appearance  from  a 
severe  attack  of  fever  and  ague,  from  which  he  was  suffering. 

In  the  Mexican  War  of  1846-8,  the  patriotism  of  Green  did 
not  "enthuse,"  for  though  generally  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
political  party  then  in  power,  her  people  did  not  apparently 
approve  of  the  measures  by  which  that  war  was  brought  about. 

But  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  notwithstanding  the  adverse 
feeling  and  action  of  a  large  proportion  of  their  political  partisans, 
Green  was  found  to  be  eminently  true  to  the  Union  cause.  Up  to 
July,  1862,  she  had  furnished  62  volunteers.  In  the  subsequent 
calls  of  that  and  the  succeeding  year,  Green  promptly  responded; 
and,  when  in  the  Spring  of  1864,  Governor  Brough  tendered  to  Mr. 
Lincoln  the   Ohio  National   Guard  to  man  the  forts  surrounding 


808  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Washington,  thereby  releasing  several  thousand  veterans  to  follow 
the  fortunes  of  the  victorious  Grant,  Captain  D.  F.  Berger's  large 
company  turned  out  to  a  man,  all  of  whom,  except  the  very  few 
rejected  for  positive  disability,  \^ere  duly  mustered  into  service  at 
Camp  Taylor,  in  Cleveland,  May  16,  1864,  as  a  part  of  the  164th 
Regiment,  O.  N.  G.  After  a  faithful  service  of  100  days,  in  the 
heat  of  an  almost  tropical  Summer,  the  company  was  mustered 
out  at  the  same  place  August  27,  1874. 

In  the  last  draft  of  the  war,  in  October  1864,  prizes  were  drawn 
by  several  of  the  good  citizens  of  Green,  Captain  Berger,  who  had 
just  been  mustered  out  of  service  as  al)ove,  included.  Such  of 
these  drafts  as  Tvere  not  rejected  for  disability  by  the  examining 
surgeons,  either  responded  in  person  or  by  substitute;  the  total 
number  of  soldiers  (including  the  100  day  men)  furnished  by  Green 
township  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  as  reported  to  the 
writer  by  Captain  Berger,  and  compiled  from  assessors'  returns  for 
1865,  being  176,  as  follows: 

Joseph  F.  Anderson,  Daniel  J.  Angstadt,  Jerome  Ansbach,  John 
L.  Bender,  Emanuel  Buck,  John  Bussard,  Henry  Brumbaugh, 
Otho  H.  Beard,  John  Burkett,  Elias  Bickel,  Darius  F.  Berger,  John 
Burkhardt,  Peter  Corl  (killed  in  battle),  Daniel  Cobb,  Cornelius 
Cobb,  Elias  Cramer,  Benjamin  Chisnell,  James  Collar,  Benjamin 
Corl,  Gerge  Denious  (died  in  service),  William  Dickerhoof,  William 
B.  Dice,  John  F.  Dickerhoof,  George  W.  Dice  (killed  in  battle), 
Amos  Daily,  George  Dissinger,  Henry  D.  Evans  (killed  in  battle), 
George  Foust  (killed  in  battle),  Daniel  S.  Foust,  Hiram  Foust,  Joel 
Frank  (killed  in  battle),  Jacob  Foster  (died  in  service),  Suel  Foster, 
Jonathan  Foster,  John  Fry,  Levi  Fasnacht,  George  H.  Fasnacht, 
Henry  Fees,  James  Fees,  Elias  Foster,  Jacob  Gardner  (killed  in 
battle),  William  Garmon,  Harrison  Garmon,  Jeremiah  J.  Garmon, 
Jacob  Garmon,  Alexander  Grable,  Jacob  Grable,  Jerome  Grable, 
Andrew  Greenho,  Frederick  Gindling,  William  Guise  (died  in  ser- 
vice), Hiram  Haring,  John  Hugh,  Elias  Harrington,  William  F. 
Harrington  (died  in  service),  Milo  Hunsberger  (died  in  service), 
William  Hartong  (killed  in  battle),  Lewis  Hartong,  Levi  Hartong, 
James  Howard,  Isaiah  Hunsberger,  James  Hayes  (killed  in  battle), 
David  Houser  (killed  in  battle),  Simon  Humbert  (killed  in  battle), 
Wellington  Isbell,  Rufus  M.  Jones,  Henrj'  Jarrett,  Beneville 
Kinzy,  Jonas  Kahler,  John  P.  Kepler,  David  Kline,.  Martin  Kline, 
Alchia  A.  Koontz,  Jonathan  B.  Kreighbaum,  William  Kramer, 
William  Klinefelter,  William  Kline,  Martin  Kahler,  Isaac  Kinzy, 
Emanuel  Kinzy,  George  Kleckner,  John  Lamberson,  Daniel 
Lamberson  (killed  in .  battle),  Noah  N.  Leohner,  Jacob  Lepard, 
George  W.  Lepard,  Henry  Linebaugh,  Jacob  Long,  Obed  Long, 
Ishmael  Long,  John  L.  Louby,  Michael  Lutz,  Benjamin  F.  Mander- 
bach,  William  C.  McBride,  D.  O.  Mottinger,  Samuel  Mottinger, 
Daniel  J.  Mottinger,  John  C.  Musty,  P.  H.  Musty,  Rodney  McPike, 
Joseph  R.  Mell,  Jerome  J.  Musser,  Isaac  S.  Miller,  Henry  Mander- 
bach,  M.  E.  McBride,  Peter  Nicholas,  Isaac  Powles,  Nicholas 
Pontious,  Simon  Peters,  Frederick  Pippus,  Isaac  Pontious,  Fred- 
erick Remley  (killed  in  battle),  Christian  F.  Remley  (killed  in 
battle).  Hiram  Ream,  Andrew  J.  Ream,  Samuel  Ream,  Simon 
Ream,  Lewis  Ream,  George  Rininger,  Samuel  Rininger,  Jehu 
Rininger,  William  H.  Rininger,  G.  W.  Rhodes,  Samuel  Raber, 
Manum    Ro3^er,   John  Stevens   (died    in    service),    Samuel   Steese, 


GREEN    IN    PUBLIC    OFFICE.  809 

John  W.  Steese  (killed  in  battle),  William  F.  Spidel,  Ezra  Spidel, 
Ira  Spidel,  Isaas  Shutt,  David  H.  Shutt,  Klias  Shutt,  Daniel  G. 
Shutt,  Charles  C.  Smith  (killed  in  battle),  Hiram  B.  Smith  (died  in 
service),  Joseph  D.  B.  Siess,  Joseph  Simon,  Elias  Shriver,  Balser 
Shriver,  Henry  Shriver,  Daniel  Stamm,  Franklin  G.  Stipe,  Aaron 
Swartz,  George  Switzer,  Uri'as  F.  Sefner,  Edmund  Shriver  (drafted), 
Simon  S.  Staver,  Joel  Staver,  Christian  Schaffer  (died  in  service), 
Jacob  Sickmer,  Elijah  Shriver,  William  Smith,  John  Sayler, 
Andrew  Tousley,  Joseph  C.  Tousley,  Albert  M.  Tousley,  Joel  T. 
Tousley,  Jacob  Tritehart,  Peter  Tritt,  Samuel  Winkleman,  Henry 
L.  Winkleman,  John  Winkleman,  Franklin  Winkleman,  Isaac 
Weaver  (killed  in  battle),  William  Weaver  (killed  in  battle),  Jacob 
Weaver,  Reuben  C.  Wagoner,  Elias  Wise,  Aaron  Welty,  Jacob 
White,  Hiram  J.  Weckerley,  Allen  Whetstone,  Adam  Weston, 
Cephas  Witwer,  Peter  WitAver,  Henry  Wagoner,  Jefferson  Yerrick 
(died  in  service),  Alfred  Yerrick,  Andrew  Yerrick,  Hiram  Yerrick, 
Lewis  Yerrick, 

County,  State  and  Nation. — Though  not,  perhaps,  numer- 
ically so  prominent  in  public  affairs  as  some  of  her  sister  town- 
ships, Green  is  able  to  present  a  highly  honorable  record  in  that 
regard. 

County  Recorder. — Alexander  Johnston,  Esq.,  one  of  Green's 
most  successful  and  substantial  farmers,  w^as  elected  as  Summit 
<!ounty's  first  recorder,  in  April,  1840,  and  re-elected  in  October  of 
the  same  year;  for  three  years  and  seven  months  rendering  his 
constituents  signal  service,  in  organizing  the  real  estate  records  of 
the  new  county,  and  in  properly  adjusting  them  with  those  of  the 
several  counties  out  of  which  Summit  had  been  formed. 

State  Representative. — So  well  pleased  were  the  people  of 
the  county  with  Mr.  Johnston's  work  as  recorder,  that,  in  October, 
1846,  they  elected  him,  by  a  handsome  majority,  to  a  seat  in  the 
House  of  Representative,  at  Columbus,  the  county's  interests  being 
faithfully  cared  for  during  the  session,  1846-7.  Mr.  Johnston,  now 
(November,  1891),  84  years  of  age,  in  the  possession  of  all  his 
physical  and  mental  faculties,  still  lives  on  his  fine  farm,  in  the 
southeastern  portion  of  the  tow^nship.  [See  portrait  and  biography 
on  page  101.] 

County  Sheriff. — Jacob  Chisnell,  a  resident  of  Green  town- 
ship, w^as  elected  to  the  important  office  of  sheriff,  in  October,  1860, 
taking  possession  of  the  office  on  the  first  Monday  of  January,  1861. 
In  accordance  w^ith  the  custom,  and  for  faithful  service  during  his 
first  term,  Mr.  Chisnell  was  re-elected  for  tw^o  years,  in  October, 
1862,  his  four  years,  w^hile  perhaps  rendered  more  onerous  thereby, 
being  probably  somewhat  less  remunerative,  by  reason  of  the  war 
which  continued  through  the  entire  tw^o  terms  of  his  incum- 
bency. 

County  Auditor.— George  W.  Crouse,  though  born  in  staid 
old  Tallmadge,  rejoices  in  being  know^n  as  a  son  of  Green,  going 
thither,  with  his  parents,  while  yet  almost  in  his  infancy.  Having, 
by  remarkable  industry  and  perseverance,  fitted  himself  therefor, 
in  1855  he  became  an  assistant  to  both  the  auditor  and  treasurer, 
his  work  being  so  well  performed,  that,  in  October,  1858,  at  the  age 
of  25  years,  he  was  elected  county  auditor,  for  two  years,  and  in 
1860,  re-elected  for  the  second  term. 


810  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

County  Treasurer. — Some  two  weeks  before  the  expiration 
of  his  term,  as  auditor,  a  vacancy  occurring  in  the  office  of  treas- 
urer, the  county  commissioners — Messrs.  David  K.  Hill,  of  Middle- 
bury,  George  Buell,  of  Akron,  and  Nelson  Upson,  of  T\i'insburg — 
unanimously  appointed  Mr.  Crouse  to  the  vacancy,  which  he  filled 
with  his  usual  fidelity  for  the  seven  remaining  months  of  the 
term. 

State  Senator. — Though  by  this  time  pretty  well  grounded 
as  a  resident  of  the  city  of  Akron,  Green  w^as  still  further  honored 
by  the  selection  of  Mr.  George  W.  Crouse,  in  1885,  to  represent  the 
24th  and  26th  districts  combined,  composed  of  Summit,  Portage^ 
Geauga,  Lake  and  Ashtabula  counties,  in  the  State  senate,  which 
he  most  acceptably  did  until  "  called  up  higher,"  by  the  voice  of 
the  people  of  the  20th  congressional  district  of  Ohio,  composed  of 
Wayne,  Medina,  Summit  and  part  of  Cuyahoga  counties,  as  its 

ReprEvSENtative  in  Congress,  from  March  4th,  1887,  to  March 
4th,  1889,  the  duties  of  which  position  he  performed  ^vith  the  same 
unswerving  ability  and  integrity  that  have  ever  marked  both  his 
business  and  official  life,  declining  a  renomination  for  a  second 
term.     [See  portrait  and  biography  on  page  152.] 

County  Commissioner. — Washington  G.  Johnston  was  elected 
county  commissioner  in  November,  1890,  making  in  all  respects  a 
first-class  officer. 

Present  Township  Officers  (1891). — Trustees,  John  F.  Wise, 
Henry  Brumbaugh,  Jonathan  L.  Grable;  clerk,  Isaac  B.  Rohrer;; 
treasurer,  William  Krumroy;  justices  of  the  peace,  Clinton  C.  Fos- 
ter, Sylvester  S.  Kepler;  postmasters,  Inland,  Sheridan  G.  Berger;. 
Summit,  William  Dreese;  Myersville,  Norman  B.  Bidleman;  Comet,. 
Freeman  Daily. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

HUDSON  THE  PIONEER  TOWNSHIP  OF  SUMMIT  COUNTY-  LONG  AND  PERILOUS 
JOURNEY—"  HOME  AT  LAST,"  JUNE,  1779— EARLY  PRIVATIONS— FIRST  PUB- 
LIC THANKSGIVING"  PATRIOTIC  CELEBRATION,  JULY  4,  1800— VITAL  STA- 
TISTICS—WONDERFUL LONGEVITY  OF  EARLY  SETTLERS— ORGANIZATION  OF 
TOWNSHIP— INDIAN  AND  WILD  BEAST  EXPERIENCES— RELIGION,  CHURCHES, 
ETC.— EDUCATIONAL  MATTERS— WESTERN  RESERVE  COLLEGE,  ITS  RISE, 
PROGRESS  AND  DECLINE— HUDSON'S  PAST  AND  PRESENT  BUSINESS  STATUS 
— MILITARY  OPERATIONS— SPLENDID  CIVIL  RECORD— CRIMINAL  MATTERS — 
THE  MALONEY-STEPLETON  HOMICIDE— EXCITEMENT  AMONG  THE  PEOPLE — 
PURSUIT  AND  CAPTURE  OF  THE  MURDERER— TRIAL,  LIFE  SENTENCE, 
PARDON,  SUBSEQUENT  LIFE,  ETC.— HUDSON'S  PUBLIC  SPIRIT,  RAILROAD- 
ENTERPRISE,  ETC. 

HUDSON'S  ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS. 

TN  the  original  survey  of  the  Western  Reserve,  by  the  Connecti- 
-'-  cut  Land  Company,  what  is  now^  called  Hudson,  w^as  designated 
as  Township  4,  Range  10,  and  is  so  known  on  the  county  records 
and  tax  duplicates  at  the  present  time.  In  the  distribution  of  the 
lands  by  draft,  as  elsew^here  explained,  this  township  fell  to  David 
Hudson,  Birdsey  Norton,  Nathaniel  Norton,  Stephen  Baldwin,. 
Benjamin  Oviatt  and  Theodore  Parmelee.  The  township  contained 
16,000  acres,  the  purchase  price  of  w^hich  w^as  52  cents  per  acre  (a 
total  of  $8,320.00);  but  owing  to  the  report  of  the  surveyors  that  a 
large  portion  of  the  township  w^as  swamp,  10,000  additional  acres, 
in  the  "equalizing"  tow^nships  of  Norton  and  Chester,  w^as  thrown 
in,  making  the  actual  cost  of  the  whole  26,000  acres,  just  32  cents 
per  acre. 

First  Visit  to  Township. — This  purchase,  perfected  in  1798, 
was  first  visited  by  Mr.  Hudson,  in  1799.  Accompanied  by  his 
eleven-year-old  son,  Ira,  and  (as  hired  help)  Jesse  Lindley,  William 
McKinley,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thaddeus  Lacey,  and  their  two  chil- 
dren), the  party  started  from  Goshen,  Litchfield  county,  Connecti- 
cut, April  23,  1799,  Mr,  Lacey  acting  as  caterer  and  teamster,  and 
Mrs.  L.  as  cook.  At  Albany  Mr.  Hudson  hired  Joseph  Darrow,  at 
$10  per  month,  to  assist  him  in  making  his  surveys;  at  Fort 
Schuyler,  Jonah  Meacham,  and  at  Onondaga,  Richard  Blin  were 
taken  on,  the  party  reaching  Bloomfield,  Ontario  county,  N.  Y.,  the 
home  of  Mr.  Nathaniel  Norton,  on  the  5th  day  of  May. 

Here  they  w^ere  detained  eleven  days  preparing  for  their  long 
and  perilous  journey.  Here,  also,  Mr.  Hudson  fell  in  w^ith  Mr. 
Benjamin  Tappan,  the  proprietor  of  Ravenna,  afterw^ards  for  many 
years,  known  as  Judge  Tappan,  and  a  United  States  Senator  from 
Ohio,  from  1839  to  1845.  Mr.  Tappan  bought  one  yoke  of  oxen,  and 
Mr.  Hudson  t^vo  yoke,  and  tw^o  cows,  w^hich  were  placed  in  charge 
of  Mr.  Hudson's  man,  Meacham,  and  twro  of  Mr.  Tappan's  men, 
who  drove  them  safely  through,  on  the  Indian  trail  to  Buffalo,  and 
thence  along  the  lake  shore  to  about  the  present  site  of  Painesville, 
thence  southerly,  on  the  marked  tow^nsbip  lines,  to  their  respective- 
destinations. 


812 


AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Mr.  Hudson,  on  reaching  Geandiquot  (pronounced  "Gondigut") 
Bay,  on  Lake  Ontario,  found  the  boat  which  had  been  provided 
for  the  conveyance  of  himself  and  party  westward,  unfit  for  use, 
and  engaged  passage  for  himself  and  Darrow  in  one  of  Mr.  Tap- 
pan's  boats;  also  arranging  with  Mr.  Elias  Harmon,  who  was,  w^ith 
his  wife,  en  route  for  Mantua,  for  the  passage  of  Blin  and  McKin- 
ley;  a  part  of  his  stores  being  divided  between  the  two  boats;  the 
balance,  together  with  his  son,  Ira,  being  left  with  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
JLacey,  to  work  their  way  through  the  wilderness  by  land. 


DEACON  DAVID  HUDSON,-born 
in  Bradford,  Connecticut,  Feb- 
ruary 17, 1761,  and  Anna  Norton,  born 
in  Goshen,  Connecticut,  October  29, 
1761,  were  married  at  Goshen,  Decem- 
ber 22,  1783,  and  moved  to  Ohio,  set- 
tling- in  Hudson,  in  the  Spring  of  1800. 
They  were  the  parents  of  nine  chil- 
dren— Samuel,  born  April  4,  1785,  died 
in  Hudson,  January  13, 1846  ;  Ira,  born 
September  19,  1788,  died  in  Ravenna, 
September  20,  1817 ;  William  Norton, 
born  November  8,  1789,  died  in  Meigs 
county,  July  28,  1863,  from  a  gunshot 
wound  received  during  the  raid  of 
the  rebel  John  Morgan  through  Ohio; 
Milo  Lee,  born  October  lo,  1791,  died 
in  Chester,  November  4,  1838  ;  Daniel 
Norton,  born  February  27,  1794,  died 
in  Goshen,  August  25, 1796  ;  Timothy, 
born  May  20,  1796,  died  in  Ligonier, 
Indiana,  October  29,  1871 ;  Abigail 
-Laura,  born  June  30,  1798  (afterwards 
Mrs.  Birdsey  Oviatt),  died  in  Hud- 
son, April  24,  1860;  Anner  Mary  (Mrs. 
Harvey  Baldwin),  born  October  28, 
1800,  still  living-;  David  Hudson,  Jr., 
born  September  7,  1805,  died  in  Ches- 
ter, May  14, 1836.  The  mother  of  these 
children,  Mrs.  Anna  Norton  Hudson, 
dying-  Aug-ust  31,  1816,  Deacon  Hud- 
son was  again  married,  June  1,  1817, 
to  Miss  Marj^  Robinson,  of  Colebrook, 
Connecticut,  Mr.  Hudson  dying 
March  17,  1836,  at  the  age  of  75  years 
and  one  month,  the  second  Mrs.  Hud- 
son  dying  October  4,   1857.     Deacon 


DEACON'   DAVID  HUDSON. 

Hudson,  as  one  of  the  orig-inal  pro- 
prietors of  Hudson  township,  and  as 
the  first  actual  settler  in  what  is  now 
Suminit  county,  w^as  not  only  an  ex- 
tensive farmer,  but  largelj'  interested 
in  many  of  the  earlier  mercantile  and 
manufacturing  enterprises  of  his 
township  and  village,  and  especially 
active  in  the  proinotion  of  its  relig- 
ious and  educational  interests,  as 
hereinafter  more  fully  set  forth. 


A  Perilous  Journey. — The  "fleet"  started  from  Geandiquot 
Bay,  May  16,  but,  from  stress  of  weather,  did  not  reach  Niagara 
until  the  22nd,  and  here  they  found  the  river  full  of  floating  ice. 
Getting,  w^ith  very  great  labor,  their  boats  and  goods  around  and 
above  the  Falls,  the  little  company  pluckily  persevered,  against 
the  rapid  current  and  floating  ice,  reaching  Buffalo  Creek  May 
26,  where  they  foUnd  an  ice-gorge,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara, 
according  to  Mr.  Hudson's  diary,  "at  least  twelve  feet  high."  That 
night,  however,  the  gorge  broke,  leaving  Lake  Erie  clear  of  ice, 
but  with  such  a  heavy  swell  and  head  winds,  as  to  prevent  further 
advance  until  the  29th.  It  >ivas  then  noticed  that  the  wind  was 
less  strong  at  night  than  during  the  day,  and  it  was  determined  to 
travel  by  night,  alternately  rowing,  poling  and  towing,  as  circum- 
stances   seemed    to   require.       To  this   night    work    Mr.    Lindley 


REFORMING   A    SHIRKER — PERILS   OF   THE    DEEP.  813 

objected,  as  he  had  hired  out  to  work  in  the  day  time  only.  With- 
out serious  demur  Mr.  Hudson  allowred  him  to  have  his  own  way; 
the  others  doing  the  work  while  he  slept  at  his  ease.  While  oppo- 
site Cattaragus  Swamp,  Mr.  Hudson,  one  morning,  provided  Lindley 
w^ith  an  ax  and  set  him  to  work  felling  trees  and  chopping  them  up 
into  cord  wood,  w^hile  the  rest  of  the  men  were  sleeping.  -  After  a 
few^  hours*  labor  in  that  line,  Lindley,  seeing  the  point  of  the  joke, 
succumbed,  and  apologized  to  Mr.  Hudson  for  the  course  he  had 
taken,  and  promised  thenceforth  to  do  his  share  of  the  night  work, 
if  he  would  excuse  him  from  cutting  and  piling  cord  w^ood  hun- 
dreds of  miles  from  any  settlement. 

Tempest-Tossed  on  a  Lee  Shore. — The  party  finally  reached 
the  mouth  of  Conneaut  river,  June  5,  after  leaving  w^hich,  on  the 
afternoon  of  that  day,  the  wind,  suddenly  shifting  to  the  north, 
blew  with  such  violence  as  to  drive  them  on  shore,  the  boat  in 
which  were  Mr.  Hudson  and  Mr.  Darrow,  being  filled  with  w^ater, 
w^etting  all  their  provisions  and  other  goods,  and  that  on  w^hich 
w^ere  Blin  and  McKinley,  having  a  hole  stove  in  her  bottom, 
through  w^hich  a  portion  of  Mr.  Hudson's  potatoes  were  lost  in  the 
surging  waters  of  the  lake.  Lying  by  24  hours,  for  repairs  and 
drying  their  goods,  the  journey  was  resumed  w^ith  favorable  winds 
and  fair  sailing  (blankets  being  used  for  sails),  the  party  reaching 
Grand  river  (off  the  present  city  of  Painesville),  June  7th.  This 
being  the  debarkation  point  for  Mr.  Harmon,  he  sold  his  dilapi- 
dated boat  to  Mr.  Hudson  for  $1.00,  with  which,  and  Mr.  Tappan's 
boat,  the  party  safely  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga;  Mr. 
Tappan's  boat  on  the  9th  and  the  other  on  the  10th  of  June. 
After  almost  infinite  fatigue  and  trouble  in  ascending  the  tortuous 
Cuyahoga,  the  waters  of  Avhich  were  at  the  time  extremely  low, 
the  party  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Brandywine,  in  the  present 
township  of  Northfield,  June  17,  1779  (just  one  day  less  than  a 
month  after  leaving  Geandiquot  Bay,  a  remarkably  quick  passage, 
indeed,  under  the  circumstances),  Mr.  Hudson's  boat  having  been 
plundered  one  night  w^hile  the  men  were  asleep,  of  quite  a  quantity 
of  flour,  pork,  whisky,  etc.,  supposed  to  have  been  done  by  a  rene- 
gade Sandusky  Indian  and  a  w^hite  outlawr,  w^ho  w^ere  know^n  to  be 
prowling  about  the  neighborhood. 

At  Length  at  Home. — After  searching  six  days,  Mr.  Hudson 
found  the  w^estern  line  of  his  township,  when  he  and  Mr.  Tappan 
and  their  men  set  about  cutting  a  road  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
their  goods  to  their  respective  localities,  which  they  found  very 
difficult  on  account  of  the  hills  and  gullies  in  Northfield  and  Bos- 
ton and  the  swamp  in  the  west  part  of  Hudson.  But  finally  suc- 
ceeding in  getting  a  portion  of  his  goods  to  the  place  selected, 
Mr.  Hudson  commenced  his  settlement  by  the  erection  of  a  rude 
bark  shelter,  near  the  southwest  corner  of  his  township,  on  the 
northeast  corner  of  what  is  now  known  as  lot  eleven.  Fortunately 
the  men  sent  overland  w^ith  the  cattle,  arrived  the  day  after  the 
"  fleet"  anchored  at  Brandy^vine.  Rude  sleds  were  constructed,  by 
the  use  of  w^hich,  drawn  by  the  three  yoke  of  oxen,  which  had, 
with  immense  labor,  but  good  management,  been  brought  safelj'^ 
through  the  wilderness,  the  goods  of  both  Mr.  Hudson  and  Mr. 
Tappan  were  speedily  transported  to  their  respective  localities. 

Running  Short  of  Provisions. — In  consequence  of  the  loss  of 
a  portion  of  their  supplies,  as  stated,  and  the  non-appearance  of 


S14  AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Lacey  and  his  wife,  with  the  supplies  that  had  been  intrusted  to 
them,  Mr,  Hudson  became  apprehensive  that  his  little  colony 
w^ould  soon  begin  to  suffer  for  food  w^hile  pursuing  their  labors  in 
<:learing  a  patch  of  land  for  a  crop  of  w^heat,  and  in  surveying  his 
township  into  lots.  It  afterwards  transpired  that  Lacey,  with  a 
number'of  recruits  furnished  by  Mr,  Nathaniel  Norton,  and  certain 
supplies  forwarded  by  Captain  Eliphalet  Austin  (proprietor  of 
Austintown,  Ashtabula  county),  had  fitted  up  the  boat  deemed 
unfit  for  use  by  Mr.  Hudson,  and  had  leisurely  followed  the  origi- 
nal party,  w^ith  about  the  same  varied  experiences  and  misad- 
ventures, arriving  at  their  destination  on  the  19th  of  July;  Mr. 
Hudson  (also  feeling  very  anxious  about  his  boy)having  gone  dow^n 
the  lake  in  search  of  them,  meeting  them  at  the  mouth  of  Cattara- 
gus  Creek. 

Thus,  by  the  purchase  of  a  small  field  of  corn  and  potatoes 
from  Mr.  Lorenzo  Carter,  of  Vermont,  w^ho  had,  a  year  or  two  before, 
squatted  upon  the  present  site  of  the  city  of  Cleveland;  borro^ving 
a  small  quantity  of  pork  from  a  previous  settler  in  a  neighboring 
town,  and  temporarily  appropriating  a  couple  of  barrels  of  Captain 
Austin's  flour,  the  colony,  with  such  accessions  of  game  as  they 
had  time  and  opportunity  to  secure,  managed  to  keep  the  wolf, 
hunger,  at  a  respectful  distance,  though  several  of  the  party  w^ere 
assailed  with  the  various  forms  of  disease  incident  to  change  of 
■climate,  exposure,  etc. 

The  first  rude  shelter  (of  bark)  w^as  soon  superseded  by  a  sub- 
stantial log  shanty,  16x18  feet,  which,  affording  better  protection 
to  the  men,  soon  produced  improved  health  among  them  and 
the  surveying,  clearing,  seeding,  etc.,  rapidly  proceeded;  the  sur- 
vey, platting,  etc.,  being  completed  on  the  11th  day  of  October;  a 
small  clearing  having  also  been  made  a  short  distance  north  of  the 
capacious  public  square,  which  had  been  laid  out  by  Mr.  Hudson 
on  what  is  now^  known  as  township  lot  56,  on  the  east  side  of  Main 
street,  where  Mr.  Hudson  the  next  year  erected  a  two-room  log 
house  for  his  own  use,  a  few  years  later  building  for  himself,  on 
lot  55,  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  the  commodious  frame 
house  still  standing  there,  and  occupied  by  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
Harvey  Baldwin,  as  elsewhere  alluded  to. 

Mr.  Hudson  Returns  to  Connecticut. — Having  placed  his 
people  in  as  comfortable  condition  as  circumstances  would  admit 
of,  and  instructing  them  as  to  the  work  to  be  done  in  his  absence, 
Mr.  Hudson,  on  the  12th  day  of  October,  accompanied  by  his  young 
son,  Ira,  Meacham  and  Darrow,  in  the  frail  craft  purchased  from 
Mr.  Harmon,  started  on  his  return  to  Connecticut  for  his  family, 
and  such  recruits  for  his  new  settlement,  as  he  might  be  able  to 
secure,  after  infinite  toil,  and  many  very  narrow  escapes,  reach- 
ing Bloomfield  in  safety,  about  the  middle  of  November.  Leaving 
his  little  son  with  Nathaniel  Norton,  Mr.  Hudson  immediately 
pushed  on  to  Goshen,  on  foot,  arriving  there  November  19,  the 
total  expenses  of  his  homeward  journey,  besides  the  supplies 
•carried  along,  being  only  $9.75;  an  example  of  pluck  and  economy 
that  but  few  "pioneers"  in  any  modern  enterprise,  w^ould  be  able, 
or  willing,  to  undertake  to  emulate. 

In  raising  recruits  for  his  settlement,  Mr.  Hudson  seems  to 
have  been  exceptionally  successful,  and  singularly  fortunate. 
Offering  a  bounty  of  40  acres  to  the  first  recruit,  the  first  party  to 


FIRST   FOURTH    OF   JULY   CELEBRATION.  815 

step  forward  and  claim  the  prize  was  Miss  Ruth  Gaylord — ^denom- 
inated by  a  contemporaneous  writer  as  "an  ancient  maiden" — 
w^ho  afterwards  gave  the  land  thus  secured,  to  her  niece,  a 
daughter  of  another  of  the  new  recruits,  Elijah  Noble. 

The  other  recruits  were:  Heman  Oviatt  (grandfather  of 
Edward  Oviatt,  Esq.,)  Joel  Gaylord,  Dr.  Moses  Thompson,  Allen 
Oaylord,  Samuel  Bishop  and  his  four  sons — David,  Luman,  Reuben 
and  Joseph — Stephen  Perkins,  Joseph  and  George  Darrow^,  and 
three  Vermonters  named  Stafford,  Williams  and  Derrick,  w^hich 
with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hudson  and  their  six  children — Samuel,  Wil- 
liam N.,  Milo  D.,  Ira,  Timothy  and  Abigail  L. — Mrs.  Samuel  Bishop, 
Mrs.  Elijah  Noble,  Miss  Ruth  Gaylord,  Miss  Ruth  Bishop,  and  the 
infant  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Noble,  made  tw^enty-eight  souls  in  all. 

Again  Westward  Bound. — Some  time  in  January,  1800,  Mr. 
Hudson  and  his  family,  and  certain  of  his  own  hired  men,  started 
in  sleighs  for  Bloomfield,  to  make  preparations  for  the  journey 
w^estward  in  the  early  Spring.  In  addition  to  his  own  boat,  w^hich 
he  caused  to  be  thoroughly  repaired,  Mr.  Hudson  procured  four 
other  boats,  which  he  loaded  Avith  grains  and  other  supplies, 
including  glass  for  the  cabins  built  the  previous  Fall,  and  those 
contemplated,  garden  and  fruit  seeds,  tools,  etc.,  the  entire  outlay 
amounting  to  about  $2,000.  The  other  members  of  the  party,  hav- 
ing meantime  reached  Broomfield,  and  supplied  themselves  with 
three  boats  for  the  transportation  of  themselves  and  their  effects, 
the  entire  party  started,  on  the  29th  day  of  April,  1800,  and  on  the 
30th,  to  quote  from  Mr.  Hudson's  diary,  they  "cheerfully  launched 
out  upon  the  great  deep  of  Lake  Ontario." 

We  cannot  foUow^  them  in  all  their  journeyings,  but  after  many 
vicissitudes,  similar  to  those  encountered  on  the  former  trip,  the 
mouth  of  the  Brandywine  was  reached  on  the  28th  day  of  May, 
one  day  sooner  than  on  the  former  passage,  all,  after  a  few  days' 
delay,  being  safely  transferred  to  the  new  settlement,  where  addi- 
tional cabins,  on  chosen  locations,  w^ere  speedily  erected  for  their 
accommodation.  Before  leaving  Bloomtield,  Mr.  Hudson  bought 
a  horse,  a  bull,  fourteen  cows  and  some  hogs,  which,  with  a  yoke 
of  oxen  bought  by  Samuel  Bishop,  had  been  placed  in  charge  of 
Elijah  Noble  and  Luman,  David  and  Joseph  G.  Bishop,  to  be  driven 
through  the  wilderness,  which,  starting  a  little  in  advance  of  the 
^' fleet,"  arrived  safely  at  the  settlement  about  the  same  time. 

Thanksgiving,  Public  Worship,  Etc. — After  all  the  members 
■of  the  colony  were  together,  Mr.  Hudson  led  his  people  in  a  public 
service  of  thanksgiving  and  praise  to  almighty  God,  w^ho  had 
brought  them  through  "perils,  seen  and  unsfeen,"  safely  to  their 
■destination,  and  also  took  immediate  measures  to  resume  public 
w^orship  on  the  Sabbath,  w^hich  had  been  suspended  during  his 
absence,  but  w^hich  has  since  been  continuously  observed  to  the 
present  time.  The  new  settlers  speedily  and  pluckily  began  the 
subjugation  of  the  forest,  and  by  indefatigable  industry,  in  the 
■clearing,  seeding  and  cultivation  of  their  lands,  with  the  aid  of 
such  game  as  the  woods  afforded,  soon  became  self-supporting, 
w^ith  an  ever-cheerful  welcome  to  the  new-comer,  or  the  stranger 
sojourning  in  their  midst. 

Independence  Day. — Though  far  removed  from  the  bloody 
scenes  of  the  Revolution,  the  native  patriotism  of  the  colonists 
had  in  no  sense  become  dormant,  and  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1800, 


816  AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

the  24th  anniversary  of  the  National  Independence,  was,  for  the 
first  time,  duly  celebrated  on  the  "public  green,"  consisting  of 
about  ten  acres  of  land  near  the  geographical  center,  which  had 
been  wisely  dedicated  to  the  public  use  by  the  liberal-minded  pro- 
prietors of  the  township.  The  exercises  consisted  of  an  "anvil" 
national  salute;  martial  and  vocal  music;  the  reading  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence;  an  oration  (by  Mr.  Hudson);  regular 
and  volunteer  toasts,  and  patriotic  responses,  and  a  sumptuous 
dinner  of  wild  turkey,  venison,  etc.,  the  table  being  formed  of  poles 
laid  across  crotched  stakes,  and  covered  with  layers  of  elm  bark; 
forty-three  persons,  young  and  old — residents  and  invited  guests — 
participating;  and  the  writer  ventures  the  assertion  that  the  daj' 
has  never  since  been  celebrated  ^^ith  a  greater  degree  of  patriotic 
"  vim,"  in  Hudson,  or  on  the  liberty-loving  Western  Reserve. 

Early  Births,  Marriages,  Deaths,  Etc. — October  28,  1800,. 
there  was  a  native  accession  to  the  population  of  the  township,  in 
the  birth  of  a  daughter  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hudson — named  Anner 
Mary — who,  on  arriving  at  woman's  estate,  was  on  the  6th  day  of 
October,  1817,  married  to  the  late  Harvey  Baldwin,  with  whom  she 
happily  lived  almost  on  the  same  spot  where  she  w^as  born,  for 
more  than  half  a  century  (Mr.  Baldwin  dying  June  12,  1880,  aged 
81  years,  8  months  and  22  days),  and  where  she  still  (Novem- 
ber 1,  1891)  survives,  in  full  possession  of  all  her  faculties, 
in  the  92nd  year  of  her  age.  Mrs.  BaldAvin  w^as  born  in  Trum- 
bull county,  married  in  Portage  county  and  no^v  lives  in  Sum- 
mit county,  but  has  always,  with  one  brief  exception,  resided 
upon  the  same  farm  where  she  was  born,  a  paradox  readily 
explained  by  the  fact  that  Trumbull  county,  Avhen  organized,  in 
1800,  embraced  the  entire  Western  Reserve,  Portage  county,  organ- 
ized in  1807,  being  carved  out  of  Trumbull,  and  Summit  county, 
in  turn,  organized  in  1840,  taking  two  tiers  of  townships,,  including 
Hudson,  from  Portage  county. 

Early  in  1801,  Governor  St.  Clair  appointed  Mr.  Hudson  jus- 
tice of  the  peace,  the  first  marriage  in  the  township,  that  of  George 
Darrow  to  Olive  Gaylord,  being  performed  by  him  October  17,  1801, 
It  is  related  that  on  account  of  the  'Squire's  inexperience  in  that 
line,  the  affair  was  to  have  been  strictly  private,  but  that  through 
a  hint  dropped  by  his  wife  to  a  neighbor,  when  the  'Squire,  by  a 
round-about  way,  got  to  the  home  of  the  bride's  parents,  he  found 
the  little  cabin  filled  with  uninvited,  but  friendly  and  w^elcome 
guests;  Stephen  Parker  and  Ruth  Bishop,  being  married  by  the 
same  functionary,  November  5th,  of  the  same  year.  The  first  death 
in  the  settlement,  was  that  of  Ira  Noble,  an  eight-year-old  son  of 
Elijah  Noble,  Tvho  died  of  membranous  croup,  in  August,  1800. 

Wonderful  Longevity. — In  the  Spring  of  1801,  a  number  of. 
accessions  were  made  to  the  colony,  mostly  from  Goshen,  Ct.,  and 
Bloomfield,  N.  Y.,  the  names  of  whom  cannot  now^  all  be  accurately 
ascertained,  though,  in  1856,  Rev.  Caleb  Pitkin  published  a  list  of 
the  adult  pioneers  immigrating  into  the  township  from  1800  to 
1813  inclusive,  as  follows:  David  and  Mrs.  Hudson,  Samuel  and 
Mrs.  Bishop,  David  Bishop,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Luman  Bishop,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Joseph  Bishop,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gad  HoUenbeck,  Joseph  Darrow, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  Darrow,  Allen  Gaylord,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joel 
Gaylord,  Captain  and  Mrs.  HemanOviatt,  Deacon  and  Mrs.  Stephen 
Thompson,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Abraham  Thompson,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stephen 


PROLIFIC    AND    LONG-LIVED.  817 

Thompson,  Jr.,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Moses  Thompson,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  George 
Pease,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eben  Pease,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Leach, 
Mr.  and  Mrs,  George  Kilbourn,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bradford  Kellogg, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Amos  Lusk,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Oviatt,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Owen  Brown,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Benjamin  Whedon,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  George 
Holcomb,  Mr.and  Mrs.  Zina  Post,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Daniel  Johnson,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  William  Chamberlain,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Chamberlain, 
Jr.,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nathaniel  Stone,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Augustus  Baldwin, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Samuel  Hollenbeck,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Kingsbury, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Elisha  Ellsworth,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Jonathan  Metcalf,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Ariel  Cobb,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gideon  Mills,  Mr.  and  Mrs, 
Chauncey  Case,  73  in  all,  w^ho  brought  with  them  into  the  town- 
ship 105  children.  Up  to  1856  there  had  been' born  to  the  73  persons 
named,  since  coming  to  the  township,  211  children,  making  a  total 
of  316,  or  an  average  of  nearly  nine  children  per  couple.  To  Mr, 
Pitkin's  list  should  properly  be  added,  as  comers  to  the  township 
previous  to  1814,  the  following,  though  some  of  them  afterwards 
permanently  settled  in  other  localities: — Benjamin  Oviatt,  John 
Birge,  James  Newton,  Rev. , David  Bacon,  Zina  Post,  Christian 
Cackler,  Jonathan  Williams,  Dudley  Humphrey,  Rev.  John  Seward, 
and  perhaps  others  whose  names  are  not  now  ascertainable.  All 
of  the  adults  have  probably  long  since  passed  away,  as  well  as 
most  of  the  children  who  came  with  them,  though  many  of  the 
native-born  children  of  the  original  pioneers  still  linger,  while  a 
large  number  of  their  descendants  are  yet  to  be  found  among  the 
sturdy  and  thrifty  inhabitants  of  the  township. 

Mr.  Pitkin's  statistics,  compiled  in  1856,  show  that  of  the  41  of 
the  73  pioneers  named,  who  had  died  within  the  intervening  56 
years,  one  lived  to  the  age  of  90;  five,  80  to  90;  fifteen,  70  to  80;  live, 
60  to  70;  eight,  50  to  60;  seven,  33  to  50;  and  of  the  32  then  living, 
ten  were  in  their  80th,  nine,  60th  to  70th,  three-fifths  of  the  whole 
number  having  lived  beyond  the  age  of  70  years,  w^hile  quite  a 
number  of  the  32  then  alive,  were  permitted  to  live  several  years 
thereafter.  Up  to  1856,  five  of  the  pioneer  couples  named  had 
lived  together  55,  56,  60,  62  and  75  years,  respectivel3^  vv^hile  several 
others  had  very  nearly  reached  their  golden  anniversaries;  a  con- 
dition of  longevity  and  of  connubial  intercourse,  that  few^  of  the 
townships  of  the  countj^  or  country  can  surpass,  or  even  equal, 
either  in  ancient  or  modern  times. 

Organization  of  Township. — Aside  from  the  judicial  authority 
of  Justice  Hudson,  by  appointment  of  Governor  St.  Clair,  early  in 

1801,  Hudson  w^as  without  legal  organization  until  the  Spring  of 

1802,  when,  by  the  action  of  the  commissioners  of  Trumbull  county, 
in  connection  with  Stow,  Boston,  Twinsburg,  Aurora  and  Mantua, 
it  was  set  off  as  a  tow^nship  under  the  general  name  of  Hudson. 
The  first  election  was  held  at  the  house  of  'Squire  Hudson,  April 
5,  twenty  efectors  being  present,  Mr.  Hudson  being  chairman. 

The  officers  then  elected  w^ere  as  follows:  Trustees,  Heman 
Oviatt  and  Abraham  Thompson,  of  Hudson,  and  Ebenezer  Sheldon, 
of  Aurora;  clerk,  Thaddeus  Lacey,  of  Hudson;  poormasters,  Elias 
Harmon,  of  Aurora,  and  Samuel  Bishop,  of  Hudson;  fence  viewers, 
Aaron  Norton,  John  Oviatt  and  Jotham  Atwater;  appraisers' of 
houses,  JohnGaylord  and  Elias  Harmon;  supervisors  of  highw^ays, 
George  Kilbourn,  Moses  Pond  and  Moses  Thompson;  constables,. 
Ebenezer  Lester,  Aaron  Norton  and  Rufus  Edwards. 

62 


818 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


HARVEY  BALDWIN. 


MRS.  HARVEY  BALDWIN. 


HARVEY  BALDWIN— son  of  Stephen  Baldwin,  born  in  Goshen,  Connecti- 
cut, Septetnber  17,  1798 ;  coninion  school  education ;  in  1814  came  to 
Hudson,  clerking-  in  store  of  his  brothers,  Augustus  and  Frederick,  about 
three  years  ;  October  6,  1817,  was  married  to  Miss  Anner  Mary  Hudson, 
daug-hter  of  Deacon  David  Hudson,  born  October  28,  18(X).  and  the  first  white 
child  born  in  what  is  now  Summit  county.  The  young  couple  settled  on  a 
farm  two  and  a  half  miles  northwest  of  the  center,  where  they  remained  tw^o 
or  three  years,  when,  at  Mr.  Hudson's  request,  they  returned  to  the  hofne 
farm,  where  they  ever  after  resided.  Mr.  Baldwin  thoroughly  identified 
himself  with  the  business  and  educational  interests  of  the  township  and 
village,  co-operating  with,  and,  as  his  successor,  fully  carrj'ing-  out  Mr. 
Hudson's  benefactions  in  educational,  church  and  other  public  enterprises, 
being  a  trustee  of  Western  Reserve  College  for  over  forty  years.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Baldwin  were  the  parents  of  four  children — Anna  Norton,  born  October 
17,  1818,  died  December  13,  1825 ;  Harriet  Maria,  born  September  3,  1824,  died 
January  20,  1841 ;  Clarissa  Miriam,  born  October  27, 1830  (married  to  Professor 
Edwin  S.  Gregory,  July  28,  1852,  and  now  residing-  upon  a  portion  of  the  old 
home  farm),  and  Lucy  Susanna,  born  October  8,  1843,  and  died  August  12, 
1860.  Mr.  Baldwin  died  June  12,  1880,  in  full  possession  of  his  mental  facul- 
ties, at  the  age  of  81  years,  8  months  and  25  days.  Mrs.  Baldwin  still  occupies 
the  paternal  domicile,  with  sufficient  mental  and  physical  vigor  to  manage 
her  household  affairs,  her  90th  birthday,  October  28,  1890,  having  been 
publicly  celebrated  by  the  good  people  of  Hudson  and  a  large  number  of 
invited  guests,  and,  as  this  chapter  goes  to  press  (October  27,  1891),  still 
tranquil  and  happy,  is  on  the  eve  of  celebrating  her  91st  anniversary. 


Indian  Fxperiences,  Etc. — It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  at 
the  time  the  first  white  settlers  came  to  Hudson,  the  Indians  were 
in  full  possession  of  all  the  territory  w^est  of  the  Cuyahoga  river, 
w^hich  was  not  ceded  to  the  United  States  until  1805,  and  that 
quite  a  sprinkling  of  the  red-skins  still  lingered  w^ithin  the  terri- 
tory east  of  the  river,  which  had  been  ceded  in  1785.  Thus,  much 
tact  and  skill  had  to  be  exercised  by  the  leading  men  in  the  new- 
settlement,  to  secure  and. maintain  peace  and  harmony  between 
the  tw^o  races.     This,  largely  through  the  liberality  and  fairness  of 


INDIAN    AND    WILD   BEAST   TRADITIONS.  819 

Mr.  Hudson  and  the  fearless  good  sense  of  Mrs.  Hudson,  was 
pretty  generally  maintained,  though  some  turbulent  and  alarming 
episodes — chiefly  caused  by  fire-v^^ater — would  occasionally  occur. 

After  the  shooting  of  Daniel  Diver,  in  Deeriield,  in  the  Winter 
of  1806-7,  elsewhere  written  of,  the  course  of  the  fleeing  Indians 
was  through  Hudson,  tw^o  of  Hudson's  earliest  settlers — George 
Darrow  and  Jonathan  Williams — joining  in  the  pursuit,  the  latter 
shooting  and  killing  the  Indian,  Nickshaw,  in  the  present  township 
of  Richlield,  and  it  was  largely  through  the  influence  of  Deacon 
Hudson  and  Captain  Heman  Oviatt,  that  a  general  Indian  war 
w^as  averted  at  that  time.  It  is  related  that  a  troublesome  Indian 
called  George  Wilson,  delighted — especially  w^hen  under  the  influ- 
ence of  whisky — to  frighten  the  white  ^vomen  and  children,  when 
found  alone  in  their  cabins,  and  that  upon  one  occasion,  after  one 
of  his  customar}'^  ugly  visits  to  the  house  of  Mrs.  Newell,  living  in 
the  southwest  corner  of  the  township,  Williams  followed  him  and 
shot  him  dead  in  his  tracks,  sinking  his  body,  rifle,  etc.;  in  the 
mucky  .bottom  of  Mud  Brook.  Other  similar  exploits  are  attrib- 
uted to  Williams,  both  in  Hudson,  Stow  and  Northampton 
traditions,  some  of  which  may  have  a  modicum  of  fact  to  rest 
upon,  but  are  too  vague  to  be  recorded  here  as  a  matter  of  bona 
fide  history. 

Bears,  w^olves,  deer,  turke3^s  and  other  wild  animals  and  game 
w^ere,  as  in  all  the  neighboring  townships,  abundant  in  Hudson  in 
those  days,  and  many  stories  are  extant  of  frightful  collisions 
between  some  of  the  pioneer  settlers  and  the  two  animals  first 
named;  one  being  that  Governor  Samuel  Huntington,  while  riding 
through  the  w^oods  from  Tinker's  Creek  to  Hudson,  one  evening 
after  dark,  was  chased  by  a  pack  of  wolves,  which  he  kept  at  bay 
with  his  riding  whip  and  umbrella,  until,  in  nearly  an  exhausted 
condition,  he  finally  reached  the  house  of  Colonel  John  Oviatt,  in 
Hudson,  about  9  o'clock  at  night;  another  that  Elisha  Noble, 
soon  after  leaving  the  house  of  Colonel  Oviatt,  one  day,  for  his 
ovv^n  cabin  in  the  w^est  part  of  the  township,  encountered  a  huge 
bear,  w^ho  grappled  Avith  him,  and  would  undoubtedly  have 
squeezed  the  life  out  of  him,  but  for  the  timely  arrival  of  Colonel 
Oviatt,  "who  heard  his  screams,  and  whose  gun  and  ax  soon  caused 
bruin  to  relax  his  grip  on  Noble,  and  his  .own  hold  on  life;  Mrs. 
Oviatt,  herself,  also,  on  one  occasion,  while  returning  from  a  distant 
neighbor's  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening,  being  chased  by  wolves, 
whose  speed  she  checked  by  dropping  pieces  of  dried  venison, 
which  had  been  given  her  by  her  neighbor,  until  her  husband 
hearing  her  screams,  came  to  her  relief  with  a  brand  of  fire  and 
his  trusty  rifle. 

Among  many  other  pioneer  reminiscences  extant  among  the 
good  people  of  Hudson,  is  the  following:  Little  Luna  Pease, 
seven  years  old,  started  from  her  uncle  Benjamin  Oviatt's  on  a 
narrow  trail  through  the  forest,  to  go  to  her  uncle  Richard  Croy's, 
veith  whom  she  lived,  some  three  miles  distant.  Losing  the  trail, 
she  became  lost  in  the  w^oods,  and  night  coming  on  she  lay  dow^n 
beside  a  log,  and  during  the  darkness  some  wild  animal  came  and 
after  smelling  of  her  a  few^  minutes,  left  her  unmolested,  Luna, 
young  as  she  w^as,  having  the  presence  of  mind  to  lie  perfectly 
still.  As  soon  as  she  was  missed,  searching  parties  \srere  organ- 
ized,  provided   with  tin  horns,  to  signal  each  other.     Her  uncle 


8*40  AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 

Croy's  party  first  discovered  her  some  time  during  the  next  day^ 
by  which  time  she  had  become  so  wild  that  she  fled  from  them 
like  a  frightened  deer,  but  w^as  soon  overtaken.  Signaling  the 
others,  the  entire  party  repaired  to  the  village,  where  there  ^vas 
very  hearty  rejoicing  over  the  recovery  of  the  lost  child,  which 
child,  now^  Mrs.  John  Ramsey,  is  still  living  in  Collamer,  nearly 
80  years  of  age. 

Religion,  Churches,  Etc. — As  we  have  seen,  on  his  arrival 
in  his  ne^v  township,  to  which  his  co-proprietors  insisted  his  own 
name  should  be  given,  Mr.  Hudson  iinmediately  established 
religious  services,  both  private  and  public,  and,  in  1802,  in  connec- 
tion w^ith  Deacon  Stephen  Thompson  and  Captain  Heman  Oviatt^ 
he  took  measures  for  the  organization  of  a  church  in  the  ne\sr 
settlement,  of  w^hich  Mr.  Hudson  himself  was  very  properly 
elected  one  of  the  deacons — whence  came  the  title  by  which 
Hudson's  founder  has  been  known  to  the  present  time. 

But,  while  strict  in  the  observance  of  his  own  notions  of 
religious  duty,  both  private  and  public,  unlike  the  chief  agent  in 
the  settlement  of  Tallmadge — Rev.  David  Bacon — he  did  not, 
either  by  w^ritten  or  oral  stipulations,  seek  to  compel  his  associates, 
or  subordinates,  to  adopt  his  ow^n  peculiar  theological  dogmas,  but 
rather  sought  to  mould  them  to  his  views,  by  the  force  of  his 
example  and  the  logic  of  his  "  daily  walk  and  conversation." 

Thus,  while  embracing  the  very  first  opportunity  of  a  visit  to- 
the*  Reserve,  of  a  representative  of  the  Connecticut  Missionary 
Society — Rev.  Joseph  Badger — in  1802,  Mr.  Hudson  entered  zeal- 
ously into  the  project  of  establishing  a  church  in  his  new^  township 
upon  the  principles  of  his  own  religious  faith — Congregationalism 
— he  accorded  to  his  fellow^  pioneers  the  utmost  freedom  to  give  or 
w^ithhold  their  support,  or  to  work  in  such  other  directions  as  their 
consciences  and  inclinations  might  dictate. 

The  first  church,  therefore,  to  be  organized  in  the  township, 
w^as  essentially  Congregational,  though  for  a  time  amenable  to  the 
Grand  River  Presbytery — afterw^ards  coming  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  Portage  Presbytery — the  organization  being  effected 
September  4,  1802,  with  13  communicants,  as  follows:  Mr.  Hud- 
son, Stephen  Thompson  and  Mary,  his  wife;  Abraham  Thompson 
and  Susanna,  his  w^ife;  George  Kilbourn  and  Almira,  his  wife; 
Stephen  Thompson,  Jr.,  and  Abigail,  his  wife;  Heman  Oviatt  and 
Lucy,  his  wife  Hannah  Lindley  and  Amos  Ivusk;  the  eleven  first 
named  having  been  members  of  the  Congregational  church  in 
Goshen,  Conn.,  and  the  tw^o  latter  of  the  church  at  Bloomfield,. 
New  Yoxk. 

The  society  for  many  years  depended  for  such  occasional 
preaching  as  they  enjoyed,  upon  the  ministrations  of  Mr.  Badger 
and  other  missionaries.  Rev.  David  Bacon,  after  being  recalled 
from  the  missionary  field  at  Detroit,  and  before  the  inauguration  of 
his  Utopian  scheme  for  the  settlement  of  Tallmadge,  in  1807,  as 
elsewhere  set  forth,  being,  under  an  arrangement  Avith  a  Connect- 
icut Missionary  Society,  a  regular  supply  for  tw^o  or  three  years. 

Thus,  sometimes  w^ith,  and  sometimes  without  preaching,  but 
w^ithout  omitting  Avorship  for  a  single  Sabbath,  the  society  grad- 
ually increased,  so  that  on  the  installment  of  the  first  regular 
pastor,  Rev.  William  Hanford  (uncle  of  W.  L.  Hanford,  of  Stow^ 
and    W.  A.  Hanford,  of    Akron),  August  17,  1815,  there    were  27 


RELIGIOUS    AND   CHURCH    MATTERS. 


821 


<:oiTiniutiicatits,  with  quite  a  large  society  membership  and  congre- 
gation. Mr.  Hanford  ministered  to  the  congregation  until  1831, 
bidding  to  the  church,  in  the  16  years  of  his  pastorate,  133  members, 
the  successive  pastors  of  the  church  being  Rev.  Amri  Nichols, 
July  to  December,  1832;  Rev.  Giles  Doolittle,  1832-40;  Rev.  Josiah 
Town,  July  to  October,  1840;  Rev.  Mason  Grosvenor,  1840-43;  Rev. 
William  Hanford,  1843;  Rev.  John  C.  Hart,  1844-52;  Rev.  N.  Bar- 
rett, 1853-58;  Rev.  George  Darling.  1858-74;  Rev.  E.  W.  Root,  1874- 
76;  Rev.  J.  Towle,  1876;  Rev.  T.  G.  Gardner,  1876-85;  Rev.  A.  B. 
■Cristy,  February  7,  1886  until  his  resignation,  January  18,  1891. 
Present  pastor  (October,  1891),  Rev.  A.  Carroll ;  membership,  264. 


DR.  MOSES  THOMPSON,— born  in 
Goshen,  Connecticut,  January 
"22.  177(> ;  liberal  education,  including' 
t<tuci y  of  medicine  ;  December  22, 1797, 
married  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Mills, 
immediately  moving-  to  Kinderhook, 
New  York ;  practiced  medicine  there 
until  Spring-  of  1800,  when  he  came  to 
Ohio,  with  Summit  county's  first 
settler,  David  Hudson,  purchasing 
for  himself,  his  father.  Deacon 
Stephen  Thompson,  and  his  brothers, 
Abraham  and  Stephen,  750  acres  of 
land  in  Hudson  ;  in  Summer  of  1800, 
went  back  to  Connecticut  on  foot, 
walking  6.50  miles  in  twelve  daj^s  ;  in 
Spring  of  1801,  returned  to  Ohio  with 
^vife  and  one  child,  settling  on  farm 
two  miles  southwest  of  center  of 
HiKJson,  where  he  afterwards  resided, 
luitil  his  death,  from  an  accident, 
November  20,  1^58,  at  the  age  of  82 
years,  9  months  and  28  days.  Dr. 
Thompson  was  the  first  practitioner 
in  what  is  now  Portage  and  Summit 
•counties,  his  ride  extending-  from 
Lake  Erie  south  nearly  fifty  miles. 
During  the  War  of  1812,  Dr.  Thomp- 
son served  as  surgeon  in  the  arni}^ ; 
at  cl<:»se  of  the  war  engaged  in  raising 
4ind  selling  agricultural  products  in 
in  Southern  markets,  Louisville, 
Nashville.  Hiintsville,  etc.  Mrs. 
Thompson  shared  with  her  husband 
the  hardships  and  privations  of  pio- 
neer life,  both  heartily  promoting  the 
religious,  educational  and  material 
<^nterprises  of  the  time,  Mrs.  Thomp- 


DR.  MOSES  THOMPSON. 


son,  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church  of  Hudson,  from  1808,  d3dng 
November  20,  18.50.  Their  children 
were:  Eliza  Leinira,  wife  of  Horace 
Metcalf,  deceased  ;  Susan,  wife  of 
Horace  Holbrook,  deceased;  Mills, 
deceased;  Emily,  widow  of  Samuel 
Woods,  deceased;  Sylvester  H., 
deceased ;  Virgil  M.,  a  prosperous 
farmer  in  Slow ;  Ruth  B.,  wife  of 
Leander  Starr,  deceased  ;  Mary,  wife 
of  John  Hazelton,  deceased  ;  Martha, 
died  at  22  ;  Elizabeth,  unmarried,  yet 
living,  and  two  dying  in  infancy. 


Early  Church  Structures. — The  early  religious  services  of 
the  township  were  held  at  private  residences  and  in  school  houses, 
but  about  1817,  the  question  of  building  a  church  began  to  be 
mooted,  resulting  a  year  or  two  later  in  the  completion  of  a  small 
frame  edifice  on  the  west  side  of  the  green,  under  the  name  and 
style  of  the  "Union  Church,"  free  to  any  denomination  that  might 
desire  to  worship  in  it.  This  sort  of  free  and  easy  religious 
partnership  did  not  comport  with  the  strictly  orthodox  notions  of 
Deacon  Hudson,  Captain  Oviatt  and  other  members  of  the  Congre- 
gational Society,  and  in  1818  that  organization  began  building  for 
themselves  on  the  site  now  occupied  b}^  the  Town  Hall;  the  house, 
<?osting  about  $5,(KX),  being  dedicated  in  March,  1820.     As,  with  all 


822  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

church  structures  of  New  Eusfland,  at  that  day,  there  was,  for 
many  years,  no  provision  whatever  for  warming  the  building,  with 
its  bare  floor  and  bare  seats,  the  congregation  depending  altogether 
upon  the  foot-stoves  carried  from  home,  and  upon  the  fervent 
heat  of  the  discourse  to  keep  them  warm  during  the  "firstly  to  the 
fifteenthly  and  lastly"  elongated  sermons  in  vogue  in  that  early 
day.  What  would  the  lady  church-goer  (or  the  gentleman  either) 
of  the  present  day  think  of  sitting  two  mortal  hours,  w^ith  the 
thermometer  below  zero,  even  in  one  of  the  comfortably  cushioned 
and  carpeted,  but  unwarmed,  churches  of  the  present  day? 

This  building  was  used  by  the  congregation  until  the  comple- 
tion of  their  present  handsome  and  comfortable  brick  edifice,  on 
Aurora  street,  in  1865,  when  it  w^as  sold  to  private  parties  and  con- 
verted into  a  public  hall,  for  which  purpose  it  was  used  until  1878, 
w^hen  it  gave  place  to  the  town  hall  as  already  named.  The  Free 
Church  edifice,  after  promiscuous  general  use  for  several  years,, 
was  also  sold  to  private  parties  and  relegated  to  secular  business 
purposes. 

Other  Denominations. — In  1828,  a  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
w^as  organized,  among  its  early  members  being  Daniel  Gaylord,. 
Perley  Mansur,  Moses  Draper,  and  their  respective  wives,  the 
society,  at  first,  using  the  Union  Church  structure  above  spoken 
of,  their  present  building  on  Aurora  street,  having  been  erected  in 
1836.  Though  for  several  years  maintaining  a  fair  standing  as  to 
members  and  influence,  removals  and  deaths  have  so  depleted  its 
membership  that  pastoral  appointments  by  conference  have  some- 
times either  been  omitted  or  made  jointly  wdth  neighboring 
charges,  the  present  pastor  (October  1891)  being  Rev.  E.  J.  Smiths 
Present  membership  about  30  and  church  free  from  debt. 

In  1840,  measures  were  taken  by  Frederick  Brown,  Henry 
O'Brien  and  others  of  that  faith,  looking  to  the  organization  of  a 
Protestant  Episcopal  church  in  Hudson,  Rev.  T.  B.  Fairchild  and 
other  ministers  of  the  North-west  Convocation,  holding  regular 
Sabbath  services  in  the  other  churches,  public  halls,  the  academy 
building,  etc.,  until  the  erection  of  their  present  elegant  church 
structure  on  Aurora  street,  in  1846.  Thirty-seven  names,  among 
whom  Anson  A.  Brewster,  Dr.  Israel  Town,  Arthur  Sadler,  Freder- 
ick Brown  and  Henry  O'Brien,  were  subscribers  to  the  original 
document  for  forming  the  "Parish  of  Christ  Church  of  Hudson, 
O.,"  and  the  church  was  duly  organized  July  11,  1842;  Rev.  Alanson 
Phelps  being  the  rector  of  the  church,  at  the  time  of  the  dedication 
of  the  new  edifice  by  Bishop  Mcllvaine,  in  April,  1846.  The  church 
tower  is  equipped  with  a  fine  bell,  the  gift  of  Mr.  D.  H.  Arnold,  of 
New  York,  and  a  town  clock,  the  gift  of  the  late  Anson  A.  Brewster^ 
of  Hudson;  and  the  interior,  besides  its  general  elegant  furnishings, 
provided  with  a  fine-toned  church  organ,  arid  a  Sabbath  School 
cabinet  organ.  Rev.  S.  W.  Garrett  officiated  as  rector  of  the  church 
from  October  1, 1874,  to  December  12,  1887,  a  period  of  over  thirteejj 
years,  resigning  the  pastorate  to  go  to  Canon  City,  Colorado,  being 
followed  November  1,  1888,  by  Rev.  James  A.  Brown,  for  about  twa 
years.  The  parish  is  now  without  a  rector,  lay  services,  by  direction 
of  the  bishop,  being  conducted  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Lewis.  The  present 
membership  of  Christ  Church  is  about  70. 

Catholicism,  also,  has  obtained  quite  a  foothold  in  Hudson 
and  vicinity  within  the  past  30  years,  their  house  of  worship,   St. 


Hudson's  educational  matters. 


823 


Mary's  Church,  on  Railroad  street,  having  been  built  in  1858, 
though  additions  and  improvements  have  been  made  upon  it  from 
time  to  time,  as  the  necessities  of  the  congregation  seemed  to 
demand.  The  present  pastor  is  Rev,  J.  B.  Dogherty,  who  is  also 
pastor  of  the  Cuyahoga  Falls  and  Peninsula  congregations,  the 
church  at  Hudson  embracing  about  40  families,  or  an  aggregate 
of  about  200  souls.  ^ 

The  Disciples  of  Christ,  organized  in  June,  1890,  now  has  a 
membership  of  about  45,  with  Rev.  F.  H.  Moore  as  pastor,  the 
society  now^  being  about  to  erect  a  house  of  worship  on  the  east 
side  of  North  Main  street. 


DOCTOR  JONATHAN  METCALF, 
— born  in  Lebanon,  Connecticut, 
June  26,  1787  ;  educated  in  common 
schools,  at  family  school  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Nott,  Franklin,  Connecticut,  and  at 
Colchester  Academy;  studied  medi- 
cine three  years  with  Dr.  Bass,  in 
Middlebury,  Vermont,  with  two 
courses  of  lectures  in  medical  depart- 
ment of  Dartinouth  Colleg'e ;  in 
Spring-  of  1812,  started  west,  on  horse- 
back, locating  in  Hudson,  June  12,  of 
that  year,  his  medical  practice 
extending-  over  many  of  the  sur- 
rounding townships,  without  roads 
or  bridges,  involving  exposure, 
danger  and  fatigue,  wholly  unknown 
to  the  profession  of  the  present  day. 
In  1813,  Dr.  Metcalf  bought  290  acres 
of  land,  one  mile  east  of  the  center, 
building  a  comfortable  log^-house 
thereon.  December  26,  1814,  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Abigail  L.  Root,  of 
Aurora,  who  bore  him  five  daughters 
— Harriet,  married  to  Rev.  James 
Shaw,  born  in  1817, died  in  1850;  Caro- 
line, married  to  Rev.  T.  H.  Barr,  born 
in  1819,  died  in  1889.;  Catharine,  mar- 
ried to  R.  G.  Perry,  born  in  1822,  died 
in  18.t8;  yiary,  now  wife  of  Rev.  E. 
ChCvSter,  of  Clifton  Springs,  born  in 
1825,  and  Emily  E.,  born  in  1831,  for 
15  years  principal  of  Hudson  Ladies' 
Seminary,  and  still  residing  in  Hud- 


DOCTOR  JOMATHAX  METCALF. 

son.  Of  rare  intellectual  endow- 
ments, Dr.  and  Mrs.  Metcalf  gave  a 
hearty  support  to  all  of  the  educa- 
tional, religious  and  benevolent 
enterprises  of  their  day  and  genera- 
tion ;  the  former  dying-  July  30,  1869, 
and  the  latter  November  27,  1870. 


Educational  Matters. — Hudson  has  been  a  prominent  factor 
in  the  educational  development,  not  only  of  the  Western  Reserv^e, 
but  largely  of  the  entire  Western  country.  Its  history  in  that 
regard  has  heretofore  been  so  fully  written  up,  that  the  briefest 
outline  only  will  be  here  attempted. 

The  first  school  in  Hudson  was  taught  by  Mr.  George  Pease, 
from  Enfield,  Conn.,  in  1801,  in  a  small  log  school  house,  on  the 
green,  nearly  opposite  the  present  store  of  Mr.  C.  H.  Buss,  some  of 
his  more  immediate  successors  being  Miss  Patty  Field,  Miss  Amy 
Cannon,  Titus  Wetmore,  Martha  Filer,  Benjamin  Whedon,  etc.; 
other  schools  than  the  one  named  being  started  from  time  to 
time,  in  convenient  localities,  as  the  population  increased;  the 
trustees,  in  1825,  dividing  the  township  into  five  districts,  denomi- 
nated, respectively,  the  central,  northeast,  southeast,  northw^est 
and  southwest;  the  central  district  being  divided  in  1838,  and  three 


824  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

other  districts  created,  making  in  all  nine  districts  in  the  town- 
ship. In  1855  the  tAvo  central  districts  were  consolidated,  under 
the  graded  school  system  now^  in  vogue,  a  high  school  department 
being  added  and  a  commodious  high  school  building  erected  in 
1868. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  in  addition  to  the  College  enter- 
prise t©  be  treated  of  further  on,  a  number  of  private  seminary- 
enterprises  had  been  inaugurated,  ^rith  varying  degrees  of  suc- 
cess; Mrs.  Nutting  (wife  of  Professor  Nutting  of  the  College) 
opening  a  school  for  young  ladies  in  1827;  her  immediate  suc- 
cessors being  Miss  Kggleston,  of  New  York;  and  Miss  Upham.  In 
1834  an  academy  for  both  boys  and  girls,  was  opened  by  Mr.  H.  H. 
Gross,  on  Aurora  street,  the  brick  building  erected  by  Mr.  Gross, 
being  afterwards  purchased  by  a  stock  company,  and,  under  the 
title  of  Hudson  Academy,  furnished,  free  of  rent,  to  such  teachers 
as  were  willing  to  depend  upon  tuition  receipts  for  their  compen- 
sation. Successive  teachers  in  this  school  were  Miss  Smith,  Miss 
Bunice  Town,  ]>^iss  Rebecca  H.  Dana  and  Miss  Mary  Strong,  the 
latter  erecting  a  new  building  on  Main  stret,  in  1845,  which  she 
christened  the  "Hudson  Female  Seminary."  Contemporaneous 
^with  this  vi^as  the  "Hudson  Young  Ladies'  Seminary,"  by  Rev. 
Mason  Grosvenor  and  his  sister  Mary;  and  the  "Seminary  for 
Ladies,"  by  Rev.  A.  Phelps,  the  two  former  being  boarding  schools; 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Skinner,  from  Massachusetts,  succeeding  Mr.  and 
Miss  Grosvenor  and  a  Miss  Deven  acting  as  principal  of  Mr. 
Phelps'  school.  Though  pursued  with  commendable  vigor,  these 
several  competing  enterprises  proved  unremunerative,  and  grad- 
ually subsided. 

In  1853,  Mr.  J.  W.  Smith  fitted  up  and  furnished  a  suite  of 
rooms  in  the  "  Pentagon,"  and  employed  Miss  Klizabeth  Burt,  a 
graduate  of  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary,  as  principal,  the  school 
being  reasonably  successful,  until  the  general  business  collapse  of 
1855,  '56,  w^hen  it  was  discontinued.  The  old  "Hudson  Female 
Seminary"  was  then  refitted  by  an  association  of  citizens,  and 
another  graduate  of  Mount  Holyoke,  Miss  Everett,  employed  as 
principal.  This  effort  did  not  prove  successful,  and  in  1860  Miss 
Emily  E.  Metcalf,  of  Hudson,  assumed  control,  after-wards  purchas- 
ing the  property,  and  by  her  enterprise  and  good  management, 
conducted  the  school  w^ith  fair  pecuniary  returns  for  some  twelve 
or  thirteen  years.  Rev.  H.  B.  Hosford  and  daughters,  about  1874, 
reviving  the  academy  for  a  single  year,  only. 

WESTERN  RESERVE  COLLEGE. 

Western  Reserve  College  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  profound 
religious  sentiment  and  educational  aspirations  of  the  earlier 
settlers  of  the  eastern  townships  and  counties  of  the  Connecticut 
Western  Reserve.  As  early  as  1801,  Rev.  Joseph  Badger,  and 
sixteen  other  gentlemen  of  Cleveland,  Hudson,  Ravenna,  Warren, 
Youngstown,  etc.,  presented  a  petition  to  the  Territorial  Legisla- 
ture, for  a  college  charter,  in  which  David  Hudson's  name  headed 
the  list  of  the  incorporators.  But  for  some  reason  not  now^  appar- 
ent, the  prayer  of  the  petitioners  w^as  not  granted. 

Ekie  Literary  Institute. — At  the  first  session  of  the  State 
Legislature,  however,  in  the  Spring  of  1803,  an  act  was  passed 
incorporating  tVie  "Erie  Literary   Institute,"   Mr.  Hudson's   name 


WESTERN   RESERVE   COLLEGE. 


*825 


heading  the  list,  and  Mr.  Badger's  name  also  being  among  the 
incorporators.  Trumbull  county  then  embraced  the  entire 
Reserve,  and  after  several  meetings  of  the  trustees,  provided  by 
the  charter,  the  institution  was  located  at  Burton,  now  in  Geauga 
county,  and  a  suitable  house  erected  and  duly  equipped  with 
teachers,  in  1805.  The  burning  of  this  building,  in  1810,  suspended 
operations,  until  after  the  War  of  1812,  the  institution  finally 
resuming  operations  in  a  new  building,  in  1820,  which,  under  the 
•management  of  Professor  David  L.  Coe,  a  graduate  of  Williams 
■College,  and  his  successors,  maintained  a  fair  standing  until  1834, 
when,  through  a  combination  of  untoward  circumstances,  it 
ceased   to  exist. 


REV.  CALEB  PITKIN. -born  in 
New  Hartford,  Connecticut,  Feb- 
ruary 27,  1781 ;  graduated  at  Yale 
CoUeg'e  in  1806;  studied  theology 
with  Rev.  Asahel  Hooker,  of  Goshen, 
Connecticut,  and  ordained  as  minis- 
ter of  Milford  Congregational 
Church,  March  6,  1808;  removed  to 
Ohio  as  a  missionary  in  1816,  and 
installed  as  pastor  of  Charlestown 
(Portage  county)  Church,  in  April, 
1817 ;  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
Western  Reserve  College,  and  for 
many  years  president  of  the  board  of 
trustees,  removing  to  Hudson,  where 
he  resided  until  his  death,  February 
5,  1864.  at  the  age  of  82  years,  11 
months  and  8  days.  June  15, 1807,  Mr. 
Pitkin  was  married  to  Miss  Anna 
Henderson,  of  Milford,  Connecticut, 
who  died  in  Akron,  Decetnber  6,  1882, 
at  the  age  of  98  years,  3  months  and 
11  days.  Their  children  were  -Mara 
N.  (Mrs.  Rev.  Charles  M.  Preston), 
born  June  10,  1808.  died  July  14,  1839; 
Stephen  H.  (afterwards  probate  judge 
of  Summit  county),  born  October  5, 
1810,  died  February  25,  1882  ;  Caleb  J. 
(Presbyterian  minister),  born  Decem- 


KEV.  CALEB  PITKIN. 

ber  4,  1812,  died  May  19,  1887 ;  James, 
born  March  12,  1815,  now  deceased, 
and  Julia  L.  (Mrs.  Lucian  Case),  born 
February  27,  1818,  died  September  24, 
1849. 


Theology  as  Well  as  Literature. — Meantime,  in  1817,  the 
Presbyterian  and  Congregational  churches  of  the  Reserve 
had  organized  a  "Society  for  the  education  of  indigent  pious 
young  men  for  the  ministry,"  and  an  arrangement  was  made  w^ith 
the  Burton  school  for  them  to  study  there;  a  joint  committee  from 
the  several  presbyteries  interested,  reporting  in  favor  of  establish- 
ing the  "I^iterary  and  Theological  Institute"  which  had  been 
resolved  upon,  at  Burton,  under  the  charter  of  the  "  Erie  Literary 
Institute,"  upon  certain  conditions  to  be  accepted  by  that  institu- 
tion, Avhich  were  acceded  to,  and  the  theological  school  duly 
launched.  This  arrangement  continued  only  about  two  years, 
the  managers  becoming  convinced  that  such  an  institution  as  they 
desired  could  not  be  maintained  at  Burton.  Commissioners  were 
appointed  by  the  Grand  Kiver,  Portage  and  Huron  presbyteries, 
to  select  a  location,  taking  into  consideration  all  the  points  con- 
nected with  the  several  competing  localities — character  of  inhabi- 
tants, healthfulness,  accessibility,  contributions,  etc. 


826'  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Propositions  ^vere  submitted  from  Hudson,  Cleveland,  Burton^ 
Buclid,  Aurora,  and  perhaps  other  points,  and  after  several  meet- 
ings, and  considerable  discussion,  the  decision  was  made  in  favor 
of  Hudson.  The  then  munificent  sum  of  $7,150  was  subscribed  by 
the  people  of  Hudson,  to  secure  the  location  of  the  institution  to 
that  town,  of  which  amount  Mr.  Hudson,  himself,  contributed  over 
$2,000,  besided  donating  160  acres  of  land  to  secure  the  location  of 
the  college  buildings,  v^here  they  were  afterwards  erected,  rather 
than  have  them  placed  in  what  he  regarded  as  a  less  favorable 
locality,  south  of  the  village. 

New  Charter  Granted. — ^A  petition,  numerously  signed^ 
setting  forth  the  objects  sought  to  be  attained  by  the  proposed 
new  educational  institution,  presented  to  the  Legislature  in  the 
Winter  of  1825,  '26,  was  vigorously  opposed  by  certain  anti-ortho- 
dox members  of  that  body,  on  account  of  its  theological  character. 
This  opposition,  with  perhaps  some  modifications  of  the  original 
draft,  was  finally  overcome  and  the  act  of  incorporation  duly 
passed  on  the  27th  day  of  February,  1826.  The  first  board  of 
trustees,  under  the  charter,  were:  David  Hudson,  Elizur  Wright,. 
Joshua  Bradford  Sherv^ood,  Rev.  John  Seward,  Rev.  Caleb  Pitkin, 
Henry  Brown,  Rev.  Simeon  Woodruff,  Zalmon  Fitch,  Rev,  Benja- 
min Fenn,  Harmon  Kingsbury,  George  Swift,  Rev.  Stephen 
Ingalls  Bradstreet  and  Rev.  Harvey  Coe.  The  board  organized  on 
the  first  day  of  March,  1826,  by  electing  Rev.  Caleb  Pitkin  presi- 
dent; Rev.  John  Seward  vice  president;  Rev. ♦William  Hanford 
secretary,  and  Benjamin  Whedon    treasurer. 

This  was  the  fifth  college  charter  granted  in  the  State,  not 
counting  the  Erie  Literary  Institute,  at  Burton.  The  board  not 
only  took,  immediate  and  vigorous  measures  for  the  erection  of 
a  suitable  building,  but  also  for  the  organization  of  classes,  admis- 
sion of  students,  etc,  Mr.  David  L.  Coe,  late  principal  of  the 
Burton  school,  then  in  charge  of  the  academy  at  Tallmadge,  wa» 
appointed  tutor  pro  tern,  for  the  examination  of  applicants.  Orrin 
Cook  Thompson,  Charles  Merriman  Preston,  Ellery  Bascom  and 
Joseph  Welch  Barr,  were  admitted  to  thefreshnaan  class  in  Decem- 
ber, 1826;  the  first  regular  tutor,  appointed  in  1827,  being  Ephraim 
T.  Sturtevant,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  afterwards,  for  many 
years,  principal  of  a  select  classical  school  in  Tallmadge. 

Laying  the  Corner  Stone. — The  foundation  of  the  first  col- 
lege building  was  pushed  with  such  vigor  by  the  contractor,  Captain 
Heman  Oviatt,  that  the  corner  stone  w^as  laid  on  the  26th  day  of 
April,  1826,  in  the  presence  of  a  large  crow^d  of  people,  and  with 
imposing  ceremonies  by  the  Masonic  Fraternity,  the  president  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees,  Rev.  Caleb  Pitkin,  delivering  the  oration  in 
Latin.  In  the  cavity  of  this  corner-stone  was  deposited  a  metallic 
plate  bearing  upon  one  side  the  names  of  the  president  and  secre- 
tary of  the  board  of  trustees,  and  on  the  other  the  name  of  the 
grand  master,  by  whom  it  \sras  laid,  date,  etc.;  one  copy  each  of  the 
Religious  Intelligencer,  Pittsburg  Recorder,  Masonic  Register^ 
and  of  the  principal  papers  then  published  on  the  Western  Reserve, 
together  v^ith  a  brief  history  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  insti- 
tution, and  a  hymn,  written  for  the  occasion,  by  Mr.  Asaph  Whit- 
tlesey, of  Tallmadge.  Though  of  no  special  monetary  value,  dur- 
ing the  succeeding  night  the  stone  was  robbed  of  its  contents, 
which  were  never  replaced.     The  trustees  and  building  committee 


MANUAL   LABOR    A   FAILURE. 


827 


-were  beset  with  innumerable  hindrances — scarcity  of  money, 
difficulty  in  collecting  subscriptions  to  the  building  fund,  etc.,  so 
that  the  building — what  has  since  been  known  as  "Middle  College" 
— was  not  ready  for  occupation  until  August,  1827. 

College  Government. — ^The  first  president  of  the  college  was 
Rev.  Charles  Backus  Storrs,  a  native  of  Longmeadow,  Mass. 
Though  profoundly  learned,  Mr.  Storrs  was  not  a  college  graduate, 
but,  while  preaching  in  Ravenna,  had,  in  1829,  been  called  to  the 
chair  of  sacred  theology,  which  he  filled  so  acceptably  that  in 
August,  1830,  he  was  unanimously  elected  to  the  presidency  of  the 
college.  At  that  time  the  financial  management  was  mainly  in 
the  hands  of  Rev.  Caleb  Pitkin,  president  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
and  the  administration  of  President  Storrs,  so  far  as  the  educa- 
tional interests  of  the  college  were  concerned,  would  have  proved  a 
grand  success,  but  for  certain  disturbing  elements  that  were  per- 
mitted, by  the  managers  and  faculty,  to  creep  in. 


FREDERICK  BALDWIN,  — fourth 
son  of  Stephen  and  Susannah 
Baldwin,  born  at  Goshen,Connecticut, 
March  17,  1794 ;  educated  in  Goshen 
district  schools  ;  at  18,  with  his  elder 
brother,  Axtgustus,  came  to  Hudson, 
arriving-  June  12,  1812,  bringing  with 
them  a  wagon  load  of  goods,  and 
opening  the  second  store  in  the  town- 
ship, under  the  firm  name  of  A.  Bald- 
win &  Brother,  Frederick  continuing 
the  business  vintil  about  1814,  -when 
he  went  into  the  cattle  business  on 
his  farm,  south  of  the  center,  where 
he  resided  untii  his  death,  July  12, 
1880.  February  12.  1828,  Mr.  Baldwin 
was  married  to  Miss  Saloma  W. 
Brownson,  of  Winchester,  Connecti- 
cut, who  bore  him  two  children — 
Maria  Louisa,  who  died  in  infancy, 
November  9,  1836,  and  Caroline  A., 
born  Deceinber  17, 1841,  now  the  wife 
of  Mr.  Perr}^  H.  Babcock,  formerly  of 
Ravenna,  now  residing  in  Cleveland. 
United  in  life  for  over  52  years,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Baldwin  were  not  long  sepa- 
rated in  death.  Mrs.  Baldwin  dying- 
May  1(),  1881.     Frederick  Baldwin  was 


FREDERICK  BALDWIN. 

well  known  as  in  everj^  respect  a  just 
and  honorable  man,  and  honored 
most  by  those  who  luost  intimately 
knew  him. 


Manual  Labor  Introduced. — At  that  time,  so-called  manual 
labor  schools  were  largely  in  vogue,  by  w^hich  indigent  young 
men,  desiring  an  education,  could,  by  working  a  certain  number  of 
hours  per  day,  pay  their  board,  tuition  fees,  etc.  Unfortunately, 
the  managers  of  the  college  adopted  this  hobby,  not  only  permit- 
ting those  who  desired  to  do  so,  but  requiring  of  all  students  a 
given  amount  of  work  (two  hours  per  day)  on  the  ground  of  pro- 
moting their  physical  as  well  as  their  mental  development. 

To  this  end  a  wagon-shop,  a  carpenter  shop,  a  cooper-shop  and 
a  farm,  with  tools,  machinery,  superintendents,  etc.,  w^ere  provided 
at  considerable  expense.  At  first,  while  the  novelty  Tvas  on,  the 
thing  worked  smoothly  enough;  but  it  was  soon  discovered 
that  a  good  many  of  the  students  (like  a  good  many  outsiders),, 
w^ere  disinclined  to  manual  labor — -duties  were  shirked,  rules  were 


S28  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

evaded,  exemptions  were  obtained,  jealousies  aroused,  caste  dis- 
tinctions engendered,  and  the  general  interests  of  the  college 
interfered  w^ith,  and  iafter  a  few  years  of  friction  and  dissatisfac- 
tion the  project  was  abandoned. 

The  Slavery  Question. — But  the  most  disastrous  cause  of 
dissension  in  college  circles,  about  this  time,  w^as  the  agitation  of 
the  slavery  question.  President  Storrs,  and  several  of  the  profes- 
sors, as  w^ell  as  quite  a  number  of  the  students,  had  not  only 
adopted  extreme  Abolition  views,  but  engaged  earnestly  in  the 
discussion  of  the  question,  in  the  class-room,  in  fraternity  meet- 
ings and  in  public  lectures,  both  in  Hudson  and  elsewhere.  Others 
of  the  faculty  and  students,  taking  the  opposite  ground,  and  the 
Board  of  Managers  also  being  divided  upon  the  question,  not  so 
much,  perhaps,  in  principle,  as  in  regard  to  the  propriety  of  its 
agitation  in  an  institution  open  alike  to  Abolitionists,  Coloniza- 
tionists  and  Slaveholders,  a  majority  of  the  Board  finally  passed  a 
resolution  against  the  innovation. 

These  discussions,  with  attendant  criminations  and  recrimi- 
nations, participated  in  by  the  people  of  Hudson,  generally,  and 
the  hitherto  w^arm  friends  of  the  college,  elsewhere,  tended  to 
promote  w^ithdra^vals,  prevent  accessions,  diminish  subscriptions, 
donations  and  endow^ments,  and  to  greatly  retard  its  usefulness 
and  prosperity;  (anti-slavery  people  believing,  from  the  action  of 
the  Board,  that  the  institution  w^as  pro-slavery  in  sentiment  and 
purpose;  and  pro-slavery  people  believing  from  the  utterances  of 
the  president  and  other  members  of  the  faculty  and  students, 
that  it  was  thoroughly  anti-slavery  in  its  aims  and  tendencies); 
in  fact,  with  the  death  of  President  Storrs  at  this  time  (Septem- 
ber 15,  1833),  and  the  resignation  of  several  of  the  professors,  entirely 
broke  up  the  faculty. 

An  Historic  Guide-Post. — Ohio  was  at  that  time — in  the  early 
and  middle  thirties — decidedly  pro-slavery  in  sentiment,  with  cer- 
tain rare  exceptions,  like  Hudson,  Tallmadge,  and  perhaps  a  few- 
other  towns  on  the  Western  Reserve,  and  in  most  places  it  ^vas 
quite  riskj^  for  an  anti-slavery  man  to  appear  upon  the  rostrum  as 
a  lecturer  upon  that  subject.  Thus,  towns  suspected  of  the  taint 
of  Abolitionism,  were  largely  held  in  contempt  by  the  outside 
"world,  and  made  the  butt  of  many  unkind  remarks,  practical 
jokes,  etc. 

In  the  early  Spring  of  1835,  the  writer  paid  his  first  visit  to 
Ohio,  sojourning  for  several  weeks  in  Aurora,  with  his  friend, 
Colonel  Artemas  W.  Stocking,  afterwards  for  many  years  a  citizen 
of  Painesville.  Colonel  Stocking  w^as  a  carriage-maker  by  trade, 
but  did  such  occasional  jobs  of  painting,  sign-writing,  etc.,  as  the 
neighborhood  required.  One  of  the  township  trustees  was  talking 
Avith  the  Colonel,  one  day,  about  placing  guide-posts,  at  the  several 
road  crossings  of  the  town.  Aurora,  at  that  time,  -was  largely  pro- 
slavery  in  sentiment,  and  the  w^riter,  having  spent  the  previous 
year  and  a  half  in  the  South,  had  also  become  somewhat  impreg- 
nated with  slave-holding  notions.  Hudson  having  often  been 
spoken  of  as  a  rabid  abolition  tow^n,  the  writer  being  something  of 
an  "artist,"  in  connection  w^ith  Colonel  Stocking's  younger  brother, 
■"Sam,"  also  quite  a  "genius,"  proposed  to  the  trustee  to  get  up  a 
guide-board  for  the  diagonal  road  to  Hudson,  free  of  expense,  if  he 
Avould  permit  us  to  carry  out  the  little  design  we  had  concocted, 


PRESIDENT   PIERCE  S    ADMINISTRATION, 


82^ 


which  he  assented  to.  We  accordingly  built  a  strong,  heavily- 
banded  and  cleated  board,  about  three  feet  square,  upon  which, 
on  a  white  back-ground,  we  painted  the  bust  of  a  stalwart  young 
negro,  with  expanded  optics,  broad  nostrils,  and  protruding  lips, 
his  broad  grin  disclosing  a  couple  of  rows  of  ivory  teeth,  and  with 
the  index  finger  of  his  right  hand  pointing  in  the  proper  direction, 
saying  :     J|@°"'  Dis  de  road  to  Hudson  ! " 

Bolting  this  board  firmly  to  a  solid  oak  post,  aided  by  the 
numerous  "Young  America"  of  the  neighborhood,  we  planted  it  on 
the  south  angle  of  the  road  in  question.  We  had  supposed  that 
the  anti-slavery  people  would  take  umbrage  at  it,  and  take  meas- 
ures for  its  summary  removal,  but  they  seemed  to  enjoy  the  joke^ 
as  well  as  their  pro-slavery  neighbors,  and  the  Aurora-Hudson 
guide-board  remained  standing  for  many  years,  eliciting  many  a 
guffaw  from  the  passing  traveler,  and  attaining  almost  a  State- 
wide notoriety. 


HON.  SYLVESTER  H.  THOMP- 
SON,—won  of  Dr.  Moses  and 
Elizabeth  (Mills)  Thompson,  among- 
the  very  earliest  settlers  of  Summit 
county,  was  born  in  Hudson,  July  28, 
1808 ;  educated  in  pioneer  district 
schools ;  raised  to  farm  life,  at  22 
began  farming  for  himself ;  May  14, 
1833,  was  married  to  Caroline  D.  Peck, 
of  Waterbury,  Connecticut,  who  bore 
him  seven  children  —  Charles  S., 
deceased  ;  Sherman  P.,  now^  a  pros- 
perous farmer  of  Htidson  ;  Martha 
E.,  now  Mrs.  P.  G.  Clark,  of  East 
Cleveland  ;  Theodore  F.,  now  a  prom- 
inent dealer  in  carriages,  implements, 
etc.,  in  Ravenna  ;  Albert  S.,  carpenter 
and  builder  in  Cleveland  ;  two  dying- 
in  infancy.  Active  in  all  public 
affairs,  he  held  many  positions  of 
trust  in  his  native  township,  resign- 
ing the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace 
to  accept  the  appointment  of  asso- 
ciate judge  of  Summit  county,  on  the 
resignation  of  his  old  neighbor, 
Judge  John  B.  Clark,  in  1846,  which 
office  he  ably  filled  till  the  taking- 
effect  of  the  new  constitution  in 
February,  1852;  in  1859  was  elected 
representative  to  the  State  Legisla- 
ture, serving  two  5'ear8 ;  in  1864,  was 


HON.  SYLVESTER  H.  THOMPSON. 

appointed  oominissioner ;  was  con- 
nected with  City  National  Bank  of 
Akron,  and  its  president  thirteen 
years.  Mrs.  Thompson  died  Novem- 
ber 23,  1876,  the  Judge  himself  dying- 
January  15,  1883,  aged  74  j^ears,  5 
months  and  17  daj'S. 


Reorganization,  New  President,  Etc. — For  a  full  year,  after  the 
culmination  of  these  dissensions,  the  college  was  w^ithout  a  proper 
head,  though  the  management  had  become  so  far  harmonized  as 
to  provide  instruction  for  the  several  classes,  and  gradually  fill  the 
chairs  made  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  the  professors,  as  above 
stated.  In  March,  1834,  Rev.  George  E.  Pierce,  a  graduate  of  Yale 
and  of  Andover  Theological  Colleges,  then  the  successful  pastor  of 
the  Congregational  Church  of  Harwinton,  Conn.,  was  elected  pres- 
ident, but  not  inaugurated  until  commencement  of  that  year.. 

President  Pierce,  in  addition  to  being  a  fine  scholar,  and  an 
able  preacher,  wras  a  man  of  large  stature,  commanding  presence, 
and  untiring  energy.     Hitherto,  the  financial  affairs  of  the  college 


830  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

had  been  largely,  if  not  wholly,  under  the  control  of  the  Board  of 
Managers  or  Trustees.  But  President  Pierce  immediately  entered 
upon  the  work,  by  personal  effort,  of  increasing  the  endowments 
and  enlarging  the  facilities  of  the  college — erecting  new  buildings, 
creating  new^  professorships,  increasing  the  apparatus,  library  and 
cabinets,  elevating  the  standard  of  scholarships,  etc..  so  that  in 
two  or  three  years,  the  effects  of  the  late  "onpleasantnesses"  began 
to  disappear,  and  the  college  entered  upon  a  new  era  of  efficiency 
and  prosperity ;  by  an  amendment  to  the  charter  a  Medical  Depart- 
ment being  established,  at  Cleveland,  in  1844. 

Prosperity,  Adversity,  Etc. — Our  limited  space  will  not  permit 
us  to  minutely  follow  the  fortunes  and  misfortunes  of  the  college, 
through  the  twent3^-one  years  of  President  Pierce's  administration. 
The  first  ten  years  had  been  decidedly  auspicious  and  prosperous, 
both  in  attendance,  efficiency  of  professors  and  tutors,  and  profi- 
ciency of  pupils,  as  well  as  financially  successful,  considering  the 
general  monetar}^  stringency  of  the  last  half  of  that  decade.  But 
the  last  eleven  years  of  President  Pierce's  incumbency  w^ere 
marked  by  much  that  was  annoying  and  unpleasant,  both  to  the 
president,  the  faculty  and  the  board  of  trustees,  and  detrimental 
to  the  interests  of  the  college,  generally.  The  large  expenditure 
for  new  buildings,  and  in  maintaining  the  new  professorships 
which  had  been  established,  (although  no  excessive  salaries  were 
paid,)  had  created  a  large  permanent  indebtedness  (at  one  time  as 
high  as  $28,(XX))  w^hich  the  natural  income  of  the  college,  and  the 
annual  subscriptions  to  the  general  fund  did  not  meet.  Portions 
of  other  funds  were  from  time  to  time  used  to  meet  erner- 
gencies,  w^hich,  though  done  in  good  faith,  and  w^ith  the  most 
honest  intentions,  served,  in  the  absence  of  a  thorough  system  of 
keeping  the  accounts,  to  complicate  the  financial  affairs  of  the 
college,  and  to  engender  distrust,  and  create  grave  differences 
between  the  president,  the  faculty  and  the  trustees,  finally  extend- 
ing to  outside  friends  and  patrons  of  the  college,  and  almost 
resulting  in  the  financial,  professional  and  scholastic  bankruptcy  of 
the  institution ;  in  1852-3,  the  president,  one  professor,  one  tutor 
and  twenty-three  students  comprising  the  entire  roster  of  the 
college  for  those  years,  without  a  single  graduate  in  1853. 

President  Hitchcock's  Administration. —  Thus  matters 
remained,  until  May  3d,  1855,  when  President  Pierce  resigned,  and 
Rev.  Henry  L.  Hitchcock,  then  preaching  in  Columbus  (son  of  the 
venerable  Peter  Hitchcock,  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Burton) 
w^as  elected  as  his  successor,  entering  upon  his  duties  at  com- 
mencement, July  12th,  1855.  President  Hitchcock,  then  42  years  of 
age,  small  of  stature,  but  big  with  energy  and  enthusiasm,  not 
only  assumed  control  of  the  educational  affairs  of  the  college— thor- 
oughly reorganizing  and  harmonizing  the  several  departments — 
and  the  pastorate  of  the  college  church  (organized  during  the 
administration  of  President  Storrs,  in  1831),  but  also  took  upon  his 
own  shoulders  the  herculean  task  of  paying  off  the  college  indebt- 
edness (then  about  $22,000)  and  of  securing  an  ample  permanent 
and  general  fund  for  the  proper  running  of  the  college,  without 
the  financial  friction  and  embarrassment  which  had  hitherto 
hampered  its  progress  and  impaired  its  usefulness. 

To  this  end,  firm  but  kindly  efforts  were  made  to  collect  the 
delinquent   dues    upon    former   pledges,    and    the    most    untiring 


RESIGNATION   AND   DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   HITCHCOCK. 


831 


personal  effort  ^vas  made  by  President  Hitchcock  to  obtain  new- 
subscriptions  to  both  the  general  and  the  permanent  funds.  This 
effort,  notwithstanding  the  severe  stringency  of  the  times 
immediately  preceding  the  war,  and  the  business  and  financial 
derangement  caused  by  the  war,  was  so  magnificently  successful, 
that  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1873  —  a  little  less  than  eighteen 
years — he  had  not  only  extinguished  the  debt  above  alluded  to,  but 
had  added  $67,000  to  the  permanent  fund,  and  $99,000  to  the  general 
fund — all,  except  the  trifling  amount  of  about  $6,000,  being  raised 
by  his  own  personal  solicitation  and  influence.  No  wronder  that 
he  broke  down,  in  the  prime  of  his  ripe  manhood  (60  years); 
a  sacrifice  to  the  educational,  spiritual  and  pecuniary  interests  of 
Western  Reserve  College. 

Owing  to  the  strain  upon  his  physical  system,  President  Hitch- 
cock finally  tendered  his  resignation,  which  was  reluctantly 
accepted,  in  1871,  though  he  still  continued  to  discharge  the 
duties  of  professor  and  pastor,  and  to  manage  the  finances,  until 
his  somewhat  sudden  and  unexpected  death,  July  6th,  just  previous 
to  commencement  in  1873. 


JUDGE  VAN  RENSSELAER  HUM- 
J  PHREY.-born  in  Goshen,  Con- 
necticut, July  28,  1800 ;  common 
school  education  ;  at  17  eng-ag-ed  in 
teaching-,  at  the  same  time  studying- 
law  under  Theodore  North,  Esq., 
being- admitted  to  the  bar,  September 
26,  1820,  while  yet  under  20  years  of 
age ;  Aj^ril  17,  1821,  was  married  to 
Miss  Stella  Beach,  of  Goshen,  the  fol- 
low^ing  June  emig-rating*  to  Ohio, 
after  a  short  sojourn  in  Norton  and 
Twinsburg,  settling  in  Hudson, 
where  he  acquired  a  large  practice  in 
Portage,  Medina  and  adjacent  coun- 
ties ;  in  1828  was  elected  representa- 
tive to  the  State  Legislature,  and 
re-elected  in  1829;  in  1837  was 
appointed  by  the  Legislature  presi- 
dent judge  of  the  third  judicial  dis- 
trict, serving  with  great  abilitj^  for 
the  full  term  of  seven  years,  on  retir- 
ing from  the  bench,  in  1844,  resuming 
his  law  practice,  which  he  success- 
fully followed  until  his  sudden  death 
from  apoplexy,  September  5,  1864,  at 
the  age  of  64  years,  1  month  and  7 
days.  Mrs.  Humphrey  dying-  April 
8, 1832,  he  was  again  married,  August 
22,  1839,  to  Mrs.  Laura  Maria  (Pease) 
Tallmage,  of  Warren,  who  still  sur- 
vives. By  his  first  marriage,  Judge 
Humphrey  was  the  father  of  two 
daughters  and  two  sons,  two  of  whom 


JUDGE   VAN   RENSSELAER   HUMPHREY. 

are  now  living— Stella  (now  Mrs.  ex- 
U.  S.  Senator  Conger,  of  Michig-an), 
and  James  Kent,  of  St.  Paul,  Minne- 
sota, and  by  his  second  marriage  of 
two  sons — Calvin  Pease  Humphrey, 
now  a  successful  attorney  in  Akron, 
and  Clarence,  now  of  Chicago. 


Theological  DeparTiMent  Abolished. — Though  the  establish- 
ment of  Western  Reserve  College,  as  a  distinct  institution,  grew 
out  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  arrangement  w^hich  had  been  made 
by  the  "Society  for  the  education  of  indigent  pious  young  men  for 
the  ministry"  with  the  trustees  of  the  "Erie  Literary  Institute," 
at  Burton,  as  above  set  forth,  and  though  theology  was  sought  to 


832  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

be  made  the  prominent  feature  of  the  college,  the  fond  anticipa- 
tions of  its  founders,  in  that  regard,  were  never  fully  realized.. 
Though  supplied  with  earnest  and  faithful  professors  and  teachers^ 
and  though  students  in  that  department  were  nearly  as  numerous 
as  in  others,  there  w^as  such  a  dearth  of  subscriptions  to  its  endow^- 
ment  fund,  that  it  was  utterly  impossible  to  pay  the  requisite 
salaries,  and  the  several  chairs  were  vacated  about  1859,  and  never 
again  filled,  though  the  general  religious  purpose  and  character  of 
the  college  was  thenceforth  continuously  and  consistently  main- 
tained. 

President  Carroll  Cutler. — On  the  acceptance  of  President 
Hitchcock's  resignation,  in  1871,  Professor  Carroll  Cutler  was 
promoted  to  the  presidency,  immediately  assuming  its  duties, 
though  not  formally  inaugurated  until  commencement,  1872.  Not 
burdened  -with  the  financial  management  of  the  college,  the  presi- 
dent had  comparatively  fair  sailing  for  about  two  years,  when  the 
death  of  Doctor  Hitchcock  devolved  upon  President  Cutler  the 
business  management  of  the  college,  also.  During  these  two  years 
of  exemption  from  triple  duty,  the  discharge  of  his  double  duty  as 
president  and  professor  had  been  in  every  way  satisfactory,  w^hich 
success,  even  with  the  additional  burdens  placed  upon  him,  was 
co-extensive  w^ith  his  incumbency. 

But  the  old  adage  about  "too  many  irons  in  the  fire,"  holds 
good  in  educational  as  well  as  in  mechanical  affairs.  Increased 
professorships,  and  necessarily  constantly  increasing  expenditures 
on  buildings,  apparatus,  etc.,  and  the  forced  lack  (by  reason  of  his 
scholastic  duties)  of  that  personal  application  and  energy  given  to 
the  financial  and  business  department  by  his  predecessor,  at  length 
caused  the  monetary  affairs  of  the  college  to  tighten  up  again, 
necessitating  a  vigorous  agitation  of  the  question  among  the 
alumni  and  other  friends  of  the  college,  in  regard  to  "ways  and  tneans 
to  place  the  institution  on  an  endow^ment  basis  commensurate 
with  its  present  and  future  necessities. 

Removal  to  Cleveland. — About  this  time,  too,  the  question 
began  to  be  mooted,  among  the  alumni  and  the  trustees  residing 
in  that  city,  about  removing  the  college  to  Cleveland,  the  argument 
being  that  its  location  in  so  populous  a  city  w^ould  bring  to  it 
an  infinitely  greater  pupilage  than  could  possibly  be  secured  in  a 
rural  village  like  Hudson,  and  a  wealth  of  money  and  influence 
that  alone  could  make  it  what  it  should  be,  a  first-class  university. 
Responsive  to  this  suggestion,  a  -wealthy  resident  of  Cleveland, 
Mr.  Amasa  Stone,  made  a  formal  offer  to  the  trustees  to  donate  to 
the  college  $500,000  (as  a  memorial  offering  to  his  deceased  son, 
Adelbert),  on  condition  that  the  college  should  be  removed  to 
Cleveland,  and  its  name  changed  to  "Adelbert  College  of  Western 
Reserve  University;"  Mr.  Stone,  afterw^ards,  also,  providing  in  his 
will  for  a  bequest  of  $100,000  additional, 

Hudson  People  Justly  Indignant. — To  this  proposition — 
munificent  as  w^as  the  offer — the  people  of  Hudson  and  vicinity 
entered  a  most  earnest  and  righteous  protest.  Established  in 
times  that  truly  "tried  men's  souls,"  and  pockets,  too,  and  maintained 
for  over  half  a  century  amid  the  most  appalling  difficulties  and 
perplexities,  now  that  old  Western  Reserve  College,  of  Hudson  — 
w^ell  and  favorably  known  everywrhere  —  w^as  really  in  the  height 
of  its  usefulness,  w^ith  all  needed  buildings  and  appurtenances,  and 


COLLEGE    REMOVED   TO   CLEVELAND. 


833 


requiring  only  a  moderate  degree  of  liberality  on  the  part  of  its 
many  weathy  alumni,  to  secure  to  it  perpetual  future  success, 
it  seemed  to  them  little  less  than  sacrilege  to  not  only  remove  the 
institution  to  another  locality,  but  also  to  absolutely  blot  out  the 
very  name  by  which  it  had  been  so  long  and  so  affectionately  and 
reverently  known. 

pAPTAIN  JAMES  H.  SEYMOUR, 
v>  — born  in  Colebrook,  Connecti- 
cut, July  16,  1842 ;  came  with  parents 
to  Hudson,  Ohio,  in  1851  ;  attended 
Hudson  public  schools,  and  Western 
Reserve  Colleg-e  Preparatory  School 
four  years ;  1858  to  186(),  traveling- 
salesman  for  his  father  in  wholesale 
cracker  business  ;  September  4,  1861, 
enlisted  in  regimental  band  of  2d  O. 
V.  C. ;  discharged  by  general  order 
No.  91,  war  department,  September  4, 
1862;  tendered  commission  in  12th 
O.  V.  C,  but,  being  needed  at  home, 
declined  the  appointment ;  commis- 
sioned first  lieutenant  in  O.  N.  G.,  in 
1864,  by  Governor  Brough,  and  while 
in  camp  in  Cleveland,  promoted  to 
captain  ;  same  5'ear  entered  U.  S.  ser- 
vice in  Q.  M.  department,  at  Duvall's 
Bluff,  Arkansas;  detailed  as  clerk 
and  given  charge  of  transportation 
on  White  and  Mississippi  rivers,  and 
the  military  railroad  betweenDuvall's 
Bluff  and  Little  Rock ;  also,  by 
appointment  of  Ohio  State  Commis- 
sion, superintended  taking  vote  of 
troops  and  employes,  in  October  1864, 
soon  after  which  the  sudden  death  of 
his  father  necessitated  his  resigna- 
tion and  return  to  Hudson  ;  engaging 
in  the  grocery  and  provision  busi- 
ness, he  was  often  elected  a  member 
of  village  council ;  served  fourteen 
years  as  village  clerk,  fifteen  years  on 
board  of  education,  fourteen  years  as 
cemetery  trustee  and  treasurer,  and 
otherwise  devoted  himself  to  the 
public  welfare,  being  a  charter  mem- 


CAPTAIN  JAMES  H.  SEYMOUR. 

ber  of  Sherman  Post,  No.  68,  G.  A.  R., 
post  commander  eight  years,  and 
post  adjutant  seven  j^ears,  with  still 
higher  honors  in  the  order,  both  State 
and  National.  In  1887,  was  elected 
treasurer  of  Summit  county,  and 
re-elected  in  1889,  serving  four  years. 
Captain  Seymour  was  married  July 
24,  1865,  to  Miss  Louisa  Coe.  of  Hud- 
son, who  died  April  18,  1887,  leaving- 
one  daughter — Anna  C. ;  was  again 
married,  April  9,  1888,  to  Miss  Martha 
L.  Webb,  of  Springfield,  who  has 
borne  him  two  children— Marian  and 
Ruth. 


The  Deed  Accomplished. — After  many  meetings  and  much 
tempestuous  discussion,  how^ever,  the  majority  of  the  trustees 
voted  to  accept  Mr.  Stone's  proposition  and  the  transfer  was  luade 
in  1882.  President  Cutler,  by  virtue  of  his  presidential  incumbency 
in  the  old,  continued  at  the  head  of  the  new  institution,  in  addition 
to  his  presidential  duties  filling  the  Handy  Chair  of  Intellectual 
Philosophy,  and  continuing  in  charge  of  the  financial  and  business 
affairs  of  the  University.  After  fifteen  years  of  faithful  service  as 
president,  with  the  added  duties  devolved  upon  him,  as  indicated. 
President  Cutler  resigned  the  presidency  and  business  cares  at 
the  close  of  the  college  year,  in  1886,  and  assumed  for  a  time  the 
duties  of  teacher  in  the  Handy  professorship,  above  alluded  to. 

After  an  interregnum  of  nearly  a  year  and  a  half,  Rev.  H.  C. 
Haydn,  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Cleveland, 
w^as  elected  to  the  pres«idency  of  the  college  in  November,  1887. 
President  Haydn  after  three  years  of  faithful  service,  was  succeeded 

53 


834  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

by  Charles  F.  Thwing,  D.  D.,  who  was  inaugurated  February  9, 1891, 
the  new  institution  thus  far  (November,  1891)  notwithstanding  its 
more  imposing  title,  and  its  more  pretentious  location,  scarcely 
more  than  holding  its  OAvn,  in  point  of  yearly  attendance  and 
graduations,  with  the  venerable  institution  w^hich  it  despoiled  of 
its  fair  name  and  time-honored  heritage. 

Hudson  Still  a  Literary  Center. — The  arrangements,  as 
finally  consummated,  for  the  removal  of  the  college,  proper,  to 
Cleveland,  provided  for  the  retention  and  occupation  of  the  build- 
ings, fixtures,  apparatus,  etc.,  at  Hudson,  as  a  Preparatory  School, 
under  the  title  of  "Western  Reserve  Academy,"  in  which  capacity, 
under  the  direction  of  the  trustees  of  "  Adelbert  College  of  West- 
ern Reserve  University,"  and  with  Professor  Newton  B.  Hobart,  as 
principal,  and  James  S.  Chamberlain,  John  Dickerman,  Gillette 
Wynkoop  and  Miss  Nanna  Barclay,  as  instructors,  it  is  still  one  of 
the  very  best  academic  institutions  in  the  Western  country,  not 
only  as  preparatory  to  a  college  course  of  study,  but  as  affording 
an  opportunity  to  those  not  contemplating  entering  college,  to 
acquire  a  thorough  practical  education,  especial  facilities  being 
offered  to  those  intending  to  follow  the  profession  of  teaching — 
both  ladies  and  gentlemen.  Average  number  of  pupils  75.  The 
old  Western  Reserve  College  buildings,  now  occupied  as  above, 
consist  of  a  chapel,  observatory,  Athanseum,  the  north,  middle  and 
south  college  buildings  and  five  dwelling  houses.  The  village  of 
Hudson  has  also  a  high  school  and  four  primary  schools,  under 
the  superintendency  of  Mr.  C.  F.  Seese;  scholars  in  former,  36;  in 
latter,  220. 

The  Color  Line — Co-Education. — Western  Reserve  College, 
like  all  similar  institutions  of  that  early  day,  without  any  express 
regulation  upon  that  subject,  v/as  supposed  to  be  intended  for 
white  male  students,  only,  though  in  point  of  fact,  without  any 
formal  official  action  upon  the  question,  colored  students  w^ere 
from  time  to  time  admitted — one  as  early  as  1832,  who  went 
through  the  regular  college  course  of  four  years,  graduating  with 
honors,  and  spending  one  year  in  the  t-lieological  department. 

Previous  to  the  accession  of  President  Cutler,  in  1871,  the 
question  of  co-education  of  the  sexes  had  been  largely  discussed  in 
other  colleges,  and  though  as  yet  no  applications  of  that  nature 
had  been  made  at  Western  Reserve,  in  his  inaugural  address,  in 
1872,  President  Cutler  announced  that  women  would  be  admitted 
to  the  privileges  of  the  college  on  the  same  conditions  as  men,  a 
number  of  young  ladies  afterwards  being  in  attendance,  both  at 
Western  Reserve  and  Adelbert. 

But,  in  the  year  of  Grace,  1887,  in  casting  about  for  the  cause 
of  the  declension  of  the  college,  since  its  removal  to  Cleveland,  in 
spite  of  its  wealthy  and  aristocratic  environments,  and  its  munifi- 
cent endowments,  it  w^as  concluded  that  w^oman  was  the  "Jonah" 
who  w^as  sinkingthe  magnificent  ship,  and  at  the  annual  cominence- 
ment  in  1888,  the  trustees  formally  decided  against  co-education, 
but  established  a  Ladies'  Department,  and  so  far  as  the  w^riter  is 
advised  the  affairs  of  the  college  are  now  harmonious  and  pros- 
perous. 

Hudson  as  a  Railroad  Center. — In  1836,  a  charter  was 
obtained  for  the  construction  of  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburg  road, 
through  Hudson,  but  by  reason  of  the  immediate  breaking  down 


EARLY   RAILROAD   PROJECTS. 


835 


of  the  finances  of  the  country,  by  the  panic  of  1837,  the  charter 
lapsed,  before  work  was  begun  upon  the  line.  A  renewal  of  the 
•charter  was  obtained  in  1845,  and  the  work  ^vas  proceeded  with, 
the  people  of  Hudson  subscribing  liberally,  in  lands,  for  right  of 
w^ay,  money,  etc.,  the  road  being  finally  completed  from  Cleveland 
to  Hudson  in  the  winter  of  1851-52. 


pHARLES  C.  HINE,— son  of  Hial 
^  M.  and  Mary  (Pease)  Hine,  was 
born  in  Twinsburg-,  May  1,  1842 ;  edu- 
cated in  district  schools  and  at  Twins- 
burg Institute;  raised  a  farmer; 
October  8,  1867,  was  married  to  Miss 
Ellen  M.  Farrar,  of  Hudson,  and 
located  on  a  farm  in  that  township 
the  same  Fall.  In  politics,  Mr.  Hine 
is  an  ardent  Republican  and  active 
in  all  public  affairs,  having  served  as 
trustee  of  Hudson  township  for  eight 
<:onsecutive  years.  In  October,  1885, 
Mr.  Hine  was  elected  county  commis- 
sioner, entering  upon  his  duties  the 
following  December ;  was  re-elected 
in  1888,  and  is  still  (October,  1891), 
ably  and  intelligently  filling  that 
responsible  position.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hine  are  the  parents  of  one  daughter, 
-only  —  Florence  Farrar  Hine,  born 
May  9,  1876. 


CHARLES  C.  HINE. 


Meantime,  the  people  of  Hudson,  Cuyahoga  Falls  and  Akron 
had  projected  the  "Akron  Branch,"  now  the  Cleveland,  Akron  &c 
•Columbus  railroad,  on  an  amendment  to  the  charter  of  the  first 
named  road,  to  which  road,  completed  to  Akron,  in  1852,  Hudson 
w^as  also  a  liberal  contributor.  The  completion  of  these  roads  so 
favorably  affected  the  business  and  agricultural  interests  of  Hud- 
son, that  they  came  to  believe  that  they  couldn't  have  "too  much 
of  a  good  thing,"  and  were,  consequently,  more  than  ready  to  enter 
into  any  new  project  that  seemed  to  give  promise  of  increasing  the 
boom  that  was  then  beginning  to  be  felt  in  the  business,  industrial 
and  educational  departments  of  the  town.  Accordingly,  when  the 
^'Clinton  Line  Railroad"  from  Hudson  east  to  the  Pennsyl- 
vania State  line,  which  was  to  be  one  of  the  links  of  "  The  Great 
American  Railway,"  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard  to  the  Pacific, 
w^as  organized,  in  1852,  the  people  of  Hudson  w^ere  among  its  most 
active  promoters.  Professor  Henry  N.  Day,  of  Western  Reserve 
College,  becoming  its  president,  and  very  largely  assuming  its 
management,  to  the  stock  and  right  of  way  of  w^hich  the  people  of 
Hudson  unstintedly  contributed.  So,  also,  to  the  "Clinton  Line 
Extension"  link,  from  Hudson  to  Tiffin,  organized  in  1853,  also 
under  the  presidency  of  Professor  Day,  and  with  Hon.  Van  R. 
Hutnphrey  as  principal  trustee,  like  liberal  investments  w^ere 
made  in  lands  and  money,  by  the  people  of  Hudson.  The  "Hud- 
son &  Painesville"  project  also,  designed  to  be  a  continuation  of 
the  "Akron  Branch"  direct  to  Lake  Erie,  organized  in  1853,  with 
Judge  Humphrey  as  its  president,  was  also  generously  promoted 
by  Hudson's  public  spirited  inhabitants. 

These  three  projects,  in  the  furtherance  of  which  Hudson  had 
literallj''  turned  her  pockets  inside  out,  w^ere  simultaneously  and 


836  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

vigorously  prosecuted  for  about  two  years,  the  official  reports  for 
1855  showing  that  forty  per  cent,  of  the  grading,  bridging  and 
masonry  upon  the  Clinton  Line  had  been  done;  that  about  $70,000 
had  been  expended  upon  the  eastern  division  of  the  Clinton  Line 
Extension  (chiefly  between  Hudson  and  Ghent),  while  a  large 
proportion  of  the  work  upon  the  Hudson  &  Painesville  had  also 
been  completed. 

Expenditures  exceeding  estimates,  monetary  affairs  tighten- 
ing dow^n,  together  with  the  difficulty  of  raising  additional  local 
subscriptions,  or  even  collecting  maturing  installments  upon 
those  already  made,  necessitated  the  suspension  of  wrork  on  all  the 
roads  named,  early  in  1856.  While  most  of  the  impoverished  con- 
tributors have  gradually  recovered  from  the  financial  embarrass- 
ments resulting  therefrom,  the  three  roads  in  question  have  since 
remained  in  statu  quo,  the  lands  on  which  they  w^ere  located  hav- 
ing mostly,  if  not  all,  reverted  to  the  original  owners;  though 
there  are  semi-occasional  rumors  to  the  effect  that,  sometime  in 
the  near  future,  the  visions  which  absorbed  the  attention  and  the 
wealth,  of  the  good  people  of  Hudson,  a  third  of  a  centurji  ago,^ 
may  yet  be  realized,  by  the  resuscitation  and  completion  of  some, 
if  not  all,  the  roads  in  question. 

HUDSON'S  BUSINESS  STATUS. 

Primarily,  the  business  of  the  tow^nship  is  bucolic— almost 
literally  so — for  while  her  thousands  of  fertile  acres  are  capable  of 
grow^ing  all  the  various  cereals  and  vegetables,  and  the  very  best 
of  fruits  adapted  to  this  climate,  her  most  reliable  and  profitable 
industry  has  hitherto  been  stock-growing  and  the  dairy,  though 
w^e  are  pleased  to  note  that  within  the  past  year  many  fine  fields 
of  wheat  have  been  harvested  in  the  township. 

And,  in  this  connection,  it  may  be  well  to  note  the  changes 
that  a  third  of  a  century  has  w^rought  in  the  mode  of  handling  and 
marketing  the  products  of  the  dairy,  in  Hudson  and  other  towns 
traversed  by  railroads,  and  contiguous  to  that  modern  lacteal 
institution,  the  cheese  factory.  Instead  of  being  worked  up  by 
the  old  hit-or-miss  process  of  setting  curds,  the  uncertain  pressure 
of  the  rickety  old  style  hand  press,  and  the  manipulation  of  ye  , 
ancient  dashing  and  splashing  hand-churn,  and  disposing  of  their 
unevenly  made  products  to  the  local  tradesman  in  exchange  for 
merchandise  at  barter  prices,  hundreds  of  gallons  of  milk  are  now- 
daily  shipped  to  Cleveland  from  this  single  township,  affording  a 
small  but  steady  cash  margin  to  the  producer,  while  other  hun- 
dreds of  gallons  are  daily  taken  to  contiguous  cheese  and  butter 
factories,  at  generally  living  prices,  to  be  w^orked  up,  by  uniform 
and  scientific  processes,  into  merchantable  cheese  and  palatable 
butter. 

Through  the  kindness  of  S.  Straight  &  Co.,  Ave  ^vere  furnished 
in  1887  with  a  statement  of  their  cheese  and  butter  operations  for 
the  year  1886,  which,  as  showing  Hudson's  approximate  interest  in 
the  matter  w^e  condense  as  follow^s:  Of  the  three  regular  cheese 
and  butter  factories  in  Hudson,  proper,  one  conducted  by  Messrs. 
Straight  &  Co.,  and  one  each  by  M.  D.  Call  and  W.  A.  Curtiss 
(the  latter  operated  by  McNeil  &  Cassidy),  all,  probably,  doing 
about  an  equal  amount  of  business,  the  previous  year  (1886),  the 
Straight  factory  bought  1,226,254  pounds  of  milk,   at  the  cost  of 


Hudson's  early  business  matters.  "  837 

$11,397.50  producing  101,387  pounds  of  cheese  and  26,465  pounds  of 
butter.  According  to  Messrs.  Call  and  McNeil  &  Cassidy,  an 
■equal  amount  of  business,  we  have  an  aggregate  of  3,678,762 
pounds  of  milk,  selling  for  $34,102.50,  and  producing  304,161  pounds 
of  cheese  and  79,395  pounds  of  butter.  That  year  (1886)  the  milk 
industry  reached  its  lowest  point  of  depression  in  ten  years,  the 
average  being  fully  25  per  cent,  above  the  figures  given,  so  that, 
with  the  Sweitzer  cheese  factory  of  Mr.  John  Mack  and  the  ship- 
ment of  milk  to  Cleveland,  the  total  yearly  average  of  that 
industry  in  Hudson  w^ould  not  fall  much,  if  any,  short  of  $50,000. 

Karly  Manufactures. — The  first  grist-mill,  nearer  than  the 
Valley  of  the  Ohio,  accessible  to  the  early  settlers  of  Hudson,  was 
at  Newburg,  erected  in  1800,  and  access  to  this,  through  the  dense 
forest,  and  ov^er  unbridged  streams,  was  both  difficult  and  danger- 
ous. The  distance  was  but  22  miles,  but  three  days' time — one  in 
^oing,  one  in  waiting  for  the  grist  and  one  in  returning — w^ere 
consumed  in  performing  the  journey.  The  first  w^heat  harvested  in 
the  township  was  by  Thaddeus  Lacej',  183  bushels,  on  the  nine  acres 
planted  for  Mr.  Hudson,  on  lot  eleven,  in  1799,  Mr.  Lacey  receiving 
one  fourth  of  the  product  for  harvesting  and  threshing.  Of  the 
remaining  three-fourths,  Mr.  Hudson's  share  was  about  34  bushels, 
the  remainder  going  to  his  co-proprietors.  Of  this  wheat,  Samuel 
Bishop  took  a  load  to  the  Newburg  mill,  receiving  one-half  of  the 
flour,  feed,  etc.,  for  his  trouble. 

But  Mr.  Hudson  had  thoughtfully  included  in  his  orders  for 
supplies  a  small  pair  of  mill  stones  and,  in  1801,  in  connection  with 
Ezra  Wyatt,  commenced  the  erection  of  a  mill  on  Tinker's  Creek, 
in  the  northeastern  portion  of  the  township,  Aaron  Norton  taking 
Mr.  Wyatt's  place  in  the  enterprise  before  the  mill  -was  completed  ; 
a  distillery  also  being  established  in  connection  writh  the  mill  by 
Messrs.  Hudson  &  Norton,  both  being  completed  in  1802,  but  a 
year  or  so  later  both  were  destroyed  by  fire.  Captain  Heman 
Oviatt  and  George  Darrow  also  erected  and  for  several  years,  l)oth 
before  and  after  the  close  of  the  War  of  1812,  carried  on  quite 
extensive  distilleries  in  Hudson,  it  being  found  that  the  Indians 
were  not  the  onl^^  persons  fond  of  fire-water,  even  among  the 
generally  staid  and  sober  pioneer  settlers  of  Hudson.  Several 
savv^-mills  were  erected  on  the  different  streams  running  through 
the  township  and  a  number  of  tanneries  were  also  established,  the 
firsi  that  of  Owen  Brown,  father  of  the  immortal  John  Brown,  of 
Harper's  Ferry  fame,  that  hero,  himself,  also  A^^orking  at  the 
business  for  a  number  of  years.  The  ashery  business  also,  during 
the  clearing  up  of  the  forests,  was  a  prominent  business  of  the 
town,  the  products,  black  salts,  potash,  pearlash,  etc.,  finding  a 
market  in  Pittsburg,  Cleveland,  Buffalo,  etc. 

Early  Hotels,  Merchants,  Etc. — For  several  years  every 
house  in  Hudson  was  a  house  of  entertainment,  the  private  latch- 
string  always  hanging  out  for  the  accommodation  of  the  stranger 
and  the  traveler,  though  at  quite  an  early  day  Captain  Heman 
Oviatt  formally  opened  his  log  cabin,  a  mile  south  of  the  village, 
as  a  house  of  public  entertainment.  The  first  regular  inn,  within 
the  limits  of  the  township,  however,  was  the  large  frame  house  of 
Deacon  David  Hudson,  a  short  distance  north  of  the  public  square, 
opened  to  the  public  in  1813  —  the  same  house  now^  occupied  by  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Harvey  Baldwin,  and  in  which,  when  a  girl  in  her 


838  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

teens,  she  officiated  as  bar-maid  and  general  assistant  to  her  good 
mother,  in  the  conduct  of  the  house  and  in  caring  for  the  guests- 
In  1816,  George  Kilbourn  opened  a  tavern  on  the  Justin  Kilbourn 
place  ;  about  1825  Augustus  Baldwin  opened  a  hotel  on  the  site  of 
the  present  Buss  residence,  and  about  1833,  the  Mansion  House, 
-which  still  survives,  was  built,  its  first  landlord  being  Samuel 
Edgerly,  father  of  Mr.  Charles  H.  Edgerly  and  Mrs.  Sarah  M.  E^ 
Battels,  wife  of  Akron's  well-known  photographer  Mr.  B.  F.  Battels. 
This  house  has  had  many  proprietors  during  the  nearly  sixty  years 
of  its  existence,  and  though  at  times,  perhaps,  a  trifle  too  liberal  in 
the  dispensation  of  intoxicants,  to  suit  the  abstemious  notions  of  the 
average  Hudsonian,  has  generally  been  regarded  as  a  good  house  by 
the  traveling  public,  its  present  owner  and  keeper,  1891,  being  Mr.  A.. 
A.  Edson.  The  Hotel  Delta,  recently  established  on  Peninsula 
road,  opposite  depot,  is  kept  by  Mr.  Henry  A.  Bissell. 

The  first  store  was  kept  by  Captain  Heman  Oviatt,  in  his  log 
cabin,  one  mile  south  of  the  center,  trade  being  mostly  with 
Indians,  exchanging  blankets,  shawls,  powder,  lead,  whiskey,  etc.,^ 
for  skins,  which  were  transported  on  horses  to  Pittsburg,  and  hi& 
stock  replenished  by  the  same  mode  of  conveyance,  from  that  city. 
In  1806  he  removed  to  the  center,  where  he  did  a  lucrative  business 
for  many  years,  afterwards  entering  into  partnership  with  Mr. 
Zenas  Kent  (father  of  Hon.  Marvin  Kent,  of  Kent),  and  opening  a 
store  at  Ravenna ;  also  being  interested  writh  Mr.  Allison  Kent,  at 
Canfield,  and  Mr.  Roswell  Kent,  at  Middlebury. 

As  illustrating  the  mode  of  doing  business  in  the  absence  of 
money,  in  those  early  days,  the  foUow^ing  document  copied  from 
the  records  of  Portage  county  is  reproduced  : 

"Received,  Hudson,  December  6th,  1800,  of  David  Hudson,  a 
certain  three-year-old  black  coav  which  I  am  to  keep  for  her  milk 
until  the  first  day  of  May  next,  and  at  that  time  return  to  said 
Hudson  at  his  d\velling  house,  in  good  flesh  unless  said  cow  is 
killed  by  lightning;  or  in  case  I  do  not  return  said  cow  on  that 
da^,  I  am  to  pay  for  said  cow  in  good  merchantable,  yard-wide 
linen  brown  cloth  at  33i^  cents  per  yard.  The  cow  to  remain 
Hudson's  property  until  returned  or  paid  for  as  above.  The  cow^ 
is  valued  at  $14.     Signed, 

Stephen  Upson. 


"Ebenezer  Sheldon,  )    ^tt,... 
"George  Kilbourn,    (    Witnesses 


We  can  only  give  the  names  of  a  few  of  those  who  have  carried 
on  business  in  Hudson  during  the  91  years  of  its  existence — the 
many  not  even  having  an  abiding  place  in  the  memory  of  the 
present  "oldest  inhabitant."  Besides  those  mentioned,  Augustus 
and  Frederick  Baldwin,  Dudley  Humphrey,  J.  H.  Crawford  &  Co., 
Hill  &  James,  Kent  &  Brewster,  Hamlin  &  Dawes,  Anson  A. 
Brewster,  Hamlin  &  Ellsworth,  Ellsworth  &  Buss,  Hamlin  Sc  Buss,- 
Buss  &  Bond,  Hart  Brothers,  John  Buss,  Sawyer,  IngersoU  &  Co., 
D.  Marshall  &  Co.,  J.  C.  Snyder,  I.  C.  Dow,  Morrell  &  IngersoU,  Wm. 
M.  Beebe,  H.  R.  Seymour,  M.  Dewey  &  Co.,  Farrar  &  King,  O.  W. 
Farrar,  N.  V.  Wadsworth,  John  Markilie,  Richard  Hanson  &c  Sons, 
Neibel  &  Cooper,  Jacob  Neibel,  James  H.  Seymour,  D.  D.  Beebe^ 
Dr.  A.  E.  Berbower,  James  K.  Frost,  John  M.  Seidell,  etc.,  are 
remembered  among  Hudson's  former  business  men,  mercantile^ 
mechanical  and  otherwise. 


Hudson's  business  reverses,  839 

The  Boom  and  the  Collapse. — The  advent  of  the  C.  &  P.  and 
Akron  Branch  Railroads,  and  the  projection  of  the  several  other 
railroad  schemes  elsewhere  mentioned,  in  the  early  fifties,  stimu- 
lated enterprise  in  other  directions  and  the  tovk^n  and  village 
entered  upon  an  era  of  speculative  improvements  commensurate 
with  its  prospective  importance  as  a  great  railroad  center. 

It  was  already  the  literary  center  of  Northern  Ohio,  and  why 
should  it  not  become  the  business  emporium  also?  Professor 
Henry  N.  Day,  of  the  college,  having  some  cash  capital  of  his 
own,  as  w:ell  as  having  many  capitalistic  friends,  built  the  large 
five-sided  brick  block,  on  Aurora  street,  known  as  the  "Pentagon," 
in  which,  besides  a  number  of  mercantile  operations,  a  large 
printing  and  book  publishing  house  was  established,  with  all  the 
paraphernalia  of  presses,  types,  stereotyping,  book-binding,  etc., 
requisite  for  successful  competition  with  the  best  Kastern  houses, 
if  business  could  be  found  to  sustain  it. 

About  this  time,  also,  a  large  planing  mill  and  lumber  yard 
was  established,  near  the  depot,  by  J.  W.  Smith  &  Co.,  one  of  the 
mercantile  firms  of  the  Pentagon,  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  and 
w^orking  up  the  large  amount  of  building  material  to  meet  tht^ 
requirements  of  the  boom.  A  large  steam  flouring  mill  was  built 
and  put  in  operation  a  little  west  of  the  present  union  passenger 
depot,  by  Henry  A,  Tallmadge  and  ex-Sheriff  Lewis  M.  Janes, 
afterwards  transferred  to  ex-Sheriff  Thomas  Wilson,  but  a  few- 
years  later  w^as  destroyed  by  fire ;  large  butter,  cheese  and  produce 
warehouses  were  established,  near  the  old  depot  by  J.  C,  Snyder 
and  I,  C,  Dow,  and,  altogether,  Hudson  was  decidedly  a  live  business 
town  for  the  period  of  about  three  years  from  1853  to  1856. 

The  collapse  of  the  three  railroad  schemes — the  "  Clinton  Line," 
the  "Clinton  Line  Extension"  and  the  "Hudson  &  Painesville," 
in  1855,  '56,  also  brought  disaster  to  all  the  enterprises  named,  the 
Hudson  Book  Company  making  an  assignment  with  liabilities 
greatly  in  excess  of  its  assets,  and  J.  W,  Smith  &  Co,,  the  Lumber 
Company,  J.  C.  Snyder,  I.  C.  Dow  and  Tallmadge  &  Co.,  going 
under  with  liabilities  aggregating  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars, 
also  very  seriously  crippling  many  of  the  other  business  operators 
of  the  village,  who  had  built  upon  the  bright  future  presaged  by 
the  boom  alluded  to. 

Gradual  Recuperation. — Though  for  several  years  the  depres- 
sion in  the  business  circles  of  Hudson  w^as  very  great,  and  though, 
in  the  intervening  years,  some  serious  mercantile  disasters  have 
occurred,  the  town  has  gradually  assumed,  and  now  maintains  the 
average  of  theWestern  Reserve  village  of  1,000  to  1,200  inhabitants. 

The  population  of  Hudson  township  and  village,  in  1840,  was 
1,220,  while  the  total  of  township  and  village  as  shown  by  the 
census  of  1880  was  1,816,  a  gain  of  597  —  nearly  50  per  cent,  in  the 
forty  years  —  notwithstanding  the  many  reverses  alluded  to,  the 
census  of  1890  placing  the  figures  at  1,797  —  a  falling  off  of  20  —  the 
village  itself  numbering  1,143  souls. 

The  past  third  of  a  century,  however,  has  wrought  vast 
changes  in  the  methods  of  doing  business,  as  witnesses  the  account 
given  elsewhere  of  the  milk  product  of  Hudson  township.  As  an 
incident  to,  and  a  necessity  of,  this  change  of  method,  Messrs,  S. 
Straight  &  ^  Co,  having  come  into  possession  of  the.  Pentagon 
property,  fitted  it  up  as  headquarters  for  the  immense  cheese  and 


840  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

butter  business  established  by  them  in  1867,  embracing  in  1887, 
fourteen  factories  in  Hudson  and  contiguous  townships. 

In  addition  to  the  shelving  capacity  of  the  Pentagon  block 
itself  (about  15,000  cheeses)  building  60x60  foot  two  story  brick 
curing  house,  with  basement,  with  shelving  for  12,000  cheeses,  and 
storage  capacity  for  250,000  pounds  of  butter,  with  ice  house,  air 
tubes,  fan,  engine,  elevator,  and  all  the  necessary  paraphernalia  for 
handling,  preserving,  packing  and  marketing  the  immense  yearly 
product  of  the  several  factories  named.  As  showing  the  magni- 
tude of  this  interest,  the  firm  report  the  aggregate  business  of 
their  fourteen  factories  in  1886  as  follows:  Milk  bought,  8,392,797 
pounds;  cost  $65,782.62;  cheese  made,  700,227  pounds;  butter  made, 
171,669  pounds,  though  w^e  are  informed  that  within  the  past  year 
or  tw^o,  Mr.  Straight  has  sold  the  majority  of  his  factories  to  other 
parties. 

Other  Industries. —  As  an  adjunct  to  the  immense  business 
just  w^ritten  of,  the  cheese  box  and  butter  tub  factory,  of  Mr.  E.  A. 
Osborne,  established  in  1870,  w^ith  a  capacity  of  about  300  boxes 
and  100  tubs  per  day,  is  w^orthy  of  mention;  also  a  similar  factory, 
established  in  1878,  by  Erastus  Croy,  now  operated  by  Mr.  E.  B. 
Shields,  the  former  being  destroyed  by  fire  in  January,  1890. 

For  a  number  of  years  subsequent  to  the  destruction  of  the 
Wilson  mills,  above  alluded  to,  quite  an  extensive  flouring  mill 
was  maintained  near  the  depot,  but  the  building  having  passed 
into  the  hands  of  Mr.  E.  J.  Lobdell,  was  devoted  to  the  manufac- 
ture of  all  kinds  of  buggy  lumber,  until  burned  in  January,  1890, 
the  business  having  since  been  removed  to  Marietta,  Ohio. 

About  1878,  the  Oviatt  Manufacturing  Company  w^as  organized 
and  suitable  buildings  erected,  south  of  the  depot,  for  the  purpose 
of  manufacturing  the  patented  inventions  of  Mr.  Solomon  E. 
Oviatt  (formerly  of  Richfield) — Oviatt's  thresher  and  separator, 
common  sense  wagon,  independent  runner  sled,  etc.,  but  though 
promising  well  for  a  year  or  two,  either  from  lack  of  adequate 
capital,  proper  enterprise  or  judicious  management,  the  company 
came  to  financial  grief,  and  the  business  was  abandoned. 

Hudson's  Present  BuvSiness  Status.—  Dry  goods,  Charles  H. 
Buss,  Henry  Wehner;  groceries,  Dennis  J.  Joyce,  George  V.  Miller, 
James  A.  Jacobs,  E.  E.  Lewis;  drugs,  John  Whedon,  Edwin  S. 
Bentley;  shoes,  Sebastian  Miller;  books,  Edwin  S.  Bentley;  stoves 
and  tinware,  R.  H.  Grimm,  John  N.  Farrar;  harness,  John  G.  Mead, 
Cornelius  A.  Campbell;  blacksmiths,  Charles  H.  Farwell,  Charles 
R.  Cash,  Perry  N.  Shively;  carriages,  James  L.  Doncaster;  machin- 
ist, Samuel  Bediant;  bakery,  Ralph  T.  Miller;  meat  markets, 
George  V.  Miller,  Philip  Wendling;  undertaker,  James  L.  Doncas- 
ter; syrup  evaporators.  The  G.  H.  Grimm  Manufacturing  Company; 
hotels,  American,  A.  A.  Edson;  Hotel  Delta,  Henry  A.  Bissell; 
livery,  Andrew  May  &  Company;  lawyers,  Matthew  C.  Read, 
Horace  B.  Foster;  dentist.  Dr.  E.  E.  Rogers;  physicans,  Drs.  Frank 
Hodge,  L.  D.  Osborn,  George  L.  Starr,  Horace  C.  Coolman;  jew- 
elers, Samuel  Fletcher,  A.  Pettingell;  news  dealer,  David  M. 
Darrow;  saloons,  5;  the  latter  "industry "  being  out  of  all  propor- 
tions to  the  requirements  of  so  staid  and  sober  a  people,  as  are  the 
majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  village  and  township. 

Municipal  Affairs. — ^April  1,  1837,  Hudson  village  was  incor- 
porated by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  the  territory  embraced  in  the 


Hudson's  municipal  status.  841 

■corporation  being  480  rods  in  length,  from  north  to  south,  and  320 
rods  in  width,  from  east  to  west,  the  exact  geographical  center  being 
the  center  of  the  east  and  w^est  and  north  and  south  center  roads. 
Some  small  tracts  outside  of  these  bounds,  notably  on  Aurora 
street,  have  been  laid  out  into  lots  and  handsomely  improved, 
but  have  never  been  formally  annexed  to  the  village  plat.  The 
first  election,  under  the  charter,  was  held  on  Tuesday,  May  2,  1837, 
the  officers  then  elected  being  as  follows:  Mayor,  Captain  Heman 
Oviatt;  recorder,  Lyman  W.  Hall;  trustees,  Frederick  Baldwin, 
John  B.  Clark,  Jesse  Dickinson,  Harvey  Baldwin  and  Daniel  C. 
Gaylord.  As  showing  the  shrinkage  of  values  and  the  .resources 
of  the  property  holders,  caused  by  the  panic  of  1837,  it  may  be 
stated  here  that  the  tax  lists  of  1837,  place  the  value  of  the  real 
estate  of  the  village  at  $93,967.58,  and  the  personal  property  at 
$19,474,  while  the  list  of  1844  (seven  years  later)  give  the  real  estate  at 
$30,427  and  the  personal  property  at  $12,177,  only. 

Mayors  for  Over  Half  Century. —  In  the  fifty- four  years  of 
Hudson's  corporate  existence,  its  successive  mayors,  elected 
yearly,  have  been  as  follows:  Heman  Oviatt,  1837;  1838,  George  E. 
Butler;  1839,  Charles  R.  Hamlin;  1840,  Anson  A.  Brewster;  1841, 
Dr.  Israel  Town;  1842,  J.  W.  Selby;  1843,  E.  E.  Parks;  1844, '45,  Harvey 
Whedon;  1846,  Herman  Peck;  1847,  John  Buss;  1848,  George  Ved- 
der;  1849,  S.  E.  Judd;  1850,  George  E.  Pierce;  1851,  '52,  Van  R. 
Humphrey;  1853,  '54,  E.  B.  Ellsworth;  1855,  Anson  A.  Brewster; 
1856,  George  P.  Ashmun;  1857,  Anson  A.  Brewster;  1858,  John 
Buss;  1859,  Isaac  L'Hommedieu;  1860,  Henry  L.  Hitchcock;  1861, 
D.  D.  Morrell;  1862,  William"  Pettingell;  1863,  '64,  D.  D.Beebe;  1865, 
Professor  N.P.Seymour;  1866,  '67, '68,  Isaac  L'Hommedieu;  1869, 
S.  E.  Judd;  1870,  '71,  William  M.  Beebe;  1872,  '73,  S.  H.  Thompson; 
1874,  '75,  R.  Bosworth;  1876,  Charles  R.  Grant;  1877,  Matthew  C. 
Read;  1878,  '79,  S.  E.  Judd;  1880,  '81,  '82,  '83,  '84,  '85,  '86,  '87,  Horace 
B.Foster;  1888, '89, '90, '91,  Henry  E.  Lee.  Of  the27  persons  who  have 
been  thus  honored  by  the  good  people  of  Hudson,  seven  only  are 
now  (December,  1887,)  living,  viz.:  Messrs.  Judd,  Morrell,  Sey- 
mour, Grant,  Read,  Foster  and  Lee. 

The  village  government,  though  never  called  upon  to  grapple 
w^ith  the  great  problems  of  grading,  paving,  sevi^ering,  electric 
lighting,  etc.,  that  have  agitated  larger  municipalities,  has,  never- 
theless, been  of  great  service  to  the  people  of  Hudson  in  conserving 
the  public  order,  providing  proper  sidewalk  and  street  improve- 
ments, regulating  and  beautifying  the  public  square,  cemetery, 
etc.,  and  especially  in  the  fostering  care  which  it  has  ever  bestowed 
upon  the  educational,  religious  and  moral  interests  of  the  com- 
munity, having,  in  connection  with  the  tow^nship,  in  1878,  '79, 
erected  a  handsome  two-storj'  brick  tow^n  hallj  on  the  site  of  the 
old  Congregational  church,  which,  besides  meeting  rooms  for  the 
council  and  trustees,  and  a  lockup  on  the  ground  floor,  has  a  capa- 
cious well-seated  public  hall  in  the  second  story;  in  addition  to 
which  Adelphian  Hall,  in  Farrar's  block,  west  side  of  Main  street, 
has  a  seating  capacity  of  about  900. 

In  the  Newspaper  Line. — The  second  town  in  what  is  now 
Summit  county,  to  av^ail  itself  of  the  manifold  blessings  of  the  news- 
paper, was  Hudson,  the  Portage  Journal,  established  in  Middle- 
bury,  in  1825,  having  a  priority  of  some  two  or  three  years.  In  1827, 
a  religious  and  literary  paper  called  the  Western  Intelligencer, 


842  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

» 

was  established  in  Cleveland,  which  after  several  changes  w^as 
suspended  in  1829.  In  March,  1830,  Mr.  Warren  Isham  revived 
the  paper  in  Hudson,  under  the  name  of  the  Obsever  and  Tele- 
graph, Mr.  Isham  changing  the  name  in  1832,  to  the  Ohio 
Observer.  In  f^ebruary,  1834,  R.  M.  Walker  and  S.  J.  Bradstreet 
became  its  proprietors,  and  in  December,  1834,  Rev.  James  B. 
Walker,  afterwards,  for  several  years,  pastor  of  the  Congregational 
church  in  Akron,  became  its  owner  and  editor,  Mr.  Walker  being 
succeeded  by  Rev.  A.  P.  Clarke  in  the  Autumn  of  1835. 

A  Sledge-Hammer  Kpisode. — The  Observer  was  not  only  a 
profound  religious  sheet,  and  a  good  family  newspaper,  generally^ 
but  it  w^as  especially  devoted  to  the  several  reforms  of  the  day — 
the  anti-slavery  reform,  the  temperance  reform,  moral  reform,  etc., 
and  was  remarkably  plain-spoken  in  regard  to  the  real  or  sup- 
posed infractions  of  the  moral  code.  In  those  days,  too,  the  tongue 
of  the  gossip  and  the  scandal  monger  were  fully  as  " waggish "^ 
(and  perhaps  more  so)  than  at  the  present  time. 

It  coming  to  the  ears  of  a  prominent  citizen  that  a  scandal, 
which  had  been  worked  up  against  him,  was  about  to  appear  in 
the  columns  of  the  Observer,  in  the  shape  of  a  series  of  resolutions 
adopted  by  the  Female  Moral  Reform  Society  of  Hudson,  reflecting^ 
upon  his  moral  character,  he  called  upon  the  editor  to  ascertain  the 
truth  of  the  rumor.  Getting  no  satisfaction  in  that  direction,  but 
learning  from  other  sources  that  the  objectionable  matter  was 
already  upon  the  press,  ready  to  be  worked,  the  gentleman  quietly 
stepped  into  a  neighboring  blacksmith  shop,  and,borroviringa  heavy 
sledge,  deliberately  entered  the  Observer  office  and  not  only 
knocked  the  entire  form  into  pi,  but  thoroughly  crippled  the  press  by 
demolishing  the  heavy  cast-iron  bed  plate.  It  is  not  now^  remem- 
bered that  any  legal  proceedings  for  damages  were  ever  instituted 
against  the  w^ielder  of  the  sledge,  the  presumption  being  that  his 
summary  action  in  the  premises  was  justified  by  the  general 
public,  if  not  by  the  proprietors  of  the  Observer  themselves. 

Rev^ivification. — Printing  presses  were  not  as  readily  obtain- 
able in  those  days  as  now;  and  the  Obseryer  \vas  removed  to 
Cleveland  and  consolidated  with  the  Cleveland  Journal,  l^ev.  O. 
P.  Hoyt  being  associated  with  Mr.  Clark  as  editor.  The  Journal 
>vas  suspended  November  1,  1838,  but  resumed  again  January  9, 
1839,  and  in  April,  1840,  returned  to  Hudson,  resuming  its  old 
name,  Ohio  Observer,  continuing,  under  various  proprietors,  until 
February,  1844,  vi^hen  the  office  was  destroyed  by  fire.  For  a  short 
time  the  paper  was  now  printed  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  but  soon  after- 
wards with  a  new  outfit  re-established  in  Hudson,  and  with  many 
changes  of  proprietors  and  editors,  and  a  great  variety  of  vicissi- 
tude, it  struggled  on  (its  latest  name  being  Ohio  Observer  and 
Register)  until  the  general  business  collapse  of  the  town,  in  1855, 
*56,  when  it  ceased  to  exist.  It  may  properly  be  added,  here,  that 
the  broken  press  above  alluded  to,  was  bought  by  Horace  K.  Smith 
and  Gideon  G.  Galloway,  of  Akron,  in  1836,  furnished  with  a  new 
bed-plate  and  otherwise  repaired,  and  devoted  to  the  publication 
of  the  American  Balance,  and  its  successor,  the  Summit  Beacon, 
until  its  final  destruction,  in  the  first  burning  of  the  Beacon  office 
January  9,  1848. 

Other  Literary  Experiments. —  The  Faniilv  Visitor,  started 
in  Cleveland  in   1850,  and  for  a  time  published   simultaneously  in 


Hudson's  military  prowess.  843 

Cleveland  and  Hudson,  was  wholly  transferred  to  Hudson  in  Jan- 
uary, 1852,  with  Professor  M.  C.  Read  as  sole  editor,  under  whose 
auspices  it  w^as  in  every  way  a  first-class  scientific,  literary,  religi- 
ous and  agricultural  family  new^spaper,  but  a  c{uarter  of  a  century 
ahead  of  the  times,  and  for  lack  of  adequate  support  its  subscrip- 
tion list  was  transferred  to  the  Observer  in  January,  1854. 

College  Citv  Venture  was  started  by  E.  F.  Chittenden,  a 
former  compositor  on  the  Visitor,  in  July,  1866,  with  Professor 
Read  as  editor,  who  made  a  spicy,  interesting  paper  of  it  for  a  few 
weeks,  when  it,  too,  was  compelled  to  suspend  for  lack  of  proper 
pecuniary  encouragement. 

Hudson  Gazette,  started  in  November,  1857,  by  Rev.  Alexan- 
der Clarke,  afterwards  a  D.  1).,  and  a  man  of  note  in  the  M.  E.. 
church  of  Pennsylvania,  was  devoted  to  "commerce,  education, 
agriculture,  art  and  news,"  and  though  very  ably  edited,  survived 
but  a  few  weeks,  only. 

Hudson  Enterprise,  established  as  an  amateur  paper,  in  con- 
nection with  a  small  job  office,  in  May,  1875,  finally  became  a 
household  necessity  to  the  people  and  vicinity,  and  under  various 
proprietors  seemed  for  a  time  to  be  quite  prosperous,  but  its 
purely  local  support  being  inadequate  to  meet  the  considerable 
weeky  expense  of  its  publication,  it,  too,  was  several  years  aga 
discontinued.  '     > 

Hudson  Gazette.  Hudson's  last  local  newspaper,  a  sprightly 
32  column  sheet,  started  November  23,  1888,  by  D.  B.  Sherw^ood  & 
Son,  independent  in  politics  and  everything  else,  had  an  existence 
of  about  one  year  only. 

HUDSON'S  WAR  ^HISTORY. 

Excepting  Jonathan  Draper,  80;  John  Walker,  77,  and  John 
Ellsworth,  78,  reported  as  pensioners  by  the  census  of  1840,  we  are 
entirely  without  data  as  to  Hudson's  part  in  the  war  of  the  Revo- 
lution— 1776  to  1783 — though,  originating  mostly  in  the  patriotic 
State  of  Connecticut,  most  undoubtedly  several  others  of  her  early 
settlers  participated  in  that  glorious  struggle. 

In  the  War  of  1812  several  Hudsonians  took  an  active  part, 
though  of  this  no  accurate  w^ritten  history  has  been  handed  down. 
The  people  of  the  Western  Reserve,  of  that  day,  w^ere  not  only 
thoroughly  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the  Revolution,  but,  being 
upon  the  frontier,  deemed  it  important  to  keep  up  military  organi- 
zations for  self-protection  in  case  of  trouble  Avith  their  red-skinned 
neighbors.  To  this  end,  the  able-bodied  settlers  of  Hudson  and 
vicinity  were  early  organized  into  a  military  cornpany,  with  Amos 
Lusk  as  captain;  this  company  with  others,  forming  a  battalion, 
with  George  Darrow^  as  major,  the  battalion  being  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  General  Elijah  Wadsworth,  of  Warren.  After  Gen- 
eral Hull's  ignominious  surrender  at  Detroit,  in  August,  1812,  the 
news  of  which,  and  the  rumored  approach,  eastward,  of  the 
British  and  Indians,  caused  a  great  panic  in  Hudson  and  sur- 
rounding towns,  this  battalion  was  ordered  to  Cleveland  by  Gen- 
eral Wadsw^orth,  and  from  thence,  when  the  scare  w^as  over,  to 
Old  Portage,  then  the  headquarters  of  the  Reserve  militia. 

Later,  Major  Darrow^  and  his  battalion  were  assigned  to  the 
w^ork  of  opening  a  road  through  to  Camp  Huron,  near  Sandusky', 


844  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

before  completing  Avhich,  learning  of  the  trouble  \vhich  the 
American  troops  were  meeting  with  at  the  hands  of  the  red-coats 
and  red-skins,  in  the  vicinity  of  Detroit,  he  hurried  forward  to 
reinforce  the  garrison  at  Fort  Huron;  afterwards  being  ordered  to 
Fort  Stephenson  of  which  he  was  in  command,  until  the  defeat  of 
General  Winchester,  at  Frenchtown,  when  he  w^as  ordered  to 
Maumee,  to  assist  in  the  building  of  Fort  Meigs;  the  names  of 
Zina  Post,  Bben  Pease  and  James  G.  Bishop,  only,  being  monu- 
mentally recorded,  in  the  cemeteries  of  the  township,  so  far  as  the 
writer  is  advised,  as  being  soldiers  in  that  war,  though  there  must 
have  been  at  least  a  score  besides  those  herein  named.  In  regard 
to  the  Mexican  War,  of  1846-48,  w^e  can  find  no  historical  indica- 
tion that  Hudson  furnished  a  single  soldier. 

Education  and  Patriotism. — In  the  War  of  the  Rebellion, 
how^ever,  Hudson  w^as  patriotic  to  the  core.  By  reference  to  the 
Register  of  Graduates  of  Western  Reserve  College,  compiled  by 
President  Cutler,  in  1873,  it  will  be  seen  that  fully  one  hundred  of 
the  graduates  of  the  college  entered  the  army,  nearly  one-half  of 
"whom  enlisted  directly  from  the  college  during  the  progress  of  the 
Avar,  to  saj^  nothing  of  those  w^ho  entered  the  service  from  the 
preparatory  and  medical  departments,  and  of  Avhom  no  adequate 
record  is  now  available. 

Besides  those'  who  volunteered  from  the  college,  in  1861,  the 
remaining  students,  together  with  several  of  the  professors,  organ- 
ized for  military  drill,  w^ith  Colonel  Haywood,  of  Cleveland,  as 
drill-master.  During  the  vacation,  between  the  sessions  of  1861 
and  1862,  many  of  the  students  enlisted  from  their  several  homes, 
and,  on  the  call  of  President  Lincoln  for  three  months  troops, 
after  the  reverses  of  the  Union  forces  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley, 
in  May,  1862,  the  College  Company,  en  masse,  tendered  their  ser- 
vices to  Governor  Tod,  which  were  promptly  accepted.  The  com- 
pany, embracing  some  35  or  40  students  and  professors,  quite  a 
number  of  the  scholars  in  the  preparatory  school  and  several  out- 
siders, (from  70  to  80  in  all)  was  assigned,  as  Company  B,  to  th^ 
85th  Regiment  O.  V.  I.,  which  regiment  was  never  completed,  the 
four  companies  thus  assigned,  being  put  on  guard  over  rebel 
prisoners  at  Camp  Chase,  Columbus,  later  escorting  a  body  of 
Confederate  prisoners  to  Vicksburg  for  exchange;  the  college 
catalogue  of  1862,  ^63  stating  that  sixteen  members  of  the  college 
classes,  and  tw^enty-three  members  of  the  preparatory  school  were 
in  the  army. 

Of  Company  B,  Professor  Charles  A.  Young  (nowr  a  distin- 
guished professor  of  astronomy  in  Princeton  College),  was  Captain, 
and  Professor  Carroll  Cutler  (afterwards  for  fifteen  years  presi 
dent  of  Western  Reserve  and  Adelbert  College),  was  First  Lieuten 
tant;  W,  C.  Parsons  (of  the  Selle  Gear  Works,  Akron),  was  oopogal; 
R.  H.  Wright  (of  the  Buckeye  Works),  first  sergeant;  Judge  E.  W, 
Stuart,  corporal  and  promoted  to  sergeant;  C.  P.  Humphrey  Esq., 
as  third  sergeant;  the  latter  being  early  transferred  to  the  88tli. 
Regiment,  as  first  sergeant  and  quartermaster,  but  almost  imme- 
diately detailed  as  Post  Adjutant  of  Camp  Chase,  in  which 
capacity  he  served  until  mustered  out  in  September,  1862.  George 
A.  Purington,  an  Akron  boy,  then  a  member  of  the  preparatory 
school,  went  into  the  army  as  first  sergeant  of  Company  G,  19th, 
O.  V.  I.,  in  April,  1861,  in  August  1861,  as  captain  in  Second  Ohio 


Hudson's  roll  of  honor.  845 

Cavalry;  promoted  to  major,  lieutenant  colonel  and  colonel;  after 
the  War  joined  the  Kegular  Army  as  captain  of  cavalry,  and  is 
now  (1891)  major  of  the  3rd  U.  S.  C,  with  headquarters  at  Fort 
Clark,  Texas. 

Outsiders    Equally    Patriotic. — Outside    the    college,"  the 
citizens  of  Hudson  w^ere  equally  patriotic  as  the  following  roster,, 
prepared  from  memory,  by  Mr.  George  W.  Church,  and  others,  and 
from  the  assessors'  returns  for  1863,  '64,  '65,  believed  to  be  substan- 
tially correct,  abundantly  demonstrates  : 

Robert  Andrews,  George  P.  Ashmun,  Charles  C.  Ashmun, 
David  Antles,  William  C.  Bell,  Henry  J.  Bell,  Andrew  Brewster, 
Allen  C.  Burrows,  William  M.  Bebee,  Jr.,  James  H.  Bateman,  John 
Bullock,  Edward  Blackman,  Charles  A.  Bunnell,  David  Baker, 
William  Baker,  Henry  Beardsley,  Alexander  Burney,  John  Barnell, 
Rufus  T.  Chapman,  George  W.  Church,  Robert  F.  Cahill,  Charles 
Clark,  Clinton  C.  Chambers,  John  C.  Coffey,  Charles  W,  Clapp, 
Robert  Cox,  Mortimer  Danforth,  Albert  D.  Dunbar,  Arvin  Draper, 
James  Draper,  Cyrus  H.  Delong,  Francis  Danforth,  Norman 
Darrow,  Patrick  Devaney,  Cyrus  B.  Deacon,  Edmund  W.  Deacon, 
Henry  Doncaster,  John  Dusenbury,  Jr.,  Ransom  J.  EUsw^orth,  Harry 
Eggleston,  James  M.  Foley,  Charles  Felton,  Daniel  Francis,  Arby 
P.  Farwell,  Foster  V.  FoUett,  Henry  Farw^ell,  George  W.  Golden, 
George  W.  Gaylord,  Nicholas  D.  Gilbert,  Prosper  Gott,  Charles 
Harris,  Jarvis  Holcomb,  E.  F.  Humiston,  John  F.  Hitchcock,  John 
C.  Hart,  Henry  Hitchcock,  Albert  A.  Herkner,  Robert  L.  Hubbell, 
Al.  Hinckston,  Julius  Harris,  Marquis  Holden,  Henry  W^ard 
IngersoU  (Band),  Isaac  Isbell,  Albert  Isbell,  Edwin  Ingersoll, 
William  Jones,  Edw^ard  King,  Charles  Lusk,  Amos  M.  Lusk, 
E.  Lusk,  Charles  Leach,  Henry  Leach,  Russell  Lucas,  Joseph 
Morgan,  Dwight  Murray,  J.  McCuUoch,  Charles  A.  Miller,  Andrew 
S.  Miller,  John  Mehow,  Andrew  J.  Minty,  Charles  Mason,  Nicholas 
Murray,  Charles  Messer,  John  McLaughlin,  J.  W.  Mitchell,  H.  A. 

Miller, Meloney,    Richard   Noonan,    George    Nichols,   John  F, 

Oviatt,  Almon  Oviatt,  Miles  Oviatt,  James  Parks,  James  Page,  Jr., 
Harry  Pettengill,  Thomas  Pacey,  William  Peet,  Joseph  T.  Parks, 
Samuel  W.  Parks,  Joseph  H.  Peck,  Charles  Pettengill,  James  C, 
Packard,  Samuel  Patterson,  E.  A.  Parmelee,  A.  B.  Quay,  John  Rowe, 
Joseph  Rowe,  Jackson  Rowe,  Addison  H.  Richardson,  J.  B.  Reed, 
Albert  A.  Ruger,  William  Rubbins,  Foster  Rubbins,  Adam  Rubbins, 
Elihu  Richmond,  Charles  Robinson,  Edw^ard  Seasons,  Theron  W. 
Smith,  Joseph  E.  Smith,  Alfred  E.  Smith,  William  B.  Straight,  Benja- 
min Sovacool,  [Boston  also  claims  this  recruit,  who  w^as  wounded  in 
the  foot  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  carried  to  the  rear,  and  never  again 
heard  of]  John  Scanlan,  Lester  Secoy,  James  H.  Seymour  (Band), 
William  Smith,  Edward  Smith,  Henry  Smith,  Chauncey  Smith,  F. 
O.  Stone,  George  S.  Stanley,  William  Strong,  Martin  Shrady, 
William  H.  Thompson,  Samuel  J.  Tracey,  Orlow^  Thompson,  Henry 
A.  Thompson,  Salmon  Thompson,  Harrison  Thompson,  Harry  O. 
Thompson,   W.  S.  Thompson,    Henry  A.  Tallmadge,   William    H. 

Thomas,  B.  B.  Tremlin, Varney,  Bennett  H.  Wadsworth,  W. 

P.  Williamson,  William  Wilder,  Dwight  H.  Whedon,  James 
Winborn,  George  Wright,  Samuel  Wilkes,  John  Williams. 

Casualties,  Deaths,  Etc. — Of  the  foregoing,  those  who  fell  in 
the  service,  from  casualty,  are  as  follows:  John  F.Hitchcock, 
lieutenant,  U.  S.  A.,  died  December  31,  1862;  Dwight  E.  Murray, 


I 


K^K^ 


546  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

^th  O.  L.  A.,  supposed  to  have  been  killed  by  guerrillas  near  Talla- 
homa,  Tennessee;  W.  P,  Williamson,  29th  O.  V.  I.,  killed  in  battle; 
Thomas  Pacy,  Company  A,  2nd  O.  V.  C,  killed  at  Woolson's  river, 
August  16,  1861 ;  Robert  Cox,  Company  D,  Daniel  Myers,  Company 
G,  Edward  King,  Company'  C,  115th  O.  V.  I.,  lost  by  blowing  up  and 
burning  of  Steamer  Sultana,  near  Memphis,  Tennessee,  on  the 
morning  of  April  27,  1865;  A.  Richardson,  Company  D,  1st  O.  L.  A., 
Russell  Lucas,  Albert  D.  Dunbar,  John  C.  Hart,  James  C.  Packard, 
N.  D.  Gilbert,  time  and  place  of  death  unknown  ;  James  Draper, 
9th  O.  LrA.,  died  at  Tullahoma,  Tennessee,  March  21,  1864;  F.  O. 
J^,.^^4fi^  Stone,  9th  O.  L.  A.,  died  at  Somerset,  Kentucky,  March  1862; 
f  J  -/  Charles  W.  ^Clapp,  29th  O.  Y.  I.,  died  at  Camp  Giddings,  Ohio, 
Li^^iTx.*^  December  5,  1861;  Marquis  Holden,  1st  O.  L.  A.,  killed  at  Lost 
Mountain,  Georgia ;  William  Wilder,  Company  9,  S.  S.,  killed  at 
City  Point,  Virginia,  March  13,  1862 ;  George  H.  Gaylord,  Company 
K,  19th  O.  V.  I.,  died  July,  1862 ;  Ransom  J.  Ellsworth,  64th  O.  V. 
I.,  killed  at  Missionary  Ridge ;  William  Jones,  115th,  O.  V.  I.,  killed 
at  Cleveland,  Ohio  ;  Robert  Andrews,  Company  H,  6th  O.  V.  I., 
lost  in  South,  December  1862;  Nicholas  Murray,  navy,  lost  at  sea  ; 
Clinton  C.  Chambers,  6th  Ohio  Battery,  died  at  Jeffersonville, 
Indiana,  March  21,  1862 ;  WilUam  Rubbins,  34th  N.  Y.  I.,  killed  at 
Antietam,  September  17,  1862;  Foster  Rubbins,  34th  N.  Y.  I.,  killed 
at  Fredericksburg,  Virginia,  December  12,  1862. 

Honorable  Civil  Record. — In  official  civil  affairs,  Hudson 
presents  an  extensive  and  highly  honorable  record,  as  will  be  seen 
by  w^hat  follows.  The  first  grand  jury  of  the  new  county  of 
Portage,  which  convened  August  23,  1808,  embraced  among  its 
members  four  of  Hudson's  pioneer  settlers  :  David  Hudson,  Samuel 
Bishop,  Moses  Thompson  and  Stephen  Baldwin,  Mr.  Hudson  being 
named  as  foreman  by  the  court. 

Aaron  Norton  was  among  the  accessions  to  the  township  in 
1801,  soon  afterwards,  in  connection  with  Mr.  Hudson,  building  a 
saw^  mill,  grist  mill  and  distillery,  on  a  branch  of  Tinker's  Creek, 
in  the  northeast  part  of  the  tow^nship,  w^hich  ^vere  destroyed  by 
fire  in  1803;  a  year  or  tw^o  later  removed  to  Northampton,  vir^here 
he  embarked  in  a  similar  enterprise ;  in  1807,  removed  to  Middle- 
bury,  where  he  became  interested  in  a  mill  project,  in  company 
w^ith  Mr.  Joseph  Hart,  was  appointed  an  associate  judge  of  the 
Common  Pleas  Court  for  Portage  county,  on  its  first  organization, 
in  1808,  serving  the  full  term  of  seven  years,  w^ith  great  ability  and 
satisfaction. 

Hon.  Van  Rensselaer  Humphrey,  then  practicing  law  in 
Hudson,  represented  Portage  county  in  the  State  legislature  for 
two  successive  terms — 1828, 1829 — and  in  the  session  of  1836,  '37,  was 
appointed  by  the  legislature,  president  judge  of  the  Third  Judicial 
District,  embracing  the  counties  of  Ashtabula,  Trumbull  and 
Portage.  On  its  erection,  in  1840,  Summit  county  >vas  attached  to 
the  third  district,  thus  coming  under  Judge  Humphrey's  jurisdic- 
tion, who  SQrved  w^ith  marked  ability  for  the  full  term  of  seven 
years. 

'  John  B.  Clark,  was  appointed  associate  judge  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  on  the  death  of  Judge  Charles  Sumner,  of  Middle- 
bury,  June  19,  1845,  filling  the  place  \C^ith  honor  to  himself  and  his 
constituents  for  about  one  year,  w^hen  he  tendered  his  resignation. 


Hudson's  honorable  civil  record.  847 

Sylvester  H.  Thompson,  a  native  of  Hudson,  succeeded  Judge 
Clark  upon  the  bench,  in  1846,  ably  performing  the  duties  of  the 
position,  until  the  adoption  of  the  new  constitution  in  1852;  "Side 
Judges,"  as  they  were  then  called,  being  abolished  by  that  instru- 
ment. 

William  O'Brien  was  Summit  county's  first  treasurer,  elected 
in  April,  1840,  and  re-elected,  in  the  following  October  for  the  full 
term  of  two  years,  making  a  very  competent  officer,  until  his  death, 
of  consumption,  in  February,  1842;  ex-sheriff  George  Y.  Wallace, 
of  Northfield,  being  appointed  by  the  county  commissioners  to  fill 
the  vacancy. 

Mills  Thompson,  from  1843  to  1849,  two  full  terms,  ably  and 
faithfully  filled  the  position  of  county  commissioner,  being  in 
the  office  at  the  time  the  present  infirmary  farm  w^as  purchased, 
and  aided  in  inaugurating  that  noble  charity  for  the  care  and 
comfort  of  the  comparatively  few  destitute  infirm,  among  the 
generally  w^ell-to-do  inhabitants  of  Summit  county. 

Harvey  Whedon,  Esq.,  was  elected  prosecuting  attorney,  in 
October,  1850,  holding  the  position  two  years,  making  in  all  respects, 
a  first-class  officer. 

Dr.  George  P.  Ashmun,  then  an  honored  citizen  of  Hudson, 
was  elected  State  Senator  from  the  Summit-Portage  district,  in 
October,  1857,  discharging  the  duties  of  that  office  to  the  full 
satisfaction  of  his  constituents,  in  both  counties,  for  the  full  term 
of  two  years. 

Sylvester  H.  Thompson,  in  October,  1859,  was  elected  to. 
represent  Summit  county  in  the  low^er  House  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  Ohio,  as  the  colleague  of  Hon.  Alvin  C.  Voris,  serving 
one  full  term  of  tw^o  years. 

Stephen  Henderson  Pitkin,  a  graduate  of  the  class  of  1834; 
county  surveyor  of  Fulton  county,  Illinois,  from  1836  to  1840; 
probate  judge  of  that  county  from  1840  to  1844,  elected  on  the 
Union  ticket,  in  October,  1861,  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  of 
Probate  Judge  William  M.  Dodge,  deceased,  (two  years)  re-elected 
on  the  same  ticket  in  1863,  and  again  re-elected,  on  the  Repub- 
lican ticket  in  1866,  making  his  term  of  service  in  that 
important  office  eight  full  years.  In  1868,  Judge  Pitkin  w^as  chosen 
as  the  Republican  presidential  elector  for  the  Eighteenth  Congres- 
sional district,  composed  of  Summit,  Cuyahoga  and  Lake  counties, 
casting  his  vote  in  the  electoral  college  for  Ulysses  S.  Grant  for 
president  and  Schuyler  Colfax  for  vice-president  of  the  United 
States  the  judge  also  holding  the  office  of  secretary  of  the  Summit 
County  Agricultural  Society  from  1871  to  1880,  nine  years,  and  an 
efficient  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Northern  Ohio 
Hospital  for  the  Insane,  at  Newburg,  between  1862  and  1878, fourteen 
years. 

David  Duncan  Bebee,  for  many  years  a  merchant  of  Hudson, 
was  elected  State  Senator  for  the  Summit-Portage  district  in 
October,  1867,  by  his  urbane  and  intelligent  discharge  of  his 
senatorial  duties,  making  himself  so  popular,  in  both  counties, 
that  he  was  unanimously  tendered  a  second  term,  in  1879,  the  first 
re-election  of  an  incumbent  of  that  office  in  the  history  of  the 
district. 


848  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Matthew  Canfield  Read,  graduate  of  the  class  of  1848; 
attorney  at  law;  editor  Familj^  Visitor,  1852  to  1854;  teacher  in 
gramm'ar  school,,  Western  Reserve  College;  member  of  U.  S. 
Sanitary  Commission,  with  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  during 
the  War;  deputy  revenue  collector,  after  the  close  of  the  War; 
member  of  Ohio  geological  surveying  corps  from  1869  till  com- 
pletion of  the  survey;  lecturer  on  zoology  and  geology  in  Western 
Reserve  College;  to w^nship  clerk,  justice  of  the  peace,  mayor,  etc. 

William  Isaac  Chamberlain,  born  in  Connecticut  in  1837, 
accompanied  his  parents  to  Hudson  in  1838;  graduate  of  the  class 
of  1859;  principal  of  Shaw  Academy,  Collamer,  Ohio,  1859-61;  tutor 
of  Greek  and  Latin  in  Western  Reserve  College,  1861-66;  superin- 
tendent Cuyahoga  Falls  schools,  1864,  '65;  assistant  professor  in 
College,  1866-69;  farmer,  1869-79;  secretary  of  Ohio  State  Board 
of  Agriculture,  1880-86;  and  from  1886  to  1890,  president  of  the 
Iowa  Agricultural  College,  at  Ames,  low^a,  one  of  the  most  success- 
ful institutions  of  its  kind  in  the  United  States. 

Charles  C.  Hine,  a  representative  farmer  of  Hudson,  w^as 
elected  county  commissioner  in  October,  1885,  and  re-elected  in 
1888  for  six  years,  making  in  all  respects  a  lirst-class  officer. 

James  H.  Seymour,  for  many  years  a  successful  grocer  in 
Hudson,  was  elected  county  treasurer,  in  October,  1886,  taking 
charge  of  the  funds  of  Summit  county  and  of  the  City  of  Akron  on 
the  5th  day  of  September,  1887,  and  re-elected  in  1888,  his  adminis- 
tration being  marked  w^ith  as  full  a  degree  of  efficiency  and 
integrity  as  the  very  best  of  his  many  worthy  predecessors. 

Calvin  Pease  Humphrey,  born  in  Hudson,  June  21,  1840,  a 
graduate  of  the  Western  Reserve  College,  of  the  class  of  1863,  and 
of  Cleveland  law  school  in  1866;  w^as  mayor  of  Cuyahoga  Falls 
from  1870  to  1871,  and  city  solicitor  for  Akron  from  1879  to  1881, 
filling  both  positions  with  marked   ability. 

Horace  Burnham  Foster,  born  in  Leyden,  Franklin  county, 
Mass.,  April  26,  1828;  removed  to  Mantua  in  1837;  preparatory 
education  at  Twinsburg  Institute;  graduate  from  Western  Reserve 
College  in  the  class  of  1852;  principal  preparatory  department,  1852, 
'53;  tutor  in  college,  1853-55;  superintendent  Akron  schools,  1855, 
'56;  tutor  in  the  vacant  professorship  of  mathematics  and  natural 
philosophy  from  September,  1856,  till  the  accession  of  Professor 
Charles  Young,  January  1,  1857;  justice  of  the  peace  from  1858  to 
1861;  clerk  of  incorporated  village  of  Hudson  ten  years;  mayor  of 
village  eight  years;  a  safe  counsellor  and  a  successful  lawyer. 

Hon.  William  M.  Beebe,  long  a  prominent  citizen,  and  for 
four  terms  mayor  of  Hudson;  was  an  efficient  member  of  the 
board  of  trustees  for  the  Northern  Ohio  Insane  Hospital  at  Cleve- 
land, from  1880  to  1886— six  full  years. 

Many  others  of  Hudson's  native  and  adopted  citizens  have 
held  high  official  positions  in  life,  in  other  localties,  whose  honors 
and  fame  cannot  be  here  recorded;  but  enough  has  been  given  to 
show  that  Hudson  has  no  cause  to  be  ashamed  of  the  part  herson& 
have  taken  in  the  civil  affairs  of  life,  both  local  and  general. 

PRESENT  OFFICIAL  ROSTER— (1891). 

Village  Officers. — Council,  John  Mead,  Edward  B.  Black- 
man,  William  B.   Straight,  Orson    Cook,   Cornelius  A.   Campbell; 


Hudson's  criminal  record.  849 

mayor,  Henry  E.  Lee;  clerk,  Ralph  T.  Miller;  treasurer,  George  V. 
Miller;  marshal,  George  W.  Church. 

Township  Officers. — Trustees,  Henry  H.  Chamberlin,  Charles 
H.  Kilbourn,  Sherman  P.  Thompson;  clerk,  Edward  E.  Rogers; 
treasurer,  Sebastian  Miller;  assessor,  William  A.  Curtis  (successor 
to  John  M.  Seidel,  after  ten  years  service);  justices  of  the  peace, 
Mathew  C.  Read,  Edward  E.  Rogers;  constables,  George  W. 
Church,  Thomas  W.  EUiman. 

Postmasters. — Hudson,  Isaiah  B.  Jones;  Darrowville,  Edward 
O.  Shiveley. 

HUDSON'S  CRIMINAL   RECORD. 

Aside  from  the  alleged  shooting,  in  cold  blood,  sundry  trouble- 
some Indians,  by  certain  so  called  "  Indian  hunters,"  of  pioneer 
times,  Hudson  has  been  singularly  exempt  from  crime,  save  those 
occasional  minor  offences  incident  to  aggregated  humanity,  and 
diversity  of  temperament  and  habit,  in  the  best  regulated  com- 
munities. 

Of  course  there  are  exceptions  to  all  general  rules,  and  one  of 
Hudson's  exceptions  occurred  something  in  this  wise: 

Sometime  in  the  early  fifties,  one  Nelson  Hinckston  estab- 
lished himself  in  the  boot  and  shoe  business  in  Hudson,  becoming 
the  proprietor  of  three  buildings  on  the  west  side  of  Main  street; 
the  middle  building  being  a  story  and  a  half  frame,  with  basement, 
the  front  of  the  low^er  floor  being  his  salesroom,  the  rear  room  his 
shop,  the  attic  used  for  sleeping  rooms,  storage,  etc.  The  next 
building  north  was  Hinckston's  dwelling  house  and  the  building 
south  w^as  occupied  by  Mr.  Judd  as  a  book  store.  One  night,  in 
the  Winter  of  1856-57,  a  fire  was  discovered  in  the  basement  of 
the  store,  w^hich,  being  promptly  extinguished,  brought  to  light 
indications  that  the  fire  .had  been  purposely  set,  and  pointing  very 
strongly  towards  Hinckston,  himself,  as  the  incendiary,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  his  ow^n  son,  w^ith  one  of  the  w^orkmen^ 
occupied  the  sleeping  room  above,  with  no  other  means  of  egress 
than  by  the  stairs  under  which  the  fire  had  been  kindled.  Though 
very  greatly  excited  over  the  affair,  his  neighbors  took  no  legal 
steps  in  the  premises,  and  gradually  the  feeling  against  Hinckston 
died  out,  and  his  business  seemed  to  be  running  along  as  smoothly 
as  before. 

During  the  Summer  of  1857,  however,  Mr.  Jacob  Niebel,  an 
employe,  began  to  observe  symptoms  indicating  that  his  boss  was 
again  making  preparations  to  "sell"  his  buildings  and  stock  to  the 
several  insurance  companies,  who  held  risks  thereon,  aggregating 
nearly  $5,000.  Communicating  his  suspicion  to  a  fellow-workman 
by  the  name  of  Thomas  Cooper,  the  two  kept  watch  over  the 
movements  of  Hinckston,  and  when  they  believed  he  was  about 
ready  to  apply  the  match,  about  the  middle  of  February,  1858, 
other  citizens  were  apprised  of  the  matter,  and  an  examination  of 
the  premises  was  had.  It  was  found  that  through  holes  in  the 
floor,  bundles  of  waxed  ends,  with  other  inflammable  substances,, 
extended  from  piles  of  kindlings  in  the  basement  to  similar  com- 
bustibles in  the  store  room,  and  these,  in  turn,  connected  with  still 
other  deposits  upon  the  upper  shelves  (concealed  by  boxes),  and 
these  again  with  like  readily  ignited  substances  between  the  ceiling 
and  the  upper  floor,  and  in  the  rooms  above,  so  that  the  match 

54 


850  AKRON   ANlf  SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

once  applied,  the  entire  fabric  wrould  be  almost  instantly  in  flames. 
Had  a  fire  thus  got  fairly  started,  with  the  limited  fire  extinguish- 
ing appliances  Hudson  then  had,  not  only  Hinckston's  three  build- 
ings would  have  been  burned,  but  the  entire  street,  including  the 
Mansion  House,  and  the  dwelling  house  of  Mr.  D.  D.  Morrell,  w^ould 
undoubtedly  have  been  cleaned  out. 

Arrested  on  the  First  Attempt. — To  say  that  Hudson  was 
excited  and  indignant  would  be  drawing  it  mild,  and  if  "Judge 
Lynch"  had  been  as  popular  then  as  now,  even  in  some  portions 
of  order-loving  Ohio,  it  is  doubtful  if  her  citizens  could  have  been 
restrained  from  inflictingsummary  vengeance  upon  the  incendiary. 
The  affair  coming  to  the  ears  of  Prosecuting  Attorney  Henry 
McKinney,  the  fire  not  having  actually  been  set  in  the  case  in 
hand,  that  officer  procured  his  apprehension  on  the  first  attempt 
using  the  developments  in  the  latter  case  as  corroborating  evi- 
dence against  him  on  the  charge  of  arson.  The  w^arrant  was  issued 
by  Justice  M.  C.  Read,  w^ho,  at  the  examination,  called  to  his 
assistance  Justices  S.  H.  Pitkin,  of  Hudson,  and  M.  D.  Call,  of 
Stow,  The  evidence  was  overwhelmingly  conclusive,  but  the 
defendant's  counsel,  A.  C.  Voris,  Esq.,  took  the  bold  ground  that  in 
setting  the  fire  in  question,  he  had  violated  no  provision  of  the 
Statutes  of  Ohio,  the  law  then  reading:  "Whoever  sets  fire  to  any 
building,  the  property  of  another,"  etc.,  and  moved  that  the  accused 
be  discharged.  Though  Justice  Read  was  favorable  to  the  grant- 
ing of  the  motion,  his  associates  inclined  to  the  view  that  the 
almost  inevitable  destruction  of  the  property  of  others,  had  his 
0"wn  got  fairly  started,  w^as  sufficient  to  hold  him  to  answer  to  the 
grand  jury,  and  he  was  so  held.  Esq.  Yoris  immediately  applied 
to  Probate  Judge  Noah  M.  Humphrey  for  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
and,  after  a  full  examination  of  the  facts  in  the  case,  and  the  law, 
the  defendant  w^as  discharged,  and  though  no  pecuniary  harm 
came  to  the  people  from  the  carefully  planned,  but  happily  frus- 
trated schemes  of  the  fire-bug,  Hudson  became  too  hot  for  longer 
comfortable  sojourn  and  Hinckston  floated  off  West,  and  has  since 
deceased.  In  the  follo>ving  session  of  the  Legislature — 1859,  '60 — 
in  w^hich  Hon.  A.  C.  Voris  was  Summit  county's  representative, 
and  Hon.  J,  A.  Garfield  \vas  the  State  senator  from  the  Summit-Port- 
age district,  the  laAv  was  amended,  making  the  burning  of  one's 
own  building,  for  the  purpose  of  defrauding  insurance  companies, 
a  penitentiary  offense. 

The  Maloney-Stepleton  Homicide. — On  the  night  of  the  16th 
day  of  June,  1860,  the  good  people  of  Hudson  Avere  thrown  into  the 
^vildest  excitement  by  the  rapidly  spreading  report  that  a  most 
wanton  and  brutal  murder  had  been  perpetrated  upon  one  of  the 
public  streets  of  that  usually  quiet  and  peaceful  village,  under  the 
follow^ing  circumstances: 

A  young  Irishman  by  the  name  of  John  Maloney  was  in  the 
employ  of  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburg  railroad,  as  a  track  repairer, 
under  track-master  Reynolds,  of  Bedford.  Maloney  was  rather 
above  the  medium  height,  about  24  years  of  age,  with  sandy  hair 
and  fair  complexion,  and  of  mild  and  pleasant  countenance. 
Michael  Stepleton  w^as  a  young  man  of  the  same  nationality,  in  his 
21st  year,  w^hose  parents  resided  in  Holmes  county,  but  who  had 
for  some  time  been  at  work  on  the  Mahoning  Branch  of  A.  &  G. 
W.    R'y    in    Mantua ;    both    young  men    very    frequently  visiting 


THE    DEADLY    BLUDGEON.  851 

Hudson,  among  whose  young  people  of  the  class  to  which  they 
belonged,  they  had  formed  many  mutual  acquaintances. 

The  Beginning  of  the  Trouble. — These  visits,  on  the  part  of 
Maloney,  were  said  to  have  ripened  into  such  intimate  relations 
with  one  of  his  female  acquaintances,  by  the  name  of  Bridget 
•Calnan,  that  he  was  fighting  a  little  shy  of  both  the  young  lady 
and  of  the  village  of  Hudson  itself.  On  Saturday,  May  12,  1860, 
w^hile  Stepleton  \sras  en  route  from  Mantua  to  Hudson,  to  spend 
the  Sabbath,  he  met  Maloney  at  Macedonia,  and  urged  him  to 
-''come  on  dow^n  to  Hudson  w^here  all  the  fun  is,"  giving  him 
twenty  cents  to  pay  his  fare  with,  if  he  would  do  so.  Maloney 
asked  Stepleton  if  Bridget  was  still  in  Hudson,  and  was  told  that 
she  was  not.  Thereupon  he  accepted  his  friend's  invitation,  and 
accompanied  him  to  Hudson. 

But  it  appears  that  Bridget  Calnan  was  still  in  Hudson,  and 
either  she  or  her  friends,  taking  advantage  of  Maloney's  presence 
in  the  village,  instituted  legal  proceedings  against  him,  "with  a 
view  to  matrimony,"  or — ^in  case  of  refusal — -to  visit  upon  him  the 
pains  and  penalties  provided  by  law  for  "premature  fatherhood." 
The  former  alternative  w^as  submitted  to,  and  the  "loving  not 
wisely  but  too  well"  couple  were  accordingly  joined  in  the  bonds 
of  holy  wedlock  by  Father  M.  A.  Scanlon,  of  Akron,  pastor  of  St. 
A^ncent  De  Paul's  Church,  on  Sunday,  May  13,  1860. 

While  it  does  not  appear  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Maloney,  wrere 
living  otherwise  than  happily  together,  he  charged  Stepleton  with 
having  "betrayed  him"  him,  and  became  bitterly  incensed  against 
him,  and  had  given  utterance  to  sundry  threats  of  vengeance, 
though  it  was  claimed  by  Stepleton,  that  he  was  unaware  of  the 
peculiar  nature  of  Maloney's  aversion  to  meeting  Bridget,  w^hen 
he  falsely  told  him  she  wras  not  in  Hudson.  This  Avas  the  status 
of  the  existing  feeling  betAveen  the  hitherto  virarm  friends,  when 
they  next  met,  on  Saturday,  June  16,  just  exactly  five  weeks  after 
the  occurrences  above  detailed.  Stepleton  had  come  to  Hudson,  to 
have  a  good  time  among  the  young  people  of  that  classic  village, 
over  the  Sabbath,  while  Maloney,  for  reasons  not  clearly  apparent, 
leaving  his  youthful  bride  at  their  home  in  Macedonia,  w^as  in 
tow^n  also. 

On  meeting,  Maloney  began  to  upbraid  Stepleton  for  his  per- 
lidy,  but  the  latter,  assuring  him  that  he  had  no  suspicion  as  to 
how  matters  stood  between  him  and  Bridget,  and  that  he  never 
•dreamed  of  drawing  him  into  the  trap  that  had  been  set  for  him, 
Maloney  professed  to  be  satisfied,  shook  hands  with  him,  and  tak- 
ing a  drink  together,  spent  the  afternoon  and  evening  with 
mutual  friends,  in  convivial  and  social  converse,  on  apparently  as 
friendly  terms  as  of  yore. 

Striking  the  Fatal  Blow. — Thus  were  they  in  each  other's 
company  all  of  the  afternoon  and  evening,  and,  with  other  boon 
companions,  visited  the  drinking  places  of  the  village,  though 
neither  of  them  appeared  to  be  particularly  intoxicated.  About 
eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  Maloney  left  the  company,  saying 
that  he  was  going  to  stay  over  night  in  Hudson  at  the  house  of 
Mr.  Thomas  Hurley,  on  leaving,  cordially  shaking  hands  w^ith  the 
crowd,  Stepleton  included,  and  pleasantly  bidding  them  all 
^'good  bye." 


852  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

About  nine  o'clock,  Stepleton  and  a  companion  by  the  name  of 
John  Jones,  meeting  Kllen  Ryan,  Ann  Morris,  Julia  Calnan  and 
Kate  Fitzgerald,  joined  them  for  a  walk,  and  as  escorts  to  their 
several  homes.  Having  left  the  two  other  girls  at  their  respective 
gates,  the  tw^o  young  men,  Avith  Ellen  Ryan  and  Ann  Morris, 
about  10  o'clock  reached  the  gate  of  President  George  E.  Pierce,  of 
the  Western  Reserve  College,  in  w^hose  family  Ellen  Ryan  livedo 
While  standing  there,  merrily  talking  and  laughing,  a  man  sud- 
denly approached,  and  exclaiming  "You  are  there  yet!"  raised  a 
club,  and,  with  both  hands,  struck  Stepleton  a  fearful  blow  on  the 
head,  instantly  felling  him  to  the  ground,  and  followed  it  up  with 
two  or  more  other  heavy  blows;  the  assailant  being  recognized  by 
his  voice  as  John  Maloney. 

Plucky  Ellen  Ryan. — Even  before  the  first  blow  was  struck, 
John  Jones  started  upon  a  run  tow^ards  his  own  home,  while  Ann 
Morris  ran  towards  the  house  of  President  Pierce,  but  Ellen  Ryan 
pluckily  stood  her  ground,  and  endeavored  to  prevent  further 
injury  to  her  prostrate  companion,  by  tw^ice  pulling  his  assailant 
aw^ay  from  him  as  he  -was  wielding  his  club,  and  who  in  his  fury 
exclaimed,  "Ellen  Ryan,  let  go  of  me!  he  has  betrayed  me  !"  The 
assailant  then  thre^v  away  his  club  and  started  on  the  run,, 
towards  the  road  leading  to  Macedonia,  while  Ellen  Ryan,  calling 
upon  Ann  Morris  to  come  back  to  assist  her,  took  hold  of  and  tried 
to  raise  Stepleton,  who  w^as  groaning,  to  his  feet,  but  finding  hi^ 
helpless  and  unconscious,  laid  his  head  upon  the  step,  and  then 
w^ent  for  help.  M.  C.  Read,  Esq.,  with  Doctor  George  P.  Ashmun 
w^ere  soon  upon  the  spot,  with  others  of  the  neighbors,  but  by  this 
time  life  w^as  found  to  be  extinct. 

Arrest  of  the  Murderer. ^ — The  new^s  of  the  homicide  spread 
from  house  to  house  w^ith  great  rapidity,  and,  as  might  have  been 
expected,  caused  the  most  intense  excitement  among  the  staid  and 
peaceful  denizens  of  Hudson.  The  murderer  was  almost  imme- 
diately follow^ed  to  Macedonia,  where  he  w^as  found  in  bed  with 
his  young  w^ife,  as  calm  as  though  nothing  extraordinary  had 
occurred.  He  was  taken  into  custody  and  conveyed  to  Hudson 
the  same  night,  where  he  ^vas  kept,  closely  guarded,  until  Monday 
morning,  w^hen,  on  preliminary  examination  before  Justice  Harry 
C.  Thompson,  he  was  held  to  answer  for  the  crime  of  murder  and 
duly  committed  to  jail. 

Indictment,  Trial,  Sentence,  Etc. — Though  the  May  term  of 
the  Court  was  still  in  session.  Prosecuting  Attorney  McKinney 
did  not  deem  it  advisable  to  impanel  a  special  grand  jury,  and  the 
trial  w^as  consequently  postponed  until  the  November  term.  At 
that  term  an  indictment  w^as  returned,  charging  the  defendant 
w^ith  Mrilful  and  premeditated  murder,  to  which  charge  on  being 
arraigned,  Maloney  entered  a  plea  of  "Not  Guilty."  Monday^ 
November  26,  was  designated  as  the  time  for  the  trial  to  begin,  36 
jurors  having  been  summoned  to  appear  on  that  day,  from  Tvhich 
to  select  the  necessary  number  to  try  the  case. 

The  case  w^as  conducted  on  the  part  of  the  State  by  Prosecut- 
ing Attorney  Henry  McKinney,  assisted  by  William  H.  Upson  and 
Matthew  C.  Read,  and  on  the  part  of  the  defense  by  Judge  Van  R. 
Humphrey  and  General  Lucius  V.  Bierce.  The  trial  occupied  the 
time  of  the  court,  including  the  impaneling  of  the  jury,  the  exami- 
nation of  w^itnesses,  the  arguments  of  counsel,  the  charge  of  the 


IMPRISONMENT,   PARDON,    SUBSEQUENT   LIFE,   ETC.  853 

judge  and  the  deliberations  of  the  jury,  seven  full  days.  The 
arguments,  covering  two  entire  days,  were  all  very  able,  and  the 
charge  of  Judge  Carpenter,  occupying  a  full  hour  in  its  delivery, 
w^as  able,  clear  and  impartial.  The  jury  were  out  about  six  hours, 
and  at  about  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  Tuesday,  December  4, 
1860,  returned  a  verdict  of  Murder  in  the  Second  Degree.  The 
penaltj^  for  this  degree  of  homicide  being  imprisonment  for  life, 
sentence  to  that  effect  was  duly  pronounced  by  Judge  Carpenter, 
in  appropriate  and  impressive  terms,  a  few  days  after  the  rendition 
of  the  verdict  as  above  stated. 

Imprisonment — Pardon,  Etc. — On  the  14th  day  of  December, 
1860,  among  the  last  batch  of  prisoners  delivered  at  the  peniten- 
tiary, by  the  writer,  near  the  close  of  his  first  four  years'  siege  as 
sheriff  of  Summit  county,  w^as  the  Life  Convict,  John  Maloney. 
John  was  quiet,  thoughtful  and  apparently  exceedingly  regretful 
for  w^hat  he  had  done,  freely  expressing  to  the  wrriter  the  belief 
that  but  for  strong  drink,  he  would  not  have  committed  the  fearful 
deed  for  which  he  was  about  to  suffer.  On  entering  the  prison  he 
resignedly,  if  not  cheerfully,  submitted  to  all  its  rules  and  regula- 
tions, and  soon  w^on  and  continued  to  hold,  the  good  will  of  the 
officers  and  those  under  w^hom  he  performed  his  daily  tasks.  After 
a  suitable  lapse  of  time,  kind  friends  interested  themselves  in  his 
behalf,  and  petitioned  Governor  Jacob  D.  Cox  for  his  pardon, 
w^hich  was  accordingly  granted  on  the  22d  day  of  October,  1867, 
and  he  was  restored  to  liberty,  just  six  years,  ten  months  and 
eight  days  after  his  incarceration,  and  recent  inquiry  has  disclosed 
the  fact  that  in  an  adjoining  county,  with  the  w^ife  to  vrhom  he 
w^as  -wedded  under  such  adverse  circumstances,  he  has  since 
lived  happily  and  uprightly,  and  is  an  industrious  and  respected 
citizen  of  the  community  in  \^hich  he,  and  his  quite  numerous 
family  now^  reside.  The  simple  story  of  John  Maloney  has  a 
-double  moral,  which  is  not  only  self-evident,  but  which  the  youth 
of  our  county,  of  w^hatever  station  or  condition  in  life,  will  do  w^ell 
to  thoughtfully  ponder  and  conscientiously  heed. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

NORTHAMPTON'S  BEGINNING  —  INDIAN  AND  FRONTIER  MATTERS  —  PIONEEIT 
SETTLERS,  INCIDENTS,  ETC.— GROWTH  AND  DEVELOPMENT—"  BOOTHSPORT,"" 
"NILES"  AND  OTHER  BUSINESS  CENTERS— A  FRUITFUL  COUPLE— ORGAN- 
IZATION, NAME,  ETC.— NORTHAMPTON'S  MILITARY  PROWESS— CIVIL  SERVICE 
"REFORM"— SINGULAR  CONDUCT  OF  A  PUBLIC  OFFICIAL— INDUSTRIAL 
MATTERS,  RESOURCES,  ETC.— EARLY  CROOKEDNESS— THE  DUNN-WHIPPLE 
TRAGEDY— BROOKS-TEDROW    HOMICIDE— PRESENT  STATUS,  ETC. 

LOCALITY,  BEGINNING,  Etc. 

'T^OWN  3,  Range  11,  as  designated  in  the  original  survey  of  the 
^  Western  Reserve,  and  which  afterwards  came  to  be  known  as 
Northampton,  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Boston,  east  by  Stow^ 
south  by  Portage  and  w^est  by  Bath  tow^nships.  The  Big  Cuyahoga 
river  traverses  its  entire  length,  north  and  south,  in  the  w^estern 
portion  of  the  township.  Bordering  upon  the  river  on  eitlier  side, 
w^ith  the  exception  of  a  few  quite  large  areas  of  bottom  lands,  the 
country  is  extremely  rugged,  though  the  central  and  eastern 
portion  is  comparatively  level  and  well  adapted  to  general  agricul- 
ture, the  bottom  lands  affording  a  number  of  fine  and  very  fertile 
farms,  while  the  intervening  hills  and  gullies  are  admirably  suited 
to  grazing  and  dairy  purposes. 

Without  tracing  title  from  the  King  of  England  to  the  Connec- 
ticut colony,  by  the  grant  of  1665,  or  from  the  Indians,  east  of  the 
river,  by  the  treaty  of  Fort  Mcintosh,  January  21,  1785,  and  on 
the  west  side  by  treaty  of  Fort  Industry,  in  1805,  and  by  the  United 
States,  in  turn,  to  the  State  of  Connecticut,  it  is  sufficient,  here,  to 
say  that  in  about  the  year  1801  it  was  sold  to  the  Connecticut  Land 
Company,  by  whom  it  was  disposed  of,  by  a  sort  of  a  lottery 
scheme,  or  draw^ing,  to  parties  purchasing  shares  therein,  in 
proportion  to  the  amount  of  money  so  paid  in. 

The  original  proprietors  of  Tract  3,  Range  11,  thus  acquiring 
title,  were  W.  Billings,  Oliver  P.  Holden,  Solomon  Stoddard,  Daniel 
Wright,  Joseph  Pratt,  Ivuther  Loomis,  David  King,  John  Leavitt,  Jr.,. 
Ebenezer  King,  Jr.,  Timothy  Phelps,  and  Fidelio  King,  the  six 
last  named  gentlemen  being  towrnsmen  of  the  writer,  in  Connec- 
ticut (old  Suffield),  Mr.  David  King  being  the  grandfather  of 
Akron's  present  well-known  citizen,  David  L.  King,  Esq. 

Indian  and  Frontier  Matters. — Within  the  limits  of  this 
township  were  some  of  the  most  extensive  and  important  Indian 
mounds,  fortifications  and  other  works  in  the  entire  west,  and  it 
was  against  the  Indian  garrison  here,  probably,  that  Captain 
Samuel  Brady  made  his  hostile  demonstrations  in  1780,  and  from 
whence,  on  being  repulsed,  he  made  his  memorable  run  and  leap- 
for  life,  at  the  present  village  of  Kent,  as  recorded  in  another  chap- 
ter  of  this  work. 

Here,  too,  in  the  summer  of  1812,  an  encampment  of  militia,, 
under  command  of  General  Elijah  Wadsworth,  of  Warren,  wa& 
stationed,  in  the  vicinity  of  Old  Portage,  for  the  protection  of  the 


BOATS  FOR  COMMODORE  PERRY. 


855 


frontier;  reinforced,  after  the  cowardly  surrender  of  his  army  at 
Detroit,  by  General  William  Hull,  August  16,  18l2,  by  a  battalion 
of  militia,  under  the  command  of  Major  George  Darrow,  of  Hudson, 
one  company  of  which  was  in  command  of  Captain  Rial  McArthur, 
of  Northampton.  It  was  at  this  point,  also,  that  the  boats  were  built 
which  are  alleged  to  have  formed  a  part  of  Commodore  Perry's 
fleet  in  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie,  September  10,  1813— the  "Portage," 
the  "Porcupine"  and  the  "Hornet" — the  former  so  named  from 
the  "port"  where  it  was  built ;  the  second  from  the  fact  that  the 
late  William  Cogswell,  of  Bath,  who  helped  to  build  the  boats, 
captured  one  of  those  prickly  little  animals  and  tossed  it  on  board 
just  as  the  boat  was  being  launched,  and  the  third  from  the  circum- 
stance that  at  the  pineries,  in  Northfield,  where  the  boats  were 
being  fitted  with  masts  and  spars,  it  was  discovered  that  near  the 
top  of  the  tree  selected  for  the  mast  of  the  boat  in  question,  there 
w^as  a  large  hornet's  nest,  one  of  the  men  volunteering  to  climb  the 
tree  and  plug  the  hole  in  the  nest  before  proceeding  to  chop  it 
down. 


WILLIAM  PRIOR,  — born  in 
Hampshire  county,  Massachu- 
setts, April  6,  1783  ;  caine  with  fainily 
to  Ohio  in  1802,  his  father,  Simeon 
Prior,  being  the  first  white  settler  in 
Northampton  township,  coming-  by 
ox-teams  to  Lake  Ontario ;  from 
thence,  iji  open  boats,  via  Lake  Onta- 
rio, the  Niagara  river  and  Lake  Erie 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga,  and 
from  thence  through  the  unbroken 
wilderness  to  their  destination. 
Simeon  Prior  was  a  soldier  in  the 
Revolutionary  War,  and  the  son,  Wil- 
liam, bravely  defended  his  country 
in  the  War  of  1812 ;  on  attaining  his 
majority,  young  Prior  went  South 
and  pre-empted  a  tract  of  Congress 
land8,but  shortlj^  afterwards  returned 
to  Northampton,  and  jjurchased  the 
quarter  section,  on  which  he  spent 
the  balance  of  his  life,  and  where  he 
died  in  June,  1872,  in  the  90th  year  of 
his  age.  He  filled  many  positions  of 
private  and  public  trust,  for  many 
3'ears  holding  commissions  asjustice 
of  the  peace,  from  the  earlier  Govern- 
ors of  Ohio.  His  first  wife  was 
Sarah  Wharton,  of  Wheeling,  Vir- 
ginia, who  bore  him  four  sons, 
Edward,  IJenry  W.,  Robert  and  Simeon 
— and  three  daughters,  Susau,  Katha- 
rine and  Sarah,  all  now  deceased, 
except  Sarah,  residing  in  Marysville, 


WILLIAM  PRIOR. 

Missouri.  His  second  wife  was  Polly 
Culver,  who  bore  him  two  children — 
William,  who  died  suddenly  at  his 
home  near  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Seplem- 
ber  7,  1891,  aged  66  years,  4  months 
and  17  days,  and  George  W.,  killed  in 
the  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  May  9, 
1864. 


Early  Settlement,  Name,  Etc. — Notwithstanding  the  relin- 
quishment of  their  title  to  these  lands,  by  the  two  treaties  above 
named,  so  reluctant  were  the  Indians  to  leave  the  graves  of  their 
ancestors  and  their  favorite  hunting  and  fishing  grounds,  that 
many  of  them  lingered  in  the  neighborhood  for  several  years,  not 
only  to  the  great  annoyance  of  their  pale-faced  neighbors,  but  also 
very  materially  retarding  the  settling  up  of  the  township ;  not 
entirely  disappearing  until  the  commencement  of  the  War  of  1812, 


856  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

in  which  the  majority  of  them  took  a  livel}''  interest  against  the 
United  States. 

The  first  white  family  to  take  up  their  abode  in  the  township, 
w^as  undoubtedly  that  of  Simeon  Prior,  consisting  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Prior,  and  their  ten  children,  who  removed  thither  from  near 
Northampton,  Massachusetts,  in  1802;  a  portion  of  the  400  acres  of 
land  then  purchased  by  Mr.  Prior,  viz  :  lot  19,  still  being  owned  and 
occupied  by  his  descendants,  though  the  original  log  cabin  inhab- 
ited by  the  family  \^as  built  upon  lot  25,  some  two  miles  further 
north.  In  the  absence  of  proof  to  the  contrary,  it  is  presumable 
that  the  name  of  Northampton  was  given  to  the  tow^nship  by 
this  first  settler,  Simeon  Prior,  because  of  his  migration  from  the 
near  vicinity  of  the  very  pleasant  tow^n  of  that  name  in  the  "Old 
Bay  State." 

A  former  historian  gives  Mr.  David  Parker,  of  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  as  the  second  settler  in  the  township,  and  his  son,  the 
venerable  Richard  E.  Parker  (late  a  resident  of  Akron),  born 
March  9,  1811,  as  the  first  white  male  child  born  in  the  township. 
This  can  hardly  be,  however,  as  Mr.  Parker  before  his  death, 
informed  the  writer  that  his  father  came  to  Northampton  in  1810, 
w^hile  the  same  historian  mentions  the  settlement  of  Samuel  King 
at  Old  Portage  in  1809  ;  the  building  of  a  grist-mill  at  Mud  Brook 
gorge,  by  Judge  Norton  in  1805,  and  the  establishment  of  a  school,  by 
Justus  Remington  in  1809,  it  seeming  improbable  that  among 
a  population  sufficiently  numerous  to  require  the  founding  of 
a  school,  there  were  no  births  previous  to  that  of  the  Parker  child. 
Mr.  David  Parker  erected  a  saw-mill  near  the  mouth  of  Yellow^ 
Creek,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  about  1820,  which  was  of  great 
service  in  supplying  the  then  rapidly  increasing  inhabitants,  of 
both  Northampton  and  Bath,  with  lumber;  Mr.  Parker  dying 
September  11,  1823,  at  the  age  of  55  years,  6  months  and  15  days. 

Growth,  Development,  Etc. — The  growth  of  the  township  was 
so  greatly  retarded  by  the  causes  named,  that  it  w^as  not  until  the 
close  of  the  War  of  1812,  '15,  that  any  considerable  progress  was 
made  in  the  \vay  of  civilized  settlement.  A  few  families,  ho^vever, 
had  from  time  to  time  ventured  in,  among  others  Mr,  Samuel 
King,  who  as  above  stated,  in  1809,  settled  on  the  south  verge  of 
the  township,  on  the  river,  at  Portage,  afterwards  designated  "Old 
Portage,"  in  contradistinction  to  the  subsequent  settlement  of 
"New  Portage,"  at  the  southern  end  of  the  "overland"  route  of  the 
Indians  from  the  head  of  canoe  navigation  on  the  Cuyahoga  river, 
to  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Tuscarawas,  at  the  latter  point; 
the  route  traversed  being  the  now  historical  "Portage  Path  ;"  in 
reality  the  datum  line  (though  rather  a  crooked  one)  generally 
made  use  of  in  describing  contiguous  lands  upon  either  side  thereof, 
in  the  townships  of  Portage  and  Coventry,  betwreen  the  points 
named. 

Later  on,  probably  at  the  close  of  the  War  of  1812,  Mr,  King 
established  a  tavern  and  a  store  at  Old  Portage,  then  on  the  direct 
route  of  travel  from  Warren  to  Sandusky  Wa  the  Smith  Road,  upon 
the  west  side  of  the  river,  between  the  townships  of  Copley  and 
Bath.  Here,  too,  after  the  opening  of  the  Ohio  Canal  in  1827, 
Birdsey  Booth,  Esq.,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  built  quite  an  extensive 
freight  w^arehouse,  at  w^hich  large  quantities  of  merchandise  w^ere 
received  for  distribution  to  contiguous  towns  and  villages,  east  as 


Northampton's  early  "business  centers.' 


857 


far  as  Warren  and  west  to  and  beyond  Medina,  and  for  the  shipment 
of  farm  produce  to  eastern  markets  Wa  Lake  Erie  and  the  Erie 
Canal;  scores  of  teams  being  almost  daily  found  at  "Boothsport," 
as  it  was  then  called,  loading  and  unloading  the  several  kinds  of 
freight  mentioned. 

A  number  of  other  buildings  were  erected,  and  for  a  few  years 
it  was  thought  that  "Boothsport"  would  eventually  become  a 
large  and  flourishing  village  ;  but  increasing  shipping  facilities  at 
Akron,  and  points  below,  with  more  favorable  approaches,  soon 
brought  about  a  decadence  of  "Boothsport's"  business  prosperity; 
its  store,  tavern  and  warehouse,  have  disappeared,  and  a  single 
farm'-house,  only,  now  marks  the  spot  which  sixty  years  ago 
promised  to  be  a  permanent  and  prosperous  village;  Mr.  Booth,  a 
few  years  later,  establishing  a  warehouse  on  the  east  side  of  the 
canal,  near  the  head  of  Lock  15,  in  Akron,  for  the  special  accom- 
modation of  the  people  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  the  necessity  for  which 
passed  away  on  the  completion  of  the  P.  &  O.  canal  in  1840. 


pOL.  RIAL  McARTHUR,— born  in 
^  Vermont  in  1783 ;  came  to  Ohio 
in  1805,  as  surveyor  for  the  Connecti- 
cut Land  Company,  later  for  several 
years  keeping  a  general  store  in 
Middlebury,  in  1817  bujang  land  and 
the  flouring  mill  originally  erected 
by  Judge  Aaron  Norton,  on  the  State 
road  in  Northampton.  Active  in 
local  military  affairs,  as  captain  of  an 
independent  companj^,  in  the  War  of 

1812,  under  General  Wadsworth,  with 
headquarters  at  Old  Portage,  he  was 
soon  promoted  to  major  and  then  to 
colonel  of  militia,  not  only  aiding  in 
building  two  of  the  boats  with  which 
Commodore  Perry  won  his  splendid 
victory  on  Lake  Erie,  September   10, 

1813,  but  afterwards  gallantly  defend- 
ing the  frontier  from  the  attacks  of 
the  British  and  Indians  at  Sandusky. 
In  1832,  he  moved  to  Independence, 
Cuyahoga  county,  where  he  served 
as  justice  of  the  peace  ten  years  ;  in 
1843  returned  to  Northampton,  where 
he  resided  until  his  death,  August 
24,  1871,  aged  88  years,  there,  also,  for 
many  years  serving  as  justice  of  the 
peace.  Col.  McArthur  was  a  life-long 
and  highly  honored  Mason,  his 
funeral  being  largely  attended  and 
conducted  by  the  members  of  the 
fraternity.  In  1810,  he  was  married 
to  Miss  Almira  Sprague,  of  Spring- 


COL.   RIAL  MCARTHUR. 

field  township.  The}-  were  the 
parents  of  nine  children — Orange, 
deceased  ;  Eric,  deceased  ;  Amanda, 
Mrs.  E.  R.  Harper,  now  of  Akron ; 
Henry,  deceased  ;  Giles,  now  living 
in  Grattan,  Wisconsin;  Earl,  now  of 
Delta,  Ohio ;  Pamela,  deceased ; 
Martha,  deceased  ;  Mary,  now  Mrs.  H. 
P.  Smith,  of  Northampton. 


Other  "Business  Centers." — A  mile  and  a  half  further  north, 
at  Yellow  Creek  Basin,  quite  a  business  point  w^as  created  by  the 
opening  of  the  Ohio  Canal.  Here,  also,  a  tavern  and  a  store  were 
established  by  Mr.  Nathaniel  Hardy,  father  of  Mr.  Perry  D.  Hardy, 
still  living  in  Northampton,  and  of  Mr.  William  Hardy,  now  resid- 
ing at  No.  130,  North  Bowery  street  in  the  city  of  Akron.  Here, 
also,  tw^o  or  more  commodious  w^are-houses  w^ere  erected,  w^hile,  in 
about  1836,  Peter  Voris,  Jr.  (father  of  Judge  A.  C.  Voris,  of  Akron), 
w^ith  two  men  named  Henry  and  Snodgrass,  laid  out  about  100 


858  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

acres,  at  the  mouth  of  Yellow  Creek,  on  the  west  side  of  the  canal^ 
into  a  village  plat,  under  the  appellation  of  "Niles,"  w^hich  name 
it  bore  for  several  years,  though  not  entirely  losing  the  cognomen 
of  "Yellow  Creek  Basin."  But  before  a  boom,  in  behalf  of  the 
embryo  city,  could  be  properly  worked  up,  the  panic  of  1837  struck 
in,  and  "Niles"  remained  a  city  on  paper,  only,  the  plat  afterwards 
being  vacated  and  the  choice  corner  lots  thereof  relegated  to  the 
plow-share  and  pruning-hook. 

The  center  of  Northampton,  proper,  never  aspired  to  the 
dignity  of  a  village ;  a  school  house,  town  house,  church  and  one 
or  two  dwellings,  constituting  the  entire  hamlet.  At  Steele's- 
Corners,  a  mile  and  a  half  northeast;  McArthur's  Corners,  about 
the  same  distance  southeast,  and  at  French's  mill,  between  the 
tw^o  points,  upon  the  State  road,  were  also  small  hamlets,  the  latter 
point  embracing  a  grist-mill — the  first  mill  erected  in  the  township,, 
(in  1805)  by  Aaron  Norton,  afterwards  a  prominent  mill  owner  in 
Middlebury  and  one  of  the  associate  judges  of  Portage  county. 

Early  Milling  Operations. — The  propelling  power  of  this^ 
mill  was  the  w^aters  of  Mud  Brook,  a  considerable  stream,  flowing 
from  a  beautiful  little  lake  near  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
township  (mostly  lying  in  Sto^v)  formerly  called  Mud  Pond,  but 
now  designated  as  Turtle  Lake,  a  far  more  appropriate  name,  as 
its  waters  not  only  largely  abound  in  turtle  and  a  great  variety  of 
fish,  but  are  also  as  clear  as  the  clearest  crystal,  w^hile  its  shores 
have,  of  late  years,  become  quite  a  favorite  resort  for  summer 
campers-out,  picnickers,  etc. 

This  mill  was  afterwards  run  by  Mr.  Daniel  Turner  (grand- 
father of  Mrs.  Word.  Babcock  and  Mr.  Daniel  Turner,  of  Akron), 
w^ho  moved  from  New  Jersey  to  Northampton  in  1812,  until  hi& 
death  in  1825,  at  the  age  of  65  years.  The  mill  then  passed  into- 
the  hands  of  Colonel  Rial  McArthur,  who  also  erected  a  distillery 
near  the  southwest  corner  of  the  present  iron  bridge  across  the 
stream  at  that  point.  Later,  when  the  manufacture  of  whisky 
was  abandoned,  the  building,  after  being  used  awhile  as  a  dw^elling' 
house,  was  converted  into  a  meeting  house  and  school  house — thus 
literally  bringing  good  out  of  evil. 

The  grist  mill  was  finally  abandoned,  when  the  property 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Thomas  J.  French,  who  converted  it  intO' 
a  saw-mill,  afterw^ards  associating  w^ith  himself  Mr.  Jesse  Hays, 
quite  an  extensive  business  being  done  by  the  firm  for  several 
years  in  converting  the  surplus  timber  of  the  neighborhood  into 
lumber,  for  the  Cuyahoga  Falls  and  Akron  markets,  as  w^ell  as  for 
neighborhood  consumption.  Several  years  ago  this  mill  passed 
into  the  hands  of  Mr.  John  Hart,  and  was  run  by  himself  and  his- 
son-in-law,  Adam  G.  Steele,  and  is  now  the  property  of  Mrs.  Steele 
as  the  heir  of  Mr.  Hart,  and  is  at  present  standing  idle. 

At  an  early  day,  also,  Moses  and  Oliver  Dew^ey  established  a 
saw-mill  a  quarter  of  a  mile  lovv^er  down  the  stream,  but  though  a 
good  mill,  Avith  a  fair  fall  and  power,  being  inconvenient  of  access^ 
it  soon  went  into  disuse  and  consequent  dilapidation.  A  mile  or 
so  further  up  the  stream,  in  1824  Elisha  Prior  and  Elisha  Perkins, 
brothers-in-law^,  erected  a  saw-mill  w^hich  did  quite  an  extensive 
business  for  several  years.  This  property  passed  into  the  hands^ 
of  Mr.  Harry  Pardee,  father  of  Henry  Pardee;  Esq.,  of  Ghent,  and 
Edward  K.  Pardee,  of  Northampton,  in  the  early  forties,  who  added 


WHISKY,    CASTOR   OIL,    CHEESE,    FLOUR,    ETC. 


85^ 


thereto  a  woolen  factory,  chair  factory,  etc.,  which  since  the  death 
of  Mr.  Pardee,  and  the  concentration  of  such  industries  at  railroad 
centers,  and  in  cities,  villages,  etc.,  has  also  gone  into  disuse  and 
dilapidation. 

Potato  Whisky,  Castor  Oil,  Chee.se,  Ktc. — Near  the  mouth 
of  Mud  Brook,  in  the  valley,  a  distillery  for  the  manufacture  of 
potato  whisky  was  erected  in  1814,  by  Mr.  Abel  Vallen,  w^hich  did 
quite  a  spirited  business  for  a  few  years;  but  w^as  afterwards  con- 
verted into  a  castor  oil  factory,  which  proved  too  lnjc  a  business  to 
be  remunerative,  the  site  being  subsequently  covered  by  a  cheese 
factory,  whose  operations,  though  probably  far  more  palatable  and 
w^holesome,  for  some  unknow^n  reason  proved  unremunerative  and 
the  business  was  discontinued. 


NATHANIEL  HARDY,  SR.,— born 
in  Massachusetts,  October  11, 
179(:} ;  when  young",  moved  with 
parents  to  Western  New  York  ;  at  10 
came  to  Ohio  to  the  vicinity  of  Old 
Portage,  w^orking  at  farming,  and 
later  helping  to  build  several  of  the 
locks  on  the  Ohio  canal.  On  the 
completion  of  the  canal,  built  and  for 
many  years  kept  a  hotel  and  small 
store  at  Yellow  Creek  Basin,  after- 
■wards  called  Niles,  and  now  known 
as  Botzum  station.  Later,  Mr.  Hardj' 
bought  250  acres  of  land,  on  the  east 
side  of  the  river,  which  he  success- 
•  full}'  cultivated  for  many  years,  after- 
wards selling  it  to  his  sons,  William 
and  Norton  R.  Mr.  Hardy  served 
inany  j^ears  as  justice  of  the  peace 
and  township  trustee,  and  active  in 
ridding  the  township  of  the  earlj- 
disreputable  characters  and  practices 
elsewhere  alluded  to.  About  1824,  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Rebecca  Reed, 
of  Delaware,  Ohio,  who  was  born 
June  11,  1805.  They  were  the  parents 
of  eight  children  —  Caroline,  born 
July  9, 1825,  now  Mrs.  Jasper  B.  Drake  ; 
William,  born  March  11,  1829,  whose 
portrait  and  biography  appear  else- 
where ;  Norton  R.,  born  December  15, 
1831,  died  June  3,  1880  ;  Perry  D.,  born 
April  11,  1834,  now  a  prosperous 
farmer  in  his  native  township  ;  Marj- 


NATHANIEL  HARDY,  SR. 

E.,  born  September  25,  1836,  now  Mrs, 
Hiram  J.  Aj'res,  of  Akron  ;  Harriet, 
born  Jul}-  3,  1840,  now  Mrs.  Henry 
Hall,  of  Akron  ;  Clarissa,  born  April 
20,  1842,  now  Mrs.  Charles  Watters,  of 
Cu3'ahoga  Falls,  and  Nathaniel,  jr., 
born  July  19, 1844,  now  of  Akron*.  Mrs. 
Hardy  died  July  11,  1865,  and  Mr, 
Hardy,  December  4,  1866. 


In  Operation  Nearly  Half  a  Century. — About  the  year 
1840,  Mr.  William  Prior  (oldest  son  of  Simeon  Prior,  and  father  of 
the  late  William  Prior,  Esq.,  associate  editor  of  the  Cuyahoga 
Falls  Reporter  and  Western  Reserve  Farmer),  and  his  tw^o  sons, 
Edw^ard  and  Henry  W.,  erected  a  flouring  mill  in  the  wild  gorge 
about  20  rods  west  of  the  iron  bridge  on  the  State  road,  and  below 
the  old  French  &  Hays  saw  mill.  A  massive  stone  dam  was  built 
about  eight  rods  above  the  site  of  the  mill,  from  w^hence,  in  a 
w^ooden  flume,  the  waters  of  the  brook  were  conducted  to  a  tw^enty- 
foot  over-shot  w^heel,  by  which  the  machinery  of  the  mill  w^as  pro- 
pelled. The  mill  was  equipped  with  two  runs  of  French  buhrs, 
improved  bolting  apparatus  and  first-class  machinery  throughout, 
but  did  not  prove  a  paying  investment.     The  junior  members  of 


860  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

the  firm  having  previously  \vithdraw^n,  on  the  death  of  the  senior 
member,  in  1872,  the  property  was  sold  by  the  administrator  at 
one-fourth  its  original  cost.  This  property  is  now  owned  by  Mrs. 
Adam  G.  Steele,  as  heir  at  law  of  the  late  John  Hart,  and  though 
still  capable  of  doing  good  work,  when  kept  in  proper  repair,  is  at 
the  present  time  (1891)  lying  idle. 

Remarkable  Fecundity  and  Longevity. — It  will  be  impossi- 
ble, from  the  data  no>v  available,  to  give  the  names  of  all  the  early 
settlers,  or  the  date  of  their  arrival  in  the  tow^nship,  did  the  space 
allotted  to  this  work  admit  of  it.  As  characteristic  of  the  customs 
in  vogue  in  that  early  time,  however,  I  quote  from  the  writings  of 
the  late  William  Prior,  the  fact  that  Robert  Thompson,  a  shoe- 
maker, and  Barclay  Hogue,  a  harness-maker,  used  to  ply  their 
respective  callings  from  house  to  house,  which  was  also  done  to  a 
considerable  extent  by  tailors  and  perhaps  other  mechanics  of 
those  ancient  days.  Mr.  Prior  is  also  authority  for  the  following 
case  of  phenomenal  fecundity  and  longevity  on  the  partof  a  couple 
of  Northampton's  pioneer  settlers,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jesse  Ellis.  Mar- 
ried at  the  age  of  14  years,  Mrs.  Kllis  became  the  mother  of  tw^enty 
■children;  the  first  born  when  she  was  but  15,  and  the  last  w^hen 
she  was  65  years  old.  They  afterwards  removed  to  Michigan, 
■where  Mr.  Ellis  died,  in  1879,  at  the  patriarchal  age  of  100  years', 
Tsrhile  the  prolific  matron  w^as  still  living,  in  1881,  at  the  ripe  old  age 
of  81  years. 

Organization,  Population,  Etc. — The  date  of  Northampton's 
organization  is  involved  in  obscurity.  The  only  record  extant,, 
previous  to  1820,  is  part  of  a  tally  sheet,  without  date,  in  posses- 
sion of  Mr.  James  M.  Hale,  of  Akron,  of  one  of  the  earliest,  if  not 
the  first  election  held  in  the  township.  It  will  be  recollected  that 
previous  to  its  organization,  in  1818,  Bath  was  connected  w^ith 
Northampton,  in  local  governmental  affairs,  and  as  the  tally  sheet 
in  question  contains  a  number  of  names  of  persons  known  to  have 
been  residents  of  Bath,  the  organization  of  Northampton  must 
have  been  previous  to  the  date  named — a  total  of  18  voters  only 
being  enrolled  on  the  tallj'^  sheet  in  question.  Whatever  the  date 
of  that  election,  the  officers  elected  were:  Jonathan  Hale  (a  resi- 
dent of  Bath),  Simeon  Prior  and  David  Norton,  trustees;  Samuel 
King,  clerk;  Wylie  Hamilton,  overseer  of  the  poor;  Elisha  Perkins, 
constable;  William  Prior,  Israel  Parker  and  Jason  Hammond  (also 
of  Bath),  supervisors;  Luman  Bishop,  fence  viewer,  and  Simeon 
Prior,  treasurer;  the  first  justice  of  the  peace  being  Samuel  King. 
At  the  election  in  1820,  the  principal  officers  chosen  w^ere:  Wil- 
liam Prior,  Abel  Woodward  and  James  French,  trustees;  Aaron 
French,  clerk;  and  Daniel  Turner,  treasurer. 

Growth,  Progress,  Etc. — From  this  time  on,  settlement, 
though  not  remarkably  rapid,  was  quite  steady,  so  that  by  1840, 
according  to  the  census  of  that  year,  the  township  had  a  popula- 
tion of  963.  Forty  years  later,  as  shown  by  the  census  of  1880,  the 
population  was  only  977,  an  apparent  increase  of  but  14  souls,  the 
meagerness  of  which  increase  may  in  part  be  accounted  for  by  the 
detaching  therefrom  of  a  populous  corner,  in  the  erection  of  the 
new  township  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  in  1851,  and  partly  by  the  shift- 
ing of  business  centers  and  methods  in  the  intervening  40  years. 
The  census  of  1890,  gives  to  the  township  but  896  inhabitants 
showing  a  falling  off,  in  the  ten  years,  of  81. 


NORTHAMPTON   I^   WAR. 


861 


Nevertheless,  the  township  has  made  commendable  progress, 
physically,  industrially,  intellectually  and  morally,during  the  period 
indicated.  It  has  been  entirely  redeemed  from  the  former  taint  of 
crookedness  fastened  upon  it  by  comparatively  fcAV  of  its  early 
inhabitants;  its  schools  and  religious  appliances  will  compare 
favorably  writh  those  of  contiguous  townships;  its  rude  agricul- 
tural beginnings  in  the  wilderness  have  been  succeeded  by 
thoroughly  cultivated  farms,  tilled  by  the  best  and  most  improved 
modern  implements  and  methods,  while  the  primitive  log  cabin,  and 
its  scarcely  more  pretentious  successor,  the  plain  story  and-a-half 
frame  house,  are  rapidly  being  displaced  by  commodious  and 
imposing  structures  in  the  best  style  of  modern  architecture,  with 
barns  and  other  necessary  out-buildings  to  match, 

PERRY  DELAZEN  HARDY,— son 
of  Nathaniel  and  Rebecca  (Reed) 
Hardy,  born  in  Northampton,  April 
11,  1834 ;  in  boyhood  nicknamed 
"  Commodore  Perry,"  during  the  Mex- 
can  War,  because  of  his  tenacity  of 
purpose,  chang^ed  to  "Old  Zack,"  after 
General  Zachary  Taylor,  the  princi- 
pal hero  of  that  war  ;  educated  in  the 
primitive  mud-chinked  and  slab- 
seated  log-  school  house  ;  raised  on 
farm,  which  calling  he  still  success- 
fully pursues.  Thoroughly  Repub- 
lican, during  the  War  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, was  active  in  raising  bounty 
money  and  securing  recruits  for  the 
Union  army  ;  for  several  years  served 
as  constable,  by  his  vigilance  ridding 
the  township  of  the  gang  of  toughs, 
for  many  years  known  as  the  "Nor- 
wegians ;"  served  four  years  as  town- 
ship trustee,  and  eight  or  nine  years 
as  school  director  of  district  9,  one 
year  as  president,  and  balance  of 
time  as  clerk,  and  ex-oflicio  inember 
of  board  of  education.  In  1854,  was 
married  to  Miss  Elizabeth  A.  Lan- 
phier,  teacher,  who  has  borne  him 
nine  children,  three  dying  in  infancy, 
the  survivors  being  —  Ida  S.  born 
October  2,  1855,  married  to  William 
Darrow,  of  Hudson,  October  1,  1888 ; 


PERRY   DELAZEN  HARDY. 

Harry  B.,  born  November  1,  1857,  still 
at  home ;  Willis  P.,  born  December 
10,  1865,  married  to  Ida  Lilley,  April 
18,  1887,  now  in  employ  of  Akron  Tele- 
phone Company ;  Nellie  B.,  born 
July  2,  1869,  teacher ;  Mertie  I.,  born 
December  18,  1871,  teacher ;  Vinton 
M.,  born  January  15,  1874,  the  three 
latter  still  at  home. 


Northampton's  Patriotism.  —  In  the  Revolutionary  War, 
Northampton's  pioneer  settler,  Simeon  Prior,  bore  an  honorable 
part  in  the  Old  Bay  State's  gallant  contingent  in  that  long  and 
sanguinary  struggle.  Mr.  Prior  died  in  1836,  at  the  age  of  82  years. 
Nathaniel  Hardy  (father  of  the  late  Nathaniel  Hardy,  Sr.,  whose  por- 
trait appears  in  this  chapter),  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  was  also  a 
soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  losing  a  leg  on  the  battle  field 
by  a  cannon  shot.  After  the  War,  moved  to  western  New  York, 
and  later  to  Canada,  but  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  1812, 
finding  that  his  son,  then  but  16  years  of  age,  was  about  to  be 
pressed  into  the  British  army  to  fight  against  his  native  country, 
he  secretly  hustled  him  over  the  border,  from  whence  he  soon 
afterwards  came  to  Ohio,  as  elsewhere  stated,  the  father  after- 
w^ards  coming  thither,  and  spending  the  balance  of  his  days  with 
his    children    and    grandchildren    in    Northampton.     There    were 


862  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

undoubtedly  other  Revolutionary  heroes  among  her  early  settlers, 
but  unfortunately  their  names  and  records  are  not  now  ascer- 
tainable. 

In  the  War  of  1812,  the  independent  company  of  Captain  Rial 
McArthur,  composed  of  residents  of  Northampton  and  contiguous 
townships,  besides  serving  under  General  Wadsworth,  at  Old 
Portage,  as  already  stated,  afterwards  w^ent  to  Sandusky  in 
defense  of  the  frontier  against  the  British  and  Indians.  In  the 
Mexican  War  of  1836-38,  no  recruits  vt^ere  called  for  and  none 
furnished. 

In  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  however,  Northampton  was 
equally  patriotic,  in  proportion  to  population,  with  her  sister 
townships  of  Summit  county,  furnishing  nearly  130  recruits,  all  of 
whom  nobly  did  their  duty,  and  one-fifth  of  whom  either  laid  do^vn 
their  lives  upon  the  field  of  battle,  starved  to  death  in  rebel 
prisons,  perished  on  the  ill-fated  Sultana  while  en-route  for  home 
on  the  Mississippi  river,  or  died  from  diseases  contracted  in  the 
service;  while  many  others,  possibly,  like  Northampton's  patriotic 
son,  Colonel  Jonas  Schoonover,  have  since  died,  or  are  now^  suffer- 
ing untold  daily  tortures  from  exposures  and  hardships  endured 
in  the  salvation  of  the  Nation  and   the  preservation  of  the  Union. 

Northampton's  Roll  of  Honor.  —  Charles  J.  Ayliffe,  Levi 
Bonesteel,  Henry  Bruner,  John  Best,  Henry  Baker,  James  Baser, 
Thomas  Barrett,  Moses  Barrett,  George  Bonesteel  (died  in  service), 
Ezra  Bonesteel,  David  Bonesteel  (died  in  services),  John  Baugh- 
man,  David  Baker,  William  Baker,  William  Best,  James  Billman, 
Lew^is  D.  Clements  (died  in  service),  George  Chart,  Willard  Corey, 
William  Culver,  John  Cackler,  Alvin  Cox,  Oscar  Chilson,  Alexan- 
der Corey,  Leroj^  W.  Chase  (killed  in  battle),  Luther  J.  Chase, 
Dwight  Croft,  Rufus  Cook  (died  in  service),  Almon  Chase  (died  in 
rebel  prison),  K.  Chilson,  Simon  Coy,  George  Chase,  Increase 
Chase,  Fred  Chilson,  Matthias  Coffman,  Willard  Cox,  John  Chart, 
Henry  Doolittle,  Riley  Dickerson  (lost  on  Sultana),  M.  V.  Dealy, 
Alvin  Dennison,  D.  D.  Dewey,  John  Dickerson,  Gillis  W.  Katinger 
{lost  on  Sultana),  Lorten  Filley,  Newton  Filley,  William  Flanigan, 
William  B.  Galloway,  Pomeroy  Galloway,  Adam  B.  Galloway, 
Edmund  Gray,  Charles  Hamlin,  Samuel  W.  Hart  (in  rebel  prison), 
Newton  S.  Harrington  (died  in  service),  John  Homan,  Beardsley 
Hull,  Carleton  C.  Hart,  William  Howland,  Thomas  Hardesdy,  Dar- 
win Hall,  J.  D.  Hall,  Andrew  Hall  (died  in  service),  Robert  Hogue 
(died  in  service),  William  H.  Jones,  A.  P.  Jaques,  Winsor  Lappin, 
Jr.,  Alvin  Kelso,  Jackson  Mott,  L.  D.  Mc Wayne,  Orrin  Markham, 
Philander  Markham,  Albert  Malone  (rebel  prisoner  and  survivor 
of  Sultana  disaster),  William  H.  Norton  (in  rebel  prison  and  also 
survivor  of  the  Sultana  disaster),  Frank  J.  Norton,  William  Oaks, 
George  W.  Prior  (died  in  service),  Clark  Prior,  Horace  Pardee, 
Silas  Payne,  George  Payne  (lost  on  Sultana),  Alson  F.  Prior, 
William  Price,  Alvin  Perkins  (died  in  service),  Elijah  Pardee, 
Stiles  A.  Prior,  Charles  Payne,  Edward  Parks,  Israel  Potts,  Fred- 
erick Palmer,  Reese  J.  Purine,  Frank  Purine  (killed  in  battle), 
Andrew  J.  Robinson,  William  Robinson,  Randolph  Robinson,  Isaac 
Roose,  William  L.  Rice  (in  rebel  prison)  Lorin  Ruggles,  Elias 
Ream,  Henry  Scott,  Jonas  Schoonover,  Jesse  Stahl  (in  rebel  prison), 
Jacob  Senn,  Charles  Stevens  (lost  on  Sultana),  William  Stevens 
(lost   on    Sultana),  Charles  Stout  (lost  on   Sultana),  James  Stahl, 


NORTHAMPTON   IN   PUBLIC   OFFICE.  863 

Philip  Smathers  (died  in  service),  William  Smathers  (lost  on  Sul- 
tana), John  Shellhorn  (died  in  service),  Henry  Simonds,  Alexander 
Steel,  Sherman  Seymour,  John  Thompson,  Hawthorn  Thompson, 
Orlow  Thompson  (died  in  service),  Julius  A.  Upson  (died  in  ser- 
vice), Philo  B.  Upson  (died  in  service),  Lorenzo  Vallen,  Alexander 
Wallace,  William  Waterman  (lost  on  Sultana),  Peter  W.  Weaver 
^lost  on  Sultana),  C.  W.  Way  (lost  on  Sultana),  C.  A.  Wilson,  Alfred 
Waite,  Oliver  Wright,  Edward  Wetmore,  Joseph  Wallace,  George  F. 
Young. 

Northampton's  Civil  Service. — In  the  civil  service  of  Summit 
county,  Northampton  has  been  less  conspicuous  and  less  favored 
(or  more  favored  as  the  case  may  be)  than  the  average  of  the  town- 
ships, two  important  county  offices,  only,  having  been  allotted  to 
her,  as  follows: 

Sullivan  S.  Wil.son,  in  1858,  hitherto  a  highly  respected  and 
prosperous  farmer,  near  the  center  of  the  township,  was  selected 
by  the  Republican  county  nominating  convention  as  its  candidate 
for  the  important  position  of  county  treasurer,  and  was  elected  by 
more  than  the  average  majority"  accorded  to  the  rest  of  his  ticket. 
Discharging  the  duties  of  his  office  with  commendable  fidelity  and 
urbanity,  in  1860  he  was  renominated  by  acclamation  and 
re-elected  by  an  increased  majority.  All  went  well,  without  the 
faintest  shadow  or  suspicion  of  wrong,  until  near  the  close  of  his 
second  term,  in  February,  1863,  when,  one  evening  about  the  time 
for  closing  up  the  public  offices  at  the  court  house,  Mr.  Wilson 
stepped  across  the  hall  into  the  Auditor's  office,  and  handed  the 
keys  of  the  Treasurer's  office  to  Auditor  George  W.  Grouse,  w^ith 
the  simple  remark:  "I've  got  through."  To  Mr.  Grouse's  inquiry 
as  to  what  he  meant,  he  briefly  answered:  "They're  after  me,  and 
I've  got  to  leave." 

It  transpired  that  Mr.  Wilson,  though  the  husband  of  a  most 
excellent  wife,  and  a  father,  had  become  involved  in  an  amour 
with  the  wife  of  his  nearest  neighbor,  the  mother  of  several  child- 
ren, whose  husband  was  vigorously  talking  about  instituting  both 
legal  and  personal  proceedings  against  her  seducer.  The  denoue- 
ment w^as  an  elopement  the  same  night  that  he  handed  the  keys 
over  to  Auditor  Grouse,  the  eloping  couple  taking  refuge  in  a 
neighboring  Western  State,  livang  together  as  husband  and  wife, 
and  afterwards,  on  being  legally  separated  from  their  respective 
spouses,  in  Ohio,  becoming  such  in  reality,  by  marriage. 

The  county  finances,  on  examination  by  the  commissioners, 
who  had  been  immediatel}^  summoned  by  Auditor  Grouse,  w^ere 
found  to  be  intact,  w^ith  the  exception  of  a  few^  dollars  discrepancy 
in  a  single  fund,  which  was  at  once  made  good  by  General  L.  V. 
Bierce,  Mr.  Wilson's  attorney;  the  commissioners  appointing  Mr. 
Grouse  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  Mr.  Wilson's  withdrawal, 
Mr.  Sanford  M.  Burnham  taking  Mr.  Grouse's  place  as  Auditor, 
as  elsewhere  noted. 

John  G.  Johnston,  a  practical  mechanic,  as  well  as  a  good 
farmer,  was  elected  county  commissioner  in  1866,  and  re-elected  in 
1869,  serving  in  all  six  years,  and  making  as  faithful  and  efficient 
a  public  officer  as  Summit  county  has  ever  had;  Mr.  Johnston  also 
having  served  seven  consecutive  terms  as  clerk  of  his  own  town- 
ship, being  also  a  most  efficient  member  of  the  township  military 
committee  during  the  late  War. 


864  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Present  Industries. — Farming,  stock-raising,  dairying  and 
fruit-growing  may  be  said  to  constitute  the  chief  industries  of 
Northampton,  at  the  present  time,  with  the  exception  of  the  mill- 
ing operations  already  alluded  to,  and  perhaps  some^vhat  exten- 
sive lumbering  operations  with  portable  steam-driven  saw^-mills 
in  different  portions  of  the  toAvnship.  There  are  at  the  present 
time  (1887)  two  cheese  factories  in  the  township,  run  by  the  veteran 
cheese  manufacturer,  S.  Straight,  Esq.,  of  Hudson;  that  near  the 
iron  bridge  being  run  the  year  around,  with  satisfactory  results. 
[Since  the  above  was  w^ritten,  Mr.  Samuel  McNeil  has  become 
the  proprietor  of  the  Hawkins  Station  plant,  which,  though 
destroyed  by  fire,  in  June,  1889,  was  immediately  rebuilt,  and  is 
still  in  successful  operation.]  Aside  from  cheese-making  the  sale 
of  milk  in  Akron  and  Cleveland  is  quite  a  factor  in  the  industrial 
interests  of  the  town,  Mr.  Henry  W.  Howe,  and  perhaps  others, 
shipping  milk  to  Cleveland,  from  Hawkins'  Station  on  the  Valley 
Railway,  w^hile  it  is  estimated  that  fully  $3,000  worth  of  milk  is  yearly 
sold  in  Akron  by  the  dairymen  of  the  township.  A  large  amount 
of  choice  beef  is  also  yearly  slaughtered  for  the  Akron  and  neigh- 
boring markets,  w^hile  fruits  and  the  production  of  almost  every 
variety  of  vegetables,  grain,  etc.,  serve  to  make  Northampton,  no|- 
withstanding  its  natural  physical  disadvantages,  and  its  former 
questionable  moral  status,  one  of  the  most  prosperous  toTvnships 
of  Summit  county. 

NORTHAMPTON'S  OFFICIAL  ROSTER  (1891.) 

Trustees,  Edward  Donohue,  Frederick  Harrington,  Adam 
Botzum;  clerk,  William  Kline;  treasurer,  Wallace  Scott;  justices  of 
the  peace,  Henry  W.  Howe,  A.  L.  Hart;  constables,  Edwin  B. 
Hovire,  William  Voss;  postmasters,  Henry  W.  How^e,  Ira,  (Haw^kins' 
Station);  Jacob  P.  Harris,  Buckeye,  (Botzum  Station);  Adah  Roose, 
Vester,  (Steele's  Corners.) 

NORTHAMPTON'S  CRIMINAL  RECORD. 

The  killing  of  the  canal  driver,  Nathan  Cummins,  in  1832,  by 
Abner  S.  Barris,  a  dissolute  denizen  of  Northampton,  his  arrest, 
trial  and  conviction  of  murder  in  the  second  degree,  imprisonment 
and  death,  is  given  in  full  elsewhere.  This,  Avith  the  traditional 
killing  of  one  or  tw^o  troublesome  Indians  w^ithin  the  toAvnship,  by 
Jonathan  Willliams,  a  pioneer  hunter  of  the  neighborhood,  and 
the  reputed  killing  of  a  young  German  laborer  upon  the  canal  in 
1826,  by  a  gang  of  infuriated  Irish  laborers,  constitutes  the  entire 
early  "civilized"  homicidal  history  of  the  tov^^nship. 

In  minor  crookedness,  how^ever,  her  early  history,  if  fully  writ- 
ten up,  w^ould  simply  be  immense,  though  even  then,  the  majority 
of  her  people  were  pre-eminently  orderly  and  upright.  Passing 
by,  therefore,  the  depredations  of  that  sweet-scented  pair  of  burgf- 
lars,  thieves  and  neighborhood  pests,  of  a  third  of  a  century  ago — 
"Lishe"  Wait  and  George  Sapp — and  the  more  extensive  and 
more  important  financial  operations  of  her  other  long-time  dis- 
tinguished citizens,  "Jim"  and  "Dan"  Brown,  fully  treated  of 
elsewhere,  we  will  close  this  chapter  with  a  brief  account  of  her 
two  latest  homicides — the  killing  of  Elisha  Whipple,  by  Patrick 
Dunn,  in  1878,  and  the  killing  of  John  Tedrow,  by  Thomas  Brook, 
in  1882,  as  follows: 


TIfE   DUNN-WHIPPLE   HOMICIDE.  865 

Patrick  Dunn  was  born  in  Tipperary  county,  Ireland,  in  1830, 
and  emigrated  to  America  in  1850,  then  twenty  years  of  age.  Stop- 
ping a  short  time  with  a  sister,  in  Connecticut,  he  went  to  Illinois, 
w^here  he  remained  a  few^  months,  w^hen,  in  the  fall  of  1850,  he  came 
to  Ohio,  first  stopping  at  Twinsburg,  where,  after  a  short  sojourn 
with  Ezra  Starkweather,  he  worked  for  Ezra  Clark  about  two 
years,  while  there  attending  school  part  of  the  time.  He  after- 
wards worked  at  Aurora  and  Solon.  September  11,  1857,  he  was 
married  to  Catharine  Jones,  in  Cleveland,  returning  with  his  wife 
to  Solon,  where  he  continued  to  work  until  the  breaking  out  of  the 
War,  in  1861,  when  he  enlisted  in  the  army. 

Serving  faithfully  three  years,  under  Blunt,  Steele,  Solomon 
and  Wier,  in  Arkansas  and  the  Indian  Territory,  he  was  honorably 
discharged  in  1864,  returning  to  his  family  in  Solon,  soon  after 
which  he  bought  a  partially  cleared  farm  of  73  acres  in  the  north- 
west part  of  the  township  of  Northampton. 

Dunn  was  rather  small  of  stature,  quiet  and  pleasant  in  his 
bearing,  and  industrious  and  economical  in  his  habits,  Mrs.  Dunn 
being  somewhat  more  sprightly  and  sociably  inclined,  with  little 
or  no  education  and  refinement,  but  w^ithal  a  diligent,  tidy  and 
frugal  housekeeper.  In  the  purchase  of  the  farm,  though  paid  for 
with  Dunn's  previous  earnings,  and  his  bounty  money  and  savings 
as  a  soldier,  he  readily  assented  to  the  suggestion  of  his  wife  to 
place  the  title  to  the  newly  purchased  farm  in  her  name,  both 
jointly  working  faithfully  for  its  improvement  for  several  years. 

Beginning  of  the  Trouble. — Family  matters  appear  to  have 
gone  along  smoothly  enough,  until  about  1875,  or  1876,  w^hen 
differences  seem  to  have  arisen  between  the  husband  and  the  wife, 
the  exact  nature  of  which  is  unknown  to  the  w^riter.  In  these  dif- 
ferences their  oldest  child,  and  only  son,  Harry  W.,  then  some  17  or 
18  years  of  age,  seems  to  have  sided  with  his  mother,  while  certain 
of  the  neighbors  also  appeared  to  take  quite  a  lively  interest  in 
their  affairs,  especially  the  late  Loyal  J.  Mix,  the  adjoining  land- 
owner upon  the  north  and  west,  and  Elisha  Whipple,  a  bachelor,, 
residing  with  his  parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chauncey  Whipple,  ow^ners 
of  the  adjoining  farm  upon  the  south.  Mix  was  the  owner  of  a 
dilapidated  log  shanty  standing  near  the  line  of  Dunn's  land,, 
which  had  been  a  great  annoyance  to  the  Dunns,  by  reason  of  the 
objectionable  tenants  to  whom  it  had  from  time  to  time  been 
rented.  Hard  words  had  ensued  between  Dunn  and  Mix,  in  regard 
to  the  matter,  and  when  finally,  w^hile  standing  vacant  in  the  Fall 
of  1876,  the  shanty  w^as  burned,  Mix  charged  Dunn  with  setting  it 
on  fire,  also  accusing  him  of  having  cut  the  throat  of  a  colt  that 
was  running  in  a  contiguous  pasture. 

Indicted  for  Arson. — Nearly  a  year  later,  in  the  latter  part  of 
1877,  Mix  filed  an  affidavit  against  13unn,  before  Justice  Abial  L. 
Waite,  charging  Dunn  w^ith  &rson,  placing  the  value  of  the  burned 
shanty  at  $50  and,  largely  on  the  strength  of  the  testimony  of  the 
w^ife  and  son,  Dunn  w^as  bound  over  to  court,  the  grand  jury  at  the 
October  term,  1877,  on  the  same  testimony,  finding  a  bill  of  indict- 
ment against  him  for  that  crime. 

Later  in  the  term,  trial  was  had  before  Judge  New^ell  D.  Tib- 
bals.  After  a  patient  hearing  of  the  case,  under  the  charge  of 
Judge  Tibbals,  the  jury,  after  brief  deliberation,  through  its  fore- 
man, the  late  Clement  J.  Kolb,  of  Akron,  returned  a  verdict  of  not 

55 


866  AKROX    AND    SUMMIT   COUXTV. 

jTuilty,  the  impression  very  largely  obtaining  that  the  entire  pro- 
ceedings were  the  offspring  of  spite,  partaking  rather  of  the  nature 
of  a  conspiracy  to  get  rid  of  Dunn,  by  securing  his  incarceration 
in  the  penitentiary,  than  a  desire  to  further  the  ends  of  justice  and 
vindicate  the  law. 

Petitiox  for  Divorce. — These  accusations  and  proceedings 
very  greatly  augmented  the  family  discords,  and  undoubtedly 
drew  forth  many  hard  words  from  Dunn,  and  equally  spirited 
retorts  from  the  Avife  and  the  grown  up  son,  Harry,  the  oldest 
daughter,  Mary,  then  about  15  years  old,  partially  siding  w^ith  the 
mother  in  the  family  imbroglio. 

Immediately  after  the  acquittal  of  Dunn  on  the  charge  of 
arson,  a  petition  for  divorce  was  filed  by  Mrs.  Dunn,  through  her 
attorney,  the  late  Frederick  S.  Hanford,  charging  Dunn  w^ith  gross 
neglect  of  duty  for  three  years  last  past,  and  with  extreme  cruelty, 
and  praying  that  she  be  granted  a  decree  of  divorce,  w^ith  a 
restoration  of  her  maiden  name,  Catharine  Jones,  the  custody  of 
her  children,  Harry  W.,  19;  Mary  T.,  15;  and  Lotta  M.,  3;  and  the 
confirmation  to  her  of  the  73  acre  farm  of  which  she  already  held 
the  fee,  and  all  the  personal  property  thereon;  a  supplemental 
petition  also  asking  for  an  injunction  restraining  him  from  inter- 
ference with  her  person  or  the  property  in  question.  The  answer 
to  the  above  named  petition,  filed  by  Dunn,  through  his  counsel, 
the  late  Nathaniel  W  Goodhue,  Esq.,  denied  the  charges  of  gross 
neglect  of  duty  and  cruelty;  admitted  that  Mrs.  Dunn  held  the 
title  to  the  land,  but  denied  that  she  was  the  sole  owner,  it  being 
bought  with  his  money,  and  that  ever  since  taking  possession  he 
had  worked  industriously  for  its  improvement,  paid  the  taxes, etc.; 
that  all  the  personal  property  was  his,  and  that  for  the  past  two 
or  three  years  she  had  been  very  unkind;  had  crossed,  annoyed 
and  w^orried  him  in  every  conceivable  manner,  for  the  purpose  of 
driving  him  from  home,  etc.  The  divorce  suit  came  on  for  hearing 
at  the  May  term  of  the  court,  1878,  before  Judge  Tibbals.  In 
addition  to  the  statements  of  the  w^ife,  the  son  and  oldest  daughter, 
a  number  of  the  neighbors  testified  against  Dunn,  Klisha  Whipple 
being  especially  active  in  procuring  and  giving  evidence  favorable 
to  the  petitioner  and  damaging  to  defendant,  providing  Mrs. 
Dunn  with  money  with  which  to  carry  on  her  suit  and  pay  to 
Dunn  the  few  hundred  dollars  of  alimony,  which  it  was  finally 
conceded  he  was  entitled  to,  should  the  prayer  be  granted,  as 
Judge  Tibbals,  after  a  patient  hearing  of  the  case,  concluded  had 
better  be  done,  and  a  divorce  w^as  entered  accordingl3^ 

The  Animosity  Deepens. — ^Of  course,  these  occurrences  very 
greatly  embittered  Dunn  against  all  the  parties  who  had  been 
instrumental,  as  he  believed,  in  despoiling  him  of  his  property, 
and  driving  him  from  his  home,  and  especially  against  Klisha 
AiVhipple  whom  he  regarded  as  very  largelj^  the  instigator  of  the 
proceeding,  for  his  own  selfish  ends  and  sinister  purposes 

In  the  meantime,  however,  yielding  to  the  inevitable,  Dunn, 
after  assisting  several  of  the  neighbors  in  haying  and  harvesting, 
about  the  middle  of  August,  1878,  secured  permanent  employment 
with  Mr.  Kdward  McCauley,  in  the  south  part  of  Hudson  tow^nship. 
Here  he  faithfully  w^orked  until  the  latter  part  of  October,  w^hen 
he  worked  for  a  month  or  six  weeks  for  Mr.  Henry  Scott,  of  North- 
ampton, returning  to  Mr.  McCauley's  in  the  fore  part  of  December. 


PROVIDES    HIMSELF   WITH    A    REVOLVER.  867 

Lingering  Affection  for  Family. — Though  working  faithfully, 
£ind  at  times  manifesting  considerable  cheerfulness,  Dunn  talked 
a  good  deal  about  his  troubles,  and,  though  speaking  bitterly 
against  Whipple,  Mix  and  others,  who  had  meddled  in  his  domestic 
affairs,  still  seemed  to  retain  a  good  degree  of  affection  for  his 
family,  at  one  time  signifying  his  intention  to  buy  a'cow^  for  his 
Avoman,  and  expressing  the  hope  that  he  might  be  again  reconciled 
to  his  wife,  and  help  to  pay  off  the  mortgage  of  $650,  which  she 
had  placed  upon  the  farm  in  favor  of  Whipple  for  money  furnished 
as  above  indicated.  His  affection  for  his  two  daughters  w^as  very 
marked,  especially  for  little  four  year  old  Lotta,  quite  often  going 
to  the  house  and  taking  to  them  some  little  tokens  of  affection  and 
remembrance 

Still  Further  Cause  for  Animosity. — In  addition  to  having 
been  Mrs.  Dunn's  confidential  adviser  in  the  family  and  property 
troubles  above  noted,  Whipple  claimed  that  there  was  a  balance  of 
some  $20  or  $25  due  from  Dunn  to  him  on  some  previous  business 
transactions,  the  validity  of  Avhich  claim  Dunn  denied,  and  about 
which  angry  and  threatening  words  had  passed  on  both  sides, 
Whipple  giving  out,  among  the  neighbors,  his  intention  to  collect 
the  same  by  garnisheeing  Dunn's  w^ages,  and  Dunn  declaring  to 
the  party  who  informed  him  of  Whipple's  intention,  that  if 
Whipple  undertook  to  do  that  he'd  "  fix  him,"  etc.  The  frequent 
visits  of  Mrs.  Dunn  to  the  Whipple  mansion,  and  the  numerous 
calls  of  Whipple  upon  the  divorced  wife,  were  reported  to  Dunn, 
from  time  to  time,  all  of  which,  if  not  inspiring  in  the  breast  of 
Dunn  a  spirit  of  vengeance  at  least  caused  him  to  anticipate 
trouble  if  they  should  happen  to  come  in  collision  during  one  of 
his  occasional  visits  to  his  old  home. 

Purchasing  a  Revolver. — This  was  the  condition  of  affairs 
in  January,  1879.  About  the  24th  of  that  month  Dunn  visited 
Hudson  Village,  where  he  bought  from  Mr.  John  L.  Chapman  a 
small  five-shooter  revolver,  with  cartridges  to  match.  On  his 
return  to  McCauley's  he  retired  to  bed  without  saying  anything 
about  his  purchase.  The  next  morning,  at  the  breakfast  table, 
Dunn  remarked  that  he  wished  he  had  a  revolver  so  that  he  could 
shoot  some  of  the  bats  that  were  flying  about  his  room.  Mrs. 
McCauley  responded  that  if  she  was  not  mistaken  she  heard  a 
revolver  snap  as  he  (Dunn)  was  going  up  stairs  the  evening 
before,  Dunn  saying,  in  reply,  "  I  guess  not." 

Visits  Northampton. — Obtaining  $5  on  account,  from  Mr. 
McCauley,  on  Saturday  afternoon,  January  25th,  Dunn  started  for 
Northampton  to  be  gone  over  Sunday.  Saturday  night  he  staid 
w^ith  Alonzo  Cox,  the  third  farm  east  of  his  old  home;  spent 
Sunday  visiting  among  his  old  neighbors,  calling  during  the  day 
to  see  his  children,  and  speaking  kindly  to  his  late  w^ife,  w^ho  had 
for  several  days  been  confined  to  her  bed  by  sickness.  He  spent 
Sunday  night  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Merwin  Gibbs,  the  second  farm 
south  of  his  old  place,  the  Whipple  farm  lying  between. 

The  Fatal  Rencounter. — About  8  o'clock,  on  Monday  morning, 
Dunn  left  the  house  of  Mr.  Gibbs,  saying  that  he  was  going  to  the 
river,  his  old  home  being  directly  upon  his  route.  As  he  neared 
the  house,  standing  at  the  north  side  of  the  east  and  w^est  road, 
^nd  facing  south,  he  discovered  a  horse  hitched  to  a  small  peach 
tree  near  the  southeast  corner  of  the  house,  there  being  no  fence 


868  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

between  the  house  and  the  street.  Surmising  that  the  horse  in 
question  belonged  to  Blisha  Whipple,  his  naturally  impulsive 
temper  was  at  once  aroused,  and  when  Whipple  opened  the  door 
in  response  to  his  knock,  with  an  opprobrious  epithet  he  indig- 
nantly inquired  what  he  (Whipple)  was  doing  there?  Maddened 
at  the  vile  name  applied  to  him,  Whipple  rushed  upon  Dunn,  and 
being  much  thd  larger  and  stronger  man,  bore  him  to  the  ground^ 
in  the  struggle  tearing  his  coat  and  inflicting  several  cuts  and 
bruises  upon  his  face  and  hands. 

The  only  witnesses  to  this  scene,  were  Mrs.  Dunn  through  the 
open  door,  and  the  little  four-year-old  girl;  Mrs.  Dunn  afterw^ards 
testifying  that  Dunn  cried  "  Whipple  let  me  up!"  to  which  Whipple 
responded,  "I  will  when  you  learn  to  behave  yourself,"  upon 
which  both  rose  to  their  feet.  The  little  girl  closing  the  door  at 
this  point,  there  w^ere  no  w^itnesses  to  what  followed,  except  that 
Mrs.  Dunn  saw  Dunn  rush  past  the  window  follow^ed  by  W^hipple. 

Dunn's  version  of  the  affair  w^as  that,  on  rising  to  his  feet, 
other  angry  words  ensued,  Dunn  applying  the  same  opprobrious 
epithet  he  had  previously  made  use  of,  when  Whipple  again 
started  for  him,  he  (Dunn)  retreating  backw^ards  toward  the 
street.  As  Whipple  bore  down  on  him,  fearing  for  his  ow^n  life  he 
drew^  the  revolver  from  his  pocket,  and  as  Whipple  fell  upon  him^ 
bearing  him  again  to  the  earth,  he  fired,  blood  immediately 
spurting  from  Whipple's  mouth  and  completely  saturating  Dunn's^ 
face  and  clothing  as  he  lay  under  the  heavy  body  of  his  antago- 
nist completely  helpless. 

Dunn's  Voluntary  Surrender. — Responsive  to  the  screams^ 
of  the  little  girl  w^ho  had  climbed  to  the  window,  Mrs.  Dunn  arose 
from  her  sick  bed,  and  hastily  throwing  a  shawl  over  her  head 
and  shoulders,  opened  the  door  just  in  time  to  see  Dunn,  who  had 
rolled  the  bloody  body  of  Whipple  off  from  himself,  rising  to  his 
feet,  at  about  which  time  the  son,  Harry,  who  was  at  the  time 
doing  the  chores  at  the  barn,  appeared  upon  the  scene,  and  as  he 
supposed  saw  his  father  rising  up  off  the  body  of  Whipple,  which 
was  then  lying  upon  its  back.  Dunn,  w^ho  in  the  struggle  to  free 
himself  from  the  w^eight  of  his  dead  antagonist's  body,  had 
dropped  his  revolver  in  the  snow^,  gathered  up  his  battered  hat, 
and  returned  to  the  farm  of  Mr.  Gibbs,  where  a  number  of  men 
-were  engaged  in  threshing,  among  them  Mr.  George  Chase,  one  of 
the  constables  of  the  township,  to  whom  he  voluntarily  surren- 
dered himself,  telling  what  he  had  done  and  how  and  why  he 
did  it. 

Coroner's  Inquest. — The  tragic  affair  created  the  most 
intense  excitement  in  the  neighborhood,  and  so  rapidly  extending 
to  other  localities,  that  before  noon  The  Daily  Beacon  reporter, 
Mr.  George  W.  Kummer,  w^as  upon  the  ground  and  back  to 
the  office  again  with  a  full  report  of  the  affair  in  time  for  that 
evening's  issue  of  the  paper.  Justice  William  Viall,  for  the 
time  being,  acting  as  Coroner,  issued  a  warrant  to  Constable  Orrin 
Markham,  who  summoned  a  jury  of  inquest  as  follows:  Jatnes 
Harrington,  Abial  L.  Waite,  Wesley  J.  Wise,  Edwin  Folk,  William 
McLoney  and  Philip  Klein.  Although  the  cause  of  the  death  of 
Whipple  w^as  apparent  from  Dunn's  own  statement,  the  testimony 
of  Harry  Dunn,  Catharine  Jones  (the  late  Mrs.  Dunn),  Frederick 
Hart,  Merwin  Gibbs  and  Drs.  J.  M.  Crafts  and  W.  S.  Hough,  was^ 


INDICTMENT,   TRIAL,    ETC.  869 

taken,  the  two  latter  having  performed  an  autopsy  upon  the  body. 
From  the  fact  that  blood  had  spurted  from  the  mouth  of  Whipple 
upon  his  prostrate  slayer  beneath  him,  it  was  at  first  supposed 
that  the  ball  had  passed  through  the  mouth  and  into  the  brain. 
The  examination,  however,  showed  that  the  ball  entered  the  left 
breast  between  the  second  and  third  ribs,  passing  through  both 
lungs,  through  the  upper  edge  of  the  eighth  rib,  and  lodging  in 
the  right  shoulder-blade,  corroborative  of  Dunn's  statement;  Dr. 
Crafts  testifying  that  the  person  shooting  must  have  been  above; 
or  the  person  shot  stooping  forward;  other  testimony  showing  that 
the  ground  was  slightly  descending  from  the  house  to  the  road, 
and  that  it  was  42  feet  from  the  door-step  to  where  Dunn  and 
Whipple  fell. 

Preliminary  Examination. — The  verdict  of  the  coroner's  jury 
was,  of  course,  to  the  effect  that  Whipple  came  to  his  death  by  a 
revolver-shot  fired  by  Dunn.  Justice  Viall  issued  a  w^arrant  duly 
charging  Dunn,  already  in  custody,  with  deliberate  and  malicious 
murder,  and  the  defendant,  waiving  an  examination,  was  taken  to 
Akron  the  same  evening,  by  Constable  Chase,  and  duly  consigned 
to  the  custody  of  Mr.  Albert  T.  Manning,  the  w^riter's  very 
efficient  jailor  at  that  time. 

Indictment,  Trial,  Etc. — At  the  May  term  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  1879,  Judge  Newell  D.  Tibbals  on  the  Bench, 
Prosecuting  Attorney  Edward  W.  Stuart  laid  Justice  Viall's 
transcript  of  the  case  before  the  Grand  Jury  for  that  term, 
constituted  as  follows:  L.  E.  Humphrey,  Frank  Ehrich,  Orson 
Cook,  M.  C.  Danforth,  C.  Fell,  John  Gottwalt,  S.  N.  Weston, 
Williston  Ailing,  George  L.  Bishop,  Oliver  P.  Falor,  Joseph 
Jennings,  Orrin  L.  Walker,  Benjamin  F.  Tliompson,  John  Allen 
and  A.  V.  Amerman. 

A  "true  bill"  charging  the  defendant  with  premeditated  and 
malicious  murder  was  returned.  On  this  indictment  the  prisoner 
w^as  arraigned  on  the  23d  day  of  June,  1879,  entering  a  plea  of  not 
guilty.  Gen.  Alvin  C.  Voris  and  Gov.  Sidney  Edgerton  defending, 
-and  Hon.  Henry  McKinney,  of  Cleveland,  assisting  Prosecutor 
Stuart,  on  behalf  of  the  State. 

Obtaining  a  Jury. — A  full  day  and  a  half  w^as  consumed  in 
procuring  a  jury,  119  persons  being  examined  in  all,  before  the 
panel  was  declared  full,  as  follows:  H.  H.  Bliss,  of  Northfield;  J. 
L.  Bender,  Springfield;  J.  B.  Richardson,  Tallmadge;  S.  h.  Oviatt, 
Northfield;  Wallace  S.  Saxton,  Fifth  Ward,  Akron;  B.  S.  Braddock, 
Richfield;  A.  S.  Wheeler,  Cuyahoga  Falls;  Jacob  Clouner,  Spring- 
field; Alfred  Wood,  Second  Ward;  David  Hanscom,  First  Ward; 
George  F.  Kent,  Sixth  Ward;  and  Smith  Pangborn,  Fourth  Ward. 

The  examination  of  witnesses  consumed  nearly  three  days, 
113  in  all  being  in  attendance  and  nearly  all  sworn  and  examined. 
Prosecutor  Stuart  occupied  about  four  hours  in  his  opening 
argument  for  the  State;  Gen.  Voris  and  Gov.  Edgerton  about  five 
hours  each  for  the  defense,  and  Judge  McKinney  closing  the 
argument  in  behalf  of  the  prosecution  in  a  plea  of  about  three 
hours,  all  earnest,  able  and  eloquent  efforts. 

The  charge  of  Judge  Tibbals  was  exhaustive  and  perspicuous, 
and  so  satisfactory  to  counsel  on  both  sides  that  no  additional  sug- 
gestions w^ere  made  by  either,  elaborately  explaining  to  the  jury 
the  ^lifferent  degrees  of  homicide,  and  the  rules  of  law  applicable 


870  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

to  each,  carefully  explaining  the  law^  of  self-defense  or  justifiable 
homicide,  and  especially  admonishing  the  jury  to  weigh  well  the 
testimony  in  regard  to  the  sanity  of  the  defendant,  w^ho,  if  found 
to  be  insane  at  the  time  of  the  commission  of  the  act,  would  be^ 
entitled  to  a  full  and  unconditional  acquittal. 

A  "Compromise"  Verdict.^ — The  jury  retired  to  their  room  at 
5:30  p.  M.,  Tuesday,  July  1,  the  eighth  day  of  the  trial.  At  9  A.  m.^. 
Wednesday,  the  jury  requested  more  light  upon  the  subject  of  pre- 
meditation, and  w^ere  recharged  by  Judge  Tibbals  upon  that  point. 
At  2:35  p.  M.,  the  jury,  through  their  foreman,  Mr,  David  Hanscom,. 
rendered  a  verdict  of  "murder  in  the  second  degree." 

It  afterwards  transpired  that  after  a  unanimous  ballot  against 
the  hypothesis  of  insanity,  the  first  ballot  as  to  the  degree  of  guilt 
stood:  First  degree,  7;  second  degree,  4;  manslaughter,  1.  Sev- 
eral precisely  similar  ballots  ensued,  when  the  manslaughter  man 
announced  his  willingness  to  vote  for  second  degree,  but  could  go 
no  further,  and  many  ballots  followed,  7  to  5.  At  the  end  of  24 
hours,  one  of  the  first  degree  men  proposed  to  yield  to  the  second 
degree  men,  in  order  to  avoid  the  trouble  and  expense  of  another 
trial,  but  some  of  his  fellows  objected  on  the  ground  that  if  a  life- 
sentence  to  prison,  only,  was  imposed,  after  a  few  years,  through 
the  intercession  of  friends  and  interested  counsel,  he  would  be  set 
at  liberty  again  by  some  tender-hearted  governor. 

Some  juror  being  aware  of  the  fact  that  among  other  pre- 
requisites for  the  procurement  of  a  pardon  was  a  petition  or  recom- 
mendation from  the  jury,  before  whom  the  conviction  was  had  to 
that  effect,  and  it  was  then  and  there  solemnly  agreed,  in  a  writing" 
signed  by  all,  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  foreman,  that  none  of 
them  would  ever  sign  such  a  petition,  or  recommendation,  without 
the  consent  of  all  the  rest,  and  hence,  probably,  the  failure  of  the 
effort  to  secure  a  pardon  for  poor  Dunn,  some  two  or  three  years 
ago. 

Quere.-Was  not  such  an  agreement,  on  the  part  of  the  jur3^a  i^roceeding" 
that  would  have  invalidated  the  verdict,  had  it  been  known,  and  advantage- 
taken  of  it  at  the  time,  and,  if  so,  is  it  yet  too  Late  for  the  friends  of  the  pris- 
otier  to  make  it  available  in  his  behalf? 

Pronouncing  Sentence.— No  motion  for  a  new  trial  having 
been  filed,  on  Monday,  July  9,  1879,  at  11:15  a.  m.,  the  prisoner  was 
brought  in  for  sentence.  Commanding  him  to  stand  up,  after  a 
brief  reference  to  the  crime  charged,  the  fairness  of  the  trial,  the 
verdict  of  the  jury,  etc..  Judge  Tibbals  inquired  of  the  prisoner  if 
he  had  anything  to  say  "why  the  sentence  of  the  law^  should  not  be- 
pronounced?  Dunn  replied,  in  substance,  that  what  he  did  was 
done  in  self-defense,  and  the  Judge  w^as  proceeding  to  comment 
on  the  fearfulness  of  the  offense  which  had  been  committed,  and 
the  presumption  that  when  a  man  thus  took  the  law  into  his  OAvn 
hands  to  redress  a  real  or  supposed  provocation,  the  party  must 
be  a  desperate  character,  and  unsafe  as  an  associate  for  his  fellovr 
men.     At  this  point  Dunn  again  spoke: 

"  I  had  no  idea.  Your  Honor,  when  I  went  to  my  wife's  house^ 
that  day,  of  meeting  Whipple.  When  I  went  to  go  into  the  house, 
Whipple  held  the  door  open  about  six  inches,  and  then  I  asked 
him  what  he  was  doing  there?  Before  I  had  finished  the  first  sen- 
tence he  pitched  onto  me  and  cut  me  in  the  head  and  cheek.. 
Then  he  threw  me  down  in  the  mud  and  tore  my  clothes.     Wlijen  I 


SENTENCE,   IMPRISONMENT,   ETC.  871 

got  up  I  found  blood  on  my  cheek,  and  turning  around  to  Whipple 
I  said:  'Whipple,  *  *  *  *  I'n  settle  with  you  for  this  some 
other  time.'  My  revolver  was  then  in  my  pocket,  but  I  never  drew 
it  till  he  came  at  me  again." 

Judge  Tibbals — ^"No  doubt  your  private  life  was.  that  of  a 
peaceable,  quiet  man  till  you  got  into  those  domestic  troubles  out 
of  which  came  a  divorce  and  decree  setting  aside  a  certain  sum  to 
you.  Then  your  troubles  ought  to  have  ended.  You  ought  to  have 
left  your  wife  entirely  alone — abandoned  her.  That  decree  settled 
the  matter  irrevocably,  so  that  so  far  as  visiting  her  was  concerned, 
you  had  the  same  right  as  any  man  has  to  visit  an  unmarried 
woman,  and  you  had  a  moral  and  social  right  to  go  there  to  see 
your  children.  But  you  had  no  right  to  go  there  and  dictate  to 
her  concerning  her  associates  or  her  conduct.  You  went  there 
undoubtedly  for  a  proper  purpose;  I  assume  nothing  else. 

"But  I  have  no  doubt  that  during  the  eight  months  after  your 
divorce  you  suffered  yourself  to  brood  over  your  troubles.  You 
then,  in  my  judgment,  deliberated  on  taking  the  life  of  those  who 
had  caused  them.  Your  purhase  of  a  revolver,  and  the  secrecj'' 
with  whicli  it  was  done,  indicate  that.  The  fact  that  the  difficulty 
arose  in  a  sudden  quarrel,  whether  provoked  by  Whipple  or  not, 
and  that  then  yovi  decided  to  carry  out  your  purpose,  justified  the 
jury  in  finding  as  they  did,  and  I  am  thankful  that  the  verdict  is 
as  it  is.  I  feel  like  commending  the  jury  for  the  manner  in  which 
they  determined  the  issues  arising  in  this  case,  carefully  and  con- 
siderately weighing  all  the  evidence.  I  think  the  mistake  arose, 
on  your  part,  in  thinking  that  a  man  can  so  enlarge  upon  the 
rights  which  the  law  gives  him  as  to  presume  to  take  the  life  of 
another.     It  is  something  which  cannot  be  tolerated." 

Dunn. — "I  want  to  say.  Your  Honor,  that  before  the  fatal  shot, 
I  had  two  chances  to  take  Whipple's  life,  if  I  had  wanted  to;  one 
w^hen  I  met  him  at  the  door  and  the  other  when  he  first  had  me 
down.  I  could  easily  have  taken  his  life  either  time  if  I  had 
w^anted  to." 

Judge  Tibbals. — "That  is  undoubtedly  so.  But  I  only  want  to 
say,  further,  that  the  community  must  stand  squarely  up  to  this 
principle,  that  only  when  one's  life  is  in  danger  at  the  hands  of 
another,  is  he  justified  in  taking  the  life  of  another.  There  only 
remains  to  me  now,  the  painful  duty  of  imposing  the  penalty  of 
the  law,  concerning  which  no  discretion  is  left  me.  Tt  is  the  sen- 
tence of  this  court,  then,  that  you  be  taken  hence  to  the  jail  of  this 
county,  and  thence,  within  30  days,  to  the  penitentiary,  and  that 
you  there  be  confined  at  hard  labor  during  the  term  of  3'our 
natural  existence — no  solitary  confinement  to  be  included  in  this 
sentence." 

How  Dunn  Looked  at  It. — Dunn  was  one  of  the  most  docile 
and  conscientiously  obedient  prisoners  that,  in  his  eight  years 
experience  as  sheriff,  the  writer  ever  had  in  his  keeping.  Being 
thoroughly  imbued  with  the  idea  that  in  killing  Whipple  he  had 
acted  purely  in  self-defense — the  procurement  of  the  revolver 
being  solely  for  that  purpose,  in  case  Whipple,  in  his  enmity, 
should  ever,  as  he  expressed  it,  "pitch  onto  him" — he  very  keenly 
felt  w^hat  he  believed  to  be  the  great  injustice  of  his  conviction. 
Contemplating  the  long  and  dreary  imprisonment  which  the  ver- 
dict irrevocably  presaged,  he  at  first  glooinily  asseverated  that  he 


872  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Avould  have  preferred  to  have  been  hung,  and  was  at  times  so 
despondent  that  the  writer  was  somewhat  fearful  that  he  might 
attempt  to  take  his  own  life. 

But  finall}^,  on  the  suggestion  of  his  friends,  Avho  of  course 
knew  nothing  of  the  agreement  of  the  jury,  above  stated,  that 
after  a  few  years  of  faithful  service  the  governor  might  grant  him  a 
pardon,  he  became  reconciled  to  his  fate,  and  entered  upon  his 
long  term  of  imprisonment,  on  the  10th  day  of  Julj^,  1879,  w^ith 
comparative  cheerfulness. 

Disposing  of  His  Belongings. — Before  leaving  for  the  pen- 
itentiary Dunn  designated  how^  his  personal  effects  should  be  dis- 
posed of;  presenting  a  pair  of  boots  to  one,  sundry  articles  of  cloth- 
ing to  another,  his  pocket  knife  to  a  third,  of  his  tried  and  true 
friends,  etc.,  also  leaving  suitable  mementoes  for  his  little  girls, 
and  lastly  presenting  the  revolver  with  -which  the  shooting  Avas 
done,  together  with  the  fatal  bullet,  as  well  as  the  unexploded 
cartridges,  to  the  writer,  by  w^hom  it  is  still  retained  as  a  relic  of 
the  tragic  event. 

During  his  confinement  in  jail,  sundry  sums  of  money  had 
been  paid  to  him  by  those  for  whom  he  had  worked,  and  others 
indebted  to  him,  of  -which  there  remained,  after  settling  with  his 
attorneys,  and  others,  the  sum  of  $68  at  the  date  of  his  incarcer- 
ation in  the  penitentiary.  On  the  way  to  Columbus  he  inquired 
as  to  w^hether  he  would  be  permitted  to  keep  the  money  on  his  own 
person.  On  being  told  that  it  -would  be  placed  to  his  credit  on  the 
prison  books,  subject  to  his  order,  he  said  he  didn't  know  any- 
thing about  "  them  fellow^s,"  but  he  did  know  me,  and  he  w^ould 
prefer  to  have  me  keep  it  for  him,  and  he  would  write  me  from 
time  to  time  ho-w  to  disburse  it;  it  being  his  intention  to  use  the 
most  of  it  for  the  benefit  of  the  little  girl,  Lotta.  On  arriving 
at  the  penitentiary,  I  accordingly  gave  him  my  receipt  for  the 
money,  subject  to  his  order,  -which  receipt,  together  w^ith  his  sol- 
dier's discharge  papers,  were  duly  deposited  with  the  prison  clerk. 

A  Cheeky  Demand. — The  ex-wife  of  the  life-convict — Catharine 
Jones — learning  from  some  source  that  Dunn  had  deposited  a  sum 
of  money  w^ith  me  for  the  benefit  of  Lotta,  paid  me  a  visit  and 
insisted  that  as  the  court  had  made  her  the  custodian  of  the  child 
this  money  should  be  placed  in  her  keeping  also.  I  told  her  that  I 
held  it  subject  to  Mr.  I)unn's  order,  and  if  she  w^ould  procure  from 
him  an  order  to  that  effect,  I  -would  pay  it  over  to  her,  but  not  oth- 
erwise. The  order  never  was  presented.  A  little  over  a  year  later, 
however,  after  Dunn  had  become  better  acquainted  with  "thetn 
fellows,"  he  ordered  the  money  sent  to  the  prison  authorities  to  be 
placed  to  his  credit  on  the  books  of  that  institution,  Avhich  was 
accordingly  done  on  the  29th  day  of  October,  1880,  my  receipt  to 
Dunn  havingbeen  duly  returned  tome  by  Warden  Noah  Thomas;  the 
disposition  since  made  of  said  funds  being  to  the  writer  unknown. 
The  divorced  v^rife — Catherine  Jones — sold  her  farm  to  George 
Oscar  Kidder  in  the  spring  of  1880  (it  being  now  owned  by  Benja- 
min Payne)  and  the  entire  family  removed  to  Cleveland,  the  son 
and  oldest  daughter  having  married,  -while  the  youngest  daughter 
is  reported  to  be  developing  into  a  bright  and  intelligent  young 
lady,  and  though  no  stigma  should  attach  to  her  by  reason  of  the 
family  infelicities  of  the  parents,  and  the  ignominous  fate  of  the 
father,  she  is   at  times,  doubtless,  saddened   by  the   recollection  of 


THE   KILLING   OF   JOHN   TEDROW   BY   THOMAS   BROOK.  873 

the  fearful  tragedy,  of  which,  then  but  four  years  old,  she  was  the 
only  eye-writness. 

Dunn's  Prison  Record. — On  his  first  commitment,  Dunn  was 
assigned  to  the  clothing  department,  wrhere  he  was  employed  in 
keeping  the  uniforms  of  his  fellow-convicts  in  repair,  but,w^hether 
he  is  still  doing  that  comparatively  light  and  easy  w^ork  the  writer 
is  not  advised,  though  a  recent  note  from  Warden  E.  G.  Coffin, 
states  that  his  record  as  to  deportment  is  clear,  no  infractions^of 
the  prison  rules  ever  having  been  reported  against  him;  and 
though  now  quite  advanced  in  years  (62),  he  still,  doubtless,  cher- 
ishes the  hope  of  once  more  being  permitted  to  breathe  the  air  of 
freedom  and  again  mingle  with  his  many  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances in  Summit  county. 

The  Brook-Tedrow  Homicide.^ — "Yellow  Creek  Basin," — an 
ancient  business  emporium  on  the  Ohio  canal,  in  the  township  of 
Northampton,  about  six  miles  north 'of  Akron;  afterw^ards  for 
many  years  called  "Niles,"  and  upon  the  advent  of  the  Valley 
railway,  rechristened  "Botzum" — w^as  fully  described  earlier  in 
this  chapter,  besides  being  often  referred  to  in  connection  with 
the  doings  of  sundry  distinguished  characters  w^ho  in  an  early  day 
■did  there  and  thereabouts  abound.  Though  in  recent  years  as 
peaceable  and  orderly  as  the  average  non-incorporated  and  non- 
policed  hamlet  upon  the  Mraterw^ays  and  railw^ay  lines  of  the  coun- 
try, the  village  of  Botzum  was  the  scene  of  a  fatal  tragedy  on  the 
night  of  October  27,  1882,  a  brief  account  of  which  will  be  in  order 
here. 

The  Parties  to  the  Affray.— Seth  M.  Thomas,  a  man  in  mid- 
<ile  life,  w^as  the  keeper  of  a  boarding  house,  or  house  of  enter- 
tainment, in  the  original  hotel  building,  on  the  east  side  of  the 
<:anal,  north  of  the  road  leading  to  the  covered  bridge  across  the 
river.  Thomas  Brook,  an  Knglishman  by  birth,  a  single  man  24 
years  of  age,  short  of  stature  but  strong  of  build,  had  been  a  resi- 
dent of  the  neighborhood  some  tw^o  or  three  years,  making  his 
home  with  his  brother,  Mr.  John  Brook,  w^ho,  as  tenant,  Avas  w^ork- 
ing  the  farm  of  Mr.  John  Botzum,  a  short  distance  from  the  village; 
Thomas  Brook  also  being  the  favored  suitor  for  the  hand  of  Miss 
Ellen  Thomas,  the  22  year  old  daughter  of  Mr.  Seth  M.  Thomas, 
landlord  of  the  hotel  referred  to. 

John  Tedrow  was  a  tall  and  muscular,  dark  colored  mulatto, 
from  25  to  30  years  of  age,  w^ho  had  resided  in  the  neighborhood 
some  six  or  seven  years,  working  ^vherever  he  could  find  employ- 
ment among  the  farmers  of  the  vicinity.  Tedrow^  was  a  good 
worker,  and  w^hen  sober  w^as  pleasant  and  well-liked  by  those  v^rho 
employed  him;  but,  unfortunately,  he  was  addicted  to  drink,  and 
when  Under  the  influence  of  liquor,  was  quite  turbulent  and  quar- 
relsome. The  Buckeye  Band,  a  musical  organization,  composed 
of  the  young  men  of  the  village  and  vicinity,  had  its  headquarters 
at  the  hotel,  the  band-room  being  upon  the  ground  floor,  directly 
under  the  ball-room  in  the  second  story. 

Band  Benefit  Dance. — On  the  night  of  Friday,  October  27, 
1882,  the  Buckeye  Band  gave  a  social  dance  at  the  hotel  in  ques- 
tion, which  was  participated  in  by  some  15  or  20  couples  of  the 
young  people  of  the  neighborhood.  During  the  afternoon  Tedrow^, 
w^ith  a  white  companion,  had  been  to  Akron,  from  w^hence  he  had 
returned  on  the  evening  train  pretty  hilarious,  though  not  as  yet 


874  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

absolutely  drunk  or  especially  quarrelsome  Bating  supper  at  the 
hotel,  they  repaired  to  a  neighboring  saloon,  where  they  continued 
to  "imbibe"  until  after  the  dancing  had  begun  at  the  hotel,  when 
they  returned  thither,  w^here  Tedrow's  drunken  "  pleasantnesses"^ 
began  to  manifest  themselves  in  seizing  hold  of  landlord  ThomaSr 
and  roughly  pushing  and  pulling  him  about;  pushing  or  knock- 
ing Thomas  Brook  from  the  porch  and  falling  upon  him^ 
soiling  and  tearing  his  coat,  etc:;  visiting  the  ball  room  and  mak- 
ing use  of  considerable  abusive,  obscene  and  threatening  language. 

These  demonstrations,  though  not  especially  resented  at  the 
time,  were  not  at  all  relished  by  the  victims  of  his  abuse,  and  did 
not  produce  the  most  amiable  feelings  towards  Tedrow^.  After  he^ 
with  some  three  or  four  white  boon  companions,  had  again  gone 
to  the  saloon  in  question,  Brook  sent  Charles  Thomas,  the  16  year 
old  son  of  the  landlord,  to  the  ball  room  for  Miss  Kllen  Thomas 
and  Miss  Mabel  Gray  (a  sister  of  his  brother's  wife)  to  come  down 
to  the  kitchen  and  mend  his  coat,  which  had  been  so  badly  torn 
by  Tedrow.  On  the  completion  of  the  job,  the  four — Brook,  Kllen 
and  Charles  Thomas  and  Mabel  Gray — again  started  for  the  ball- 
room. As  they  passed  from  the  kitchen  into  the  hall  they  heard  a 
disturbance  in  the  band-room.  Surmising  that  Tedrow  was  again 
on  the  rampage,  and  saying  to  Kllen  that  he  could  not  see  her 
father  hurt.  Brook  started  through  the  wash-room  tow^ards  the 
band-room  to  render  such  aid  as  might  be  needed  by  Mr.  Thomas. 
Before  reaching  the  band-room,  however,  Mr.  Thomas  opened  the 
door  and  rushed  out  through  the  wash  room,  followed  by  Tedrow^.^ 
The  latter,  on  encountering  Brook,  seized  him  by  the  collar,  with 
both  hands,  and  comnjenced  jerking  him  around.  Seeing  her 
lover  menaced,  Kllen  Thomas  rushed  in  between  them,  and  placing 
a  hand  on  each  side  of  Tedrow's  face,  said:  "Tedrow  what  do  you 
mean? — do  you  know  where  you  are?" 

While  thus  standing,  Kllen  Thomas  between  the  two  men^ 
Tedrow  received  a  severe  blow^  upon  the  side  of  the  head  from  an 
ax,  felling  him  instantly  to  the  floor,  from  the  effect  of  which  he 
immediately  expired. 

Delivering  Himself  Up. — This  sad  affair,  occuring  near  the 
midnight  hour,  of  course  brought  the  festivities  to  an  abrupt  ter- 
mination. On  becoming  satisfied  that  Tedrow^  was  really  dead. 
Brook,  accompanied  by  Thomas  Lancaster,  drove  to  Akron,  and 
meeting  Policeman  David  R.  Bunn,  on  Market  street,  at  about  3 
o'clock  Saturday  morning,  placed  himself  in  the  custody  of  that 
officer.  At  Brook's  request,  officer  Bunn  took  him  to  the  residence 
of  General  A.  C.  Voris,  on  Fir  street,  and  from  thence,  after  a  brief 
consultation  with  the  General,  he  committed  Brook  to  jail. 

Preliminary  Kxamination. — The  ax,  with  which  the  fatal  blow 
was  struck,  belonged  to  Charles  Thomas,  and,  as  stated  by  him, 
was  left  as  usual,  the  evening  before,  at  the  w^ood-pile,  some  50' 
feet  distant  from  the  house,  and  the  question  vt^as,  by  Avhom  and 
for  what  purpose  w^as  it  removed  from  the  wood-pile  to  the/wash- 
room,  and  so  conveniently  to  hand  at  that  particular  moment. 
There  being,  at  the  coroner's  inquest,  held  by  Dr.  B.  B.  Brashear,^ 
some  testimony  tending  to  show  that  Seth  Thomas  handed  the  ax 
to  Brook,  and  that  on  rushing  from  the  band-room  with  Tedrow^  in 
pursuit,  he  had  rushed  to  the  wood-pile,  seized  the  ax,  and  return- 
ing to    the  wash    room,  just    as   his    daughter    had    stepped    in 


CONVICTION — TRIAL — SENTENCE— PAROLE,    ETC.  875 

between  Tedrow  and  Brook,  had  placed  the  ax  in  the  latter's  hand,, 
which  he  immediately  used  in  the  manner,  and  with  the  fatal 
result  stated. 

In  view  of  this  supposition,  Prosecuting  Attorney  Charles 
Baird  filed  an  affidavit  before  Mayor  Samuel  A.  Lane,  ckarging 
both  Thomas  Brook  and  Seth  M.  Thomas,  with  the  killing,  and 
the  latter  was  accordingly  arrested  by  Marshal  William  H.  Ragg, 
and  committed  to  jail  to  aAvait  the  preliminary  examination,  w^hich 
was  set  for  Saturday,  November  4,  at  9  o'clock  a.  m.  The  prelimi- 
nary trial  lasted  two  days,  a  large  number  of  witnesses  beings 
examined,  resulting  in  the  discharge  of  Seth  M.  Thomas  and  the 
holding  of  Thomas  Brook  to  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  for  the 
crime  of  murder,  the  mayor,  in  announcing  his  decision,  remark- 
ing: 

The  history  of  this  case  is  largely  a  repetition  of  the  great  majority  of 
the  hoinicides  of  the  world,  in  that  it  is  directly  the  resvilt  of  the  excessive 
use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  the  evidence  developing  the  fact  that  not  only 
was  the  victim — naturally  as  amiable  as  men  in  general — rendered  quarrel- 
some thereby,  but  that  several,  if  not  all,  the  actors  and  witnesses  of  the 
fearful  tragedy  (except  the  ladies)  were  luore  or  less  under  their  baleful 
influence. 

Trial  in  Common  Pleas. — At  the  January  term  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  1883,  Prosecuting  Attorney  Baird  brought  the 
matter  before  the  grand  jury,  which,  on  a  full  and  careful  hearing 
of  the  evidence,  returned  a  bill  of  indictment,  charging  Thomas 
Brook  with  murder  in  the  second  degree.  To  this  indictment 
Brook  entered  a  plea  of  not  guilty.  Governor  Sidney  Edgerton 
being  assigned  by  the  court  to  assist  Prosecutor  Baird,  on  behalf 
of  the  State,  and  Hon.  J.  A.  Kohler  assisting  General  A.  C.  Vori& 
on  the  defense. 

Verdict,  Sentence,  Etc — The  trial,  including  the  arguments  of 
counsel  and  charge  of  Judge  Tibbals,  occupied  three  full  days,  the 
jury,  after  a  short  deliberation,  rendering  their  verdict  as  follows: 
"We,  the  jury,  do  not  find  the  defencjant,  Thomas  Brook,  guilty  of 
murder  in  the  second  degree,  as  charged  in  the  indictment,  but  w^e 
do  find  the  said  Thomas  Brook  guilty  of  manslaughter." 

General  Voris  immediately  filed  a  motion  for  a  new^  trial  for 
several  alleged  reasons,  the  principal  of  w^hich  was  that  the  verdict 
w^as  not  warranted  by  the  evidence.  This  motion,  after  being 
fully  argued  pro  and  con.  by  counsel,  was  overruled  by  Judge 
Tibbals,  who  immediately,  in  impressive  language,  especially 
animadverting  on  the  folly  and  danger  of  indulging  in  intoxicat- 
ing liquors,  the  use  of  w^hich,  as  developed  by  the  testimony,  was 
directly  the  cause  of  the  crime  under  consideration — sentenced  the 
defendant  to  twelve  years  iinprisonment  in  the  penitentiary. 

Parole,  Subsequent  Life,  Etc. — Peaceable  and  quiet  through- 
out. Brook  w^as  taken  to  Columbus  on  the  31st  day  of  March,  1883, 
where  he  served  the  State  faithfully,  about  three  years,  when  he 
was  released  on  parole  by  the  prison  managers,  returning  to  his 
friends,  near  Cleveland,  w^here  he  is  now^  living  a  peaceable  and 
industrious  citizen;  the  young  lady  who  so  courageously  attempted 
to  avert  the  catastrophe.  Miss  Mary  Ellen  Thomas,  having  been 
married  to  Mr.  Jacob  Peach,  on  the  6th  day  of  August,  1886,  by 
Justice  Henry  W.  Howe,  of  Ira. 


CHAPTER   XL. 

THE  COUNTERFEITERS  OF  THE  CUYAHOGA—"  DAN "  AND  "JIM  "  BROWN— WON- 
DERFUL LONGEVITY  OF  HENRY  BROWN,  THE  FATHER— "JIM"  STRUCK  BY 
LIGHTNING— MERCHANT,  HOTEL  KEEPER,  JUSTICE  OF  THE  PEACE,  ETC.— 
"FINANCIAL"  OPERATIONS— MAMMOTH  SCHEME— EXPEDITION  TO  CHINA 
COMES  TO  GRIEF— DEATH  OF  "  DAN  "  BROWN  IN  PRISON— EXCITING  TRIAL 
IN  NEW  ORLEANS  —  "JIM"  ACQUITTED  —  A  FAITHFUL  WIFE— "  JIM'S " 
REPUTED  EQUESTRIAN  EXPLOITS— OTHER  MAMMOTH  SCHEMES— CONVIC- 
TION, SENTENCE,  NEW  TRIAL,  ACQUITTAL— OTHER  "PERSECUTIONS"— 
"UNCLE  SAM"  GRAPPLES  WITH  HIM— IN  THE  "PEN"  AT  LAST  —  HEROIC 
CONDUCT— FREE  PARDON— FROM  BAD  TO  WORSE— WIFE  SEEKS  A  DIVORCE 
—IN  MICHIGAN  PENITENTIARY  —  SUBSEQUENT  ARRESTS — ACCIDENTAL 
DEATH,  ETC.— "DAN"  JUNIOR  AND  HIS  REMARKABLE  CAREER— WONDERFUL 
ROMANCE  OF  CRIME. 

THE  COUNTERFEITERS  OF  THE  CUYAHOGA. 

A  WORK  of  this  character  -would  most  certainly  be  very  incom- 
-^^  plete  without  a  pretty  full  history  of  the  life  and  operations 
of  our  late  fellow^-citizen,  James  Brown,  commonly  known  as 
■"Jim"  Brown,  and  incidentally  something  of  his  subordinates  and 
lieutenants.  And  yet  so  much  has  been  written  and  published  by 
parties  wholly  unacquainted  w^ith  Mr.  Brown  and  his  doings,  and 
such  extravagances  of  action  and  prowess  have  from  time  to  time 
been  attributed  to  him,  that  any  one  not  personally  cognizant  of  a 
good  portion  of  his  life  and  habits,  and  less  familiar  with  the  new^s- 
paper  and  official  records  of  his  time  than  the  writer,  would  find  it 
difficult  to  even  approximate  a  truthful  sketch  of  his  remaricably 
wonderful  career. 

Indeed,  by  reason  of  the  natural  delicacy  of  his  surviving  rela- 
tives— all  of  the  most  respectable  character — it  has  been  difficult 
to  secure  such  data  as  w^ould  insure  perfect  accuracy  as  to  some  of 
the  particulars  of  his  earlj^  life,  though  it  is  believed  that  sub- 
stantial, if  not  absolute,  accuracy  has  been  attained  in  regard  to 
that  portion  of  his  operations,  w^hich  has  given  to  him  wrorld-w^ide 
renown  as  a  "  financier." 

Wonderful  Longevity. — Henry  Brown,  the  father,  was  born 
in  Ireland,  in  1733,  emigrating  to  America  sometime  previous  to 
the  Revolutionary  War,  and  settling  in  New^  York  City.  On  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war,  between  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies, 
Mr.  Brown  joined  the  patriot  army,  serving  the  entire  seven  j^ears 
■of  the  struggle.  After  the  close  of  the  war  he  settled  in  what  is 
now  Livingston  county,  N.  Y.,  w^here  he  engaged  in  farming,  and 
livhere  he  w^as  soon  afterwards  married.  Here  his  tw^o  sons,  Daniel 
and  James,  were  born,  the  former  in  1788,  and  the  latter  in  1800. 
In  1802,  the  family  removed  to  Ohio,  settling  upon  a  farm  about 
■one  and-a-half  miles  below  the  present  city  of  Youngstown.  In 
the  Fall  of  1808,  Mr.  Brown  traded  his  Youngstown  farm  with 
Judge  Jared  Kirtland,  of  that  place,  for  640  acres  of  wild  land  on 


PROSTRATED   BY    LIGHTNING.  877 

the  west  side  of  the  Cuyahoga  river,  a  little  below  the  present 
village  of  Boston.  Here  Mr.  Brow^n  continued  to  reside  until  his 
death,  October  17,  1837,  at  the  extraordinary  age  of  104  years. 

The  Brothers — "Dan"  and  "Jim." — Daniel  Brown  (father  of 
our  present  ^vell-knoWn  fellow-citizen,  Hiram  H.  Browr^),  then 
20  years  old,  remained  one  Winter  w^ith  Judge  Kirtland,  attending 
school  at  Youngstown,  the  next  Spring  following  the  family  to 
Boston,  w^here  for  several  years  he  w^orked  upon  his  father's  farm. 
He  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
w^ar  was  married  to  Miss  Laura  Wood,  of  Hudson. 

The  younger  brother,  James,  also  grew  to  manhood  upon  his 
father's  farm,  and,  so  far  as  can  be  learned,  was  as  faithful  and 
industrious  as  farmers'  sons  in  general,  though  reputed  to  have 
been  extremely  fond  of  the  rude  sports  in  vogue  at  that  early  day, 
and  is  said  to  have  been  remarkably  athletic,  and  one  of  the  very 
best,  if  not  the  champion  wrestler  of  the  neighborhood.  In  the 
Fall  of  1819,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Lucy  Mather,  daughter  of 
Watrous  Mather,  then  living  in  Boston,  but  in  later  years  a  resi- 
dent of  Akron.  Both  of  the  brothers  only  had  such  educational 
advantages  as  the  semi-occasional  schools  of  that  period  afforded. 
Both  w^ere  apt  scholars,  however,  w^hich,  with  their  more  than 
ordinary  natural  ability,  placed  them  in  the  first  rank  for  intelli- 
gence among  the  young  men  of  Ohio,  and  both  soon  sought  other 
employment  than  farming. 

In  the  middle  twenties  Daniel  and  his  wife  removed  to  Cincin- 
nati and  embarked  in  trade,  afterwards,  for  some  years,  keeping  a 
store  at  Lawrenceburg,  Ind.,  though  making  frequent  visits  to  his 
old  home  in  Boston.  Later  he  engaged  in  trading  upon  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  rivers,  betw^een  Pittsburg  and  New  Orleans,  inter- 
spersed with  occasional  trips  to  the  Kastern  States,  over  the 
mountains,  with  droves  of  horses;  his  last  venture  of  that  nature 
being  with  a  drove  of  90  horses,  gathered  up  in  this  neighborhood, 
w^ith  which  he  started  from  Boston  in  February,  1831. 

Prostrated  by  Lightning. — After  his  marriage,  in  1819,  the 
younger  brother,  James,  then  not  quite  20  years  of  age,  built  for 
himself  a  house  upon  a  portion  of  his  father's  farm,  on  the  w^est 
side  of  the  river,  a  little  below  the  present  Boston  bridge.  Here, 
too,  in  1825  or  1826,  James  built  a  tw^o-story  frame  store-house,  and, 
Avith  one  William  G.Taylor,  of  Cleveland,  embarked  in  trade,  w^ith 
a  stock  of  $1,200  or  $1,500  worth  of  general  merchandise;  also  keep- 
ing a  tavern  in  the  same  building.  Some  two  or  three  years  later, 
the  remnant  of  this  stock  of  goods  w^as  sold  to  his  brother-in-law, 
the  late  William  T,  Mather,  and  Brown  removed  the  building, 
bodily,  across  the  bridge  to  the  east  side  of  the  river,  and  hand- 
somely refitted  it  as  a  hotel,  which  he  afterw^ards  presided  over  as 
landlord  for  several  years. 

While  sitting  in  his  door  one  day  when  a  terrible  thunder- 
storm w^as  approaching  (but  whether  before  or  after  his  removal 
across  the  river,  recollections  differ)  he  was  struck  by  lightning 
and  nearly  every  particle  of  his  clothing,  even  to  his  boots  and 
stockings,  was  stripped  from  his  person,  literally  torn  into  shreds. 
He  was  prostrated  by  the  stroke,  and  for  a  considerable  time 
remained  insensible,  but  w^as  finally  restored  to  consciousness,  and 
his  usual  health  and  vigor,  w^ith  no  permanent  marks  of  the  fear- 
ful visitation  remaining  upon  his  person.     It  w^as  said  that  he  was 


S78  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

wont  to  boast,  in  referring  to  this  incident,  that  no  live  man  could 
lay  him  upon  his  back  as  quick  as  the  Almighty  did.  This  tat- 
tered suit  is  still  kept  (or  was  a  few  years  ago),  as  a  memento  of 
the  dread  visitation,  by  members  of  the  family. 

Personal  Appearance,  Etc. — Never  having  met  the  elder 
brother,  "  Dan,"  the  writer  cannot  personally  describe  him,  but  he 
is  represented  as  having  been  singularly  good  looking,  and  of 
extremely  pleasing  manners,  and,  for  those  times  remarkable  for 
sobriety  and  correct  personal  habits.  "Jim,"  in  his  early  prime, 
though  not  remarkably  handsome  of  feature,  possessed  a  pleasant 
•countenance,  which,  with  the  mildness  of  his  voice,  and  the 
geniality  of  his  conversation,  rendered  him  a  most  captivating 
companion.  He  w^as,  in  stature,  about  six  feet  and  t>vo  inches, 
straight  as  an  arrow,  w^ith  rather  a  dark  complexion,  black  or  very 
dark  brown  hair  and  black,  deep-set  penetrating  eyes.  Though 
not  corpulent,  his  frame  ^vas  well  proportioned  to  his  great  height, 
giving  him  a  personal  presence  that  would  attract  attention  in  any 
company.  And,  considering  the  universal  use  of  intoxicants  in 
those  early  times,  and  his  traffic  therein  as  merchant  and  inn- 
keeper, his  own  early  habits  in  that  regard  Avere  remarkably  cor- 
rect, while  his  business  and  social  life  was  at  that  time  of  more 
than  the  average  purity. 

Their  "Financial"  Operations. — Just  when,  and  by  whom, 
the  tvv^o  brothers  w^ere  first  initiated  into  the  mystic  art  of  illicit 
financiering,  can  now  only  be  conjectured.  But  certain  it  is  that, 
coincident  with  the  opening  of  the  Ohio  canal  in  1827,  there  was  in 
existence  an  extensive  organization  for  the  manufacture  of,  and 
dealing  in,  counterfeit  money  along  the  entire  length,  with  its 
headquarters  in  the  Cuyahoga  Vallej^,  with  the  two  Browns,  as 
its  leaders.  Their  principal  coadjutors,  in  this  vicinity,  were  Wil- 
liam G.  Taylor,  of  Cleveland,  Abraham  S.  Holtnes  and  Col.  Wil- 
liam Ashley,  of  Boston;  William  Latta,  of  Bath;  Jonathan  De 
Courcey  and  Thomas  Johnson,  of  Norton;  and  Joshua  King  and 
Joel  Keeler,  of  Portage;  with  quite  a  large  army  of  subordinate 
•officers  and  privates  as  detailed  in  an  earlier  chapter  of  this  series. 
Let  it  be  understood,  here,  that  so  far  as  known,  neither  of  the 
brothers  indulged  in  peddling  or  passing  spurious  money  them- 
selves; their  province  being  to  devise,  plan,  and  direct;  to  select 
the  institutions  on  which  to  "experiment,"  and  to  distribute,  in  a 
-wholesale  way,  the  products  of  those  experiments. 

A  Mammoth  Scheme. — At  the  time  about  which  we  are  now 
w^riting,  the  old  United  States  Bank,  at  Philadelphia,  was  in  full 
•operation,  its  notes  being,  like  our  present  treasury  notes  or  green- 
backs, not  only  good  in  any  part  of  the  United  States,  but  also 
<:urrent  in  every  country  on  the  globe  with  w^hich  this  govern- 
ment then  held  commercial  intercourse.  About  the  year  1831,  the 
leaders  of  the  fraternity  above  described  had  possessed  themselves 
of  some  very  excellent  plates  of  the  several  issues  of  United  States 
bank  notes,  and  were  preparing  to  flood  the  country  with  the 
spurious  paper. 

At  this  time,  the  elder  of  the  Brown  brothers,  "Dan,"  having 
returned  to  Pittsburg,  from  a  successful  trip  over  the  mountains, 
w^ith  horses,  w^ith  the  view^  of  resuming  his  trading  operations  on 
the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers,  evolved  from  his  fertile  brain  a 
scheme  that  should   entirely  eclipse  any  other  financial    project, 


A   TRULY   MAMMOTH    SCHEME.  879 

either  legitimate  or  illegitimate,  that  up  to  that  time  had  ever 
been  devised.  He  accordingly  wrote  to  his  brother  "Jim,"  and 
their  most  confidential  confederate,  Taylor,  to  meet  him  in  Pitts- 
burg. On  coming  together,  "Dan"  unfolded  his  plan,  which  w^as, 
that  instead  of  placing  the  spurious  United  States  notes  they  tvere 
then  preparing  in  the  hands  of  their  local  agents  and  confederates 
to  be  dribbled  out  at  retail,  in  this  country,  they  should  make  a 
wholesale  operation  of  it  in  the  far-off  markets  of  the  mercantile 
w^orld. 

Expedition  to  China,  India,  Etc. — This  scheme  was  fully  con- 
-curred  in  by  not  only  the  Brown  brothers  and  Taylor,  but  by  such 
other  members  of  the  fraternity  as  w^ere  let  into  the  secret.  Pro- 
ceeding to  Ne>v  Orleans,  in  the  Winter  of  1831,  '32,  a  large  vessel 
was  purchased  and  equipped  for  the  expedition.  It  was  the  inten- 
tion to  sail  directly  for  China,  and  from  thence  to  visit  the  several 
commercial  ports  of  India,  and,  with  the  spurious  money,  purchase 
a  large  cargo  of  teas,  coffees,  spices,  siiks  and  other  merchandise, 
to  be  disposed  of  in  the  various  ports  of  Europe  and  America. 
Several  thousand  dollars  w^orth  of  export  merchandise,  suited  to 
Oriental  trade,  was  placed  on  board  the  vessel,  w^ith  $1>500,000  of 
the  spurious  notes,  together  Avith  material  and  the  necessary 
-apparatus  for  turning  out  $2,000,000  more. 

In  addition  to  the  owners,  and  the  crew^  proper,  for  the  man- 
agement of  the  vessel,  a  number  of  artists,  expert  penman,  etc., 
were  included  in  the  com  pa  nj^  as  "passengers."  Everything  was 
in  readiness  for  a  start.  Passports  and  the  necessary  clearance 
papers  had  been  secured.  The  vessel  had  pulled  out  from  the 
dock  and  anchored  in  mid-river,  just  at  night,  to  be  in  readiness  to 
start  upon  her  voyage  with  the  out-going  tide  the  next  morning. 
There  were  no  telegraphs  begirting  the  globe,  no  railroads,  no 
swift  ocean  steamers  in  those  days,  and  once  fairly  at  sea,  the 
expedition  would  be  safe  from  both  detection  and  pursuit,  and  its 
final  success  assured  beyond  a  peradventure. 

The  Expedition  Comes  to  Grief. — As  several  months  w^ould 
elapse  before  they  w^ould  again  stand  upon  terra  Rrnia,  or  revel 
in  the  delights  of  city  life,  the  tw^o  ivhilotn  mercantile  partners, 
■"Jim"  Brown  and  "Bill"  Taylor,  w^ent  on  shore  in  the  evening  to 
"paint  the  town  red."  New  Orleans  was  at  that  time,  as  perhaps 
it  still  is,  a  pretty  "gay"  city — w^ith  its  gambling  houses,  bagnios 
and  drinking  places,  as  public  as  its  hotels,  stores,  etc.  Though 
it  does  not  appear  that  they  became  particularly  inebriated,  or 
offensively  boisterous,  in  making  their  rounds,  yet  their  extreme 
liberality  in  the  dispensation  of  their  w^ealth,  in  treating  them- 
selves and  others,  and  certain  extravagances  of  action  and  speech, 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  police.  Being  thenceforth  shadowed, 
Avhen,  late  at  night,  they  w^ere  seen  to  row  off  to  their  vessel, 
whose  somewhat  singular  movements  had  already  been  observed 
by  the  authorities,  they  were  followed  by  a  squad  of  officers,  and  a 
thorough  search  of  the  vessel  instituted. 

Up  to  this  time  the  true  nature  of  the  expedition  had  not  been 
suspected,  but,  as  piracy  and  smuggling  were  then  largely  in 
vogue,  it  was  surmised  that  the  parties  and  the  vessel  in  question, 
might  belong  to  one  class  or  the  other  of  the  contraband  operators 
named.  The  search,  however,  revealed  the  real  character  of  the 
company,  and  their  probable  designs,  and  the  entire  number  were 


880  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

taken  into  custody,  together  with  their  perfected  and  unperfected 
"currency,"  material  and  counterfeiting  paraphernalia. 

Death — Conviction — Acquittal,  Etc. — The  three  principals, 
only — the  two  Brow^ns  and  Taylor — were  held  for  trial.  Taylor, 
through  friends  in  Cleveland,  secured  bail,  and  he  and  one  Henr^^ 
Barrett,  agreed,  for  a  certain  money  indemnity  and  a  deed  of  the 
farm  owned  by  the  Brow^ns,  in  Boston,  to  go  bail  for  them,  also. 
The  money  was  paid  over  and  the  deed  executed,  but  the  bail 
never  w^as  furnished.  The  trial  was  postponed,  from  time  to  time, 
until  late  in  the  Fall  of  1832,  Daniel  Brown  having  in  the  mean- 
time, on  August  22,  1832,  died  in  the  New  Orleans  calaboose. 
General  Lucius  V.  Bierce  and  Hon.  Rufus  P.  Spalding,  as  attor- 
neys, and  some  18  or  20  residents  of  Portage  and  Cuyahoga 
counties,  as  witnesses,  were  in  attendance.  Mrs.  Lucy  Mather 
Brown,  Avife  of  James  Brow^n — a  finer  w^oman  than  w^hom  never 
existed — clung  faithfully  to  her  husband,  in  the  spirit  of  the 
couplet: 

"  I  know  not,  I  care  not,  if  guilt's  in  thy  heart, 
But  I  know  that  I  love  thee,  whatever  thou  art." 

The  silly  tradition,  how^ever,  that  Mrs.  Brow^n  rode  on  horse- 
back from  Old  Portage  to  New  Orleans,  to  be  present  at  her  hus- 
band's trial,  or  that,  obtaining  access  to  her  husband's  cell,  in  the 
calaboose,  she  exchanged  clothes  with  him,  thus  enabling  him  to 
escape,  are  simply  sublimated  bosh — there  being,  at  that  time, 
plenty  of  steamboats  plying  betw^een  Pittsburg  and  New^  Orleans, 
and  escape  from  prison  being  no  part  of  his  line  of  defense. 

There  is  no  authentic  account  of  the  actual  proceedings  in  the 
case  now^  available,  the  local  papers  of  the  time  in  this  vicinity, 
now-  in  possession  of  the  writer,  being  singularly  reticent  on  the 
subject.  General  Bierce,  in  his  "historical  reminiscences,"  says: 
"James  Brow^n  was  used  as  a  w^itness  against  Taylor,  who  was 
acquitted,  and  became  a  vagabond  on  the  earth,"  while  other 
accounts  state  that  Taj^lor  was  convicted,  and  imprisoned  on 
Brown's  testimony. 

Mr.  Hiram  H.  Brown's  recollection  (though  not  on  the  ground 
himself)  is  that  Taylor  arranged  with  the  prosecutor  to  turn  State's 
evidence  against  his  uncle  "Jim,"  and  that  his  aunt  Lucy  had 
come  on  to  Cleveland  and  obtained  a  large  number  of  affidavits 
from  w^ell-known  reputable  citizens,  tending  to  impeach  Taylor's 
character  for  veracity,  w^ith  which  she  wras  returning  to  Newr 
Orleans,  and  that  Taylor,  suspecting  her  object,  being  himself  at 
large  on  bail,  intercepted  her  at  Baton  Rouge,  and,  on  board  the 
steamer,  attempted  to  w^rest  the  papers  from  her  by  force  and  vio- 
lence; that  both  Brow^n  and  Taj'lor  were  acquitted  on  the  charge 
of  counterfeiting,  upon  the  technicality  that  it  did  not  appear  that 
they  intended  to  utter  their  spurious  money  w^ithin  the  limits  of 
the  State  of  Louisiana  or  the  United  States,  and  that  Taylor  was 
convicted  and  sentenced  to  a  long  term  of  imprisonment  for  his 
savage  assault  upon  Mrs.  Brown,  on  the  steamer,  as  above  stated. 

Whichever,  if  either,  of  these  theories  is  the  correct  one,  cer- 
tain it  is  that  Brown  immediately  returned  to  his  home  in  Boston, 
w^hile  Taylor  never  again  appeared  in  Portage  county,  nor,  as  far 
as  known,  in  Cleveland  either;  Brown,  a  year  and  a  half  later, 
commencing  proceedings  in  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Portage 


WONDERFUL  EQUESTRIAN  EXPLOITS.  881 

county,  against  Taylor  and  Barrett,  non-residents  of  the  State  of 
Ohio,  to  have  the  deed  given  to  them,  as  above  stated,  set  aside, 
which  ^was  accordingly  done. 

Elected  Justice  of  the  Peace. — Returning  :^roni  his  long 
detention  in  the  Crescent  City  calaboose,  to  his  hotel  in  Boston, 
Brown,  notwithstanding  the  miscarriage  of  his  Chinese  scheme, 
was  heartily  congratulated  by  his  old  neighbors,  and  a  good  deal 
lionized  wherever  he  was  known.  In  April,  1834,  he  was  elected 
justice  of  the  peace  for  Boston  township,  which  office  he  is  said  to 
have  administered  with  marked  fidelity  during  his  three  years' 
incumbency  thereof,  though,  at  the  same  time,  well-known  to  be 
the  very  "head  center"  of  the  Cuyahoga  Valley  Syndicate  for 
fabricating  and  expanding  the  currency. 

Brown  became  personally  known  to  the  writer  in  the  Spring 
and  Summer  of  1835,  first  during  his  attendance  at  court,  w^hile  the 
w^riter  was  temporarily  sojourning  at  Ravenna,  and  afterwards  in 
his  frequent  calls  at  Mr.  C.  B.  Cobb's  Pavilion  House,  where  the 
w^riter  boarded  during  his  first  two  years'  residence  in  Akron;  and 
from  thenceforth,  his  movements  and  operations  w^ill  be  written  of 
from  personal  know^ledge,  newspaper  reports  and  official  records. 

Traditionary  Exploits, — There  are  innumerable  traditions 
extant  regarding  his  wonderful  po\\rers  of  endurance  and  his 
extraordinary  escapes  from  his  pursuers,  after  the  consummation 
of  some  clever  feat  in  the  line  of  his  "profession;"  one,  that  having 
negotiated  a  forged  draft  with  a  New  England  Bank,  he  had,  by 
riding  day  and  night,  through  a  pre-arranged  relay  of  horses,  rid- 
den to  Ohio  so  quickly,  that,  on  being  taken  to  New  England  for 
trial,  a  perfect  alibi  w^as  established,  the  court  deciding  that,  with 
the  fastest  mode  of  travel  then  known,  no  living  man  could  have 
performed  the  journey  in  the  time  intervening  bet\veen  the  perpe- 
tration of  the  crime  there,  and  his  thoroughly  proved  presence  in 
Ohio.  At  another  time  he  is  reported  to  have  perpetrated  a  simi- 
lar "joke"  upon  parties  near  Pittsburg,  and  on  his  own  powerful 
steed,  "Old  John,"  ridden  in  a  single  night  to  his  home  in  the 
Cuyahoga  Valley,  and,  being  seen  by  the  neighbors  chop- 
ping fire-wood  at  his  own  door,  at  daylight  the  next  morning,  his 
defense  of  an  alibi  was  successfully  maintained.  Still  another 
exploit  is  attributed  to  him  to  the  effect  that  once,  while  traveling 
through  Canada,  on  the  same  horse,  distributing  the  "queer" 
among  his  trusted  agents  there,  the  authorities  "got  on"  to  his 
game  and  gave  chase,  whereupon,  though  near  the  breaking  up 
period,  he  fearlessly  dashed  across  the  lower  end  of  Lake  Erie, 
near  Buffalo,  upon  the  ice,  thus  placing  himself  beyond  the  juris- 
diction of  Her  Majesty's  minions  of  the  law^.  Whatever  the  pro- 
portion of  fiction  and  reality  these  legends  contain,  each  reader 
must  judge  for  himself,  as  the  w^riter  has  neither  positive  nor  col- 
lateral evidence  to  adduce  in  support  of  their  authenticity.  But 
of  what  follows  substantial  accuracy  may  be  relied  upon. 

Changes  His  Base. — In  the  Winter  of  1837,  '38,  having  disposed 
of  his  hotel  property,  in  Boston,  to  Mr.  Henry  Wadhams,  Brown 
moved  his  family  to  Akron,  at  first  occupying  a  house  on  Howard 
street,  about  where  the  Arcade  block  now  stands.  At  this  time  he 
also  bought  the  hotel  property  on  West  Exchange  street,  called 
the  Summit  House,  a  portion  of  which  building  is  still  standing 
upon  the  south  end  of  the  same  lot.     Though  he  did  not  run  the 

56 


882  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

house  himself,  it  was  for  several  years  general  headquarters  for 
himself  and  his  "friends."  Early  in  1839,  Brown  built  for  himself 
a  family  residence,  on  the  southwest  corner  of  State  and  Bowery 
streets,  some  fw^o  or  three  years  later  transferring  the  property  to 
William  S.  C.  Otis.  Esq,;  the  house,  while  unoccupied,  being 
destroyed  by  an  incendiary  fire,  April  12,  1843;  loss  $1,000  with  no 
insurance.  In  the  early  forties  the  family  moved  on  to  the  300 
acre  farm  now  owned  and  occupied  by  the  heirs  of  the  late  James 
R.  Brown,  Esq.,  in  Northampton  township,  the  title  thereof  then 
being  in  Daniel  M.  Brown,  eldest  son  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

His  "Persecutions"  Begin. — Notwithstanding  their  efforts  to 
ameliorate  the  monetary  stringency  existing  at  that  time — 1837, 
'38 — largely  through  the  influence  of  a  little  paper  published  by 
the  w^riter,  called  the  Buzzard,  an  active  campaign  was  inaugu- 
rated by  the  law^  officers  of  Portage,  Medina  and  Cuyahoga  counties, 
against  the  blacklegs,  counterfeiters  and  thieves,  then  infesting 
this  vicinity;  the  more  active,  in  w^hat  is  now  Summit  county,  being 
Prosecuting  Attorney  L.  V.  Bierce,  Sheriff  George  Y.  Wallace, 
Justice  Jacob  Brown,  Marshal  Ithiel  Mills,  Constable  Warren  H. 
Smith,  of  Akron,  and  Justice  James  W.  Weld  and  Constables 
Alonzo  Culver  and  John  E.  Hurlbut,  of  Kichfield.  Hitherto,  since 
the  collapse  of  his  Chinese  enterprise,  Brown,  in  the  varying 
vicissitudes  of  the  gang,  had  managed  to  keep  out  of  the  clutches 
of  the  law  himself,  but  no^v  immunity  and  impunity  both  receive 
a  sudden  check. 

Another  Mammoth  Scheme. — In  February,  1838,  "Jim"  was 
arrested  in  Akron,  charged  with  being  concerned  in  an  adroit 
forgery  by  which  the  plates  of  the  bank  of  Lexington,  Kentucky, 
were  obtained  from  the  Union  Bank  in  New^  York,  and  from  which 
a  large  number  of  bills  had  been  printed,  the  fraud  fortunately 
being  discovered  before  they  had  been  delivered  to  the  gang;  and 
also  for  being  implicated  in  extensive  forgeries  of  mortgages  on  real 
estate  in  Buffalo,  it  likewise  transpiring  that  Brown  was  about 
starting  the  Farmer's  and  Merchant's  Bank  at  Burlington,  Wis- 
consin (then  a  territory),  confessing  to  Marshal  Mills  that  he  had 
some  $200,000  of  the  bills  in  his  possession  not  yet  filled  out;  there 
being  found  in  the  trunk  of  a  confederate,  here,  a  large  amount  of 
money  ready  for  circulation,  purporting  to  be  on  the  "Exporting, 
Mining  and  Manufacturing  Company,"  at  Jackson,  111,,  together 
with  several  thousand  dollars  of  the  Buffalo  mortgages  above 
spoken  of. 

On  the  first  named  charge  "Jim"  Brow^n  w^as  taken  before  Jus- 
tice Jacob  Brow^n,  who,  to  give  the  complainants  time  to  procure 
testimony  from  New  York,  postponed  the  hearing  until  March  17, 
the  accused  entering  into  bonds  in  the  sum  of  $6,000  for  his 
appearance  at  that  time.  For  some  unexplained  reason  the  New^ 
York  w^itnesses  were  not  forthcoming,  and  Brown  was  discharged, 
his  connection  w^ith  the  other  matters  not  being  sufficiently 
apparent  to  base  a  prosecution  on. 

Again  Arrested,  Tried  and  Convicted. — Among  others 
arrested  by  the  officers  at  this  period,  March,  1838,  vt^as  one  Jona- 
than DeCourcey,  a  tavern  keeper  at  Johnson's  Corners,  in  Norton 
tow^nship,  and  one  of  the  Bro>vn's  most  trusted  lieutenants. 
Finding  himself  fairly  in  the  toils,  DeCourcey  sought  immunity 


FIRST   START   TOWARDS   THE    "PEN."  883 

Ijy  turning  informer  against  his  principal.  Brown  w^as  accord- 
ingly arrested  by  Constable  Hurlbut,  of  Richfield,  and  examined 
before  Justice  James  W.  Weld,  of  the  same  township,  in  the  Court 
House  at  Medina,  on  the  10th  day  of  April,  a  large  number  of  wit- 
nesses being  in  attendance.  The  charge  was  having  $10  and  $50 
•counterfeit  bills  on  the  bank  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  in  his  possession 
with  intent  to  pass  the  same,  and  of  having  offered  to  sell  De 
•Courcey  $6,000  thereof. 

He  was  held  to  bail  in  the  sum  of  $10,000,  and  at  the  June  term 
of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  Medina  county,  was  duly 
indicted  for  the  offense.  The  trial  was  postponed  until  the  Octo- 
ber term,  Brow^n's  $10,000  bonds  being  renew^ed,  w^ith  Alonzo  Dee, 
William  T.  Mather  and  William  King,  as  sureties;  De  Courcey  also 
being  indicted  and  held  to  bail  in  the  sum  of  $3,000,  w^ith  Abel 
Dickinson  as  surety,  for  making  and  counterfeiting  a  Mexican 
dollar.  Both  cases  were  again  postponed  until  the  March  term  of 
the  court,  1839. 

Traitorous  DeCourcey. — As  the  day  for  the  trial  approached, 
an  effort  was  made  by  Brown  and  his  friends  to  ged  rid  of  De- 
Courcey, and  his  damaging  testimony.  He  was  offered  $400  in 
money,  a  well-secured  note  for  $200,  and  a  gold  watch,  w^ith  the 
promise  of  indemnity  for  his  bail,  to  "absquatulate"  to  Texas. 
This  proposition  the  old  sinner  pretended  to  accept,  but  after  get- 
ting possession  of  the  money,  w^atch  and  note,  and  just  on  the  eve  of 
starting  for  Texas,  under  the  escort  of  one  of  Brow^n's  trusted 
henchmen,  William  Hicks,  of  Canal  Fulton,  he  managed  to  give 
the  officers  the  wink,  and  both  DeCourcey  and  his  escort  were 
overhauled  and  brought  back  to  Medina  and  lodged  in  jail  in  time 
for  trial;  Brown  also  being  taken  into  custody  on  a  Bench  war- 
rant, and  lodged  in  jail. 

Convicted  and  Started  for  the  "  Pen." — The  trial  of  Brown 
finally  came  off  early  in  March,  1839,  and  though  the  most  eminent 
counsel  of  the  time  were  emploj'^ed  in  his  defense,  and  though 
every  effort  was  made  to  break  down  the  testimony  of  DeCourcey, 
and  the  collateral  evidence  by  which  he  was  supported,  the  jury 
-after  a  very  brief  deliberation,  brought  in  a  verdict  of  guilty,  and 
he  was  immediately  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for  the  period  of 
seven  years. 

An  Extraordinary  Ride. — The  sentence  was  pronounced 
about  the  middle  of  the  afternoon.  In  anticipation  of  the  result,  a 
bill  of  exceptions  had  been  prepared,  with  which  William  T. 
Mather,  the  brother-in-law  of  Brown,  immediately  started  on  horse- 
back for  Rocky  River,  near  Cleveland,  to  secure  the  allowance  of  a 
writ  of  error,  and  a  stay  of  proceedings,  from  Supreme  Judge,  Reu- 
ben Wood.  The  writer  happened,  on  the  same  afternoon,  to  be 
riding  in  the  same  primitive  manner,  from  Brunsw^ick  to  Medina, 
meeting  Mather  midway,  about  an  hour  before  sunset.  The  clay 
roads  of  that  vicinity  w^ere  then  almost  impassable,  making  travel- 
ing very  slow,  and  on  my  suggesting  that,  as  they  w^ould  probably 
start  Brown  towards  Columbus  early  in  the  morning,  he  could 
hardly  make  it,  he  replied  that  he  had  relays  of  horses  provided,  and 
w^ould  be  sure  to  get  back  to  Medina  before  daylight  the  next 
morning. 

I  rode  into  Medina  just  as  the  sun  was  setting,     A  few^  minutes 
later,  from  the  hotel  window,  I  saw  a  stage  coach  stop  in  front  of 


884  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

the  county  jail.  Falling  in  with  the  crowd,  which  immediately 
began  to  gather  in  front  of  the  jail,  but  a  few  brief  moments- 
elapsed  before  the  colossal  form  of  Bro^vn  was  seen  to  emerge 
from  the  building,  with  his  hands  and  feet  thoroughly  ironed.  He 
■was  assisted  into  the  coach  by  the  officers,  and,  with  the  sheriff 
and  tw^o  assistants,  immediately  started  for  Columbus.  Simul- 
taneous Tvith  the  starting  of  the  coach,  another  sw^ift  messenger,, 
on  a  fleet  horse,  was  started  towards  Cleveland,  to  admonish 
Mather  of  the  action  of  the  authorities,  and,  if  possible,  accelerate 
his  speed. 

Mather  too  Much  for  Them.— Notwithstanding  their  hot 
haste,  the  officers  were  destined  never  to  reach  Columbus  with 
their  distinguished  prisoner.  Mather,  having  secured  Judge 
Wood's  signature  to  his  document,  at  once  started  upon  the  back 
track,  reaching  Medina  about  one  o'clock  in  the  morning.  After 
a  brief  rest  and  partaking  of  refreshments,  mounting  a  fresh 
horse  he  started  toward  Columbus,  overtaking  the  stage  just  as  it 
w^as  pulling  out  of  Loudonville,  a  little  after  daylight  the  next 
morning — an  equestrian  feat  nearly,  if  not  quite  equal  to  those 
attributed  to  old  "Jim"  himself,  as  above  related. 

New  Trial — Final  Acquittal.^ — The  discomfited  sheriff  and 
his  assistants,  could  do  nothing  less  than  to  "about  face,"  and 
vsrend  their  way  back  to  Medina,  where  they  arrived  at  just  about 
the  same  hour  of  leaving  the  evening  before  ;  the  ^^riter  meeting 
and  "greeting"  them  about  midw^ay  between  Medina  and  Seville. 
The  proceedings  in  error  were  argued  before  the  Supreme  Court,  in 
Cleveland,  August  7,  1839,  and  a  new  trial  granted.  At  the  Sep- 
tember term  of  Medina  Common  Pleas,  the  case  Avas  again  called  for 
trial,  but  the  main  witness  for  the  State — the  slippery  DeCourcey — 
was  found  to  be  non  est,  having  finally  been  "  spirited  away,"  re- 
sulting in  a  continuance  of  the  case,  until  the  M^rch  term,  1840, 
w^hen  it  was  nollied.  The  case  against  DeCourcey  had  been  con- 
tinued from  term  to  term  until  his  non-appearance  at  the  Septem- 
ber term  of  the  court,  as  aforesaid,  when  his  bail  was  declared 
forfeited,  and,  so  far  as  the  writer  is  advised,  Jonathan  DeCourcey 
has  never  again  been  seen  in  Ohio,  and  has,  in  all  probability,  long 
since  gone  to  his  final  account. 

[Dr.  A,  E.  Ewing  relates  the  following  anecdote  in  connection 
w^ith  Brown's  Medina  trial:  Constables  Culver  and  Hurlbut  had 
but  one  horse  between  them,  on  which  to  return  to  Richfield, 
which  was  the  property  of  Culver,  and  who  generously  proposed 
to  "  ride  and  tie,"  telling  Hurlbut  to  ride  on  until  he  got  tired,  then 
hitch  the  horse  by  the  side  of  the  road  for  him  to  take  his  turn  at 
riding  \^rhen  he  came  up.  Hurlbut,  being  fond  of  practical  jokes^ 
failed  to  g^et  tired,  until  he  reached  Richfield,  leaving  the  ow^ner 
of  the  horse  to  foot  it  the  entire  distance,  some  fifteen  miles.] 

A  Similar  Experience  in  Portage  County.— In  June,  1838, 
Marshal  Mills  arrested,  near  Buffalo,  a  resident  of  Akron  by  the 
name  of  Willard  W.  Stevens,  for  passing  or  dealing  in  counterfeit 
money,  and  lodged  him  in  jail  at  Ravenna.  After  getting  behind 
the  bars,  Stevens  turned  informer  against  his  principal,  "Jim" 
Brown,  directing  \^here  a  quantity  of  spurious  money,  purchased 
by  him  from  Brown,  could  be  found  in  the  cellar  of  the  house  then 
occupied  by  his  family,  on  How^ard  street,  in  Akron.  Finding  the 
money  as  indicated.  Mills,  under  a  warrant  issued  upon  the  affidavit 


IN   THE   GRIP   OF   "  UNCLE    SAM."  885 

of  Stevens,  arrested  Brown,  who  was  held  to  bail  by  Justice 
Jacob  Brown  in  the  sum  of  $9,000  to  answer  to  the  charge  before 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  Stevens,  meantime,  in  view  of  his 
valuable  service  to  the  State,  being  released  from  jail  on  his  own 
recognizance  to  appear  as  a  witness  in  the  case. 

An  indictment  was  duly  found,  and  the  day  for  the  trial  fixed. 
A  jury  was  impaneled  and  the  w^itnesses  w^ere  called,  all  of  whom 
responded  but  Mr.  Willard  W.  Stevens.  The  main  witness  for  the 
State  had  "mysteriously"  disappeared  and  the  memories  of  those 
w^ho  w^ere  to  corroborate  him  had  mysteriously  failed,  thus  leaving 
the  overconfiding  officers  again  in  the  lurch,  and  scoring  another 
triumph  for  the  greatest  "financier"  of  his  time,  "Jim"  Brow^n. 
Stevens  never  again  returned  to  Summit  county,  but  spent  sev- 
eral years  in  Georgia,  afterwards  rejoining  his  family  in  Western 
Ne>\'  York,  w^here  the  writer  met  him,  the  industrious  tiller  of  a 
farm,  in  1846,  and  who  is  now,  at  about  the  age  of  84  years,  a  res- 
pectable citizen  of  one  of  Western  counties  of  Ohio. 

In  Cuyahoga  County,  Also. — Contemporaneous  with  the 
<:ases  above  w^ritten  of.  Brown  was  arrested  by  the  officers  of 
Cuyahoga  County,  upon  a  similar  charge,  and  held  to  bail  in  the 
sum  of  $1,000,  slipping  through  the  meshes  of  the  law  in  about  the 
same  manner  as  in  the  two  instances  above  named,  thus  demon- 
strating the  great  danger  of  public  officers  and  courts  of  justice 
relying  upon  confederates  in  crime  for  evidence  to  convict  their 
fellows. 

Uncle  Sam  Grapples  With  Him. — His  immediate  active 
coadjutors — As^hley,  Latta,  De  Courcey,  etc.,  and  a  large  number 
of  lesser  lights,  having  been  driven  from  the  neighborhood,  out  of 
the  business,  or  into  the  penitentiary,  "Old  Jim,"  as  he  was  then 
familiarly  called,  remained  comparatively  quiescent  for  a  number 
of  years,  being  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  the  township  of 
Northampton  in  October,  1845;  though  events  to  be  hereinafter 
narrated  will  abundantly  demonstrate  that  for  a  considerable 
period,  he  continued  to  maintain  his  high  standing  as  chief  of  the 
Bureau  .of  Bogus  Banking,  in  the  West,  if  not  of  America. 

Though  he  was  observed  to  have  many  mysterious  visitors, 
both  at  his  Northampton  home  and  in  his  local  haunts,  no  further 
overt  act,  either  by  himself  or  those  under  him,  had  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  authorities,  until  the  summer  of  1846,  when  he  w^as 
iigain  arrested  for  counterfeiting  United  States  coin.  In  the 
meantime  the  new  county  of  Summit  had  been  erected  and 
organized,  and  at  the  date  mentioned  the  late  William  S.  C.  Otis 
was  prosecuting  attorney,  w^hile  the  late  Judge  Samuel  W. 
McClure,  then  living  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  was  a  United  States 
oommissioner  for  Summit  county.  Otis  w^as  energetic  and 
persevering  in  pursuit  of  crime,  and  McClure  w^as  prompt  and 
■decisive  as  a  magistrate  and  judge.  The  examination  was  held  at 
the  Court  House,  occupying  several  days,  w^ith  a  large  crowd  of 
spectators  constantly  in  attendance.  The  prosecution  was  fought 
inch  by  inch  by  Judge  Rufus  P.  Spalding,  attorney  for  the 
■defense.  But  the  evidence  was  so  conclusive  that  Commissioner 
McClure  held  Brown  to  bail  in  the  sum  of  $20,000,  to  answer  to  the 
United  States  District  Court  for  Ohio,  at  Columbus. 

[A  day  or  t\sro  before  his  arrest  on  this  charge,  a  civil  suit  w^as 
tried  before  him,  as  a  magistrate,  in  which  McClure  was  one  of 


886  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

the  attorneys,  and  on  which  he  had  reserved  his  decision.  After 
his  arrest,  and  before  his  examination,  as  above,  McClure  called  at 
the  jail  to  ascertain  the  result  of  said  civil  suit,  whereupon  Brown 
pronounced  judgment  in  favor  of  McClure's  client  and  quietly^ 
expressed  the  hope  that  the  forthcoming  examination  before 
Commissioner  McClure  might  be  equally  favorable  to  him.] 

Committed  to  the  Franklin  County  Jail. — Brown's  earlier 
hold  upon  the  confidence  of  responsible  parties  having  become 
lessened  by  lapse  of  time  and  change  of  circumstances,  he  w^a» 
unable  to  procure  so  large  an  amount  of  bail,  and  was  accordingly 
committed  to  the  jail  of  Franklin  County,  at  Columbus.  Subse- 
quently, however,  on  the  application  of  Judge  Spalding,  one  of 
the  judges  of  the  U.  S.  District  Court  reduced  the  bail  to  $5,000,- 
which  was  secured,  and  the  distinguished  defendant  was  released 
from  custody. 

The  trial  commenced  at  Columbus,  on  Saturday,  August  1, 
1846,  Justice  John  McLean, -of  the  United  States  Court,  presiding, 
assisted  by  Judge  Humphrey  H.  Leavitt  of  the  U.  S.  District 
Court  of  Ohio.  The  indictment  charged  Brow^n  with  "  making 
and  uttering  and  assisting  to  make  and  utter  counterfeit  gold  and 
silver  coin,  and  counterfeit  notes  in  the  similitude  of  bank  notes. "^ 
Hon.  Thomas  W.  Bartley,  U.  S.  District  Attorney  for  Ohio,  and 
William  S.  C.  Otis,  Prosecuting  Attorney  for  Summit  County,- 
conducted  the  case  on  the  part  of  the  Government,  and  Hon.  Noah 
M.  Swayne  (after^vards  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  U.  S.  Supreme 
Court)  and  Hon.  Rufus  P.  Spalding  represented  the  defense.  The 
trial  lasted  six  days  and  was  most  exciting  throughout,  the  Court, 
towards  the  end,  on  an  intimation  that  if  the  trial  should  be  likely 
to  go  against  him  the  defendant  would  abscond,  issuing  a  Bench 
warrant,  ordering  Brown  into  custody.  A  large  number  of  wit- 
nesses w^ere  in  attendance,  the  main  effort  of  the  defense  being  to 
impeach  the  testimony  of  the  witnesses  for  the  prosecution,  w^hich 
was  largely  in  the  nature  of  State's  evidence,  by  implicated  parties,, 
to  clear  themselves  from  similar  accusations. 

The  principal  w^itness  was  the  son  of  a  highly  respectable 
farmer  in  a  neighboring  tow^n,  who  had  been  inveigled  into  the 
business  by  the  blandishments  of  Brown,  and  to  \srhom  Brown 
had  from  time  to  time  sold  counterfeit  money  in  exchange  for  a 
horse,  yoke  of  oxen,  etc.,  at  the  rate  of  20  cents  on  the  dollar  for 
paper  money  and  33  1-3  for  coin,  the  latter  mostly  quarter  eagles. 
Sheriff  Lewis  M.  Janes  testified  that  on  the  same  day  that  Brow^n 
was  arrested  by  Deputy  L^nited  States  Marshal  Ithiel  Mills,  her 
(Janes)  searched  Brown's  house,  in  Northampton,  where  he  found, 
under  the  garret  floor,  and  in  the  boxing  of  the  cornice,  several 
parts  of  a  copper-plate  press;  in  a  barrel  in  the  garret  a  large 
number  of  zinc  and  copper  cups,  parts  of  two  galvanic  batteries;: 
in  a  trunk  in  the  store-room,  a  large  quantity  of  bank-note  paper, 
one  ream  entire  and  unbroken,  and  in  the  secretary  sundry  letters- 
and  other  evidence  of  crookedness. 

In  the  Penitentiary  at  Last. — The  trial,  including  the 
arguments  of  counsel  and  the  charge  of  Judge  McLean,  occupied 
six  full  days,  the  court-room  being  crowded  throughout.  Not- 
withstanding the  poAverful  defense  and  able  and  eloquent 
arguments  of  his  counsel,  Messrs.  Swayne  and  Spalding,  the  jury 
disposed  of   the  case  in  just  two  hours,   returning   a    verdict    of 


IN   THE    PENITENTIARY    AT   LAST.  887 

guilty  of  uttering  counterfeit  United  States  coin,  as  charged  in 
the  indictment,  and  Brown  was  immediately  sentenced  by  Judge 
McLean  to  ten  years'  penal  servitude  in  the  Ohio  Penitentiary,  in 
which  institution  he  w^as  duly  installed  on  the  10th  day  of  August, 
1846. 

This  was  his  first  actual  imprisonment,  under  sentence,  during 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  continuous  crime,  ow^ing  to 
the  skill  of  himself  and  the  gang  in  suborning  and  spiriting  away 
witnesses.  Indeed,  he  seemed  to  have  had,  from  the  beginning,  a 
sort  of  premonition  of  the  final  result,  often  remarking  to  his 
friends,  between  his  arrest  and  his  conviction,  that  w^hile  he  had 
always  been  successful  in  dodging  the  pains  and  penalties  of 
State  law,  and  could  generally  manage  to  w^orry  out  a  county,  he 
w^as  fearful  that  '*  Uncle  Sam  "  would  prove  too  much  for  him. 

Dastardly  Act  of  Retaliation. — On  the  night  of  Sunday, 
August  16,  1846,- just  one  week  after  the  conviction  of  Brow^n,  a» 
above  narrated,  the  large  barn  of  the  father  of  the  principal  witness 
against  him  (the  old  gentleman  also  having  been  an  important  wit- 
ness in  the  case),  was  destroyed  by  an  incendiary  fire,  with  its  con- 
tents, hay,  oats,  wheat,  tw^o  horses  and  other  property,  together  with 
several  stacks  of  w^heat  upon  the  outside,  the  loss  being  from  $1,000 
to  $1,200,  with  no  insurance.  Though  there  was  no  tangible  proof 
to  that  effect,  it  was  generally  believed  that  the  barn  was  fired  by 
some  member  of  the  gang  in  retaliation  for  what  was  regarded  as 
an  act  of  treachery  against  the  chief  officer  of  the  fraternity,  by 
one  of  his  subordinates,  and  well  illustrates  the  risks  that  testify- 
ing against  the  gang  involved  in  those  early  times. 

His  Demeanor  in  Prison. — ^His  incarceration  was  a  heavy  blow- 
to  his  pride  and  manhood,  and  though  he  outwardly  maintained 
his  usual  serenity  and  dignity,  his  spirits  were  evidently  severely 
crushed  thereby.  Yet  by  his  correct  deportment,  as  well  as  by  his 
commanding  presence,  he  soon  ^von  the  confidence,  and  even  the 
respect,  of  both  the  officers  of  the  prison;  and  of  his  fellow-convicts, 
for  the  w^riter,  only  a  few  months  after  his  first  incarceration,  on 
visiting  the  prison,  found  him  already  installed  as  ''file  leader"  of 
the  foremost  platoon,  in  the  lock-step  march  of  the  convicts 
between  the  shops  and  the  dining  hall,  cells,  etc.,  and  a  magnifi- 
cent leader  he  made,  too.  It  w^as,  indeed,  a  sorrow^ful  sight,  even 
to  the  w^riter  who  had  labored  so  hard,  in  connection  with  the  offi- 
cers of  justice,  and  subjected  himself  to  such  imminent  risks  of 
personal  injury,  in  his  efforts  (through  his  paper)  to  break  up  the 
gang,  to  see  even  this  ''chief  of  sinners,"  in  such  a  humiliating 
position. 

A  Pardon  Fairly  Won. — It  was  not  long,  however,  before  Mr. 
Brown  was  taken  from  the  ranks,  and  from  the  shops,  and  assigned 
to  lighter  and  more  congenial  duties,  and  finally  given  special 
charge  of  the  prison  hospital.  While  thus  serving,  the  cholera 
broke  out  in  the  prison,  making  fearful  havoc  among  the  inmates. 
In  this  emergency.  Brown  was  ever  cool-headed  and  calm,  and  by 
his  example,  encouragement  and  unfaltering  attention  to  the  sick, 
undoubtedly  carried  many  a  poor  fellow  through,  who  w^ould 
otherwise  have  succumbed  to  the  fell  destroyer. 

This  heroism  and  devotion  w^as  so  highly  appreciated  by  the 
officers  of  the  prison,  that  they  heartily  seconded  the  efforts  that 
w^ere    soon    afterwards    inaugurated   by    his  friends,    under    the 


AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

leadership  of  his  ever-faithful  and  only  daughter,  Laura  M.  Brown 
(the  late  Mrs.  Prof.  Bronson)  for  his  pardon,  w^hich  was  granted 
by  President  Zachary  Taylor,  just  four  months  and  a  half  after  his 
inauguration,  the  pardon  reaching  Columbus,  and  Brow^n  being  set 
at  liberty,  on  the  22nd  day  of  July,  1849;  two  years,  eleven  months 
and  twelve  days  from  the  date  of  his  incarceration. 

From  Bad  to  Worse.— The  free  pardon  from  President  Tay- 
lor, and  the  restoration  of  Brown  to  liberty  and  citizenship,  w^as 
not  followed  by  that  reform  of  his  associations  and  habits  that  his 
family  and  friends  had  anticipated.  His  prestige,  as  the  greatest 
"  financier"  of  the  age,  had  gone  from  him,  and  his  scepter,  as  the 
great  captain  of  the  gang,  had  departed.  He  now,  more  than  ever, 
began  to  consort  with  both  men  and  women  of  the  baser  sort,  and 
to  indulge  to  excess  in  strong  drinks  and  other  degrading  habits, 
while  correspondingly  lowering  himself  in  his  chosen  profession. 

Mrs.  Brown  Seeks  a  Div^orce. — To  such  an  extent  did  his 
evil  habits,  and  his  consequent  immoral  conduct,  prevail,  that  the 
wife  of  his  youth  and  early  manhood — she,  who  had,  for  so  many 
long  years,  faithfully  clung  to  him,  in  both  "evil  and  good  report;" 
she,  who,  while  personal  purity  and  conjugal  lo3"alty  remained, 
^was  ever  ready  to  fly  to  his  side,  whenever  he  was  in  trouble,  w^as 
finally  compelled  to  appeal  to  the  court  for  a  decree  of  separation. 
Her  petition  Avas  filed  in  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  of  Summit 
county,  April  16,  1851.  After  setting  forth  the  date  of  their  mar- 
riage, and  of  her  faithful  performance  of  all  her  wifely  duties,  she 
says: 

"  Your  petitioner  further  represents  that  during  the  last  ten 
years,  and  longer,  the  said  James  Brown  hath  been  unmindful  of, 
and  hath  whollj'^  refused  to  discharge,  the  duties  and  obligations 
resting  on  him  as  the  husband  of  3^our  petitioner;  that  during  all 
that  time  he  hath  entirel}^  neglected  to  provide  food  or  clothing, 
or  the  bare  necessaries  of  life  for  your  petitioner,  and  that  but  for 
the  care  and  protection  of  her  children,  w^ho  supported  her,  your 
petitioner  would  have  been  in  a  state  of  utter  destitution.  Your 
petitioner  further  represents,  that  the  said  James  Brown  hath 
been  an  habitual  drunkard  for  the  last  three  years  and  more. 
Your  petitioner  further  represents,  that  on  or  about  the  8th  day 
of  October,  1850,  the  said  James  Brown,  by  threats  of  personal 
violence,  and  by  putting  your  petitioner  in  extreme  fear  of  her  life, 
drove  her  from  his  house  in  the  night  time,  and  compelled  her  to 
seek  refuge  and  protection  from  a  neighbor,  since  which  time  she 
hath  not  lived  or  cohabited  with  him,  etc." 

The  case  w^as  heard  before  President  Judge,  George  Bliss,  and 
Associate  Judges,  Sylvester  H.  Thompson,  John  Hoy  and  Peter 
Voris,  at  the  December  term,  1851,  the  prayer  of  the  petitioner 
being  granted,  and  a  decree  of  divorce  entered  Accordingly;  there 
being  thenceforth  absolutely  no  intercourse  between  Brown  and 
his  family  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

In  the  Michigan  Penitentiary. — From  this  time  on  his  course 
was  rapidly  downward,  his  habits  of  dissipation  not  only  increas- 
ing, but  rendering  him  less  cautious  in  the  handling  of  the  "goods" 
in  which  he  dealt.  In  February,  1855,  Brown,  with  several  of  his 
pupils  and  confederates,  were  arrested  by  Marshal  Dryden,  of  Co- 
lumbus, and  taken  to  that  city,  for  manufacturing  and  handling 
spurious  coin,  but  finally  released  without  prosecution;    though  a 


BROWN   AGAIN   UNDER   ARREST.  889 

few  years  later  (March,  1859)  a  large  quantity  of  bogus  quarters 
"were  plowed  up  in  the  garden '  formerly  occupied  by  the  family 
with  whom  Brown  for  several  years  resided.  In  the  Winter  of 
1859-60,  Brown  visited  a  former  pupil  of  his  in  this  county,  Elihu 
Chilson,  then  a  resident  of  Kent  county,  Mich.  Here,  either 
through  his  o^vn  imprudence,  or  Chilson's  treachery,  the  officials 
of  that  county  got  "  onto  "  his  operations,  and  "run  him  in."  He 
w^as  indicted,  tried  and  convicted  "for  having  in  his  possession, 
with  intent  to  pass,  a  counterfeit  bill,"  and  sentenced  to  three 
years'  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary  of  that  state.  He  w^as 
received  at  the  prison  March  17,  1860,  and  served  his  full  term. 

A  Proposed  Literary  Venture. — While  he  was  thus  incarcer- 
ated, the  writer  and  the  late  Sherman  Blocker  opened  negotiations 
w^ith  Mr.  Brown  for  the  publication  of  his  auto-biography,  in  book 
form,  the  profits  to  be  equally  divided  betw^een  the  three.  Mr. 
Blocker  visited  him  in  prison,  and  supposed  that  the  arrangements 
had  been  fully  consummated,  the  warden  offering  him  every 
facility  for  the  prosecution  of  the  wrork,when  he  g«t  ready  to  com- 
mence operations.  Returning  home  to  make  the  necessary  prepa- 
rations, Mr.  Blocker  soon  afterwards  received  a  letter  from  Brown, 
demanding,  as  a  prerequisite  to  performance,  on  his  part,  that  w^e 
should  first  secure  his  pardon  from  the  penitentiary.  This,  of 
course,  we  could  not  undertake  to  do,  and  the  project  fell  through. 

Still  the  "Victim  of  Persecution." — Returning  to  Ohio,  after 
his  discharge  from  the  Michigan  penitentiary,  Brow^n  w^as  almost 
immediately  again  placed  under  surveillance  by  the  minions  of  the 
law,  being  on  the  the  23rd  day  of  May,  1863,  arrested  in  Cleveland 
by  a  deputy  U.  S.  Marshal,  for  having  altered  treasury  notes  in  his 
possession,  w^ith  the  purpose  of  passing  them.  Nothing  of  the 
kind  being  found  upon  his  person,  and  other  evidence  promise4 
failing  to  materialize,  after  being  kept  in  jail  a  few^  days,  he  was 
released  from  custody. 

Large  Find  of  Postal  and  Other  Currency. — About  the  mid- 
dle of  February,  1865,  some  school  children  found  an  old  oyster  can 
in  a  stack  of  hay,  near  the  "Yellow  Creek"  headquarters  of  the 
gang,  in  which  were  packed  from  $3,000  to  $4,000  of  counterfeit 
scrip  and  bank  notes,  but  the  ow^nership  of  said  w^ealth  w^as  never 
fully  ascertained,  though  the  conjecture  w^as  that,  as  Brown  had 
recently  returned  from  the  east,  it  belonged  to  him.  Though  the 
boys  w^ho  found  the  scrip  in  question,  supposing  it  to  be  good, 
{and  acting  under  the  too  prevalent  impression  that  whatever  a 
person  finds  belongs  to  him)  had  divided  it  up  among  themselves, 
and  their  comrades.  Mr.  William  Hardy,  township  trustee,  and 
Justice  James  R.  Brown,  succeeded  in  recovering  the  most  of'it, 
and  handing  it  over  to  the  proper  authorities. 

Sheriff  Burlison  Takes  a  Hand  In. — June  17,  1865,  Sheriff 
Burlison  arrested,  in  Akron,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Leonard  Hill, 
w^ith  a  large  amount  of  spurious  money  in  his  possession.  Becom- 
ing satisfied  that  Hill  had  got  his  funds  from  that  distinguished 
*'  financier,"  Brown  was  taken  into  custody  also,  together  with  one 
Thaddeus  Nighman,  of  Canton,  the  entire  haul  of  postal  scrip, 
treasury  notes  and  miscellaneous  bank  bills,  being  betw^een  $10,000 
and  $12,000.  A  few  days  later,  as  a  part  of  the  same  gang,  Burlison 
arrested  a  man  named  Hunter,  at  Apple  Creek,  and  three  men 
named    Daugherty,  Rapp  and  Eshelbaum,  at  West  Salem,  while 


890  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Marshal  Bill's  deputies  gathered  in  some  eight  or  ten  others  who 
had  been  spotted  by  Burlison,  "at  Crestline  and  Cardington, 
together  with  a  press,  plates,  burglars'  tool,  etc.  These  were  all 
transferred  to  the  jail  in  Cleveland.  The  most,  if  not  all,  were 
held  to  bail  to  answ^er  to  the  U.  S.  District  Court,  and,  on  giving 
bond.  Brown  was  released  from  custody. 

Before  a  Higher  Tribunal. — On  returning  from  Cleveland 
— w^hither  he  had  been  to  look  after  his  case — upon  a  coal  boat,  on 
Saturday  evening,  December  9th,  1865,  w^hile  passing  through  the 
Peninsula  lock,  in  attempting  to  w^alk  from  the  stern  to  the  bow^ 
either  by  the  unsteadiness  of  his  step,  or  by  a  sudden  jar,  he  wa& 
precipitated  from  the  running  board  to  the  bottom  of  the  boat, 
breaking  his  shoulder  and  fracturing  his  skull.  He  wasconveyed,^ 
in  an  insensible  condition,  to  his  boarding  place,  near  Yellow 
Creek  Basin,  w^here  he  died  on  Sunday  evening,  December  10th,. 
1865,  at  the  age  of  67  years  and  5  months. 

The  remains  of  the  deceased  were,  by  his  neighbors  and 
associates,  taken  to  the  cemetery,  at  the  village  of  Boston,  where, 
without  any  special  ceremony,  they  were  laid  beside  those  of  his- 
honored  parents,  whose  memory  he  had  so  signally  disgraced. 
Thus  miserably  ended  the  ignoble  life  of  one  of  the  most  extensive 
and  accomplished  criminals  of  the  Nineteenth  Century, — a  man 
w^ho,  by  both  nature  and  education,  was  well  qualified  to  shine  in 
the  counsels  of  the  nation,  but  who,  by  his  blandishments,  and 
w^rongly  directed  talents  and  energy,  did  more  to  corrupt  the 
youth  of  the  Western  country  who  were  brought  within  the  scope 
of  his  baleful  influence,  than  any  score  of  his  compeers  in  crime, 
as  shrewd  and  dextrous,  in  the  management  of  men  and  money,  a& 
many  of  them  in  reality  w^ere. 

Of  course,  so  brief  a  sketch  as  this,  though  more  comprehen- 
sive than  any  hitherto  written,  is  utterly  inadequate  to  a  full  and 
perfect  biography  of  "Jim"  Brown  and  the  mischief  he  has- 
w^rought.  Though  pleasant  in  manner,  sympathetic  and  benevo- 
lent in  his  impulses,  and  liberal  to  a  fault,  in  cases  of  suffering 
and  w^ant,  the  fact  still  remains  that  he  led  hundreds  of  young 
men  to  ruin,  disgrace,  imprisonment  and,  possibly,  death — 
thereby  bringing  hundreds  of  families  to  grief  and  despair;  his 
own  household  not  even  being  exempt,  as  evidenced  by  what  has 
been  written,  and  by  what  is  yet  to  follow. 

Mr.  Brown's  Family. — Of  Mr.  Brown's  family,  the  foUowing^ 
may  properly  be  said  in  conclusion:  The  eldest  son,  Daniel  M., 
died  in  Northampton,  January'  21,  1851,  aged  31  years  and  8  months. 
The  devoted  but  div^orced  wife,  Lucy  Mather  Brow^n,  died  in  Akron 
August  21, 1884,  aged  84  years  and  6  months.  Their  only  daughter,^ 
Laura  M.,  a  very  accomplished  lady,  and  talented  artist,  and  wha 
so  faithfully  remained  steadfast  to  the  erring  father,  so  long  as- 
any  hope  of  his  reformation  remained,  w^as,  in  the  early  fifties^ 
married  to  Mr.  John  Frankenstein,  of  the  city  of  Springfield,  a 
portrait  and  landscape  painter  of  considerable  celebrity  in 
Southern  Ohio.  Mr.  Frankenstein's  habits  and  conduct  proving 
uncongenial  and  offensive,  she  returned  to  Summit  county  a  few^ 
years  later,  and  in  1859  obtained  a  decree  of  divorce  from  him. 
She  soon  afterwards  married  Prof.  C.  P.  Bronson,  of  New^  York,r 
eminent  as  a  teacher  of,  and  lecturer  upon,  physiology,  elocution,^ 
etc.,  with  whom  she  happily  lived  until  his  death,  April  25,  1868, 


"LIKE   FATHER,    LIKE    SON."  891 

at  the  age  of  64  years  and  5  months,  his  remains  being  brought  ta 
Akron  for  interment,  Mrs.  Bronson  also  died  in  New  York, 
September  25,  1885,  at  the  age  of  61,  her  remains  no\\r  reposing 
beside  those  of  her  husband  in  Glendale  Cemetery.  The  early 
impression — somewhat  prevalent  even  to  this  day^-that  Laura  did 
the  filling  in  of  her  father's  counterfeit  money,  though  she  wrote 
a  most  beautiful  hand,  had  no  foundation  w^hatever,  her  abhor- 
rence of  the  business  being  outspoken  and  unequivocal. 

The  younger  son,  James  R.  Brown,  Ksq.,  always  a  thoroughly 
upright,  intelligent  and  courteous  gentleman,  lived  upon  his  large 
and  w^ell  cultivated  farm,  in  the  tow^nship  of  Northampton,  until 
his  death,  March  20,  1889,  his  family  still  remaining  upon  the  old 
homestead. 

"DAN"  BROWN  NUMBER  TWO. 

As  a  proper  companion-piece  for,  and  a  fitting  sequel  to,  the 
career  of  the  greatest  illicit  "financier"  of  his  time,  "Jim"  Brown, 
herein  above  narrated,  a  brief  sketch  of  the  exploits  of  hi& 
eldest  son,  Daniel  M.  Brown,  will  right  here  be  in  order. 

"Dan"  was,  in  many  respects,  entirely  unlike  his  father,  being 
of  fair  complexion,  with  light  blue  or  gray  eyes  and  light  brown 
hair,  and  though  nearly  or  quite  six  feet  in  height,  somew^hat 
effeminate  and  extremely  gentle  in  his  appearance  and  manner. 
But,  notwithstanding  his  gentle  ^vays,  and  in  spite  of  the  better 
counsels  of  his  intelligent  and  faithful  mother  and  only  sister,  he 
seemed  to  take  spontaneously  to  the  evil  courses  of  his  father, 
except  in  the  matter  of  excessive  drink — though  it  is  said  that  that 
father,  while  alluring  the  cherished  sons  of  other  fathers  to  their 
ruin,  earnestly  sought  to  have  him  engage  in  some  more  honor- 
able calling. 

"Treading  in  the  Footsteps," — Just  how  early  "Dan"  com- 
menced to  dabble  in  contraband  money,  is  not  now  ascertainable. 
As  early,  however,  as  February,  1838,  the  following,  under  the 
above  heading,  was  copied  from  the  Cleveland  Advertiser  into 
one  of  the  local  papers  of  Akron: 

"A  young  man  by  the  name  of  Brown,  a  son  of  the  notorious  Jame» 
Brown,  of  Akron,  was  broug'ht  from  Elyria,  yesterday,  to  our  jail.  He  was 
taken  up  as  a  counterfeiter,  some  $20,000  im  counterfeit  money  having-  been 
found  on  or  about  his  person.  There  was  also  a  man  with  him  passing  by 
the  name  of  Rathbun,  with  several  aliases.  Why  they  were  brought  to  this 
county  we  do  not  know,  unless  it  is  that  the  facility  with  which  Brown  free* 
himself  from  his  irons  has  somewhat  alarmed  the  officers  of  our  neighbor- 
ing county.  It  is  said  that  he  sawed  his  irons  apart  three  times  while  he 
was  in  Elyria.     'Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  goes.'" 

L/ORAiN  Officers  Outwitted.— Young  Brown,  at  this  time,  was 
under  18  years  of  age,  and  yet,  young  as  he  was,  he  w^as  altogether 
too  old  for  the  Lorain  county  officials.  It  seems  that  he  and  his 
companion  were  arrested  in  the  saddle,  somew^here  in  Medina 
county,  and,  under  guard,  taken  immediately  to  Elyria.  Before 
being  searched,  however,  he  w^as  permitted  to  go  into  the  hotel 
stable  and  rub  down  his  horse,  and  instruct  his  hostler  as  to  its 
care  while  he  was  in  custody.  On  finally  being  searched,  na 
counterfeit  money,  or  other  evidence  of  crookedness,  was  found  on 
his  person.  But  there  ivas  found,  among  the  straw  bedding  of  his 
horse's  stall,  a  large  amount  of  counterfeit  money.  For  lack  of 
conclusive  evidence,  how^ever,  that  he  put  it  there,  or   had  ever 


892  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

had  it  in  his  possession,  though  held  to  bail  by  the  examining 
magistrate,  and  committed  to  jail  as  above  stated,  no  bill  was 
found  against  him  by  the  Grand  Jury,  and  "Dan,"  in  this,  his 
initial  wrestle  with  the  law,  was  discharged  from  custody.  His 
companion,  Rathbun,  -was  indicted,  escaped  from  jail,  was  re- 
captured, his  case  continued  for  several  terms,  and  finally 
released  from  custody  w^ithout  being  brought  to  trial. 

His  Subsequent  Career. — Perhaps  for  the  reason  that  the 
course  he  \v^as  pursuing  was  disapproved  of  by  his  father,  as  it 
was  most  certainly  distressing  to  his  mother  and  the  rest  of  the 
family,  young  Brown  kept  entirely  aloof  from  his  native  hills  and 
valleys,  in  his  crooked  operations,  for  a  number  of  years  devoting 
himself  to  "business"  in  the  Maumee  and  Black  Swamp  country, 
in  northwestern  Ohio,  and  in  southern  Michigan,  northern 
Indiana,  and  other  portions  of  the  then  Great  West.  Yet  "Dan" 
often  visited  his  old  haunts,  and  doubtless  regarded  this  as  his 
home,  the  3(X)-acre  farm  ever  since  occupied  by  the  family  having 
been  purchased  by  him  in  the  early  forties,  and  he  being  united 
in  marriage  to  his  cousin,  Minerva  A.  Darrow,  of  this  county,  in 
1845. 

Some  of  His  Western  Operations. — While  undoubtedly  con- 
tinuing to  deal  more  or  less  extensively  in  paper  "money,"  his 
attention  seems  to  have  been  early  turned  more  especially  towards 
promoting  the  "  resumption  of  specie  payments" — by  the  produc- 
tion of  bogus  coin  of  such  an  excellent  quality  as  to  almost  defy 
detection.  In  1842,  George  C.Bates,  Esq.,  now  of  Denver,  Colorado, 
was  United  States  District  Attorney  for  the  State  of  Michigan. 
Through  a  deputy  in  Oakland  county,  in  the  southeast  portion  of 
the  State,  Mr.  Bates  learned  that  finely  executed  dollars,  halves 
and  quarters,  were  being  largely  circulated  all  over  that  region  of 
the  country,  and  planned  a  trip  to  the  neighborhood  to  reconnoiter. 

An  Important  Discovery. — Before  starting,  however,  his 
attention  was  called  to  a  suspicious  cask,  or  puncheon,  filled  with 
some  heavy  substance,  which,  by  its  tendency  to  change  its  center 
of  gravity,  when  being  handled,  had  attracted  the  notice  of  the 
parties  in  Detroit  with  whom  it  had  been  left  for  shipment  to 
""Daniel  West,"  at  Portsmouth,  the  southern  terminus  of  the  Ohio 
canal,  via  steamer  to  Clevel&nd.  Calling  to  his  aid  a  deputy  U. 
S.  Marshal,  Mr.  Bates  proceeded  to  open  the  huge  cask,  and  found 
therin  a  splendidly  constructed  scre^v  press  for  cutting,  stamping 
and  milling  coin,  with  its  immense  levers  and  weights,  together 
w^ith  a  full  paraphernalia  of  coiners'  tools,  of  most  perfect  finish, 
and  quite  a  large  supply  of  plate  metal  ready  for  the  mint,  a  quan- 
tity of  unfinished  coins,  etc. 

Carefully  replacing  this  apparatus  and  material,  Mr.  Bates 
permitted  it  to  be  shipped  to  its  destination,  as  per  consignment, 
at  the  same  time  sending  a  Deputy  Marshal  along,  incog:,  to  ap- 
prehend the  man,  or  men,  who  should  call  to  get  it. 

Again  too  Sharp  for  'Em. — But  though  as  vigilant,  probably, 
as  the  average  U.  S.  official,  Mr.  "  Daniel  West,"  was  altogether  too 
sharp  for  the  Michigan  Deputy  Marshal,  for,  almost  under  his  very 
nose,  while  passing  from  the  stearper  into  a  warehouse,  in  Cleve- 
land, to  be  transferred  to  a  "  through"  boat  for  Portsmouth,  the 
puncheon,  w^ith  its  precious  contents,  mysteriously^  disappeared, 
and    the  discomfited    Michigander    was    compelled    to    return  to 


ALTOGETHER  TOO  SHARP  FOR  'em.  895 

Detroit  with  the  humiliating  confession  to  the  District  Attorney^ 
that  he  had  been  out^vitted  by  wily  Dan,  or  some  of  his  satellites. 

Oakland  County  Disclosures. — The  District  Attorney  then 
visited  the  neighborhood  where  he  had  been  informed  so  large  a 
product  of  this  mill  was  in  circulation.  Taking  his  w^ife  and  the 
young  son  of  U.  S.  Marshal  Howard,  of  Detroit,  with  him,  as  a 
blind,  Mr.  Bates,  in  the  disguise  of  a  hunter,  traveled  over  the  en- 
tire region  named,  and  soon  found  that  some  $40,000  or  $50,000  of 
the  bogus  coin  had  been  manufactured  by  Dan  Brow^n  and  his  ac- 
complices, most  of  whom  w^ere  ignorant  but  honest  farmers,  who 
had,  by  Dan,  been  inveigled  into  the  business  under  the  pretense 
that,  as  it  could  not  be  distinguished  from  the  genuine,  it  w^as  na 
crime,  or  even  sin,  to  pass  it.  Nine  of  these  men  w^ere  arrested 
and  taken  to  Detroit,  and  the  United  States  Court  being  then  in 
session,  they  were  indicted,  tried  and  sentenced  to  the  peni- 
tentiary. Tw^o  of  these  deluded  farmers  soon  died  of  grief  in 
prison,  and  a  few  years  later  several  of  them  w^ere  pardoned  by  the 
President  on  the  recommendation  of  the  District  Attorney. 

More  "  Sharp"  Officers  Outwitted. — "  Dan"  Brown  was  alsa 
indicted  by  the  same  Grand  Jury,  but,  previous  to  this,  finding 
that  the  atmosphere  of  Michigan  w^as  too  "  sultry"  for  either  com- 
fort or  safety,  after  shipping  his  machinery,  as  above  stated,  he 
had  taken  some  $40,000  of  his  product  to  other  markets,  out  of 
w^hich,  at  wholesale  rates,  it  is  supposed  that  he  realized  from  $15,- 
000  to  $20,000.  The  District  Attorney  now  turned  his  attention  ta 
tracing  the  w^hereabouts  of  Dan  Brow^n,  alias  "  Dan  West." 
Learning,  through  an  intercepted  letter,  passing  through  the  De- 
troit postoffice,  that  his  man  would  be  at  a  certain  hotel  in  St. 
Louis,  on  Christmas  eve,  Mr.  Bates  sent  his  deputy  marshal  and  a 
detective  thither,  armed  w^ith  the  necessary  documents,  to  secure 
his  arrest-  and  return  to  Michigan.  On  their  arrival  at  the  hotel 
in  question,  the  sharp  detectives  not  only  entered  their  ow^n  name& 
and  places  of  residence  on  the  hotel  register,  but,  seeing  the  name 
of  "  Daniel  West"  on  the  same  page,  they  innocently  inquired  of 
the  supposed  clerk,  standing  behind  the  counter,  if  Mr.  West  was 
in,  saying  that  they  w^ould  like  to  speak  with  him.  Now  it  so  hap- 
pened that  the  office  clerk  had  temporarily  stepped  out,  and  the 
party  of  whom  the  inquiry  had  been  made,  \vas  the  veritable"  Dan 
West,"  otherw^ise  Dan  Brow^n,  himself.  Coolly  and  politely  saying 
to  the  newcomers  that  he  would  call  Mr.  West,  Mr.  Brown  passed 
out  through  the  kitchen,  and  a  few  minutes  later  w^as  on  board  a 
Mississippi  steamer,  en  route  for  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  a  point 
often  visited  by  him  about  those  days. 

A  Curious  Story. — The  main  features  of  Young  Brown'* 
Michigan  and  St.  Louis  exploits,  as  above  related,  were  compiled 
from  a  letter  from  ex-District  Attorney  Bates,  published  in  the 
Cleveland  Leader,  in  November,  1885.  Mr.  Bates  then  goes  on  ta 
relate  that,  having  retired  from  the  office  of  District  Attorney,  and 
at  liberty  to  defend  Dan,  if  he  chose  to  employ  him,  Brow^n  sent 
his  sister,  a  very  beautiful  and  accomplished  girl,  to  retain  him  to 
end  the  trouble  in  which  her  brother  was  then  placed;  offering 
him  $800  in  gold  and  her  watch  and  chain;  telling  him  that  her 
father,  old  James  Brown  was  in  the  penitentiary;  that  Dan  w^a& 
married  and  his  w^ife  w^as  in  delicate  health;  that  her  mother  wa& 
old,  and  that  if  he  could  and  would  end  the  prosecution  against 


S94  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

her  brother,  she  \srould  give  him  the  money  and  watch,  amounting 
to  about  $1,000. 

Bates  declined  to  accept  a  retainer,  without  first  having  an  in- 
tervicAv  with  "  Dan,"  somewhere  in  Ohio,  w^hen,  after  show^ing 
him  all  the  evidence  against  him,  taken  before  the  Grand  Jury,  if 
he  concluded  to  take  the  risk,  and  go  to  trial,  he  (Bates)  would  then 
take  the  $1,000  and  do  his  best  to  clear  him  from  the  indictment, 
and  if  successful  he  was  to  be  paid  $1,000  more.  It  >vas  finally  ar- 
ranged, through  correspondence,  that  Mr.  Bates  should  go  to  Mau- 
mee,  where  parties  would  meet  him  and  take  him  to  the  trysting 
place,  where,  for  the  first  time,  he  w^as  to  meet  the  w^ily  young 
-counterfeiter,  face  to  face. 

Interesting  Interview. — Mr.  Bates  goes  on  to  state  that, 
reaching  Maumee  about  daylight,  he  was  taken  by  the  party  sent 
to  meet  him,  to  a  dismantled  old  brick  stage  house,  about  six 
miles  out,  on  the  Perrysburg  pike,  the  house  being  kept  by  a  repul- 
sive old  wornan,  and  all  of  its  appointments  of  the  most  dilapi- 
dated character,  except  the  single  room  occupied  by  Brown, 
w^hich  was  both  elegant  and  luxurious.  The  interview  itself  we 
will  let  Mr.  ex-District  Attorney  Bates  relate  in  his  OAvn  graphic, 
though  perhaps  somewhat  exaggerated,  language,  as  follows: 

"  Brow^n  received  me  w^ith  the  grace  of  a  prince.  He  apolo- 
gized for  bringing  me  there  alone,  by  saying  that  I  had  hunted 
him  so  closely,  pursued  him  so  vigorously,  that  he  feared  I  might 
still  entrap  him  into  custody,  at  which  I  at  once  told  him  that  if  that 
was  his  opinion  of  me  I  w^ould  instantly  leave  him  and  walk  back 
to  Maumee ;  that  so  long  as  I  was  attorney  for  the  United  States  I 
w^ould  pursue  any  criminal  unto  death,  but  that  now  I  was  ready, 
if  he  saw  fit,  after  reading  all  the  evidence,  to  take  his  retainer  and 
■defend  him,  if  I  could,  through  the  courts. 

"He  made  a  pitcher  of  punch  and  offered  it  to  me,  but  I 
declined  to  drink  until  he  first  did  so,  to  which  he  replied 
with  elegant  grace;  'Bates,  gentlemen  of  our  profession  never 
drink.  It  w^on't  do.  Had  not  my  father  and  his  counsel  been 
■drunk  at  Columbus,  at  his  trial,  he  would  never  have  been 
convicted  of  passing  a  half-eagle  gold  coin,  for  we  never  pass 
spurious  money.  We  are  wholesale  counterfeit  coiners  and  only 
sell  to  retail  dealers,  who  buy  from  us  well-knowing  that  the  coin 
is  spurious.' 

"  So  I  drank  the  punch  from  a  silver  goblet  out  of  a  solid  silver 
pitcher,  and  w^ent  to  work  all  that  winter's  day.  I  went  over  the 
evidence  again  and  again,  pointed  out  the  danger  of  that  lady 
witness,  his  old  sweetheart,  then  living  in  Detroit,  and  now^  a 
religious  old  grandmother  there.  I  told  him  that  if  United  States 
District  Attorney  Norvell  did  not  find  her,  I  would  guarantee  his 
acquittal,  but  if  she  came  into  court  he  was  a  convict  beyond  hope. 
Finally  he  decided  that  the  risk  was  too  great,  and  that  he  would 
not  venture  it,  but  offered  to  pay  me  a  large  sum  of  money  to 
retain  me  in  the  future,  Avhich  I  declined,  saying :  'Pay  me  for  my 
team  in  coming  here;  that  is  all  I  can  or  will  take,  for  it  may 
happen  that  I  shall  be  United  States  District  Attorney  again  ;  and 
if  so,  I  shall  again  go  for  you,  and  try  and  send  you  where  those 
poor  idiots  whom  you  seduced  are  now,  but  I  will  not  touch  a 
<lollar  of  your  money.' 


HIS   OPERATIONS    IN   CALIFORNIA,  895 

"We  parted  then  and  there,  but  before  parting  he  took  out  his 
ivory  flute  and  played  the  '  Last  Rose  of  Summer'  with  an  exquisite 
taste  that  I  have  never  heard  equalled  except  once,  in  San  Francisco, 
when  Ole  Bull,  Max  Strakosch  and  Patti's  eldest  sister,  Mrs. 
Thorn,  united  in  its  execution,  after  dinner  at  Felix  Argenti's,  in 
1854." 

Mr.  Bates  then  goes  on  to  say  that  his  successor,  as  district 
attorney,  having  died  in  1848,  he  w^as  reappointed  to  that  office, 
and  soon  afterwards  commenced  hunting  for  Dan,  w^ith  the  view 
of  pushing  the  prosecution  againt  him,  under  the  indictment 
previously  found,  but  that  he  managed  to  elude  him,  and  finally, 
in  1850,  went  to  California. 

Mr.  Bates  Corroborated. — On  the  trial  of  James  Brown,  the 
father,  in  the  United  States  District  Court  for  Ohio,  at  Columbus, 
in  August,  1846,  as  detailed  in  the  foregoing  pages.  United  States 
Deputy  Marshal  Thomas  McKinstry,  pf  Cleveland,  was  a  witness 
in  behalf  of  the  prosecution.  Marshal  McKinstry  testified 
that  having  heard  that  there  had  been  a  large  bogus  machine 
brought  to  Cleveland  and  afterw^ards  removed  from  there,  and 
being  anxious  to  capture  it,  he  had  an  interview  with  Brown  upon 
the  subject. 

"Brown  told  me,"  said  the  Marshal,  "that  his  son  Daniel  had 
got  into  difficulty  in  Michigan,  and  if  I  would  do  so  and  so  to  aid 
him,  he  would  do  so  and  so  to  aid  me  in  getting  the  machine.  I 
exacted  from  him  an  earnest  that  he  would  do  as  he  proposed,  and 
he  gave  me  a  counterfeit  gold  piece  to  show  what  could  be  done." 

Brilliant  California  Scheme. — As  many  of  the  readers  of 
these  chapters  will  remember,  the  w^riter  ^vas  one  among  the  vast 
army  of  gold  seekers  that  crossed  the  plains  and  mountains  to 
California  in  1850.  With  the  two  or  three  hundred  other  Summit 
county  people  who  sought  the  golden  shores,  that  year,  was 
William  T.  Mather,  a  former  well-known  and  highly  respected 
business  man  of  Akron.  Mr.  Mather  was  a  brother  of  the  late 
Mrs.  Lucy  M.  Brow^n,  w^ife  of  "Jim"  Brow^n,  heretofore  written  of, 
and  consequently  o>Arn  uncle  to  the  younger  "Dan"  Brown. 

Mr.  Mather  engaged  in  business  in  Sacramento  City,  where, 
and  in  San  Francisco,  the  writer  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  him 
several  times  during  the  summer  and  fall  of  1850,  and  the  winter 
of  1850,  '51.  About  the  middle  of  November,  1850,  Mr.  Mather,  then 
just  recovering  from  a  severe  fit  of  sickness,  in  Sacramento,  came 
dow^n  to  the  Bay  City,  to  escape  from  the  pestilential  atmosphere  of 
cholera-stricken  Sacramento,  in  w^hich  some  half  dozen  Akronians 
had  just  succumbed  to  the  terrible  scourge  w^ithin  as  many  days. 
While  conversing  with  Mr.  Mather  one  day,  he  said  :  "Lane,  w^ho 
do  you  suppose  I  saw  the  other  day,  at  Sacramento,  on  his  w^ay 
home  to  Ohio?"  "Give  it  up!"  I  replied;  "there  are  so  many 
fellows  flitting  homev(rard  just  now,  it  w^ould  be  difficult  to  guess." 
"Well,"  said  he,  it  was  that  hopeful  nephew  of  mine,  Dan  Brown." 
"Dan  Brown!"  I  exclaimed;  "I  didn't  know  he  w^as  in  this 
country."  "O,  yes,"  said  Mather,  "he  roughed  it  across  the  plains 
w^ith  the  crow^d,  last  spring."  "What's  he  been  doing?"  I  inquired. 
"You  tell!"  responded  Mather.  "When  I  put  that  question  to 
Dan,  he  kinder  laughed,  and  said,  'O,  I've  been  speculating  a  little." ' 
"How  much  of  a  'pile'  has  he  got?"  I  inquired.  "Well,  he  wouldn't 
tell  me  much  about  it,  but   I   kinder   guess  he'll  get  home  with 


896  .    AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

$75,000,  or  $80,000— that  is,  if  he  lives  to  get  home,  for  he's  in  mightjr 
poor  health  ;  consumption  I  guess."  "Why  didn't  you  tell  him  to- 
hunt  me  up?  I  might  have  given  him  some  assistance  in  getting 
off,"  said  I.  "Oh,"  laughingly  replied  Mather,  "I  thought  it  might 
revive  unpleasant  memories  between  you.  You  used  to  give  him 
and  old  Jim  fits  in  the  Buzzard,  you  know." 

Great  Excitement  in  the  "Diggins." — Up  to  this  time  there 
had  been  no  paper  money  of  any  description  whatever,  in  circula- 
tion in  California — gold  and  silver  coin,  or  gold  dust  and  nuggets^ 
at  so  much  per  grain  or  ounce,  being  the  only  mediums  of  financial 
and  commercial  traffic  and  exchange.  Up  to  this  time,  too,  it  w^as- 
expensive  sending  money  home  to  friends  in  the  States,  by  express, 
or  through  the  banks,  and  both  burdensome  and  extremely  hazard- 
ous, for  the  fortunate  miner  to  undertake  to  carry  his  gold  dust 
home,  or  from  place  to  place  in  the  mines,  upon  his  person. 

In  the  States,  following  the  disastrous  panic  of  1837,  a  system 
of  State  Safety  Fund  Banks  had  been  established,  in  which  the 
inhabitants  of  those  States  had  the  utmost  confidence.  Among 
the  very  stanchest  of  these  institutions  w^as  the  old  State  Bank 
of  Missouri.  What  wonder  is  it  then,  that,  w^hen  a  gentlemanly 
appearing  traveling  broker  appeared  among  the  miners,  with 
bright,  new  and  crisp  $50  and  $100  bills  on  their  favorite  home 
bank,  the  hundreds  and  thousands  of  "  Pukes,"  as  the  emigrants^ 
from  Missouri  had  been  nick-named,  then  in  the  mines,  should 
eagerly  jump  at  them,  even  paying  a  small  premium  in  gold  dust 
at  current  rates? 

A  very  brief  period  served  to  w^ork  up  so  large  a  demand  for 
these  notes,  that  the  "Agent"  of  the  bank,  as  he  represented 
himself  to  be,  found  no  difficulty  in  working  off  large  blocks  of  his 
"currency,"  not  only  among  the  miners  themselves  but  also 
among  the  local  brokers  of  the  interior,  the  execution  of  the  bills 
being  so  perfect  as  to  defy  detection  from  any  but  the  most 
skillful  experts,  a  distinction  to  which  but  few^  of  the  brokers  of 
that  country  could  at  that  time  properly  lay  claim.  It  was  believed 
that  from  $80,000  to  $100,000  of  the  spurious  money  was  thus 
exchanged  for  coin  or  dust. 

The  very  nature  of  the  supply  and  demand  w^as  such  that  for 
many  wrecks  none  of  the  crisp  paper  "money"  found  its  way  to 
the  large  cities,  or  entered  into  general  traffic,  and  thus  for  a  long 
time  escaped  detection.  But  w^hen  the  fraud  was  finally  discov- 
ered, it  may  well  be  imagined  there  w^as  consternation  in  the 
camps  of  both  digger  and  broker,  in  the  mining  regions.  Indig- 
nation meetings  w^ere  held,  and  committees  w^ere  appointed  and 
detectives  employed  to  ferret  out  and  bring  the  w^ily  offender  ta 
justice,  through  the  then  popular  tribunal  of  Judge  Lynch. 

Identity,  Pursuit,  Etc.— The  vigilantes  found  little  difficulty 
in  fixing  the  identity  of  the  adroit  operator,  and  tracing  him  to 
San  Francisco,  and  on  board  the  Panama  steamer.  But  he  had  a 
month  or  more  the  start  of  them,  and  there  were  no  railroads  or 
telegraphs  there  in  those  days,  by  which  a  fleeing  criminal  could 
be  headed  off  before  reaching  his  destination.  They  could  only 
bide  their  time,  and  await  the  sailing  of  one  of  the  semi-monthly 
steamers  which  left  San  Francisco  for  Panama  about  the  first  of 
January,  1851. 


DEATH   CLOSES   HIS   CAREER.  897 

Home  in  Time  to  Die. — In  the  meantime  the  fleeing  fugitive 
reached  New  York  in  a  greatly  enfeebled  condition.  Here,  in 
response  to  a  telegram,  he  is  met  by  friends  who  aid  him  to  reach 
the  family  homestead  in  Northampton,  alive.  The  inroads  of  his 
insidious  malady  (scurvy)  and  the  fatigue  of  the  long  and  tedious 
journey,  however,  had  so  told  upon  him,  that  it  was  evident  to 
both  himself  and  friends,  his  tenure  of  physical  life  was  very 
short,  and  a  few  brief  hours  might  bring  the  end. 

Legal  as  well  as  medical  counsel  was  hastily  summoned  and 
his  temporal  affairs  speedily  adjusted.  The  300  acre  homestead 
was  deeded  to  his  brother,  James  R.  Brown,  December  27,  1850, 
(the  consideration  named  in  the  deed  being  $3,000);  his  money 
— whether  in  large  or  small  amounts,  and  whether  honestly  or 
dishonestly  acquired — was  distributed  according  to  his  wishes, 
among  his  friends  and  relatives  by  his  own  hand. 

Having  thus  closed  his  earthly  affairs,  on  the  21st  day  of  Jan- 
uary, 1851,  at  the  age  of  31  years  and  8  months,  he  peacefully 
closed  his  eyes  upon  earthly  scenes,  and  passed  into  the  presence 
of  the  Great  Judge,  whose  justice  he  could  not  question,  and  whose 
decrees  he  could  not  evade.  He  was  quietly  buried  upon  the  home 
farm  in  Northampton,  and  a  neat  marble  monument  erected  over 
his  grave,  his  remains  being  subsequently  removed  to  Akron  Rural 
Cemetery  and  laid  beside  those  of  his  wife,  who  died  June  27th, 
1874,  aged  48  years,  11  months  and  27  days. 

Disappointed  Detective. — The  California  committee,  above 
spoken  of,  on  their  arrival  in  New  York,  found  no  difficulty  in 
tracing  their  man  to  that  city,  and  from  thence  to  Ohio.  Reaching 
Cleveland,  inquiry  revealed  the  fact  that  the  man  they  were 
searching  for,  was  dead.  This  statement  the  committee  discred- 
ited, believing  it  to  be  a  ruse  to  throw  the  officers  of  justice  off  the 
track.  Arriving  in  Akron,  they  were  referred  to  the  attorney, 
Hon.  Ruf  us  P.  Spalding,  who  had  aided  in  closing  up  his  business 
affairs,  and  the  physian.  Dr.  Alpheus  Kilbourn,  who  had  attended 
him  in  his  last  hours,  both  of  whom  assured  them  that  the  man 
they  ^vere  in  pursuit  of  was  in  reality  dead. 

The  committee  were  still  incredulous,  and  one  the  number,  an 
experienced  California  detective,  was  delegated  to  visit  the  family 
homestead  and  solicit  permission  to  disinter  the  body;  his  state- 
ment being  that  his  father,  in  one  of  the  Southern  or  Western 
States,  had  become  surety  for  "Daniel  West,"  in  the  sum  of  $3,000 
from  the  payment  of  w^hich  proof  of  West's  death  w^ould  relieve 
him.  Permission  for  the  disinterment  was  readily  given,  and 
the  removal  of  the  lid  of  the  casket  instantly  convinced  the 
pursuing  party  that  the  cadaverous  remains  therein  reposing  w^ere 
indeed  those  of  "Dan  West,"  the  well  known  alias  of  Daniel  M. 
Brown. 

Thus  passed  away  one  of  the  most  expert  and,  for  his  years, 
one  of  the  most  successful  counterfeiters  in  America.  In  conclu- 
sion it  is  but  just  to  say  that  while  the  surviving  relatives  natu- 
rally feel  extremely  sensitive  in  regard  to  any  mention,  either 
public  or  private,  of  the  subjects  of  this  chapter,  they  are  all  held 
in  the  highest  esteem  by  their  neighbors  and  acquaintances,  and 
should  not,  and  will  not,  in  any  degree  whatsoever,  be  held 
accountable  for  the  wrongful  actions  of  their  talented  but  mis- 
guided ancestors. 

67 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

NORTHFIELD  TOWXvSHIP  -EARLY  SETTLEMEXT— MILITARY  AND  CIVIL  STATUS- 
MYSTERIOUS  DISAPPEARAXCE  OF  RUPERT  CHARLESWORTH  RUMORS  OF 
FOUL  PLAY  -ARREST  OF  DORSEY  W.  VIERS,  AFTER  NEARLY  FIVE  YEARS, 
FOR  THE  CRIME  OF  MURDER— PROTRACTED  TRIAL  AXD  XARROW  ESCAPE 
FROM  COXVICTIOX  -LOXG  AXD  TIRELESS  SEARCH  FOR  THE  MISSIXG  MAX- 
SUCCESS  AT  LAST— RETURX  OF  CHARLESWORTH  AFTER  XEARLY  FIFTEEN 
YEARS— LARGE  PUBLIC  MEETIXG— CHARLESWORTH  FULLY  IDENTIFIED — 
VIERS  TRIUMPHAXTLY  VIXDICATED— A  GEXUIXE  "  ROMAXCE  IX  REAL 
LIFE." 

NORTHFIELD'S   BEGINNING. 

IT  is  not  the  province  of  this  w^ork  to  enter  into  a  full  detail  of 
the  origin  and  early  settlement  of  the  several  townships  of  the 
county,  or  to  give  full  personal  descriptions  of  all  the  pioneer 
residents  thereof,  or  of  all  their  battlings  with  privations, 
hardships,  Indians  and  wild  beasts.  This  has  already  been  quite 
thoroughly  done  by  others,  and  its  reproduction,  here,  would  not 
only  make  the  work  undertaken  by  the  writer  too  voluminous,  but 
also  involve  an  unwarrantable  appropriation  of  the  researches  and 
labors  of  others. 

.  Though  regarded,  by  its  original  Connecticut  proprietors,  as 
one  of  the  very  best  townships  upon  the  Western  Reserve,  North- 
field,  for  reasons  not  necessary  to  enumerate  here,  was  not  fully 
opened  to  settlement  as  early  as  some  of  the  contiguous  tow^nships 
now  embraced  w^ithin  the  limits  of  Summit  county.  For  the 
purposes  of  this  w^ork,  it  is  sufficient  to  note  the  fact  that  North- 
field's  first  settler  was  Mr.  Isaac  Bacon,  from  Massachusetts,  who 
w^ith  his  family  located  on  lot  63,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  northwest 
of  the  Center,  in  xVpril,  1807;  the  next  accession  being  the  family 
of  his  brother-in-law,  Jeremiah  Cranhier,  in  June,  1810. 

Nam^,  Organization,  Etc. — At  an  informal  meeting  of  all  the 
male  inhabitants  of  the  township,  assembled  for  the  purpose  of 
aiding  a  new-comer  to  erect  a  cabin,  the  question  of  naming  the 
township  w^as  raised,  and  various  names  w^ere  suggested,  but  none 
seemed  to  meet  with  general  favor  until  Jeremiah  Cranmer 
mentioned  that  of  Northfield  (probably  from  a  town  "bf  that  name 
in  his  native  State),  which  was  finally  adopted  by  the  company 
and  Northfield  it  has  been  to  the  present  day,  and  appropriately 
so,  as  being  on  the  extreme  north  side  of  Portage  county,  then,  and 
of  Summit  county,  no\v. 

The  First  Election. — Though  perhaps  one  or  more  justices 
of  the  peace  had  previously  been  appointed  for  the  township  by 
the  governor,  the  first  actual  organization,  as  far  as  can  now  be 
ascertained,  was  on  the  24th  day  of  May,  1819.  On  that  day  an 
election  seems  to  have  been  held  at  the  cabin  of  William  Cranny, 
John  Britt  acting  as  Moderator,  Jeremiah  Cranmer  and  John 
Duncan  as  Judges^  and  Orrin  Wilcox  as  Clerk.  The  officers 
elected  w^ere :    Trustees,  George   Wallace,  Jeremiah  Cranmer  and 


EARLY   SETTLEMENT,   POPULATION,   ETC. 


899 


John  Duncan  ;  Clerk,  Henry  Wood  ;  Overseers  of  the  Poor,  William 
<;^ranny  and  William  T.  Mather ;  Fence  Vieivers,  Robtert  Wallace 
and  Maurice  Cranmer ;  Constables,  Edwrard  Coyne  and  Abraham 
Cranmer;  Treasurer,  Watrous  Mather;  Road  Supervisors,  John 
Duncan,  Abel  Havens,  Daniel  Robertson  and  Abner  Hunt. 


TANKS  W.  WALLACE, —  son  of 
J  George  and  Harriet  (Menough) 
Wallace,  born  at  Youngstown,  Ohio, 
November  27, 1803,  soon  removed  with 
parents  to  Geaug-a  county,  thence,  in 
1810,  to  Cleveland,  and  engaged  in 
hotel-keeping.  In  1814,  the  father 
built  saw,  grist  and  woolen  mills  at 
the  Falls  of  Brandj^wine  Creek,  in 
Northtield,  also  placing' .quite  a  large 
stock  of  gfoods  there  in  charge  of  the 
13-3'^ear-old  boy,  James,  these  and 
other  operations  engaged  in  1)5^  the 
faniilj^  giving  to  Brandywine  more 
than  a  local  repute  as  a  business 
center  for  tnany  years.  In  1825, 
James,  with  his  brother  George  Y. 
(ten  3^ears  later  sherifif  of  Portage 
county,  and  in  1842,  treasurer  of  Sum- 
mit county,  by  appointment,  for 
nearl}^  a  year),  besides  taking  entire 
charge  of  the  business  at  Brandy- 
wine,  built  several  miles  of  canal  and 
aqueduct  near  Massillon  and  Roscoe  ; 
when  canal  opened,  boated  two  years; 
was  then  five  j'ears  with  Giddings, 
Baldwin,  Pease  &  Co.,  afterwards 
Andrews,  Baldwin  &  Co.,  as  purchas- 
ing agent  in  Winter,  and  in  charge 
of  boats  in  Summer;  then  two  years 
agent  for  Boston  Land  Company ; 
then,  in  1838,  returned  to  Brandywine, 
in  addition  to  manufacturing-,  largely' 
engaging  in  farming.  In  1871,  Mr. 
WaUace  removed  to  "Maple  Mound," 
near  Macedonia,  where  he  resided 
until  his  death,  September  24,  1887,  at 
the  age  of  83  years,  9  months  and  27 


»|A 


JAMES  W.   WALLACE. 

days,  Mrs.  Wallace  having  died 
March  15,  1885,  aged  67  years.  The 
children  are— George,  who  died  in 
Pomeroy,  Iowa,  August  26,  1880; 
Hiram  Hanchett  and  Mary  Emeline 
(Mrs.  Lorin  Bliss),  Northfield  Center; 
Warner  W.,  Danville,  Kentucky; 
Joseph,  died  young ;  Leonard  Case, 
near  Macedonia,  and  Marjorie  Stan- 
hope, now  wife  of  Henry  P.  R.  Hamil- 
ton, of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota. 


Rapid  Settlement. — For  the  next  ten  or  twelve  years  new- 
accessions  to  the  population  w^ere  almost  continuous,  so  that 
by  1830  the  township  was  pretty  w^ell  settled  and  improved, 
including  quite  a  hamlet  at  the  center,  a  brisk  manufac- 
turing village  at  the  Falls  of  Brandyw^ine  Creek,  in  the 
south  part  of  the  tow^nship,  and  quite  extensive  lumbering 
operations  a  mile  or  so  further  up  that  stream,  at  Little  York.  By 
1840  the  township  had  almost  reached  its  maximum  of  population, 
the  census  of  that  year  showing  the  number  of  inhabitants  in  the 
township  to  be  1,031,  while  the  census  of  1880  accorded  to  it  a 
population  of  1,076,  and  that  of  1890  a  population  of  940  souls,  only; 
a  falling  off  of  91  in  fifty  years,  though  this  is  even  better  than 
some  of  the  townships  of  the  county  have  done  during  that  period. 

The  causes  for  this  seeming  declension  may  largely  be  found 
in  the  changed  and  improved  methods  of  doing  business — the 
introduction  of  labor-saving  machinery  re(iuiring  a  less  number  of 
hands  upon  the  farm  and  a  ^correspondingly  greater  number  in 


9CX)  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

mechanical  operations — and  in  the  absorption  of  the  minor  mechan- 
ical and  mercantile  operations  of  town  centers,  villages  and 
hamlets,  by  the  cities  and  general  railroad  centers  of  the  country^ 
NoRTHFiELD  IN  PuBLic  SPIRIT.  —  Though  bounded  by  the 
Cuyahoga  river,  upon  the  west,  and  though  more  or  less  adversely 
affected,  morally,  by  the  location  of  the  Ohio  canal  through  its 
entire  \\restern  border,  the  township  of  Northfield  w^as  originally 
peopled  ^vith,  and  is  still  inhabited  by,  as  intelligent  and  honorable 
a  population  as  any  other  community  upon  the  proverbially 
intelligent  and  orderly  Western  Reserve.  It  has  also  contributed 
its  full  share  in  behalf  of  the  freedom  and  unity  of  the  Nation 
and  in  support  of  the  local  institutions  of  the  county.  As  young 
as  she  was,  Northfield  was  well  represented  in  the  War  of 
1812,  (though  only  the  names  of  Henry  Wood  and  Jonathan  Hesser 
are  noAV  remembered  as  soldiers  in  that  Tvar)  and  in  War  of  the 
Rebellion  she  furnished  more  than  her  full  quota  of  patriotic  and 
faithful  soldiers,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  following  roster  kindly 
compiled  for  us  by  Ambrose  W.  Bliss,  Esq.,  supplemented  by  the 
assessors'  enumeration  for  1865 : 

NORTHFIKLD'S  ROLL  OF  HONOR. 

Jacob  C.  Armstrong,  Levi  Burroughs,  George  Brow^er,  Augustus 
A.  Belden,  Lucian  Bliss,  Daniel  Boyle  (died  in  service),  Alonzo 
Bain,  Francis  W."  Bliss,  Harmon  H.  Bliss,  Theodore  Bordeman,  K. 
A.  Butterfield,  George  L.  Bishop,  Horace  P.  Bliss  (died  at  home  of 
lung  fever,  Feb.  20,  1863),  O.  A.  Bishop,  Albert  L.  Bliss,  Philip 
Brandt,  Adam  Bowles,  Frederick  Belden,  Robert  Brown,  John 
Brown,  Cornelius  Boyle,  David  Boam,  Augustus  Curtiss,  B.  C. 
Carpenter,  J.  C,  Chamberlain,  Frank  R.  Clements,  Lester  J.  Crit- 
tenden, Edward  Connor,  James  Clark  (died  in  service),  j.  C. 
Cranmer  (died  in  service),  Marcus  D.  Cross,  Joseph  Clifford, 
EdAvard  Cromax,  George  Cross  (lost  on  Sultana),  Andrew  J.  Cross, 
Jeremiah  H.  Cranmer,  John  Christian,  Albert  Case,  Emery 
Case,  Jonathan  Criss,  Dwight  Case,  Lafayette  Cranmer,  George 
Cooley,  Thomas  Drennen  (died  in  service),  W.  H.  H.  Deisman, 
Nathan  W.  Doty  (lost  on  Sultana),  George  Dusenbury,  John 
Dusenbury,  Simon  Dallas,  James  A,  Emmons,  Henry  Eggleston, 
Alexander  Forbes,  Asa  H.  Fitch.  John  Fitzw^ater  (died  in  rebel 
prison),  Alfred  Fell,  W.  W.  France,  William  Fields,  John  Goetz, 
Philander  Hewitt  (died  at  Cincinnati,  Oct.  1862).  Sylvester  Honey, 

Albert   Herriman, Hine,    Willis    Honey,    Hiram    H.    Johnson 

(died  of  heart  disease  at  Camp  Chase,  Oct.  1862),  John  H.  Johnson 
(died  in  service),  Henry  Large,  James  Large,  Albert  Lawrence, 
James  Miller,  Milton  B.  Miller  (died  in  service),  James  McElroy, 
Peter  Murphy,  John  A.  Means,  John  Montona,  James  H.  Miller, 
Marion  McKisson,  Samuel  D.  McElroy,  Urvan  Murphy,  F.  D. 
Murphy,  Daniel  Martin,  C.  M.  Myers,  O.  McClintock,  James 
Nesbit,  D.  G.  Nesbit,  T.  B.  Nichols,  Henry  Pile,  Geo.  W.  Pile,  A.  M. 
Palmer,  Geo.  W.  Palmer,  H.  H.  Palmer,  L.  L.  Palmer,  E.  A.  Palmer, 
Thomas  Pacy  (died  in  service),  Wm.  H.  H.  Polhamus,  Samuel 
Perry,  Thomas  Parkhurst.  Matthew  Phaff,  Edward  G.  Ranney 
(killed  at  Gettysburg),  Jacob  Rusher  (killed  at  Shiloh),  Otto 
Runge,  John  Rose,  John  Ririe,  Nelson  Stebbins,  William  E.  Smith,^ 
John  C.  Seidel,  Conrad  Schoch,  Cyrus  Singletary  (died  in  service)^ 


NORTHFIELD  S    ROLL  OF   HONOR. 


901 


Charles  Skinner,  Edwin  Soden,  George  Soden,  Iv.  C.  Spafford,  John 
Sharp,  Charles  Scott,  Lucian  Stanley,  Wilbur  Stanley,  John 
Sproutberry,  Smith  Tryon,  Lucas  Tryon  (died  in  service),  Alfred  G. 
Thompson,  Hiram  Turner,  Myron  Tupper  (died  in  service),  M.«  L. 
Trotter,  Willard  Trotter,  Abraham  Truby,  George  Thomas,  Walter 
Thompson,  Frederick  Ungerer  (died  in  service),  C.  A.  Vail,  J.  J. 
White,  J.  C.  Wilkinson,  Robert  F.  Watson,  Charles  W.  Way  (lost  on 
Sultana),  John  Wilkins,  Josiah  Wood. 


AMBROSE  W.  BLISS, —  born  in 
-^  Jericho,  Chittenden  county,  Ver- 
mont, December  6,  1806;  common 
school  education  ;  reared  on  farm  ;  at 
18  learned  carpenter  and  millwrig-ht's 
trade  ;  in  1833,  came  to  Ohio,  worKing- 
on  public  works  at  Cleveland  and 
Black  river  ;  May  9,  1839,  was  married 
to  Miss  Emeline  Palmer,  a  native  of 
Windsor,  Connecticut,  born  April  3, 
1815,  and  has  since  been  a  continuous 
resident  of  Northfield.  While  exten- , 
sivelj'  engaged  in  farming,  at  the 
same  time  Mr.  Bliss  for  many  years 
diligentl)^  plied  his  trade,  building 
aquedticts,  and  lock-gates  on  canal, 
bridges,  etc.  Politically,  Mr.  Bliss 
was  originally  a  Whig,  and  since  its 
organization  has  been  an  earnest  sup- 
porter of  the  Republican  party;  has 
held  several  important  township 
offices,  and  for  two  full  terms  of  three 
3^ears  each — from  18.o4  to  1860 — abl}' 
filled  the  responsible  office  of  countj^ 
commissioner.  Four  children  have 
been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bliss — 
Ellen,  living  at  home  ;  Lorin,  farmer 
in  Northfield;  George,  living  at 
home  ;  and  Horace,  the  latter  enlist- 
ing in  Compan)'  C,  ll.'ith  O.  V.  I.,  in 
August,  1862,  and  d3ang,  from  disease 
contracted  in  the  armj-,  Februarj^  20. 
1863.     Mr.  Bliss  is  a  brother  of  Hon. 


AMBROSE   \V.   BLISS. 

George  Bliss,  formerlj'  president 
judgeof  third  judicial  district  of  Ohio, 
and  later,  from  1852  to  1854,  represen- 
tative in  Congress  of  the  18th  district, 
of  which  Summit  county  then  formed 
a  part,  and  whose  portrait  appears 
on  page  551  of  this  volume. 


NORTHFIELD  IN  OFFICE. 


In  county  affairs,  also,  the  township  has  borne  a  highly 
honorable  part.  George  Y.  Wallace  (brother  of  the  late  James 
W.  Wallace,  Esq.,  of  Macedonia,)  was  sheriff  of  Portage  county  for 
four  years,  immediately  preceding  the  erection  of  Summit,  and,  on 
the  death  of  Summit  county's  first  treasurer,  William  O'Brien, 
Esq.,  of  Hudson,  in  February,  18i2,  Mr.  Wallace  was  appointed  by 
the  Commissioners  to  fill  the  vacancy,  w^hich  he  did  with  great 
acceptance  for  nearly  a  year. 

Thomas  Wilson,  of  Northfield  (a  brother-in-law  of  Mr.  Wallace), 
-was  Summit  county's  first  sheriff,  holding  that  office  four  years 
and  seven  months,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  office  was  never 
more  ably  and  faithfully  filled  than  during  his  incumbency;  Mr. 
John  C.  Wallace,  of  Northfield,  acting  as  Mr.  Wilson's  chief  deputy. 
A  fine  portrait  and  biography  of  Mr.  Wilson  will  be  found  on  page 
S9  of  this  volutne. 


902  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Col.  Milton  Arthur,  of  Northfield,  was  Summit's  second 
regularly  elected  treasurer,  holding  the  position  for  three  consecu- 
tive terms,  from  1842  to  1848.  Though  Mr.  Arthur  was  as  upright 
and  honest  a  man  as  ever  breathed,  yet  his  administration  of  the 
office  was  sadly  unfortunate — a  shortage  of  several  thousand 
dollars  appearing  against  him  on  his  transferring  the  office  to  his 
successor.  It  was  believed  by  those  best  informed  upon  the  sub- 
ject, that  he  Avas  victimized  by  parties  in  whom  he  had  confided, 
and  w^hom  he  had  permitted  to  manipulate  the  books  and  funds, 
which  were  not  then  under  the  efficient  system  of  checks  that  at 
present  obtains  in  that  office.  Kvery  dollar  of  his  property  w^as 
turned  over  to  his  bondsmen,  who,  under  a  special  act  of  the 
Legislature,  made  a  satisfactory  settlement  of  the  matter  with  the 
Commissioners;  but,  though  Mr.  Arthur  was,  believed  to  be 
entirely  guiltless  of  any  intentional  w^rong,  by  the  entire  com- 
munity, he  w^as  greatly  humiliated  by  the  affair,  and  doubtless 
carried  down  to  a  premature  death  thereby. 

Ambrose  W.  Bliss,  Esq.,  a  native  of  Chittenden  county,  Ver- 
mont, still  living,  hale  and  hearty,  where  he  located  fifty-two  year& 
ago,  at  the  Center  of  Northfield,  Has  not  only  been  one  of  the  most 
intelligent  and  enterprising  citizens  of  that  township,  but  has  also, 
in  various  ways,  rendered  valuable  service  to  both  the  County, 
State  and  Nation;  filling,  most  acceptably,  the  important  position 
of  county  commissioner  for  two  consecutive  terms,  of  three  years 
each,  from  1854  to  1860.  Mr.  Bliss  was  born  December  6,  1806, 
and  is  consequently,  at  this  w^riting,  nearly  85  years  of  age. 

Captain  John  A.  Means,  a  native  of  Allegheny  county.  Pa., 
in  1833,  then  22  years  of  age,  settled  on  an  uncultivated  farm,  a 
mile  or  so  south  of  the  center  of  Northfield,  not  only  proving  an 
industrious  and  model  farmer,  but  also  devoting  much  time  to  the 
profession  of  a  surveyor,  receiving  the  appointment  of  deputy  sur- 
veyor for  Portage  county  in  1836.  In  1860,  Mr.  Means  was  elected 
clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  Summit  county  for  three 
years.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  in  1861, 
leaving  the  office  in  charge  of  his  son  and  deputy,  Nathan  A.  Means, 
he  organized  Company  C,  115th  Regiment,  O.  V.  I.,  of  which  he  was 
elected  Captain,  serving  three  years.  In  1869,  Capt.  Means  was 
again  elected  Clerk  of  Courts  for  three  years,  serving  his  full  term 
with  marked  fidelity  and  acceptance.  See  portrait  and  biography^ 
on  page  373. 

Augustus  Curtiss,  one  of  Northfield's  volunteer  soldiery,  but 
after  the  War,  settled  in  Portage  township,  w^as  elected  sheriff  of 
Summit  county  in  October,  1868,  re-elected  in  1870,  and  on  the 
expiration  of  his  own  second  term,  continued  in  the  management 
of  the  office  during  the  regulation  t\<ro  terms  of  his  successor, 
Lieut.  Levi  J.  McMurray,  who  was  in  poor  health  during  a  good 
portion  of  his  incumbencey.     Portrait  and  biography  on  page  665.^ 

Abounding  in  Thrilling  Incident. — Yet,  notwithstanding  the 
generally  peaceable  and  order-loving  character  of  its  inhabitants, 
Northfield  has  furnished  a  larger  share  of  exciting  and  thrilling 
incident  than  the  average  of  her  sister  townships  of  either  Portage 
or  Summit  counties,  not  counting  the  many  perilous  encounters  of 
her  early  pioneers  Avith  Indians,  w^ild  beasts,  etc. 

One  of  the  earliest  events,  after  the  departure  of  the  Indians 
from    the   township,  to   convulse  the   community,  and   thrill    the 


THE    VIERS~CHAR«LESWORTH    EPISODE.  {K)3 

public  mind  of  Northfield  and  vicinity,  and  which,  though  hereto- 
fore pretty  fully  narrated  by  the  writer  and  others,  it  is  highly 
proper  should  be  here  reproduced,  occurred  substantially  as  fol- 
lows : 

NORTHFIEI.D'S   FIRST   SKNSATION. 

Dorsey  W.  Viers  was  born  on  the  territory  now  covered  by  the 
city  of  Steubenville,  May  19,  1790,  and  is  said  to  have  l)een  the  first 
white  male  child  born  in  >vhat  is  now  Jefferson  county,  over 
seven  years  before  that  county  was  organized,  and  some  twelve  years 
before  Ohio  became  a  state.  Mr.  Yiers  was  enrolled  as  a  soldier  in 
the  War  of  1812,  at  the  close  of  which  he  lived  a  short  time  in  Pitts- 
burg, w^orking  at  the  tanner's  trade.  Sometime  previous  to  1820, 
he  removed  to  Northfield,  the  town  records  of  that  3'ear  (1820), 
show^ing  that  he  ^vas  then  elected  one  of  the  supervisors  of  the 
township.  • 

On  coming  to  Northfield,  Viers  purchased,  and  settled  upon,  a 
quarter  section  of  land  in  the  northwest  portion  of  the  township, 
in  handy  proximity  to  the  Cuyahoga  river  and  the  contemplated 
Ohio  canal,  building  for  himself  and  family  the  regulation  log 
cabin  of  the  period  and  other  farm  buildings  to  match.  In  addi- 
tion to  his  farming  operations,  young  Viers — stalwart,  active  and 
enterprising  —  figured  quite  extensively  as  a  contractor  and 
speculator;  being  at  the  time  this  chapter  opens  (1826)  a  sub-con- 
tractor upon  quite  a  large  section  of  the  canal. 

Upon  the  completion  of  his  job  on  the  canal,  he  built  a  large 
number  of  bridges  over  the  canal  and  other  water  courses  of  the 
vicinity,  el*ected  school  houses,  private  residences,  stores,  etc.,  one 
of  his  contracts,  a  few^  years  later,  being  the  erection  in  Akron,  for 
Messrs.  May  and  Brow^n — Thomas  P.  May,  of  Cleveland,  and  Jacob 
Brown,  Esq.,  of  Akron — of  the  large  brick  block  at  the  corner  of 
South  Main  and  Exchange  streets,  known  for  many  years,  as  May's 
Block,  but  now  known  as  the  Clarendon  Hotel,  and  ow^ned  by  Mr. 
Ferd.  Schumacher. 

This  diversified  employment  naturally  brought  Mr.  Viers  into 
companionship  with  much  of  the  rougher  element  of  the  commu- 
nities in  which  he  operated,  and  while  not  especially  dissipated  or 
profligate  himself,  his  genial  good  nature,  and  his  open-handed 
liberality  and  zealous  hilarity,  in  all  private  and  public  social 
gatherings,  caused  him  to  be  regarded  as  a  "hail-fellow  virell-met," 
by  the  jolly  bloods  by  w^hom  he  w^as  surrounded. 

Rupert  Charlesnvorth. — A  year  or  two  previous  to  this,  there 
had  come  into  the  vicinity,  a  rollicking  young  Englishman,  by  the 
name  of  Rupert  Charlesworth,  w^ho  soon  became  a  great  favorite 
in  the  social  circles  of  the  neighborhood.  With  no  visible  employ- 
ment, he  yet  appeared  always  to  have  plenty  of  money,  and  w^as 
lavishly  liberal  in  its  distribution,  whenever  "  treats"  w^ere  to  be 
paid  for,  or  other  expenses  of  fun  and  frolic  were  to  be  provided; 
his  givings-out,  as  w^ell  as  his  general  bearing,  conveying  the 
impression  that  he  was  a  scion  of  English  nobility,  in  disgrace  at 
home,  and  temporarily  exiled  until  his  offense  should  be  condoned 
by  his  aristocratic  father. 

Betw^een  this  w^ild  but  agreeable  young  Englishman  and 
Viers,  a  mutual  friendship  immediately  sprung  up,  and  in  a  short 
time  he  became   a  regular  boarder  in   \'^iers'  famil3',  though  often 


904  AKRON   AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

absenting  himself  from  the  house,  and  the  neighborhood,  for 
days,  and  sometimes  weeks  at  a  time.  But  suddenly,  in  the 
month  of  July,  1826,  Charlesworth  entirely  disappeared.  His 
absence  from  his  accustomed  haunts  soon  began  to  be  noticed  and 
commented  on.  Inquiries  were  made  of  Viers  and  his  \vife,  the 
answers  to  which,  it  was  alleged,  were  contradictory  and  improb- 
able. In  addition  to  exaggerated  repetitions  of  these  questions 
and  answers,  one  of  the  constables  of  the  township  asserted  that, 
having  a  warrant  for  the  arrest  of  Charles\^orth,  and  going  to 
Viers'  house  early  in  the  morning,  he  not  only  did  not  find  his 
man,  but  did  find  Mrs.  Viers  vigorously  engaged  in  scrubbing  the 
floor;  a  very  unusual  proceeding  at  so  early  an  hour. 

Rumor  on  Rumor  Piled. — As  time  passed  on  rumors  of  the 
most  damaging  character  against  Viers  multiplied.  One  person 
had  distinctly  heard  the  report  of  a  gun  from  the  direction  of 
Viers'  house  on  the  alleged  night  of  Charlesworth's  disappear- 
ance. Another  reported  that,  having  occasion  to  visit  the 
premises  soon  after\vards,  he  had  noticed  blood  upon  the  bars  of 
the  fence,  between  the  house  and  the  woods.  The  girl,  who  was 
employed  as  a  domestic  in  the  family  at  the  time,  asserted  that 
simultaneously  with  Charlesworth's  disappearance,  a  blanket  was 
missing  from  the  bed  he  had  occupied,  which  was  afterwards 
found  under  a  pile  of  rubbish,  covered  with  spots  of  >vhat 
appeared  to  be  clots  of  dried  blood,  but  which  was  immediately 
burned  up  by  the  family;  while  another  party  had  discovered, 
under  a  pile  of  logs  and  brush  in  the  woods,  a  short  distance  back 
of  the  house,  w^hat  was  supposed  to  be  a  human  skeleton,  but 
which,  on  afterwards  returning  w^ith  a  companion,  to  examine  it, 
w^as  found  to  have  been  removed. 

These  and  a  hundred  other  similar  stories  were  rehearsed  and 
reiterated  with  such  persistence,  and  such  apparent  truthfulness, 
that  they  finally  came  to  be  accepted  as  facts,  and  the  excitement 
and  suspicion  against  Viers  and  family  increased  with  each 
passing  month,  being  greatly  augmented  by  the  alleged  fact  that 
Charlesworth  was  know^n  to  be  in  possession  of  quite  large  sums 
of  money  while  boarding  with  Viers,  and  that  whereas,  Viers, 
previous  to  the  disappearance  of  Charlesworth,  was  very  short  of 
money,  immediately  thereafter  he  wras  very  flush,  and  was  making 
lavish  expenditures  in  building  himself  a  nice  large  brick  house, 
and  making  other  improvements  upon  his  farm  that  his  legiti- 
mate earnings  did  not  warrant. 

Viers  Arrested  for  Murder. — Finally  these  rumors  and 
reports,  like  the  mountain  avalanche,  increasing  in  volume  as 
they  onward  rolled,  and  gaining  in  velocity,  as  they  increased  in 
size,  culminated,  in  January,  1831,  four  years  and  a  half  after  the 
disappearance  of  Charlesworth,  in  the  apprehension  and  arraign- 
ment of  Viers,  on  thecharge  of  murder.  .  ' 

The  affidavit  w^as  filed  before,  and  the  warrant  issued  by, 
George  Y.  Wallace,  Esq.,  of  Brandy  wine,  then  one  of  the  justices 
of  the  peace  for  Northfield  township,  afterwards  sheriff  of  Portage 
county  for  two  terms,  and  subsequently  treasurer  of  Summit 
county  for  nearly  a  year,  as  above  stated. 

The  trial  proper,  before  the  examining  magistrate,  lasted  over 
a  week,  though  some  17  or  18  days  elapsed  between  the  arrest  and 
the  final  conclusion  of  the  investigation.     All  of  the  above  alleged 


WONDERFUL  PLUCK   AND   PERSEV^ERANCE.  905 

■"  facts "  ^vere  dulj'^  and  solemnly  sworn  to,  and  many  other 
extremely  damaging  "circumstances"  adduced  during  the  trial, 
^nd  it  was  supposed  by  the  large  crow^d  of  people  in  attendance, 
that  a  clear  case  of  homicide  had  been  established,  w^hen  twro 
witnesses  from  the  western  part  of  the  State  were  brought 
forw^ard  by  the  defense,  who  swore  positively  that  they  knew 
Charlesw^orth  w^ell,  minutely  describing  his  personal  appearance 
and  characteristics,  and  most  emphatically  asseverating  that 
they  had  seen  him  alive  and  well,  subsequent  to  his  disappearance 
from  Northfield.  This  testimony  turned  the  scale  in  Viers'  favor, 
-and  he  w^as  accordingly  discharged  by  Justice  Wallace. 

Remarkable  Search  for  the  Missing  Man. — The  greater 
number  of  those  in  attendance  were  greatly  dissatisfied  with  the 
result,  believing  that  the  two  witnesses  alluded  to  had  been 
bribed  by  Viers,  or  his  friends,  to  testify  in  his  behalf.  True, 
there  virere  many  good  men  w^ho  did  not  believe  Viers  guilty  of  so 
heinous  a  crime;  but  the  rumor-mongers  of  the  neighborhood 
thought  otherw^ise,  and  were  so  clamorous  for  blood  that,  had 
Lynch  Law  been  in  vogue  in  those  days,  it  would  undoubtedly 
have  fared  hard  with  him.  It  was,  indeed,  a  terrible  ordeal  for 
both  Viers  and  his  family  to  pass  through;  the  arrest  and  trial 
being  even  more  endurable  than  the  continued  suspicion  and 
obloquy  w^hich  followed. 

But  though  comparatively  unlearned,  Dorsey  W.  Viers 
possessed,  in  those  days,  the  pluck  and  perseverance  of  a  blood- 
hound, and  immediately  inaugurated  a  vigorous  and  comprehen- 
sive scheme  for  the  restoration  of  his  good  name;  while  his 
devoted  wife^ — greatly  his  superior  in  education  and  culture — 
rendered  the  most  valuable  aid  towards  lifting  from  the  family  the 
dark  cloud  of  disgrace  that  had  come  upon  them. 

How  THE  Search  Was  Made. — To  this  end  Mrs.  Viers,  with 
the  pen  of  a  ready  writer,  wrote  hundreds  of  letters,  to  public 
officers  and  others,  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  from  whence  it  was 
supposed  any  tidings  of  the  missing  man  could  be  obtained,  while 
Mr.  Viers,  himself,  commenced  a  most  diligent  personal  search 
for  him.  Follow^ing  up  the  clue  obtained  from  the  two  w^itnesses 
w^ho  had  come  to  his  relief  upon  the  trial,  he  tracked  him  from 
point  to  point,  in  the  West,  w^here  he  finally  learned  that  Charles- 
Avorth  had  returned  to  England.  To  England  he  went,  only  to 
find  that  Charlesworth  had  again  sailed  for  the  United  States, 
destined  to  New^  Orleans.  Returning  home,  after  a  brief  sojourn 
with  his  family,  he  w^ent  to  New  Orleans,  and  after  a  protracted 
search,  not  finding  his  man,  he  visited  and  thoroughly  explored  all 
the  principal  river  towns  between  that  city  and  Cincinnati. 

The  "Murdered"  Max  Found  Alive. — Thus  was  the  search 
persistently  kept  up  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  VierS;  both  bj*^  correspon- 
dence and  personal  excursions,  between  nine  and  ten  years,  when, 
nearly  fifteen  years  after  his  disappearance,  Viers  accidentally 
stumbled  upon  his  man  in  Detroit.  They  were  both  so  changed 
by  time  that  they  did  not  at  first  recognize  each  other;  but 
Charlesw^orth,  hearing  Viers  inquiring  for  him  of  others,  at  a  hotel 
w^here  they  w^ere  both  stopping,  and  thus  learning  who  he  was, 
took  him  aside  and  disclosed  his  own  identity  to  him.  His  story 
w^as,  substantialh^  that  having  passed  a  counterfeit  bill  upon  a 
prominent  citizen  of  a  neighboring  tow^n,  and  surmising  (w^hat  w^as 


906  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

indeed  true)  that  proceeding  were  being  instituted  for  his  arrest, 
he  had  secretly  left  the  house  of  his  friend,  and  gone  West,  under 
an  assumed  name;  still  another  name  having  been  taken  on  hi& 
return  from  Kngland,  and  under  Avhich,  having  married,  he  was 
then  living  in  one  of  the  interior  tow^ns  of  Michigan. 

Charleswokth  Kevisits  Summit  County. — On  learning  of  the 
dire  trouble  and  disgrace  which  his  clandestine  departure  from 
Northfield  had  brought  upon  his  old  friend  and  family,  he  volun- 
teered to  come  w^ith  him  to  Ohio,  and  exhibit  himself  to  his  old 
cronies  and  acquaintances,  on  condition  that  his  then  place  of 
residence,  and  his  assumed  cognomen  should  be  kept  secret. 

Thus,  in  about  the  year  1840  or  1841,  Rupert  ®harlesworth  and 
his  alleged  murderer,  together  visited  Northfield,  Boston,  Akron,, 
and  other  points  in  this  vicinity,  where  the  former  conversed 
freely  with,  and  w^as  fully  recognized  by,  a  large  number  of  persons,, 
w^ho  had  known  him  well  before  his  disappearance,  and  the  mystery 
w^as  fondly  supposed,  by  its  victims,  to  have  been  w^hoUy  cleared 
up.  After  a  few  days'  sojourn  in  the  neighborhood,  Charles- 
worth  again  took  his  departure,  and  returned  to  Michigan. 

Gossip  to  the  Fkont  Again. — No  sooner  had  Charlesworth  left 
the  vicinity  than  vile  rumor,  and  virulent  gossip,  again  asserted 
themselves  in  the  intimation  that  the  Rupert  Charlesworth  that 
Viers  had  exhibited,  was  not  the  missing  Rupert  Charlesw^orth,  at 
all,  but  a  cousin,  bearing  a  strong  resemblance  to  him,  that  Viers  had 
hired  to  personate  him,  which  it  was  held  could  readily  be  done^ 
by  a  little  posting  up  from  Viers.  This  theory  was  industriously 
promulgated  by  the  enemies  of  Viers,  and  within  a  few  months 
the  alleged  imposture  was  pretty  generally  believed  in,  and  the 
guilt  of  Viers  thus  doubly  confirmed  in  the  minds  of  quite  a  large 
portion  of  the  community.  Under  these  circumstances,  some  two 
or  three  years  later,  about  1843  or  1844,  Viers  again  hunted  up  his 
man,  and  again  brought  him  to  Ohio,  determined,  this  time,  to 
settle  the  matter  at  once  and  forever. 

Charlesworth  Again  Exhibited. — Hand-bills  were  posted  irt 
Northfield  and  adjoining  townships,  announcing  that  on  a  given 
day,  Rupert  Charlesworth,  the  man  that  Dorsey  W.  Viers  was 
supposed  to  have  murdered,  in  1826,  w^ould  exhibit  himself  at  the 
Methodist  Church,  at  the  Center  of  Northfield,  and  that  all  persons 
w^ho  had  know^n  him,  while  a  resident  of  that  neighborhood,  w^ere 
invited  to  be  present  and  make  a  thorough  examination  as  to  his 
identity. 

The  meeting  w^as  largely  attended  by  a  curious  and  deeply 
interested  audience.  A  regular  organization  w^as  effected,  w^ith 
George  Y.  Wallace,  Ksq.,  before  w^hom  Viers  had  formerly  been 
tried,  as  chairman  of  the  meeting,  and  the  entire  day  was  consumed 
in  the  investigation.  Not  only  w^ere  Charlesworth's  physical 
features  and  peculiarities  closely  scrutinized,  his  voice  and  manner 
of  expression  carefully  noted,  but  questions  and  cross-questions 
were  plied  by  those  Avho  had  formerly  been  intimate  with  him,  in 
such  a  manner  that  no  attempted  imposture  could  possibly  have 
escaped  detection.  Not  only  did  he  recognize  and  readily  name 
persons  that  he  had  not  seen  for  seventeen  or  eighteen  years,  but, 
in  reply  to  their  various  interrogatories,  incidents  and  circum- 
stances known  only  to  himself  and  each  individual  questioner,, 
were  promptly  and  truthfully  related. 


CHARLESWORTH    FULLY    IDENTIFIED.  907 

Complete  Vindication. — At  the  close  of  the  examination,  late 
in  the  afternoon,  a  vote  was  taken  as  to  whether  the  man  then  and 
there  present,  w^as,  or  was  not,  the  Rupert  Charlesworth,  w^hom 
Dorsey  W.  Viers  w^as  accused  of  murdering?  The  affirmative  vote 
w^as  overwhelmingly  and  enthusiastically  unanimous,  only  a  single 
negative  vote  being  given,  and  that  from  the  brother  of  a  man 
w^ho  several  years  before  had  been  executed  for  the  murder  of 
another  brother's  wife,  and  in  whose  behalf  secret  and  persistent 
efforts  had  been  made  to  cast  suspicion  upon  Viers,  because  of  the 
cloud  of  obloquy  that  had  so  long  rested  upon  him.  From  the  date 
of  that  meeting  that  cloud  was  raised,  and  the  reputation  of  Dorsey 
W.  Viers  was  fully  vindicated. 

Removal  from  Northfield  to  Coventry. — In  the  meantime 
the  three  sons  of  Mr.  Viers — James  McClintock,  Elisha  J.  and 
Edward  H. — had  grow^n  to  manhood  and  had  become  settled  as 
prosperous  farmers  in  the  township  of  Norton,  whither  the  father, 
having  disposed  of  his  possessions  in  Northfield,  follow^ed  them,  a 
few^  years  later,  occupying  a  small  farm  in  the  township  of  Coventry, 
opposite  to  that  of  his  son  Elisha  J.,  in  Norton,  where  he  continued 
to  reside  until  his  death,  on  the  night  of  March  10,  1884,  at  the  ripe 
old  age  of  94  ;  his  youngest  son,  Edward  H.  Viers,  a  highly  respected 
resident  of  Norton,  only,  surviving  him. 

The  principal  items  of  the  foregoing  account  of  the  very 
remarkable  experiences  of  this  remarkable  man,  were  furnished 
the  w^riter,  by  Mr.  Viers  and  his  wife  nearly  fifiy  years  ago,  soon 
after  his  final  vindication,  with  a  view  to  their  publication  then  ; 
but  before  getting  them  into  shape  the  notes  were  mislaid,  and  are 
now^  reproduced  mainly  from  memory,  aided,  as  to  one  or  tw^o  of 
the  earlier  dates,  in  the  brief  mention  thereof,  by  General  L.  V. 
Bierce,  in  his  historical  reminiscences  published  in  1854.    • 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

NORTHFIELD'S  SECOND  GREAT  SENSATION— MURDER  OF  CATHARINE  M'KISSON 
—DEADLY  ASSAULT  UPON  HER  DAUGHTER,  LUCIXDA  CRONINGER— ARREST 
OF  SAMUEL  M'KISSON,  FATHER-IN-LAW  TO  THE  MURDERED  WOMAN — 
SUBSEQUENT  ARREST  OF  DAVID  M'KISSON,  THE  BROTHER-IN-LAW  OF 
CATHARINE  AND  LOVER  OF  LUCINDA— THE  FATHER  TRIED  AND  ACQUITTED 
—  THE  SON  TRIED,  CONVICTED  AND  EXECUTED  —  CIRCUMSTANTIAL 
STRONGER  THAN  POSITIVE  EVIDENCE— FULL  HISTORY  OF  THE  CRIME, 
TRIAL,  SENTENCE  AND  EXECUTION— DYING  SPEECH  UPON  THE  GALLOWS 
—BITTER  COLD  DAY,  ETC. 

THE  GREAT  NORTHFIELD  TRAGEDY. 

/~^N  the  night  of  July  24,  1837,  one  of  the  most  shocking  tragedies 
^^  of  the  time  w^as  perpetrated  in  the  township  of  Northfield, 
then  the  extreme  northw^estern  township  of  Portage  county,  and 
now  a  portion  of  Summit  county.  Several  years  previously,  there 
had  settled  in  the  western  portion  of  that  tow^nship,  and  about 
midway  between  the  center  and  the  Cuyahoga  river,  one  Samuel 
McKisson,  w^ho  had  quite  a  large  family  of  grow^n  up  sons  and 
daughters. 

The  eldest  son,  Robert,  having  married  a  widow,  Mrs. 
Catharine  Croninger,  w^ith  a  grow^n  up  daughter,  Lucinda,  had 
settled  upon  a  farm  adjoining  that  of  his  father  upon  the  \^^est,  on 
w^hich  he  had  erected  the  regulation  log  cabin  of  the  period,  with 
but  a  single  room  upon  the  ground  floor;  and  a  low  sleeping 
apartment  in  the  loft  overhead.  Having  been  bred  a  mechanic, 
Robert  was  frequently  absent  from  home,  for  considerable  periods 
of  time,  employing  a  young  man  named  Johnson  to  do  his  farm 
w^ork.  The  younger  brother  of  Robert,  David  McKisson,  was  a 
tailor  by  trade,  working,  for  longer  or  shorter  periods  in  Hudson, 
Akron,  Middlebury,  Canton  and  other  towns  and  villages  in  North- 
eastern Ohio,  but,  by  reason  of  his  reckless  and  dissipated  habits, 
being  unable  to  hold  a  situation  for  any  considerable  length  of 
time. 

The  Beginning  of  the  Trouble. — Notwithstanding  his 
tramping  propensities,  and  because  of  his  inability  to  retain  a 
situation  for  any  great  length  of  time,  David  w^as  in  the  habit  of 
bringing  up  at  his  father's  every  few  months,  during  which  visits 
he  was  thrown  much  into  the  society  of  his  brother  Robert's  step- 
daughter, Lucinda  Croninger,  between  w^hom  and  himself  a 
mutual  attachment  w^as  soon  formed,  and  mutual  tokens  of  affec- 
tion exchanged.  In  this  case,  however,  as  in  many  others  of  like 
character,  the  "course  of  true  love"  did  not  run  entirely  "smooth," 
for  his  sister-in-law,  the  mother  of  Lucinda,  vigorously  opposed 
the  match.  Warm  words  between  the  mother  and  the  suitor  were 
frequently  indulged  in,  which  at  length  engendered  virulent  ill- 
feeling,  and  in  which  crimination  and  recrimination  w^ere  freely . 
bandied;  the  husband  and  brother,  Robert,  in  his  occasional  visits 
home,  on  being  informed  of  the  status  of  affairs,  taking  sides  with 


THE    MURDER    OF   CATHARINE    MCKISSON.  909 

his  wife,  and  severely  reprimanding  and  chastising  his  brother 
for  the  course  he  was  pursuing,  and  virtually,  if  not  in  positive 
terms,  forbidding  him  to  come  upon  the  premises.  In  these 
discussions  other  members  of  the  McKisson  family  had  also 
become  seriously  involved,  and  the  ill-feeling  w^as  particularly 
bitter  between  Samuel  McKisson,  the  father,  and  his  daughter- 
in-law,  Catharine  McKisson, 

Meditating  Vengeance.— In  this  condition  of  affairs,  with  the 
old  gentleman  at  bitter  enmity  w^ith  his  daughter-in-law,  and 
David  in  a  state  of  ferocious  w^rath,  at  the  interference  of  hi& 
sister-in-law  and  her  husband  in  his  love  affairs,  the  latter,  early 
in  the  Spring  of  1837,  left  the  neighborhood,  and  engaged  to  go  to 
Turtle  Island,  at  the  mouth  of  Maumee  Bay,  to  chop  cord-w^ood. 
On  his  way  thither,  he  called  upon  a  married  sister,  then  living  in 
Cleveland,  to  whom,  in  rehearsing  his  troubles,  he  \sras  alleged  to 
have  said  that  he  would  some  day  go  back  to  Northfield  and  kill 
Robert's  wife,  and  then  if  Lucinda  w^ould  not  have  him  she 
might  "  go  to  hell."  This  threat,  however,  was  thought  by  his 
sister,  and  other  friends  cognizant  thereof,  to  be  a  mere  ebullition 
of  anger  at  his  disappointment,  which  absence  would  soon  abate, 
and  as  several  weeks  elapsed  w^ithout  any  recurrence  of  the 
troubles,  all  fears  of  personal  injury  to  Robert,  or  his  family,  had 
been  entirely  dismissed  from  their  minds. 

The  Blow  Suddenly  Falls. — The  single-room  log  house, 
occupied  by  the  family  of  Robert,  fronted  east,  the  large  stone  fire- 
place being  upon  the  south  end,  and  two  beds  occupying  the  north 
end  of  the  room ;  that  occupied  by  Robert  and  his  \vife  on  the  west, 
and  that  occupied  by  Lucinda  upon  the  east  side  of  the  room, 
Robert  being  absent  from  home  working  at  his  trade  in  Cleveland, 
on  the  night  of  July  24th,  1837,  the  beds  thus  situated,  were 
occupied  by  the  mother  and  her  tw^o  little  boys,  and  by  the 
daughter,  respectively',  so  that  a  person,  passing  from  the  front 
and  only  door  of  the  house,  would  have  to  pass  the  bed  of  the 
daughter  to  reach  that  of  the  mother. 

The  family  retired  about  9  o'clock,  the  hired  man,  Johnson,  in 
the  loft,  as  before  described,  reached  by  means  of  a  ladder  in  the 
southeast  corner.  As  was  customary,  in  those  early  days,  before 
friction  matches  had  come  into  general  use,  the  embers  of  the 
fire,  which  had  cooked  the  evening  meal,  had  been  carefully  "raked 
up,"  on  the  capacious  hearth,  and  from  them  some  slight  glim- 
mers from  the  charring  coal  produced  a  sort  of  dim  illumination 
of  the  apartment,  after  the  "tallow  dip"  had  been  extinguished  for 
the  night.  The  entire  household  had  fallen  asleep,  w^ith  no 
thought  of  impending  danger,  nor  dream  of  fear,  the  door  being 
left  unfastened  because  of  the  momentatily  expected  arrival  home 
of  the  husband  and  father  from  Cleveland. 

Suddenly  the  daughter  was  awakened  by  the  opening  of  the 
door.  Rising  up  in  bed,  she  saw^  a  man,  in  his  shirt  sleeves,  and 
dressed  in  dark  pantaloons,  enter  the  room  w^ith  an  axe  in  his 
hand.  As  she  raised  up  she  received  a  blow^  from  the  axe,  upon 
the  side  of  her  head,  which  rendered  her  momently  insensible.  On 
recovering  consciousness,  she  saw  her  mother  lying  upon  the  floor 
and  the  man  standing  over  her  with  the  axe,  w^hich  he  struck  into 
her  right  shoulder.  The  daughter  immediately  screamed  "  mur- 
der," which  aw^oke  Johnson,  w^ho  sprang  out  of  bed,  upon  hearing 


910  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

■which,  the  assassin  fled  from  the  house,  giving  the  daughter 
another  blow  with  the  axe,  as  he  passed,  but  which,  fortunately, 
produced  a  flesh  \sround  only. 

The  Father-in-law  Denounced  as  the  Assassin. — Johnson,  on 
comprehending  the  situation,  immediately  started  for  assistance, 
and  on  reaching  the  house  of  a  neighbor.  Col.  Pardon  A.  Brooks, 
found  that  it  was  just  11  o'clock.  On  the  return  of  Johnson  with 
help,  Mrs.  McKisson  was  found  to  be  still  alive,  and  in  possession 
of  her  faculties.  On  being  inquired  of,  by  Col.  Brooks,  if  she  knew 
w^ho  committed  the  deed,  she  replied,  "Old  Sammj^  McKisson." 
Being  again  asked  if  she  was  sure  it  was  Samuel  McKisson,  she 
replied,  "  Oh,  yes,  Oh,  3'es,"  and  then  almost  immediately  became 
unconscious,  and  a  few  hours  later  expired.  The  daughter,  also, 
asseverated  that  the  man  she  had  seen  enter  the  room,  and  strike 
Ihe  fatal  blow^s,  was  Samuel  McKisson. 

The  old  gentleman  was  accordingly^  taken  into  custody,  and 
held  for  trial,  and  as  the  news  of  the  tragedy  spread  rapidly  from 
house  to  house,  and  from  mouth  to  mouth,  almost  the  entire  tow^n- 
ship  was  upon  the  ground,  and  the  wildest  excitement  prevailed 
by  daylight  the  next  morning.  It  w^as  found,  by  the  examining 
physicians,  that  the  deceased  had  received  three  blows  from  the 
axe;  one  on  the  right  side  of  the  head,  the  w^hole  w^idth  of  the  blade 
penetrating  the  brain  to  the  depth  of  one  inch,  and  from  which 
the  brains  ^vere  oozing;  one  on  the  back  of  the  head  w^hich  had 
cleaved  off  a  large  part  of  the  scalp  and  a  piece  of  the  skull  the 
size  of  a  silver  dollar,  leaving  the  brain  bare,  but  without  w^ound- 
ing  it;  and  the  third,  the  blow  which  the  daughter  had  witnessed, 
in  the  right  shoulder,  and  passing  through  the  shoulder  bones  and 
ribs  into  the  chest.  It  w^as  supposed  that,  being  awakened  by  the 
blow^  upon  the  back  of  the  head,  Mrs.  McKisson  sprang  out  of  bed 
w^hen  she  was  felled  to  the  floor  by  the  burying  of  the  blade  of  the 
axe  in  her  brain,  as  stated,  the  blow^  upon  the  shoulder,  penetrating 
the  chest,  immediately  following  her  fall  upon  the  floor. 

A  New  Phase  in  the  Terrible  Affair. — Though  still  believing 
the  old  man,  Samuel  McKisson,  to  be  a  party  to  the  murder,  if  not 
the  actual  perpetrator  thereof,  the  investigations  by  the  neighbors 
and  officers,  the  next  day,  put  an  entirely  new  aspect  upon  the 
tragic  affair.  The  axe  with  which  the  deed  had  been  perpetrated, 
belonged  to  the  family,  and  had  been  taken  from  the  cleat,  on 
which  it  hung,  upon  the  outside  of  the  house,  between  the  door 
and  the  southeast  corner.  This  axe,  covered  with  blood,  was 
found  some  distance  from  the  house,  on  a  foot  path  running  north- 
■westerly  from  the  house  to  the  canal,  and  in  an  opposite  direction 
from  where  Samuel  McKisson  lived.  It  was  soon  afterwards 
learned  that  a  man  was  seen  or  heard  running  on  that  path,  from 
the  direction  of  the  murder  towards  the  canal,  at  about  11  o'clock 
that  night,  and  also  that  about  an  hour  before  sunset,  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  murder,  David  McKisson  was  seen  to  leave  Kittlew^ell's 
grocery,  at  18  mile  Lock,  on  the  canal,  writhout  a  coat,  and  dressed  in 
•dark  pantaloons,  and  go  in  a  northeasterly  direction  tow^ards  the 
scene  of  the  murder.  The  path  on  which  the  bloody  axe  was 
found,  let  it  be  remembered,  was  a  mile  or  more  in  length,  through 
dense  w^oods,  and  over  quite  a  precipitous  hill,  descending  from 
the  house  of  the  murder  to  the  canal.  It  was  also  show^n  that 
about  1  o'clock  in  the  morning,  David  McKisson,  in  the  same  dress, 


FATHER    AXD    SON    UXDEK    ARREST.  911 

had  boarded  a  packet  boat  bound  for  Cleveland,  at  Tinker's  Creek, 
seven  miles  distant  from  the  scene  of  the  murder. 

These  facts,  coupled  with  the  circumstance  that  he  had  left 
his  work  at  Turtle  Island,  and  had  come  into  the  neighborhood  of 
his  home,  and  after  going  in  the  direction  thereof,  without  calling 
upon  any  of  his  relatives  or  friends,  had  started  back  to  his  place 
of  employment,  was  proof  conclusive,  in  the  minds  of  the  most 
sagacious  people  of  the  neighborhood,  that  David,  instead  of  his 
father,  was  the  actual  perpetrator  of  the  horrible  crime,  though 
o\sring  to  the  bitter  enmity  known  to  exist  between  the  old  gentle- 
man and  his  daughter-in-law,  it  was  still  generally  believed  that 
he  w^as,  somehow  or  other,  mixed  up  .with  the  affair. 

Pursuit  and  Arrest  of  David  McKisson. — A*  warrant  was 
accordingly  issued  by  Justice  George  Lillie,  and  a  constable,  with 
two  assistants,  started  for  Turtle  Island  to  secure  David's  arrest. 
There  being  no  railroads  in  those  days,  and  no  communication  by 
telegraph  then  as  now,  all  operations  of  this  kind  were  extreinely 
slow^.  It  afterwards  transpired  that,  on  reaching  Cleveland,  David 
had,  by  mistake,  taken  a  boat  bound  do\yn  the  Lake,  instead  of  up, 
and  had  gone  east  as  far  as  Fairport,  some  30  miles,  at  \v^hich  point 
he  had  to  wait  several  hours  for  an  up  bound  boat,  on  which  to 
return  to  Cleveland  en  route  to  the  Island.  In  the  meantime  his 
pursuers  had  passed  through  Cleveland,  taking  a  boat  bound  for 
Maumee. 

On  reaching  Cleveland,  otl  his  return  from  Fairport,  David, 
still  without  a  coat,  accidentally  met  an  old  acquaintance  upon 
the  w^harf,  who  informed  him  of  the  murder,  the  arrest  of  his 
father,  and  that  three  men  had  gone  to  the  Island  to  arrest  him, 
advising  him  to  return  home  to  see  about  it.  To  this  he  indiffer- 
ently replied  that  if  that  w^as  so,  he  should  probably  see  the  men 
when  he  got  to  the  Island.  Continuing  on  the  same  boat  on 
w^hich  he  had  come  from  Fairport,  he  Avent  to  Detroit,  and  from 
thence  to  the  Island,  via  Manhattan,  and  yet  arriving  there  sev- 
eral hours  before  his  pursuers  did. 

Bloody  Shirt  Found  in  His  Trunk. — When  the  pursuing 
party  reached  the  Island,  and  took  him  into  custody,  he  appeared 
to  know  the  cause  of  his  arrest,  and,  without  asking  what  the 
charge  against  him  w^as,  or  to  be  show^n  the  w^arrant,  bid  his 
employers  and  his  cotnrades  good-by,  saying  that  he  should  never 
see  them  again,  etc.  In  his  trunk  was  found  a  soiled  shirt  w^ith 
blood  upon  the  shoulder  and  several  spatters  of  blood  upon  the 
bosom,  w^hich  he  could  not  rationally  account  for,  and  in  his 
attempt  to  do  so,  seriously  contradicted  himself.  He  remarked  to 
his  captors,  though  not  informed  by  them  of  the  crime  for  which 
he  was  arrested,  that  he  was  willing  to  die  except  for  the  disgrace 
it  would  bring  upon  his  brothers  and  sisters,  and  afterwards,  on 
being  told  of  the  death  of  his  sister-in-law  and  the  arrest  of  his 
father,  as  her  murderer,  said  his  father  w^as  innocent  of  the  crime. 

At  another  time  he  said  that  he  had  committed  so  many 
crimes  w^ithout  detection  he  thought  he  could  do  anything  w^ithout 
being  found  out,  but  that  it  was  "all  over  with  him  now."  On 
reaching  Northfield,  w^hen  brought  into  the  presence  of  his  brother 
Robert,  he  manifested  great  agony  of  mind,  and  said:  "Robert,  I 
little  thought  w^hat  w^as  said  w^hen  w^e  parted  in  the  lane  w^ould 
bring  me  to  this,"  and  when  Robert  asked,  "Has  it?"  he  replied, 


912  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

after  a  tnotnent's  reflection,  "  I  don't  know" — and  then,  seeming  to- 
realize  the  situation  he  was  in,  added:  "These  hands  never  did 
the  deed." 

Father  and  Son  Jointly  Indicted. — Justice  Lillie,  before 
w^hom  the  preliminary  examinations  w^ere  had,  held  both  of  the 
accused  to  answer  to  the  crime  of  murder,  before  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  of  Portage  county,  and  both  were  committed  to 
jail.  At  the  September  term  of  court  (1837),  a  "true  bill"  was 
found  against  both,  by  the  Grand  Jury.  Though  jointlj^  indicted,, 
separate  trials  w^ere  granted  by  the  court,  Hon.  Van  R.  Humphrey 
presiding,  and  special  venires  for  jurors  were  issued  in  each  case, 
Samuel  McKisson  w^as  tried  first,  a  full  history  of  the  family 
troubles,  as  w^ell  as  of  the  circumstances  attending  the  murder, 
being  gone  into,  the  case  being  conducted  with  his  usual  vigor,  by 
Prosecuting  Attorney,  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  assisted  by  Kben  Newton, 
Bsq.,  and  a  most  able  defense  w^as  made  by  David  K.  Cartter,  and 
Wylys  Silliman,  Esqs.  Under  the  clear-cut  charge  of  the  court,  sa 
characteristic  of  Judge  Humphrey  in  his  prime,  the  jury,  after  a 
very  brief  consideration  of  *the  case,  pronounced  Samuel  McKisson 
not  guilty.  Immediately  following  the  acquittal  of  the  father,  the 
son  w^as  put  upon  his  trial  to  a  jury  impaneled  from  the  special 
venire  issued  in  the  case.  Much  of  the  testimony  that  w^as  given 
on  the  first  trial  w^as  rehearsed,  and  a  large  array  of  additional 
w^itnesses  Avere  sw^orn  and  examined,  touching  David's  actions  and 
utterances  prior  and  subsequent  to  the  commission  of  the  crime 
of  which  he  w^as  accused.  Special  emphasis  was  given,  by  counsel 
for  the  defense,  to  the  dying  declarations  of  the  murdered  w^oman, 
w^hile  in  full  possession  of  her  faculties,  that  Samuel  McKisson 
had  struck  the  fatal  blo^vs,  and  the  full  corroboration  of  that  dying 
declaration,  by  the  surviving  daughter,  w^ho  w^itnessed  the  inflic- 
tion of  at  least  one  of  those  blow^s,  and  who  had  herself  nearly 
shared  the  same  fate;  while,  by  unreliable  circumstances,  only, 
could  the  defendant  then  on  trial,  be  connected  with  the  horrible 
affair.  Inch  by  inch  was  the  legal  battle  fought,  not  only  in  the 
examination  and  cross-examination  of  w^itnesses,  and  the  rules  of 
law  governing  the  case,  but  in  the  arguments  of  both  Prosecuting 
Attorney  L.  V.  Bierce  and  Eben  Newton,  Esq.,  for  the  State,  and 
Messrs.  Rufus  P.  Spalding,  David  Tod  and  Noah  M.  Humphrey  on 
behalf  of  the  defense.  After  a  repetition  of  the  principal  points 
contained  in  his  former  charge,  with  the  addition  of  such  matters 
as  more  particularly  applied  to  the  case  in  hand.  Judge  Humphrey 
gave  the  case  to  the  jury,  w^ho,  after  several  hours  deliberation, 
returned  their  verdict,  finding  David  McKisson  guiltyof  murder 
in  the  first  degree. 

A  motion  was  made  by  defendant's  counsel  for  a  new  trial, 
■which  was  promptly  overruled  by  the  court.  After  giving  counsel 
a  few  days  to  prepare  and  file  a  bill  of  exceptions,  should  they 
desire  to  do  so,  Judge  Humphrey  ordered  the  sheriff  to  bring  the 
condemned  man  before  the  court  for  sentence. 

JUDGE  HUMPHREY'S  ELOQUENT  SENTENCE. 

Commanding  the  prisoner  to  stand  up.  Judge  Humphrey,  in 
the  presence  of  a  dense  crow^d  of  interested  spectators,  proceeded 
to  pronounce  sentence  upon  him  as  foUovirs: 


•  JUDGE  Humphrey's  eloquent  sentence.  913 

"David  McKisson:— The  Grand  Jury  of  this  count}^  have  returned  a 
Bill  of  Indictment  ag'ainst  you,  charging-  you  with  the  crime  of  murder.  To 
that  Indictment  you  have  pleaded  'Not  guilty.'  Counsel  of  your  choife, 
able  and  learned  in  the  law,  have  been  assigned,  to  advise  and  aid  you  to 
meet  the  accusation,  and  make  j^our  defense.  Plenary  process,  the  resources 
of  the  State,  have  been  at  your  command  to  compel  the  attendance  of 
witnesses,  in  order  to  manifest  your  innocence.  A  traverse  jurj-,  almost  of 
your  own  selection,  and  against  whom  you  had  nothing  to  urge,  has  been 
impaneled  to  pass,  under  a  solemn  appeal  to  heaven,  between  you  and  the 
State.  Before  that  jury  j^ou  have  met  your  accusers,  and  the  witnesses 
against  you, 'face  to  face';  you  have  listened  to  their  te8timon3%  and  also 
introduced  such  proof  as  was  in  your  power,  to  exculpate  j'ou  from  the 
charge.  You  have  heard  the  arguments  of  counsel  for  the  State,  and  also  sat 
under  the  powerful  appeal  of  counsel  in  your  own  behalf ;  and  after  a 
patient,  full  and  i-tnpartial  hearing,  that  jury,  under  the  tremendous  convic- 
tions of  duty,  in  view  of  their  responsibility  to  God  and  their  country,  have 
found  you  "  Guilty  of  Murder  in  the  First  Degree;"  and,  I  regret  to  say,  that 
the  evidence  is  such  as  to  compel  the  court  to  fully  concur  in  the  finding  of 
the  jury.  Upon  that  verdict  arises  the  melancholy  duty  of  announcing  the 
dreadful  sentence  of  the  law;  and  have  you  anything  to  say  why  that  sen- 
tence should  not  now  be  pronounced?" 

Prisoner — "I  have  nothing  to  say." 

Judge  Humphrey. — "The  crime  of  which  you  stand  convicted  is  second 
to  none  in  enormity  —  the  highest  known  to  our  laws  —  and  in  this  instance 
perpetrated  under  circumstances  awfullj^  barbarous  and  shocking.  Yet 
your  present  afflictions  excite  our  sympathy.  As  individuals  we  commis- 
erate your  situation.  We  have  all  the  feeling  for  j'ou  consistent  with  our 
relation.  But  a  solemn  duty  has  devolved  upon  us.  No  choice  of  alterna- 
tives is  presented.  The  laws  of  God  and  man  attach  the  penalty  of  death  to 
the  crime  of  murder.  The  divine  maxim,  "whoso  sheddeth  man's  blood,  by 
man  shall  his  blood  be  shed" — quoted  and  appreciated  by  j^our  counsel — as 
well  as  the  violated  laws  of  the  land,  declare  that  you  must  die.  Your  life  is 
forfeited.  Unworthy  to  live  with  your  fellow-man,  whose  rights  you  have 
trodden  down  with  unparalleled  cruelty,  justice  demands  a  separation 
between  you  and  your  species,  and  calls  loudly  for  your  extermination. 

"In  the  dead  hour  of  night,  with  a  bosom  rankling  with  revenge ;  at  that 
hour  when  nature  was  hushed  in  silence,  and  sleep  had  sealed  the  eyes  of 
your  victim,  you  approached,  not  the  dwelling  of  a  stranger ;  not  the  dwelling 
of  an  enemy ;  not  a  dwelling  protected  bj'  the  arm  of  man  ;  but  the  undefended 
home  of  a  brother,  and  there,  with  the  deadly  axe  3^ou  bore  along,  coolly,, 
barbarously,  cruelly  murdered  your  unoffending  sister.  A  more  bloody 
butchery  stains  not  the  annals  of  man  ;  a  more  heartless  assassination  lives 
not  in  the  history  of  crimes.  I  make  not  these  remarks  to  harrow  j'our 
feelings,  or  to  disturb  the  equanimity  of  your  bosom,  if,  possiblj^  it  remains 
quiet  at  this  withering  crisis  ;  but  to  apprise  you  that  5'our  time  is  fixed  ; 
that  your  days  are  nuinbered ;  that  before  another  year  shall  have  passed 
away,  you  must  sleep  beneath  the  "clods  of  the  valley,"  and  that  it  behooves 
you  to  make  preparation  for  that  dreadful  event. 

"  Think  not  any  interposition  of  the  Executive  will  relieve  you.  Indulge 
not, the  hope  of  commutation  or  pardon  from  any  temporal  source,  but 
appeal  to  the  Power  which  is  able  and  w^illing  to  exercise  clemency  indeed  * 
to  show  mercy  worth  asking  ;  to  extend  pardon  to  the  'chief  of  sinners.' 

"  From  your  declaration  and  confessions  is  clearly  shown  the  fatal  error 
into  which  you  have  fallen,  in  supposing  that  offenses  might  be  committed 
with  impunity  ;  that  detection  would  not  overtake  crime.  Too  late  you  learn 
that 

"There  is  a  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends. 
Rough  hew  them  how  we  will." 

"A  period  co-extensive  with  the  power  of  the  Court  will  be  alloted  you 
to  settle  j^our  temporal  affairs,  and  to  prepare  for  another  world.  Your 
friends  will  be  permitted  to  visit  you  in  prison,  and  such  spiritual  advisers 
as  you  may  need,  will  attend  you  to  point  the  way  to  future  happiness.. 
Improve,  then,  the  few  remaining  days  you  have  to  live,  in  preparing  to- 
die.  You  know  your  fate.  You  know  your  time.  Not  so  with  Catharine 
McKisson.  No  precursor  kindly  whispered  her  dissolution ;  no  messenger 
of  mercy  warned  the  devoted  wretch  of  woe  and  death.    But  in  the  vigor  of 

68 


914  AKRON   AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

life,  while  reposing  in  fancied  security,  you  tore  her  from  the  side  of  her 
sleeping-  infants,  and  with  that  bloody  instrument  hurried  her  into  eternity, 
w^ith  all  her  'sins  fresh  blown  upon  her!' 

"  It  is,  therefore,  the  sentence  of  the  law,  that  you  be  taken  hence  to  the 
jail  of  the  county,  there  to  remain  until  Friday,  the  9th  day  of  February, 
1838 ;  that  between  the  hours  of  10  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  and  4  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  of  that  day,  you  be  taken  thence  to  the  place  of  execution,  and  be 
then  hung  by  the  neck  until  j^ou  are  dead.  And  may  He  who  trod  the  wine 
press  alone  have  mercy  on  you  ! " 

Writes  a  History  of  His  Life. — After  his  conviction  and 
sentence  the  prisoner  busied  himself  in  jail,  in  -writing  a  so-called 
history  of  his  life,  in  which,  -while  detailing  a  large  number  of 
youthful  peccadilloes,  and  petty  crimes  and  offenses,  he  sought  to 
convey  the  impression  of  his  innocence  of  the  murder  of  his  sister- 
in-law,  and  to  direct  suspicion  towards  Mr.  Dorsey  W.  Viers,  who, 
unfortunately,  wras  at  that  time  resting  under  a  cloud  of  unjust 
suspicion,  in  regard  to  the  disappearance  from  Northfield,  of 
Rupert  Charles^vorth,  several  years  previously  (but  w^hich  cloud 
-was  wholly  cleared  a^vay  some  two  or  three  years  later,  as  already 
detailed  in  the  preceding  chapter),  and  even  intimating  that  his 
old  father,  notwithstanding  his  triumphant  acquittal,  may  have 
committed  the  murder,  after  all,  saying,  in  that  connection:  "But 
when  I  take  the  testimony  of  the  girl,  and  the  fact  that  I  knoAv  his 
disposition  when  in  liquor,  and  his  clothes  being  at  the  fire,  and 
then  the  dying  words  of  her  w^ho  saw  him  every  day,  and  who 
most  certainly  did  see  the  man  w^ho  done  the  deed,  w^hen  I  put  all 
these  things  together,  to  say  that  I  suppose  it  was  not  him  is  as 
much  as  I  can  say."  His  rambling  and  disjointed,  as  w^ell  as 
decidedly  illiterate  narrative,  closes  -with  the  foUov^^ing  remarkably 
good  advice  to  both  children  and  adults  : 

"Thus  I  have  set  down  the  chief  of  what  I  am  here  for,  and  for  what  I 
am  about  to  suffer  an  ignominious  death  upon  the  scaffold  ;  together  with 
all  the  criines  that  I  can  recollect.  1  have  omitted  many  things  I  have  done 
which  are  not  consistent  with  good  conduct  in  youth,  but  the  untimel)^  end 
that  awaits  nae  I  hope  will  be  a  caution  to  youth  not  to  walk  in  the  paths 
that  I  have  trod.  Two  things  I  would  impress  upon  their  minds,  viz  :  not  to 
roam  about  nights,  and  keep  as  much  as  possible  out  of  bad  company. 
*  *  *  Now,  let  me  leave  a  caution  to  parents,  guardians  and  masters.  I 
am  young  and  unqualified  to  do  it  in  st3'le,  but  as  I  have  traveled  consider- 
able, and  been  in  good  and  bad  company,  1  know  something  of  the  world. 
If  a  child  is  stubborn,  never  whip  it  without  knowing  it  is  right  to  do  so ; 
never  make  a  promise  without  fulfilling;  never  lay  up  two  charges  for  one 
whipping;  and  never  whip  in  a  passion  ;  by  so  doing  you  are  not  only  not 
punctual  yourself  but  j^ou  learn  the  child  to  be  so.  Again,  if  a  child  tells  a 
lie,  and  you  tell  it  to  own  the  truth  and  you  will  not  punish  it,  fulfill  ypur 
promise  or  it  will  never  own  its  faults  again;  and  if  you  have  any  good 
article  of  food  on  the  table,  never  take  it  from  the  children,  for  this  will  make 
them  steal.  If  you  pursue  a  different  course  you  will  not  bring  up  a  child 
in  the  way  it  should  go,  but  in  the  waj^  it  will  go.  Thus  ends  my  saying  to 
the  world." 

The  Execution. — The  9th  day  of  February,  1838,  was  one  of 
the  most  bitterly  cold  days  of  that  remarkably  severe  winter.  The 
ground  w^as  covered  with  snow,  and  though  bright  and  pleasant 
overhead,  the  naturally  frigid  atmosphere  of  the  day  was  many 
fold  intensified  by  a  cutting  wind,  that  pierced  one's  system  to  the 
very  vitals.  Executions  in  Ohio,  then,  unlike  those  of  later  years, 
w^ere  open  to  the  general  public,  and  the  gallows  had  been  erected 
in  a  broad  meadowr,  amphitheatrical  in  form,  about  three-fourths 
of  a  mile  southeast  of  the  court  house  in  Ravenna,  and  the  sheriff 


mckisson's  speech  upon  the  gallows.  915 

liad  called  together  the  military  organizations  of  the  county,  for 
■escort  duty,  and  to  preserve  the  public  peace. 

The  writer,  as  a  newspaper  man,  was  on  the  ground  as  early 
as  7  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  even  at  that  early  hour  the  streets 
and  public  square  of  the  village,  were  rapidly  filling  with  a  pro- 
miscuous crowd  of  men,  women  and  children;  pouring  in,  on  foot, 
on  horse-back  and  in  almost  every  style  of  vehicle  then  known, 
through  every  road  leading  into  the  to\^n.  In  addition  to  hotels, 
and  other  regular  places  of  entertainment,  large  numbers  of 
booths  and  stands  had  been  erected  for  the  sale  of  eatables,  and 
-drinkables,  too,  and  in  those  days  there  were  very  few  of  w^hat  are 
now  known  as  temperance  drinks,  in  vogue,  either.  And  during 
all  that  long  forenoon,  yes,  and  until  three  in  the  afternoon,  did 
that  vast  crowd,  variously  estimated  at  from  10,000  to  15,000, 
uncomplainingly  endure  the  biting  cold  and  fatigue  of  the  day, 
though  towards  the  last,  from  the  long  delay,  and  the  effects  of 
the  whisky  imbibed,  it  very  largely  resembled  a  howling  mob, 
clamorous  for  the  hurrying  up  of  the  ghastly  exhibition,  and  kept 
in  check  from  open  acts  of  violence,  only  by  the  presence  of  the 
military,  and  the  activity  of  the  extra  constabulatory  force  that 
had  been  provided. 

At  precisely  3  o'clock  p.  m.,  the  condemned  man  w^as  taken 
from  the  jail,  by  Sheriff  George  Y.  Wallace,  and  his  attendants,  and 
in  an  open  carriage,  preceded  and  followed  by  a  company  of 
militia,  was  taken  to  the  place  of  execution.  On  reaching  the 
gallows,  he  alighted  from  the  carriage  with  agility,  and  walked  up 
the  steps  to  the  scaffold  w^ith  a  firm  tread.  The  sheriff  having 
adjusted  the  fatal  noose  about  his  neck,  asked  him  if  he  desired  to 
address  the  audience,  whereupon,  w^ith  a  slight  inclination  of  the 
head,  he  spoke  substantially  as  foUow^s: 

"Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  -  You  are  in  a  few  minutes  to  witness  the 
departure  of  a  fellow-being'  from  time  to  eternity,  and  I  hope  my  life  will 
deter  j'^ou  all  from  crime  of  every  description,  such  as  lying-,  stealing-, 
swearing,  Sabbath-breaking,  etc.  Break  not  the  laws  of  that  book  (holding- 
up  a  small  Bible)  and  you  break  not  the  laws  of  man.  I  am  reconciled  to 
my  God,  before  whom  I  am  shortly  to  appear.  I  have  been  charged  with 
the  crime  of  murder.  I  have  been  tried  before  a  jury  of  twelve  men  of  my 
countr}^  and  I  have  pleaded  "not  guilty."  Circumstances  were  against  me, 
and  that  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of  murder  in  the  first  degree.  The  court 
sentenced  me  to  be  executed,  and  I  am  about  to  receive  the  penaltj^  due  to 
the  crime  of  murder.  And  now,  when  I  am  within  a  few  minutes  of  eternity; 
when  I  am  about  to  enter  the  presence  of  my  creator,  the  truth  must  be  told. 
It  is  said,  and  gone  forth  to  the  world,  that,  at  the  dead  hour  of  midnight,  I 
stripped  myself,  and  with  an  axe,  entered  the  dwelling  of  a  brother,  and 
cruelly  murdered  an  unoffending-  sister;  and  now  the  question  is,  am  I  guilty 
of  the  crime?.  No,  gentlemen,  I  am  not.  May  my  voice  reach  the  ear  of  the 
farthermost  person  on  yonder  hill;  I  AM  NOT  GUILTY  OF  MURDER. 
Is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that  after  committing  a  murder,  I  should  go  to 
Cleveland,  and  stay  there  half  a  day;  through  mistake  take  a  boat  that  was 
g-oing  down  the  lake  instead  of  up,  and  on  discovering  my  mistake,  get  off 
at  Fairport  and  return  to  Cleveland,  and  on  being  told  by  an  acquaintance 
that  three  men  had  gone  to  Turtle  Island  to  arrest  me,  immediately  start  for 
that  Island?  No,  gentlemen,  it  is  not.  I  intended  to  have  spoken  a  few 
w^ords  about  the  testimony,  and  I  believe  I  will.  Does  it  look  reasonable 
that  I  should  say  to  Robert,  "  I  hope  these  hands  will  smother  out  of  it,"  and 
then,  in  a  louder  voice,  say,  "these  hands  never  done  the  deed."  I  say  does 
it  look  reasonable  that  I  should  say  so  to  a  brother  whose  wife  I  had 
murdered?  No,  gentlemen,  it  does  not.  I  have  committed  a  great  many 
crimes;  I  have  led  a  very  wicked  life,  but  am  iiuioceni  of  the  crime  for  which 
I  am  about  to  be  executed.  Again  I  would  say,  break  not  the  laws  of  that 
t)ook,  and  you  break  not  the  laws  of  man.      You  tuay  all  consider  yourselves 


916  AKSON  AX©   SUMXTT   COCTCTY. 

accessories  in  a  murder,  by  execating^  an  innocent  man;  bnt  msty  God 
ioTgive  yon/ for  yon  kno-v  not  what  yon  do.    I  have  nothing^  more  to  aoy." 

Then,  taming  partly  around,  he  repeated  some  poetry,  com- 
posed by  himself,  ^rhich  was  inaudible  to  the  writer.  The  attend- 
ing clergyman  then  offered  a  short  prayer,  and,  with  the  doubly 
bereaved  brother,  Robert,  shook  hands  with  him  and  descended 
from  the  scaffold.  Sheriff  Wallace  then  pinioned  his  arms  and 
legs,  adjusted  the  rope  around  his  neck,  placed  him  in  position,, 
drew  the  black  cap  over  his  face,  bid  him  good-by,  descended  the 
stairs,  touched  the  fatal  spring,  the  drop  fell,  and  David  McKisson, 
whether  guilty  or  innocent,  was  in  eternity — a  few  spasmodic 
movements  of  the  shoulders  and  legs,  only,  being  observable  after 
the  drop  fell. 

Disposition  of  the  Body. — When  the  attending  physicians 
had  pronounced  life  extinct.  Sheriff  Wallace  delivered  his  body  to 
his  brother  Robert,  and  his  aged,  grief-stricken  father,  to  be  taken 
to  Xorthfield  for  interment;  his  age,  on  the  day  of  the  execution 
being  21  years,  2  months  and  21  days. 

The  funeral  services  were  held  at  the  house  of  the  father,  a  day 
or  two  afterwards,  and  quite  largely  attended  by  sympathetic 
neighbors,  the  burial  being  made  upon  the  home  farm,  where,  also, 
the  father  ^vas  buried  a  few  years  later.  The  remains  of  the  dead 
malefactor  were  not  exhibited  to  those  in  attendance  at  the 
funeral,  and  it  was  several  years  after  alleged  that,  while  the  party 
employed  to  transport  the  body  from  Ravenna  to  Xorthfield,. 
having  driven  his  team  under  a  shed,  was  warming  himself  by  a 
hotel  fire  in  Hudson,  certain  physicians  of  that  town,  extracted  the 
body  from  the  coffin,  substituting  therefor  a  log  of  wood,  and  that 
the  carefully  articulated  skeleton,  so  often  seen  in  the  cabinet  of  a 
prominent  physician  of  Hudson,  for  many  years  thereafter,  was 
none  other  than  that  of  David  McKisson. 

The  CoxcLrsiox. — It  was  believed  that  the  father,  having 
himself  been  acquitted  of  the  crime,  and  therefore  not  liable, 
under  the  law,  to  be  again  put  in  jeopardy  for  the  offense, 
would,  upon  the  trial  of  the  son,  swear  that  he  (the  father)  had 
alone  committed  the  deed.  But  this  the  old  gentleman  perempto- 
rily declined  to  do,  declaring  that  he  could  not  add  the  crime  of 
perjury  to  the  mountain  of  sorrow  then  resting  upon  him.  This, 
and  the  expression  he  used,  on  first  meeting  David,  after  their 
arrest:  "David,  you  dog!  See  what  you  have  brought  us  all  to!" 
together  with  his  apparently  sincere  manifestations  of  grief  over 
the  terrible  event,  was  conclusive  to  the  family,  and  their  best 
informed  neighbors,  that  the  old  gentleman  was  entirely  guiltless 
of  any  complicity  in  the  affair;  though  there  are  people  to  this  day 
who  fully  believe  that  Samuel  McKisson  was  the  real  murderer,  and 
that  David  was  a  victim  of  untoward  circumstances,  and  used 
simply  as  a  scapegoat  to  suffer  the  penalty  due  to  his  aged  father. 
But  though  convicted  upon  circumstantial  evidence,  and  in  spite 
of  the  declaration  of  the  murdered  woman,  and  the  positive  testi- 
mony of  the  daughter,  the  only  eye-witness  of  the  tragedy,  to  the 
contrary,  and  notwithstanding  his  asseverations  of  his  innocence 
to  the  very  last  moment  of  his  life,  there  was  no  doubt  in  the  minds 
of  the  court  and  jury,  or  the  general  public,  in  regard  to  the  gtiilt 
of  the  doomed  young  man,  the  righteousness  of  the  verdict,  or  the 
justice  of  his  fate. 


THB   SBCRBT  OF  HIS  PERSISTENT  DENIAU  917 

It  was  afterwards  learned  that  his  bold  and  persistent  denial  of 
his  guilt,  in  the  very  face  of  death,  instead  of  making  a  full  con- 
fession thereof,  was  probably  inspired  by  the  expectation  of  a 
repreive  at  the  very  last  moment,  as  he  had  been  made  to  believe, 
by  "Col."  William  Ashley,  then  in  jail  awaiting  trial  for  counter- 
feiting, as  else\ehere  related,  that  a  commutation  of  his  sentence  to 
imprisonment  for  life  was  already  in  the  hands  of  the  sherifiF,  and 
that  if  he  asserted  his  innocence  to  the  last  the  execution  would 
be  stayed.  Thus  ended  one  of  the  most  fearful  and  thrilling, 
of  the  many  thrilling  tragedies  that  have  been  enacted  within  the 
present  limits  of  Summit  county;  not  only  producing  the  greatest 
excitement  throughout  the  entire  vicinity,  but  the  denouement  of 
which,  from  the  intense  coldness  of  the  day,  created  a  permanent 
data  for  comparison  of  the  weather,  for  many  years,  and  with 
some,  even  to  the  present  time,  a  very  common  expression  being: 
*'  This  is  the  coldest  day  I  have  experienced  since  McKisson  was 
hung." 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 

NORTON — AN  EVENTFUL  HISTORY— ORIGIN,  NAME,  EARLY  SETTLEMENT,  ETC. — 
GROWTH  AND  POPULATION— BUSINESS  CENTERS,  INDUSTRIES,  ETC.— "QUEER"" 
TAVERN  KEEPERS,  EARLY  CROOKEDNESS,  ETC. — REMARKABLE  REFORMA- 
TION— LUNATIC  GROCERY  KEEPER'S  MAD  PRANKS— SHOOTS  AND  WOUNDS 
TWO  MEN—INMATE  OF  COUNTY  INFIRMARY  FOR  OVER  THIRTY  YEARS — 
POSTMASTER  SHOOTS  AND  INSTANTLY  KILLS  A  BURGLAR— GREAT  EXCITE- 
MENT OVER  MISSING  CHILD— NORTON  IN  WAR  AND  NORTON  IN  PEACE— THE 
MCLISTER-WELSH  HOMICIDE— TRIAL,  CONVICTION,  SENTENCE  AND  IMPRIS- 
ONMENT OF  MCLISTER,  PARDON,  ETC. 

ORIGIN,  NAME,  ETC.  • 

npHE  tow^nship  of  Norton,  originally  designated  as  township  1,. 
*-  range  12,  w^as,  like  Copley,  at  first  officially  associated  with 
Wadsworth,  Sharon,  Guilford  and  Montville,  under  the  general 
name  of  "Wolf  Creek  Trownship,"  being  organized  as  a  separate 
to^vnship  in  April,  1818.  The  tow^nship  derived  its  name  from  it»^ 
principal  Connecticut  proprietor,  Birdsey  Norton,  who,  however, 
never  resided  therein.  It  is  bounded  north  by  Copley,  east  by 
Coventry,  south  by  Franklin  and  Chippe\va  and  west  by  Wads- 
worth,  and  is  one  of  the  southern-most  tow^nships  of  the  Western 
Reserve. 

The  first  settler  in  the  township  is  said  to  have  been  Jame& 
Robinson,  from  Oswego  county,  N.  Y.,  who,  in  1810,  located  upon 
lot  19,  on  Wolf  Creek,  in  the  northeast  portion  of  the  tow^nship, 
since  know^n  as  the  Sylvester  Van  Hyning  farm.  The  friends  of 
Mr.  John^Cahow^,  a  native  of  Maryland,  claim  for  him  the  honor  of 
being  Norton's  first  settler,  his  cabin  also  being  erected  in  1810, 
upon  lot  20,  half  a  mile  east  of  Robinson's,  w^here,  both  before  and 
during  the  War  of  1812,  he  furnished  "entertainment  for  man  and 
beast,"  the  first  tavern,  probably,  west  of  Middlebury  in  what  is 
now  Summit  county. 

In  1814,  James  Robinson  was  married  to  Lois  Bates,  by  Simeon 
Prior,  Esq.,  of  Northampton,  a  year  later  removing  to  the  latter 
named  tow^nship,  but  soon  after\vards  returning  to  Norton,  settling 
near  New  Portage,  where  he  subsequently  died. 

Very  little  progress  w^as  made  in  the  settlement  of  the  tow^n- 
ship  until  after  the  close  of  the  War  of  1812,  in  1815.  Then  there 
w^as  a  rush,  so  that  on  the  organization  of  the  the  township,  in  1818,. 
it  must  have  numbered  some  25  or  30  voters.  The  names  of  all  the 
early  settlers  cannot  now  be  given,  but  among  them,  besides  James- 
Robinson  and  John  Caliow,  already  noted,  may  be  mentioned 
Henry  and  Abraham  Van  Hyning,  Joseph  Holmes,  Elisha  Hins- 
dale, Ezra  Way,  Joseph  D.  Humphrey,  Charles  Lyon,  Philemon 
Kirkum,  Seth  Lucas,  Charles  Miller,  John  O'Brien  and  Nathan 
and  Lyman  Bates.  Henry  Van  Hyning  died  December  25,  1839,. 
aged  102  years. 

The  first  marriage  in  the  township,  as  above  indicated,  was- 
James  Robinson  and  Lois  Bates;  the  first  birth,  a  child  of  Lyman. 


PIONEER   EXPERIENCES,   HARDSHIPS,   ETC. 


919 


Bates;  the  first  death,  a  daughter  of  John  O'Brien,  the  dates  of 
the  two  latter  events  not  now  remembered. 

At  the  first  election,  April,  1818,  Abraham  Van  Hyning,  Charles 
Lyon  and  Ezra  Way  were  chosen  trustees;  Joseph  D.  Humphrey, 
township  clerk;  Joseph  Holmes,  Elisha  Hinsdale  and  JohnCahow, 
supervisors;  and  Henry  Van  Hyning,  Sr.,  justice  of  the  peace. 

The  Indians  had  nearly  all  vacated  the  township  before  white 
settlement  fairly  began,  so  that  very  little,  if  any,  traditionary  lore 
in  regard  to  encounters  with  the  red-skins  has  been  handed  down. 
Nor  are  there  any  very  serious  reminiscent  tales  of  deadly 
encounters  between  the  early  settlers  and  wild  beasts  now  extant 
among  the  people,  though  the  forests  of  the  township,  particularly 
the  jungles  of  Wolf  Creek,  and  contiguous  swamps,  were  then 
quite  largely  infested  with  wolves,  bears  and  other  similar  game, 
it  being  related  that  Henry  Van  Hyning,  Jr.,  and  the  Bates  broth- 
ers once  killed  a  bear  a  short  distance  southeast  of  what  is  now- 
known  as  Loyal  Oak,  which,  when  dressed,  weighed  some  500 
pounds. 


NATHAN  SEIBERLING,-born  in 
Lynn,  Northampton  county, 
Pennsylvania,  April  14, 1810;  boyhood 
spent  on  farm,  and  learning'  shoe- 
making-  with  his  father;  with  less 
than  a  year's  schooling,  by  close  per- 
sonal application,  he  acquired  a  fair 
business  education ;  was  married 
December  6,  1829,  to  Catharine  Peter, 
born  June  27,  1811;  in  June,  1831, 
removed  to  Norton,  Ohio,  pvirchasing 
96  acres  of  uncultivated  land,  devot- 
ing his  days  to  clearing  and  improv- 
ing his  farm,  and  his  evenings  to  his 
trade,  often  working  late  into  the 
night,  in  making  and  mending  shoes 
for  his  neighbors,  splitting  and  whit- 
tling-out  his  pegs  by  hand.  Prosperit}^ 
attended  his  labors,  and  as  the  years 
passed  bj%  hundreds  of  acres  and 
large  blocks  of  bonds  and  stocks  were 
added  to  his  possessions,  enabling 
him  to  ver3^  materially  aid  his  enter- 
prising sons,  whose  manufacturing 
successes  will  be  found  chronicled 
elsewhere.  Fifteen  children  were 
born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Seiberling, 
eleven  of  whom  are  still  living. 
Though  a  stanch  Republican,  living 
in  a  continuous!}"  Democratic  town- 
ship, he  was  elected  justice  of  the 
peace,  and  his  services  were  other- 
wise often  called  into  rec|uisition  in 
the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the 


NATHAN  SEIBERLING. 

township.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Seiberling- 
were  for  over  sixtj'^  years  members  of 
the  Lutheran  Church,  of  which 
organization  the  entire  family  are 
members.  His  death  occurred  Nov- 
ember 4,  1889,  at  the  age  of  79  years,  6 
months  and  20  days,  his  aged  com- 
panion surviving  him. 


The  story  of  the  incessant  toil,  patient  self-denial,  privation 
and  frequent  suffering  incident  to  pioneer  life— the  Ioav  price  of 
farm  produce,  the  high  price  of  all  kinds  of  merchandise,  and  the 
scarcity  of  money,  have  too  often  been  told  to  need  repetition  here. 
But  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that  amid  all  their  trials,  hardships 
and  enforced  strict  economy,  there  was  always  a  cheerful  good- 
nature, a  genial  helpfulness  and  an  unstinted  hospitality,  in  the 
intercourse  of  neighbor  with  neighbor,  and  an   especially  w^arm 


920  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

welcome  extended  to  every  new-comer,  and  to  the  stranger  tem- 
porarily domiciled  among  them. 

Though  getting  a  later  start  than  most  of  its  neighbors,  Nor- 
ton was,  in  point  of  topography  and  soil,  so  desirable  a  location 
that  it  soon  caught  up  with  the  most,  and  surpassed  some,  of  the 
toAvnships  of  the  vicinage,  in  point  of  population,  enterprise  and 
wealth. 

The  center  of  the  township,  though  handsomely  located,  has 
never  hardly  arrived  at  the  dignity  of  a  village,  some  three  or  four 
dwellings,  a  small  public  house,  graded  schools  and  a  portion  of 
the  time  a  store  and  a  postoffice,  constituting  the  entire  hamlet, 
w^ith  the  addition,  in  later  years,  of  a  substantial  two-story 
frame  edifice,  28x60  feet,  with  rear  basement,  for  the  use  of  "Sum- 
mit Grange  of  Patrons  of  Husbandry,"  composed  of  the  very  best 
farmers  of  Norton  and  surrounding  tow^nships,  and  one  of  the 
most  successful  and  influential  local  granges  in  the  State. 

A  mile  and  a  half  to  the  northward,  is  the  village  of  Loyal 
Oak,  originally  called  Bates'  Corners,  w^ith  its  hotel  (sometimes 
two)  store,  two  fine  churches,  school  house,  w^ith,  at  times,  various 
industries,  such  as  blacksmithing,  tanning,  milling,  tin-smithing, 
harness-making,  etc.  About  the  same  distance  southward  is 
Johnson's  Corners,  very  similar  in  its  church,  school,  hotel,  store 
and  mechanical  appointments  to  those  of  Bates'  Corners,  "with 
about  the  same  show  of  business  and  population. 

On  the  w^est  line  of  the  tow^nship  (and  county)  is  the  village  of 
Western  Star,  originally  called  Griswold's  Corners,  after  several 
stalwart  enterprising  brothers  w^ho  established  themselves  in 
business  there,  in  the  latter  twenties,  though  Mills,  CuUen  and 
Bzekiel  Richards  had  settled  near  the  corners  several  years 
before.  Its  present  name  is  in  honor  of  Nathan  Starr,  of  Con- 
necticut, the  original  owner  of  the  land  at  that  point.  Mr.  Starr 
and  his  wife,  Grace  T.  Starr,  on  the  7th  day  of  November,  1844, 
donated  and  deeded  in  trust  one  acre  of  land  for  educational  pur- 
poses, w^ith  the  proviso  that  said  trustees  "  erect  on  said  lot  a 
suitable  building  for  a  seminary  building,  and  keep  the  same  in 
good  repair  at  all  limes,  otherwise  the  land  to  revert  to  the 
original  owners." 

Western  Star  was  incorporated  and  organized  as  a  village  in 
1842,  with  mayor,  marshal  and  other  village  officers,  having  in 
later  years  adopted  the  graded  school  system,  the  seminary  build- 
ing being  used  for  the  higher  grades  of  the  system.  The  village 
also  maintains  one  church  (United  Brethren),  a  hotel,  one  or  two 
stores,  and  various  mechanics'  shops,  the  business  and  population 
being  about  equal  on  either  side  of  the  line,  the  number  of  inhabi- 
tants in  the  Norton  portion  of  the  corporation,  as  show^n  by  the 
census  of  1880,  being  75,  and  by  the  census  of  1890  given  as  88. 

New  Portage,  two  and  a  half  miles  east  of  the  Center,  on  the 
line  between  Norton  and  Coventry,  has  been  already  pretty  fully 
described  in  the  sketch  of  the  latter  township,  the  most  of  the 
present  business  of  the  village — railroad  station,  store,  postoffice, 
stra\vrboard  works,  church,  etc.,  being  upon  the  Norton  side  of  the 
line.  Since  the  above  was  first  published,  in  1888,  new^  honors 
have  come  to  Norton  in  the  founding  within  her  borders  the  new 
industrial  city  of  Barberton,  which  is  fully  described  further  on  in 
this  work.     There  is  also  a  small  mining  hamlet  called  Dennison 


NORTON  S   EARLY  INDUSTRIES. 


921 


in  the  western  portion  of  the  township,  on  the  N.  Y.,  P.  &  O.  R.  K. 
with  postoffice  (named  Sherman),  store,  saloon,  etc.  Also,  on  the 
Wooster  road,  about  two  miles  southwest  of  Johnson's  Corners, 
upon  the  line  between  Summit  and  Wayne  counties,  is  the  hamlet 
of  Hametown,  so  called  from  the  fact  that  quite  an  extensive  shop 
for  the  manufacture  of  hames  was  established  there  some  forty 
or  more  years  ago.  Though  that  particular  industry  w^as  long 
since  relegated  to  other  labor  centers,  Hametown,  though  having 
no  postoffice,  is  quite  a  business  point,  with  store,  grocery,  shoe 
shop,  etc. 


,pHARLES  MILLER,— born  in  Up- 
^  per  Nazareth,  Pennsylvania, 
November  29,  1815 ;  raised  on  farm ; 
•education  limited ;  learned  carpen- 
ter's trade ;  in  1838  came  to  Ohio, 
working-  at  trade  in  Guilford,  Medina 
<;ounty,  returning'  to  Penns3dvania  in 
the  Fall ;  in  1843  a^ain  came  to  Ohio, 
working  at  trade  in  Wayne  county, 
finally  settling  on  farm  in  Norton  ; 
in  1857,  engaged  in  selling  farm  imple- 
ments for  C.  M.  Russell  &  Co.,  of  Mas- 
sillon ;  in  1861,  engaged  in  selling 
Excelsior  reaping  and  mowing 
machines,  manufactured  by  Mr.  John 
F.  Seiberling,  at  Doylestown  ;  in  1863, 
purchased  a  quarter  interest  in  Mr. 
Seiberling's  patents;  in  1865,  organ- 
ized Excelsior  Mower  and  Reaper 
Company,  of  Akron,  building  exten- 
sive works  opposite  Union  railroad 
depot ;  through  business  complica- 
tions and  internal  dissensions,  com- 
8 any  made  an  assignment  in  1875, 
[r.  Miller  sinking  $65,000  in  stock, 
and  several  thousand  dollars  loaned 
the  company ;  in  1879,  in  company 
with  his  sons,  purchased  the  Mather- 
son  chain  works  at  Cuj^ahoga  Falls, 
consolidating  them  with  the  Chevrier 
works,  at  Akron,  previously  pur- 
chased, afterwards  adding  the  match 
making  business  to  their  works,  in 
both  departments  building  up  an 
extensive  and  profitable  business. 
Mr.  Miller  was  married  F'ebruary, 
1843,  to   Miss   Hannah   Bechtel,  who 


CHARLES    MILLER. 


bore  him  seven  children — Emma  E., 
now  Mrs.  Frank  Reifsnider,  of  Akron; 
Henry  D.,  of  Tiflin  ;  Amanda  M.,  wife 
of  R.  N.  Kratz,  of  Mitchell,  Dakota  ; 
Harvey  F.,  of  Akron ;  Leon  J.,  of 
Little  Rock,  Arkansas  ;  S.  Samuel,  of 
Akron,  and  Cora  O.,  now  Mrs.  Charles 
Huntley,  of  Akron.  Mr.  Miller  died 
December  9,  1886,  aged  71  years  and 
10  days,  Mrs.  Miller  dying  March  11, 
1887,  aged  69  years. 


It  w^ill  thus  be  seen  that  though  Norton  is  emphatically  an 
agricultural  tow^n,  it  has  also,  besides  its  extensive  mining  opera- 
tions, quite  a  large  urban  population,  and  considerable  of  a  variety 
of  mechanical  and  manufacturing  industries.  For  many  years 
Clark's  mill,  one  mile  east  of  Loyal  Oak,  on  Wolf  Creek,  built  by 
Mr.  Carlos  Clark  in  the  early  thirties,  did  an  excellent  business, 
until  its  destruction  by  fire  in  1879.  Still  earlier,  about  1830, 
Thomas  Johnson  built  a  grist  mill  on  Hudson's  run,  at  Johnson's 
Corners,  w^hich  is  still  running,  another  similar  mill,  built  by  Mr. 
Johnson,  some  two  or  three  years  later,  further  dow^n  the  stream, 
having  gone  into  disuse  many  years  ago.  As  many  as  ten  or 
twelve  saw-mills,  probably,  have  been  erected  w^ithin  the  tow^nship 
at   different   times,    most   of    which,   whether    profitable  to  their 


922  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

o\!\rners  or  not,  have  been  of  very  great  convenience  to  the  farmers^, 
in  converting  their  surplus  timber  into  lumber  for  the  construc- 
tion of  their  comfortable  houses  and  magnificent  bank  barns. 

Early  "Financial"  Operations. — In  an  early  day  Norton 
became  quite  seriously  involved  in  the  prevailing  "crookedness  " 
of  the  Cuyahoga  and  Tuscarawas  valleys.  Besides  the  operations 
of  this  character  at  New  Portage  and  Wolf  Creek  Lock,  already 
alluded  to,  Johnson's  Corners  was  for  manj'^  years  a  prominent 
point  for  the  gathering  together  of  the  members  of  the  brother- 
hood, and  for  the  dispensation  of  the  "queer."  Thoinas  Johnson, 
somewhere  in  the  middle  twenties,  built  and  kept  the  tavern  upon 
the  northeast  corner,  the  same  site  now  occupied  by  the  fine  new 
hotel  of  Mr.  J.  T.  Price.  This  house  was  a  well-known  resort  for 
the  sporting  gentry  of  that  day,  of  which  fraternity  Johnson 
himself  was  understood  to  be  in  full  fellowship,  though  of  the 
strictest  integrity  in  all  his  neighborhood  dealings. 

At  length,  in  the  Fall  of  1833,  Johnson  got  into  "  financial "" 
difficulty  in  Portage  county  (Norton  then  being  in  Medina  county), 
and  was  bound  over  to  court  by  Justice  George  B.  De  Peyster,  of 
Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent),  and  at  the  October  term  of  the  court, 
1833,  was  indicted  for  "bartering  a  counterfeit  bank  note,"  and 
entered  into  bonds  in  the  sum  of  $1,000,  with  William  Coolman, 
Jr.,  and  William  King  (both  hotel  keepers  at  Ravenna)  for  his 
appearance  at  the  March  term,  1834,  Lucius  V.  Bierce  being  the 
prosecuting  attorney,  and  Gregory  Powers  officiating  as  counsel 
for  the  defendant.  At  the  March  term  Johnson  failed  to  appear 
and  his  bond  was  declared  forfeited,  the  record  showing  that 
Coolman  and  King  each  paid  $250,  the  other  $500  being  remitted 
by  the  County  Commissioners.  Johnson  remained  in  hiding  for  a 
short  time,  when,  through  the  intercession  of  Mr.  Charles  Miller, 
father  of  Norton's  present  well-known  and  highly  respected 
citizen,  Cyrus  Miller,  Esq.,  the  authorities  dropped  the  matter 
against  Johnson,  on  account  of  valuable  information  given  by  him 
in  regard  to  the  operations  of  the  gang,  and  of  his  solemn  promise 
to  sever  his  connection  therewith.  From  that  time  until  his 
death,  March  13,  1836,  at  the  age  of  45  years,  Johnson  led  a  strictly 
upright  life,  and  is  said  to  have  been  a  class-leader  in  the  Metho- 
dist society  organized  at  the  Corners,  a  year  or  so  previous  to  his 
death.  Johnson  left  quite  a  handsome  property,  his  widow,  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Johnson,  an  energetic  and  most  estimable  woman, 
afterwards  being  married  to  the  late  Joshua  F.  Shaw,  Esq.,  father 
of  Mr.  Merwin  Shaw,  still  an  influential  resident  of  the  village, 

Jonathan  DeCourcey  was  another  of  Norton's  early  crooked 
financiers,  and  was  the  builder  and  keeper  of  the  brick  tavern  on 
the  south\vest  corner  of  the  Clinton  and  Wooster  roads,  which  is 
still  standing.  De  Courcey  was  far  less  enterprising  and  indus- 
trious, but  vastly  shrewder  and  more  unscrupulous  in  his  illicit 
monetary  transactions,  than  Johnson,  but,  in  the  latter  thirties,  he, 
too,  lost  his  grip,  and  in  1840,  being  under  indictment  in  Medina 
county;  he  forfeited  his  bond  and  fled  the  countrj'^,  as  is  more  fully 
set  forth  in  another  chapter  devoted  to  the  operations  of  the 
counterfeiters  of  the  Cuyahoga. 

Norton's  Lunatic  Merchant. — From  about  1854  to  1860,  one 
William  Pierce,  was  the  OAvner  and  keeper  of  the  canal  grocery 
store  at   Wolf  Creek  Lock,  a  mile  or  so  south  of  New  Portage. 


Norton's  lunatic  merchant.  923 

Pierce,  then  about  25  years  of  age,  was  a  sober,  shrewd,  money- 
making  fellow,  and,  keeping  a  good  stock  of  boatmen's  supplies, 
soon  built  up  a  profitable  trade,  and  rapidly  accumulated  property. 
After  tw^o  or  three  years,  however.  Pierce  became  quite  irritable^ 
and  strongly  inclined  to  quarrel  with  his  customers,  especially  if 
any  fault  was  found  with  the  quality  or  prices  of  his  goods,  and 
soon  came  to  be  regarded  as  a  little  "off"  in  his  mind,  though  still 
attentive  to  business,  and  as  sharp  at  a  bargain  as  ever. 

Nothing  serious  resulted  from  his  aberration  until  about  the 
first  of  August,  1857,  when,  having  had  some  w^ords  w^ith  a  boat 
captain  by  the  name  of  Hugh  Kelly,  he  deliberately  fired  his 
revolver  from  his  grocery  door,  at  the  Captain,  just  as  he  was  about 
to  step  from  the  lock  on  to  his  boat,  the  ball  taking  effect  in  the 
tendons  of  the  heel,  and  also  striking  and  slightly  wounding  the 
Captain's  son. 

Pierce  -was  arrested  and  put  under  bonds  to  answer  to  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas,  on  the  charge  of  shooting  w^ith  intent  to 
kill ;  Captain  Kelly  also  commenced  civil  suit  against  him  for 
personal  damages  in  the  sum  of  $3,000  for  himself,  and  $1,000  for 
his  son.  On  investigation,  the  Grand  Jury  failed  to  find  a  bill 
against  him  on  the  ground  of  insanity,  the  civil  suit,  at  the  March 
term,  1858,  resulting  in  a  verdict  for  the  plaintiff,  in  the  sum  of 
$254.00  damages,  and  the  costs,  amounting  to  $39.00  more.  The 
shooting  was  admitted,  but  defendant's  council.  General  A.  C. 
Voris,  urged  the  insanity  of  his  client,  if  not  as  a  vindication  of 
the  act,  at  least  in  mitigation  of  damages.  Pierce  Avas  greatly 
exasperated  at  this,  and  vehemently  berated  Voris,  in  open  court, 
claiming  that  in  shooting  Captain  Kelly  he  w^as  only  defending  his 
rights. 

Immediately  on  the  announcement  of  the  judgment,  by  Judge 
Carpenter,  in  accordance  with  the  verdict  of  the  jury.  Pierce  went 
to  his  grocery,  at  Wolf  Creek  Lock,  and  placing  the  amount  of 
damages  and  costs  ( $293 . 00 )  in  gold  and  silver  coin,  in  a  small 
canvas  bag,  returned  in  the  afternoon,  and,  in  the  midst  of  another 
trial  then  on,  w^alked  up  to  the  Judges'  desk,  dumped  the  contents 
of  the  bag  upon  the  desk,  and  told  the  Judge  to  count  it  and  see  if 
it  w^as  all  right.  It  Avas  with  considerable  difficulty  that  Judge 
Carpenter  made  him  comprehend  that  Clerk  Green  was  the  proper 
officer  to  pay  the  money  to,  Pierce  insisting  that,  as  the  Judge  had 
rendered  the  judgment  against  him,  he  was  bound  to  count  the 
money  to  see  if  it  w^as  all  right. 

Notwithstanding  the  finding  of  the  Grand  Jury  that  Pierce 
w^as  insane,  no  steps  w^ere  taken  tow^ards  sending  him  to  the  Insane 
Asylum,  and  he  confined  to  carry  on  his  grocery  business,  w^ith  his 
customary  diligence,  at  Wolf  Creek  Lock.  Though  still  giving 
frequent  manifestations  of  mental  unsoundness,  nothing  serious 
happened  for  about  two  years,  w^hen  another,  and  this  time  nearly 
fatal,  shooting  affair  occurred  substantially  as  follows: 

Joshua  F.  Shaw,  Esq.,  of  Johnson's  corners,  had  a  piece  of  land 
adjoining  the  premises  owned  by  Pierce.  Some  difference  arising  as 
to  the  division  line,  Mr.  Shaw,  on  Saturday,  March  17, 1860,  stepped 
into  the  grocery  to  consult  with  Pierce  in  regard  to  employing  the 
county  surveyor  to  run  out  the  line.  Pierce  objected  on  account 
of  the  expense,  and  Mr.  Shaw^,  pleasantly  remarking  that  he  w^ould 
foot  the  bill,  started  to  go  out.     As  he  reached  the  door  the  report 


924  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

of  a  pistol  rang  through  the  grocery,  the  ball  striking  Mr.  Shaw  on 
the  lower  back  portion  of  the  skull,  glancing  around  under  the  skin 
and  coming  out  at  the  upper  part  of  the  right  ear. 

The  affair  created  the  most  intense  excitement  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  Pierce  \\ras  immediately  apprehended,  by  Constable 
Merrick  Burton,  of  Akron,  and  taken  before  Justice  William  L. 
Clarke,  of  Akron,  who,  on  hearing,  committed  him  to  jail  to  answer 
to  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  to  the  charge  of  shooting  with 
intent  to  kill. 

At  the  May  term  of  the  court,  the  Grand  Jury  returned  a  bill 
of  indictment,  in  accordance  with  the  finding  of  Justice  Clarke. 
On  being  arraigned,  Pierce,  with  great  emphasis,  pleaded  not 
guilty,  declaring  that  in  shooting  Shaw  he  was  only  defending  his 
rights.  Pierce's  counsel,  Wilbur  F.  Sanders  and  Dudley  C.  Carr, 
Esqs.,  then  moved  for  a  continuance  until  the  next  term  of  the 
court,  w^hich  \v^as  granted. 

At  the  November  term,  a  long  and  exciting  trial  ^vas  had,  the 
costs  in  the  case  amounting  to  nearly  $300,  the  verdict  of  the  jury 
being  "not  guilty  by  reason  of  insanity;"  the  Court  making  an 
order  that  Pierce  be  remanded  to  jail,  and  the  case  duly  certified 
to  the  Probate  Court  for  proceedings  in  lunacy.  Pierce  remained 
in  jail  until  the  5th  day  of  March,  1862,  w^hen  he  was  taken  to  the 
county  Infirmary,  where  he  Tvas  confined  for  over  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  a  good  share  of  the  time  in  a  separate  cell,  to  prevent  his 
doing  injury  toothers,  which  he  had  several  times  attempted  to  do, 
his  death  occurring  September  23,  1889, 

Like  Captain  Kelly,  Mr.  Shaw  brought  suit  against  Pierce  for 
personal  damages,  but,  more  modest  than  the  Captain,  laid  his 
claims  at  $500  only.  The  case  was  referred  to  ex-Probate  Judge 
Noah  M.  Humphrey,  Hon.  John  Johnston  and  Arad  Kent,  Esq.,  who 
awarded  the  plaintiff  $175,  for  which  amount  and  the  costs 
judgment  was  rendered  by  the  Court,  to  satisfy  which  the  Wolf 
Creek  property  ^vas  sold  by  Sheriff  Burlison,  in  February,  1866,  for 
$960,  of  which  amount,  after  satisfying  the  judgment  and  costs, 
$326.50  was  paid  to  Avery  Spicer,  guardian  for  Cyrus  Pierce  (minor 
son  of  the  defendant)  the  balance  being  paid  to  Mrs.  Pierce. 

Sometime  in  1882,  it  came  to  the  knowledge  of  Prosecuting 
Attorney  Charles  Baird,  that  Pierce  was  entitled  to  a  one- 
fifteenth  share  of  the  estate  of  a  deceased  sister,  Mrs.  Sophia 
Weeden,  of  Sandusky  City,  and  by  taking  the  proper  legal  steps  in 
the  premises,  about  $1000  was  covered  into  the  county  treasury,  to 
the  credit  of  the  poor  fund,  thus,  in  some  slight  degree,  reimburs- 
ing the  tax  payers  of  the  county  for  the  care  and  keeping,  for  so 
many  years,  of  their  unfortunate  fellow-citizen. 

PosTOFFicE  Robber  Killed. — ^In  the  latter  fifties,  a  resident 
of  New  Portage  by  the  name  of  William  Witner,  then  about  25  years 
of  age,  being  employed  as  mail-carrier  between  New  Portage  and 
Doylestown,  was  detected  in  robbing  the  mails,  and  served  a  short 
term  in  the  penitentiary.  Returning  to  New  Portage,  immediately 
after  his  release  from  prison,  Witner  conducted  himself  fairly 
Avell  for  a  few  years,-  marrying  into  a  highly  respectable  family 
of  that  village,  though  he  was  largely  disinclined  to  engage  in 
any  hard  or  very  useful  labor. 

At  this  time  Mr.  Jacob  Welch,  formerly  of  Mogadore,  now  a 
resident  of  Colorado,  w^as  carrying  on  quite  an  extensive  stoneware 


POSTOFFICE  BURGLAR   KILLED.  925 

manufactory  at  Ne\vr  Portage,  and,  in  connection  therewith,  a 
store,  also  officiating  as  postmaster.  During  the  Summer  and  Fall 
of  1869,  several  depredations  upon  the  mails  had  been  committed, 
and  sundry  small  articles  of  merchandise  had  also  been  missed 
from  the  store.  Finding  no  indications  of  "breaking  in,"  Welch 
concluded  that  the  thief  had  possessed  himself  of  a  duplicate  key, 
and  accordingly  had  the  lock  of  the  store  door  changed. 

The  depredations  continuing,  Welch  consulted  Sheriff  James 
Burlison,  besides  being  visited  by  a  special  agent  of  the  postoffice 
department,  and  it  was  determined  to  establish  a  watch  in  the 
store.  He  employed  Witner  and  another  man  to  do  the  w^atching, 
and  one  night  when  they  were  on  duty,  a  package  of  money  was 
stolen.  Welch  then  determined  to  watch  the  store  himself.  So 
rigging  up  a  bed  back  of  the  counter,  armed  with  a  double-bar- 
relled shot-gun  and  revolver,  and  accompanied  by  his  son,  Corw^in, 
on  the  night  of  November  4,  1869,  Mr.  Welch  entered  upon  his 
vigil.  No  disturbance  occurring,  about  1  o'clock  Mr.  Welch  sent 
Cor\srin  home,  continuing  the  watch  alone  until  morning. 

Soon  after  3  o'clock  Mr.  Welch  heard  a  noise  at  the  rear  base- 
ment window,  and  in  a  short  time  heard  foot-steps  coming  up  the 
basement  stairs  and  enter  the  storeroom.  At  this  moment  the 
intruder  struck  a  match,  which,  flashing  for  an  instant,  \srent  out. 
Not  recognizing  his  visitor,  in  that  momentary  flash,  Welch  raised 
his  gun  and  fired  in  the  direction  wrhere  he  stood.  The  intruder 
then  exclaimed,  "  My  God  !  Welch,  you  have  killed  me  !  "  Welch 
then  asked  him  if  he  was  armed  and  he  replied  that  he  was  not, 
and  was  then  recognized  by  his  voice.  Welch  immediately  aroused 
the  neighbors,  and  on  returning  to  the  store  found  Witner  dead, 
the  charge  having  entered  the  body  a  little  below  the  shoulder- 
blade,  penetrating  and  lacerating  the  lungs. 

In  the  absence  of  the  coroner  (Gen.  O.  E.  Gross,  of  Stow),  Jus- 
tice William  M.  Cunningham  summoned  a  jury  to  investigate  the 
affair.  After  an  exhaustive  examination  of  Jacob  and  Corwin 
Welch,  and  several  other  w^itnesses,  including  Dr.  William  Bowen, 
who  made  a  post-mortem  examination  of  the  body,  the  jury, 
through  its  foreman,  Sherman  Blocker,  Esq.,  returned  a  verdict  as 
follow^s:  "We  do  find  that  the  deceased  came  to  his  death  by  a 
gun-shot  fired  into  him  by  Jacob  Welch,  while  the  deceased  was 
in  the  act  of  committing  a  burglary  in  the  store  of  said  Welch,  and 
that  said  Jacob  Welch  was  justified  in  firing  said  shot." 

An  Exciting  Episode. — On  Saturday  morning,  November  10, 
1866,  a  little  six-year-old  daughter  of  Mr.  Samuel  Reimer,  living  a 
short 'distance  northwest  of  Loyal  Oak,  wandered  away  from  home, 
and,  as  it  afterwards  appeared,  traveled  west  to  Wadsworth,tiorth 
to  Sharon,  east  to  Copley,  and  northerly,  again,  in  a  zig-zag  course 
through  Bath,  into  Richfield,  w^here  near  evening,  she  was  picked 
up,  in  an  almost  exhausted  condition,  a  short  distance  south  of  the 
center  of  Richfield,  and  fully  20  miles,  by  the  route  traveled,  from 
the  starting  point. 

On  being  missed,  the  child  w^as  searched  for  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, by  the  parents  and  neighbors,  but  w^ithout  success.  The 
interest  and  excitement  increased,  as  the  hours  glided  by,  until 
during  the  night,  and  on  Sunday  morning,  there  were  several  hun- 
dred persons  engaged  in  the  search,  occasional  tidings  of  her  hav- 
ing been  seen,   upon  several  of  the  roads  indicated,  but  with  no 


926 


AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


definite  clue  to  her  present  w^hereabouts  or  fate.  On  Sunday,  in 
the  neighboring  churches,  the  little  one's  loss  was  proclaimed, 
persons  \v^ho  had  seen  her  upon  her  travels  arising  in  the  congre- 
gation and  announcing  the  fact,  a  good  share  of  the  several  con- 
gregations immediately  forsaking  the  sanctuary,  and  joining  in 
the  search. 

In  the  meantime,  in  answer  to  inquiries,  she  had  told  the 
family  w^ho  had  taken  her  in,  that  she  lived  at  Bates'  Corners,  and 
as  they  were  not  familiar  with  the  locality  they  sent  a  messenger 
to  the  Center  of  Richfield,  on  Sunday  morning,  for  information. 
On  the  return  of  the  messenger,  the  gentleman  and  one  of  his 
neighbors  started  in  a  buggy,  to  return  the  child  to  her  almost 
distracted  parents.  As  they  met  the  cortege  of  searchers,  the 
w^ord  passed  rapidly  from  mouth  to  mouth,  and  from  house  to 
house,  that  the  "  lost  was  found,"  and  as  they  neared  the  Corners, 
and  the  home  of  the  little  -wanderer,  the  demonstrations  were  very 
marked  and  enthusiastic,  indeed — the  w^onder,  on  the  one  hand, 
being  that  so  young  a  child  could  possibly  have  traveled  so  far  in 
so  short  a  time,  and  on  the  other  hand,  that  she  should  not  sooner 
have  been  picked  up  by  those  w^ho  noticed  her — a  strange  child, 
and  alone — as  she  traversed  the  several  towrnships  and  neighbor- 
hoods, on  her  long  and  devious  journey. 

DR.  JOHN  HILL,"born  in  Hast- 
ing-s,  Sussex  county,  England, 
October  26,  1823 ;  came  with  parents 
to  America  in  1828,  settling"  near 
Utica,  New  York  ;  removed  to  Orang-e, 
Cuyahoga  county,  Ohio,  in  1832 ;  the 
family  going  thence  to  Illinois  in  1843. 
With  such  education  as  the  schools 
of  the  vicinit}^  afforded,  after  teach- 
ing a  few  years,  young  Hill,  in  1847, 
began  the  study  of  medicine  with 
Dr.  Alexander  Fisher,  at  Western 
Star,  attending  lectures  at  Cleveland 
Medical  College ;  in  1850,  went  to 
California,  and  in  1853,  to  Australia, 
stopping  three  weeks  en  route  at 
Apia,  on  the  now  noted  Island  of 
Samoa ;  in  Maj^  1854,  sailed  from 
Australia  for  London,  and  from 
thence,  in  the  Fall  of  that  5'^ear,  for 
New  York ;  1854,  '55,  attended  medical 
lectures  in  Cleveland,  in  Winter  of 
1855,  '56,continuing  studies  at  Jefferson 
Medical  College,  Philadelphia,  grad- 
uating therefrom  in  March,  1856;  prac- 
ticed medicine  one  year  in  Sharon, 
Medina  county ;  March  26,  1857,  inar- 
ried  to  Miss  Catharine  Pardee,  daugh- 
ter of  the  late  Ebenezer  Pardee,  of 
Western  Star,  where,  aside  from  his 
public  duties,  he  thenceforth  prin- 
cipally devoted  himself  to  the  culti- 
vation of  his  fine  farm  at  that  place  ; 
elected  county  commissioner  in  1870, 
1873  and  1876,  serving  nearly  nine 
years  ;  elected  State  representative  in 


DR.  JOHN  HILL. 

1879,  serving  two  years.  Dr.  Hill  was 
the  father  of  six  children — Harriet 
Almira,  born  June  20,  1858,  died  Octo- 
ber 30, 1878  ;  John  E.,  born  August  7, 
1859;  Martha  B.,  born  January  2,  1861; 
Brace  P.,  August  12,  1865  ;  Josephine 
Elizabeth,  March  28,  1875;  Edward 
Buckingham,  January  4,  1881.  Dr. 
Hill  died  December  13,  1890,  aged  67 
years,  1  inonth  and  17  days. 


Norton's  Military  Record.— Several  of  the  early  residents  are 
believed  to  have  been  soldiers  in  the  Continental  Army,  during 
the  Revolutionary  War,  but  no  data  is  now  available  as  to  who 


Norton's  military  roll  of  honor. 


927 


ihey  were,  except  Mr,  Henry  Van  Hyning,  a  native  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  w^ho  died  in  Norton,  December  25,  1839,  at  the  age  of 
102  years,  and  Mr.  Hinsdale  Bates,  84,  reported  as  being  a  pen- 
sioner, by  the  census  of  1840.  It  is  very  likely,  too,  that  some  of 
her  pioneer  settlers  may  have  "played  well  their  part"  in  the  War 
of  1812,  though  she  could  not  have  directly  furnished  many,  as  it 
w^ill  be  remembered  that  there  were  but  few  accessions  to  the 
population  of  the  township  until  after  the  close  of  that  w^ar,  in  1815. 
For  the  Mexican  War  of  1846-48,  Norton  probably  furnished  no 
soldiers,  few  being  recruited  in  this  part  of  the  State. 

In  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  how^ever,  Norton  was  well  repre- 
sented, furnishing  her  full  quota  under  the  several  calls,  mostlj^ 
from  among  her  own  brave  and  patriotic  sons,  of  both  political 
parties,  several  of  whom  laid  down  their  lives  in  the  service,  or 
have  since  prematurely  died  from  injuries  received,  or  diseases 
contracted  during  the  sanguinary  struggle.  .  Without  disparage- 
ment to  others,  honorable  mention  may  be  made  of  Major  Myron 
T.  Wright,  of  the  29th  O.  V.  I.,  who  died  January  7,  1865/  at  Savan- 
nah, Georgia,  of  wounds  received  in  battle. 


OTEPHEN  D.  MILLER,— born  July 
^  19,  1827,  in  Northampton  county, 
Pennsylvania ;  common  school  edu- 
cation ;  raised  a  farmer ;  in  1843, 
removed  with  parents  to  Ohio,  set- 
tling' in  Norton ;  November  6,  1854, 
married  to  Mary  Ann  Musser,  three 
years  his  junior,  who  bore  him  six 
children,  as  follows  :  Sarah  Jane  (now 
Mrs.  Columbus  Seiberling-),  born  July 
1,1852;  Albert,  May  21,  18,59;  Norman 
F.,  October  20,  1861,  deceased; 
Harriet  O.,  born  March  13,  1863; 
Charles  O.,  November  11,  1866;  Mary 
Susannah,  August  23,  1870.  Besides 
the  successful  cultivation  of  his  farm, 
Mr.  Miller  was  special  and  general 
manager  for  the  mower  and  reaper 
firm  of  Seiberling,  Miller  &  Co.,  of 
Doylestown,  for  some  15  years. 
Though  an  earnest  Republican,  ever 
in  the  ininority  in  Norton,  Mr.  Miller 
was  often  honored  with  important 
township  offices;  during  the  War, 
was  two  3^ear8  deputy  revenue  asses- 
sor for  a  portion  of  the  18th  Congres- 
sional district,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  October  14,  1889,  was  just  clos- 
ing his  second  term  (nearly  six  years), 
as  director  of  the  Summit    County 


STEPHEN  D.  MILLER. 

Infirmary.  Faithful  to  every  public 
and  private  obligation,  his  sudden 
(ieath,  at  the  age  of  62  years,  2  months 
and  25  days,  was  universall}^  regret- 
ted. 


The  following,  furnished  by  the  late  Mr.  Stephen  D,  Miller, 
and  compiled  from  the  assessors'  returns  for  1865,  is  believed  to  be 
nearly  a  correct  list  of  the  soldiers  furnished  by  Norton  during 
^he  War  for  the  Union,  1861-65: 

Israel  Beck,  Eber  Bennett  (died  in  service),  John  L.  Baker, 
Henry  A.  Baker,  Jacob  S.  Baker,  Eli  Blocker  (died  in  service), 
George  W.  Betz  (left  arm  severely  shattered  at  battle  of  Columbia, 
Tenn.,  November  28,  1864),  Charles  W,  Betz  (died  in  service).  John 
B.  Betz,  Aaron  Betz,  Thomas  Bear  (died  in  service),  Levi  Bear 
{died  in  service),  Stephen  D.  Bauer,  Albert  Beckwith,  J.  W.  Brown, 


928  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Albert  Beardsley,  John  G.  Caskey,  Jefferson  Clay,  D.  F.  Cunning- 
ham, Joseph  DeLong,  Gabriel  E.  Dague,  Thomas  Dague,  W,  C. 
Davis,  M.  M.  Dickson,  Robert  L.  Ferguson,  Archie  C.  Ferguson, 
Columbus  Ferguson,  David  Fotzinger,  Jacob  Filtz,  Daniel  Grim, 
B.  F.  George,  George  Getz,  Nathaniel  Grinnels,  Franklin  Hoff- 
man, William  Hart,  Horace  H.  Heath,  Lewis  Heath,  Pulaski  C. 
Hard,  Joshua  Hile,  James  Hile,  Sylvanus  Hile,  William  Hile,  Mer- 
ritt  Hoskins,  John  W.  Hall,  J.  N.  Haynes,  Philip  Harter,  James  D. 
Heathman,  Mendenhall  Henderson,  George  F.  He^witt,  Andrew 
Hunsicker,  Jacob  Henshue  (died  in  service),  Phineas  Jones,  David 
Jamison,  John  H.  Knox  (died  in  service),  Eli  Koplin,  Henry  Koplin, 
Jacob  Koplin,  James  Kunkler,  John  A.  Kummer,  Joseph  Lile,  Will- 
iam Lile,  Jesse  Limber,  Paul  Loutzenhiser,  Jonas  Loutzenhiser, 
Lawrence  Loutzenhiser,  Lawrence  Merriam,  Franklin  Mar- 
shall, David  Marsh,  V.  McDonald,  Owen  J,  Miller,  Joseph  H. 
Miller,  Samuel  Merser,  J.  McRobertson,  Cyrus  Osborn,  James 
Owry,  James  K.  Pardee,  Joseph  Pardee,  Ephraim  Pardee,  James 
E.  Poe,  Wesley  Powers  (died  in  service),  Julius  Richards,  Robert 
Rosenbury,  Joseph  Rimer,  J.  Rinehart,  Amandus  Rochard,  John 
Reichard,  Peter  Reichard,  Henry  Strohl.  George  Shaw,  Merwin 
Shaw^,  Benjamin  Snyder,  Aaron  S.  Stuver,  Edward  Spicer,  Jr., 
David  Seiberling,  Charles  Seiberling,  Septimus  Seiberling,  Lloyd 
Seiberling,  Kersey  Seiberling,  N.  S.  Seiberling,  Franklin  Showalter, 
Levi  Showalter,  T.  B,  Sanford,  Richard  Stock,  Philip  Souhalter, 
George  Souhalter,  A.  G.  Seis,  Peter  Seis,  George  Todd,  Henry  Van 
Hyning,  WTilliam  J.  Viers,  Solomon  Vickers,  Franklin  J.  Waltz, 
Myron  T.  Wright  (died  in  service),  Frederick  Webster,  Elias  Waltz 
(died  in  service),  Carlos  Ware  (died  in  service),  Lorenzo  Young 
(died  in  service). 

NORTON'S  OFFICE-HOLDING  STATUS. 

On  the  organization  of  Summit  county,  Norton  patriotically 
stepped  to  the  front,  and  in  the  civil  offices  of  the  county  has  ever 
since  been  a  prominent  and  useful  factor. 

Elisha  Hinsdale,  a  prominent  and  prosperous  farmer  of  Nor- 
ton township,  residing  near  Bates'  Corners  (now  Loyal  Oak),  was 
elected  coroner  at  the  initial  election  in  April,  1840,  re-elected  for 
two  years  in  October  of  that  year,  and  again  elected  in  1842,  hold- 
ing the  position  four  years  and  seven  months,  and  making  in 
every  respect  a  first-class  officer. 

George  Kirkum,  Esq.,  son  of  Philemon  Kirkum,  one  of  Nor- 
ton's earliest  settlers,  and  at  whpse  house  the  first  election  ever  had 
in  "  Wolf  Creek  township  "  Tvas  held,  and  at  w^hich  he  wras  elected 
town  clerk,  grew  from  a  small  boy  to  manhood  in  Norton  town- 
ship. Reading  law  w^ith  Van  R.  Humphrey,  Esq.,  of  Hudson,  he 
commenced  practice  at  Ravenna,  where  he  served  for  several 
years  as  clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  removing  to  Akron 
in  1838  or  1839,  and  building  for  himself  the  house  now^  ow^ned  and 
occupied  by  Mr.  Benjamin  McNaughton,  corner  of  East  Middle- 
bury  and  Kirkivood  streets.  In  1842,  Mr.  Kirkum  was  elected"' 
prosecuting  attorney  for  the  new^  county  of  Summit,  serving  for 
two  years,  w^ith  marked  ability,  w^hen,  in  1844,  he  w^as  elected  as 
representative  to  the  State  Legislature,  serving  through  the 
session  of  1844,  '45,  w^ith  great  acceptance  to  his  constituents.  A 
few  years  later  Mr.  Kirkum  moved  to  the  city  of  New  York,  and 


Norton's  civil  service. 


929 


subsequently  retired  to  a  small  farm   near  Cleveland,  where  he 
died  about  the  year  1855. 

James  A,  Metlin,  then  residing  on  his  fine  farm  on  the  Akron 
and  Bates'  Corners  road,  in  Norton,  was  elected  county  commis- 
sioner in  1853,  holding  the  office  for  three  years.  Subsequently 
Mr.  Metlin  committed  the  too  common  error,  among  prosperous 
and  successful  farmers,  of  abandoning  his  farm  and  entering  upon 
a  life  of  speculation  in  the  city,  whereby  he  became  so  seriously 
embarrassed  that  in  1875  he  was  compelled  to  make  an  assign- 
ment for  the  benefit  of  his  creditors.     He  is  now  in  California. 

TAMES  H.  SEIBERLING,— son  of 
J  Nathan  and  Catharine  (Peter) 
Seiberlin^,  was  born  in  Norton,  Nov- 
ember 2oj^  1835 ;  as  a  boy,  attended 
district  schools  and  Western  Star 
Academy,  and  aided  in  clearing  and 
working  his  father's  farm,  operating- 
saw-mill,  etc. ;  in  the  Fall  of  1863, 
located  in  Doylestown,Wayne  county, 
as  an  employe  of  the  mower,  reaper 
and  binder  firm  of  Cline,  Seiberling 
&  Co.,  established  in  1860;  in  I860, 
purchased  an  interest  in  said  busi- 
ness, the  firm  name  being  then 
changed  to  Seiberling,  Miller  &  Co., 
now  one  of  the  most  successful  estab- 
lishments of  its  kind  in  Ohio,  and  the 
leading  manufactory  in  Wayne 
county,  Mr.  Seiberling  being  its 
superintendent.  In  1860,  Mr.  Seiber- 
ling was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Baughman,  daughter  of  David  and 
Elizabeth  (Blocker)  Baughman,  of 
Norton,  who  has  borne  him  six  chil- 
dren—Allen B.,  deceased;  Mattie  J.; 
Albert  F.;  Olive  M.,  deceased;  George 
W.,  deceased ;  and  Robert  W.  Mr. 
Seiberling  is  a  member  of  the  Luth- 
eran  Church,  politically   an    ardent 


JAMES  H.  SEIBERLING. 

Republican,  a  prominent  and  enter- 
prising citizen,  and  ever  active  in 
promoting  the  welfare  of  the  town, 
county,  state  and  nation. 


Dr.  John  Hill,  residing  at  Western  Star,  was  elected  county 
commissioner  for  three  consecutive  terms  of  three  years  each, 
from  1870  to  1879,  filling  that  responsible  position  for  nine  years 
w^ith  marked  fidelity  and  good  jtidgment. 

Dr.  John  Hill,  on  the  close  of  his  third  term  as  commissioner, 
was  in  October,  1879,  elected  as  representative  to  the  State  Legis- 
lature, w^here,  as  the  colleague  of  Dr.  L.  S.  Ebright,  of  Akron,  he 
ably  looked  after  the  interests  of  the  people  of  Summit  county, 
and  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  for  the  years  1880  and  1881. 

Stephen  D.  Miller,  a  substantial  and  successful  farmer,  resid- 
ing in  the  w^estern  portion  of  the  tow^nship,  was  during  the  War 
one  of  Internal  Revenue  Collector  John  E.  Hurlbut's  most  efficient 
deputies  for  Summit  county,  and  w^as  elected  one  of  the  directors 
of  the  Summit  County  Infirmary  in  1883,  performing  the  duties 
of  the  office  in  so  satisfactory  a  manner  as  to  secure  a  re-elec- 
tion for  three  years  longer,  in  1886.  Mr.  Miller,  notwithstanding 
his  activity  in  public  and  private  life,  was  for  many  years  a  con- 
stant sufferer  from  abscess  of  the  right  lung,  and  died  suddenly 
from  general  paralysis,  on  the  morning  of  October  14,  1889,  two 
months  and  a  half  before  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office. 

69 


930 


AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


MONROE  SEIBERLING— son  of 
Nathan  and  Catharine  (Peter) 
Seiberling;,  born  in  Norton,  January 
16,  1839;  common  school  education; 
■worked  on  father's  farm  till  25  years 
of  age ;  in  1864,  took  manag-ement  of 
farm  and  saw  mill,  jointly  owned  by 
himself  and  his  brother,  John  F.,  con- 
tinuing- four  years  ;  selling  his  inter- 
est to  his  brother,  engaged  in  the 
lumber  trade  in  Canton,  three  years 
later  purchasing  an  interest  in  the 
Akron  Strawboard  Company,  officiat- 
ing as  its  secretary  and  superinten- 
dent, until  September,  1884 ;  was  one 
of  the  incorporators  of  the  Akron 
Twine  and  Cordage  works ;  with 
others  bought  the  Upper  Sandusky 
Strawboard  works ;  in  1887,  estab- 
lished Strawboard  works  at  Kokomo, 
Indiana,  and  in  1889,  with  other  Akron 
capitalists,  established  the  Diamond 
Plate  Glass  Company,  of  Kokomo, 
and  Ellwood,  of  which  he  is  general 
manager,  being  also  a  stockholder  in 
the  Hartford  City  (Indiana)  Glass 
w^orks,  and  owner  of  a  fine  hundred 
acre  farm  in  Norton.  November  6, 
1862,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah 
Miller,  daughter  of  John  Miller,  who 
settled  in  Norton,  in  1843.  They  have 
had  ten  children,  eight  of  w^hom  are 
now  living  —  Emnia,   Altoti,    Katha- 


SAMUEIv  HARRISON  MILLER. 

OAMUEL  HARRISON   MILLER,— 

*-^  son  of  John  and  Susan  (Bauer) 
Miller,  born  in  Nazareth,  Northamp- 
ton county,  Pennsylvania,  May  20, 
1839  ;  came  with  parents  to  Norton  in 
May,  1843 ;  educated  in  district 
schools  and  Akron  High  School ; 
from  12  to  18,  clerked  in  store  of  Mil- 
ton W.  Henry,  in  Akron  ;  then  worked 
on  father's  farm  six  years ;  December 


MONROE  SEIBERLIf^G. 

rine,  Ella,  Frederick,  Laird,  George 
and  Grace.  Mr.  Seiberling  is  an 
earnest  Republican,  and  an  active 
member  of  the  English  Lutheran 
Church  of  Akron,  of  which  he  has 
been  both  a  deacon  and  an  elder. 
The  family  residence  of  Mr.  Seiber- 
ling is  now  in  Kokomo,  Indiana. 


15,  1863,  engaged  as  bookkeeper  with 
Cline,  Seiberling  &  Hower,  manufac- 
turers of  reapers  and  mowers,  at 
Doylestown,  Ohio  ;  September  1, 1865, 
became  a  meinber  of  the  firm  of 
Cline,  Seiberling  &  Co.;  December  31, 
1878,  changed  to  Seiberling,  Miller  & 
Co.,  now  composed  of  John  F.  Seiber- 
ling, of  Akron,  and  James  H.  Sei- 
berling and  Samuel  H.  Miller,  of 
Doylestown.  August  29,  1867,  Mr. 
Miller  was  married  to  Miss  Ella  L- 
Schneider,  daughter  of  Alfred  and 
Clarissa  (Clewell)  Schneider,  who  was 
born  in  New  Hanover,  Montgoinery 
county,  Pennsylvania,  January  27, 
1847,  the  family  removing  to  Norton 
in  1852,  and  now  residing  at  Loyal 
Oak.  Eight  children  have  been  born 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller,  four  of  whom, 
only,  are  now  living — Fred.  J.,  born 
December  8,  1868  ;  William  R.,  March 
6,  1875  ;  Sidney  L..  April  5, 1885 ;  Lucile 
M.,  November  3,  1886.  A  stanch 
Republican,  but  not  an  office  seeker, 
Mr.  Miller  has  served  as  member  of 
the  board  of  education  and  as  village 
treasurer ;  is  a  member  of  Doyles- 
town Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  Comman- 
dery.  No.  25,  K.  T.,  and  of  Northern 
Ohio  Consistory,  A.  A.  S.  R.,  Cleve- 
land ;  is  also  a  director  in  The  J.  F. 
Seiberling  Co.,  The  Akron  Savings 
Bank,  and  The  Seiberling  Milling  Co., 
of  Akron. 


THE   m'LISTER-WELSH  TRAGEDY.  931 

In  the  mining  district  of  Norton  township,  two  boys,  Joseph 
'Welsh  and  Robert  McLister,  grew  up  together  as  playmates  and 
fellow^-workmen,  the  most  friendly  relations  existing  between 
them  until  a  short  time  before  the  sad  occurrences  to  be  hereafter 
related  took  place.  Unfortunately  for  the  peace  and  the  moral  well- 
being  of  the  mining  region  where  they  worked  (Dennison),  two  or 
three  saloons,  for  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  and  the  playing 
of  exciting  games,  had  been  established  there,  to  the  frequenting 
of  which  all  the  trouble  herein  related,  and  a  good  deal  more,  may 
be  directly  traced. 

On  the  night  of  Friday,  March  24,  1882,  a  party  of  young  men 
wrere  assembled  at  the  saloon  of  John  Smith,,  at  Dennison,  engaged 
in  drinking  beer,  playing  billiards,  etc.,  among  the  participants 
being  Joseph  Welsh,  then  25  years  of  age,  and  Robert  McLister,  23. 
During  the  progress  of  the  game,  a  dispute  arose  between  those 
twco  young  men,  provoked,  it  w^as  said,  by  Welsh,  in  w^hich 
McLister,  on  being  attacked,  struck  Welsh  upon  the  head  w^ith  a 
billiard  cue,  he,  in  turn,  being  knocked  dow^n  and  otherAvise 
assaulted  by  Welsh,  the  combatants  being  finally  separated  by  the 
by-standers.  Being  very  angry  Welsh  made  several  threats 
against  McLister,  to  the  effect  that  he  w^ould  "cut  his  heart  out  of 
him  the  first  time  he  met  him,"  etc.  • 

Evidently  fearing  to  remain  in  the  saloon,  McLister  slipped 
out  of  the  back  door  and  w^ent  home,  he  living  with  his  parents, 
near  by,  Welsh's  home  being  with  his  mother  at  Johnson's  Cor- 
ners. Instead  of  remaining  at  home  and  letting  the  matter  drop, 
hovirever,  McLister  put  his  revolver  in  his  pocket,  and  started  back 
towards  the  saloon.  Welsh  came  out,  and  McLister  asked  him  if 
he  intended  to  do  as  he  said.  Welsh  immediately  pulled  off  his 
^oat,  when  McLister  fired  at  him,  the  ball  striking  Welsh  upon  the 
abdomen,  but  being  turned  aside  by  a  button  did  not  penetrate 
the  body;  the  force  of  the  ball,  however,  doubling  Welsh  up  and 
<:ausing  him  to  fall  to  the  ground. 

Without  w^aiting  to  ascertain  the  effect  of  his  shot,  but  sup- 
posing that  he  had  made  a  serious,  if  not  a  fatal,  injury  upon  his 
antagonist,  McLister  immediately  w^alked  to  Akron,  and  arousing 
Prison-Keeper  Edward  Dunn,  informed  him  that  he  had  shot  a 
man,  and  requested  to  be  locked  up. 

The  writer  was  then  officiating  as  mayor  of  the  city  of  Akron, 
and  the  next  morning  McLister  w^as  brought  before  him  and  ques- 
tioned, eliciting  the  story,  substantially  as  above  given.  An  hour 
or  two  later,  Welsh,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Archibald  McLister,  the 
father  of  Robert,  and  several  other  residents  of  Norton,  came  to 
the  mayor's  office  to  talk  the  matter  over.  Welsh  declining  to 
prosecute  McLister  for  the  reason  that  he  (Welsh)  was  the  most  to 
blame,  in  forcing  the  quarrel  upon  Robert,  they  then  and  there 
settled  their  differences,  McLister  paying  the  small  amount  of  costs 
that  had  been  made,  and  the  two  young  men,  in  the  presence  of 
the.  writer,  shaking  hands  with  each  other  and  leaving  the  office 
together  apparently  upon  the  most  friendly  terms. 

Nothing  of  an  unpleasant  nature  occurred  for  several  months, 
when  gossips  and  tattlers  began  to  carry  exaggerated  tales 
between  the  two,  of  any  chance  remarks  that  had  been  made  by 
either  regarding  the  other,  and  in  this  way  the  naturally  warm 
•Celtic  blood  in  the  veins  of  the  two  impulsive  young  men  at  length 


932  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

became  heated  to  the  boiling  point,  somewhat  increased,  perhaps^ 
by  the  fact  that  one  of  them  was  Catholic  and  the  other  Protestant 
in  religious  belief  and  training.  As  time  passed  on,  the  enmity^ 
between  the  two  became  most  bitter  and  intense,  though,  by  rea- 
son of  their  working  in  different  mines,  personal  contact  was- 
avoided,  it  being  stated  that  McLister,  being  less  muscular  than 
Welsh,  sought-  to  avoid  the  haunts  which  the  latter  frequented^ 
while  at  the  same  time  going  armed  with  a  loaded  revolver,  with 
which  to  defend  himself,  in  case  of  an  unexpected  meeting  or 
sudden  attack. 

Thus  matters  stood  between  the  two  youngmen  up  to  the  evening^ 
of  Saturday,  November  29th,  1884.  On  the  evening  in  question, 
McLister  was  at  the  saloon  of  Thomas  Williams,  near  Dennison,  or 
Sherman  as  it  is  now  called,  drinking  beer,  singing  songs,  etc., 
Avith  several  companions,  when  Welsh  >vas  seen  approaching  by 
Williams  who  went  out  and  begged  of  him  not  to  enter,'  as^ 
McLister  was  there  and  he  did  not  want  any  trouble  in  the  house. 
Welsh  disclaimed  any  intention  of  making  any  trouble,  but 
-wanted  a  glass  of  beer,  and  Williams  conducted  him  into  the 
kitchen,  intending  to  bring  the  beer  to  him  there.  But  Welsh 
demurred  to  this,  and  solemnly  promising  that  he  would  not 
speak  to  McLister,  or  make  any  disturbance  whatever,  Williams 
permitted  him  to  enter  the  saloon,  and  drawing  a  glass  of  beer  for 
him,  placed  it  upon  the  counter. 

At  this  time  McLister  was  standing  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
room,  near  the  stove,  singing  a  song,  several  others  also  sitting  or 
standing  around  the  stove.  As  the  glass  of  beer  was  set  upon  the 
counter,  by  Williams,  Welsh  took  it  up  with  his  right  hand  and 
drank  the  contents,  w^hen,  suddenly  facing  about  and  uttering  an 
opprobrious  epithet,  he  hurled  the  heavy  tumbler  at  the  head  of 
McLister  -with  such  force  that,  just  missing  his  face,  it  knocked  off 
McLister's  cap,  and  went  crashing  through  both  the  window  and 
the  slatted  blind  on  the  outside. 

McLister  exclaimed,  "For  God's  sake  Joe,  don't!  I  don't  want 
anything  to  do  w^ith  you!"  Williams,  the  saloonkeeper,  and  his 
brother-in-law^,  Thomas  Lewis,  then  seized  hold  of  Welsh,  and 
endeavored  to  put  him  out  of  the  saloon.  As  they  neared  the 
door  Welsh  broke  away  from  them  and  turned  back  towards 
McLister,  at  the  same  time,  as  was  alleged,  reaching  backward  as 
if  to  draw  a  >veapon  from  his  hip  pocket.  At  this  point  McLister 
fired  t^vo  or  three,  possibly  four,  shots  at  Welsh  in  rapid  succes- 
sion, -whereupon  Welsh  turned  and  staggered  through  the  door  to 
the  gate,  some  20  feet  distant,  where  he  fell  and  immediately 
expired. 

It  was  found  that  one  of  the  balls  entered  the  side  of  the 
deceased,  passing  through  -the  intestines  and  lodging  in  the 
abdominal  wall  upon  the  opposite  side,  the  other  striking  him  in 
the  back  and  entering  the  chest,  from  one  of  which,  or  a  combina- 
tion of  both,  he  died. 

The  affair  created  the  w^ildest  of  excitement  throughout  the 
entire  neighborhood.  McLister  made  no  attempt  to  escape,  but 
later  the  same  night  w^as  arrested,  at  the  home  of  his  afflicted 
parents  by  Constable  George  Jennings,  on  a  warrant  issued  by 
Justice  Michael  Wise,  of  Johnson's  Corners,  on  the  affidavit  of 
Thomas   Lewis.     Being  held  by  Justice   Wise   to  answer  to  the 


TRIAL,    CONVICTION    AND    SENTENCE,  933 

Court  of  Common  Pleas,  then  in  session,  McLister  was  duly  com- 
mitted to  jail.  Prosecuting  Attorney  Charles  Baird  moved  the 
court  for  a  special  Grand  Jury,  which  was  accordingly  impaneled 
^s  follows:  N.  E.  Vansickle,  Stephen  Ginther,  E.  S.  Oviatt,  C.  C. 
Wilcox,  Frank  Danforth,  A.  H.  Mallison,  Everett  Foster,  Samuel 
Findley,  S.  A.  Lane,  George  Payne,  Charles  H.  Edgerly,  A.  Ruger, 
W.  W.  Arnold,  C.  P.  Mallison  and  H.  K.  Sauder. 

After  the  examination  of  a  large  number  of  witnesses,  the 
Orand  Jury,  by  its  foreman,  N.  E.  Vansickle,  returned  a  true  bill 
of  indictment  consisting  of  three  separate  counts,  charging 
McLister  with  murder  in  the  first  degree;  the  first  count,  omitting 
legal  phraseology,  setting  forth  the  deliberate  and  malicious 
jshooting  of  Welsh  in  the  back  to  the  depth  of  eight  inches;  the 
second  count,  shooting  in  the  side  to  the  depth  of  14  inches,  and 
the  third  count  combining  the  two  shots,  with  intent  to  kill  and 
murder,  etc. 

On  Wednesday,  December  17,  1884,  Messrs.  Kohler  and  Sadler, 
attorneys  for  the  defendant,  filed  a  plea  in  abatement  of  the  indict- 
ment, on  the  grounds,  first,  that  H.  K,  Sauder,  one  of  the  special 
^rand  jurors  finding  said  bill,  w^as  an  attorney  at  law  and  the 
■duly  appointed  court  stenographer,  and  in  the  employ  of  the 
prosecuting  attorney,  while  acting  as  such  grand  juror;  and 
second,  that  S.  A.  Lane,  being  then,  as  deputy  clerk,  an  officer  of 
the  court,  was  incompetent  to  serve  as  a  grand  juror,  etc.  (Mr. 
Lane,  in  the  latter  part  of  Clerk  Nash's  administration  and  early 
part  of  Hale's  term,  temporarily,  for  a  few  months,  officiated  as 
deputy  clerk,  as  his  services  were  needed  by  those  officers). 

To  this  plea  in  abatement,  Prosecutor  Baird  filed  a  demurrer, 
which,  on  being  fully  argued  by  counsel  on  both  sides,  was  sus- 
tained by  Judge  Green.  A  plea  of  not  guilty  was  then  entered  by 
the  defendant  and  the  case  continued  till  the  January  term,  1885, 

On  the  commencement  of  the  January  term,  the  trial  of 
McLister  Avas  set  for  Monday,  February  9th,  Judge  U.  L.  Marvin 
being  assigned  by  the  court  to  assist  Prosecuting  Attorney  Baird 
in  the  trial  of  the  case,  a  special  venire  for  36  jurors  being  sum- 
moned to  appear  at  the  time  designated. 

At  the  appointed  time  the  case  Avas  proceeded  with  in  due  form. 
The  first  venire  being  exhausted,  the  second,  third  and  fourth 
venires  were  issued  for  six,  four  and  three  jurors,  respectively,  and 
at  length  the  panel  was  declared  full,  and  the  jury  sworn  as  fol- 
lows: C.  C.  Swinehart,  Corwin  T.  Hamlin,  Champ  Mouiton,  C.  H. 
Ellsworth,  N.  G.  Mellinger,  Henry  Raber.  M.  E.  Foster.  W.  H. 
Miller,  John  Stutz,  T.  N.  Ganyard,  E.  P.  HoUoway  and  Henry 
Federick. 

The  trial  lasted  over  a  week,  sixteen  witnesses  appearing  for  the 
State,  forty-one  for  the  defense,  and  ten  in  rebuttal  for  the  State.  The 
case  was  ably  handled  on  both  sides,  counsel  for  McLister, 
endeavoring  to  show  that  the  shooting  was  done  in  self-defense. 
The  theory  was  deemed  untenable,  by  the  jury,  however,  from  the 
fact  that,  though  Welsh  was  the  original  aggressor,  by  hurling  a 
deadly  missive  at  McLister's  head,  one  of  the  fatal  shots  took  effect 
in  Welsh's  back,  indicating  that  he  was  then  retreating, 
w^hile  there  was  some  testimony,  to  the  effect  that  as  Welsh  left 
the  saloon,  McLister  followed  him  up  and  sent  a  shot  after  him 
from  the  door. 


934  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

After  eloquent  and  exhaustive  arguments,  on  both  sides,  under 
the  very  full  and  able  charge  of  Judge  Green,  the  case  ^was  given 
to  the  jury,  on  Monday  at  5:15  p.  m.,  and  at  12:30  p.  m.,  Tuesday,. 
February  17,  1885,  the  jury  through  their  foreman,  William  H, 
Miller,  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty  of  murder  in  the  second 
degree. 

It  afterwards  transpired  that  thirty  ballots  were  taken,  the  most 
of  which  stood,  seven  for  murder  in  first  degree,  three  for  second 
degree,  and  t^vo  for  manslaughter.  Changes  finally  began  to  take 
place,  until  at  length  eleven  to  one  was  reached  where  the  jury 
hung  for  six  or  seven  hours,  Avhen  the  obdurate  one  relaxed,  and 
an  agreement  was  reached  at  the  hour  stated. 

On  Monday,  February  23,  Messrs.  Kohler  and  Sadler  filed  a 
motion  to  set  aside  the  verdict,  for  the  following  reasons:  1st 
accident  and  surprise  which  ordinary  prudence  could  not  guard 
against;  2d  that  the  verdict  is  not  sustained  by  the  evidence,  and 
is  contrary  to  law;  3rd  new^ly  discovered  evidence  material  for  the 
defendant,  which  he  could  not  with  reasormble  diligence  have  dis- 
covered and  pravided  for;  4th  error  of  law  in  the  sustaining  by 
the  court  of  the  State's  demurrer  to  the  defendant's  plea  in  abate- 
ment of  indictment;  5th  errors  of  laAv  occurring  at  the  trial. 

The  motion  for  a  new^  trial  being  overruled.  Judge  Green  pro- 
ceeded to  sentence  the  defendant  as  follows: 

"  Robert  McLister,  j^ou  may  stand  up.  Have  you  anything-  further  to- 
say  -why  the  sentence  of  the  law  should  not  be  pronounced  ?"  The  prisoner 
making-  no  reply,  Judg-e  Green  continued  :  "  You  were  indicted  by  the  Grand 
Jury  of  this  county,  said  indictment  charging  you  with  having-  purposely,, 
of  deliberate  and  premeditated  malice,  murdered  Joseph  Welsh,  bj^  shooting. 
Upon  being  arraigned,  you  entered  a  plea  of  not  guilty,  and  you  were  put 
upon  trial  before  an  intelligent  and  impartial  jurj^.  Your  defense  was  con- 
ducted by  able  counsel.  The  jury  listened  with  great  patience  and  unyield- 
ing- attention  to  everything-  offered  in  evidence,  and  to  the  arguments  of  j'our 
counsel,  and,  under  the  charge  of  the  Court,  to  which  j'our  counsel  took  no 
exceptions,  retired  to  deliberate,  and  after  mature  deliberation  returned  a 
verdict  finding  you  guilty  of  murder  in  the  second  deg-ree — an  offense  for 
■which  our  law  affixes  the  penalty  of  imprisonment  for  life.  This  verdict  of 
the  jury,  under  the  evidence  given,  we  are  satisfied,  under  their  oaths,  thej^ 
•were  compelled  to  return.  It  now  becomes  my  painful  duty  to  pronounce 
the  judgment  the  law  prescribes  for  your  crime.  It  is  that  you  be  taken 
hence  to  the  common  jail  of  the  county,  and  that  5'ou  there  be  safelj^  kept,, 
and  within  thirty  days  you  be  taken  from  thence  to  the  penitentiarj^  of  this- 
State,  and  that  there  you  be  imprisoned  during  life." 

The  prisoner  received  his  sentence  w^ithout  apparent  emotion^ 
and,  without  being  hand-cuffed,  accompanied  the  officer  quietly 
back  to  the  jail,  w^here,  with  conduct  every  way  becoming  the  gen- 
tleman that  he  naturally  is,  he  remained  until  the  11th  day  of 
March,  1885,  when  he  was  removed  to  the  penitentiary  at  Colum- 
bus, by  Sheriff  William  B.  Gamble. 

Thus,  through  evil  associations  and  habits,  in  the  very  bloomt 
of  youthful  manhood,  one  human  life  was  entirely  blotted  out, 
and  another  shrouded  under  a  dark  pall  of  ignominy,  to  be  forever 
debarred  the  society  of  kindred  and  friends,  unless  executive 
clemency  should  mercifully  intervene  to  open  the  gloomy  portal* 
of  his  prison-house,  as,  after  an  incarceration  of  nearly  five  years,  it 
finally  did,  young  McLister  being  pardoned  by  Gov.  J.  B.  Foraker, 
January  10,  1890,  since  his  release  and  return  home,  so  far  as  the 
writer  is  advised,  his  conduct  having  been  in  every  vsray,  upright 
and  exemplary. 


POPULATION,    OFFICERS,    ETC. 


935 


Norton's  Population. — The  census  of  1840  gave  to  Norton 
township,  including  the  villages  within  her  borders,  1,497  inhab- 
itants, while  those  of  1880  gave  her  2,066  a  gain  of  569,  a  fair  show^- 
ing  indeed,  considering  the  tendency  of  the  times  to  concentrate 
business  and  manufacturing  operations  in  the  larger  towns  and 
railroad  centers  of  the  country,  though  the  census  of  1890  gives  her 
but  1,973,  a  falling  off  in  the  last  decade  of  93,  though  in  the  pres- 
ent (1891)  growth  of  the  new  city  of  Barberton,  within  her  borders, 
she  has  much  more  than  regained  her  lost  ground  since  the 
enumeration  was  made. 

Norton's  Present  Official  Status. — Trustees,  John  B.  Betz, 
Jackson  Hall,  Oliver  Harter;  clerk,  Samuel  J.  Burgess;  treasurer, 
Joseph  Hartzell;  justices  of  the  peace,  John  McNamara,  William  A. 
Morton;  constables,  Charles  O.  Helmick,  John  Kelly;  Postmasters, 
New  Portage,  George  A.  Shaw^ ;  Barberton,  A.  A.  Moore  ;  Johnson's 
Corners,  Amos  Miller ;  Norton  Center,  Louis  M.  Shook ;  Loyal 
Oak,  Alfred  Schneider ;  Western  Star,  O.  A.  Wallace ;  Sherman, 
Mrs.  Mathews. 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 


THE  MAGIC  CITY  OF  BARBERTON— RAPID  GROWTH  AND  UNPARALLELED  PROS- 
PERITY— PUSH  AND  PERSEVERANCE  OF  ITS  PLUCKY  PROJECTORS— OVER  A 
MILLION  DOLLARS  ALREADY  INVESTED  IN  ITS  PROMOTION— WONDERFUL 
INDUSTRIAL  REVELATION— A  SHORT   BUT  INTERESTING  CHAPTER. 


THE  NEW   CITY  OF   BARBERTON. 

SINCK  the  compilation  of  this  history  was  begun,  and  the  publi- 
cation of  the  foregoing  chapters  on  Coventry  and  Norton,  in 
serial  form,  the  vicinity  of  New  Portage,  on  the  Norton  side  of  the 
line,  has  been  invested  with  a  new  and  truly  wonderful  impor- 
tance. In  January,  1890,  Messrs.  Ohio  C.  Barber,  Charles  Baird, 
Albert  T.  Paige  and  John  K.  Robinson,  realizing  the  beauty  and 
business  possibilities  of  the  locality,  purchased  a  number  of  con- 
tiguous farms,  adjacent  to  the  already  considerable  village  of  New 
Portage,  on  the  west,  aggregating  640  acres  of  land,  with  the  view 
of  founding  thereon  a  new  manufacturing  city,  the  fee  of  the 
entire  purchase  being  at  iirst  vested  in  Mr.  Albert  T.  Paige,  and 
subsequently  transferred  to  the  attornej^  of  the  syndicate,  Charles 
Baird,  Esq. 


Dwelling  of  Manager  of  Barberton  Land  Company. 

These  lands  were  carefully  and  scientifically  laid  out  into 
business  and  residence  lots,  streets,  avenues,  parks,  etc.,  and 
graded  on  the  most  approved  system  of  drainage  and  sewerage, 
the  beautiful  sheet  of  w^ater  thereon,  formerly  called  "Way's 
Lake,"  and  later  known  as  "Davis'  Lake,"  being  re-christened 
"Lake  Anna,"  in  honor  of  Miss  Anna  Barber,  only  daughter  of  the 
chief  promoter  of  the  enterprise,  Mr.  Ohio  C.  Barber,  after  whom 


BARBERTON  LAND  IMPROVEMENT  COMPANY. 


937 


the  new  city  itself  w^as  very  properly  named — Barberton.  This 
beautiful  little  lake  is  made  the  center  of  twenty-one  acres  of 
nicely  graduated  and  ornamented  grounds,  with  several  delightfully 
shady  groves  upon  its  margin,  which,  though  not  so  formally 
named,  may  properly  be  designated  as  "Recreation  Park." 
dZj Having  thus  quietly  perfected  their  plans,  liberal  inducements 
w^ere  extended  to  manufacturers,  and  other  business  men,  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  extraordinary  advantages  and  facilities  claimed 
for  the  new  city,  the  members  of  the  syndicate  manifesting  their 
faith  in  its  success  by  taking  large  blocks  of  stock  in  the  several 
important  enterprises  locating  there,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  enu- 
meration of  those  establishments,  and  the  names  of  the  gentlemen 
connected  therewith,  as  directors,  officers,  etc. 


In  October,  1890,  the  original  syndicate  sold  a  one-half  interest 
in  the  enterprise  to  Hon.  George  W.  Crouse,  of  Akron,  and  Mr.  M. 
J.  Alexander,  of  Greensburg,  Pennsylvania,  and  their  associates 
of  Pittsburg.  The  plat  of  the  new  city  was  duly  entered  for 
record  in  the  records  of  Summit  county,  by  Mr.  Baird,  on  March 
24,  1891. 

ClZlMay  23,  1891,  the  syndicate,  as  enlarged,  entered  into  a  partner- 
ship contract,  also  duly  recorded,  under  the  name  and  style  of 
"The  Barberton  Land  and  Improvement  Company,"  with  a  capital 
of  $240,000,  with  Mr.  Ohio  C.  Barber  as  president  and  trustee,  all 
the  lands  thus  acquired  and  held,  being  on  that  date  transferred 
by  deed  executed  by  Charles  Baird  and  w^ife,  Lucy  V.  Baird,  to 
Ohio  C.  Barber  as  such  trustee,  who  was,  by  the  terms  of  the 
partnership  contract,  authorized  to  mortgage  such  portion  of  said 
lands  to  The  Union  Trust  Company,  of  New  York,  as  might  be  neces- 
sary to  secure  the  payment  of  bonds  to  an  amount  not  exceeding 
$200,000,  issued  to  raise  money  to  carry  forward  contemplated 
improvements,  the  entire  amount  invested  in  lands,  improvements 
and  business,  by  the  company,  and  manufacturing  corporations,  in 
the  new  city,  to  the  present  time  (November,  1891),  being  about 
$1,300,000.  Mr.  M.  J.  Alexander  has  the  management  of  the  sale 
of  the  company's  lands,  over  $200,000  worth  of  business  and  resi- 
dence lots  having  already  been  sold. 


938 


AKRON   AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


The  membership  of  the  Barberton  Land  and  Improvemement 
Company,  and  the  number  of  $100  shares  of  the  $240,000  capital 
stock  held  by  each,  is  as  follows:  Ohio  C.  Barber,  800;  Charles 
Baird,  300;  Albert  T.  Paige,  300;  John  K.  Robinson,  300;  George  W. 
Crouse,  170;  M.  J.  Alexander,  185;  J.  W.  Moore,  165;  William  D, 
Hartupee,  170;  Ida  H.  Chandler,  170;  A.  M.  Sloan,  100;  Julien  Ken- 
nedy, 100;  James  S.  McKean,  100;  Neri  Newcomb,  40— total  2,400. 

With  the  Ohio  canal,  the  Cleveland,  Akron  &  Columbus, 
and  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  railways  upon  the  east,  and  the  New 
York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  railway  upon  the  west  and  a  fully 
equipped,  standard  guage  Belt  Line  traversing  its  entire  circum- 
ference (over  four  miles  of  track  being  already  laid),  the  transpor- 
tation facilities  of  the  ne^r  city  are  simply  perfect. 


As  illustrative  of  w^hat  cash  and  courage,  push  and  pluck,  and 
energy  and  enterprise  can  accomplish,  and  as  indicative  of  what 
the  coming  nine  years  of  the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century- 
may  accomplish  for  the  new^  city,  w^e  note  its  present  business 
status  9s  follows: 

Branch  of  American  Strawboard  Company.— Capital  $6,000,000, 
with  Ohio  C.  Barber,  as  its  president,  occupies  40  acres  of 
ground  w^ith  four  brick  buildings,  70x300  feet  each;  one  30x100 
feet;  tw^o  20x80  feet  each;  with  a  straw^-lumber,  or  lignistra,  depart- 
ment 50x350  feet,  and  employing  from  150  to  200  men.  William 
R.  Brown,  manager  of  Barberton  w^orks. 

The  National  Sewer  Pipe  Company. — Capital  $250,000,  the  larg- 
est w^orks  of  their  kind  in  the  w^orld;  occupying  26  acres  of  ground; 
building  four-story  brick  80x370  feet;  32  kilns;  eight  boilers,  over 
1,200  horse-power  of  engines;  150  to  200  men;  capacity  200  to  300 
tons  per  day.  Directors:  Ohio  C.  Barber,  president;  William 
McFarlin,  vice  president  and  treasurer;  Ed.  M.  Buel,  secretary; 
Henry  A.  Robinson,  general  manager;  Charles  Baird,  attorney. 
This  company  have  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  the  very  best 
quality  of  clay  contiguous  to  the  lands  of  the  syndicate,  in  close 
proximity  to  their  works. 


BARBERTON  S   INDUSTRIES, 


939 


The  Creedmoor  Cartridge  Company. — Capital  $500,000,  manu- 
facturers of  all  kinds  of  military  and  sporting  fixed  ammunition; 
site  34  acres;  main  building,  three-story  brick,  60x150  feet;  hands 
employed  75  to  125.  Directors:  Ohio  C.  Barber,  president; 
Charles  E.  Sheldon,  vice  president;  Mark  R.  Hayne,  secretary  and 
treasurer;  Charles  Baird,  William  McFarlin,  Isaac  C.  Alden  and 
Clement  A.  Barnes.  Manager,  N.  P.  Leach;  Superintendent,  E.  A, 
Worthen. 

The  Stirling  Company. — Manufacturers  of  water  tube  safety 
steam  boilers;  capital  $500,000;  site  100  acres;  main  building, 
85x200  feet;  hands  employed  60  to  250.  Directors:  Ohio  C,  Barber, 
president;  Allan  Stirling,  secretary  and  treasurer;  John  Jardine, 
Robert  C.  Alexander  and  Charles  Baird.  General  Manager, 
Thomas  Deegan;  Superintendent,  H.  S.  Pell. 

The  American  Alumina  Company. — Capital  $500,000;  site  seven 
acres;  main  building,  60x200  feet;  hands  employed  50.  Directors: 
Ohio  C.  Barber,  president;  H.  E.  Pickett,  vice  president;  George 
T.  Perkins,  treasurer;  H.  De  Wolf,  secretary;  Thomas  W.  Cornell, 
George  W.  Crouse,  Frank  M.  Atterholt,  Charles  Baird,  O.  H.  Root, 
William  McFarlin  and  Albert  T.  Paiere. 


HOUSES  FOR  WORKMEN. 


ji/riJiioTo-Smn-  } 


The  Barberton  Whiteware  Company.— Capital  $300,000,  plant 
to  consist  of  three  buildings  103x575  feet  each;  hands  to  be 
employed,  750.  Directors:  Ohio  C.  Barber,  president;  George  W. 
Crouse,  vice  president;  William  McFarlin,  treasurer;  Charles 
Baird,  attorney,  and  Henry  A.  Robinson,  general  manager.  Secre- 
tary, Park  T.  Robinson. 

The  Kirkum  Art  Tile  and  Pottery  Company.— Capital  $300,- 
000;  incorporated  May  7,  1891,  by  Joseph  Kirkum,  Ohio  C.  Barber, 
president;  George  W.  Crouse,  vice  president;  Charles  Baird,  secre- 
tary and  treasurer;  Meshech  Frost,  Frank  Bloom  and  Frank  M. 
Atterholt,  directors;  site  seven  acres;  buildings  240  feet  square, 
with  ten  kilns  and  will  employ  from  400  to  500  hands. 

United  Salt  Company. — Main  works  at  Cleveland  and  New- 
burg;  capital  $1,000,000.  Directors:  William  Chisholm;  F.  B. 
Squire,  president;  Herman  Frasch,  secretary;  L.  H.  Severance, 
treasurer;  David  R.  Paige,  Frank  Rockefeller,  Ohio  C.  Barber  and 
Charles  Baird.     Barberton  branch  occupy  seven  and  a  half  acres 


940 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


of   ground,    and    drilling  of  well   (November   1891)  favorably  pro- 
gressing. 

Barberton  Belt  Line  Railroad  Company. — Capital,  $50,000. 
Directors:  Ohio  C.  Barber,  president;  Albert  T.  Paige,  vice-presi- 
dent;    William    McFarlin,    secretary;    Charles     Baird,    treasurer; 
*  Henry  A.  Robinson,  general  manager.     Four  miles  of  road  built 
and  in  successful  operation. 


-£^^ 


The  Barberton  Savings  Bank  Company. — Capital,  $100,000. 
Directors:  OhioC.  Barber,  president;  William  McFarlin,  vice-presi- 
dent; Charles  Baird,  secretary;  John  B.  Woods,  Thomas  W.  Cor- 
nell, George  W.  Brewster,  Houston  Kepler,  George  W.  Crouse  and 
Henry  A.  Robinson.  Vacancy  caused  by  death  of  Toy  H.  Pendle- 
ton, yet  to  be  filled.  Ed.  M.  Buel,  treasurer  and  ex-officio  cashier. 
Fine  run  of  business  already  assured. 

Barberton  Brick  and  Tile  Company. — Simeon  Dickerman, 
president;  Wellington  Miller,  secretary  and  treasurer;  Theodore 
Stauffer,  superintendent. 

Besides  the  elegant  and  capacious  National  Hotel,  erected  by 
the  National  Sewer  Pipe  Company,  near  their  works,  a  large  num- 
ber of  handsome  residences  and  business  blocks  have  already  been 
erected,  and  others,  including  Barberton  Inn,  a  fine  bank  building, 
railway  stations,  etc.,  are  now  in  process  of  construction,  or  soon 
to  be  built,  the  style  and  quality  of  which  are  indicated  by  the 
accompanying  engravings,  and  in  addition  to  the  various  w^orks 
designated,  Barberton  is  also  liberally  supplied  with  local  trades- 
men, professional  men,  police,  etc.,  so  that  now  (November,  1891), 
though  but  little  more  than  one  year  old,  with  a  population  of 
nearly  2,000  souls,  it  gives  promise  of  speedily  becoming  one  of  the 
most  important  of  the  many  thriving  industrial  cities  of  Northern 
Ohio. 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

THE  TOWNSHIP  OF  RICHFIELD  —  EARLY  SETTLERS  —  PIONEER  INCIDENTS — 
RESOURCES— RIVALRIES,  ETC. — PUBLIC  SPIRIT — MILITARY  OPERATIONS,  ETC. 
—  SPLENDID  CIVIL  RECORD— THE  BIG  SLEIGH  RIDE  OF  1856 — RICHFIELD'S 
GREAT  RE-UNION  OF  1880  -CRIMINAL  MATTERS— A  SINGULAR  CASE  OF 
LUNACY— HUNTER-GAKGETT  TRAGEDY,  ETC. 

RICHFIELD'S  BEGINNING. 

RICHFIKLD,  previous  to  1805,  was  aboriginal  territory,  being 
conveyed  by  the  Indians  to  the  United  States,  by  the  treaty  of 
Fort  Industry,  on  the  Maumee  river,  during  that  year.  Being  a 
part  of  the  Western  Reserve,  it  soon  afterw^ards  w^as  transferred  to 
the  Connecticut  Land  Company.  The  entire  area  of  territory  thus 
held  by  the  Company,  embraced  nearly  4,000,000  acres,  which  was 
disposed  of  by  a  sort  of  lottery  arrangement,  each  party  interested 
"draw^ing"  a  proportionate  amount  of*  land  to  the  money  paid  in. 
In  this  way,  some  became  proprietors  of  entire  townships,  while 
others  drew  but  fractions  thereof. 

The  original  proprietors,  thus  acquiring  title  to  Richfield 
tow^nship,  were,  Colonel  Benjamin  Tallmadge,  Captain  John  Smith, 
Uriel  Holmes,  J.  Wilcox  and  two  others  named  Edwards  and  Green, 
all  of  Connecticut,  none  of  whom,  it  is  believed,  ever  settled  upon, 
or  even  visited  their  possessions,  except,  possibly,  Mr.  Wilcox, 
having  invested  for  speculative  purposes,  only.  In  1811,  Captain 
Heman  Oviatt,  then  a  resident  of  Hudson,  purchased  Colonel 
Tallmadge's  interest,  the  northwest  quarter  of  the  tow^nship, 
embracing  4,000  acres,  for  the  sum  of  $5,000,  or  at  the  rate  of  $1.25 
per  acre,  Tallmadge  fearing  that  the  impending  war  between  the 
United  States  and  England  might  despoil  him  of  his  property. 

Topography,  Organization,  Etc. — Though  not  bordering  on 
the  river,  the  eastern  portion  of  the  township  is  badly  cut  up  into 
hills  and  gullies,  but  the  central  and  w^estern  portion  is  more  level 
and  abounds  in  fertile  and  nicely  cultivated  farms,  being  especially 
adapted  to  the  raising  of  fine  stock  and  the  grow^ing  of  choice 
fruits. 

At  first,  Richfield  was  attached  to  Boston  and  several  other 
tow^nships  in  electoral  and  official  matters,  but  w^as  organized  as  a 
distinct  township  in  April,  1816,  by  authority  of  the  Commissioners 
of  Portage  county  (Medina  county  to  which  the  township  properly 
belonged,  not  being  organized  until  1818).  The  first  officers  elected 
■were :  Nathaniel  Oviatt,  William  Jourdan  and  Daniel  Keys, 
trustees ;  John  Bigelow,  clerk ;  Isaac  Welton,  treasurer ;  Jared 
Barnes  and  John  Farnum,  overseers  of  the  poor;  John  Bigelow 
and  Isaac  Hopkins,  constables ;  John  Farnum,  Jason  Phillips, 
Isaac  Welton,  Elijah  Hale  and  John  Holmes,  supervisors.  As  in 
the  case  of  Boston,  an  examination  of  this  roster  w^ill  disclose  the 
fact  that  at  least  three  persons  w^ere  elected  to  two  offices  each. 
Up  to  this  time  the  justices  of  the  peace  elected  in  Boston  tow^nship, 
of  w^hich    Mr.  Lehman  Farnum  was   one,   had   jurisdiction  over 


942 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


Northfield,  Boston,  Richfield,  Bath  and  Northampton,  but  on  the 
organization  of  Richfield  as  a  separate  township,  Isaac  Welton 
was  elected  justice,  his  commission  (still  in  the  family)  bearing 
date  July,  1816. 


ATAJOR  NORRIS  HUMPHREY,  - 
■'■^l  born  in  Canton,  Hartford  county, 
Connecticut,  August  14,  1806;  enii- 
g'rated  with  parents  to  Trumbull 
county,  Ohio,  in  1816 ;  educated  in 
district  schools  ;  learned  blacksniith- 
ing-  trade  with  father ;  moved  to 
Richfield  in  1829 ;  worked  at  trade 
two  years  ;  February  10,  1831,  married 
to  Miss  Julia  Case,  of  Trumbull 
county  ;  after  marriage  moved  upon 
farm,  two  miles  east  of  center  of 
Richfield,  where  he  has  since  contin- 
uously resided  —  over  sixtj'  years; 
helped  to  organize  first  militia  com- 
panj^  of  the  township,  becoining  its 
captain,  in  1834,  soon  afterwards  being 
promoted  to  major  of  first  battalion, 
light  infantry.  An  ardent  Republi- 
can, though  never  an  office-seeker, 
Mr.  Humphrey  has  filled  many  minor 
offices  of  trust — constable,  assessor, 
trustee,  director  of  Academy,  etc., 
with  the  strictest  fidelitj^,  lacking  a 
few  votes  only  of  receiving  the  nomi- 
nation for  State  Representative,  in 
1869.  Mrs.  Humphrey  died  Januar)^ 
26,  1871,  having  borne  him  seven  chil- 
dren, as  follows :  Austin,  Norris, 
Cora  (now  Mrs.  Ransom  C.  Ellsworth), 
Oliver  N.,  Lucian  E.,  Decius  (died 
April  1,  1868,  aged  22  j'ears),  and  Tru- 
man, the  three  sons  first  named  now 
being  prosperous  business  men  in 
Lincoln,  Nebraska,  the  two  last 
named  remaining  in  Richfield,  Tru- 
man (inarried  to  Miss  Lida  Hale,  of 
Bath,  July  4,  1875),  living  on  the  old 
homestead,  and  kindly  caring  for  the 
venerable  patriarch,  still,  at  the  age 


MAJOR   NORRIS  HUMPHREY. 

of  85,  retaining,  in  a  large  degree, 
both  his  physical  and  tnental  facul- 
ties, the  following  document  testi- 
fying to  the  major's  earlier  militarj' 
"prowess,"  above  alluded  to  : 

To  Norris  Humphrey  : 

This  is  to  certify  that  you  are  appointed 
Fourth  Corporal  of  the  5th  Company,  3d 
Regiment,  1st  Brigade  and  4th  Division 
Ohio  Militia,  and  you  are  entitled  to  all  the 
privileges  and  respect  due  j'ou,  and  are 
accountable  for  any  misdemeanor  in  you  as 
Corporal. 

Given  under  my  hand  at  Vernon,  this  2d 
day  of  September,  1824. 

C.  H.  WILCOX,  Captain. 


Early  Settlers,  Incidents,  Etc. — The  first  white  settler, 
according  to  Dr.  A.  E.  E^ving  and  Schuyler  R.  Oviatt,  w^as 
Launcelot  Mays  (General  Bierce  says  Robert  Mays),  in  1809 ;  the 
first  marriage,  William  Carter  to  Betsey  Mays,  in  1812 ;  the  same 
also  being  noted  as  the  first  marriage  in  Boston  ;  probably  growing 
out  of  the  fact  that  both  townships  w^ere  then  under  one  jurisdic- 
tion. But  as  Richfield  furnished  the  bride  and  Boston  the  groom 
and  officiating  magistrate  (Alfred  Wolcott,  Esq.),  it  is  proper  to 
divide  the  honor  between  the  two  townships ;  though  Mr.  Carl  W. 
BroAvn,  the  great-grandson  of  the  ancient  happy  couple,  informs 
the  writer  that  the  marriage  was  actually  solemnized  at  the  house 
of  Justice  Wolcott,  in  the  east  part  of  Boston.  The  first  death  of  a 
white  person,  in  Richfield,  was  that  of  Polly  Payne,  in  1812,  at  the 
age  of  18  years.  The  first  white  child  born  in  the  township  (in 
1812)  was  a  daughter  to  John  Mallet,  brother  of  Henry  Mallet, 
the  second  settler  in  the  tow^nship. 


EARLY   SETTLEMENT — INCIDENTS,   ETC. 


943 


The  settlement  of  the  township  was  not  very  rapid  for  several 
years,  owing  probably  to  the  war  disturbances  of  the  time.  After 
the  close  of  the  war,  how^ever,  settlement  was  quite  rapid,  so  that 
by  the  organization  of  the  tow^nship  in  1816  there  must  have  been 
nearly,  or  quite,  forty  voters  present,  a  goodly  proportion  of  whom, 
though  youngish  men,  were  undoubtedly  heads  of  families, 
and  nearly  all  w^ere  from  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts.  The 
census  of  1840,  gave  Richfield  a  population  of  1,108,  and  by  that 
of  1880  the  number  of  inhabitants  in  the  tow^nship  w^as  1,253, 
being  an  increase  of  145  in  the  forty  years  ;  though  midw^ay  between 
the  two  epochs,  in  the  palmy  business  days  of  the  two  "centers," 
as  hereinafter  noted,  the  population  must  have  been  considerably 
greater  than  in  18§0,  since  which  time  there  has  been  a  marked 
decline,  the  census  of  1890  giving  to  her  but  921  souls,  a  falling  off 
of  332  in  the  ten  years. 


DR.  SECRETARY  RAWSON,— was 
born  in  Warwick,  Massachu- 
setts, October  18,  1796 ;  educated  in 
common  schools,  and  four  years  in 
New  Salem  Academy  ;  read  medicine 
five  years  w^ith  eminent  New  Eng-land 
physicians  ;  holds  two  medical  diplo- 
mas under  laws  of  Vermont  and 
Ohio  ;  practiced  medicine  forty -five 
years  ;  came  to  Ohio  in  1823,  settling 
in  Richfield  in  1824 ;  married  to  Miss 
Lucy  B.  Hancock.  June  19,  1824;  the 
fruits  of  this  happy  union  being-  three 
daughters — one  dying  at  15  years  of 
age,  the  other  two  well  settled  in  life 
— and  three  grandchildren.  In  1825, 
the  doctor  organized  a  public  librarj^ 
company  in  Richfield,  soon  accuinu- 
lating-  quite  a  large  collection  of 
valuable  books;  aided  in  subduing 
the  wilderness,  erecting  the  reg-ula- 
tion  log  cabins  and  afterwards 
replacing  them  with  the  more  com- 
modious and  comfortable  frame 
structures  ;  helped  to  construct  high- 
ways, bridge  streams,  build  school 
houses,  erect  churches,  and  was  a 
warm  supporter  of  Richfield's  old- 
time  popular  and  prosperous 
Academy.  Dr.  Rawson  was  among 
the  earliest  advocates  of  temperance 
in  Ohio,  previous  to  1830  drafting 
pledges,  lecturing,  and  as  far  as  pos- 
sible discarding  the  use  of  distilled 
liquors     in     his     practice.      In    1866, 


DR.  SECRETARY  RAWSON. 

broken  down  in  health,  the  doctor 
removed  to  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  where, 
with  partial  restoration,  but  still  a 
continual  sufferer  from  severe  ner- 
vous derangement,  he  has  reached 
his  95th  j^ear,  with  his  mental  powers 
apparently  as  vigorous  as  when  he 
first  settled  in  Richfield,  sixty-seven 
years  ago. 


A  Richfield  correspondent,  in  writing  of  old-time  inhabitants 
and  incidents  says  of  "Old  Dave  Smith,"  a  noted  local  story-teller, 
that  he  once  boasted  that  while  himself  and  others  w^ere  mowing 
in  a  field  a  deer  rushed  past  them,  the  mowrers  chasing  him  into  a 
snow-drift  where  they  caught  him  alive.  It  being  suggested  to 
him  that  hay-making  and  snow-drifts  did  not  go  well  together,  he 
said,  after  a  moment's  reflection  :  "That's  so,  I  must  have  got  two 
stories  mixed."  The  old  man  w^as  so  prone  to  "mix"  things,  that 
the  church  took  him  in  hand  on  the  charge  of  lying,  w^hen  he 
humbly  begged  for  forgiveness,  saying:  "I  detest  lying  as  bad  as 


944 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


any  of  you,  but  I  have  an  incurable  tendency  to  exaggerate.  It 
has  given  me  more  trouble  than  anything  else  in  the  vi^orld,  and 
I  have  shed  barrels  and  barrels  of  tears  over  it,  but  1  can't  get 
over  the  habit." 

Business  Resourcks,  Rivalries,  Etc. — For  some  now  unex- 
plainable  cause,  the  business  interests  of  Richfield  became  divided 
at  an  early  day,  a  rival  village  to  the  original  and  geographical 
center,  three-fourths  of  a  mile  west,  and  called  the  '''West  Center," 
coming  into  existence.  At  the  East  Center,  there  w^as  a  church, 
one  or  tw^o  stores,  a  hotel,  postoffice,  and  the  usual  complement  of 
mechanics,  -with  comfortable  family  residences  extending  a  short 
distance  out  on  the  four  roads  centering  there,  but  the  spirit  of 
push  and  spread-out-a-tive-ness,  seemed  to  be. lacking. 


DR.  JEREMIAH  CULLEN  WIL- 
COX,—born  in  Hartland,  Hart- 
ford county,  Connecticut,  December 
6,  1790 ;  at  16,  removed  with  parents 
to  Vernon,  Trumbull  county,  Ohio, 
nearly  losing  his  life,  en  route,  in 
crossing  the  Ohio  river;  graduated 
from  Jefferson  (Pennsylvania)  Col- 
lege, in  1813 ;  studied  medicine  and 
commenced  practice  in  Hartford, 
Trumbull  county,  where  he  resided 
fifteen  years  ;  in  1816,  married  to  Miss 
Lorena  Bushnell,  who  died  in  1831, 
leaving  five  children  —  Harriet  N., 
who  married  Rev.  Daniel  Emerson, 
dying  in  1870 ;  Amelia,  died  at  19 ; 
Maria,  married  to  R.  C.  Clark,  of  Ken- 
tucky, afterwards  of  Sacramento, 
California,  died  in  1870 ;  Jeremiah  B., 
of  Butte  City,  Montana,  and  Jerusha, 
married  to  General  S.  D.  Sturgis,  and 
now  living  at  West  Point,  New  York. 
Owing  to  impaired  health,  Dr.  Wilcox 
discontinued  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine, and  to  secure  better  educational 
facilities,  removed  to  Hudson,  and  in 
1839,  located  on  the  large  farm  in 
Richfield,  which  he  successfully  cul- 
tivated until  his  death, from  paralysis, 
January  26, 1873,  at  the  age  of  82  years, 
1  month  and  20  days.  In  1839,  Dr. 
Wilcox  married  Mrs.  Julia  A.  (Wilder) 
Pettee,  formerly  of  Rochester,  New 
York,  who  bore  him  eight  children. 


DR.  JEREMIAH  CULLEN  WILCOX. 

five  of  whom  are  now  living — Amelia 
A.,  wife  of  Mr.  George  B.  Clarke,  now 
of  Akron;  Henry  Chauncey,  of  Akron; 
Newell  O.,  died  in  infancy;  William 
Cullen,  now  missionary  in  East 
Africa  ;  Francis  A.,  real  estate  agent 
in  Akron,  and  Stella  H.  Of  sterling 
integrity  and  indomitable  energy, 
Dr.  Wilcox  was  ainong  the  most 
highly  respected  of  Richfield's  manj- 
honored  citizens. 


At  the  rival  "  Center,"  however,  it  was  different.  Hotels  were 
established,  a  number  of  stores  were  erected  and  filled  with  mer- 
chandise, a  postoffice  w^as  secured,  churches  instituted,  manufac- 
tures inaugurated,  etc.,  until  at  one  time,  in  the  early  forties,  Rich- 
field w^as  one  of  the  very  snappiest  inland  points  in  Northern  Ohio, 
not  only  stimulating  the  general  prosperity  of  the  to^vnship  itself, 
but  attracting  a  large  amount  of  business  from  adjoining,  and 
even  more  remote,  localities — the  east  center,  of  course,  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  sharing  the  general  prosperity. 

Richfield's  Public  Spirit. — For  nearly  twenty  years,  Rich- 
field, w^ith  several  contiguous  tow^nships,  maintained  a  spirited 
Fair  association,  under  the  title  of  the  "Union  Agricultural  and 
Mechanic  Art  Society." 


richfield's  schools,  churches,  etc. 


945 


A  flourishing  Masonic  lodge  (Meridian  Sun  Lodge,  No.  266), 
has  also  been  maintained  in  the  township  for  more  than  sixty 
years,  and,  for  the  most  of  the  time  for  the  past  forty  years,  a  fine 
band  of  music  has  been  liberally  supported,  while  a  good  deal 
more  than  usual  attention  has  been  given  to  church  and  educa- 
tional matters  in  both  villages,  and  throughout  the  toAvnship. 

Besides  the  usual  complement  of  w^ell-attended  district 
schools,  Richfield,  in  1836,  established  a  well-equipped  academ\', 
in  a  commodious  building  erected  for  that  purpose  between  the 
two  villages,  -which  was  liberally  patronized,  not  only  by  the  peo- 
ple of  the  township,  but  many  pupils  from  abroad  w^ere  here 
educated,  many  of  whom,  w^ithout  any  additional  scholastic  advan- 
tages, have  become  eminent  in  business,  statecraft,  professional 
life,  etc.  Modern  educational  methods,  however,  have  displaced 
the  original  Richfield  academy,  by  the  establishment  of  a  commo- 
dious central  or  high  school  building  for  each  village,  that  at  the 
east  village,  unfortunately  destroyed  by  fire,  in  1887,  having  been 
replaced  by  a  handsome  and  still  more  commodious  structure. 

JUDGE  NOAH  M.  HUMPHREY,— 
J  born  in  Gcshen,  Connecticut, 
June  18,  1810;  educated  as  farmer's 
boy  during-  niinoritj' ;  in  September, 
1833,  came  to  Ohio,  entering- law  office 
of  Huniplirey  &  Hall,  in  Hudson, 
studying- three  years,  teaching  school 
winters  ;  admitted  to  bar,  in  Medina, 
September  5,  1836 ;  began  practice 
with  Van  R.  Humphrey  and  Harvej' 
Whedon,  under  firiu  name  of  Hum- 
phrej'^jHumphrej^  &Whedon,  changed 
a  year  later  (on  appointment  of  Van 
R.  Humphrey  to  president  judge- 
ship), to  Humphrey  &  W,hedon.  Sep- 
tember 24,  1840,  was  married  to  Miss 
Velina  Hannum,  of  Brecksville,  set- 
tling in  Richfield,  in  addition  to  legal 
work,  teaching-,  fanning,  dealing  in 
stock,  etc. ;  in  1852,  '.i3,  represented 
Summit  county  in  State  IvCgislature  ; 
in  1854  elected  probate  judge,  remov- 
ing- to  Akron  in  Spring-  of  1855; 
re-elected  in  1857,  serving  six  j^ears. 
Mrs.  Huinphre}"  dying  Septeinber  24, 
1855,  on  January  12,  1859,  Judge  Hum- 
phrej^  was  again  married,  to  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Young-,  daughter  of  the 
late  David  Allen,  of  Akron  ;  in  Fall 
of  1862,  removed  to  Taylor's  Falls, 
Chisago  county.  Minnesota,  where  he 
has  since  continuously  resided,  and 
where  he  has  received  man}^  honors. 


JUDGE  NOAH   M.  HUMPHREY, 

both  from  the  people  and  the  govern- 
ment, being  now  postmaster  of  that 
city.  Of  the  two  children  of  Judge 
Humphrey,  Laura  M.,  born  January 
31,  1842,  is  now  Mrs.  D.  A.  Caneday^ 
and  Marcus  F.  C,  born  August  23, 
1844,  died  at  his  home,  in  Fergus- 
Falls,  Minnesota,  April  18,  1885. 


Richfield's  Religious  Status.— Originally  settled  b}^  Puritanic 
stock,  Richfield  has,  from  the  first,  been  duly  observant  of  religious 
-worship,  and  the  means  for  its  proper  exercise  and  maintenance. 
The  first  church  organization  (May  15,  1818),  to  accommodate  the 
various  shades  of  religious  belief,  was  called  the  "Church  of 
Christ,"  but  that  element  largely  predominating,  afterwards 
known  as  the  "First  Congregational  Church,  of  Richfield,"  a  com- 
fortable house  of  worship  being  erected  at  the  east  center,  in  1822, 
which  retnained  substantially  as  originally  constructed  until  1886, 

60 


916  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

■when  it  was  destroyed  by  fire.  A  much  handsomer  and  more 
costly  structure  has  been  erected  upon  the  same  site,  by  the  Hberal 
contributions  of  all  the  people  of  the  township,  aided  by  generous 
donations  from  former  residents  living  elsewhere,  among  the  latter 
being  Governor  Russell  A.  Alger,  of  Michigan;  and  Edwin  J.  How- 
lett,  of  Philadelphia;  who  each  contributed  some  $500  to  the  build- 
ing and  furnishing  funds.  The  society  has  been  fairly  prosperous 
throughout,  maintaining  nearly  continuous  preaching  to  the  pres- 
ent time,  the  pastorate  of  the  late  Rev.  J.  A.  McKinstry,  com- 
mencing in  August,  1864,  and  continuing  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, the  present  pastor,  ordained  September  6,  1889,  being  Rev. 
W.  E.  Wheeler. 

The  Methodists  erected  a  modest  house  at  an  early  day  (about 
1832),  which  remained  only  partly  finished  unfit  1852,  when  it  was 
burned.  Its  successor,  near  the  west  center,  was  a  more  com- 
modious structure,  and  has  recently  been  considerably  enlarged 
and  improved,  and  the  society  is  now  healthy  and  prosperous. 

The  Baptists,  also,  have  a  prosperous  society,  with  a  com- 
modious house  of  worship  at  the  west  center,  erected  in  1838, 
which  has  also  been  remodeled  and  enlarged,  within  a  few  years, 
w^hile  the  United  Brethren  have  a  flourishing  society  and  a  hand- 
some church  edifice,  called  the  "Centennial  Church,"  in  the  south- 
east portion  of  the  township.  This,  with  the  four  religious  insti- 
tutions alluded  to,  liberally  supported  by  her  citizens,  w^ith  per- 
haps, quite  a  large  contingent  of  independent  religious  faith  and 
practice,  Richfield's  "calling  and  election"  may  be  regarded  as 
tolerably  sure. 

RICHFIELD'S   MILITARY  CARKER. 

It  is  believed  that  among  her  early  settlers  there  were  several 
ex-Revolutionary  soldiers,  though  only  the  name  of  John  Farnam, 
who  died  May  21,  1833,  has  been  handed  down.  Nor  is  there  any 
record  of  her  having  furnished  any  soldiers  for  either  the  War  of 
1812,  or  the  Mexican  War,  though  nine  residents  of  the  town  after- 
wards received  pensions  for  services  rendered  in  the  former  war, 
before  removing  thither. 

In  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  however,  Richfield  did  her  whole 
dut3',  furnishing,  in  all,  150  men  for  the  Union  army.  Of  these, 
five  were  killed  in  battle,  and  twenty-two  died  from  diseases  con- 
tracted in  the  service,  while  thirteen  shared  the  "  hospitalities  " 
and  the  horrors  of  the  various  prison-pens  of  the  late  C.  S.  A.;  six 
more  carrying  in  and  upon  their  persons  indubitable  evidences  of 
their  having  "been  there." 

RICHFIELD'S  ROLL  OF   HONOR. 

Samuel  Allman,  Benjamin  AUman,  Martin  Bigelow,  Jr.,  Luman 
Bigelow  (died  in  service),  Albert  G.  Baldwin  (died  in  service), 
Charles  Blakeslee,  Jerome  Barnell,  Charles  Beardsley,  George  A. 
Butler,  Cyrus  P.  Brooks,  George  M.  Buel,  Darius  D.  Baldwin, 
George  W.  Barnett  (died  in  service),  Orson  H.  Buck  (died  in  ser- 
vice), Nathan  S.  Britton,  Martin  C.  Bentley,  Thomas  Burns,  DeVil- 
lar  Bowles,  D.  E.  Bowles,  James  Barnett,  Charles  Ball,  Thomas 
Bruner,  J.  T.  Barney,  Levi  P.  Carr,  Charles  C.  Chapman,  Ezra 
Carter,  Thomas  Clifton,  Lewis  B.  Clark,  Charles  Churchill,  Asa  P. 


richfield's  roll  of  honor.  947 

Carr,  M.  R.  Comstock,  O.  B.  Carpenter,  Richard  Dunning,  George 
W.  Dickinson,  H.  E.  Dustin,  William  Davis,  Augustus  Dillman, 
Jacob  F.  Eckert,  John  Fauble,  Thomas  Ferryman,  Samuel  Fauble, 
M.  Fauble,  Adam  Farney,  Horace  Greenwood,  Augustus  N.  Gold- 
Avood,  John  Goldwood,  Charles  Goldwood,  Daniel  Gorman,  Thomas 
•Gilbert,  Charles  Hall,  Decius  Humphrey,  Thomas  Hatfield,  Lucian 
E.  Humphrey,  Charles  Hicken  (killed  in  service),  John  Hancock, 
A.  O.  Halliwell,  Cyrus  J.  Hughes,  A,  W.  Hancock,  D.  Hubbard, 
Thomas  Huddleston,  William  Hudson,  Henry  B.  Johnson,  Wil- 
liam H.  Jones,  Nathaniel  Jones,  Thomas  Jackson,  J.  P.  Jackson, 
George  Johnson,  Henry  Killifer,  Henry  Knapp,  John  Knapp, 
Thomas  King,  Augustus  Knapp  (died  in  service),  Oliver  King, 
Charles  Knapp,  Tohn  S.  Lee,  Loraine  H.  Lockert,  J,  Linderman, 
Joseph  Lantz,  D^vid  Lyons,  Joseph  Mead,  Frank  Miles,  Samuel 
Moody  (died  in  service),  Albert  Mead,  West  Miller,  Charles  Mead, 
Levi  Mix,  James  Moore,  M.  H.  McCoy,  William  Moody,  Ezra  Men- 
kins,  Marcus  Noble  (died  in  service),  Emmon  S.  Oviatt,  Charles 
Oviatt  (died  in  service),  John  F.  Oviatt  (died  in  service),  Marcus  U. 
Oviatt,  Horace  Olmstead,  Jr.,  Owen  Pixley  (died  in  service),  Eras- 
mus Payne,  Corydon  P.  Payne,  Edwin  W.  Poole,  Sumner  Pixley, 
Charles  Peeples,  Lorain  J.  Phillips,  R.  J.  Phillips,  George  Rox- 
bury,  Edward  B.  Reed,  M.  R.  Risden,  Oscar  F.  Reed,  Enoch  W. 
Simmons,  George  C.  Sheldon,  Andrew  J.  Spencer  (died  in  service), 
James  W.  Sanborn  (died  in  service),  James  Sammons  (killed), 
Daniel  W.  Sprankle,  John  Smith,  Charles  R.  Sheldon,  Elnathan 
Simmons,  Richard  Sweet,  William  A.  Shepard,  Eugene  E.  Shall, 
Christian  Senghar,  Levi  Shoalwater,  Charles  Stockhouse,  Nathan 
G.  Strong,  .David  Sangharst,  Daniel  P.  Stoffer,  Milton  H.  Stoffer, 
Evelyn  E.  Shall,  William  R.  Townsend,  Richard  Tunwell,  Robert 
Tunwell,  vSamuel  Train,  Charles  W.  Tunwell  (died  in  service), 
Albert  Tupper,  Hawthorn  Thompson,  Joseph  Taylor,  Charles  P. 
Townsend,  John  M.  Thompson  (died  in  service),  Sylvester  Viall, 
Henry  P.  Wadhams,  Henry  C.  Wilcox,  James  Washburn,  Montrose 
Washburn,  Vendruth  Washburn,  George  Wilson. 

The  Patriotic  Spirit,  Still  •Cultivated. — To  preserve  and 
properly  cultivate  the  fraternal  feeling  naturally  existing  between 
the  surviving  soldiers  of  the  late  war,  as  well  as  for  general  social 
and  beneficial  purposes,  the  A.  N.  Goldwood  Post,  No.  104,  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  with  a  healthy  membership  of  the  veterans 
of  Richfield  and  vicinity  is  maintained,  with  stated  meetings  on 
the  second  and  fourth  Wednesdays  of  each  month,  and  such 
special  meetings,  entertainments,  etc.,  as  are  from  time  to  time 
deemed  advisable. 

County,  State  and  Nation. — In  the  civil  affairs  of  both  the 
county,  state  and  nation,  Richfield  holds  a  most  exalted  position, 
as  a  perusal  of  the  following  summary  will  most  clearly  demon- 
strate :  ** 

James  W.  Weld,  Esq.,  of  Richfield,  was  elected  county  commis- 
sioner in  1844,  and  successively  twice  re-elected,  ably  filling  that 
important  position  for  nine  consecutive  years.  Mr.  Weld  also 
previously  held  the  office  of  treasurer  of  Medina  county  for  two 
years,  and  for  many  years  officiated  as  justice  of  the  peace  of  Rich- 
field township. 

Noah  M,  Humphrey,  Esq.,  was  elected  as  Summit  county's 
first    representative    to    the    State    Legislature,    under   the    new 


948 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


constitution,  in  October,  1851,  filling  the  position  for  two  years^ 
■with  ability  and  honor. 

Schuyler  R.  Oviatt  -was  elected  county  surveyor  in  October^ 
1852,  satisfactorily  discharging  the  duties  of  the  office  for  three 
years. 

Hon.  Noah  M.  Humphrey,  in  October,  1854,  was  again  called 
to  the  front,  by  being  elected  probate  judge  for  three  years,  and 
re-elected  in  1857,  most  ably  discharging  the  intricate  duties  of 
that  office  for  six  full  years. 

Edward  Oviatt,  Esq.,  though  born  in  Hudson,  and  since  1844, 
a  resident  of  Akron,  having  spent  almost  his  entire  youth  in  Rich- 
field, and  acquired  his  most  excellent  education  in  her  old-time 
highly  popular  academy,  may  properly  be  considered  a  Richfield 
"  boy,"  and  we  will  therefore  give  her  credit  of  furnishing  Summit 
county,  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Oviatt,  w^ith  a  most  efficient  prose- 
cuting attorney  from  1864  to  1868. 

DAVID  BAKER  ALGER,— fourth 
son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Baker) 
Alger,  natives  of  Connecticut,  was 
born  in  Bethany,  Genessee  county. 
New  York,  April  5,  1816.  The  father 
dying-  three  years  later,  in  1822,  the 
mother,  with  her  six  children,  came 
by  ox-team  to  Ohio,  and  settled  upon 
a  farm,  previously  bought  by  the 
father,  in  Richfield.  Here  the  boj' 
David  grew"  to  manhood,  with  such 
educational  advantages  only,  as  the 
schools  of  the  township  afforded. 
January  16,  1838,  he  was  married  in 
Hinckley,  to  Miss  Margaret  Richard- 
son, of  Eden,  Erie  county.  New  York, 
who  bore  him  four  children — two 
sons  and  two  daughters.  He  fol- 
lowed farming,  both  as  a  business 
and  as  a  profession,  and  on  his  well- 
managed  old  Richfield  farm,  he  and 
his  good  wife  not  only  made  a  pleas- 
ant home  for  their  own  family,  btft 
also  for  the  orphaned  children  of 
two  of  his  brothers.  A  warm  friend 
of  education,  Mr.  Alger  was  ever 
actively  identified  with  the  school 
interests  of  Richfield,  and  being 
strictly  temperate  himself,  was  first 
and  foremost  in  all  temperance  and 
other  reform   movements.    He  died 


DAVID  BAKER  ALGER. 

December  30,  1884,  aged  68  years,  8^ 
months  and  25  daj's,  Mrs.  Alger  and 
their  four  children — May  L.,  Eunice 
P.,  Albert  W.  (now  of  Kansas  City, 
Mo.),  and  Richard  Edwin,  still  sur- 
viving. 


Orson  M.  Oviatt,  for  two  consecutive  terms,  from  1868  to  1874, 
filled  the  office  of  county  commissioner,  both  creditably  to  himself 
and  highly  satisfactorily  to  his  constituents. 

Schuyler  R.  Oviatt,  was  elected  county  treasurer  in  1870,  for 
two  years,  and  re-elected  in  1872,  not  only  discharging  the  duties 
of  the  office  w^ith  his  customary  fidelity,  but  so  improving  the 
methods  of  performing  the  routine  w^ork  of  the  office,  as  to  at  once 
greatly  facilitate  the  transaction  of  the  the  public  business,  and 
lessen  the  liability  to  mistakes. 

Hiram  Hart,  elected  county  commissioner,  in  October,  1879, 
re-elected  in  1882,  for  six  consecutive  years  made  one  of  the  most 
enterprising  and  faithful  public  officials  that  Summit  county  ever 
had. 


RICHFIELD    IN    PUBLIC   OFFICE. 


949 


Henry  C.  Searles,  a  native  of  Hinckley  township,  Medina 
■county,  and  an  ex-soldier  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  became  a 
resident  of  Richfield,  soon  after  the  close  of  the  War,  engaging  in 
trade  and  for  several  years  officiating  as  postmaster  at  West  Rich- 
field. In  1884,  Mr.  Searles  was  elected  county  recorder,  and  re- 
elected in  1887,  and  though  in  quite  poor  health  a  portion  of  the 
time,  was  a  first-class  officer  during  his  six  years  incumbency. 

HENRY  C.  SEARLES,  —  son  of 
Daniel  Searles,  was  born  in 
Hinckle}',  Medina  county,  Ohio, 
August  19,  1841 ;  raised  a  farmer ; 
■educated  in  district  schools  and 
Hiram  College;  in  1861  enlisted  in 
Battery  A.,  1st  O.  L.  A.,  serving  two 
years,  and  discharged  on  account  of 
injuries;  clerked  in  store  of  Baxter 
H.  Wood,  West  Richfield,  eight  years; 
in  1873,  engaged  in  mercantile  busi- 
ness for  himself,  being  at  that  time 
appointed  postmaster  at  West  Rich- 
field ;  in  1878,  his  store,  with  most  of 
its  contents,  was  destroyed  by  fire, 
but  immediately  rebuilt  on  a  larger 
.scale,  where  he  continued  to  do  busi- 
ness until  elected  county  recorder  in 
1884,  to  which  position  he  was 
re-elected  in  1887,  ably  filling  the 
position  six  years.  Mr.  Searles, 
besides  serving  as  postmaster  thir- 
teen years,  was  treasurer  of  Richfield 
for  nearly  twenty  years,  and  member 
of  the  board  of  education  some  ten 
years.  August  19,  1863,  Mr.  Searles 
was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Parker,  daughter  of  Rev.  Sanford 
Parker,  of  Hinckley,  born  November 
12, 1843.  They  have  had  three  children 
—  Harry  I.,  born  June  17, 1864,  deputy 
•county  recorder  three  years,  from 
January  1,  1885,  later  salesman  in  dry 

foods  store  of  Murray  &  Watt,  died 
ebruary    12,    1891  ;    Lizzie    A.,   born 


HENRY  C.  SEARLES. 

March  14,  1867,  and  George  DeForest, 
born  September  14,  1869,  now  deputy 
county  recorder.  The  present  resi- 
dence of  Mr.  Searles  is  at  931  East 
Market  street,  Akron.  He  is  now  a 
stockholder  and  director,  and  the 
secretary  of  the  Akron  Hardware 
Company,  corner  Stanton  and  Getz 
Avenues. 


John  E.  Hurlbut,  Esq.,  one  of  Richfield's  most  successful  far- 
mers and  business  men,  on  the  inauguration  of  the  internal  rev- 
-enue  system,  during  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  was  appointed,  by 
President  Lincoln,  United  States  assessor  for  the  18th  Congres- 
sional District  of  Ohio,  composed  of  Summit,  Cuyahoga  and  Lake 
■counties,  w^ith  his  headquarters  in  Cleveland.  It  is  safe  to  say 
that  in  no  district  of  the  United  States,  was  the  service  more  ably 
performed,  than  that  presided  over  by  Mr.  Hurlbut,  and  in  no  other 
county  of  the  district  was  the  routine  v^ork  more  conscientiously 
and  fearlessly  executed  than  by  his  faithful  local  deputies, 
Schuyler  R.  Oviatt,  of  Richfield;  Hiram  V.  Bronson,  of  Boston; 
Alfred  R.  Townsend,  of  Akron;  Andrew  Fenn,  of  Tallmadge;  and 
Stephen  D.  Miller,  of  Norton.  Mr.  Hurlbut,  after  the  War, 
remained  in  Cleveland,  w^here  he  died  some  four  or  five  years  ago. 

Hon.  Samuel  B.  Axtell,  one  of  Richfield's  early  adopted  sons, 
:and  \srhose  family  and  property  interests  are  still  in  that  tow^nship, 
represented  the  San  Francisco  (Cal).,  district  in  the  fortieth  and 
^nd  forty-first  sessions   of  Congress.     Returning  to  Richfield,  on 


950  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

the  expiration  of  his  second  term,  he  w^as  in  January,  1875,. 
appointed  governor  of  the  territory  of  Utah,  by  President  Grant, 
but  a  few  months  later  was  transferred  to  New  Mexico,  of  w^hich 
territory 'he  w^as  governor  between  three  and  four  years.  Still 
later,  in  May,  1882,  by  appointment  of  President  Arthur,  he  became 
chief  justice  of  that  territory,  which  position  he  filled  with 
acknowledged  ability  for  three  years,  tendering  his  resignation  to 
President  Cleveland,  May  1st,  1885,  to  take  effect  on  the  25th  of  the 
same  month.  On  June  1,  1885,  Judge  Axtell  accepted  from*  the 
Southern  Pacific  railroad,  the  position  of  solicitor  of  that  road  for 
NcAV  Mexico,  w^ith  headquarters  at  Santa  Fe,  which  position  he 
held  until  his  death,  at  the  home  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Charles  M. 
Phillips,  in  Morristown,  New  Jersey,  August  6,  1891,  at  the  age  of 
71  years,  9  months,  22  days. 

Russell  A.  Alger,  was  reared  and  educated  in  the  township 
of  Richfield,  graduating  with  honors  from  the  famous  old  Rich- 
field Academy,  some  35  years  ago.  Soon  after  his  graduation  he 
entered,  as  a  student,  the  law  office  of  Messrs.  Wolcott  &c  Upson,^ 
in  Akron.  On  the  completion  of  his  studies,  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  by  the  Supreme  Court,  at  Columbus.  Practicing  for  a 
short  time  in  Cleveland,  he  established  himself  at  Grand  Rapids, 
Mich.,  with  fair  prospects  of  the  most  eminent  success  in  his  chosen 
profession.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  War,  however,  the  young 
law^yer  forsook  his  clients  and  his  briefs,  and  entered  the  Union 
Army  as  a  private  soldier,  retiring  therefrom,  in  1865,  with  the 
w^ell-earned  title  of  Brigadier  General.  After  the  close  of  the  War,, 
he  engaged  extensively  in  the  lumber  and  shipping  business,, 
accumulating  a  speedy  fortune,  ^vhich  he  is  liberally  dispensing  in 
benevolent  and  business  enterprises,  one  of  the  ventures  in  the 
latter  line,  being  his  joint-ow^nership,  with  Hon,  J,  A,  Kohler,  of 
Akron's  beautiful  Arcade  Block,  on  South  Howard  street.  In 
1884,  he  was  elected  governor  of  Michigan,  holding  the  office 
through  1885  and  1886,  and,  declining  a  re-election,  retired  from 
that  high  office  with  the  reputation  of  having  made  one  of  the 
very  best  governors  Michigan  ever  had,  his  name  also  being  prom- 
inently mentioned  as  a  candidate  for  President  before  the  National! 
Republican  Convention  for  1888.     [See  portrait  on  page  555]. 

The  Big  Sleigh  Ride  of  1856.— The  Winter  of  1855,  '56,  was- 
one  of  considerable  severity,  accompanied  by  much  snow  and 
long-continued  sleighing.  Local  sleigh-rides  w^ere  frequent,  engen- 
dering much  neighborhood  rivalry,  soon  extending  to  township 
and  finally  to  county  contests  for  the  prize  banner — a  piece  of  com- 
mon muslin,  with  the  figure  of  a  young  negro  rudely  painted- 
thereon,  with  thumb  on  nose,  and  extended  digits,  with  the  legend 
issuing  from  between  his  ivory  teeth  and  protruding  lips, "  You  can't 
come  it!"  Starting  in  Solon  with  seven  four-horse  teams,  fol- 
low^ed  by  Tw^insburg  with  sixteen  teams,  Bedford  with  thirty-two;: 
Brecksville,  forty-four;  Royalton,  sixty-three;  Boston,  sixty-six;- 
Independence,  sixty-five;  Hudson,  seventy-one,  the  flag  had  finally 
come  to  Richfield,  w^ith  seventy-three  teams.  By  this  time  the 
excitement  had  become  so  erreat  that  it  was  determined  to  make  it 
a  county  affair,  between  the  three  contiguous  counties  of  Cuya- 
hoga, Medina  and  Summit.  Richfield  being  already  in  possession 
of  the  prize,  and  being,  withal,  the  most  central  township  in  the 
territory  involved  in  the  contest,  it  was  decided  that  the  triangular 


THE   BIG   SLEIGH-RIDE    OF    1856.  951 

gathering  should  be  held  there.  Accordingly,  on  Saturday,  March 
15,  1856,  the  great  trial  took  place,  four  and  six-horse  teams,  only, 
being  counted.  The  marshals  reported  Medina  one  hundred  and 
forty,  Cuyahoga  one  hundred  and  fifty-one,  and  Summit  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-one  teams,  making  a  grand  total  of  four  hun- 
dred and  sixty-two  four  and  six-horse  sleighs,  though  quite  a  good 
many  one  and  two-horse  teams,  bearing  witnesses  and  spectators, 
w^ere  present  from  all  parts  of  the  adjacent  country. 

After  the  count  had  been  declared,  the  banner  was  formally  pre- 
sented, first  by  James  W.  Weld,  Esq.,  on  behalf  of  Richfield,  to  Hud- 
son, as  having  furnished  the  greatest  number  of  teams,  and  then, 
by  Dr.  Charles  R.  Pierce,  in  behalf  of  Hudson,  to  Summit  county, 
to  be  preserved  among  her  most  cherished  relics,  until  some  rival 
county  should  wrest  it  from  her  by  a  larger  display  of  horseflesh 
than  she  had  made.  It  was  estimated  that  from  10,000  to  12,000 
persons,  men,  women  and  children,  participated  in,  and  witnessed, 
the  magnificent  pageant,  and  the  utmost  harmony  and  good  feel- 
ing prevailed  throughout. 

Summit's  triumph,  how^ever,  was  of  short  duration.  Medina's 
spirit — if  not  dander — was  decidedly  aroused,  and  on  the  following 
Tuesday,  March  18,  1856,  she  drove  into  Akron  with  one  hundred 
and  eighty-two  four  and  six-horse  teams,  thus  fairly  winning  the 
"  flaunting  rag"  from  Summit,  which — notwithstanding  the  quite 
prevalent  rumor  that  a  number  of  her  teams  had  been  recruited 
from  "just  over  the  border" — w^as  cheerfully  yielded  to  her;  the 
championship  remaining  w^ith  her  to  the  present  time,  though  by 
the  time  her  procession  began  to  w^ind  its  slow  length  through  the 
streets  of  Akron,  about  noon  on  the  18th  day  of  March,  the  sleigh- 
ing was  in  "a  very  liquefactions  condition,  indeed,  while  the  home- 
ward journey  had  to  be  performed  through  a  literal  "  sea  of  mud." 

Richfield's  Great  Re-Union. — Though  Richfield  has  always 
been  noted  for  its  spirited  public  gatherings — agricultural,  mili- 
tary, political,  patriotic  and  otherwise — her  crowning  glory  in  that 
direction  was  her  great  pioneer  re-union,  on  the  11th  day  of 
August,  1880.  Invitations  had  been  extended  to  all  former  res- 
idents then  living,  who  had  gone  out  from  among  them,  to  return 
to  the  home  of  their  nativity,  or  early  adoption,  to  renew  old 
friendships,  and  to  enjoy  the  hospitalities  of  their  compeers  and 
successors,  and  on  the  day  named  there  w^as  a  gathering  of  w^hich 
Richfield  people  should  ever  feel  proud. 

The  meeting  was  in  a  beautiful  grove,  on  the  premises  of  Mr, 
John  Kirby,  one  luile  south  of  the  West  Center,  and  besides  many 
old  residents  from  abroad,  there  were  large  delegations  from  neigh- 
boring towns,  w^hile  almost,  if  not  quite,  every  man,  w^oman  and 
child  of  the  township  of  Richfield  was  upon  the  grounds  during 
the  day.  Governor  S.  B.  Axtell  presided,  and  delivered  an  elo- 
quent address  of  Avelcome,  which  w^as  supplemented  by  an  appro- 
priate poem,  written  by  Richfield's  poet  laureate,  Dr.  A.  E.  Ewing. 
Responses  were  called  for,  and  brief  addresses  were  made  by 
George  Howlett,  Esq.,  of  Cleveland,  and  Mr.  F.  Wilcox,  former 
sons  of  Richfield,  Ex-County  Treasurer  Schuyler  R.  Oviatt,  Sheriff 
S.  A.  Lane  and  General  A.  C.  Voris,  of  Akron,  Dr.  Sumner  Pixley, 
of  Peninsula,  Hon.  Myron  C.  Hills,  of  Medina,  Rev.  J.  A.  McKin- 
stry,  of  Richfield,  and  others.  Splendid  music  and  a  magnificent 
dinner,  and    genial  good  cheer,  generally,  rendered  the  occasion 


952  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

one  of  the  brightest  epochs  in  the  history  and  memory  of  ever  reli- 
able Old  Richfield. 

Richfield's  Moral  Status. — Though  not  upon  the  line  of  the 
canal,  yet  upon  her  eastern  border,  contiguous  to  the  crook- 
infested  territory  of  eastern  Bath  and  western  Northampton  and 
Boston,  her  people  were  more  or  less  drawn  within  the  pernicious 
influence  of  the  gang.  Indeed,  one  of  her  very  earliest  settlers, 
Henry  Mallet,  with  his  tw^o  brothers,  John  and  Daniel,  are  believed 
to  have  been  among  the  very  first  parties  in  the  neighborhood  to 
"  tinker  w^ith  the  currency,"  establishing  their  mint,  how^ever,  just 
over  the  line  in  the  jungles  of  northwestern  Northampton, 

The  locality  and  character  of  this  establishment  becoming 
know^n,  much  indignation  was  excited  against  the  concern,  and  by 
the  concerted  movement  of  the  better  class  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Richfield,  Bath,  Northampton  and  Boston,  this  •*  money-shop,"  as 
it  was  designated,  was  raided,  and  with  its  entire  contents 
destroyed  by  fire. 

This  summary  proceeding,  however,  by  no  means  put  a  stop 
to  the  business.  Other  and  less  accessible  quarters  were  secured, 
the  infection  spread,  and  the  business  grew  and  seemingly  pros- 
pered for  many  years,  though  many  of  the  operators  were  subse- 
quently brought  to  grief,  Henry  Mallet  at  length  finding  a  perma- 
nent home  in  the  Ohio  Penitentiary,  where  he  finally  died. 

In  1838,  when  a  concerted  effort  was  made,  as  elsewhere  detailed, 
to  break  up  the  gang,amongthe  eighteenor  twenty  persons  arrested, 
w^ere  several  residents  of  Eastern  Richfield,  their  apprehension 
being  brought  about  through  the  efforts  of  their  more  respectable 
neighbors;  a  local  Akron  paper,  under  date  of  April  7th,  1838,  in 
noticing  the  event,  saying  :  "Much  praise  is  due  to  the  officers  and 
principal  citizens  of  Richfield,  and  adjoining  towns,  for  their 
vigilance  and  aid  in  securing  the  experimenters  on  the  currency." 

From  that  time  on,  however,  Richfield  has  been  as  free  from 
that  class  of  crookedness  as  the  average  of  her  sister  townships  on 
the  Western  Reserve,  though  a  number  of  other  damaging  and 
exciting  episodes  have  taken  place  within  her  borders,  in  the 
intervening  half  centurj^. 

The  Lunatic  Horse-Thief. — Late  in  the  Winter  of  1859,  there 
came  to  the  Kast  Richfield  hotel  a  well-dressed,  gentlemanly- 
appearing  man,  about  thirty  years  of  age,  giving  his  name  as  Myron 
B.  Taylor.  His  luggage  consisted  of  a  grip-sack  filled  with  personal 
clothing,  and  a  small  box  containing  an  assortment  of  fine 
stationery,  notions,  etc.,  which  he  modestly  offered  for  sale  to  the 
people  of  the  village  and  the  guests  at  the  hotel.  He  was  very 
reticent  as  to  w^here  he  belonged,  and  though  conversing  coherently 
and  intelligently,  in  \vhat  he  did  say,  his  talk  and  manner  created 
the  impression  that  he  w^as  a  little  "off"  in  his  mind. 

A  w^eek  or  so  after  the  arrival  of  the  stranger,  a  horse,  which 
had  been  hitched  under  the  shed  attached  to  Weld  &  Farnam's 
store,  one  evening,  was  found  to  be  missing,  and  on  following  the 
track  some  sixteen  oreighteen  miles  in  a  w^esterly direction, the  horse 
■was  overtaken,  with  the  stranger  mounted  upon  its  back.  The 
pursuing  party  immediately  took  him  into  custody  and  returned  to 
Richfield,  where,  believing  that  the  quasi-peddler  was  a  horse- 
thief  in  disguise,  and  as  a  number  of  horses  had  been  previously 
stolen  in  the  neighborhood,  an  excitement  ensued  that  in  a  less 


richfield's  criminal  record.  953 

orderly  community  would  have  resulted  seriously,  if  not  fatally,  to 
the  offender. 

Making  no  defense,  or  explanation,  he  was  committed  to  jail, 
duly  indicted  and  arraigned  for  trial  at  the  March  term  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  1860.  To  the  question  of  Judge 
Carpenter:  "Are  you  guilty  or  not  guilty?"  the  prisoner  simply 
said  :  "I  took  the  horse,"  and,  declining  to  have  counsel  assigned 
to  him,  or  to  enter  into  any  explanation  of  his  conduct  or  antece- 
dents, he  was  accordingly  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for  three 
years.  On  arriving  at  the  prison  (the  writer  was  then  Sheriff), 
after  examining  the  papers  and  looking  at  the  prisoner,  the  warden 
shook  his  head,  with  the  remark:  "There's  something  wrong 
about  this  business,  for  that  man  is  not  a  criminal." 

Some  two  months  after  his  incarceration,  an  intelligent  young 
lady,  accompanied  by  a  bright  little  boy  about  two  years  of  age, 
arrived  in  Richfield,  bearing  w^ith  her  papers  and  affidavits  from 
prominent  citizens  and  high  officials  in  the  State  of  Vermont,  not 
only  testifying  to  the  good  character  of  the  supposed  thief,  but 
that  he  was  subject  to  periodical  attacks  of  mental  aberration,  in 
w^hich  he  had  several  times  wandered  away  from  home  and  friends 
and  engaged  in  some  business  to  w^hich  he  was  w^hoUy  unaccus- 
tomed at  home ;  on  one  occasion,  in  the  State  of  New^  York,  taking 
a  school  and  teaching  until  his  lunacy  w^as  detected  and  his  friends 
and  place  of  residence  discovered. 

These  proofs,  added  to  the  appearance  of  the  man  himself, 
were  so  satisfactory  to  the  people  of  Richfield  that  the  committing 
magistrate  accompanied  the  sorrowing  wife  and  her  child  to 
Akron,  and  laid  the  matter  before  the  authorities  here.  Judge 
Carpenter  and  Prosecuting  Attorney  Henrj^  McKinney,  both 
addressed  letters  to  Governor  Dennison,  expressing  conviction  of 
the  lunacy  of  the  prisoner,  armed  with  which,  and  the  papers 
brought  from  Vermont,  the  writer  visited  Columbus  and  submitted 
them  to  the  governor.  Governor  Dennison  immediately  put  on  his 
hat  and  accompanied  the  writer  to  the  penitentiary,  and  after  a 
brief  interview  with  the  warden  and  the  prisoner,  he  said  :  "Sheriff, 
you  go  home,  and  send  this  man's  wife  to  Columbus,  and  I  will 
w^aive  the  usual  forms  of  advertising  and  petitioning  for  pardon, 
and  deliver  him  into  her  custody." 

This  was  accordingly  done  on  July  30,  1860,  and  being  now  in 
his  right  mind,  and  feeling  very  sensitive  about  returning  to 
Vermont,  after  having  been  in  prison  for  horse-stealing,  they  w^ent 
w^est,  settling  in  a  small  town  in  Iowa,  w^here  as  the  grateful  w^ife, 
in  a  feeling  and  pathetic  letter,  afterwards  informed  the  writer 
they  were  living  contented  and  happy,  though  they  had  had 
the  misfortune  to  lose,  by  death,  the  bright  little  boy  by  whom  she 
w^as  accompanied  w^hen  here. 

The  Hunter-Gargett  Tragedy. — The  most  exciting  episode 
in  the  history  of  Richfield,  and  one  of  the  most  terrible  tragedies 
ever  enacted  in  Summit  county,  was  the  double  murder  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Robert  Gargett,  by  the  rejected  lover  of  their  daughter  Chloe 
— John  H.  Hunter — in  1871,  a  full  account  of  which,  with  the  gush- 
ing correspondence  between  the  lovers,  and  their  pledges  of 
eternal  fidelity  before  having  personally  met  each  other,  together 
w^ith  the  particulars  of  the  tragedy,  the  trial  and  execution,  will  be 
given  in  the  next  chapter. 


954  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Richfield's  Present  Business  Status. — The  advent  of  rail- 
roads, and  the  consequent  change  of  business  centers  and 
methods,  gradually  worked  a  change  in  the  business  status 
of  Richfield — the  glory  of  her  mercantile  and  manufacturing 
operations  having,  in  a  large  measure,  departed,  though  still 
superior  to  most  of  the  toAvnship  centers  of  the  county.  Besides 
her  large  stock,  fruit  and  dairy  interests,  by  means  of  her 
local  and  portable  sawmills  Richfield  has,  during  the  past  few 
years,  furnished  a  large  amount  of  hardwood  lumber  for  the 
Akron  and  Cleveland  markets,  though  some^vhat  handicapped  by 
lack  of  adequate  transportation  facilities,  a  disability  w^hich  she 
fondly  hopes  Avill  be  removed  by  the  construction  of  a  railroad 
south\vard  from  Cleveland,  through  her  borders,  at  an  early  day. 

At  the  East  Center,  the  old  well-remembered  general  store  on 
the  northwest  corner  of  the  public  square,  occupied  by  the  firm  of 
Weld  &  Farnam,  (William  C.  Weld  and  Everett  F%rnam),  and  on 
the  dissolution  of  that  firm,  about  1875,  by  Mr.  Weld  alone,  until, 
his  death,  in  1879,  followed  by  Mr.  I.  M.  Mather,  and  later  by 
Loomis  Brothers,  was  burned  in  1886,  and  has  never  been  rebuilt^ 
Mr.  George  B.  Clarke,  now  treasurer  of  the  Jones  Wholesale 
Grocery  Company,  of  Akron,  having  operated  as  salesman  for 
Messrs.  Weld  &  Farnam,  and  Mr.  Weld,  individually,  some  fifteen 
years  previous  to  going  into  business  for  himself  at  the  West 
Center,  in  1880,  where  he  remained  eight  years.  The  ancient  hotel, 
the  "Center  JHouse,"  in  a  good  state  of  preservation  and  repair,  is 
still  doing  duty  as  a  hostelrie,  with  Mr.  Fayette  Viall  as  its  popular 
proprietor  and  landlord.  On  the  southeast  corner  of  public  square 
and  the  Peninsula  road,  Mr.  Frank  R.  Brower,  besides  officiating 
as  postmaster,  keeps  a  fair-sized  stock  of  general  merchandise. 

At  thtj  West  Center,  the  old,  w^ell-known  hotel,  on  the  north- 
east corner  of  the  square,  having  been  destroyed  by  fire  some  tw^o 
or  three  years  ago,  the  old  Liberty  Hall  block,  on  the  south  side  of 
the  street,  was  removed  thither,  by  Sykes  Brothers  (DeLancey  and 
William  B.  Sykes),  handsomely  refitted  and  filled  w^ith  a  well- 
selected  stock  of  general  merchandise,  dry  goods,  boots  and  shoes,, 
groceries,  provisions,  etc.,  W.  B.  Sykes  also  officiating  as  post- 
master of  West  Richfield. 

West  Richfield  Hotel. — This  is  a  new  and  well-appointed 
hotel  on  the  site  of  the  store  formerly  occupied  by  Ex-Recorder 
Henry  C.  Searles,  near  the  northw^est  corner  of  the  public  square, 
owned  by  Mr.  Baxter  H.  Wood,  of  Medina,  but  kept  by  Richfield's 
veteran  landlord,  Eewis  P.  Ellas.  Richfield  Flouring  and  Saw 
Mills,  near  West  Center,  John  Ault,  proprietor,  still  in  successful 
operation.  Harness-Makers,  and  dealers  in  all  kinds  of  horse 
furnishing  goods — Peter  L.  Allen  (established  over  a  third  of  a 
century),  and  Seth  Dustin.  Cabinet  Making  and  Undertaking,. 
T.  E.Ellsworth; — R.  C.  Ellsworth,  manager.  Cheese  Factory — in 
building  formerly  occupied  by  Henry  W.  Howe,  Esq.,  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  spokes,  axe-helves,  etc. — Andrew  R.  Cassidy,  of  Pen- 
insula, proprietor,  Ed  B.  Reed,  manager.  Zebulon  R.  Townsend, 
manufacturer  of  wagon  hubs,  oak  stave  baskets,  cider,  apple- 
butter,  jelly,  etc.  Painter,  Paperhanger,  Decorator,  etc., 
Charles  P.  Townsend;  Blacksmths — Sheldon  E.  Phelps  (and  dealer 
in  stoves,  tinware,  etc.);  Henry  Killifer,  Michael  Heltz;  Rathburn  & 
Greenleese   (C.    F.    Rathburn    and    Henry    Greenleese);   Julius    C. 


PRESENT   TOWNSHIP   OFFICERS, 


955 


Chapman.  Wagon-Maker — Percy  Dustin.  John  Holfelder, 
manufacturer  and  dealer  in  boots  and  shoes.  Miss  A.  M.  Clark, 
fashionable  milliner,  and  dealer  in  millinery,  fancy  and  stamped 
goods.  Asa  P.  Carr,  carriage,  house  and  general  painter.  George 
L/.  Dustin,  carriage  trimmer  and  dealer  in  carts,  carriages,  wagons, 
etc.  Samuel  Fauble,  stonemason  and  general  contractor  and  job- 
ber. Arthur  C.  Hart,  veterinary  surgeon.  C.  N.  Damon,  barber, 
and  dealer  in  confectionery,  cigars,  etc.  J.  M.  Thorp,  surgeon 
dentist;  the  venerable  Dr.  Ewing  having  pretty  much  given  up  prac- 
tice, Dr.  Graham  now  bearing  the  medical  honors  of  the  township, 

RICHFIELD'S  PRESENT  OFFICIAL  STATUS  (1891). 

Trustees — William  R.  Townsend,  Levi  Halliwell,  Ransom  C, 
Ellsworth;  clerk,  Harvey  M.  Welton;  treasurer,  Cyrus  P.  Brooks; 
assessor,  Fayette  Viall;  justices  of  the  peace,  William  N.  Weld  and 
George  Townsend;  constables,  Fayette  Viall  and  Asa  P.  Carr, 
The  oldest  living  native  of  Richfield  is  its  long-time  very  efficient 
tow^nship  clerk,  Harvey  M.  Welton,  Esq. 


CHAPTER   XLVI. 

THE  HUNTER-GARGETT  TRAGEDY — LOVE-MAKING  BY  PROXY  AND  LETTER — 
MARRIAGE  ENGAGEMENT— FIRST  MEETING  OF  THE  BETROTHED— PLEDGE  OF 
ETERNAL  FIDELITY— INTERFERENCE  OF  FRIENDS— ENGAGEMENT  BROKEN 
OFF— ANGER  OF  REJECTED  SUITOR— -VISIT  TO  FAMILY  HOMESTEAD  OF  HIS 
SWEETHEART — MURDER  OF  THE  FATHER  AND  MOTHER— ATTEMPT  ON  LIFE 
OF  BROTHER— NARROW  ESCAPE  OF  YOUNG  LADY— ARREST  OF  MURDERER- 
TERRIBLE  EXCITEMENT  AMONG  THE  PEOPLE— THE  "CRAZY  DODGE  "—TRIAL, 
CONVICTION  AND  SENTENCE— DESPERATE  ATTEMPT  AT  SUICIDE— EXECU- 
TION IN  SUMMIT  COUNTY  JAIL— CRAVEN  COWARDICE  OF  THE  DOOMED  MAN 
—INSTANTANEOUS  AND  EASY  DEATH— RIVALRY  OF  CLEVELAND  AND  AKRON 
DOCTORS  FOR  THE  BODY— SUBSEQUENT  HISTORY  OF  FAMILY,  ETC. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

ROBERT  GARGETT  was  born  in  Yorkshire,  England,  in 
the  year  1800,  coming  to  America  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years, 
and  two  years  later,  April  18,  1820,  w^as  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Perkins,  at  Champlain,  Clinton  county,  N.  Y.,  his  bride  being  about 
five  years  his  junior.  After  several  years'  residence  in  Champlain, 
and  in  Canada,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gargett  removed  to  Ohio,  in  1834, 
settling  on  a  farm  a  short  distance  southwest  of  the  Center  of 
Richfield,  in  this  county. 

Here,  by  indomitable  industry,  and  the  strictest  frugality,  they 
surrounded  themselves  and  their  family  w^ith  all  the  comforts  and 
conveniences  of  a  prosperous  farmer's  home,  and  at  the  date  of  their 
tragic  death,  in  May,  1871,  as  hereinafter  detailed,  were  in  the 
enjoyment  of  both  substantial  wealth,  and  the  very  highest  regard 
of  all  w^ho  knew  them.  Of  their  eight  children,  James  Gargett, 
Mrs.  Mary  Stiles  and  Mrs.  Orpha  Gee,  at  that  time  were  residing 
at,  or  near,  Elm  Hall,  in  the  State  of  Michigan,  w^hile  the  youngest 
son,  Rodney,  then  twenty-two  years  of  age,  and  just  married,  was 
living  in  a  separate  house  upon  the  home  farm;  the  youngest 
daughter,  only,  Chloe  E.,  aged  24,  remaining  w^ith  her  parents  in 
the  old  homestead. 

John  Henry  Hunter  was  born  in  the  city  of  Manchester, 
England,  July  1, 1839,  and  came  to  America  when  fifteen  years  of  age. 
Here  he  seems  to  have  led  rather  a  roving  life,  living  for  longer  or 
shorter  periods  of  time  at  Quebec,  Toronto,  London,  Berry,  CoUing- 
w^ood,  Guelph,  and  St.  Marys,  in  Canada,  and  at  Detroit,  Pontiac, 
the  Christian  Islands,  Elm  Hall  and  Carson  City,  in  the  state  of 
Michigan,  and  at  Hudson,  Peninsula,  Berea  and  Grafton,  in  the 
state  of  Ohio,  and  following  the  varied  callings  of  clerk  in  store, 
book-keeper,  postoffice  clerk,  carpenter,  lumberman,  teacher  of 
-writing  and  photography,  hotel  clerk,  printer,  laborer,  oil  well 
digger,  painter,  etc. 

The  Romance  of  Love. — During  the  Summer  of  1870,  Hunter 
formed  the  acquaintance  of  Mrs.  Mary  Stiles,  at  Elm  Hall,  Michigan, 
Tvhere  he  was  then  working,  and  while  at  her  house  w^as  shown 
the  picture  of  her  sister,  Chloe,  then* living  at  the  home  of  her 


GUSHING   LOVE   CORRESPONDENCE.  957 

parents  in  Richfield.  The  picture  pleased  him,  and  expressing  a 
wish  to  become  acquainted  with  the  original,  at  his  request  Mrs, 
Stiles  gave  him  a  letter  of  introduction  to  her  sister.  On  the  strength 
of  this  letter  Hunter  wrote  to  Miss  Gargett,  soliciting  correspond- 
ence, which  was  granted,  the  correspondence  continuing  from 
March  until  October,  1870 ;  a  marriage  engagement,  having  in  the 
meantime  been  entered  into,  before  having  personally  seen  each 
other,  and  the  most  endearing  expressions  of  undying  affection 
having  been  indulged  in  on  both  sides,  in  their  respective  letters. 
A  portion  of  this  correspendence,  only,  is  now  accessible  to  the 
writer,  from  which,  as  showing  the  tenor  thereof,  the  following 
brief  extracts  are  here  given : 

The  Correspondence. — In  his  introductory  letter  to  Miss 
Gargett,  dated  March  30,  1870,  Hunter  writes  : 

"My  Dear  Miss :— Throug-h  the  influence  of  your  sister,  Mrs.  E.  F.  Stiles, 
by  my  request,  you  have  granted  me  the  privilege  of  writing'  you  a  letter  of 
introduction,  which  was,  indeed  very  friendly,  accepted  from  a  stranger.  I 
am  a  young  man,  twenty -five  years  of  age ;  5  feet  11  inches  in  heig^ht ; 
light  brown  hair ;  blue  eyes,  and  weigh  150  pounds  ;  occupation,  a  carpenter, 
but  can  take  hold  of  anything-  to  make  a  living  *  *  *  j  3^^  ^  very  healthy, 
robust  man  in  general.  I  am  not  addicted  to  drinking  or  keeping  bad 
company,  for  I  detest  all  such.  *  *  *  j  ^jji  not  a  two-faced  man,  nor  two- 
sided,  neither  do  I  want  to  keep  company  with  such,  for  its  not  my  character. 

*  *  *  Your  sister  Mary  is  one  of  the  best  friends  1  have  ever  met  in  this 
country.  She  has  acted  as  a  mother  to  me  in  a  time  of  need,  which  I  will 
never  forget.  Your  sister  Orpha,  also,  has  been  the  same.  *  *  *  jf  you 
were  just  such  a  woman  as  Mary  /  really  would  venture  my  life  to  gain 
your  affection.  *  *  *  You  will  not,  I  hope,  keep  me  in  suspense,  waiting- 
for  an  answer  to  this  letter.     I  remain  yours,  with  respect. 

John  H.  Hunter." 

Miss  Gargett's  reply  to  this  letter  is  not  at  hand,  but  the  next 
from  Hunter  to  her,  dated  April  8th,  show^s  the  promptness  v^rith 
which  she  responded  to  his  request  for  correspondence  and  the 
general  tenor  of  her  initial  letter  : 

"  Miss  Elizabeth  : — I  have  received  your  welcome  letter,  and  must  say 
that  there  is  an  air  of  straight-forward  sincerity  about  it  that  I  like.  *  *  * 
I  did  not  request  you  to  send  me,  or  tell  me,  of  your  looks — for  deeds  and 
actions  are  much  preferable,  although  good-looking  ladies  in  general  are 
very  attractive,  indeed.  *  *  *  I  am  always  J.  H.  Hunter,  every  day  alike; 
can  do  business  with  any  man  ;  have  not  a  great  deal  to  say  in  general,  onl)^ 
when  necessary,  and  too  bashful  to  keep  company  with  the  ladies  in  public. 

*  *  *  There  is  not  a  man  or  woman  can  say  anything  against  my 
character,  therefore  1  can  keep  respectable  company.  Now,  Miss  Gargett,  I 
do  not  wish  to  correspond  with  you  for  mere  pastime,  for  I  have  come  to 
that  time  of  day  to  leave  such  foolishness  aside.  I  do  not  know  whether 
you  want  to  get  a  companion  for  your  future  prospect  or  not.  But  1  know  it 
is  the  case  with  me.  And  there  is  one  more  thing- 1  have  to  say ;  if  you  want 
a  man  with  plenty  of  property,  you  won't  fancy  me.  I  want  some  person  to 
save  for  me,  and  then  I  can  have  a  home.  *  *  *  £  really  would  like  to 
see  you.  I  am  sure  we  would  have  a  g-ood  long  talk.  *  *  *  i  never  was 
married,  nor  promised  to  be  married,  for  it  is  only  of  late  that  I  took  the 
notion,  as  I  was  afraid  of  getting  on  the  bachelor's  list.  *  *  *  Yours, 
unchangeable. 

J.  H.  Hunter." 

To  this  letter,  under  date  of  April  13,  1870,  Miss  Gargett 
responded  as  follow^s : 

"Mr.  J.  H.  Hunter:-  How  happj'  1  was  to-night  to  receive  your  ever- 
welcome  letter — it  came  verj^  unexpected,  for  1  was  not  looking'  for  one  until 
Saturday,  although  I  was  thinking  of  you  and  wishing'  it  was  Saturday. 
How  I  wish  yon  were  here  by  mj'  side,  for  I  think  you  know  we  would  have 


S58  ^  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

a  g-ood  visit.  *  *  *  You  remarked  that  you  did  not  know  whether  I  wanted 
a  companion  or  not.  If  I  could  feel  sure  that  he  loved  me,  and  one  in  whom 
I  could  have  confidence  to  go  for  advice  and  reason,  I  should  be  most  happy 
to  win  the  hand  and  heart  of  such  a  man  ;  and  believe  me,  John,  you  have  a 
Chloe  who  you  can  trust.     *    *    *    Think  of  me  that  thinks  of  thee. 

Yours  truly,  C.  E.  Gargett." 

Hunter's  letter  dated  April  25,  was  mainly  in  reference  to  his 
intended  visit  to  Chloe,  saying,  in  conclusion,  that  if  they  could 
never  get  married  they  would  always  be  friends,  etc.  A  letter 
from  Miss  Gargett,  dated  May  28th,  commencing.  "Mj^  Dearest 
Good  Friend,"  expressed  great  affection  for  him  and  said  that  she 
had  never  found  one  in  w^hom  she  could  place  such  perfect 
confidence  ;  that  her  love  for  him  increased  at  every  letter  received 
from  him ;  that  she  loved  him;  that  he  had  her  whole  heart,  etc.; 
that  she  would  stand  by  him  in  prosperity  and  in  adversity; 
■expressed  the  hope  that  they  should  soon  be  united  ;  w^as  sure  that 
they  w^ould  agree,  and  closed  by  hoping  that  he  w^ould  "accept 
these  few  lines  from  one  who  trusted  only  in  him."  On  June  8th 
Miss  Gargett  wrote  to  Hunter  that  she  had  been  thinking  of  him 
and  w^ished  to  see  him  forty  times  a  day;  that  she  w^ould  never  be 
happy  w^ithout  him,  and  longed  for  the  time  when  she  could  call 
him  hers,  and  closed  w^ith  "I  remain  yours  in  love  and  sweet 
affection." 

It  w^ill  be  impossible  to  give  anything  like  the  full  text  of  even 
such  of  the  letters  w^hich  passed  between  this  romantic  couple  as 
are  at  the  command  of  the  w^riter,  but  as  it  appears  that  the  gossip 
and  interference  of  relatives  and  friends  in  their  love  affairs, 
had  a  direct  tendency  to  bring  about  the  estrangement  that  led  to 
the  tragedy  to  be  here  recorded,  it  is  deemed  advisable  to  ~give 
liberal  extracts  from  two  or  three  of  those  gushing  missives. 
June  11,  1870,  Miss  Gargett  wrote  as  foUow^s  : 

"Dearest  TvOVED  Friend: — I  have  just  finished  reading  your  dearest 
and  loving  letter,  which  found  me  in  good  health  and  as  happy  as  one  coul<# 
be,  w^hen  away  from  the  one  that  is  dearer  to  me  than  any  one  else  in  the 
world.  My  Dearest  John,  I  do  not  think  you  can  be  any  more  anxious  to  see 
me  than  I  am  to  see  you  ;  it  seems  sometimes,  w^hen  I  get  to  thinking  about 
you,  and  of  your  coming  to  see  me,  as  though  I  could  not  wait  another 
minute  ;  but  I  know  that  I  must  use  some  judgment  about  it,  and  that  you 
will  come  as  soon  as  convenient.  John,  perhaps  it  is  all  for  the  best  that  we 
have  not  as  yet  seen  each  other,  for  I  think  our  love  is  increasing  very  much 
for  one  another  every  day ;  at  any  rate  I  know  my  love  for  you  increases 
daily,  yes,  hourly.  *  *  *  My  Dearest  John,  your  affectionate  letter  to-night 
caused  me  to  shed  tears  of  both  joy  and  sorrow.  I  wept  for  joy  to  think  I 
had  at  last  found  one  who  I  believed  loved  me  for  myself  alone.  *  *  *  You 
may  wonder  why  I  shed  tears  of  sorrow  over  your  dear  letter.  It  was  on 
account  of  what  Orpha  said.  Oh,  dear  John,  how  could  she  be  so  cruel? 
But  it  will  make  no  difference  with  me  whether  she  thinks  I  could  do  better 
or  not.  Perhaps  I  could  marry  a  richer  man,  but  if  I  did  not  love  him  what 
comfort  would  my  husband  or  his  money  be  to  me?  Not  any  ;  and  I  do  not 
care  w^hat  Orpha  or  any  one  else  says,  in  regard  to  your  wealth,  for  I  know 
I  shall  never  find  a  better  man  than  you  are.  Those  may  marry  for  property 
that  wish  to.  *  *  *  John,  I  am  crying  when  I  think  of  Orpha's  remarks. 
I  think  she  did  not  do  right,  for,  Dear  John,  you  are  just  as  deserving  of  a 
loving  companion  as  though  you  was  rich,  and  you  shall  have  one,  too,  if 
my  life  is  spared,  if  you  will  accept  of  my  humble  self ;  and  John,  if  you 
think  best,  perhaps  you  had  better  wait  till  Fall  before  you  come  down 
to  see  me.  I  have  been  thinking  I  would  like  to  have  you  attend  the 
Richfield  Fair,  this  Fall ;  it  will  come  off  sometime  the  last  part  of  September. 
*  *  *  I  do  not  think  you  will  ever  bless  the  day  that  you  and  Mary  became 
acquainted  any  more  than  I  shall.     The  sun  of  heaven  shines  bright  and 


FIRST   MEETING   OF  THE   LOVERS.  959 

florious,  and  I  feel  as  thoug-h  the  Creator  of  the  Universe  had  made  this 
eautiful  world  specially  to  confer  bliss  upon  vis  poor  mortals.    *    *    *     I 
will  now  close  by  wishing  you  good  night  and  pleasant  dreams. 

Yours  in  love,  Chloe  E.  Gargett." 

Eternal,  Fidelity.— In  another  long  letter,  dated  August  14, 
1870,  Miss  Gargett  commences  :  *'Mj^ Ever  Beloved  and  Intended 
Husband,"  and  besides  repeating  many  of  the  endearing  expres- 
sions, already  quoted,  made  use  of  many  others  equally  loving  and 
loyal  to  her  plighted  troth.  Speaking  of  a  married  friend  who 
Avas  supposed  to  be  "rather  afraid  of  her  man,"  she  said  : 

"  If  such  is  the  case  I  feel  sorrj^  for  her,  indeed  I  do.  I  do  not  know  what 
I  would  do  if  1  had  such  a  man;  but  I  should  be  pretty  apt  to  tell  him  that  I 
w^asn't  born  in  the^woods  to  be  scart  by  owls ;  but  1  never  would  quarrel 
with  him.  I  have  alwa^^s  said,  ever  since  I  was  knee  high  to  a  toad,  that  if 
I  couldn't  live  in  peace  and  harmony  with  a  husband  I  would  not  live  at  all. 
But,  mj^  own  dear  John,  1  know  I  shall  never  know  how  to  sympathize  with 
those  who  have  the  misfortune  to  unite  their  destiny  with  such  a  luan,  from 
experience,  for  I  know  that  my  heart  and  hand  are  pledged  to  a  pure  and 
loving  soul,  and  to  a  whole-hearted  man.  *  *  *  Our  friends  who 
visit  us  in  our  sweet  home,  will  find  a  paradise  here  below,  and  realize  a 
eight  of  Heaven,  that  beautiful  place,  the  far  away  home  of  the  soul  ;  for 
"  Love  and  Union  "  is  our  motto,  and  "  United  we  stand,  and  divided  we  fall." 

*  *  *  But,  dear  Intended  Husband,  you  will  always  be  sure  of 
your  Pet  Chloe,  (as  you  call  her),  whether  you  are  rich  or  poor,  for  I  never 
will  forsake  yoti  as  long  as  my  life  is  spared.  *  *  *  jf  you  had 
gone  off  and  we  had  not  known  each  other,  I  know  I  should  have  died  an  old 
maid,  for  you  are  certainly  my  mate,  and  the  only  one  in  this  wide  world. 
Oh,   I   never  thought  I   should  be  so  well  suited  ;  but  I   am  suited  to  a  T. 

**  *  1  think  we  did  not  waste  much  time  in  forming  acquaint- 
ance, but  it's  just  as  you  say  yourself.  It  is  not  much  trouble  to  do  any- 
thing, when  we  know  how  it's  done ;  but  it  isn't  every  one  that  knows  how. 
But  sister  Mary  is  right ;  we  will  just  make  a  match  span  every  time  ;  what 
one  can't  think  of  the  other  will.  *  *  *  j  gjji  thinking  there  will 
be     some     tall      talking     and     laughing     done     when     you     come    down. 

*  *  *  I  could  not  sleep  until  I  had  answered  your  loving-  let- 
ter, which  set  my  heart  a  throbbing  with  love  for  you  *  *  *  It  is 
nearly  12  o'clock,  and  so  I  will  bid  you  a  sweet  good  night,  my  heart's  bright 
star  of  love.     How  happj^  I  am  to  feel  sure  in  my  heart,  as  I  say  good  night, 

^that  nothing  but  death  can  ever  part  you  and  me.  There  is  no' earthly  power 
can  do  it.  *  *  *  It  would  make  no  difference  with  me  what  Orpha 
or  any  one  else  could  write,  and  I  ^■uess  Orpha  has  nothing-  to  say  against 
you,  dear  John,  for  Mary  says  she  likes  you  ;  but  if  she  does  not,  it  will  make 
no  difference,  for  I  love  you  and  always  will ;  no  matter  what  any  one  tells 
me,  I  am  yours,  and  never  can  be  anybody  else's,  and  a  happy  and  contented 
couple  we  will  make  too,  in  spite  of  anybody  in  the  world.  *  *  * 
From   your  loving  and  intended  wife, 

C.  K.  Gargett. 
A  sweet  good  night  kiss  from  your  Pet." 

Meeting  of  the  Lovers. — A  letter  from  Miss  Gargett,  dated 
August  27,  abounding  in  similar  asseverations  of  affection  and 
fidelity,  declared  that  she  would  stick  to  him  "like  grim  death," 
and  a  letter  from  Hunter,  dated  September  25,  after  referring  to 
his  intention  to  soon  visit  her,  said:  "I  am  rather  green,  but,  as 
the  girl  said,  'it  is  better  to  be  green  than  withered^'  Further 
on  he  said:  ■'  I  w^ish  you  were  locked  in  my  arms  and  the  key  was 
lost,"  and  closed  with  "  Your  own  true  and  intended  husband,  John 
H.  Hunter." 

About  the  20th  of  October,  Hunter  visited  Miss  Gargett,  at  the 
home  of  her  parents,  where  he  was  w^ell  received  by  the  family, 
hospitably  entertained,  and  created  such  a  favorable  impression 
that,  after  a  sojourn  of  some  three  or  four  days,  he  left  as  the 
acknowledged  suitor  for  Miss  G's  hand. 


960  AKRON   AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

"The  Course  of  True  Love  Never  Did  Run  Smooth." — Return- 
ing to  Kim  Hall,  correspondence  between  the  lovers  was  resumed 
in  much  the  same  strain  as  before,  but  about  a  month  later  a 
marked  coolness  began  to  pervade  Miss  G's  letters  which  caused 
Hunter,  under  date  of  December  6,  to  write  as  follows: 

"  Miss  C.  E.  Gaegett  :  Dear  Chloe— As  I  must  still  call  you,  it  is  with 
no  small  amount  of  bitter  g^rief  or  sadness  that  causes  me  to  sit  down  ta 
answer  your  letter  of  November  27,  which  I  received  this  evening-.  *  *  * 
By  the  way  you  wrote  this  last  letter  to  me  so  cold,  I  thought  I  would  answer 
it  at  this  time.  But  no  coldness  has  as  yet  reached  the  heart  of  the  boy  who 
loved  you  as  his  own  soul.  I  am  so  full  of  grief  to-night,  I  am  almost  down 
sick.  Oh,  Chloe,  I  have  loved  you  dearly.  But  in  the  light  that  your  love 
appears  to  be  in  your  last  letter,  cSuses  tne  sadly  to  lament  the  day  I  first 
wrote  to  you.  Oh,  Chloe,  don't  deceive  me.  Come  out  in  true  colors  and  say, 
as  you  said  before,  '  I  am  your  true  or  intended  wife.'  If  f^ou  don't,  for  God's 
sake  tell  me.  Let  us  part  and  have  no  more  correspondence,  for  I  might  as 
w^ell  know  my  future  prospects  first  as  last.  *  *  *  Marj^  has  been 
telling  me  of  Orpha  deceiving  me  and  her  also,  and  trying  to  pick  faults 
and  bad  meaning  out  of  some  things  I  should  have  said  to  her  when  I  came 
back  from  Ohio.  She  found  fault  because  I  mentioned  your  teeth  to  her; 
also  of  your  having  a  sore  ear  or  head,  and  that  I  spoke  of  j'our  not  putting 
on  as  much  style  as  her  or  Mary.  But  if  she  takes  that  to  herself,  I  think 
she  would  say  nothing  to  you  about  it,  as  your  style  suits  me  very  well. 

*  *  *  Also  Mr.  Gee  told  Orpha  he  would  not  for  $2o  5-011  would 
marry  me.  *  *  *  Your  brother,  James,  was  to  Orpha's  just  before 
she  went  down,  and  Isaac  told  him  a  lingo  about  us,  and  he  said  he  would 
write  to  you  and  put  a  stop  to  it.  *  *  *  If  you  are  to  marrj-  to  suit 
them  all,  you  will  break  the  heart  of  a  true  and  confidential  lover.  *  *  * 
According  to  Orpha's  say  to  Mary,  she  was  going  down  to  try  to  break  your 
promise.  *  *  *  But  if  you  will  only  prove  true  to  me.  Chloe,  I  will 
make  you  a  happy  wife  during  life.  *  *  *  What  an  awful  feeling- 
it  is  for  either  one  of  us  to  break  that  solemn  promise  for  the  false  per- 
suasions   of  others,   and   make  ourselves  forever  unhappj-   in   this  world. 

*  *  *  I  am  just  one  of  the  best  boj'^s  on  the  top  of  the  earth,  but 
only  a  few  know  it,  and  that's  just  as  I  want  it  to  be,  for  if  you  and  me  get 
married  we  won't  have  to  look  to  relations  for  a  living,  I  hope,  for  I  calculate 
to  do  that  part  myself.  *  *  *  If  I  am  too  fast  in  my  opinion  of  this 
letter,  I  beg  of  you  to  forgive  me,  for  as  yoix  said  yourself,  I  fairly  love  the 
gTOtind  you  tread  on  ;  and  why  shouldn't  I  ?  *  *  *  i  will  now 
address  myself  to  you  as  usual,  yotir  loving  and  intended  hvisband,  which  you 
cut  off  in  your  last  to  me,  also  your  first ;  but  I  cannot  do  it.  You  said  '  Yours 
in  love,  etc.  That  is  played  out.  Well,  I  must  dr3^  up,  as  mj^  paper  is  near 
full  also.      *        *      *        From  your  intended  husband, 

A  big  kiss  for  you  as  usual."  J.  H.  Hunter. 

The  Final  Dismissal. — In  reply  to  the  foregoing  letter,  under 
date  of  December  11,  Miss  Gargett  wrote: 

"  Dearest  John  : 

Yours  of  December  6,  reached  me  safel}'  last  evening,  which  found  me 
quite  well.  John,  you  accused  me  of  sending  you  a  cold  letter.  From  all 
accounts  I  think  I  had  good  reason  for  doing  so.  I  know  it  is  not  a  very 
pleasant  situation  to  be  in,  but  it  is  nothing  when  a  person  gets  used  to  it. 
John,  why  did  you  not  tell  me,  when  you  were  here,  that  j'ou  thought  I  had 
tried  to  fool  you  on  my  age  and  false  teeth?  I  never  tried  to  fool  jou  on 
either.  If  I  had  I  should  have  accomplished  mj-  desire;  and  as  for  my  taste 
and  style,  I  think  I  shall  always  do  in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  have  one  of 
my  oivn.  You  say  you  had  no  fault  to  find  with  the  material,  but  the  fitting 
and  making  did  not  suit;  that  I  hadn't  near  as  good  taste  as  Mrs.  Stiles  or 
Mrs.  Gee.  So  that  is  your  mind  on  the  subject,  is  it?  Well,  1  can  soon  tell 
w^hat  my  opinion  is.  I  think  the  best  thing  you  can  do  is  to  marr}-  some  one 
of  my  tasty  sisters,  for  I  do  not  wish  a  man  for  my  husband  that  is  more 
taken  up  with  my  relatives  than  with  me.  *  *  *  j  think  if  there 
has  been  any  fooling  on  either  side,  you  are  the  one  that  has  done  it,  for  I 
have  never  written  one  thing  to  you  and  told  another  storj'  to  some  one  else. 
What  else  was  it  but  trying  to  deceive  nie  when  you  wrote  that  you  could 
not  find  a  single  fault  with  me,  and  at  the  same  time  telling  others  that  I 
had   not  near  as  good  taste   as  my  sisters.        *        ♦        *        Besides,  John, 


THREATENS   DIRE   VENGEANCE.  961 

you  do  not  give  a  very  straig^ht  history  of  your  life.  I,  of  course,  thought  it 
to  be  my  dutj^  to  find  out  all  I  could  in  regard  to  your  past  life  and  1  find 
that  you  tell  different  stories  in  regard  to  your  parents,  etc.  *  *  * 
I  tell  you,  John,  things  look  dark  to  me.  I  feel  as  though  you  had  done  your 
best  to  deceive  me.  *  *  *  j  understand  that  you  say  you  thought  I 
had  never  been  around  much.  I  am  glad  you  think  so;  but  if  I  have  not,  I 
am  sharp  enough  for  the  most  of  you  fellows,  every  time.  *  *  *  *  I  had 
some  doubts  in  my  mind  when  you  were  down  here,  caused  by  the  run  of 
your  conversation,  which  set  me  to  thinking,  and  I  asked  soine  questions  and 
of  course  they  told  me  what  they  knew  of  you;  and  I  find  that  you  have  tried 
to  deceive  me  the  verj'  worst  kind,  and  for  that  reason  I  could  not  write  you 
as  formerly.  I  can  assure  j^ou,  dear  John,  it  is  no  pleasure  for  me  to  write 
you  this  letter,  for  I  had  placed  great  confidence  in  you,  and  expected  to 
have  you  to  walk  beside  through  life.  But  I  am  very  thankful  that  I  got  my 
eyes  open  before  we  were  married,  for,  John,  we  are  much  better  off  to  part 
as  we  are  now,  than  to  get  married  and  lead  an  unhappy  life.  *  *  * 
I,  of  course,  have  no  doubt  you  feel  bad,  but  no  more  so  than  I  do,  for  it  is 
not  very  pleasant,  after  inaking  the  promises  to  each  other  that  we  have,  to 
have  any  trouble  arise  like  this  *  *  *  i  presume  it  will  be  many  a 
long  day  before  3"ou  or  me  will  forget  the  past.  1  know  I  shall  carry  it  writ- 
ten on  my  heart  to  the  grave  *  *  *  Oh,  John,  this  is  a  very  sad 
hour  to  me.  I  can  never  have  any  more  confidence  in  the  inen,  if  I  find  you 
have  deceived  me,  as  I  fear  you  have.  I  am  thinking  of  coming  up  when 
Orpha  comes  hoiue.  If  I  do  "we  can  talk  this  matter  over,  but  if  I  should  not 
come  if  j^ou  think  this  worth}'  of  an  answer  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  you. 
But,  John,  wherever  you  are,  j'ou  iriay  know  I  often  think  of  you.  This  from 
your  sad 

Chloe." 

Miss  Gargett  Visits  Michigan. — As  intimated  in  the  last 
quoted  letter,  Miss  Gargett's  sister,  Orpha,  Avas  then  on  a  visit  to 
her  parents,  in  Richfield,  and  on  her  return  to  Michigan,  soon 
afterwards,  Miss  Gargett  accompanied  her,  remaining  through  the 
Winter;  spending  a  portion  of  the  time  with  her  sisters,  Mrs.  Gee 
and  Mrs,  Stiles  at  Elm  Hall,  and  a  portion  with  her  brother,  James 
Gargett,  at  Alma,  some  ten  or  eleven  miles  from  Kim  Hall. 

While  at  her  brother's,  in  the  latter  part  of  December,  Hunter 
called  to  see  her.  He  inquired  of  her  w^hy  she  had  treated  him  so? 
To  w^hich  she  replied  that  he  had  deceived  her;  that  he  had  lied  to 
her,  and  was  not  the  inan  he  had  represented  himself  to  be.  He 
then  turned  upon  her  brother  and  accused  him  of  having  broken 
off  the  match  because  of  his  poverty,  and  left  in  considerable  of  a 
rage.  Sometime  afterwards  he  called  again,  and  asked  to  see 
Chloe.  Mr.  Gargett  went  and  called  her,  but  she  sent  word  to 
Hunter  that  she  did  not  wish  to  see  him.  Whereupon  he  became 
very  angr}^,  pulled  off  his  coat  and  swore  that  he  would  see  her  if 
she  w^as  in  the  house.  Mr.  Gargett  stepped  in  front  of  him  and 
told  him  he  could  not  run  that  house  while  he  was  there.  Hunter 
replied  with  an  oath,  that  if  Gargett  interfered  he  must  take  the 
consequences,  whereupon  Gargett  said:  "You  infernal  scoundrel 
get  out  of  the  door,"  and  as  he  did  not  move  fast  enough  to  suit 
him,  Gargett  kicked  him  out. 

Hunter  Threatens  Revenge. — Hunter  always  seems  to  have 
been  of  a  very  vain  and  boastful  turn  of  mind,  and  from  the  very 
commencement  of  his  correspondence  with  Chloe,  and  especially 
after  that  correspondence  had  developed  into  a  marriage  engage- 
ment, he  made  a  confidant  of  almost  every  one  with  whom  he 
conversed,  showing  and  reading  her  letters  to  them,  and  boasting 
of  the  handsome  dower  she  would  bring  him,  which  he  variously 
stated  at  from  $10,000  to  $16,000;  and  after  his  his  final  rejection  he 
was  continually  talking  about  the  matter  to  whoever  would  listen 

61 


962  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

to  him,  and  threatening  vengeance  against  James  Gargett,  and  the 
other  members  of  the  family,  who  had  come  between  him  and 
"his  girl."  These  threats,  of  course,  reached  the  ears  of  Miss  Gar- 
gett and  her  friends,  but  were  regarded  as  idle  talk,  born  of  his 
insatiate  vanity  and  boastful  proclivities,  or  uttered  Avhile  under 
the  influence  of  intoxicating  liquors,  to  the  use  of  which  he  w^as 
more  or  less  addicted.  But  the  sequel  showed  that  his  talk  was 
not  as  idle  as  had  been  imagined. 

Deliberately  Planning  for  Revenge. — About  the  middle  of 
May,  1871,  Miss  Gargett  returned  to  her  home,  in  Richfield,  on 
learning  which.  Hunter,  in  his  usual  braggart  manner,  sAvore  that 
he  would  follow  her  to  Ohio,  demand  a  fulfilment  of  her  promise, 
and  compel  her  to  marry  him,  or  he  would  "clean  out"  the  entire 
Gargett  family,  accompanying  these  threats  with  a  great  show  of 
anger,  and  the  most  profane  and  obscene  expressions  that  his 
naturally  low  instincts  could  devise.  These  wild  anathemas,  too, 
were  regarded  as  idle  talk,  by  those  in  w^hose  presence  they  were 
uttered,  the  general  belief  being  that  he  was  too  cowardly  to 
attempt  to  put  his  threats  into  execution.  But  in  this  opinion, 
also,  his  acquaintances  seem  to  have  been  mistaken,  as  evidenced 
by  his  subsequent  conduct. 

Starts  on  His  Fatal  Mission. — About  the  20th  day  of  May, 
1871,  Hunter  borrowed  of  Mr.  J.  G.  Lace^',  of  Carson  City,  Mich.,  a 
seven-shooter  revolver,  having  previously  informed  Mr.  Lacey 
that  he  was  going  to  Ohio  to  get  married.  On  Thursday,  May  25, 
Hunter,  armed  with  this  revolver,  and  carrying  two  small  satchels, 
one  of  which  contained  the  letters  which  had  been  written  to  him 
by  Miss  Gargett,  left  Elm  Hall  for  Ohio,  going  by  stage  to 
Pewamo,  and  from  thence,  by  rail,  to  Detroit,  where  he  took  a 
steamer  for  Cleveland,  arriving  at  the  latter  place  on  Saturday 
morning.  May  27.  Here  he  took  passage  with  Moses  McFarlin, 
then  carrying  the  mail  between  Cleveland  and  Copley,  leaving 
Cleveland  about  eight  o'clock  a.  m. 

On  the  way  to  Richfield,  Hunter  talked  freely  to  Mr.  McFarlin 
about  his  love  affairs;  exhibited  his  letters;  showed  a  picture  of 
Chloe;  said  he  w^as  going  down  to  marry  her;  that  there  had  never 
been  any  trouble  between  him  and  the  girl,  but  that  her  friends  in 
Michigan  had  interfered,  etc.  On  the  suggestion  from  McFarlin 
that  perhaps  the  old  folks  wouldn't  let  him  see  Chloe,  Hunter 
clapped  his  hand  to  his  side  pocket,  took  out  his  revolver,  saying 
that  it  contained  seven  loads,  and  that  he  Avould  see  the  girl  or 
"clean  out  the  whole  shebang-"  that  he  was  "just  John  Bull 
enough  to  do  it." 

The  Bloody  Double  Tragedy. — On  his  arrival  at  the  West 
Center  of  Richfield,  Hunter  met  Rodney  Gargett  at  the  postoffice. 
They  shook  hands  and  cordially  greeted  each  other.  Hunter  telling 
Rodney  that  he  was  going  to  their  house;  hadn't  much  to  do  and 
had  set  some  hands  to  work  on  a  job  of  painting,  telling  them  he 
shouldn't  be  back  for  a  couple  of  w^eeks;  asked  if  Chloe  w^as  at 
home;  said  he  supposed  that  Rodney  had  learned  that  he  and 
Chloe  had  had  some  difficulty,  and  that  he  had  come  down  to  talk 
the  matter  over,  and  thought  they  vi^ould  all  feel  better  over  it. 

Hunter  went  to  the  hotel  and  changed  his  clothes,  then 
accompanied  Rodney  to  a  saw  mill  and  helped  unload  the  log  he 
had  hauled   in;   accompanied  him  to  another  mill  and  assisted  in 


THE   DOUBLE    MURDER.  963 

» 

loading  up  with  lumber;  then  went  to  hotel  together  where  they 
■drank  two  or  three  glasses  of  beer  each,  which  Hunter  paid  for, 
^nd,  at  a  little  after  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  started  for  the  Gar- 
rett homestead,  distant  about  one  mile  and  a  quarter. 

The  conversation  on  the  w^ay  Avas  of  a  quiet,  pleasant,  and 
friendly  character,  with  no  intimation  from  Hunter  of  the  deep 
passion  rankling  in  his  breast.  The  Gargett  farm  was  situated 
upon  the  south  side  of  an  east  and  west  road,  the  house  fronting 
to  the  north.  A  short  distance  east  of  the  house  was  a  broad  lane, 
between  the  dooryard  and  the  barn,  into  which  a  small  gate 
•opened,  about  opposite  the  kitchen  door.  As  Rodney  and  Hunter 
drove  down  the  road,  Mr.  Gargett  and  a  neighbor,  Mr.  S.  M.  Waldo, 
were  standing  near  the  east  side  of  the  lane,  the  hired  man, 
Richard  Abrams,  being  in  the  barnyard,  milking,  while  Mrs. 
Oargett  and  Chloe  virere  in  the  house;  the  latter  up  stairs  dressing 
for  a  party.  As  Rodney  and  Hunter  drove  into  the  lane,  and  passed 
where  Mr.  Gargett  and  Mr,  Waldo  were  standing,  Mr.  Gargett, 
having  a  pail  in  his  hand,  hastily  stepped  towards  the  gate,  lead- 
ing to  the  house.  Rodney  Gargett  dismounted  from  the  load  of 
lumber  upon  the  left,  or  east,  side,  while  Hunter  dismounted  upon 
the  west  side.  Hastily  approaching  Mr.  Gargett,  as  he  was  pass- 
ing through  the  gate.  Hunter  said,  "Good  evening  Mr.  Gargett," 
±o  which  the  old  gentleman  made  no  replj',  but  passed  on  towards 
the  house.  Following  him  up  Hunter  said  "Where's  Chloe?  I 
Avant  to  see  her,"  to  which  Mr.  Gargett  replied,  "No  matter  where 
«he  is;  she  don't  w^ant  to  see  you,"  and  ordered  him  to  leav^e  the 
premises,  whereupon  Hunter  drew  his  revolver  and  shot  Mr.  Gar- 
gett in  the"  head,  about  two  inches  above  the  eye,  Mr.  Gargett 
instantly  falling  to  the  ground,  insensible.  At  this  time  Mrs.  Gar- 
gett w^as  standing  in  the  kitchen  door,  in  full  view  of  what  Avas 
going  on,  and  upon  hearing  the  report  of  the  pistol,  and  seeing  her 
husband  fall,  uttered  a  loud  scream,  and  rushing  to  the  chamber 
<ioor  called  to  Chloe  to  run  for  her  life. 

On  the  fall  of  Mr.  Gargett,  Hunter  rushed  into  the  house,  and 
encountering  Mrs.  Gargett,  in  the  hall,  near  the  foot  of  the 
chamber  stairs,  without  a  word,  raised  his  weapon  and  fired  at  her, 
the  ball  entering  her  head  near  the  left  temple,  killing  her 
instantly.  By  this  time  Rodney  rushed  into  the  house  and  grap- 
pled with  the  assassin,  who  in  the  desperate  struggle  that  ensued 
fired  at  him,  the  shot  passing  through  his  ear,  causing  him  to  fall 
out  of  the  door,  and  for  a  moment  rendering  him  unconscious.  On 
recovering  himself,  Rodney  mounted  one  of  the  horses  w^hich  had 
in  the  meantime  been  unhitched  from  the  wagon  by  the  hired 
man,  and  rode  post-haste  to  the  West  Center  for  help. 

Escape  of  Chloe— Plucky  Mrs.  Poole. — Chloe  being,  as  before 
stated,  upstairs  on  hearing  and  recognizing  Hunter's  voice,  and 
the  report  of  the  revolver,  looked  out  of  the  w^indow^  and  saw  her 
father  lying  upon  the  ground.  At  once  comprehending  the  dread- 
ful work  that  was  being  done  below,  she  ran  down  the  stairs  just 
^8  her  mother  opened  the  door,  and  called  upon  her  to  flee  for  her 
life.  Thereupon  she  rushed  up-stairs  again,  and  at  the  very 
moment  her  mother  was  shot  to  death,  at  the  hands  of  her  infuri- 
ated lover,  she  jumped  from  the  front  chamber  w^indow  to  the 
ground,  and  ran  across  the  street  to  the  house  of  Mrs.  Caroline 
Poole,  who,  hearing  the  firing,  was  running  over  to  see  what  the 


964  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

matter  was.  With  the  exclamation  "Oh,  don't  tell  him  where  I 
am!"  Chloe  continued  on  to  Mrs.  Poole's,  Avhile  Mrs.  Poole  herself 
continued  on  to  the  scene  of  blood  and  carnage. 

Seeing  Mr.  Gargett  in  the  yard,  apparently  dead,  Mrs.  Poole 
passed  into  the  house  to  look  after  Mrs.  Gargett.  On  entering  she 
encountered  Hunter,  near  the  kitchen  door,  reloading  his  revolver, 
and  said  to  him:  "Oh,  dear  sir,  w^hat  have  you  been  doing?  hand 
me  that  pistol."  Hunter  replied,  "  Don't  come  near  me  !"  and  lev- 
eled his  pistol  at  her,  and  continuing  said:  "I  want  the  girl;  I 
want  Chloe,  and  the  girl  I'll  have.  I  won't  hurt  her,  but  I  will 
have  her."  Mrs.  Poole  then  crowded  past  Hunter  and  went  in  to- 
find  Mrs.  Gargett,  whom  she  found  lying  dead  upon  the  floor 
of  the  sitting  room.  Presently  Hunter  came  storming  in,  saying:; 
"I  will  have  the  girl,  she's  in  this  house  and  I  am  determined  to 
have  her!"  He  then  opened  the  stair  door  and  rushed  up  into  the 
chamber. 

Mrs.  Poole  thereupon  ran  rapidly  to  her  ow^n  house,  and  telling^ 
Chloe  to  secrete  herself  in  the  cellar,  started  back,  meeting  Hunter, 
who,  not  finding  Chloe  in  the  upper  rooms  of  the  Gargett  house^ 
had  followed  her  across  the  street.  Here  Hunter  again  said:  "I 
want  Chloe,  and  must  have  her;  I  must  kiss  her  before  I  die." 
Mrs.  Poole  then  went  up  to  him  and  laid  her  hand  upon  his  arm, 
saying:  "  My  dear  sir,  consider  what  you  are  doing."  He  pointed 
his  pistol  at  her,  saying:  "  Don't  touch  me!"  She  said:  "I  w^on't 
touch  you,  but  consider  what  you  are  doing."  He  replied:  "  I  have 
considered;  I  am  rational  and  conscious  of  all  that  I  am  doing;" 
and  continuing,  said:  "Read  those  letters;  (handing  her  the 
satchel)  I've  been  cruelly  deceived;  read  and  judge  for  yourself 
\srhether  I  am  justified  in  w^hat  I  have  done;  I  mean  to  die  and  die 
by  my  own  hand,"  repeating  the  latter  declaration  a  number 
of  times. 

Mrs.  Poole's  little  children  here  called  to  their  mother  to  come 
into  the  house,  for  he  would  shoot  her.  She  said,  "  No,  sir;  you 
w^on't  shoot  me,  will  you?"  to  which  he  replied,  "No,  madam;  you 
are  innocent;  shake  hands,"  and  immediately  put  his  pistol  in  hi* 
pocket,  adding:  "  I  have  been  engaged  to  Chloe  twice;  once  before 
I  saw^  her  and  once  afterwards,  and  this  is  what  she  has  done  for 
me."  Still  expressing  his  wish  and  determination  to  see  Chloe, 
Mrs.  Poole,  to  divert  his  attention  from  her  premises,  suggested 
that  she  might  be  in  some  of  the  outbuildings,  and  started  w^ith 
him  out  of  the  gate  tow^ards  the  Gargett  place,  Hunter  in  the 
meantime  saying  "  He  (Mr.  Gargett)  ordered  me  from  the  place 
and  struck  me  with  the  pail,  and  I  shot  him,  and  I'm  glad  of  it.  I 
know^  that  I  must  die  for  this,  and  I  mean  to  shoot  myself."  He 
then  had  the  pistol  in  his  right  hand,  and  taking  off  his  cap,  saidr 
"Yes,  lam  going  to  shoot  myself."  Mrs.  Poole  said,  "Pray,  don't 
shoot  yourself  while  I  am  here,"  and  turned  her  face  aw^ay,  when 
he  replied,  "Oh,  no,  I  can't  shoot  myself;  I  must  have  one  more 
kiss  before  I  die." 

The  Assassin  Arrested. — While  this  parley  was  being  held 
between  Mrs.  Poole  and  the  assassin,  the  alarmed  neighbors  began 
to  arrive,  and  he  was  very  soon  afterwards  secured,  Mr.  J.  E.  Buck, 
w^atching  his  opportunity,  seizing  him  around  the  waist  and  arm»^ " 
from  behind,  while  Mr.  Klbridge  Bigelow  grappled  him  by  the 
throat  and  took  the  revolver  from  him.     He  w^as  then  bound  w^ith 


INDICTMENT,   TRIAL,   ETC.  965 

a  rope.  There  was,  of  course,  very  great  excitement,  as  the  news 
of  the  double  murder  spread  from  house  to  house,  and  in  an 
incredibly  short  space  of  time  the  premises  swarmed  with  a  large 
and  terribly  excited  multitude  of  people. 

There  was  considerable^  talk  about  inflicting  summary  ven- 
geance upon  the  double — almost  triple— murderer,  divining  which 
Hunter  said  they  might  hang  him  or  shoot  him,  but  he  begged  of 
them  not  to  hurt  or  abuse  him.  The  better  counsels  of  the  order- 
loving  people  of  the  neighborhood,  however,  prevailed,  and  he  w^as 
«oon  afterwards  taken  to  the  West  Center  of  Richfield,  by  Mr. 
Martin  C.  Bentley,  who  immediately  filed  an  affidavit  before 
Justice  J.  A.  Chandler,  charging  him  with  the  murder  of  Mrs. 
Gargett,  After  a  brief  examination  of  w^itnesses.  Justice  Chandler 
held  him  to  answer  to  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  then  in  session, 
and  delivered  him  into  the  hands  of  Constable  William  F.  Huddle- 
Bton,  who,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Kmmon  S.  Oviatt,  now  of  Akron,- 
as  special  constable,  and  by  Mr.  Martin  A.  Marquitt,  of  Hinckley, 
as  teamster,  took  him  to  Akron  the  same  night  and  committed 
him  to  jail. 

Coroner's  Inquest,  Indictment,  Etc. — On  Sunday,  May  28, 
1871,  Justice  J.  A.  Chandler,  in  the  absence  of  Coroner  O.  E.  Gross, 
summoned  a  jury  to  inquire  into  the  cause  of  Mrs.  Gargett's 
death,  composed  of  the  following  named  gentlemen:  R.  C.  Ells- 
■worth,  Norris  Humphrey,  J.  B.  Lambert,  S.  E.  Shepard,  H.  E. 
Newton,  and  C.  N.  Jagger;  the  verdict  of  the  jury,  after  hearing 
the  testimony,  being,  that  the  deceased  came  to  her  death  by  a 
shot  from  a  revolver  fired  by  the  hand  of  John  H.  Hunter. 

The  regular  grand  jury  for  May  term  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  being  still  in  session  w^hen  the  prisoner  w^as  committed  to 
jail,  on  the  second  day  of  June,  returned  two  true  bills  against 
Hunter,  for  murder  in  the  first  degree,  in  the  shooting  of  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Gargett,  and  for  assault  w^ith  intent  to  kill  in  shooting 
at  and  wounding  Rodney  Gargett.  On  Monday,  June  5,  the  pris- 
oner, on  being  arraigned,  pleaded  "Not  Guilty"  to  both 
indictments. 

Death  of  Robert  Gargett — Special  Grand  Jury,  Etc. — Mr. 
Gargett,  though  unconscious  all  the  time,  lingered  just  one  week 
when  he  also  expired.  A  special  grand  jury  was  immediately 
impaneled  which,  on  June  8,  found  another  true  bill  against  the 
prisoner,  of  murder  in  the  first  degree,  in  the  killing  of  Robert 
Gargett,  to  which  indictment  the  defendant  also  pleaded  "Not 
Guilty."  A  motion  was  at  this  time  made,  by  defendant's  counsel, 
for  a  continuance  of  the  case,  on  which  he  was  to  be  first  tried 
^the  murder  of  Mrs.  Gargett)  until  the  next  term,  which  was  over- 
ruled, and  July  17  >vas  fixed  for  the  trial  to  commence. 

The  Trial — Impaneling  Jury,  Etc. — Promptly  on  the  day 
fixed  the  case  was  called.  Judge  S.  W.  McClure  on  the  bench, 
Jacob  A.  Kohler,  Esq.,  prosecuting  attorney,  assisted  by  Hon.  Sid- 
ney Edgerton,  Hon.  Henry  McKinney  and  George  M.  Wright, 
Esq.,  appearing  on  behalf  of  the  State,  and  General  A.  C.  Voris, 
H.  C.  Sanford,  Esq.,  Hon.  E.  P.  Green  and  R.  J.  Winters,  Esq.,  on 
behalf  of  the  defendant.  The  trial  continued  two  weeks,  and  dur- 
ing the  whole  time  the  court  room  was  thronged  daily  by  a  great 
•crowd  of  persons,  a  large  proportion  of  whom  were  ladies,  eager 
lo  catch  every  w^ord  spoken  in  reference  to  the  case. 


966  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

A  venire  of  thirty-six  jurors  had  been  summoned,  and  the^ 
usual  examination  as  to  qualifications  had  been  entered  into,  but 
the  entire  venire  was  exhausted  without  securing  a  single  satis- 
factory juror.  A  special  venire  was  issued  embracing  150  addi- 
tional names,  -which  w^as  also  exhausted  before  securing  a  full 
panel,  Avhereupon  a  second  special  vemre  of  150  names  w^as  ordered 
and  finally  a  third.  After  the  examination  and  rejection  of  some- 
thing over  200  persons,  the  panel  was  pronounced  full,  and  the 
jury  was  duly  sw^orn,  as  follows:  Justus  Rockwell,  of  Akron;  John 
B.  Harrison,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls;  Andrew  Fenn,  of  Tallmadge; 
Garry  T.  Preston,  of  Tallmadge;  Marcus  Brundige,  of  Akron - 
Melchiah  Sherbondy,  of  Portage;  Samuel  Keller,  of  Tallmadge;' 
Alexander  M.  Russell,  of  Franklin;  Joseph  Babb,  of  Portage; 
Orlen  A.  Chapman,  of  Portage;  Edward  A.  Barber,  of  Portage;, 
and  William  Prior,  Jr.,  of  Northampton, 

Three  days  and  a  half  had  thus  been  consumed  in  the  selection 
of  the  jury,  so  that  the  trial  proper  did  not  commence  until  the 
afternoon  of  Thursday,  July  20.  A  statement  on  behalf  of  the 
prosecution  was  made  to  the  jury,  by  Prosecuting  Attorney 
Kohler,  in  M^hich  a  brief  history  of  the  case  was  given  from  the 
commencement  of  the  correspondence  between  the  defendant  and 
Chloe  Gargett,  until  his  commitment  to  jail  on  the  charge  on 
w^hich  he  was  about  to  be  tried.  General  Voris,  on  behalf  of  the 
prisoner,  said  that  he  did  not  want  to  make  any  statement  on  the 
part  of  his  client,  until  the  evidence  for  the  State  had  been  closed,, 
but  simply  wished  to  caution  the  jury  against  forming  any  con- 
clusions in  the  case  until  the  evidence  on  both  sides  was  all  in,, 
saying:  "We  do  not  ask  pity  for  the  accused;  "sve  simply  ask  that 
strict  justice  be  done  him  in  every  particular." 

The  following  named  witnesses  w^ere  sw^orn  and  examined  in. 
behalf  of  the  State:  J.  G.  Lacey,  of  Carson  City,  Mich.,  from  w^hom 
Hunter  had  borrow^ed  the  revolver;  Moses  McFarlin,  with  w^hom 
he  rode  from  Cleveland  to  Richfield;  Robert  Rodney  Gargett,  son 
of  the  deceased,  -with  whom  he  rode  from  Richfield  to  the  farm 
and  who  witnessed  the  killing  and  w^as  himself  wounded;  Seth  H^ 
Waldo,  who  also  witnessed  the  shooting;  Mrs.  Caroline  Poole,  to- 
whose  house  Chloe  Gargett  fled  to  escape  the  vengeance  of  her 
discarded  lover;  Elbridge  Bigelow,  J.  E.  Buck,  W.  F.  Huddleston,. 
E.  S.  Oviatt  and  E.  S.  Bentley,  w^ho  made  the  arrest  and  conveyed 
the  prisoner  to  Richfield  Center,  and  thence  to  the  jail  in  Akron* 
Dr.  Wesley  Pope,  of  Richfield,  who  made  a  superficial  examina- 
tion of  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gargett,  after  the  shooting;  Dr.  B.  S, 
Chase,  of  Akron,  who  made  the  post-mortem  examination  of  Mrs^ 
Gargett's  body;  and  Captain  D.  Mcintosh,  of  Elm  Hall,  Mich.,  who- 
had  heard  Hunter  threaten  the  whole  family  if  they  did  not  give 
up  the  girl  to  him.  All  of  these  eleven  w^itnesses  w^ere  searchingly 
cross-examined,  by  defendant's  counsel,  nearly  tw^o  full  days  being' 
consumed  in  their  examination. 

Insanity  the  Defense. — On  the  coming  in  of  court,  on  Satur- 
day morning,  July  22,  the  sixth  day  of  the  trial,  Prosecutor 
Kohler,  on  behalf  of  the  State,  announced  that  the  prosecution 
rested,  whereupon  General  Voris  proceeded  to  state  to  the  jury  the 
line  of  defense  which  would  be  presented  on  behalf  of  the 
accused,  saying:  '*  We  expect  to  prove  that  the  accused,  John  H, 
Hunter,  at  the  time  he  committed  the  deed  for  w^hich  he  is  being" 


INSANITY   THE   DEFENSE.  *967 

tried,  and  for  several  months  prior  to  that  time,  was  insane,  and 
to  such  a  degree  that  he  had  not  the  power  of  self-control,  or  the 
ability  to  form  a  sane  judgment  as  to  his  actions."  General  Voris 
then  proceeded  to  detail,  at  length,  the  grounds  upon  which  his 
theory  was  based;  the  impairment  of  his  mind  by  a  blow^  received 
upon  his  head  a  year  or  two  before;  the  unnatural  and  insane 
actions  of  the  accused,  in  connection  with  his  love  affairs,  and  his 
troubles,  and  his  real  or  imaginary  wrongs  emanating  therefrom. 

Though  the  time  between  the  commission  of  the  crime  and 
the  day  set  for  the  trial  had  been  short,  the  indefatigable  counsel 
for  the  defense  had  w^orked  up  a  very  large  array  of  evidently 
honest  testimony  in  support  of  the  theory  advanced.  Affidavits 
were  read  from  Mrs.  Fidelia  A.  Betts,  of  Pewamo,  Mich.,  with 
w^hom  Hunter  had  boarded  several  w^eeks  two  or  three  years 
before,  upon  whom  he  had  often  called  when  in  Pewamo,  and  to 
whom  he  had  told  his  troubles  about  "his  girl;"  Jonathan  E.Moser, 
hotel-keeper  at  Pewamo,  with  whom  he  had  also  boarded,  and 
w^ith  whom  he  took  supper  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  for  Ohio; 
George  W.  Palmer,  of  Bloomer,  Mich.,  for  whom  he  had  worked 
six  or  eight  weeks,  and  with  whom  he  boarded  during  that  time; 
Henry  M.  Robinson,  of  Bloomer,  for  whom  he  w^orked  and  with 
w^hom  he  boarded  for  about  two  Aveeks  in  April,  1871,  and  to  w^hom 
he  told  the  story  of  his  wrongs;  Augustus  C.  Burnham,  and  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Orlando  Goldthrite,  of  Carson  City;  Franklin  M.  Pruden, 
of  Bloomer;  Mrs.  Sarah  Ann  Scott,  James  Moorman  and  Fred  E. 
Scott,  of  Carson  City,  to  all  of  whom  he  had  repeatedly  told  his 
tale  of  w^oe,  and  uttered  his  maledictions  against  those  by  whom 
his  separation  from  "  his  girl"  had  been  brought  about.  » 

Oral  testimony  was  also  given  in  support  of  the  insanity 
theory  by  Rev.  Lathrop  Cooley,  then  of  Akron,  who  had  visited  the 
prisoner  in  jail,  Lawyer  D,  M.  Wilson,  of  Youngstow^n,  and  J.  J. 
Hall,  Esq.,  of  Akron,  who  had  conversed  with  him  in  jail;  William 
McNeil,  Ransom  Cole,  O.  H.  Fitts,  and  Daniel  Peck,  who  had 
known  him  in  Peninsula  some  five  or  six  years  before,  as  to  his 
general  cheerful  deportment  at  that  time.  Drs.  William  Bowen, 
J.  J.  Smith  and  Charles  R.  Merriman  testified  as  experts  on  the 
subject  of  insanity,  based  upon  the  testimony  of  witnesses,  and 
the  hypothetical  cases  stated  by  counsel,  that  they  would  pro- 
nounce him  insane,  or  at  least  a  monomaniac  upon  the  subject  of 
"  his  girl."  The  defense,  after  reading  a  portion  of  the  correspondence 
between  Hunter  and  Miss  Gargett;  a  pretty  full  synopsis  of  which 
is  given  earlier  in  this  narrative,  for  the  double  purpose  of  showing 
a  marriage  agreement  (which  the  counsel  for  the  State  conceded) 
and  of  accounting  for  the  disturbance  of  the  defendant's  mind, 
announced,  soon  after  the  convening  of  court  on  Tuesday  afternoon, 
July  25,  that  the  defense  rested. 

Testimony  in  Rebuttal. — E.  W.  Stuart,  Esq.,  testified  to  read- 
ing to  the  defendant,  in  the  jail,  an  affidavit  for  continuance  which 
had  been  prepared  by  his  counsel,  w^hich  he  had  signed  and  sworn 
to  in  regular  form.  James  Gargett  testified  as  to  his  conduct  at  his 
house,  as  heretofore  detailed,  and  in  regard  to  a  conversation  had 
with  him  in  the  jail  in  which  Hunter  seemed  to  fully  realize  what 
he  had  done,  saying  that  "he  wouldn't  have  done  it,  if  he  (James), 
hadn't  opposed  him  so."  Hiram  Alexander,  George  Torrey,  George 
Boyd,  Dr.  Edward  Wilson,  F.  Oliver,  William  McCloud,  Dr.  Daniel 


968  •  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Brant  and  Isaac  Gee,  of  Kim  Hall;  and  H.  P.  Miller,  of  Carson 
City,  Mich.,  all  of  whom  had  know^n  Hunter  during  his  residence 
in  that  vicinity,  and  were  familiar  w^ith  his  habits  and  actions,  tes- 
tified to  their  belief  in  his  sanity,  while  Jacob  Fillius,  S.  B.  Price 
and  Carlisle  Birge,  of  Hudson,  who  had  known  him  there,  in  1865, 
testified  to  his  boastful  and  excitable  disposition,  while  living 
there.  Norman  Oviatt,  of  Richfield,  had  seen  nothing  strange 
about  him  while  helping  Rodney  Gargett  load  lumber  at  his  mill 
an  hour  or  so  before  the  murder.  N.  W.  Goodhue  and  Charles 
Rinehart  had  talked  with  him  in  jail  without  discovering  any 
signs  of  insanity  about  him,  while  Sheriff  Curtiss,  w^ho  had  him 
in  charge,  had  never  discovered  anything  unusual  in  his  conduct, 
when  others  were  not  present.  Drs.  Thomas  McEbright,  E.  W. 
Howard  and  E.  Hitchcock,  of  Akron,  ^vere  examined,  as  experts, 
and  testified,  that  from  the  testimony  given  and  the  hypotheses 
submitted,  he  was,  in  their  opinion,  of  sound  mind  at  the  time  he 
committed  the  deed. 

The  Arguments  of  Counsel. — The  testimony  being  all  in.  Gov. 
Edgerton  opened  the  argument,  on  the  part  of  the  State,  on  Thurs- 
day morning,  occupying  about  t\vo  hours,  in  a  masterly  revievir  of 
the  circumstances  attending  the  homicide,  and  of  the  principles  of 
law  governing  such  cases;  spoke  of  the  increasing  tendency  to 
interpose  the  plea  of  insanity  in  cases  of  fearful  crimes;  analyzed 
the  testimony  bearing  on  that  phase  of  the  defense,  during  his 
remarks,  paying  a  glowing  tribute  to  the  tact  and  bravery  of  Mrs. 
Poole,  in  shielding  the  stricken  and  fleeing,  and  suddenly  orphaned, 
Chloe  Gargett,  from  the  murderous  fury  of  her  discarded  lover. 

H.  C.  Sanford,  Esq.,  opened  for  the  defense,  occupying  the  bal- 
ance of  the  day  (about  six  hours),  in  an  exhaustive  presentation  of 
the  authorities  bearing  upon  insanity  and  homicidal  mania,  citing 
many  of  the  acts  and  expressions  of  Hunter,  both  in  regard  to  his 
love  troubles  and  other  matters,  developed  by  the  testimony,  as 
fully  establishing  his  lack  of  responsibility  for  the  act  which  he 
had  committed,  and  closed  w^ith  a  very  eloquent  and  earnest  appeal 
to  the  jur}'  to  deal  justly  and  impartially  by  the  accused  in  the 
rendition  of  their  verdict,  as  they  should  answer  to  their  con- 
sciences and  their  God. 

Gen.  A.  C.  Voris  followed  his  colleague  on  the  defense,  com- 
mencing his  address  immediately  on  the  coming  in  of  the  Court, 
on  Friday  morning,  July  26,  and  occupying  the  entire  forenoon.  It 
w^as  one  of  the  most  masterly  efforts  of  the  General's  professional 
life,  covering  the  entire  range  of  medical  jurisprudence  upon  the 
subject  of  lunacy  and  mental  disturbances,  and  their  .rfglation  to 
acts  of  violence ;  quoting  extensively  from  both  medical  and 
judicial  authors;  review^ing  and  dissecting  the  testimony;  com- 
menting on  and  combatting  the  argument  of  Gov.  Edgerton  on 
behalf  of  the  State,  and  closing  with  a  very  impressive  appeal  to 
the  jury  to  save  the  life  of  the  defendant,  saying:  "Remember 
that  if  you  make  a  mistake  against  this  man's  life,  you  cannot  go 
beyond  the  grave  to  rectify  it.  May  God  guide  you  to  a  true  deliv- 
erance on  this  awfully  momentous  occasion,  and  we  shall  be  con- 
tent w^ith  your  verdict.  Gentlemen,  the  scales  of  justice  are  in 
your  hands.  To  your  deliberations  are  committed  the  most 
weighty  interests  that  concern  mankind.  What  you  are  now  doing 
will  sound  to  eternity.     For  the  life  of  this  man  w^e  trust  you." 


CHARGE,   VERDICT,    SENTENCE,   ETC.  969 

Hon.  J.  A.  Kohler  followed  Gen,  Voris,  with  the  closing  argu- 
ment for  the  State,  occupying  all  of  Fridaj  afternoon.  The  crime 
of  malicious  and  premeditated  murder,  as  well  as  the  various  other 
degrees  of  homicide,  was  clearly  defined;  the  statutes  pertaining 
thereto  quoted;  and  in  relation  to  the  defense  of  insanity  \vhich 
had  been  interposed,  the  charge  of  Judge  Birchard  to  the  jury  in 
a  similar  case  was  cited:  "Was  the  accused  a  free  agent  in  form- 
ing the  purpose  to  kill  ?  Was  he,  at  the  time  the  act  was  com- 
mitted, capable  of  judging  Avhether  that  act  was  right  or  wrong? 
If  you  say  nay,  he  is  innocent;  if  yea,  and  you  find  the  killing  to 
have  been  done  purposely,  with  deliberate  and  premeditated 
malice,  he  is  guilty."  The  entire  effort  of  Mr.  Kohler  was  clear, 
concise,  logical,  eloquent  and  impassioned ;  closing  his  remarks  to 
the  jury  with  these  words:  "You  answer  to  God  for  the  manner 
in  which  you  discharge  your  duty  and  leave  other  ministers  of 
justice  to  the  same  great  Being,  for  the  manner  in  Avhich  they  dis- 
charge theirs.  We  are  not  law-makers;  it  is  our  duty  to  enforce 
the  law^  as  it  is,  and  to  bring  its  penalties  to  bear  against  the  law- 
breaker. May  wisdom  direct  you  in  your  investigations  of  the 
case,  so  that  justice  may  be  vindicated,  and  that  you  may,  in  the 
spirit  of  your  oaths,  make  true  deliverance  between  the  State  and 
the  accused." 

The  Charge — The  Verdict. — On  Saturday  morning,  July  29, 
the  thirteenth  day  of  the  trial.  Judge  McClure  gave  his  charge  to 
the  jury,  occupying  a  little  over  half  an  hour  in  its  delivery.  The 
Judge,  after  defining  the  different  degrees  of  homicide,  and  the 
law  applicable  thereto,  and  properly  defining  and  explaining  the 
terms,  deliberation,  premeditation,  malice,  etc.,  proceeded  to  quote, 
and  adopt  as  his  own,  the  language  of  Judge  Boynton  in  his 
charge  to  the  jury  upon  the  trial  of  Vendruth  D.  Washburn,  upon 
a  similar  offense,  and  with  a  similar  defense,  a  year  or  so  before, 
and  in  conclusion  said:  "Gentlemen,  I  have  now  discharged  my 
duties,  imperfectly  it  may  be,  but  faithfully  and  impartially,  I  hope; 
I  leave  you  to  discharge  yours,  in  full  confidence  that  you 
w^ill  discharge  them  fearlessly  and  faithfully.  If  the  defendant  w^as 
insane  at  the  time  he  committed  the  bloody  deed  with  w^hich  he 
stands  charged,  it  would  be  cruelty  to  convict.  But,  if  not  insane, 
it  would  be  equally  cruel  to  society  to  turn  him  loose  again."  The 
jury  retired  to  their  room  at  about  9  o'clock,  and  at  11:30  returned 
into  the  court  with  their  verdict,  which  w^as  read  by  the  clerk  as 
follows: 

"  We  the  jury,  impaneled  and  sworn  to  well  and  truly  try,  and  true  deliv- 
erance make,  between  the  State  of  Ohio  and  the  prisoner  at  the  bar,  John  H. 
Hunter,  do  find  the  defendant  g-uilty  of  murder  in  the  first  degree. 

Wm.  Prior,  Jr.,  foreman." 

The  Sentence — The  Prisoner's  Speech. — During  the  rendition 
of  the  verdict,  the  prisoner  sat  w^ith  his  face  in  his  hands,  and  his 
elbows  resting  on  his  knees,  listening  attentively  to  the  reading, 
w^ith  a  seeming  full  comprehension  of  its  import,  but  making  no 
especial  demonstration  of  feeling  except  through  a  slight  trem- 
bling of  the  knees.  At  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  prisoner  w^as 
brought  into  court  for  sentence,  an  immense  throng  of  people 
being  in  attendance.  A  motion  for  a  new  trial,  submitted  by 
defendant's     counsel,     was     overruled    by    the    Court,    and    the 


970  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

condemned  man  was  commanded  to  stand  up  to  receive  his  sen- 
tence.    On  his  rising  to^is  feet,  Judge  McClure  said: 

"On  the  second  day  of  June,  1871,  the  Grand  Jury  of  the  county  of  Sum- 
mit returned  an  indictment  against  you,  charging' you,  in  substance,  that  on 
the  27th  da^^  of  May  last,  in  the  township  of  Richfield,  in  said  county,  you 
murdered  Klizabeth  Gargett.  To  this  charge  you  interposed  a  plea  of  not 
guilty.  The  determination  of  the  issues,  thus  joined,  has  been  submitted  to 
a  jury  of  able  and  impartial  men.  Your  defense  has  been  conducted  by 
able  counsel,  who  have  left  no  fair  or  honorable  means  untried  which 
tended,  in  anj^  degree,  to  manifest  j^our  innocence  of  a  crime  so  monstrous 
and  if  established,  so  disastrous  to  your  earthly  hopes.  That  jury  has 
returned  a  verdict  declaring  you  guilty  of  murder  in  the  first  degree,  thus 
sustaining  the  charge  described.  Having  thus  informed  yovi  of  the  verdict 
of  the  jury,  in  accordance  with  the  requireiuents  of  the  law,  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions  of  the  same  law.  I  now  ask  you  whether  j^ou  have  any- 
thing to  say  why  judgment  should  not  now  be  pronounced  against  you,, 
subjecting  you  to  the  penalty  prescribed  for  such  crime?" 

The  prisoner,  in  a  low  but  firm  tone  of  voice,  and  without  any 
special  manifestation  of  excitement,  proceeded  to  speak  as  follows, 

"  Your  Honor,  I  think  I  have  been  dealt  with  unjustly.  My  first  reason 
is  that  1  had  not  the  witnesses  to  prove  my  case,  that  I  wanted  my  attorneys 
to  get  for  me.  There  have  been  witnesses  here  on  the  stand  with  whom  I 
never  had  any  acquaintance  whatever.  I  have  been  charged  on  the  stand  b5^ 
Dr.  Torrey,  that  I  owed  him  $60  for  board.  I  deny  it.  I  never  owed  him  a 
cent  luore  than  $30.  They  deny  that  I  ever  had  ah  interview  with  my  girl  at 
Elm  Hall,  but  it  is  not  so.  I  'did  see  her  twelve,  yes,  fovirteen  evenings.  I 
was  to  uphold  her  in  every  shape  and  form.  They  have  denied  me  a  right- 
ecms  trial.  They  have  accused  me  of  shooting  MrS.  Gargett.  I  say  I  never 
remeinber  seeing  her  at  all.  So  help  me  God  !  So  help  me  God !  I  never 
saw  her !  I  never  had  any  recollection  of  Mrs.  Gargett.  I  remember  seeing 
Mr.  Gargett,  the  first  and  last.  I  atu  not  a  murderer.  The  last  I  remember  is 
jumping  off  the  w^agon.  I  bought  the  revolver  for  the  purpose  of  shooting 
inyself  if  I  did  not  get  mj^  girl.  I  don't  value  my  life.  My  girl  is  what  1  die 
for,  and  this  is  what  I  die  for.  They  tore  out  my  heart  in  Michigati.  When 
I  went  to  see  her  they  kicked  me  out  of  the  house.  They  never  brought  her 
here  to  the  trial.  They  had  a  right  to  bring  her  here  and  Mrs.  Stiles.  I  never 
was  afraid  to  meet  her.  They  treated  me  as  a  child.  I  never  harbored  any- 
thing against  Mrs.  Gargett.  I  gave  her  time  to  overlook  the  engagement,, 
but  they  were  all  satisfied  with  me.  I  told  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gargett,  last  Fall,, 
that  I  was  a  poor  man  ;  that  I  had  traveled  a  great  deal  and  spent  a  great 
deal  of  money.  It  may  have  been  foolish  ;  but  we  are  all  foolish.  I  was 
going-  to  settle  down.  I  have  been  a  true  man  to  her.  The  last  time  I  saw 
my  girl  was  at  the  hotel  in  Elm  Hall,  and  George  Torrey,  who  swore  my  life 
away,  held  the  horses  as  I  helped  her  into  the  cutter.  It  was  then  that  she 
said  she  would  stick  to  ine  if  the  devil  w^as  at  the  back  door.  I  am  willing  ta 
die  for  my  girl,  but  not  for  murder.  It  is  not  for  the  murder  of  Mrs.  Gargett 
that  I  die.  I  do  not  recollect  her — I  do  not  recollect  her — I  do  not,  I  say,, 
recollect  her.  When  they  say  she  was  not  at  Elm  Hall,  they  say  what  is  not 
true.  Chloe  was  in  Elm  Hall  three  weeks,  and  we  visited  together.  This  is 
the  truth  from  the  lips  of  a  dying  man.  If  I  had  money  to  bring  my  witnesses 
to  Ohio,  I  would  be  an  innocent  man  to-day.  I  am  no  murderer, 
I  am  destitute;  I  have  no  relations  in  America.  I  did  not  know  what 
was  ahead  of  me.  I  was  willing  to  die,  but.  Oh,  God!  I  w^anted  to  bid 
her  good  bye.  I  was  ready  to  lay  down  my  life  for  my  girl  in  Michigan, 
When  I  went  to  James  Gargett's  to  see  her,  he  said  I  couldn't  see  her.  I 
asked  him  why?  He  said  she  didn't  want  to  see  me.  I  said  she  did  want  to 
see  me.  When  she  came  down  stairs — I  shall  never  forget  it  to  my  dying 
day— she  sat  with  her  head  down  as  if  her  heart  would  break  with  bitter 
grief,  because  she  couldn't  speak  to  me,  and  I  knew  she  wanted  to  see  me. 
Mr.  Gargett  told  her  she  should  not  see  me,  and  they  kicked  me  out  of  the 
house.  I  told  her  to  come  to  Elm  Hall  and  I'd  see  her.  Three  days  after 
she  sent  me  a  letter  saying:  "  Coiue  over,  John,  for  you  are  the  man  I  love," 
and  I  went.  They  said  I  came  to  shoot  her.  I  would  die  first.  In  my  right 
mind  I  would  shoot  no  one.  There  never  was  a  more  sensitive  man  in  the 
world  than  I  am.  I  am  not  a  murderer  !  I  aiu  not  a  murderer !  God  forbid 
that  I  should  be  a  murderer!     I  have  suffered  more  in  this  love  affair  than; 


INCIDENTS   OF   THE   TRIAL.  .  971 

twelve  men  in  the  agonies  of  of  death— more  than  all  the  men  in  Ohio.  I 
suffered  more  than  I  could  hide,  and  I  knew  it.  When  I  received  the  note  I 
went  over  to  James  Gargett's  to  see  her,  knocked,  went  in,  and  was  received 
with  all  the  g'reeting'  of  a  kind  and  lovingf  heart.  I  visited  her  and  revisited 
her.  They  can't  deny  it.  She  was  loving  every  time.  She  told  her  sister 
Mary,  before  she  left:  "  Mary,  you  give  my  love  to  John,  and  tell  him  I  will 
ever  prove  true  to  him."  That's  true  The  next  thing  I  heard  was  that  she 
had  gone  back  on  me,  and  they  kicked  me,  and  I  have  never  seen  her  since. 
They  would  not  bring-  her  here  to  testify  on  the  stand  because  it  would 
gratify  me.  No,  it  would  please  me  too  much.  My  last  dying  words  will  be: 
"  God  Bless  the  Girl  I  Love  ! " 

Judge  McClure  then  resumed: 

"  Notwithstanding  your  statements,  Mr.  Hunter,  I  am  under  the  painful 
necessity  of  sa3-ing  to  you  that,  in  my  judgment,  the  verdict  of  the  jury  i» 
fully  justified  by  the  evidence  upon  which  it  is  based.  I  do  not  see  how, 
without  violating  the  solemn  oath  that  was  administered  to  them,  they 
could  have  returned  a  different  verdict.  It  therefore  becomes  my  duty,  and 
it  is  a  painful  one,  I  assure  you,  and  one  from  which  I  wovxld  gladly  escape^ 
were  it  possible  for  me  to  do  so — to  pronounce  upon  you  the  extreme  penalty 
known  to  the  law.  Before,  however,  announcing  the  sentence  in  form,  per- 
mit me  to  remark  that  the  same  power,  which  prescribed  the  penalty  for  the 
crime  of  which  you  have  been  convicted,  has  also  huinanely  provided  that 
at  least  one  hundred  daj^s  shall  intervene  betweeti  the  sentence  and  judg- 
ment and  the  day  appointed  for  the  execution  thereof.  The  design  of  the 
delay  is  two-fold.  First,  to  enable  your  counsel,  in  the  event  they  may  think 
error  has  been  committed  by  the  Court,  during  the  progress  of  the  trial,  ta 
take  the  necessary  steps  to  reverse  the  judgment  on  that  account;  and  sec- 
ondly, and  perhaps  mainly,  to  give  jou  time  to  make  such  preparations 
as  you  may  deem  necessary  for  your  approaching  doom.  In  regard  to  such 
preparations  I  have  no  advice  to  give  you.  Divided  as  the  world  now  is  ima 
different  sects,  I  have  long-  believed  that  each  and  every  man  should  be  left 
to  his  own  untrammeled  judgment  in  regard  to  matters  of  such  immense 
importance.  Actuated  by  such  conviction,  most  sincerely  entertained,  I 
leave  you  entirely  free  to  adopt  such  course  as  your  own  judgment  shall 
dictate.  Nothing  more  remains  for  me  to  say  except  the  following:  It  is  the 
judgment  of  this  court,  and  the  sentence  of  the  law,  that  you  be  taken  hence 
to  the  jail  of  this  county;  that  you  be  there  safely  and  securely  kept,  by  the 
jailer  thereof,  until  Tuesday,  the  21st  day  of  November.  1871,  and  that  on  that 
day,  you,  John  H.  Hunter,  be  taken  to  the  place  of  execution  prescribed  by 
law,  and  that  then  and  there,  between  the  hours  of  10  A.  M.,  and  12  o'clock  M., 
of  said  day,  you  be  hanged  by  the  neck  until  you  are  dead." 

Incidents  of  the  Trial. — It  will  be  remembered  that  insanity 
•was  the  sole  defense  of  the  condemned  man,  the  killing  of  both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gargett,  and  the  wounding  of  the  son,  Rodney,  by 
Hunter,  being  conceded.  This  theory,  the  jury,  by  their  verdict 
decided  to  be  untrue,  and  hence,  assuming  the  justness  of  the  ver- 
dict, all  of  his  demonstrations  in  that  line,  after  his  incarceration 
in  jail,  and  during  the  trial,  w^ere  simply  "put  on"  for  effect,  a» 
most  of  those  who  witnessed  them  at  the  time  believed  them  to  be. 
For  instance,  while  the  trial  w^as  in  progress  he  would  often  go  off 
into  fits  of  immoderate  laughter,  or  indulge  in  appalling  facial 
contortions  w^ith  violent  gesticulations,  and  at  one  time,  while  the 
attorney  for  the  State  wa»  cross-examining  one  of  the  defendant's 
medical  experts,  by  a  hypothetical  question  in  w^hich  occurred 
the  clause,  "supposing  Chloe  Gargett,  w^hile  visiting  Elm  Hall, 
frankly  told  Hunter  she  would  not  have  him."  Hunter  sprang  to 
his  feet,  and  shaking  his  fist  at  the  questioner,  yelled  at  the  top  of 
his  voice,  "You're  a  liar,  sir!  You're  a  liar  !  You're  a  liar!"  but 
on  being  taken  hold  of  by  the  sheriff  and  ordered  to  take  his  seat, 
and  keep  quiet  he  immediately  obeyed  him.  At  another  time, 
w^hile  being  conducted  from  the  jail  to  the  court  room,  he  broke 
out  into  a  series  of  most  violent  ravings,  cursing,  swearing  and 


972  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

using  the  most  obscene  language,  refusing  to  take  a  seat  w^hen 
ordered  by  the  sheriff  to  do  so,  and  violently  struggling  with  that 
officer  and  his  deputies  until  sharply  spoken  to  by  the  Court,  \srhen 
he  immediately  sat  down  and  became  quiet,  except  in  the  w^ay  of 
some  rather  emphatic  gesticulations. 

In  an  interview  with  the  writer,  then  editor  of  The  Beacon, 
Hunter  had  promised  to  sit  for  his  picture,  with  a  vievt^  of  having 
it  engraved  for  publication  in  connection  ^with  a  history  of  the 
trial.  Seating  him  at  the  proper  distance  from  the  instrument, 
Mr.  Battels  would  bring  the  camera  to  the  desired  focus,  and  just 
as  he  was  ready  to  remove  the  black  cloth,  Hunter  would  break 
out  into  an  "uncontrollable"  fit  of  laughter,  w^hich  ^vould  disar- 
range the  entire  affair.  This  he  repeated  some  six  or  eight  times, 
until  Sheriff  Curtiss  said  to  him  somewhat  sternly:  "Come  John, 
stop  your  fooling,  or  you  won't  get  any  dinner  today,"  w^hen  he 
quieted  right  down,  and  the  negative  w^as  speedily  completed. 

Application  for  Commutation  of  Sentence. — As  the  time 
appointed  for  his  execution  drew^  nigh.  Governor  Hayes  was 
appealed  to  by  defendant's  counsel,  for  a  commutation  of  his  sen- 
tence to  imprisonment  for  life.  To  this  end.  Dr.  Kendrick,  super- 
intendent of  the  Northern  Ohio  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  was 
invited  to  visit  him  in  jail  with  the  vievir  of  testing  the  soundness 
or  unsoundness  of  his  mind.  To  fully  test  the  matter  and  satisfy 
himself.  Dr.  Kendrick  first  visited  him  alone,  and  afterwards,  the 
same  day,  in  company  ^vith  Drs.  William  Bowen  and  George  P. 
Ashmun.  After  a  long  interview,  and  the  application  of  a  great 
variet}^  of  tests  usual  in  such  examinations,  though  treated  to 
numerous  outbursts  of  mirth,  wrath,  fury,  etc.,  they  were  unani- 
mous in  the  conclusion  that  "though  he  showed  signs  of  great 
weakness  of  intellect,  no  indications  whatever  of  insanity 
appeared."  He  was  thereupon  informed  by  his  counsel  that  there 
was  no  further  hope. 

Still  Insists  that  He  is  Insane. — On  being  informed  by  his 
counsel  of  the  result  of  the  medical  examination,  Hunter  furnished, 
on  Saturday,  November  18,  for  publication  in  The  Beacon,  the 
following: 

"  I  am  now  aware  that  my  tiine  is  short  in  this  world,  and  that  all  hope 
of  salvation  on  earth  is  lost.  I  must  and  will  g"ive  ni3'self  to  God,  hoping- 
that  he  \vill  have  a  home  prepared  for  me  in  Heaven,  where  trouble  and  sor- 
row is  never  known.  I  can  earnestly  saj^  that  I  harbor  no  ungrateful  feeling 
or  ill-will  towards  any  person  on  earth.  But  I  now  say,  myself,  that  I  am 
not  sane  and  rational  at  all  times,  and  I  have  been  pronounced  insane 
twelve  years  ago  in  Canada,  as  I  will  give  an  instance.  Once,  when  the 
Prince  of  Wales  visited  Atnerica  and  the  Provinces,  I  went  up  to  him  when 
he  stood  on  the  flat-car  at  the  depot,  threw  off  my  coat  to  whip  him;  and  came 
near  dragging  him  off  the  car.  I  was  arrested  and  confined  for  a  short  time. 
Was  that  sane  or  insane?  But  the  next  thing  I  shall  speak  of  is  capital 
punishment.  What  is  it?  I  can  tell  you.  It  is  an  act  of  barbarity,  and  is 
not  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  God,  or  huinanity,  and  ought  not  to  be 
allowed  to  exist  in  a  land  where  the  word  of  God  prevails  and  Christianity 
reigns.  And  I  hope  and  pray  that  I  inay  be  the  last  man  ever  to  be  sentenced 
to  such  a  fate." 

Unsuccessful  Attempt  at  Suicide. — As  Hunter  had,  from 
time  to  time,  asseverated  that  how^ever  closely  they  might  watch 
him  he  had  the  means  to  end  his  life  by  his  own  hand,  from  this 
time  on  his  actions  were  closely  scrutinized  through  the  day,  and 
n   strict  watch   kept  upon   him  through  the  night.     On  Monday, 


ATTEMPT   TO   COMMIT   SUICIDE.  973 

the  day  before  the  execution,  he  sent  word  to  the  writer  that  he 
Avished  to  see  him  immediately  after  dinner.  Accordingly,  about 
half  past  one  o'clock,  I  repaired  to  the  jail,  w^hen  he  greeted  me 
pleasantly,  saying  that  though  I  had  already  granted  him  many 
favors,  he  had  yet  one  more  favor  to  ask  of  me.  He  then  handed 
me  a  sealed  letter,  saying  he  had  w^ritten  his  last  letter  to  the 
public  which  he  wished  me  not  to  open  until  after  his  death,  and 
then  publish  in  The  Beacon,  which  I  promised  to  do.  Half  an 
hour  later  he  made  the  attempt  to  take  his  ow^n  life  in  the  follow- 
ing manner: 

Sheriff  Curtiss  had  thoroughly  searched  the  jail  and  had 
removed  from  his  reach  everything  with  which  he  could  possibly 
kill  himself,  and  leaving  Mrs.  Curtiss  at  the  point  of  observation 
from  the  sheriff's  sleeping  room,  at  the  southw^est  corner  of  the 
jail,  stepped  across  to  the  court  house  to  attend  to  his  official 
duties  there.  Soon  after  he  left,  Mrs.  Curtiss  saw  Hunter  dis- 
tribute a  lot  of  apples  among  his  fellow-prisoners,  and  after  they 
had  commenced  eating  them,  saw  him  enter  his  cell  and  close  the 
grated  door  after  him,  a  circumstance  so  unusual  as  to  excite  her 
suspicion  that  something  was  w^rong,  and  she  immediately  sent 
for  her  husband.  Hurrying  across  the  street.  Sheriff  Curtiss  at 
once  repaired  to  his  cell,  w^here  he  found  Hunter  seated,  in  a 
reclining  posture,  upon  his  bed,  in  his  shirt  sleeves,  w^ith  a  large  jet 
of  blood  spurting  from  a  gash  about  half  an  inch  in  length  just 
below  the  elbow,  on  his  left  arm.  A  physician,  who  happened  to  be 
at  the  court  house,  w^as  immediately  summoned.  The  application 
of  a  compress  stanched  the  flow^  of  blood,  and  though  he  struggled 
desperately,  and  attempted  to  tear  off  the  bandage,  he  was  so 
bound  and  secured  as  to  be  unable  to  do  himself  any  further 
harm.  On  making  a  further  examination  of  his  cell,  Sheriff  Curtiss 
found  a  small  piece  of  glass,  that  might  have  been  produced  by 
the  breaking  of  a  bottle  or  tumbler,  in  form  something  like  an 
Indian  arrow  head,  about  three-fourths  of  an  inch  in  lengthy 
extremely  sharp  pointed  at  one  end  and  double  edged,  like  a  sur- 
geon's lancet,  and  with  this,  as  Sheriff  Curtiss  supposed,  an 
incision  had  been  made  in  the  arm,  severing  a  vein  only,  and  not 
an  artery,  as  he  had  evidently  intended. 

His  Last  Written  Statement. — On  opening  the  letter  above 
alluded  to,  it  was  found  to  read  as  follows: 

"Summit  County  Jail,  November  20, 1871. 

"Mr.  Lane: — I  now  seat  myself  to  inform  you,  and  throug'h  you  the  pub- 
lic, that  I  am  this  daj'  ^oing'  to  commit  suicide.  I  do  it  with  long-  premedi- 
tation, but  I  do  it  without  malice,  either  against  myse]f  or  any  other  person 
in  this  world.  Then  it  cannot  be  called  murder  in  the  first  degree.  The 
sheriff  sat  up  with  me  all  last  night  to  watch  me;  but  little  did  he  think  that 
1  sat  up  to  watch  him  at  the  same  time.  I  thoiight  it  was  rather  hard  for 
hitn  to  set  up  with  me  all  night,  to  try  and  keep  me  alive  so  that  he  could 
have  the  pleasure  of  killing  me  the  next  da5^  These  laws  don't  suit  some 
believers,  myself  among  the  number.  Let  those  who  make  such  laws 
experiment  upon  themselves.  1  consider  thej'  are  the  Devil's  laws,  and  let 
him  get  caught  in  his  own  trap.  I  certainly  would  not  allow  any  person  wha 
wishes  to  go  to  heaven,  to  throw  himself  body  and  sovil  into  such  a  place  as 
to  be  hanged  by  the  neck  until  he  is  dead,  for  God  has  said:  Deut.  21:23.  Gal. 
3:13.  That  is  iny  belief.  Read  that  before  you  think  any  more.  I  hope  my 
friends — Christians — will,  at  as  early  a  day  as  possible,  abolish  all  such 
inhumanity  as  trying  to  swing  a  man  into  heaven  by  a  rope,  and  then  have 
the  assurance  to  say  that  that  is  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  God.    God 


974  AKRON   AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

made  man  and  he  made  the  laws.  But  He  never  made  a  law  to  hang-  either 
30U  or  me.  So,  therefoi'e,  you  must  not  think  but  what  you  will  do  rig-ht  if 
3^ou  act  accordingly. 

"I  am  clear,  in  my  own  conscience,  at  this  present  moment,  of  what  I  am 
about  to  do,  as  you  are  in  your  belief,  for  I  act  in  accordance  with  the  laws 
of  God,  as  you  are  acting  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  inhumanitj^  and 
barbarity.  You  ought  to  turn  from  3'our  wretched  cruelty,  no  matter  what 
people  may  say  about  it,  when  jou  know  you  are  wrong.  Well  might  you 
saj^  that  if  I  was  the  last  man  to  commit  such  a  crime  you  would  give  me 
clear;  but  seeing  that  I  am  not,  then  the  jury  must  be  told  to  make  an 
example  of  me.  But,  my  Christian  professor,  j^ou  are  only  making  an 
example  of  yourself,  not  only  before  your  fellow-men  but  before  your  God. 

"I  will  close  bj'  saj'ing:  Let  all  bitterness,  and  wrath,  and  clamor  and 
«vil  speaking-,  be  put  away  from  you,  with  all  malice;  and  be  ye  kind  to  one 
another,  tender-hearted,  forgiving  one  another,  even  as  God,  for  Christ's 
sake,  has  forgiven  you.  Peace  be  to  the  brethren,  and  love,  with  faith  from 
God,  the  Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Grace  be  with  them  that  love 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity.  Now  maj'  the  Lord  of  Peace  Himself 
g^ive  you  peace  alwajs,  bj-  all  meaUvS.  The  Lord  be  with  3'ou  all  and  save  my 
sotil.    Amen. 

John  H.  Hunter." 

Accompanying  the  above,  and  \\rritten  just  before  the  inter- 
vievsr  with  me  at  the  jail  door,  -was  the  following  "  last  word  "  to 
myself  and  the  public: 

"Akron  Jail,  November  20, 1  o'clock  p.  M. 

"  Mr.  Lane: — Please  add  one  more  favor  to  the  many  already  done  me,  by 
publishing  this  my  dj'ing  declaration:  I,  John  H.  Hunter,  now  declare,  in 
the  presence  of  my  Maker,  that,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief, 
Sheriff  Curtiss  is  ignorant  of  all  this  act  of  suicide  that  I  am  about  to  com- 
mit. So,  therefore,  there  is  no  person  to  blame,  for  they  have  kept  a  close 
watch  over  me,  or  I  should  have  done  this  long  ago,  as  I  never  intended  to 
die  on  the  gallows.  I  have  had  the  instrument  to  do  it  with  for  nearly  four 
months  in  the  jail.  I  doubt  whether.it  will  ever  be  found  after  1  am  gone, 
as  it  is  a  very  small  article,  and  is  almost  invisible  a  short  distance  oflf. 
Farewell! 

John  H.  Hunter." 

The  Execution — Dying  Speech,  Etc. — The  gallows  had  been 
erected  in  the  corridor,  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  jail,  and  w^as 
the  same  upon  which  James  Parks  and  several  other  murderers  in 
adjoining  counties  had  previously  been  hung.  As  in  the  case  of 
Parks,  on  the  day  appointed  for  his  execution  here,  a  crow^d  began 
to  assemble  about  the  jail  early  in  the  day,  composed  indiscrim- 
inately of  men,  women  and  children,  which  was  greatly  aug- 
mented as  the  hour  of  execution  drew  nigh,  and  much  excitement 
existed,  although  there  were  no  such  disorderly  demonstrations 
as  had  previously  been  manifested  when  Streeter  w^as  executed  at 
Medina,  or  have  since  occurred  at  Ashland  and  other  points  in 
Ohio  w^here  murderers  have  been  legally  done  to  death  upon  the 
scaffold. 

As  the  hour  approached,  the  distress  of  the  doomed  man 
became  very  great,  the  most  abject  fear  taking  entire  possession 
of  him.  There  were  only  some  tw^enty  persons  present,  all  told, 
including  the  sheriff  and  his  assistants,  attorneys,  clergymen, 
newspaper  reporters,  etc.,  among  the  latter  the  w^riter  of  this  nar- 
rative. At  20  minutes  to  11  o'clock,  Rev.  Lathrop  Cooley,  of  the 
Disciple  Church,  who  had  been  his  spiritual  adviser  throughout, 
had  religious  services'  w^ith  the  doomed  man  alone  in  his  cell; 
besides  fervently  praying  with  him,  exhorting  him  to  meet  his 
fate  A^ith  fortitude  and  resignation.  The  prisoner  was  not  inclined 
to  talk  very  much,  but  kept  up  an  almost  continuous  moaning. 


DYING   SPEECH — EASY   DEATH,   ETC.  975 

At  20  minutes  past  11  o'clock  Sheriff  Curtiss  and  Mr,  Cooley  led 
him  from  his  cell  to  the  scaffold,  his  step  being  so  faltering,  and 
his  nerves  so  unstrung  that  he  almost  had  to  be  lifted  from  his 
feet  while  passing  along  the  corridor  and  ascending  the  stairs. 

Being  seated  upon  a  chair  on  the  platform,  Sheriff  Curtiss 
read  the  death  warrant  to  him  and  asked  him  if  he  had  anything 
io  say  why  the  sentence  of  the  law  should  not  be  put  into  execu- 
tion. He  then  asked  how  much  time  he  had  to  speak,  and  the 
sheriff  told  him  he  could  have  ten  minutes.  Then,  in  a  broken 
and  disconnected  manner,  he  spoke  as  follows: 

"I  am  innocent  of  the  crime  for  which  I  am  to  suffer.  I  did  not  intend 
to  do  the  deed.  I  here  pray  that  the  Lord  will  forg-ive  all  my  sins  and  that 
he  will  forg'ive  all  my  enemies.  I  now  forgive  all  my  enemies,  hoping  that 
all  will  forg-ive  me.  I  have  no  enmity  against  my  girl,  Chloe  Gargett,  and  I 
hope  the  Lord  will  forgive  her.  I  must  now  take  my  leave  of  my  friends 
and  of  the  w^orld.  I  have  no  confession  to  make  of  any  crime  w^hatever.  I 
have  never  committed  any  offence  in  any  country  where  I  have  lived.  I 
hope  the  Lord  will  take  ine  to  heaven.  I  have  alwaj^s  loved  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Gargett  and  did  not  intend  to  take  their  lives.  Witnesses  swore  false 
against  tne,  but  I  forgive  them.  I  now  forgive  all,  and  hope  that  the  Lord 
will  forgive  my  soul.  [To  the  sheriff.]  Give  my  love  to  your  wife  who  has 
cared  for  me  so  well,  and  to  ray  attorneys  and  friends." 

He  then  asked  Mr.  Cooley  to  pray  for  him,  which  he  did,  after 
reading  a  portion  of  Scripture,  in  a  very  impressive  manner.  Mr. 
Oooley  then  took  him  by  the  hand -and  bade  him  farewell,  saying: 
"Good  bye,  John;  we  have  met  often  but  shall  meet  no  more 
here."  Sheriff  Curtiss  and  Deputy  Sheriff  David  A.  Scott  then 
pinioned  his  arms  and  feet  and  placed  him,  standing,  upon  the 
drop.  The  prisoner  tremblingly  continued  to  utter  words  of 
prayer,  and  cries  for  mercy,  saying: 

"  O  Lord  God  !  save  me  and  deliver  me  !  O  God  !  I  will  be  with  Thee  in 
heaven,  and  may  Jesus  Christ  pardon  ine.  Bless  those  that  curse  me,  I  will 
forgive  them  all  and  hope  to  meet  them  all  in  heaven,  and  those  that  I  shot. 
Give  my  love  to  all.  I  am  an  innocent  man.  I  never  premeditated  it.  I  hope 
God  will  take  me  and  all  my  friends  to  heaven — my  girl  and  all.  Will  not 
some  one  pray  for  me?" 

Mr.  Cooley  then  again  ascended  the  platform  and  offered 
another  fervent  prayer  that  fortitude  might  be  given  the  doomed 
man  to  meet  his  impending  fate,  and  for  his  eternal  salvation. 
Sheriff  Curtiss  then  stepped  forward  with  the  black  cap,  which 
Hunter  begged  him  not  to  put  on  him.  Informing  him  that  it  was 
his  duty  to  do  so,  the  sheriff  pulled  the  cap  down  over  his  face 
and  shut  out  forever  the  light  of  this  w^orld  from  his  mortal  vision. 

At  18  minutes  to  12  o'clock  the  noose  was  adjusted  about  his 
neck,  and  at  precisely  16  minutes  to  12  the  trap  was  sprung,  the 
body  falling  just  seven  feet  and  ten  inches,  the  toes  of  his  bouts 
just  clearing  the  floor  of  the  jail,  his  last  exclamation  being;  •' O 
my  Lord,  God  Almighty  !  Give  my  lov^e  to  all,  both  enemies  and 
friends." 

In  falling,  the  noose  slipped  from  under  the  left  ear  to  the  left 
side  of  the  back  part  of  the  head,  and  it  was  feared  that  death 
must  result  from  strangtilation,  and  that  his  struggles  would  be 
severe.  With  the  exception  of  a  slight  vibratory  motion  of  the 
body,  however,  and,  at  the  second  minute  after  falling,  a  very 
slight  contraction  of  the  muscles  of  the  legs,  there  was  no  strug- 
gle whatever,  and  at  exactly  eight  minutes  from  the  time  the  trap 


976  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

was  sprung,  the  attending  physicians  pronounced  life  extinct,  and 
John  H.  Hunter  had,  so  far  as  human  la^ws  could  do  it,  fully  expi- 
ated the  dreadful  crime  he  had  committed. 

The  Disposition  of  His  Body. — Hunter  left  a"  written  request 
that  Messrs.  Voris,  Sanford  and  Cooley  should  take  charge  of  his 
body  after  his  death,  and  with  the  following  directions:  "Let  the 
doctors  make  a  thorough  examination  of  my  head,  but  not,  on  any 
condition,  cut  my  body.  After  this  examination  the  body  is  to  be 
given  in  charge  to  the  gentlemen  named  to  be  interred  with  such 
ceremonies  as  they  may  think  proper." 

Accordingly,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  execution,  some  eleven  or 
twelve  physicians  and  surgeons  of  the  city  and  vicinity,  assembled 
in  the  upper  portion  of  the  jail,  when  an  autopsy  upon  the  head  of 
the  dead  malefactor  was  performed  by  Dr.  Byron  S.  Chase.  A 
most  thorough  and  critical  examination  of  the  brain  was  made  by 
all  physicians  present.  It  w^as  found  to  weigh  46i/2  ounces,  con- 
siderably over  the  average,  and  in  a  perfectly  sound  and  healthy 
condition.  No  marks  of  concussion  from  any  external  blow^  could 
be  found,  and  the  general  verdict  was  adverse  to  any  form  of 
insanity  w^hatever.  Thus,  if  the  science  of  anatomy  is  of  any 
value,  it  was  demonstrated  that,  however  honest  his  counsel  may 
have  been  in  their  most  earnest  advocacy  of  that  theory  of  defense, 
and  however  firmly  the  belief  in  his  insanity  was  entertained  by 
his  friends,  the  verdict  of  the  jury  and  the  the  judgment  of  the 
court  were  fully  vindicated,  and  the  general  verdict  of  the  people, 
that  his  punishment  was  just,  emphatically  confirmed. 

Spirited  Contest  for  the  "  Cadaver."— In  the  late  evening 
of  the  day  of  execution,  the  body  of  the  murderer,  dressed  in  the 
plain  black  suit  worn  upon  the  gallows,  and  enclosed  in  a  plain 
pine  coffin,  w^as  quietly  taken  to  Glendale  cemetery,  by  Superin- 
tendent Wills,  accompanied  by  Rev.  L.  Cooley,  H.  C.  Sanford,  Ksq., 
.Sheriff  Augustus  Curtiss,  and  deputy  sheriffs  David  A.  Scott  and 
Mills  Curtiss,  and  buried  in  the  pottersfield,  in  the  northwest  por- 
tion of  the  grounds. 

There  was  no  law^  in  Ohio,  at  that  time,  for  the  turning  over, 
by  the  public  authorities,  of  the  bodies  of  criminals  or  unknown 
dead,  to  medical  institutions  or  associations,  for  scientific  purposes, 
and  such  subjects  as  were  needed  for  that  purpose,  had  to  be 
clandestinely  procured.  There  were  at  least  three  parties  on  the 
alert  to  secure  the  body  in  question — one,  a  party  of  medical 
students  from  Cleveland,  the  other  two  parties  being  rival  physi- 
cians resident  in  the  city  of  Akron.  The  former  becoming  satis- 
fied that  there  w^as  no  show^  for  them,  early  withdrew^  from  the 
contest.  The  two  Akron  teams  were  captained  by  Dr.  "X"  and 
Dr.  <'Y"  respectively.  Hardly  had  the  burial  party  retired  from 
the  grave,  and  w^hile  the  superintendent  was  still  engaged  in 
putting  out  his  horse,  just  over  the  hill,  before  the  Dr.  "  Y"  crowd 
commenced  digging  for  the  body,  but  before  reaching  the  coffin, 
the  superintendent  returned  and  made  them  retire.  Scott  was 
then  detailed  to  w^atch  the  grave,  and  on  his  return,  after  a  tem- 
porary absence,  found  the  Dr.  "X"crowd  busy  throwing  out  the 
earth,  and  commanded  them  to  desist,  but  they  utterly  refused  to 
do  so,  and  kept  on  vigorously  at  their  ghoulish  w^ork.  Before 
reaching  the  coffin,  how^ever,  the  superintendent  again  appeared 
upon    the   ground,   rather   carelessly  tiring  his   revolver  into   the 


THE   murderer's   BODY  SKELETONIZED.  977 

surrounding  bushes  and  shrubbery,  when  the  diggers  thought  it 
prudent  to  retreat.  This  faction  then  hunted  up  a  couple  of  the 
cemetery  trustees,  \vho,  while  they  had  no  legal  authority  to  order 
the  superintendent  to  deliver  over  the  body,  did  order  him  to 
withdraw  his  guards  from  that  portion  of  the  grounds.  This  order 
the  superintendent,  good  conscientious  man,  was  most  seriously 
disinclined  to  obey,  and  while  discussing  the  matter  with  one  of 
the  trustees  and  one  or  two  of  the  M.  D.'s,  the  Dr.  "Y"  crowd 
quietly  slipped  in,  and  laboring  w^ith  an  expedition  known  only  to 
"resurrectionists,"  abstracted  the  body,  and  without  stopping  to 
readjust  the  grave,  retired  from  the  field — i.  e.  potter's  field — in 
triumph,  and  the  well  prepared  skeleton  of  the  murderer  of  Robert 
and  Elizabeth  Gargett — John  H.  Hunter — ^is  now^  doing  duty  in  the 
cabinet  of  a  prominent  physician  and  surgeon  in  the  city  of  Akron. 

Subsequent  Family  History. — By  a  will  executed  in  1861, 
Robert  Gargett,  devised  to  his  wife  the  use  of  the  home  farm  dur- 
ing her  natural  life,  and  at  her  decease  to  his  youngest  son,  Robert 
Rodney  Gargett;  all  other  property,  real  and  personal,  to  the  wife 
absolutely,  to  be  by  her  managed  and  disposed  of  as  she  might 
deem  right  and  just.  Mrs.  Gargett  dying  first,  the  terms  of  the 
w^ill,  except  as  to  the  home  farm  of  101  acres,  willed  to  Rodney, 
w^ere  inoperative,  and  the  estate  w^as  duly  administered  upon,  the 
balance  of  the  real  estate  being  partitioned  to  the  several  heirs, 
and  the  farm  stock  and  other  personal  property  sold  and  the  pro- 
ceeds distributed  according  to  law. 

At  the  public  sale,  Rodney  purchased  the  larger  portion  of  the 
farm  stock,  amounting  to  several  thousand  dollars,  which,  in  addi- 
tion to  his  own  share  of  his  proceeds,  necessitated  the  borrowing 
oi  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  for  which  mortgages  were  exe- 
cuted upon  his  inherited  homestead.  Instead,  however,  of  settling 
right  down  to  the  steady-going  and  economical  farm  life  of  his 
lamented  father,  young  Gargett  at  once  began  to  "take  on  airs," 
purchasing  a  nice  team  and  carriage,  supplying  himself  and  wife 
with  gold  watches,  and  other  luxuries,  and  so  largely  devoted 
himself  to  the  comforts  and  pleasures  of  life,  that  on  the  maturity 
of  his  paper,  for  borrowed  money,  he  w^as  unable  to  meet  the  pay- 
ments, and  at  the  January  term,  1877,  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  of  Summit  county,  a  decree  of  foreclosure  of  a  mortgage 
given  to  Robert  Whipp  was  rendered,  and  the  mortgaged  property 
ordered  to  be  sold.  The  writer  was  then  sheriff,  and  the  property, 
appraised  at  $6,060.00,  was  sold  to  Mr.  Jackson  Law^,  assignee  of 
the  mortgage,  and  plaintiff  in  the  suit  for  foreclosure,  for  two- 
thirds  the  appraised  value,  to-wit,  $4,040.00,  leaving,  after  satisfy- 
ing judgment  and  costs,  a  surplus  of  $130.05  only,  which  was  duly 
paid  over  by  me  to  the  defendant.  A  year  or  two  later  Mr.  Gar- 
gett removed  to  Michigan,  where  he  purchased  a  small  farm, 
which,  as  the  writer  is  informed,  he  has  since  conducted  with  a 
fair  degree  of  diligence  and  success,  also,  according  to  reports 
among  his  old  neighbors  in  Richfield,  having  been  elected  to  the 
responsible  position  of  justice  of  the  peace  in  the  township  of  his 
adoption.  Miss  Chloe  Gargett,  after  the  trebly  fatal  termination 
of  her  youthful  romance  and  infatuation — but  against  whom  no 
suspicion  of  unchaste  intimacy  with  her  vain-braggart  lover  was 
ever  entertained  by  those  who  knew^  her — ^also,  after  the  sad  occur- 
rences herein  narrated,  w^ent  to  her  friends  in  Michigan,  where  she 

es 


978 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 


Avas  subsequently  married  to  a  highly  respectable  gentleman  by 
the  name  of  George  Halliday,  a  hardware  merchant,  but  after- 
wards, by  reason  of  the  loss  of  his  entire  stock  of  goods  by  fire, 
without  insurance,  retiring  to  a  farm,  where  they  are  reported  to 
be  now  living  in  prosperity  and  happiness. 

Thus  ends,  in  brief,  one  of  the  most  thrilling  episodes  that 
ever  agitated  the  public  mind  of  Summit  county — and  very  largely 
of  the  two  contiguous  States  of  Ohio  and  Michigan — and  one 
which  should  forever  serve  as  a  warning  against  the  seductive 
influence,  and  imminent  danger,  of  indulging  in  epistolary  corre- 
spondence with  a  stranger  of  the  opposite  sex,  "w^ith  a  view  to 
matrimony,"  or  otherwise,  before  having  met  him  or  her  face  to 
face;  an  indulgence  wrhich  in  this  case,  consigned  three  human 
beings  to  premature  graves  (one  in  deep  disgrace  and  ignominy), 
and  entailed  life-long  sorrow  upon  the  surviving  principal  in  the 
tragedy,  and  upon  the  very  large  circle  of  her  relatives  and  friends. 


CHAPTER  XLVII. 

;SPRINGFIELD— PIONEER  MATTERS-ORGANIZATION  AND  GROWTH— TOPOGRAPHY, 
RESOURCES,  ETC.— INDIAN  EXODUS  AND  SCARE— VILLAGES,  HAMLETS,  ETC., 
ABOLITION,  "RIOT,"  FREE  SPEECH  VINDICATED,  ANTIQUATED  EGGS,  ETC.— 
EDUCATIONAL,  RAILROAD  AND  MILITARY  MATTERS— CRIMINAL  STATUS — 
MURDER  OF  JOHN  RHODENBAUGH,  A  LONGTIME  RESIDENT  OF  SPRINGFIELD, 
NEAR  KENT,  IN  1865  -TRIAL  AND  CONVICTION  OF  MURDERERS,  JACK  COOPER 
AND  JOEL  BEERY— EXECUTION  OF  COOPER,  LIFE  SENTENCE  OF  BEERY— THE 
ROOF-MU.SSON  HOMICIDE  IN  1866— EXCITING  PURSUIT  AND  CAPTURE  OF  THE 
MURDERER- PROMINENT  AND  WEALTHY  CITIZEN  IMPLICATED— TRIAL  AND 
ACQUITTAL  OF  THE  LATTER,  WHILE  FORMER  PLEADS  GUILTY  TO  MURDER  IN 
THE  SECOND  DEGREE— LIFE  SENTENCE,  PARDON,  SUBSEQUENT  LIFE,  ETC.— 
SPRINGFIELD'S  HONORABLE  CIVIL  RECORD,  ETC. 

SPRINGFIELD  TOWNSHIP. 

'HpHE  township  of  Springfield  is  located  on  the  south  line  of  the 
*-  Connecticut  Western  Reserve,  and  is  the  tenth  township  from 
the  east  line  of  the  State,  and  is  consequently  designated  on  the 
county  records  as  lot  1,  range  10.  It  was  originally,  like  all  of  the 
Reserve,  attached  to  Trumbull  county,  but  became  a  part  of  Por- 
tage county  on  its  organization,  June  8,  1808,  which  relation  was 
maintained  until  the  new^  county  of  Summit  w^as  erected,  in  1840. 
The  act,  erecting  Portage  county,  was  passed  February  10,  1807,  to 
take  effect  June  7, 1807  ;  but  for  some  reason,  now  unexplainable, 
the  organization  of  the  new^  county  was  postponed  one  year,  as 
above  indicated.  Like  all  of  the  tow^nships  of  the  Reserve,  Spring- 
field w^as  originally  five  miles  square,  about  half  of  one  square 
mile  having  been  clipped  out  of  the  northwest  corner  and  attached 
to  the  township  of  Middlebury,  in  March,  1857,  and  now  forming  a 
portion  of  the  Sixth  Ward,  of  the  city  of  Akron. 

Early  Settlement. — The  township  was  surveyed  by  Gen, 
Simon  Perkins,  for  the  Connecticut  Land  Company,  in  1806.  It 
was  what  was  called  an  "equalizing"  township;  J.  e.,  certain  por- 
tions of  the  territory  were  assigned  to  the  purchaser  of  Shalers- 
ville,  to  bring  it  up  to  the  quality  of  the  average  townships  of  the 
Reserve.  The  portions  thus  assigned  were  the  east  half  and  a  strip 
off  the  west  side,  the  latter  portion  being  purchased  by  Henry  and 
■Charles  Chittenden,  from  Connecticut,  Henry  Chittenden  being, 
for  many  years,  a  prominent  citizen  of  the  tow^nship  and  village 
of  Middlebury,  as  farmer,  contractor,  hotel-keeper,  etc. 

The  first  settler  in  the  township,  is  believed  to  have  been  Ariel 
Bradley,  the  grandfather  of  the  present  Mr.  James  Bradley,  of 
Mogadore,  who  came  to  what  is  novir  Mahoning  county  in  1801,  to 
Suffield  in  1805,  crossing  the  line,  late  in  1806,  or  early  in  1807,  and 
settling  on  lot  12,  part  of  w^hich  is  now  in  the  village  of  Mogadore  ; 
Mr.  Thomas  Hale,  grandfather  of  the  present  efficient  secretary  of 
-the  Summit  County  Agricultural  Society,  Mr.  Albert  Hale,  coming 
in  from  Suffield,  Connecticut,  about  the  same  time. 


980 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


About  1807,  also,  came  Reuben  Tupper,  Nathan  Moore,  Benja- 
min Baldwin,  John  Hall  2d,  (father  of  John  J.  Hall,  Esq.,  of  Akron) 
and  his  younger  brother,  James  Hall.  The  three  former  Avere 
from  Connecticut,  and  the  two  latter,  though  of  Scotch-Irish 
descent,  came  from  Pennsylvania;  an  uncle,  Robert  Hall,  with  his 
family,  coming  in  the  same  year.  Robert  also  had  had  a  son  John, 
hence  the  appellation,  John  Hall  2d.  '  The  latter  and  his  brother,^ 
James,  then  being  both  considerably  under  age,  built  a  cabin  and 
settled  upon  a  farm  about  half  a  mile  east  of  the  "Burgh,"  or  so- 
called  center  of  the  town,  Mrhile  the  uncle  and  his  family  located 
upon  what  was  for  many  years  afterwards  known  as  the  Weaver 
farm,  now  owned  by  Peter  Lepper,  on  the  Akron  and  Mogadore 
road. 


ARIEL  BRADLEY,  — Springtield's 
■^  first  settler,  was  born  in  Salis- 
bury, Connecticut,  December  30, 1768  ; 
common  school  education  ;  raised  a 
farmer;  married  September  27,  1792, 
to  Chloe  Lane,  of  Killing^worth,  Con- 
necticut, born  October  22,  1770.  In 
1800,  came  to  Ohio,  via  the  Southern 
route,  over  the  Alleg'heny  mountains, 
being  over  a  month  on  the  journey, 
arriving'  in  Canfield,  now  in  Mahoning 
county,  in  June;  in  March,  1806,  moved 
into  a  cabin  on  the  Kent  farm  in 
Suffield,the  same  Fall  bujdng  a  quar- 
ter section  in  Range  10,  Tract  8,  Town 
1,  Lot  11,  on  the  east  line  of  what  is 
now  Springfield  township,  a  portion 
of  which  is  still  occupied  bj^  his 
grandson,  Mr.  James  Bradley,  his 
house,  occupied  in  March,  1807,  being 
the  first  erected  in  that  township. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bradley  were  among  the 
most  thrifty  and  highly  respected  of 
the  pioneer  inhabitants  of  the  West- 
ern Reserve.  They  had  eight  chil- 
dren— James  Lane,  born  November 
25,  1793 ;  John  Anson,  January  3,  1796 ; 
Phoebe  Marille,  March  18,1798;  Robert 
Edgar,  March  23, 1800 ;  Harlow  Robert, 
November  20,  1802;  Heman  Allen, 
December  15,  1804  ;  Ariel  Bird,  May  4, 
1811 ;     Amelia    Emma,    December    1, 


ARIEL  BRADLEY. 

1815,  the  first  four  born  in  Connecti- 
cut, the  last  four  in  Ohio,  all  of  whom, 
good  and  honored  citizens  in  life,  are 
now  deceased.  Mrs.  Bradlej'  died  in 
1848,  aged  78  years ;  Mr.  Bradley, 
whose  portrait,  taken  at  the  age  of  85, 
is  given  herewith,  dying  in  April, 
1857,  at  the  age  of  89  years. 


It  w^ill  be  impossible  to  give  the  advent,  and  trace  the  individ- 
ual histories  of  all  the  early  settlers  in  Springfield  within  the 
limits  of  this  chapter,  even  if  the  data  for  the  same  was  now  avail- 
able. They  were  of  mixed  nationality  and  descent,  as  the  names, 
in  addition  to  those  given,  w^ill  indicate,  among  them  being 
Abraham  DeHaven,  William  Foster,  Samuel  Wood,  James  Mc- 
Knight,  George  Vallandigham,  Thomas  Metlin,  Rev.  Thomas 
Beers,  James  McCormick,  Samuel,  John,  Jehu  and  David  EUet, 
John  Crotzer,  Peter,  Almeron,  Lester  and  Thomas  Norton,  Pat- 
rick and  Archie  Christy,  Robert  Clark,  George  McGrew,  Joseph 
Scott,  Jacob  Winters,  James  Wirtz,  Samuel  Hinston,  Joseph  D. 
Baird,  Francis  Irvin,  John  and  Francis  Weston,  Timothy  Holcomb, 
Deacon  Ewart,  etc.;  not  altogether  "Pennsylvania  Dutchmen,"  as 
stated  by  a  former  local  historian.   George  Vallandigham,  or  "Col."^ 


ORGANIZATION,   POPULATION,   ETC, 


981 


Vallandigham  as  he  was  called,  was  for  many  years  quite  a  prom- 
inent character  of  the  tow^nship,  and  w^as  uncle  to  to  the  after- 
wards notorious  Clement  L.  Vallandigham,  (a  native  of  Colum- 
biana county),  w^ho,  in  his  younger  days  w^as  well  known  to  many 
■of  the  people  of  the  towship  as  a  frequent  visitor  at  the  house  of 
his  uncle  George. 


JOHN  HALL,  2nd,— born  in  Penn- 
sylvania, February  17,  1791  ;  edu- 
cation limited  ;  raised  on  farm  ;  in 
1807,  came  to  Ohio,  settling-  on  an 
uncleared  farm  half  a  mile  east  of 
Springfield  Center,  "2nd"  being- 
added  to  his  name,  because  of  an 
•elder  cousin  of  that  name  in  same 
neighborhood.  In  January,  1815,  was 
married  to  Miss  Jane  Shields,  of 
Armstrong  count}^,  Pennsylvania, 
■who  came  to  Ohio  in  1812.  They  had 
nine  children — Rebecca,  born  May  14, 
1816,  married  to  Robert  G.  Boyd,  of 
Marion,  February  8,  1841,  d\ed  August 
25, 1888  ;  Jane  Jackson,  born  February 
10, 1818,  married  to  Jacob  Thompson, 
March  18,  1847,  now  a  widow  in  Akron; 
Margaret  Shields,  born  December  29, 
1819,  married  to  Jacob  Ream,  Novem- 
ber 29,  1838,  died  October  3,  1854; 
Eliza,  born  March  2,  1822,  married  to 
John  M.  Boyd,  of  Marion,  Januarj'  1, 
1846,  now,  a  widow  in  Akron  ;  David, 
born  April  28,  1824,  died  in  1851  ; 
Mary  Boj'd,  born  July  7, 1826,  married 
to  Henry  Thomas,  April  8,  1850,  now 
in  Akron  ;  John  J.,  born  July  27.  1828, 
married  to  C5"nthia  A.  Jones,  April 
13,  1854,  now  a  prominent  attorney  in 
Akron;  Harriet  Newell,  born  Septem- 
ber 16,  1832,  now,  unmarried,  residing 
in  Akron  ;  Sallie  M.,  born  June  11, 
1835,  married  to  Matthias  Harter,  Octo- 
ber 16,  1855,  now  living  in  Akron.  Mr. 
Hall  was  a  zealous  advocate  of  right 


JOHN  HALL,  2nd. 

and  justice — organized  the  first  tem- 
perance society  in  Springfield,  while 
his  house  was  a  prominent  station  on 
the  "  Underground  Railway,"  during- 
the  dark  daj^s  of  American  Slavery. 
Mr.  Hall  died,  in  Marion,  March  28, 
1876,  aged  85  years,  1  month  and  11 
days,  Mrs.  Hall  dying  Septeiuber  17, 
1876,  aged  82  years,  5  months  and  16 
days. 


Organization,  Growth,  Etc. — In  April,  1808,  the  township  of 
Springfield,  in  connection  with  Tallmadge,  Suffield  and  Randolph, 
was  organized.  The  trustees  then  elected  were,  John  Goss,  of 
Randolph;  Stephen  Upson,  of  Tallmadge;  and  Benjamin  Baldwin, 
«f  Springfield.  The  first  justice  of  the  peace  for  the  territory 
named  was  Benjamin  Baldwin,  entering  upon  his  official  duties, 
March  13,  1809.  The  precise  date  of  the  organization  of  Spring- 
field, as  a  distinct  township,   is   not  now  ascertainable. 

Settlement  was  quite  rapid,  so  that  by  the  year  1830,  the  town- 
ship must  have  contained  nearly,  if  not  quite,  1,500  inhabitants, 
the  census  of  1840  giving  the  population,  including  that  portion 
embraced  in  the  village  of  Middlebury,  at  1,663;  the  census  of  1880 
giving  the  total  number  of  inhabitants,  exclusive  of  the  territory 
named,  at  2,332,  which  is  a  much  larger  increase  for  the  40  years, 
than  the  average  townships  of  the  county,  or  of  the  Reserve.  The 
succeeding  ten  years,  how^ever,  didn't  make  quite  so  good  a  show^- 
ing,  the  census  of  1890,  placing  the  population  at  1,966,  a  falling  off 
4)i  366. 


982 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Topography,  Resources,  Etc. — Springfield  is  what  might  be- 
termed  gently  rolling,  with  no  very  steep  hills  or  precipitous  gullies,, 
though  traversed  by  several  considerable  streams — the  Little  Cuy- 
ahoga river  across  its  entire  northern  end,  and  the  Tuscaraw^as- 
athwart  the  southwest  corner,  and  several  other  smaller  streams, 
together  w^ith  a  fine  body  of  water,  some  three  miles  in  circumfer- 
ence, know^n  as  Springfield  Lake,  at  the  exact  geographical  center 
of  the  tow^n.  This  lake,  supposed  to  be  supplied  from  subterranean 
sources,  was  not  only  originally  a  tributary  of  the  Little  Cuyahoga 
river,  but  has,  for  the  past  fifty  years,  been  a  reliable  feeder  of  the- 
race  that  supplies  the  Akron  mills  w^ith  water,  the  mill  owners 
having  the  legal  authority  to  raise  the  water  six  feet  above,  and 
lower  it  four  feet  below,  the  normal  level.  Though  in  places  very 
deep,  with  a  very  soft  bottona,  the  statement  of  a  former  writer 
that  it  cannot  be  fathomed  is  probably  without  adequate  foun- 
dation. I 

ROBERT  L.  EWART,  —  born  in 
Spring-field,  now  in  Summit 
county,  March  18,  1812,  and  is  the 
oldest  living-  native,  and  one  of  the 
very  first  white  children  born  in  the 
township ;  educated  in  the  pioneer 
log  school  house,  and  bred  a  farmer, 
which  vocation  he  has  always  fol- 
lowed. March  10.  1836,  Mr.  Ewart  was 
married  to  Miss  Mary  Ann  McKnight. 
of  Springfield,  who  survived  their 
marriage  a  year  or  two,  onl5^  June 
18,  1839,  Mr.  Ewart  was  again  married, 
to  Miss  Martha  Lemmon,  of  North- 
field,  who  died  June  6,  1857,  leaving 
three  children — Joseph  C,  now  a 
prominent  manufacturer  in  Akron, 
whose  portrait  and  biography  appear 
elsewhere  ;  Jennie  A.,  now  Mrs.  Jona- 
than Sprague,  of  Marysville,  Noda- 
way county,  Missouri,  and  William 
L.,  now  a  successful  fruit  grower  and 
horticulturist  in  Springfield.  March 
4,  1858,  Mr.  Ewart  was  again  married, 
to  Mrs.  E.  A.  B.  McCain,  of  Sufiield, 
Portage  county,  who  has  borne  him 
one  son — Francis  M.,  now  operating 
the  home  farm,  in  Springfield. 
Though  not  a  place-seeker,  Mr.  Ewart 
has  always  taken  an  enlightened 
interest  in  public  affairs,  and  given 


ROBERT   L.  EWART. 

a  ready  and  cheerful  support  to  all  of 
the  patriotic,  educational  and  moral 
enterprises  of  his  native  township,, 
and  of  the  county,  state  and  nation. 


Besides  being,  in  all  respects,  a  first  rate  agricultural  town- 
ship, producing  the  very  finest  crops  of  wheat  and  other  cereals, 
fruits,  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  poultry,  etc.,  the  streams  alluded 
to  have  furnished,  in  the  past,  and  yet  continue  to  furnish,  a  num- 
ber of  most  excellent  mill  sites,  which  have  been  of  inestimable 
value  to  the  people,  w^hile  several  coal  mines  have  also  been  profit- 
ably worked  within  the  past  twenty-five  or  thirty  years. 

But  Springfield's  most  prolific  source  of  industry  and  wealth,, 
has  been,  and  continues  to  be,  its  inexhaustible  beds  of  potters' 
clay,  giving  employment  to  hundreds  of  men,  and  producing 
millions  of  gallons  of  fine  and  common  stoneware,  annually. 

Pioneer  Privations,  Indians,  Etc. — At  the  time  Springfield 
first  began  to  be  settled,  flour  and  other  family  supplies  were  very^ 


INDIANS   AND   OTHER   PIONEER   MATTERS. 


983 


scarce,  and  procurable  only  from  a  great  distance,  so  that  the 
pioneers  had  to  largly  depend  upon  the  wild  game  of  the  forest 
and  the  iish  in  the  streams  and  lakes  for  subsistence,  until  they 
could  raise  crops  and  the  various  domestic  animals  of  their  own 
for  food.  And  even  the  right  to  this  wild  game  was  largely  dis- 
puted for  several  years  by  the  Indians  that  still  lingered  in  the 
neighborhood,  though  having  parted  with  their  title  to  the  lands 
and  streams  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  before. 

Though  it  does  not  appear  that  any  very  serious  difficulties 
occurred  between  the  two  races,  the  whites,  except  when  in  pretty 
close  proximity  to  each  other,  had  very  natural  fears  for  their 
safety,  particularly  at  night.  It  is  related  that  because  of  this  feel- 
ing, John  and  James  Hall,  of  more  than  ordinary  courage,  the  first 
Summer  of  their  stay  in  Springfield,  used  to  sleep  in  their  corn- 
field at  night — one  watching  while  the  other  slept — rather  than 
remain  in  their  cabin.  As  neighbors  accumulated  this  timidity 
gradually  wore  off,  and  finally  ended  entirely  with  the  departure 
of  the  red-skins  to  ally  themselves  with  the  British  Army  in  the 
War  of  1812. 


pOL.  JOHN  C.  HART, —  born  in 
^  Cornwall,  Connecticut,  April  17, 
1798 ;  at  four  5'ears  of  ag-e  removed 
with  parents  to  Genessee  count}',  New 
York,  and  in  May,  181.5,  to  Middle- 
bury,  Ohio  ;  at  15  enlisted  in  a  cavalry 
company,  at  Rochester,  and  was  in 
the  battles  at  Chippewa  and  L,undy's 
Lane  and  at  the  burning-  of  Buffalo, 
in  the  War  of  1812  ;  afterwards  raised 
a  regiment  of  cavalry  in  and  about 
Middlebury  of  which  he  was  made 
colonel ;  bred  a  farmer,  with  but 
liinited  education  ;  at  21  went  South, 
rafting  on  Ohio  river  and  working 
in  saiw-mill  and  brick  yard  near  St. 
Louis ;  on  return  home  purchased 
farm  south  of  Middlebury,  which  he 
cleared  and  successfully  cultivated 
for  many  years,  later  largely  engag- 
ing in  buj'ing  and  gelling  stock, 
dealing  in  real  estate,  loaning  money, 
etc.  February  24,  1831,  Col.  Hart  was 
married  to  Miss  Margaret  A.  Sterling, 
w^ho  bore  him  six  children — George 
W.,  retired  farmer,  Cuj^ahoga  Falls, 
born  July  12,  1832 ;  Jolin  S.,  farmer, 
Akron,  born  November  5,  1833; 
Charles  S.,  insurance  agent,  Akron, 
born  December  23, 1835  ;  Esther  Eliza- 
beth, born  February  13,  1838,  died 
March  15,  1841 ;  Hiram  Johnson,  born 
May  5,  1840,  died  September  11,  1869, 
from  disease  contracted  in  armv  as 


COL.  JOHN  C.  HAKT. 

member  of  19th  O.  V.  I.;  and  Frances 
Augusta,  now  Mrs.  Clinton  Ruckel, 
of  Portage  township.  Mrs.  Hart 
dying  Maj^  17,  1869,  Mr.  H.  was  again 
married,  to  Mrs.Mary  Sterling,Decem- 
ber  25,  1870,  who  still  survives,  Mr, 
Hart  dying  August  20,  1880,  aged  82 
3'ears,  4  months  and  3  daj^s. 


One  incident,  connected  w^ith  the  exodus,  is  worth  relating 
here.  From  the  mysterious  movements  of  the  Greentown  Indians, 
preparatory  to  leaving,  in  June,  1812,  it  was  believed  that  they 
were  about  to  raid  the  white  settlements,  and  massacre  the  inhab- 
itants. The  alarm  spread  from  township  to  tow^nship,  and  from 
settlement  to  settlement,  and  immediate  steps  were  taken  to  place 
the  women  and  children  beyond  danger,  and  prepare  for  defense. 


984 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


Springfield's  place  of  refuge  was  a  block-house,  standing  on 
the  farm  of  James  McKnight,  father  of  Francis  McKnight,  still,  at 
the  age  of  88  years,  living  hale  and  hearty  upon  the  same  farm,  in 
the  middle  eastern  portion  of  the  township.  But  instead  of  making 
the  expected  attack,  the  Indians,  like  the  proverbial  Arab, 
"  quietly  folded  their  tents  and  silently  stole  a\vay,"  thenceforth,  so 
far  as  Springfield  and  contiguous  townships  were  concerned,  leav- 
ing the  people  in  security  and  peace.  But  after  the  scare  was  all 
over,  it  was  discovered  that  Mrs.  Henry  Chittenden,  living  on  w^hat 
is  now  the  Brittain  farm,  w^as,  with  three  young  children,  entirely 
overlooked,  her  husband  having  gone  back  to  Connecticut  to  bring 
his  father  and  mother  to  his  new  home.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chittenden 
were  the  parents  of  Mrs.  Dr.  E.  W.  Howard,  of  Akron,  the  three 
little  ones,  thus  imperilled  with  their  mother,  having  all  died 
before  Mrs.  Howard  was  born. 


JOSEPH  MOORE,— son  of  John  and 
J  Nancy  (Gofif)  Moore,  was  born  in 
Lake  township,  Stark  county,  Decem- 
ber 6,  1815;  educated  in  district 
schools,  and  raised  on  farm  ;  July  3, 
1832,  moved  with  father's  family  to 
Springtield,  teaching-  school,  near 
Greentown,  during-  the  winter  of 
1832,  '33  ;  followed  farming  in  Spring- 
field until  1868,  when  he  removed  to 
Akron,  still  superintending  his  farm, 
conducted  by  a  tenant,  for  several 
years.  Mr.  Moore  was  for  several 
years  a  director  of  Summit  County 
Agricultural  Societj' ;  has  been  the 
Second  Ward  assessor  of  personal 
property  eleven  years,  and  city  school 
enumerator  seven  years.  In  1887,  he 
was  elected  a  director  of  the  County 
Infirmary,  discharging  the  duties  of 
that  important  office,  with  such 
fidelity,  that  he  was  re-elected  in  1890, 
for  another  term  of  three  years,  being 
now  president  of  the  board  ;  January 
4,  1837,  Mr.  Moore  was  married  to  Miss 
Sarah  Fulkerson,  of  Spring-field,  born 
in  that  township,  November  30,  1818. 
Thej^  are  the  parents  of  four  children 
— John  F.  Moore,  now  a  farmer  in 
Copley ;  James  G.  Moore,  of  Akron  ; 


JOSEPH   MOORE. 

Amanda  V.,  now  Mrs.  Sainuel  Steese, 
of  Akron  ;  and  Milton  W.  Moore,  of 
Oregon. 


Singular  Family  Coincidence. — The  first  death  in  the  town- 
ship is  said  to  have  been  that  of  Robert  Hall,  who  died  from  the 
rupture  of  a  blood  vessel,  in  1808 ;  the  first  birth  ^was  that  of  a 
daughter  (Jane  Hall)  to  Mrs.  Hall,  after  the  death  of  her  husband, 
in  1809,  and  the  first  marriage  in  the.  tow^nship,  that  of  John  Hall, 
son  of  Robert,  to  Miss  Margaret  Blair,  in  1810. 

Villages,  Hamlets,  Etc. — Besides  that  portion  of  the  north- 
west corner,  so  long  part  and  parcel  of  the  ancient  village  and 
tovs^nship  of  Middlebury,  and  now  attached  to  the  city  of  Akron, 
Springfield's  only  other  considerable  business  point  is  Mogadore. 
It  is  located  near  the  northeast  corner,  and  is  on  the  line  betw^een 
Summit  and  Portage  counties.  The  w^riter  has  no  special  data  as 
to  when  or  by  whom  the  village  was  first  laid  out,  but  from  his 
knowledge  of  it,  with  its  hotel,  stores,  mills,  churches,  etc.,  for  more 


Springfield's  business  centers. 


'985 


than  half  a  century,  it  must  have  had  an  existence  of  over  sixty 
years.  The  preponderance  of  population  and  business,  with 
churches,  potteries,  postoffice,  etc.,  being  upon  the  west  side  of 
the  line,  it  may  properly  be  regarded  as  a  Springfield  village. 

*  The  name,  Mogadore,  is  said  to  have  been  given  to  the  village 
by  James  Robinson,  an  Irishman,  a  general  mechanical  genius  of 
the  time,  who,  on  completing  the  chimney  of  a  large  two-story 
house  (still  standing)  for  Mr.  Martin  Kent,  uncle  of  Mr.  George  F. 
Kent,  now^  of  the  Sixth  Ward,  Akron,  and  w^ho  had  probably  read 
in  "  Riley's  Narrative,"  or  "  Mungo  Park's  Travels,"  of  the  town  of 
that  name  in  Africa,  with  a  swing  of  his  hat,  exclaimed,  "  Hurrah 
for  Mogadore ! "  and  Mogadore  it  has  been  ever  since,  though  there 
was  an  effort  made  many  years  ago,  to  change  it  to  Springville. 

Manufacturing,  as  it  does,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  gallons 
of  stoneware,  and  millions  of  smoking  pipes,  annually,  its  greatest 
drawback  has  been  the  necessity  of  hauling  it,  by  wagon,  to  Akron, 
for  shipment.  That  inconvenience  is  now  largely  obviated  by  the 
completion  of  the  Connotton  Valley  (now  the  Cleveland  &  Canton) 
railway,  upon  its  eastern  border,  with  a  fair  prospect  of  direct 
railroad  connection  with  Akron,  at  an  early  day. 

KING  J.  ELLET,— son  of  John  and 
Elizabeth  Ellet,  natives  of  Mary- 
land, was  born  in  Springfield  town- 
ship, December  27,  1831,  his  parents 
settling-  there  in  1810 ;  raised  a  farmer, 
and  educated  in  township  district 
schools  ;  Mafch  16,  1854,  Mr.  Ellet  was 
married  to  Miss  Lucinda  E.  Norton, 
daughter  of  Lester  Norton,  who  eini- 

f  rated  from  the  State  of  New  York  to 
pringfield,  in  1808.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ellet  are  the  parents  of  three  chil- 
dren—Mattie,  wife  of  Mr.  Milo  White, 
of  Spring-field ;  Cora  J.,  wife  of  Mr. 
Frank  Weston,  of  Springiield,  and 
Fred.  K.  Ellet,  still  at  home.  Though 
a  stanch  Republican,  and  living  in  a 
strong-  Democratic  township,  Mr. 
.  Ellet  has  been  honored  with  many 
local  offices ;  was  elected  countj^ 
cominissioner  of  Summit  county,  in 
1883,  and  re-elected  in  1886,  holding 
the  position  two  full  terms  of  three 
years  each,  and  without  disparage- 
ment to  others,  it  may  be  truthfully 
asserted,  that  Summit  countj-  never 
had  a  more  energetic  and  pains- 
taking- officer  on  its  board  of  county 
commissioners  than  King  J.  Ellet. 
After  his  retirement  from  the  board, 
in  1889,  Mr.  Ellet  was,  in  March,  1890, 


KING  J.   ELLET. 

appointed  bj^  the  constituted  authori- 
ties, a  trustee  of  the  Summit  County 
Children's  Home,  which  position  he 
is  now  ably  and  humanely  filling. 


The  "Burgh,"  as  it  was  universally  called,  or  North  Spring- 
field, according  to  the  name  of  its  postoffice,  is  a  small  hamlet,  one 
mile  north  of  the  geographical  center,  which,  as  before  stated,  is 
covered  by  the  lake.  Here  is  located  Springfield's  original  church 
edifice  (Presbyterian)  built  about  65  years  ago.  Some  50  years  ago 
the  Methodists  also  built  quite  a  large  frame  church  at  this  point, 
on  land  donated  by  David  Ellet,  himself  a  rigid  Presbyterian,  but 
about  30  years  ago  the  building  was  moved  a  mile  and  a-half  to 
Ihe  westward*  and  converted  into  a  glue  factory.     The  Burgh  has 


986 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


also,  at  different  times,  maintained  a  hotel,  a  store,  blacksmith 
shop  and  several  potteries,  but  at  the  present  time  but  little  busi- 
ness is  transacted  there,  aside  from  its  postal  and  official  necessi- 
ties, the  town  house  being  located  here,  which  is  the  only  voting 
place  in  the  township. 


HON.  THOMAS  WRIGHT,— son  of 
Thomas  and  Lucy  Wrig-ht ;  born 
in  Tompkins  county,  New  York,  Feb- 
ruary 22, 1830 ;  moved  with  parents  to 
Springiield,  Summit  county,  Ohio,  in 
Spring  of  1836  ;  common  school  edu- 
cation ;  at  20  taught  school  in  Cov- 
entry, two  terms  ;  has  since  followed 
the  occupation  of  a  farmer;  in  1864, 
served  100  days  in  defense  of  the 
National  capital,  as  a  meinber  of 
Company  H,  164th  Regiinent,  O.  N. 
G.;  is  a  member  of  Buckley  Post,  G. 
A.  R.,  and  a  meinber  of  the  State 
Grange,  Patrons  of  Husbandry  ;  has 
been  a  meinber  of  the  Pleasant  Valley 
M.  E.  Church  about  forty  years,  and 
the  superintendent  of  its  Sunday 
School  for  many  years.  A  zealous 
Republican,  from  the  organization  of 
the  party,  in  November,  1889,  as  the 
colleague  of  Hon.  Henry  C.  Sanford, 
of  Akron,  was  elected  Representative 
to  the  69th  General  Assembly,  for  two 
years  ;  October  5,  1852,  was  married 
to  Miss  Elizabeth  Henderson,  daugh- 
ter of  James  and  Jane  Henderson, 
pioneers  of  Springfield  township, 
w^ho  has  borne  him  six  children,  three 


HON.  THOMAS  WRIGHT. 

only  of  whom  are  now^  living — James 
F.,  now  at  home ;  Lucy  Jane,  now^ 
Mrs.  H.  S.  McChesney,  of  Springfield  ; 
and  Edwin  S.,  of  Springfield. 


MiLLHEiM,  is  a  small  hamlet  in  the  south  part  of  the  tow^nship^ 
having  a  grist  mill,  blacksmith  shop,  church  and  school  house 
w^ith  quite  a  cluster  of  contiguous  private  residences. 

Thomastown,  is  a  considerable  village  on  the  line  between 
Springfield  and  Coventry,  tw^o  miles  south  of  Akron — composed 
largely  of  coal  miners,  mostly  Welsh,  who  have  for  several  year* 
w^orked  the  coal  mines  of  that  vicinity — with  church,  school  house^ 
store,  postoffice,  etc. 

Brittain  (formerly  for  many  years  known  as  "White  Grocery"),, 
one  mile  east  of  the  city  limits,  on  the  Mogadore  road,  has  had  a 
hotel  or  two,  store,  postoffice,  school  house,  wagon  shop,  black- 
smith shop,  clay-mill,  etc.,  with  private  residences  to  correspond. 

An  Abolition  "Riot." — Although  there  was  not,  perhaps,  a 
single  negro  within  her  borders,  in  common  w^ith  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  inhabitants  of  all  the  border  States,  many  of  the  people 
of  Springfield,  in  the  early  days,  were  remarkably  sensitive  in 
regard  to  the  question  of  the  abolition  of  slavery,  then  beginning 
to  agitate  the  public  mind.  Yet  among  her  population  w^ere  quite 
a  number  of  earnest  and  fearless  anti-slavery  men,  one  of  the 
most  notable  among  them  being  John  Hall  2nd,  (father  of  Summit 
county's  w^ell-known  Democratic  lawyer,  John  J.  Hall.  Bsq.,)w^hose 
house  was  for  many  years  the  wrell-patronized  station  upon  the 
"Underground  Railroad,"  over  w^hich  many  fugitives  from  bond- 
age w^ere  safely  conducted  to  the  land  of  freedom — Canada, — the 


PRO-SLAVERY   AND   PRO-WHISKY   RIOTS.  987^ 

late  Solomon  Purdy,  and  his  three  stalwart  sons,  Fitch,  Guerdon 
and  Henry,  being  also  earnest  and  outspoken  opponents  of  the 
accursed  institution. 

Late  in  the  Winter  of  1837,  '38,  Rev.  Thomas  Graham,  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  being  upon  that  circuit,  gave  notice 
that  on  a  given  evening  he  would  deliver  an  anti-slavery  lecture 
in  the  Methodist  meeting-house  at  the  center  of  Springfield.  This 
announcement  caused  great  excitement  in  the  neighborhood,  quite 
a  number  of  Mr.  Graham's  own  church-members  declaring,  w^ith 
others,  that  no  such  meeting  should  be  held  in  the  church. 

Storming  the  Citadel. — Consequently,  when  the  people  began 
to  assemble,  at  the  time  appointed,  it  w^as  found  that  the  enemy 
had  by  some  means  gained  access  to  the  house  and  barricaded  the 
door.  At  that  time  the  late  Fitch  Purdy — though  in  the  later 
years  of  his  life  a  very  free-thinker  and  talker — was  not  only  an 
abolitionist,  as  he  ever  afterwards  remained,  but  a  Methodist  of 
the  strictest  sect,  and  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  church  in  question. 
Armed  w^ith  the  key,  Fitch  sought  to  gain  access  to  the  house,  but 
finding  his  entrance  barred,  and  no  attention  paid  to  his  command 
to  those  inside  to  open  the  door.  Fitch  and  his  backers,  using  a 
heavy  piece  of  scantling  as  a  battering  ram,  broke  in  the  door,  and 
after  a  short  but  sharp  and  decisive  scrimmage,  succeeded  in  oust- 
ing the  intruders.  Though  the  house  and  the  people  w^ere  pelted 
w^ith  snowballs,  and  other  missiles,  and  though  a  hideous  din  \sras 
kept  up  during  the  evening,  the  lecture  w^as  given  and  listened  to 
by  a  fair-sized  congregation. 

Free  Speech  Vindicated. — The  next  day  the  routed  barricadera- 
employed  attorneys — the  late  David  K.  Cartter,  for  20  years,  until 
his  recent  death,  Chief  Justice  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  then 
practicing  law  in  Akron,  and  Seneca  L.  Hand,  Esq.,  of  Middle- 
bury — and  procured  warrants  to  be  issued  by  Justice  Andrew- 
Harris,  of  Springfield,  against  Fitch,  Guerdon  and  Henry  Purdy, 
and  Ralph  Russell  (and  perhaps  others),  charging  them  with  riot. 

'Squire  Harris  calling  to  his  assistance  Justices  Harvey  H. 
Johnson,  of  Akron,  and  Elijah  Mason,  of  Middlebury,  the  trial  w^as- 
held  at  the  office  of  the  latter,  in  Middlebury,  the  late  Judge  Will- 
iam M.  Dodge,  defending.  The  trial  lasted  a  full  day,  eliciting  as- 
much  interest  and  creating  as  much  excitement  as  a  first-class- 
murder  trial  w^ould  do  in  these  latter  days.  Though  Cartter  w^as  at 
his  happiest,  in  his  well-known  pow^ers  of  vituperative  denuncia- 
tion, and  though  duly  supported  by  his  colleague.  Hand,  the  quiet 
conduct  of  the  defense,  by  Dodge,  prevailed,  and  at  a  late  hour  of 
the  evening  the  learned  justices  very  properly  decided  that  there 
w^as  "no  cause  for  action" — the  defendants  having  both  the  key  to 
the  door  and  the  authority  to  open  the  house,  finding  themselves 
barred  out  by  unauthorized  parties,  having  an  undoubted  right  to- 
use  the  means  they  did  to  gain  entrance  to  the  building. 

An  Odoriferous  Affair. — Apropos  of  the  foregoing  demon- 
stration against  free  speech,  temperance,  as  well  as  abolitionism, 
met  w^ith  vigorous  opposition  in  many  places  about  those  days.  It 
•was  in  the  early  forties,  while  the  Washingtonian  excitement  was  on,- 
that  the  late  Colonel  Reuben  McMillen,  of  Middlebury  (father-in- 
law  of  Mr.  David  E.  Hill),  a  fluent  and  effective  speaker,  consented 
to  talk  on  temperance,  on  a  given  evening,  at  a  school  house  in  or 
near  Millheim.     The  weather  was  warm  and  the  windows  being" 


988  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

raised  for  ventilation,  the  outsiders,  almost  if  not  quite  out-num- 
bering the  insiders,  kept  up  an  incessant  din,  to  which  the  speaker 
paid  no  heed,  though  at  times  his  stentorian  voice  was  nearly 
inaudible  to  his  hearers.  At  length  an  addled  egg  w^as  hurled 
w^ith  great  force  through  one  of  the  windows,  which,  passing 
within  a  few  inches  of  the  speaker's  head,  discharged  its  odorifer- 
ous contents  against  the  opposite  Avail.  Pausing  a  moment,  the 
Colonel  turned  to  the  secretary  of  the  Society  and  inquired:  "  Mr. 
Secretary,  how  many  eggs  did  they  throw?"  "Only  one,  I 
believe,"  replied  the  secretary.  "My  stars!"  exclaimed  the  Col- 
onel. "Is  it  possible  that  one  small  egg  can  stink  like  that!"  and 
resumed  his  discourse  as  though  nothing  had  happened.  There 
\vere  perhaps  a  few  other  slight  attemps  to  interrupt  anti-slavery 
and  anti-whisky  meetings,  but  for  the  past  40  years  Springfield 
has  been  as  orderly,  and  as  tolerant  of  free  speech,  as  any  other 
community  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  or  elsewhere. 

Speaking  of  whisky,  long  before  the  temperance  question 
began  to  be  agitated  in  Ohio,  on  the  occasion  of  raising  the  frame 
of  a  distillery,  at  Mogadore,  in  which  considerable  difficulty  had 
occurred,  by  reason  of  improper  framing,  Mr.  Lee  Moore,  who  had 
mounted  to  the  plate  for  the  purpose  of  throwing  the  bottle,  after 
its  contents  had  been  absorbed  by  the  crowd,  as  was  the  custom  of 
the  time,  prefaced  his  exploit  by  the  following  poetic,  but 
■extremely  appropriate,  sentiment: 

"  This  is  a  very  bad  frame. 

And  deserves  a  very  bad  name, 

So  we'll  call  it  the  '  Curse  of  the  Nation  !'  " 

Educational  Matters. — Springfield  is  well  supplied  with 
iirst-class  district  school  houses,  and  has  ever  been  fully  abreast 
of  the  times  in  her  educational  facilities,  the  village  of  Mogadore, 
especially,  being  provided  with  graded  schools,  the  toAvnship  hav- 
ing furnished  two  members  of  the  Board  of  School  Exam- 
iners of  Summit  county,  Messrs.  David  Ellett  and  Professor  Fred- 
erick Schnee,  the  latter  being  the  present  able  superintendent  of 
schools  at  Cuyahoga  Falls. 

Railroad  Facilities. — Until  within  a  few  years,  Springfield 
has  been  entirely  beyond  the  pale  of  railroad  accommodations, 
nearer  than  Akron,  except  a  short  line  of  private  road  from  Mid- 
dlebury  to  one  of  the  coal  mines  of  the  township.  Now,  how^ever, 
the  Valley  Railway  traverses  its  entire  length,  through  the  w^est- 
ern  portion,  with  Krumroy  station  and  postoffice  about  midway, 
w^hile  its  eastern  portion  is  skirted  by  the  Cleveland  &  Canton, 
w^ith  a  station  at  Mogadore,  thus  giving  the  people  better  facilities 
for  travel  and  shipment  of  their  wares  and  agricultural  products, 
than  ever  before  enjoyed. 

Springfield  in  War. — There  were  undoubtedly  a  number  of 
Revolutionary  heroes  among  Springfield's  early  inhabitants,  but 
unfortunately  no  correct  roster  is  now  available.  Ariel  Bradley, 
elsewhere  named  as  the  first  settler  in  the  township,  though  then 
a  mere  lad  of  11  years,  is  said  to  have  rendered  General  Washing- 
ton valuable  service,  on  the  eve  of  the  battle  of  White  Plains, 
in  October,  1776.  The  story  goes  that,  mounted  upon  an  old  horse, 
with  a  small  grist  of  corn  or  grain,  he  boldly  entered  the  British 
lines,  as  if  going  to  mill.     Being  arrested,  as  it  was  supposed  he 


Springfield's  military  prowess.  989 

would  be,  and  taken  to  headquarters,  young  Bradley,  on  being 
questioned  played  the  green  country  bumpkin  so  effectually,  that 
he  was  finally  permitted  to  depart,  carrying  w^ith  him,  under  his 
brimless  hat  and  tangled  hair,  such  valuable  information  as  to  the 
number  and  disposition  of  the  British  troops,  as  to  secure  to  the 
patriot  army  the  splendid  victory  which  they  won  in  that  engage- 
ment. Mr.  John  Weston,  grandfather  of  Mr.  Solomon  N.  Weston, 
and  Mr.  Samuel  EUet,  grandfather  of  Ex-County  Commissioner 
King  J.  Ellet,  are  also  remetnbered  as  Revolutionary  soldiers. 

In  the  War  of  1812,  Springfield,  though  not  as  yet  very  exten- 
sively settled,  took  quite  an  active  part,  a  number  of  her  volunteer 
soldiers  being  among  the  brave  and  patriotic  troops  so  ignomin- 
iously  surrendered  by  General  Hull,  at  Detroit,  August  16,  1812,  the 
name  of  Aaron  Weston  now  only  being  remembered.  In  the  draft 
foUo^wing  that  surrender,  however,  Springfield  furnished  ten  men, 
as  follows:  Joseph  D.  Baird  (afterw^ards  for  many  years  a  justice  of 
the  peace),  John  Hall  (sonof  Robert),Tirpothy  Holcomb,  JamesBaird, 
Alexander  Hall,  Lee  Moore,  Nathaniel  D.  Hoover,  James  Martin, 
James  L.  Bradley  and  Martin  Willis,  the  latter  going  as  a  substi- 
tute, but  for  whom  is  not  now  ascertainable,  the  widow  of  Mr. 
Bradley,  a  sister  of  Mr.  J.  S.  Monroe,  of  Mogadore,  in  1887  living  in 
Missouri,  in  the  80th  year  of  her  age,  and  then  drawing  a  pension 
from  the  government  on  account  of  her  husband's  services. 

Though  it  is  not  know^n  that  any  of  these  men  participated  in 
any  severe  battles,  they  all  rendered  good  service  on  the  frontier, 
one-half  only  living  to  return  home:  John  Hall  dying  in  Huron 
county,  Alexander  Hall  at  Camp  Huron,  James  Baird  at  La 
Grange,  Indiana,  and  Martin  Willis  on  the  way  home,  at  Tinker's 
Creek.  James  G.  Smith,  buried  in  Greenwood  Cemetery  at  Moga- 
dore, was  also  a  soldier  in  the  w^ar,  but  w^hether  a  resident  of 
Springfield  at  the  time,  the  writer  is  not  advised. 

It  is  also  related  that  a  portion  of  Hull's  surrendered  army, 
under  Colonels  Cass  and  McArthur,  en  route  to  Pittsburg, 
encamped  near  the  present  site  of  Gilcrest's  mill,  on  the  little 
Cuyahoga,  the  old  Revolutioner,  Mr.  Samuel  Ellet,  permitting  the 
worn  and  tired  soldiers  to  luxuriate  on  the  roasting  ears  of  a  fine 
field  of  corn  w^hicli  he  had  growing  near  by. 

Afterwards,  in  the  Summer  of  1813,  the  battalion  of  the  youth- 
ful but  gallant  Major  Croghan,  which,  numbering  but  150  men, 
w^on  such  a.  splendid  victory  over  the  veteran  General  Proctor, 
with  500  British  regulars  and  about  the  same  number  of  Indians, 
at  Fort  Stephenson,  Lower  Sandusky,  camped  upon  the  same 
grounds,  while  en  route  from  Pittsburg  to  Sandusky. 

In  the  Mexican  War,  1846-48,  Springfield  was  represented,  but 
to  w^hat  extent  cannot  now  be  ascertained,  but  the  writer  is 
informed  by  Mr.  King  J.  Ellett  that  Isaac  Krytzer  paid  a  bounty  of 
$100  to  his  own  son  (given  name  not  now^  remembered)  to  enlist 
under  that  call  for  troops,  young  Krytzer  dying  from  disease  at 
New  Orleans  while  en  route  to  Mexico,  while  Mr.  George  Dresher, 
who  died  at  nearly  75,  February  6, 1890,  though  not  then  a  resident 
of  Springfield,  was  a  soldier  in  that  war. 

SPRINGFIELD'S  ROLL  OF  HONOR. 

In  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  the  fact  that  many  of  the  earlier 
volunteers    enlisted    in   other   towns  than   those   in    which    thev 


♦990  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

resided,  and  the  absence  of  authentic  local  records,  makes  it 
impossible  to  do  justice  to  many  of  the  most  loyal  and  patriotic 
localities  of  the  county.  From  the  recollection  of  several  of  her 
xitizens,  and  from  the  returns  of  the  assessors  for  the  years  1863, 
'64,  '65,  the  following  list  has  been  compiled,  which  it  is  believed 
presents  a  substantially  accurate  roster  of  Springfield's  volunteer 
soldiery  during  that  bloody  struggle. 

A.  P.  Atchison,  Charles  F.  Atchison,  Henry  Anderson  (died  in 
service),  Thomas  Alexander  (died  in  service),  Ne\srton  J.  Atw^ood, 
O.  E.  Andrews,  J.  S,  Alexander,  William  Alexander,  John  B.  Acker, 

F.  J.  Baird,  Solomon  Babb,  Jacob  Boone  (died  in  service),  Daniel 
Bitterman  (killed   in  battle),  William  Bowers,   Sylvanus  Batty,  J. 

G.  Brittain,  Elias  Bickel,  George  Bowers,  John  Braggenton,  C.  S. 
Breckenridge,  William  Bender,  Daniel  W.  Corl,  W.  A.  Chamberlin, 
W.  F.  Chamberlin,  Thomas  Chamberlin,  John  W.  Chamberlin,  R. 
S.  Chamberlin,  Dudley  C.  Carr,  Urias  Cramer,  Samuel  F.  Colvin, 
Benjamin  Clay,  W.  H.  Clement,  James  Clark,  Ora  Clapp,  Robert 
Cochran,  Aimer  Colvin,  W.  W.  Coale,  Byron  Derthick,  John  W. 
Douglas,  Joseph  C.  Ewart,  John  W.  Ewart,  R.  L.  Ewart,  John 
Ewell  (died  in  service),  G.  Ellis,  G.  W.  Eatinger,  G.  Emmerling.  W. 

C.  Finney,  William  Finkle,  Robert  Fisher,  John  Fries,  D,  French, 
Andrew  J.  Fulkerson,  Adam  Gross,  Solomon  Gross,  Benjamin 
Goss,  Levi  Gidmeyer  (died  in  serv^ice),  Thonias  Green,  Abraham 
Glick,  James  Gordon,  George  Himebaugh,  William  N.  Himebaugh, 
Amos  Horner,  John  H.  Hill  (killed  in  battle),  Hiram  C.  Hill  (killed 
in  battle),  R.  W.  Hall,  E.  B.  Hubbard,  Ezra  Harris,  Milton  B. 
Henderson,  Frank  Henderson,  H.  A.  Henderson,  George  W.  Hile, 
J.  S.  Hall,  L.  E.  Hall,  Warren  R.  Hall  (died  in  the  service),  Albert 
Hall.  Luther  Hall,  George  W.  Hart,  Matthias  Hawk,  Morris  R. 
Hughes,  Cyrus  W.  Harris,  J.  Hoffman,  Moses  Immel,  Ira  F. 
Krytser,  Frederick  Lutz,  Robert  Lutz  (died  in  service),  Samuel 
Lutz  (died  in  service),  Andrew  Longnecker,  Allen  Limber,  James 
E.  Leach,  Zachariah  Lee,  William  Leach,  John  Mumaw  (died  in 
service),  Tallis  C.  McCain  (died  in  service),  J.  McCormick,  G.  J. 
McCormick,  Cowan  McCormick,  Isaac  Madlem,  John  Madlem,  J. 
McCormick,  Michael  Myers,  Henry  Mellinger,  William  Mellinger, 
Charles  Mellinger,  Samuel  Mantel,  William  Mapins,  George 
Markle,   lohn  McChesney,  John  McNeal,  William  Moore,  William 

D.  Myers,  Samuel  C.  Marsh,  John  J.  Marsh,  William  Miller, 
Horace  Norman,  Samuel  Neeper,  Robert  Posten  (drowned) 
Franklin  Putt,  John  Putt,  Franklin  Powell,  Hubert  Peck,  Daniel 
Palmer,  J.  C.  Price,  David  R.  Rothrick,  W.  H.  Rothrick,  Hiram 
Raber  (killed  in  battle),  C.  H.  Russell,  Charles  Rolph,  Charles 
Rhodenbaugh,  Jacob  Replogle,  John  Randall,  Milton  Ritter,  Bert 
Rolph,  George  Spitler,  John  Shaffer,  Jacob  Sausaman,  G.  W. 
Solomon,  H.  F.  Solomon,  Jacob  Sax,  Charles  A.  Smith,  J.  G. 
Stinhour,  Solomon  Strecker,  John  Stevens  (died  in  service),  Daniel 
Stetler  (died  in  service),  'W.  A.  Sypher,  Cyrus  W.  Spade,  B. 
Strohecker,  Charles  Steese,  Edward  E.  Skinner,  Royal  S.  Stout, 
Philander  H.  Stout,  Weston  Salmon,  Jr.,  J.  H.  Spade,  Nathan 
Spade,  William  J.  Schrop,  J.  M.  Schrop,  William  Steese,  John 
Smith,  Joseph  C.  Tousley,  Joel  F.  Tousley,  Andrew  Tousley  (killed 
in  battle),  Albert  M.  Tousley,  James  A.  Thompson,  Thomas  L. 
Thompson,  Duncan  Thompson,  Robert  Thompson,  Martin  Tod,  J. 
A-  Tritt,  Philip  Ulm,  Ozro  Vanorman,  Henry  Winkleman,  John 


Springfield's  criminal  record.  991 

Winkleman,  Hugh  M.  White  (killed  in  battle),  Joseph  Wagner, 
William  Wooley,  Harrison  Wise,  Wilson  S.  Roof,  J.  W.  Wise, 
Watson  Wise,  Thomas  Wright,  Jr.,  Solomon  S.  Weston,  George  J. 
Young,  Philip  Young,  B.  F.  Yerick,  G.  W.  Zelinger. 

CRIMINAL  STATUS. 

Springfield  has  not  been  very  prolific  of  startling  crimes 
though  one  or  two  of  a  homicidal  nature,  in  which  her  citizens 
have  been  involved  will  have  to  be  herein  recorded.  It  is  not  the 
design  of  this  work  to  reproduce  all  the  petty  offenses  and  pecca- 
dilloes, of  Avhich  the  people  of  the  several  townships,  either 
through  excessive  passion,  excessive  drink  or  excessive  depravity, 
have  been  guilty,  but,  in  addition  to  certain  salient  historical 
points,  group  together,-  in  a  concise  and  permanent  form,  the  more 
startling  events  of  the  half  century  w^ritten  of,  that  may  have 
occurred  in  any  given  locality.         * 

The  Murder  of  John  Rhodenbaugh.  —  Though  not  at  the 
time  a  citizen  of  Summit  County,  the  murder  of  Mr.  John 
Rhodenbaugh,  in  Portage  County,  in  1865,  and  its  attendant  cir- 
-  cumstances,  is  entitled  to  a  place  in  this  work,  from  the  fact  of  his 
long  residence  in  this  county,  and  of  the  large  number  of  his  rela- 
tives still  living  among  us.  Mr.  Rhodenbaugh  w^as  born  in 
Westmoreland  county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1809,  and  removed  w^ith 
his  parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peter  Rhodenbaugh,  to  Springfield 
township,  now  in  Summit  county,  in  1816.  He  w^as  reared  to  the 
occupation  of  a  farmer,  but  in  later  life  largely  folloAved  the  busi- 
ness of  auctioneer,  mostly  at  country  sales  of  farm  stock,  etc.  He 
was  married  in  1832,  to  Laura  Purdy,  daughter  of  the  late 
Solomon  Purdy,  of  Springfield,  and  sister  of  ex-Mayor  Henry 
Purdy,  of  Akron.  In  1853  Mr.  Rhodenbaugh  removed  to  Portage 
county,  locating  upon  a  farm  in  the  eastern  portion  of  tlie  tow^n- 
ship  of  Franklin,  between  Kent  and  Ravenna. 

Causes  Leading  to  the  Murder. — Mr.  Rhodenbaugh,  though 
six  feet  or  more  in  height,  broad  shouldered  and  extremely  mus- 
cular, w^as  very  active  in  his  bodily  movements,  and  in  his 
younger  manhood,  and  during  his  residence  in  Springfield,  w^as 
considered  the  champion  athlete  of  Summit  county.  He  was  of  a 
lively  turn  of  mind,  and  of  extremely  convivial  habits,  sometimes 
drinking  to  excess,  on  w^hich  occasions  he  w^as  boastful  of  his 
w^ealth,  lavish  in  his  expenditures  and  reckless  in  the  display  of 
Avhatever  sums  of  money  he  might  happen  to  have  about  him. 
■  On  the  afternoon  of  October  24,  1865,  Mr.  Rhodenbaugh  visited 
Kent,  w^here  he  spent  most  of  the  afternoon  in  the  various 
drinking  places  of  the  village,  drinking  and  playing  cards,  bil- 
iliards,  etc.  -  Among  his  associates,  during  the  afternoon,  were  Joel 
Beery,  a  resident  of  Portage  county,  and  a  transient  bummer  and 
bruiser,  calling  himself  Jack  Cooper,  but  whose  real  name  was 
afterwards  found  to  be  Samuel  Wittum,  a  native  of  Erie  county, 
'.Pennsylvania. 

Going  to  His  Death. — Leaving  Kelso's  billiard  and  drinking 

saloon,  after  taking  a   parting  drink  with  Beery  and  Cooper,  he 

^soon  afterwards,   about  7  o'clock  in  the  evening,   started   for  his 

home,  in  an  open  one-horse  w^agon.     On  reaching  a  point  between 

ILakes  Brady  and  iPippin,  where  the  wagon  road  runs  parallel  with 


992  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburg  railroad,  within  about  a  mile  of  his  own 
home,  and  within  sight  of  the  farm  house  of  Mr.  Joseph  Heighton,. 
Mr.  Rhodenbaugh  was  intercepted  and  assaulted,  being  dealt  two 
heavy  blows  upon  the  head  with  a  club,  which  Avas  afterward 
found  to  have  been  cut  near  the  spot  where  the  deadly  assault  was 
made.  The  death  of  Mr.  Rhodenbaugh  is  supposed  to  have  been 
instantaneous,  as  no  evidences  of  a  struggle  were  apparent  when 
his  body  was  found,  as  it  Avas  soon  afterwards  by  Mr.  George 
Dewey,  a  resident  of  the  neighborhood.  The  person  of  the  mur- 
dered man  had  been  robbed  of  his  watch  and  all  the  money  he 
had  with  him,  supposed  to  have  been  about  $200.00. 

Arrest  of  the  Murderers. — Suspicion  was  at  once  directed 
to  Cooper  and  Beery  as  the  probable  murderers,  from  the  fact  that 
they  had  been  almost,  if  not  quite,  the  last  persons  seen  with  him 
the  night  before,  and  the  further  fact  that  they  had  not  been  seen 
in  their  accustomed  haunts  about  the  village  after  Rhodenbaugh 
left.  Accordingly  a  vigorous  search  after  the  suspected  men  was 
at  once  instituted,  resulting  in  their  arrest,  near  Ravenna,  by  offi- 
cers R.  W.  Buck  and  S.  L.  Jennings,  about  9  o'clock  the  next 
morning.  A  coroner's  inquest  was  held  by  Justice  Rockwell,  and 
verdict  rendered  in  accordance  \\rith  the  facts,  implicating  the  two 
men  in  question,  who,  on  being  examined  before  Justice  Coolman, 
October  28,  were  committed  to  jail  to  answer  to  the  crime  of 
murder. 

Indictments,  Trials,  Etc. — At  the  January  term,  1866,  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  Portage  county,  the  Grand  Jury  found 
indictments  against  both  of  the  accused,  charging  them  with  the 
crime  of  w^illful  and  premeditated  murder.  They  Avere  arraigned 
on  the  1st  day  of  February  and  both  entered  a  plea  of  not  guilty, 
and  being  without  means  to  employ  counsel,  E.  B.  Taylor,  J.  I). 
Horton  and  P.  B.  Conant,  Esqs,,  were  appointed  by  the  Court  to 
defend  the  prisoners,  Alphonso  Hart,  Esq.,  also  being  assigned  by 
the  Court  to  assist  Prosecuting  Attorney  H.  H.  Willard,  to  conduct 
the  case  on  the  part  of  the  State. 

Separate  trials  having  been  granted  the  prisoners,  the  trial  of 
Jack  Cooper  commenced  on  the  5th  day  of  February,  1866,  before 
Judge  Charles  E.  Glidden.  The  jury  being  duly  sw^orn.  Prose- 
cutor Willard  made  an  elaborate  statement  of  the  circumstance* 
attending  the  murder,  and  of  the  facts  which  he  expected  to 
prove,  while  Mr.  E.  B.  Taylor,  on  behalf  of  the  defendant,  made  a 
general  denial  of  the  alleged  crime,  meeting  all  the  charges  con- 
tained in  the  indictment  with  the  simple  plea  of  "not  guilty." 
Thirty-six  witnesses  were  examined  and. for  three  days  the  trial 
continued  with  unflagging  interest,  the  court  room  being  densely 
crowded  throughout  bj'^  citizens  of  both  Portage  and  Summit 
counties.  The  pleas  w^ere  all  earnest  and  eloquent,  andthe  charge 
of  Judge  Glidden,  clear,  forcible  and  remarkably  fair  and  impar- 
tial. The  case  was  given  to  the  jury  in  the  evening  of  February 
7,  1866,  who,  at  about  midnight,  returned  into  court  with  their 
verdict,  finding  Cooper  guilty  of  murder  in  the  first  degree. 

On  the  next  day,  February  8,  1866,  Joel  Beery  was  put  upon 
his  trial  for  aiding  and  abetting  Cooper  in  the  murder  of 
Rhodenbaugh,  before  the  same  Judge,  but  a  newly  selected  jury. 

The  case,  on  behalf  of  the  State,  was  opened  by  Alphonso  Hart, 
Esq.,  and  the  theory  of  the  defense  was  ably  and  fully  presented 


A    SURPRISE   VKRDICT — SENTENCES,    ETC.  993? 

by  Ezra  B.  Taylor,  Esq.  This  trial  also  lasted  three  days,  attract- 
ing a  large  attendance  and  the  most  intense  interest,  between  forty 
and  fifty  Avitnesses,  in  all,  being  sworn  and  examined,  the  prisoner, 
during  the  trial,  being  attended  by  his  aged  mother,  and  his 
brother,  Mr.  H.  E.  Beery.  The  case  was  given  to  the  jury  at  half 
past  12  o'clock,  on  Saturday  afternoon,  February  10,  1866.  For 
more  than  twelve  hours  the  jury  worked  faithfully  upon  the  case, 
a  few  minutes  past  1  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning,  announcing  their 
verdict,  finding  Beery  guilty  of  murder  in  the  second  deg-ree. 

To  say  that  this  verdict  was  received  with  great  surprise,  by 
the  great  majority  of  the  people  of  both  Portage  and  Summit 
counties,  would  be  stating  it  far  too  mildly;  for  it  w^as  followed 
w^ith  almost  universal  denunciation  and  indignation;  the  public 
belief  being  that  Beery  was  equally  guilty  with  Cooper,  and  that 
the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law^  should  be  meted  out  to  both  alike. 

Pronouncing  the  Sentences. — On  Monday  morning,  February 
12,  1866,  the  prisoners  were  brought  before  Judge  Glidden,  for  sen- 
tence. Beery  appearing  first.  On  being  asked  the  usual  question 
as  to  w^hether  he  had  anything  to  say  why  the  sentence  of  the  law 
should  not  be  pronounced  against  him,  for  the  crime  of  which  he 
had  been  convicted,  he  replied  that  he  had  not,  and  thereupon 
Judge  Glidden  sentenced  him  to  hard  labor  in  the  penitentiary  for 
life. 

On  Cooper's  appearance  in  Court,  his  counsel  made  a  motion 
for  a  new  trial  which  was  promptly  overruled  by  the  Court. 
Judge  Glidden  then  commanded  Cooper  to  stand  up,  and  after  a 
brief  reference  to  the  charge,  and  the  finding  of  the  jury,  asked 
him  if  he  had  anything  to  say  w^hy  the  sentence  of  the  law  should! 
not  be  pronounced  against  himforthe  crime  of  murder,  w^hereupon 
Cooper  in  substance,  said,  that  while  he  had  little  to  say  in  regard 
to  his  innocence,  he  hardly  felt  that  he  had  been  fairly  dealt  with, 
or  he  w^ould  not  have  been  convicted  of  murder  in  the  first  degree. 
He  said  he  had  not  much  education,  and  could  not  speak  very  well, 
but  he  did  not  think,  that  on  the  evidence  against  him  he  ought  to- 
be  hung,  while  on  substantially  the  same  evidence  his  companion 
was  let  off  with  a  lighter  penalty.  At  the  conclusion  of  Cooper's^ 
remarks.  Judge  Glidden  reviewed  the  history  of  the  case  and  the 
testimony,  in  a  masterly  and  exhaustive  manner,  expressing  the 
conviction  that,  from  the  nature  of  the  evidence,  and  all  the  attend- 
ant circumstances,  so  far  as  the  prisoner,  then  before  him,  wa» 
concerned,  the  verdict  of  the  jury  was  just  and  proper,  and  closing 
in  the  usual  form,  by  sentencing  the  prisoner  to  be  hanged  by  the 
neck  until  dead,  on  the  6th  day  of  April,  1866. 

Desperate  Attempt  to  Escape  From  Jail. — After  his  convic- 
tion, Cooper  stated  his  true  name  to  be  Samuel  Wittum,  a  native 
of  Pennsylvania,  though  his  parents  had  previously  lived  in 
both  Ohio  and  Indiana.  Left  an  orphan  at  the  age  of  six  years, 
he  lived  for  a  time  Avith  a  farmer,  by  w^hom  he  w^as  so  harshly 
treated  that  he  soon  left  him,  and  began  life  on  his  own  account, 
as  a  driver  upon  the  Beaver  and  Erie  canal,  and  from  that  time 
forw^ard  leading  a  wandering  and  dissolute  life,  as  gambler,  coun- 
terfeiter, horse  thief,  murderer,  etc.,  having,  as  it  was  alleged, 
served  a  considerable  term  in  the  Missouri  penitentiary,  before 
committing  the  fatal  crime  that  was  to  end  his  career.  He  stated 
that  he  had  been  twice  married  and  that  he  had  a  sister  still  living 

63 


994  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

in  the  Kast,  and  as  the  day  of  execution  drew  near  he  was  respited 
by  Governor  Jacob  D.  Cox,  from  April  6th  till  April  27th,  to  give 
this  sister  an  opportunity  to  visit  him.  Though  pretending  to  be 
thoroughly  penitent  and  reconciled  to  his  doom,  the  prisoner  made 
several  attempts  to  break  jail,  the  last,  a  short  time  before  the 
day  fixed  for  his  execution,  by  the  Governor's  respite,  being  of  the 
most  desperate  and  brutal  character  in  this  wise:  Having 
wrenched  a  small  bar  of  iron  from  one  of  the  cell  doors,  he  fiercely 
assaulted  Sheriff  Jennings,  on  his  entering  the  jail.  Though 
Cooper  called  upon  the  other  prisoners  confined  in  the  jail  at  the 
time,  to  aid  him  in  his  desperate  undertaking,  to  their  credit  they 
refused  to  do  so,  and  the  Sheriff  hung  to  him  until  an  alarm  had 
been  sounded  upon  the  outside,  and  sufficient  assistance  secured 
to  prevent  the  accomplishment  of  his  bold  and  desperate  design. 
But  even  then  his  insubordination  continued,  for  when  Sheriff 
Jennings  sought  to  place  him  in  irons,  to  prevent  a  repetition  of 
his  savage  effort,  he  retreated  to  his  cell,  cursing  and  swearing 
like  a  pirate,  and  brandishing  a  knife,  which  he  had  in  some  man- 
ner possessed  himself  of,  swore  he  w^ould  kill  the  first  man  that 
attempted  to  enter  the  cell  door.  One  of  the  physicians  of  the  vil- 
lage was  called  in,  who,  by  means  of  a  small  syringe,  reduced  him 
to  insensibility  -with  chloroform,  and  while  thus  unconscious  he 
was  securely  ironed,  both  hand  and  foot,  and  kept  in  that  condition 
until  the  day  of  the  execution. 

Cooper  Finally  Executed. — On  April  27,  1866,  the  day  to 
Avhich  he  had  been  respited  by  Governor  Cox,  Jack  Cooper,  alias 
Samuel  Wittum,  w^as  successfully  executed  bj'^  Sheriff  Jennings 
and  his  assistants,  on  the  Summit  county  gallows,  upon  w^hich 
Parks  and  Dr.  Hughes,  at  Cleveland,  had  previously  been  hanged, 
and  on  which  Hunter  was  subsequently  hung  by  Sheriff  Curtiss 
in  this  county,  the  prisoner  making  a  long,  rambling  speech  from 
the  gallows,  which  cannot  be  repeated  here. 

In  accordance  with  the  sentence  Beery  \^ras  taken  to  the  peni- 
tentiary on  the  15th  day  of  February,  1866,  where  he  served  the 
State  faithfully  for  13  vears,  4  months  and  19  days,  dying  in  prison 
July  4,  1870. 

The  Roof-Musson  Homicide. — In  the  pleasant  village  of  Mog- 
adore,  there  lived,  in  1866,  upon  the  Suffield  side  of  the  line,  a  short 
distance  south  of  the  center,  the  family  of  Mr.  William  A.  Musson, 
a  wagon  maker  by  trade,  w^hose  shop  stands  a  few  rods  north  of 
the  center,  upon  the  Springfield  side  of  the  line.  Mrs.  Harriet 
Musson,  the  wife  of  William  A.  Musson,  was  a  sister  of  Hon.  John 
R,  and  Mr.  William  Buchtel,  of  Akron,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Musson  being 
held  in  the  very  highest  regard  by  all  their  neighbors  and  ac- 
quaintances. 

In  the  same  village,  but  upon  the  Springfield  side  of  the  line, 
lived  a  family  by  the  name  of  Roof — consisting  of  the  mother,  Mrs. 
Henry  Roof,  her  son,  Wilson  Shannon  Roof,  aged  about  20  years, 
Hannah  Roof,  aged  22  years  (a  helpless  cripple),  Hattie  Roof,  aged 
17  years,  and  Charlotte  Roof,  aged  about  15  years;  the  husband 
and  father,  Henry  Roof,  at  the  time  living  apart  from  the  family  in 
Medina  county.  Near  the  Roof  family,  as  above  constituted,  lived, 
at  the  time,  Mr,  Milton  Moore,  a  large  landholder  in  Portage 
county,  and  then,  also,  a  stockholder  in,  and  president  of,  the  City 
Bank  of  Akron,  Mrs.  Moore  being  a  cousin  of  Mrs.  Musson. 


THE    ROOF-MUSSON    HOMICIDE.  995 

Causes  Leading  to  the  Tragedy. — Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moore  had 
been  married  twelve  or  thirteen  years,  but  not  having  lived  hap- 
pily together  had  several  times  parted,  but  after  brief  separations 
had  as  often  become  reconciled,  until,  in  May,  1866,  they  made 
^what  was  understood  to  be  a  final  separation,  Mrs.  Moore  going  to 
low^a,  as  w^as  given  out,  to  remain  away  a  sufficient  length  of  time 
to  enable  her  husband  to  procure  a  bill  of  divorce  on  the  ground  of 
^' three  years  w^illful  absence."  Being  thus  left  to  himself,  Moore 
iirranged  with  Mrs.  Roof  to  do  his  washing,  and  with  Hattie  Roof 
to  tidy  up  his  room,  make  his  bed,  etc.  Hattie  had  previously, 
-when  Mrs.  Moore  w^as  at  home,  assisted  in  the  family  work,  but 
now^  that  Mrs.  Moore  was  away  permanently,  as  Mr.  Moore  sup- 
posed, his  relations  with  the  young  lady  became  more  intimate, 
.and  early  in  July  he  proposed  to  marry  her,  on  securing  his  con- 
templated divorce,  w^hich  proposition  w^as  accepted  by  the  young 
lady,  and  approved  of  by  her  mother.  From  this  time  on,  they  had 
frequent  interviews,  both  in  his  own  and  th^  mother's  house,  and 
on  one  occasion  visited  Cleveland  together,  Moore  having  also 
presented  her  w^ith  a  ring,  provided  her  w^ith  clothing  and  arrang- 
<id  for  her  to  attend  school  at  Hudson. 

The  Neighbors  Begin  to  Talk. — Of  course,  however  innocent, 
such  attentions  from  a  married  man  of  43,  to  a  young  girl  of  less 
than  18,  could  not  well  pass  unobserved,  and  the  neighbors  soon 
began  to  talk,  w^hich  talk  not  only  put  the  most  unfavorable  con- 
struction upon  the  intimacy  in  question,  but  was  also,  in  due  time, 
communicated  to  the  absent  Mrs.  Moore,  as  it  was  alleged,  by  her 
cousin,  Mrs.  Musson,  in  consequence  of  which  information,  as  is 
supposed,  the  former  lady  returned  unexpectedly  to  Mogadore  early 
in  November.  She  did  not,  how^ever,  immediately  return  to  her 
own  home,  or  the  home  of  her  husband,  but  for  a  week  or  tw^o 
visited  around  among  her  friends  in  the  neighborhood,  Mr.  Musson 
among  the  rest.  The  sudden  return  of  Mrs.  Moore,  and  the  con- 
tinued absence  from  the  "bed  and  board"  of  her  husband,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  materially  increased  the  talk  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, reflectirlg  not -only  upon  Moore,  himself,  but  also,  as  usual 
in  such  cases,  with  especial  virulence  upon  the  young  lady  upon 
whom  his  attentions  and  favors  were  being  so  lavishly  bestowed, 
as  well  as  her  mother  for  encouraging  the  same. 

A  Brother's  Desperation. — These  constant  culpatory  ani- 
madversions could  not  well  pass  unheard  and  unheeded  by  Wilson 
Shannon  Roof,  the  only  brother  of  the  young  lady  implicated. 
Young  Roof,  with  the  exception  of  one  year,  from  August,  1864, 
served  in  the  army,  had  been  employed  by  Mr.  Milton  C.  Purdy,  in 
his  pottery,  for  some  eight  or  nine  years,  and  had  been  as  steady 
and  faithful  as  the  general  run  of  boys  and  young  men  similarly 
employed.  Being,  however,  of  a  rather  impulsive  and  excitable 
turn  of  mind,  the  stories  in  circulation  regarding  the  chastity  of 
his  mother  and  sister,  became  very  irritating  to  him,  and  he  had 
several  talks  with  Moore  about  "settling"  with  the  slanderers,  he 
^Wilson)  not  knowing,  up  to  this  time,  anything  about  the  condi- 
tional marriage  engagement  between  Moore  and  his  sister,  or  of 
the  fact  that  Moore  w^as  furnishing  the  money  for  her  schooling  at 
Hudson. 

Thus  matters  stood  at  the  time  of  Mrs.  Moore's  return  from 
the  West,  early  in  November;  the  young  man's  anger  against  the 


996  AKRON   AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

supposed  defamers  of  his  sister,  including  Mrs.  Musson,  Mrs, 
Moore  and  several  others,  both  men  as  well  as  women,  became 
daily  intensified,  so  much  so  that  about  t^wo  weeks  .after  Mrs. 
Moore's  return  from  the  West,  he  threw  up  his  job  with  Mr, 
Purdy,  saying  to  Mr.  P.  that  he  had  no  ill-will  against  him,  but 
"would  have  revenge  on  the  slanderers  of  his  sister,"  About  thi» 
time,  also,  he  bought  a  navy  revolver,  and  seemed  to  be  shaping^ 
matters  to  leave  the  place. 

A  Fearful  Tragedy. — Things  were  in  this  condition  on  Mon- 
day morning,  November  26,  1866.  Mr.  Musson,  unconscious  of 
impending  calamity,  had  gone  to  ^vork  at  the  shop.  Mrs.  Musson 
had  gone  cheerfully  about  her  household  duties,  and  was  in  the 
kitchen  doing  up  her  weekly  washing,  accompanied  by  her  little 
4^-year-old  boy,  only.  About  10  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  of  that" 
day.  Roof  was  seen  by  several  of  the  neighbors  going  to  the  house 
of  Mr.  Musson,  which  stands  some  eight  or  ten  rods  back  from  the 
street,  though  little  dreaming  of  the  fearful  errand  on  which  he 
vsras  bound.  A  moment  after  he  had  entered  the  house,  two  dis- 
tinct reports  of  a  pistol  and  a  piercing  scream  from  that  directioHr 
at  once  drew  several  of  the  neighbors  to  the  spot,  who  found  Mrs. 
Musson  upon  the  floor  of  the  porch,  bleeding  copiously  from  a 
pistol  shot  wound;  the  ball  having  entered  her  right  side  between 
the  third  and  fourth  ribs,  passing  through  the  breast  and  lungs^ 
and  coming  out  between  the  fifth  and  sixth  ribs  upon  the  other 
side.  It  was  also  found  that  a  ball  had  been  lodged  in  the  window 
sill  of  the  room  in  which  Mrs.  Musson  had  been  at  work,  and  the 
general  theory  was  that  the  first  shot,  fired  while  she  was  bending- 
over  the  wash  tub,  had  missed  her  and  entered  the  window  sill  as 
stated,  while  the  fatal  shot  was  fired  as  she  rushed  to  the  porch 
door  upon  the  north  side  of  the  house,  and  screamed.  This  theory 
was  strengthened  by  the  statement  of  the  little  boy  that  "the  mati 
shot  his  mamma  two  times,"  though  the  physicians,  who  made 
the  post  mortem  examination,  were  of  the  opinion  that  but  one 
shot  had  been  fired. 

Consternation  of  the  People.^ — Mrs.  Musson,  though  seem- 
ingly conscious  when  the  first  neighbors  arrived,  was  unable  to 
speak  and  in  a  very  few^  minutes  expired.  As  a  matter  of  course, 
the  utmost  consternation  was  manifested  by  the  people  of  the  vil- 
lage, and  the  entire  surrounding  country,  as  the  news  of  the  assas- 
sination spread.  Such  was  the  excitement  that  nearly  an  hour 
elapsed  before  anything  was  done  towards  tracking  the  murderer, 
and  securing  his  arrest,  Mr.  M.  C.  Purdy  offered  a  reward  of  $2(X) 
for  his  capture,  Messrs.  John  R.  and  William  Buchtel,  brothers  of 
the  murdered  \voman,  afterward  assuming  the  same,  with  the 
addition  of  $300  thereto,  making  an  aggregate  reward  of  $500. 
Messengers  were  sent  to  Akron  and  other  points  to  notify  friends, 
and  head  him  off  by  telegraph.  In  his  flight  across  the  fields,  he 
met  Mr.  Michael  Mishler,  Jr.,  to  whom  he  stated  that  he  had  com- 
mitted a  murder,  and  that  if  it  hadn't  been  for  the  screaming  of 
the  boy  he  would  have  "cleaned  out  the  street."  A  mile  or  so 
further  on,  substantially  the  same  statement  was  made  to  two 
other  young  men,  but  both  they  and  Mr.  Mishler  thought  that  he 
was  joking. 

Tracking  the  Murderer — Capture,  Etc. — The  natural  inter- 
est of  the  people  of  the  vicinity,  together  with  the  large  reward 


TRACKING  THE   MURDERER.  997 

offered,  at  once  secured  an  active  search,  and  a  most  vigilant 
■watch  for  the  fugitive  all  over  the  country.  When  last  seen,  upon 
the  day  of  the  murder,  he  was  some  tw^o  miles  and  a  half  from  the 
scene  of  the  tragedy,  though  traced  some  distance  further,  and 
into  and  through  a  large  swamp  near  the  edge  of  the  township  of 
Rootstown,  when  the  track  was  lost.  On  Tuesday,  Dr.  J.  C.  Fer- 
guson and  several  others  again  got  upon  the  track,  and  traced  him 
for  some  distance,  the  fugitive  by  this  time  having  taken  a  south- 
easterly direction:  but  becoming  confused  by  the  conflicting 
stories  of  people  w^ho  claimed  to  have  seen  him,  again  lost  the 
track  and  returned  home.  On  Wednesday,  Sheriff  James  Burli- 
son,  visiting  Mogadore,  became  satisfied  that  the  doctor  had  been 
upon  the  right  track,  and  with  a  small  posse,  guided  by  the  doc- 
tor, started  out  on  horseback.  This  party  again  struck  the  trail 
early  in  the  afternoon,  and  tracked  him  into  a  swamp,  around 
■which  a  picket  guard  was  established  during  the  night.  In  the 
■darkness,  ho^wever,  he  eluded  the  pickets,  and  it  was  found  the 
next  morning  that  he  was  making  his  way  slowly,  in  a  zig-zag 
course,  towards  Alliance.  Sheriff  Burlison  and  his  party  were 
rapidly  gaining  on  him,  and  w^ould  undoubtedly  have  soon  secured 
the  prize,  but  for  the  fact  that  Mr.  James  Roath,  a  farmer,  living 
near  the  line  between  Portage  and  Stark  counties,  seeing  a  man 
pass  his  house  that  he  thought  ans^vered  the  description  w^hich  he 
had  read  of  the  murderer,  followed  after  him,  and  overtook  him  in 
the  township  of  Lexington,  Stark  county.  On  being  questioned 
by  Mr.  Roath,  Roof  stated  that  he  was  from  Medina  and  was 
going  to  Alliance,  but  on  being  requested  to  raise  his  hat.  Roof  at 
■once  succumbed,  and  delivered  to  Mr.  Roath  his  revolver,  fully 
loaded,  together  with  a  large  bowie-knife,  ammunition,  etc.  Mr. 
Roath  took  his  prisoner,  who  was  extremely  foot-sore,  and  very 
nearly  exhausted,  to  his  house,  where  he  was  given  food  and  other 
proper  attentions,  and  later  in  the  day,  assisted  by  a  neighbor  by 
the  name  of  William  Wiles,  he  w^as  taken  to  Lima  station,  and 
thence,  the  same  evening,  to  Ravenna,  and  placed  in  jail. 

Preliminary  Examination. — The  following  Saturday  the  pris- 
oner was  brought  before  Justice  Andrew  Jackson,  of  Ravenna,  for 
examination.  Prosecuting  Attorney  H.  H.  Willard,  of  Ravenna, 
and  J.  J.  Hall,  Esq.,  of  Akron,  representing  the  State  and  Alphonso 
Hart  and  C.  A,  Reed,  Esqs.,  appearing  for  the  defense.  A  full 
examination  was  had,  and  the  defendant  was  remanded  to  jail,  to 
await  the  action  of  the  Grand  Jury,  Coroner  Luther  H.  Parmelee, 
of  Kent,  having,  on  the  evening  of  the  murder,  held  an  inquest 
upon  the  bod}',  a  post  mortem  examination  being  had  by  Drs. 
Neeper  and  Ferguson,  of  Mogadore;  the  coroner's  jury  finding  that 
the  deceased  came  to  her  death  from  a  pistol  ball  fired  by  the  hand 
of  Wilson  Shannon  Roof.  Mrs.  Musson  was  36  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  her  death. 

Arrest  of  Mr.  Milton  Moore.— The  feeling  against  Mr.  Milton 
Moore  had  been  very  strong  from  the  start,  but  became  greatly 
intensified  from  the  repeated  utterances  of  Roof  that  Moore  had 
instigated  him  to  seek  revenge  upon  Mrs.  Musson  and  others  who 
had  circulated  slanderous  stories  about  his  mother  and  sister,  and 
their  relations  with  Moore.  These  utterances  w^ere  so  outspoken, 
and  the  circumstances  surrounding,  and  pertaining  to,  the  homi- 
cide, so  inculpating  that  the  authorities  of  Portage  county  deemed 


998  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

it  advisable  to  investigate  the  question  as  to  Moore's  complicity  iir 
the  dreadful  affair.  Roof,  and  a  number  of  other  witnesses  were 
therefore  brought  before  the  Grand  Jury,  by  Prosecuting  Attorney 
Willard,  at  the  March  term  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  1867, 
resulting  in  an  indictment  against  Roof  for  wailful  and  premedi- 
tated murder,  and  against  Moore  as  an  accomplice.  Moore  was 
thereupon  arrested  by  Sheriff  Henry  C.  Jennings,  on  the  11th  day 
of  March,  1867,  and  committed  to  the  jail  of  Portage  county,  but, 
in  consequence  of  repairs  that  w^ere  being  made  on  that  institu- 
tion, he  was,  within  a  few  days,  transferred  to  the  jail  of  Summit 
county. 

Released  on  $50,000  Bail — Trial,  Etc. — The  trial  of  Moore  wa& 
set  for  the  27th  day  of  May,  1868,  Judge  George  M.  Tuttle,  on  appli- 
cation of  Moore's  attorneys,  having  admitted  him  to  bail  in  the 
sum  of  $50,000,  the  bail  bond  being  signed  by  a  number  of  wealthy 
gentlemen  of  both  Portage  and  Summit  counties.  On  the  day 
appointed,  the  trial  w^as  begun  before  Judge  Tuttle.  The  State 
w^as  represented  by  Prosecuting  Attorney  Willard,  assisted  by  A. 
J.  Dyer,  George  Bliss,  John  McSw^eeney  and  Michael  Stuart,  and 
the  accused  was  defended  by  Ezra  B.  Taylor,  Samuel  W.  McClure 
and  John  J.  Hall.  The  trial  lasted  five  days  and  was  very  closely 
contested  upon  both  sides,  the  court  room  being  densely  packed 
with  intensely  interested  spectators  from  both  Portage  and  Sum- 
mit counties. 

Roof  Testifies  Against  Moore. — On  the  witness  stand  Roof 
related  a  number  of  interviews  between  Moore  and  himself  in 
regard  to  the  scandalous  talk  in  question,  the  last  intervie^v  being 
at  his  mother's  house  on  the  Saturday  preceding  the  murder.  Of 
this  interview,  and  the  commission  of  the  fatal  act  Roof  testified 
as  follows: 

"This  interview  lasted  three  quarters  of  an  hour.  I  told  Moore  I  had 
a  great  work  to  settle  these  slanders,  and  wanted  him  to  say  who  the  slan- 
derers were  ;  and  I  wanted  money,  for  I  intended  to  do  something-  that  I  would 
have  to  leave.  I  did  not  want  to  tell  him  just  what  or  how  I  proposed  to  do  , 
wanted  his  advice  and  assistance  as  I  had  no  money  at  my  command.  He 
repeated  his  charges  against  Mrs.  Moore  and  Mrs.  Musson.  I  asked  Moore 
if  he  did  not  think  I  had  better  give  them  the  devil.  He  said  '  I  think  you 
had.'  I  asked  him  if  J!  had  not  better  go  and  thrash  his  wife.  He  said  '  No, 
everybody  would  think  I  had  sent  you.'  The  names  of  Mrs.  Moore,  Mrs. 
Musson,  James  F.  Hope,  William  Hill  and  William  Russell  were  mentioned 
in  this  conversation.  In  reply  to  my  question,  he  said  I  had  better  go  to  his 
house  when  he  was  away.  Can't  say  which  said  go  to  Musson's  first,  then  to 
Moore's  then  to  town  among  the  men  in  the  shops.  Think  I  told  him  I  was 
going  arined  to  the  teeth.  Think  he  said  :  '  That's  right ;  make  a  clean  sweep;^ 
do  it  up  right.'  When  I  asked,  he  said.  'Go  to  my  house  when  I  am  away  ; 
tomorrow  I  shall  be  at  home ;  Monday  I  shall  go  to  Akron.'  I  told  Moore 
there  would  be  nothing  short  of  several  assaults,  and  I  would  have  to  leave 
and  must  have  money.  I  told  him  I  should  go  to  White  Hall,  111.,  but  never 
intended  to  go  there;  told  him  I  should  write  for  money ;  don't  remember 
what  he  replied." 

In  regard  to  the  killing  of  Mrs.  Musson,  Roof  testified: 

"  I  was  at  the  Corners  early.  Moore  came  north  and  turned  the  corner,, 
going  west.  He  looked  strongly  at  me ;  I  nodded  and  winked,  and 
tried  to  hold  my  coat  away  that  he  could  see  the  butt  of  the  pistol  which 
hung  in  my  belt.  I  waited  at  the  corners  as  I  did  in  accordance  with  an 
understanding  made  with  Moore  on  the  night  of  our  last  interview.  When 
Moore  had  gone  past,  I  knew  his  wife  was  alone.  I  went  to  Musson's  and 
rapped.  Mrs.  Musson  opened  the  door.  Drawing  the  revolver  I  asked  her  if 
she  knew  what  she  had  been  saying  about  iny  sister — I  had  coine  to  see- 


MR.  moore's  statement.  999 

about  it.  She  threw  up  her  hands  and  said,  'Oh,  don't; — my  God  !'  In  cock- 
ing the  pistol  my  thumb  slipped  off,  discharg-ing-  the  pistol ;  the  ball  entered 
the  breast,  I  thought ;  she  screamed  and  struck  at  me;  I  knocked  her  on  the 
head  with  the  butt  of  my  revolver;  I  pushed  her  around;  she  staggered 
against  the  window;  1  went  out  on  the  porch  and  removed  a  shingle  that  was 
in  the  window  and  shot  her  again." 

The  witness  was  subjected  to  long  and  severe  cross  examina- 
tion, but  generally  maintained  about  the  same  statement.  A 
number  of  other  witnesses  w^ere  examined  on  the  part  of  the  State, 
both  in  regard  to  the  killing  of  Mrs.  Musson,  and  the  actions  of 
Moore  and  Hattie  Roof,  among  the  rest  Mrs.  Roof,  the  mother  of 
Hattie  and  Wilson,  who  testified  to  the  intimacy  of  Moore  and  her 
daughter;  their  marriage  engagement;  their  visit  to  Cleveland;  the 
furnishing  of  money  by  Moore  to  fix  Hattie  up  for  school;  of 
Moore's  promise,  after  the  murder,  to  help  the  family  after  Wil- 
son's trial;  and  of  conversations  between  Moore  and  Wilson,  in 
regard  to  the  slanders  before  the  commission  of  the  murder. 

The  Story  of  Mr.  Moore. — The  testimony  for  the  State  hav- 
ing closed  at  10  o'clock  a.  m.,  on  the  third  day  of  the  trial,  the 
defense  called  and  had  sworn  forty-four  witnesses,  the  defendant 
also  going  upon  the  stand  and  testifying  in  his  own  behalf.  After 
a  number  of  witnesses  had  testified  to  various  declarations  of 
Roof  at  the  time  of  his  capture  and  afterwards,  that  he  alone  had 
committed  the  murder,  and  that  no  one  was  in  complicity  livith 
him,  and  also  to  Moore's  general  peaceable  character,  Moore  him- 
self testified,  giving  a  history  of  his  acquaintance  >vith  the  Roof 
family,  of  his  assisting  them  several  years  before,  while  the  hus- 
band and  father  was  in  California;  of  several  talks  with  Wilson 
about  the  slanders  that  were  being  circulated  against  Hattie,  and, 
on  his  threatening  to  kick  Henry  Saxe,  of  his  advising  him  not  to 
do  so,  or  anything  that  would  get  him  into  trouble;  though  at  Mrs. 
Roof's  Saturday  evening  before  the  murder,  did  not  see  Wilson; 
admitted  seeing  Wilson  at  the  corners  Monday  morning  as  he  w^as 
going  to  Akron,  but  paid  no  attention  to  him;  never  saw^  Wilson 
after  Thursday  until  Monday  morning;  denied  all  Wilson's  talk 
about  cleaning  out  the  town,  or  threatening  anyone  except  Henry 
Saxe,  etc. 

On  cross-examination  Moore  admitted  his  conditional  marriage 
engagement  w^ith  Hattie  Roof;  said  his  w^ife  \vent  West  with  the 
understanding  that  she  would  never  come  back,  and  that  he  would 
get  a  bill  of  divorce  from  her;  had  told  Hattie  that  it  would  take 
three  years  to  get  a  bill,  and  agreed  to  marry  her  if  his  wife  did 
not  come  back,  and  he  got  a  bill;  her  coming  back  w^as  unexpected: 
admitted  visiting  Cleveland  with  Hattie  and  registering  her  name 
at  hotel  as  Louisa  Wilson;  frequently  talked  with  Mrs.  Roof  about 
the  engagement;  never  told  Wilson  about  it;  couldn't  say  that  he 
sent  Hattie  to  school  at  Hudson;  but  if  her  mother  w^ould  send 
her  he  would  give  as  much  money  to  the  lame  girl  (Hannah)  as 
she  spent  on  Hattie;  gave  money  to  Mrs.  Roof  to  buy  clothes  for 
Hattie;  lived  with  his  wife  after  she  came  back;  told  Hattie  the 
game  ^vas  up  and  the  engagement  broken;  were  engaged  from 
July,  nearly  five  months;  during  this  time  secret  was  confined  to 
Mrs.  Roof  and  themselves;  to  all  appearances  Wilson  never  got 
into  the  secret;  the  boy  knew  nothing  of  it  to  the  best  of  his 
knowledge;  engagement  made  in  his  (Moore's)  sitting  room;  on 
Thursday  before  the   murder  called   at  Mrs.  Roof's;   the  old  lady 


1000  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT*   COUNTY. 

called  her  son  down;  lie  first  said  he  was  going  away;  did  not 
know  where,  and  wanted  to  deed  his  property — the  house— to 
Hannah;  said  before  going  he  would  see  some  of  the  folks  who  had 
slandered  the  family;  said  to  Wilson  his  sister  had  done  nothing 
w^rong,  let  the  matter  drop;  and  throughout,  both  in  the  direct  and 
cross-examination,  denied  holding  out  any  inducements,  or  giving 
any  encouragement  whatever,  to  Roof,  to  inflict  punishment,  or 
seek  revenge,  upon  any  person  or  persons  whatsoever. 

In  corroboration  of  Moore's  statement  the  lame  sister  of  Roof 
(Hannah)  testified  she  did  not  know  that  Moore  was  at  their  house 
on  the  Saturday  night  before  the  murder,  but  that  on  his  visit 
there  the  Thursday  previous,  though  sitting  in  another  room,  she 
did  hear  her  brother  Wilson  threaten  to  kick  Saxe,  and  heard 
Moore  tell  him  not  to  do  anything  that  would  bring  himself  or  the 
family  into  trouble. 

Arguments — Charge — Verdict. — On  the  fourth  day  of  the 
trial,  at  3:20  p.  m.,  both  parties  rested,  and  the  court  adjourned  for 
the  day.  On  Friday  morning.  May  31st,  at  8  o'clock,  the  argu- 
ments commenced.  Prosecuting  Attorney  Willard  opening  for  the 
State,  followed  by  Ezra  B.  Taylor  and  S.  W.  McClure  for  the 
defense,  and  concluded  by  John  McSweeney  for  the  prosecution, 
all  being  fine  efforts. 

The  arguments  closed  at  6:30  p.  m.,  and  Judge  Tuttle  proceeded 
immediately  to  charge  the  jury.  Retiring  to  their  room  at  half 
past  seven,  the  jury  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  summoned  the 
court  to  receive  their  verdict,  w^hich  was  that  the  defendant  Milton 
Moore,  "was  not  guilty  of  the  offense  as  charged  in  the  indictment, 
and  though  the  evidence  and  all  of  the  attendant  circumstances  of 
the  case,  showed  great  indiscretion  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Moore,  very 
few,  if  any,  questioned  the  righteousness  of  the  verdict,  for  those 
at  all  acquainted  w^ith  him,  and  vt^ith  his  peculiar  temperament 
and  traits  of  character,  would  hardly  believe  him  capable  of  inflict- 
ing personal  vengeance  or  injury,  on  any  human  being,  how^ever 
great  the  provocation,  either  by  his  own  hand,  or  by  proxy. 

Roof  Pleads  Guilty  to  Murder  in  the  Second  Degree. — At 
the  conclusion  of  the  above  long  and  exciting  trial,  Roof,  through 
his  counsel,  tendered  a  plea  of  guilty  of  murder  in  the  Second 
degree,  which  Prosecuting  Attorney  Willard  accepted,  feeling, 
possibly,  that  the  developments  in  the  case  just  tried  had  created 
a  general  feeling  of  commiseration  and  sympathy  for  the  accused, 
or  else,  remembering  the  surprise  of  himself  and  the  public  at  the 
verdict  of  the  jury  in  the  case  of  Beery,  a  few^  months  before,  that 
he  might  be  let  off  scot-free.  Judge  Tuttle  thereupon  immediately 
sentenced  the  self-confessed  slayer  of  Harriet  Musson — Wilson 
Shannon  Roof —  to  imprisonment  during  his  natural  life  in  the 
penitentiary  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  to  which  institution  he  was  con- 
veyed by  Sheriff  Jennings,  on  the  7th  day  of  June,  1867. 

Pardon  of  Roof — Subsequent  Life,  Etc. — Young  Roof  ac- 
cepted his  fate  w^ithout  a  murmur,  thoroughly  regretful  for  his 
fearful  crime,  and  conducted  himself,  after  his  incarceration,  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  secure  the  good-will  and  sympathy  of  his 
keepers  and  the  officers  of  the  prison,  who,  a  few  years  later, 
joined  his  friends  in  asking  Governor  Young  for  his  pardon, 
-which  was  granted  on  the  9th  day  of  January,  1878,  just  nine  years 
even  months  and  two  days  after  his  arrival  at  the  penitentiary. 


SPRINGFIELD   IN   PUBLIC   OFFICE.  1001 

Since  his  liberation  he  has  almost  continuously  resided  in 
Mogadore  industriously  >vorking,  for  the  most  of  the  time  at  his 
trade,  for  Myers  &  Hall,  potters,  of  that  village,  and  the  sole 
•dependence  of  his  widowed  mother  and  crippled  sister,  Hannah; 
his  father,  who  had  rejoined  his  family  soon  after  the  occurrences 
^bove  narrated,  dying  of  consumption  in  1876,  the  mother  dying 
December  21,  1889,  of  paralysis.  The  two  younger  sisters  are  hap- 
pily married — Hattie  being  the  faithful  wife  of  an  industrious  and 
prosperous  mechanic  in  this  city  and  the  mother  of  several 
children;  and  Lottie,  the  equally  faithful  \vife  of  a  former  Akron 
mechanic,  now  residing  in  Colorado. 

Mr.  Moore's  Later  Life. — Of  course,  the  transactions  herein 
above  narrated,  attached  a  certain  degree  of  odium  to  the  reputa- 
tion of  Mr.  Moore,  not  only  affecting  his  social  standing,  but  his 
pecuniary  status,  also;  while  his  family  relations  continued  to 
grow  more  and  more  inharmonious  from  year  to  year,  culminating 
in  final  separation  from  his  wife  in  1878.  The  large  expense 
incurred  in  his  defense  w^ith  other  losses  and  sacrifices  incident  to 
his  domestic  and  business  troubles,  resulted  in  utter  financial 
prostration  for  several  years,  though  the  w^riterhas  gladly  learned, 
through  a  friend  well  informed  upon  the  subject,  that  he  is  at 
present  engaged  in  an  enterprise  that  bids  fair,  should  his  life  be 
spared,  to  place  him  upon  his  financial  feet  again  w^ithin  a  very 
few  years. 

SPRINGFIELD'S  CIVIL  ROSTER. 

Without  reverting  to  whatever  of  civil  honors  may  have  fallen 
to  Springfield  under  the  earlier  rule  of  Trumbull  and  Portage 
counties,  it  will  be  seen  that  she  has  played  quite  a  conspicuous 
part  in  the  official  affairs  of  Summit  county,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  she  has  never,  in  a  single  instance,  at  a  general  election,  cast 
a  majority  vote  for  the  political  party  through  whom  the  offices 
have  been  bestowed. 

Henry  G.  Weaver,  an  intelligent  and  prosperous  farmer,  of 
Springfield,  was  elected  in  October,  1840,  as  Summit  county's  first 
representative  to  the  State  Legislature,  serving  one  year. 

Henry  G.  Weaver,  was  elected  county  commissioner,  in 
1845,  and  re-elected  in  1848,  holding  the  position  six  years. 

Henry  Purdy,  then  an  enterprising  manufacturer  of  stone- 
w^are,  at  the  center  of  Springfield,  w^as  elected  county  recorder  in 
October,  1852,  and  re-elected  October,  1855,  for  six  years  faithfully 
and  courteously  serving  his  constituents  in  that  important  office; 
since  which  time  Mr.  Purdy  has  filled  the  office  of  mayor  of  the 
village  and  city  of  Akron,  four  years,  and  has  held  the  office  of 
justice  of  the  peace  for  Portage  township,  w^ith  an  interregnum  of 
a  single  term  only,  since  June  1,  1868,  until  his  resignation  about 
three  years  ago.     Portrait  and  biography  on  page  56. 

Doctor  Mendal  Jewett,  then  living  in  Mogadore,  was  in 
October,  1855,  elected  representative  to  the  State  Legislature,  for 
two  years  making  a  very  useful  member  of  that  body,  indeed. 
Portrait  and  biography  on  page  264. 

John  S.  Gilcrest,  in  October,  1856,  was  elected  county  com- 
missioner, and  re-elected  in  1859,  giving  to  that  responsible  posi- 
tion six  years  of  good  and  faithful  service. 


1002  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Mills  B.  Purdy,  a  native  of  Springfield,  but  for  the  past 
thirty-five  years  a  resident  of  Akron,  served  as  city  clerk  of  Akron 
six  consecutive  years — 1868  to  1873,  inclusive. 

James  Alexander  Lantz,  also  of  Springfield  origin^  who  as  a 
member  of  the  gallant  67th  Regiment,  O.  V.  I.,  lost  an  arm  in  the 
service  of  his  country,  was  elected  county  recorder  in  October^ 
1864,  and  re-elected  in  1867,  making  a  first-class  officer  for  six  con- 
secutive years. 

Jacob  Mishler,  of  Springfi.eld,  was  elected  county  surveyor  in 
October,  1873,  and  after  having  qualified  as  such  resigned  the 
position  before  entering  upon  its  duties. 

King  J.  Ellet,  born  in  Springfield,  December  27,  1831,  and  one 
of  the  solid  men  of  the  toAvnship,  was  elected  county  commis- 
sioner in  October,  1883,  and  re-elected  in  1886,  his  six  years'  incum- 
bency being  in  every  Tvay  efficient  and  satisfactory  to  his 
constituents.  Mr.  Ellet  afterwards  for  a  time  being  one  of  the 
trustees  for  the  Summit  County  Children's  Home. 

Joseph  Moore,  a  long  time  resident  of  Springfield,  but  since 
1868  a  citizen  of  Akron,  besides  serving  as  the  assessor  for  l^is 
w^ard,  and  as  city  school  enumerator  for  many  years  past,  has 
officiated  as  a  county  infirmary  director,  since  1887,  being  now 
president  of  the  board. 

Hon.  Thomas  Wright,  a  resident  of  Springfield  for  over  half  a 
century,  and  one  of  its  most  intelligent  and  prosperous  farmers^ 
was  elected  as  one  of  Summit  county's  representatives  to  the  State 
Legislature,  on  the  Republican  ticket,  in  November,  1889,  ably 
serving  his  constituents  in  that  body  through  the  sessions  of  1889,. 
'90  and  1890,  '91. 

SPRINGFIKLD'S  PRESENT   OFFICIAL  STATUS  (1891), 

Trustees,  Jacob  Krumroy,  Jacob  Mumaw,  and  William 
McClelland;  clerk,  O.  J.  Swinehart;  treasurer,  Thomas  J.  Gilcrest^ 
justices  of  the  peace,  James  A.  Stetler  and  Benjamin  W.  Bixter; 
constables,  John  Powers  and  William  Boam;  postmasters,^ 
Krumroy,  H.  L.  Wagoner;  Thomastown,  Conrad  Huber;  Brittain, 
John  Brittain;  North  Springfield,  Ira  Machimer;  Mogadore^ 
Henry  Gates. 


CHAPTER    XLVIII. 


STOW  TOWNSHIP— HISTORICAL  AND  INCIDENTAL— FIKST  FOURTH  OF  JULY 
CELEBRATION  ON  THE  WESTERN  RESERVE— "  STOW  CASTLE  "—A  PIONEER 
"MIRACLE"  — EARLY  SETTLERS,  ORGANIZATION,  ETC.  —  TOPOGRAPHICAL 
AND  HYDRAULIC— TERRIBLE  AND  FATAL  TORNADO— FOUR  MEMBERS  OF 
ONE  FAMILY  INSTANTLY  KILLED —  INDUSTRIAL  RESOURCES  — INDIANS, 
BEARS,  RATTLESNAKES,  ETC.— VITAL  STATISTICS— EDUCATION,  MORALITY, 
RELIGION,  ETC.— STOW'S  HONORABLE  WAR  RECORD— TERRIBLE  EPISODE 
OF  THE  REBELLION— TWO  CITIZENS  SHOT  TO  DEATH  BY  AN  INFURIATED 
NEIGHBOR— EXCITEMENT  OF  THE  PEOPLE— WOUNDING  AND  CAPTURE  OF 
THE  HOMICIDE-  INDICTMENT,  TRIAL  AND  CONVICTION  -LIFE  SENTENCE — 
PARDON,  SUBSEQUENT  LIFE,  DEATH,  ETC.— SOMETHING  ABOUT  THE  MEN 
KILLED  AND  THEIR  FAMILIES— STOW'S  CIVIL  RECORD,  ETC. 

STOW'S    BEGINNING. 


IN  the  distribution  of  the  lands  of  the  Connecticut  Land  Com- 
pany, by  draft,  as  elsewhere  explained,  Tow^nship  3,  Range  10, 
fell  to  Joshua  Stow^,  of  Middletown,  Connecticut — hence  the  name. 
Mr.  Stow,  whose  portrait  taken  from  an  original  painting  in  pos- 
session of  relatives  in  Middletown, 
Connecticut,  is  herewith  given,  was 
a  member  of  the  first  exploring 
party,  sent  out  by  the  company,  in 
1796,  consisting  of  forty-five  men, 
two  w^omen  and  one  child.  This 
party,  making  the  journey  princi- 
pally by  w^ater,  in  small  portable 
boats,  j^ia  Lakes  Ontario  and  Brie, 
and  contiguous  rivers,  landed  at  the 
mouth  of  Conneaut  river,  in  the 
extreme  northeastern  part  of  the 
State,  on  the  morning  of  the  fourth 
day  of  July,  1796. 

Here,  an  impromptu  dual  cele- 
bration— the  National  Independence 
and  the  safe  arrival  of  the  party  at 
their  destination  —  w^as  held,  con- 
sisting of  a  national  salute,  with 
such  fire-arms  as  they  possessed, 
martial  and  vocal  music,  toasts,  speeches,  poetry,  etc.,  which  was 
undoubtedly  the  first  celebration  of  that  character  upon  the 
Western  Reserve. 

A  Pioneer  Miracle. — Of  this  party  Mr.  Stow  was  Commissary 
General,  it  being  his  duty  to  provide  boats  and  proper  equipments, 
arms  and  ammunition,  necessary  tools  and  implements,  blankets, 
provisions  and  other  supplies.  For  the  proper  keeping  of  these 
supplies,  a  block-house  was  built  near  the  landing  at  Conneaut. 
This  house,  in  honor  of  the  commissary,  was,  by  common  consent, 
named  "Stow  Castle." 


JOSHUA   STOW. 


1004 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Among  the  supposed  to  be  indispensable  items  of  supply,  in 
those  early  days,  in  any  enterprise-^from  church-building  to  boat- 
ing— was  whiskj',  a  goodly  quantity  ot  which,  of  course,  had  been 
provided  for  the  expedition  in  question,  by  Commissary  Stow^.  So 
long  a  time  had  been  spent  upon  the  journey,  and  the  difficulties 
of  transportation  being  so  great.  Commissary  Stow^,  fearing  that 
this  prime  "  necessary  of  life  "  would  run  short  before  a  fresh  supply 
could  be  obtained,  had  adopted  the  plan  of  surreptitiously  increas- 
ing the  volume,  by  decreasing  the  strength,  realizing  w^hich,  the 
poet  of  the  party.  General  Moses  Cleveland,  one  of  the  directors  of 
the  company,  and  the  founder  of  the  present  magnificent  city 
bearing  his  name,  improvised  the  following  couplet  as  appropriate 
to  the  situation: 

"Christ,  the  divine,  turned  water  into  wine; 
Joshua,  the  boater,  turned  whisky  into  water." 


T  TLYSSES  MARVIN,  —  born  in 
yJ-  Lynn,  Connecticut,  April  11, 1801; 
common  school  education ;  at  17 
comtnenced  to  learn  chair-making,  at 
Middletown,  but  afterwards  learned 
the  fulling-  and  cloth-dressing-  trade  ; 
May  1,  1822,  was  married  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Bradley,  of  Middletown, 
•establishing'  a  woolen  mill  in  Lynn  ; 
in  1829,  moved  to  Ohio,  settling-  on  an 
uncultivated  farin  in  Stow,  which  he 
largely  cleared  and  cixltivated  with 
his  own  hands,  also  doing  consider- 
able work  in  the  neighborhood  at 
painting-,  an  inkling  of  which  busi- 
ness he  obtained  while  working  at 
the  chair  business  in  Connecticut. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Marvin  had  six  children 
- — Arba  Bradley,  now  in  Dane  county, 
Wisconsin  ;  Jane  Elizabeth,  luarried 
to  S.  C.  Weeks,  of  Stow,  died  in  March, 
1854 ;  Sophronia,  married  to  H.  C. 
Wilcox,  now  living-  in  Granger; 
Asahel  M.,  died  in  1850,  aged  17 ; 
Chloe  B.,  wife  of  Milton  C.  Danforth, 
of  Hudson  ;  Ulysses  Leslie,  ex-judge 
•of  Summit  county,  now  practicing 
law  in  Akron,  whose  portrait  and 
biography  appear  elsewhere.  Mr. 
Marvin  was  for  over  thirtj'-five  years 
an    overseer    in     the    Stow    Disciple 


ULYSSES  MARVIN. 


Church,  and  often  served  as  township 
trustee,  assessor,  etc.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Marvin  lived  together  over  sixty-two 
years,  Mrs.  Marvin  dj'ing,  June  28, 
1884,  aged  84  years,  and  Mr.  Marvin, 
May  11,  1887,  aged  86  years  and  one 
month. 


Starvation  in  the  Wilderness. — Shortly  after  the  arrival  of 
this  party  at  Conneaut,  came  Judge  James  Kingsbury,  from  the 
State  of  NcAv  York.  While,  in  pursuance  of  his  w^ork,  General 
Cleveland  during  the  Summer  removed  his  supplies  to  the  site  of 
his  contemplated  city,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga,  Judge 
Kingsbury  remained  with  his  family  at  Conneaut.  Business  requir- 
ing him  to  return  to  New  York,  in  the  early  Autumn,  he  left  his 
family  in  their  comfortable  log  cabin,  with  ample  subsistence  to 
last  until  his  anticipated  speedy  return.  Unfortunately,  however, 
he  was  taken  sick  and  detained  until  the  setting  in  of  Winter.  As 
soon  as  able  to  travel,  he  started  on  horseback,  hiring  an  Indian 
guide  at  Buffalo,  and  purchasing  a  25  pound  sack  of  flour  at 
J^resque  Isle  (Erie,  Pa.)   which,  on  the  giving  out  of  his  horse,  at 


STOW'S   PIONEER   SETTLERS. 


1005 


Elk  Creek,  he  strapped  upon  his  own  back,  and,  with  gloomy  fore- 
boding as  to  the  fate  of  his  loved  ones,  pushed  forward  on  foot. 
On  reaching  his  cabin,  he  found  his  wife  and  elder  children  in  the 
last  stages  of  starvation,  and  the  infant,  born  in  his  absence,  lying 
dead  for  want  of  proper  nourishment— ^literally  starved  to  death. 
Judge  Kingsbury  afterwards  settled  in  Newburg,  and  was  for 
many  years  an  influential  citizen  of  Cuyahoga  county. 


MOSES  D.  CALL,— born  in  Merri- 
mac  county,  New  Hampshire, 
July  12,  1815 ;  raised  on  farm  with 
cominon  school  education  ;  in  1835, 
went  to  Boston,  Massachusetts,  and 
engaged  in  baking ;  in  1838,  started 
for  Peoria,  Illinois,  but  stopping  to 
visit  friends  in  what  is  now  Summit 
count3^  finally  concluded  to  settle 
here ;  followed  coopering  fifteen 
years,  teaching,  Winters,  the  first  five 
years.  November  17.  1842,  Mr.  Call 
was  married  to  Miss  Harriet  M.  Starr, 
daughter  of  Josiah  Starr,  who  settled 
in  Stow,  in  1804.  In  1859,  Mr.  Call  pur- 
chased the  188  acre  farm,  which  he 
successfully  cultivated  until  his 
death,  March  24, 1891,  at  the  age  of  75 
years,  8  months  and  12  days,  having 
also,  for  nearly  twenty-five  years, 
been  the  principal  owner  and  mana- 
ger of  the  Hudson  cheese  factory. 
He  held  the  office  of  justice  of  the 
peace  forty-seven  consecutive  years, 
and  the  responsible  office  of  county 
commissioner  two  full  terms — 1877  to 
1883.  An  earnest  Republican,  Mr. 
Call  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of 
the  Union  during  the  slave-holders' 
rebellion,  and  was,  through  life,  a 
liberal  supporter  of  the  educational 
and  benevolent  enterprises  of  the 
day.      Mrs.   Call    died  June   26,  1886, 


MOSES.    D.   CALL. 

aged  67  years,  9  months  and  one  day. 
Their  children  are  —  Mary  L.,  now 
Mrs.  George  H.  O'Brien,  of  Akron  ; 
Emma  A.,  Mrs.  Edward  A.  Seasons, 
of  Stow ;  Ella  J.,  Mrs.  Lafayette  Dar- 
row,  of  Stow ;  and  Charles  A.,  now 
living  on  and  working  the  home 
farm. 


First  Actual  Settlers. — Although  Mr.  Stow  made  thirteen 
trips  from  Connecticut  to  Ohio,  and  back,  on  horseback,  in  looking 
after  the  interests  of  the  tow^nship  bearing  his  name,  he  never 
became  a  resident  of  the  township,  as  erroneously  stated  by  pre- 
vious local  historians.  In  1804,  Mr.  William  Wetmore,  (father  of 
Henry  Wetmore,  Esq.,  still  living  (1891)  hale  and  hearty  at  the  age 
of  90,  in  Cuyahoga  Falls),  also  from  Middletown,  as  the  agent  of 
Mr.  Stow,  made  a  permanent  settlement  in  the  township,  building 
his  house  at  the  exact  geographical  center,  which  is  half  a  mile 
•north  of  what,  since  the  earliest  settlement,  has  been  known  as 
"Stow  Corners ;"  and  being  the  second  house  erected  in  the  town- 
ship, the  first  having  been  built  in  July,  1802,  by  Mr.  William 
Walker,  from  Virginia,  who  had  squatted  on  lot  89  in  the  north- 
eastern portion  of  the  township,  where,  afterwards  purchasing  the 
same,  he  resided  until  his  death,  and  where  his  descendants  still 
live,  his  brother  Robert,  and  a  sister,  afterw^ards  married  to  Joshua 
Stewart,  coming  at  the  same  time. 

Mr.  Wetmore,  on  his  arrival  (1804)  employed  Joseph  Darrow, 
who  came  to  Ohio  with  David  Hudson,  in  1799,  to  survey  the  town- 
ship into  lots,  which  was  successfully  accomplished  during  that 


1006 


AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


year.  Captain  Gregory  Powers,  father  of  the  late  Senator  Gregory 
Powers,  Jr.,  of  Middlebury,  and  the  maternal  grandfather  of 
Akron's  second  mayor,  John  C.  Singletary,  Esq.,  now  (1891)  still 
living  in  Streetsboro,  Portage  county,  and  Mr.  John  Campbell,  both 
also  from  Middletown,  with  their  respective  families,  came  in  this 
year  (1804),  the  former  building  his  cabin  on  lot  85,  near  what  is 
designated  as  Powers'  Brook;  the  latter  at  first  settling  near  the 
Corners  and  afterwards  upon  Fish  Creek;  these  parties  coming, 
via  the  Susquehanna  and  Allegheny  rivers  to  Pittsburg,  and  from 
thence  to  Warren,  by  the  zig-zag  path  cut  by  General  Simon  Per- 
kins, and  thence,  through  the  unbroken  wilderness  to  their  destin- 
ation. 


HON.  FRANK  M.  GREEN,  — born 
in  Norton,  September  28,  1836; 
reared  to  occupation  of  farmer ;  edu- 
cated in  district  schools,  and  Western 
Reserve  Eclectic  Institute,  at  Hiram; 
teacher  froin  1855  to  1863,  since  inainly 
devoting  himself  to  preaching  as  a 
minister  among  the  Disciples  of 
Christ,  filling-,  at  different  times,  the 
responsible  •  positions  of  general 
missioharj^,  secretary,  editor  and 
author,  Bethany  College,  in  1884,  con- 
ferring upon  him  the  honorary 
degree  of  Master  of  Letters.  An 
ardent  Republican,  Mr.  Green  ably 
represented  Summit  county  in  the 
67thGeneral  Assembly— 1886,  '87.  For 
the  past  sixteen  years,  Mr.  Green  has 
resided  in  Stow,  his  venerable  father, 
Rev.  Philander  Green  (who,  with  his 
father,  Samuel  Green,  emigrated  from 
Connecticut  to  Ohio,  in  1810),  now  in 
his  81st  year,  also  residing  there. 
March  11,  1862,  Mr.  Green  was  married 
to  Miss  Ellen  E.  Stow,  whose  father, 
Albert  C.  Stow,  was  born  in  Stow 
township,  July  5,  1810.  Five  children 
have  been  born  to  them — Lurie,  now 
Mrs.  E.  S.  Wetmore,  of  Stow,  born 
December  26,  1862  ;  Fannie,  now  Mrs. 
W.  J.  Cox,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Decem- 


HON.  FRANK   M.  GREEN. 

ber  10,  1861;  Mary  Tarissa,  January 
26,  1867,  died  February  14,  1881 ;  Frank 
Albert,  now  student  in  Hirain  Col- 
lege, December  7,  1868 ;  and  Daisy 
Almira,  September  30,  1871,  now  Mrs. 
William  R.  Hillyard,  of  Cleveland. 


Subsequent  Comers. — Our  limited  space  will  only  permit  the 
barest  mention  of  those,  nearly  all  from  Middletow^n,  w^ho  followed 
the  foregoing,  in  rapid  succession,  as  permanent  settlers  in  Stow 
township,  and  in  this  we  are  unable  to  mention  all,  or  to  give  the 
order  of  their  arrival,  or  their  several  domiciliary  locations. 

But  among  the  names  now  accessible  to  the  writer,  may  be 
mentioned  the  folloAving:  Titus  Wetmore,  Thomas  Rice,  Josiah 
Starr,  John  Gaylord,  Adam  Steele,  George  Darrow,  John  Sadler, 
John  Arbuckle,  William  Leach,  Joseph  Harmon,  William  Lappin, 
Elkanah  Richardson,  Jacob  Cochran,  Samuel  Burnett,  Samuel 
Baker,  Frederick  Victor,  Caleb  Wetmore,  Isaac  Wilcox,  Ira  Kelso, 
Francis  Kelsey,  Constance  Rogers,  Samuel  Cheney,  Stephen  But- 
ler, Jonathan  Gaylord,  David  Ruggles,  Erastus  Southmayd,  Bemus 
Hamilton,  William  McClelland,  James  Dailey,  Thomas  and  Isaac 
Steele,  and  a  few  years  later,  Thomas  Gaylord,  John  Sawyer,  John 
Blackman,  Henry  Kenyon,  Doctor  Spalding,  Andrew  Rich,  Jacob 


ORGANIZATION,  TOPOGRAPHICAL,  ETC.  1007 

Richmond,  Kzra  Wyatt,  Ward,  Hubbard  and  John  Pendleton,  John 
Graham,  Timothy  Brainard,  Virgil  M.  Thompson,  David  Strong, 
William  Galloway,  Ira  Barnes,  William  Hibbard,  Ethe  Wetmore, 
Arthur  Sadler,  James  Smith,  Noel  Beckley,  George  Hartle,  Chaun- 
cey  Lowery,  John  Kemp,  Mr.  McAvoy,  Jesse  Pratt,  David  Sanger, 
William  Stow,  Frederick  Sanford,  Orrin  Gilbert,  Henry  O'Brien, 
Frederick  Wolcott,  Rowland  Clapp,  Palmer  Williamson,  etc. 

Organization,  Etc. — Stow  was  at  first  attached  to  Hudson,  in 
township  organization,  both  being  then  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
of  Trumbull  county,  Mr.  William  Wetmore  being  elected  and  offi- 
ciating as  justice  of  the  peace  for  the  Stow  portion  of  the  combina- 
tion. On  the  passage,  in  1807,  of  the  act  erecting  the  county  of 
Portage,  William  Wetmore  Esq.,  of  Stow^,  was  named  as  one  of  the 
associate  judges  of  the  new  county,  taking  his  seat  upon  the 
bench  at  the  first  term  of  the  court,  at  Ravenna,  August  23,  1808, 
Judge  Calvin  Pease  being  the  presiding  judge,  and  Aaron  Norton 
and  Amzi  Atwater  the  two  other  associate  judges.  Judge  Wet- 
more seems  to  have  possessed  great  versality  of  talent,  as  well  as 
what  in  modern  times  would  be  called  "  push,"  for  it  appears  in 
the  records  in  his  own  writing,  that  in  addition  to  his  duties  as 
judge,  in  the  absence  of  a  regularly  appointed  clerk  (clerks  then 
being  appointed  by  the  courts),  the  functions  of  that  office  were 
performed,  ex  officio,  by  Judge  Wetmore,  until  and  including  the 
December  term,  1809,  near  the  close  of  which  he  was  regularly 
appointed  clerk  by  the  other  members  of  the  bench,  being  suc- 
ceeded as  judge,  at  the  ensuing  term,  by  Samuel  Forw^ard,  Esq. 

The  first  recorder  for  Portage  county  was  Mr.  Titus  Wetmore, 
brother  of  the  judge,  but  the  records  of  deeds,  mortgages,  etc., 
during  his  brother's  incumbency,  commencing  July  2,  1808,  and 
ending  August  23,  1810,  are  in  the  neat  and  uniform  handw^riting 
of  the  judge,  who,  at  the  latter  date,  succeeded  to  the  recordership 
himself,  which  official  position,  together  with  that  of  clerk,  he 
seems  to  have  filled  until  February  25,  1813,  at  about  which  date 
Judge  Wetmore  was  appointed  commissary  in  the  army,  under 
General  Elijah  Wadsworth,  w^ith  headquarters  at  Old  Portage, 
serving  in  that  capacity  until  the  close  of  the  War.  On  receiving 
this  appointment,  Mr.  Wetmore  moved  back  to  Stow,  after  the 
close  of  the  War,  about  1815,  building  the  commodious  house  now 
standing,  immediately  east  of  Silver  Lake. 

The  township  of  Stow  w^as  organized  the  same  year  as  Port- 
age county  was  (1808),  but  there  is  no  record  now  extant,  as  to  who 
its  early  officers  w^ere,  though  Judge  Wetmore,  except  while  living 
in  Ravenna,  continued  to  exercise  the  functions  of  justice  of  the 
peace  for  many  years,  the  judge,  by  his  intelligence,  uprightness 
and  enterprise,  very  largely  promoting  the  settlement,  and  the 
material,  educational  and  moral  interests  of  the  tow^nship,  his 
death  occurring  October  27,  1827,  at  the  age  of  56  years. 

Topographical,  Hydraulic,  Etc. — In  point  of  topographic 
and  hydrographic  advantages,  fertility  of  soil,  etc..  Stow  may  be 
regarded  as  one  of  the  very  best  townships  of  Summit  county. 
With  a  rolling,  but  in  no  w^ise  hilly,  surface;  with  the  Cuyahoga 
river  traversing  its  entire  southern  border;  Silver  Lake  (formerly 
Stow  Pond),  with  a  circumference  of  nearly  three  miles,  a  little 
southwest  of  the  Center;  Crystal  Lake  (formerly  Cochran's  Pond), 
a  short    distance  to  the  northwest;  Turtle  Lake  (originally   Mud 


1008  AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Pond),  in  the  northwest  part  of  the  township;  Walnut  creek  at 
Stow^  Corners  (forming  at  that  place  a  romantic  gorge  in  its 
descent  to  the  river);  Kelsey  creek,  or  Wilcox  run,  entering  the 
river  from  the  south,  below  Munroe  Falls;  Fish  creek,  entering 
the  river  from  the  north,  in  the  east  part  of  the  township;  Powers 
brook  and  Mud  brook  in  the  north,  finding  their  way  through 
Northampton  to  the  river,  near  Old  Portage,  a  great  abundance  of 
water  for  agricultural  and  mechanical  purposes  is  furnished, 
without  any  appreciable  amount  of  contiguous  w^aste  land,  as  in 
some  of  the  other  largely  w^atered  localities  of  the  county. 

Both  Silver  Lake,  Crystal  Lake  and  Turtle  Lake,  are  beau- 
tiful bodies  of  water,  the  two  former  entirely  fed  from  springs, 
neither  having  any  visible  feeder,  while  each  has  quite  a  copious 
outlet,  the  former  flowing  into  the  river  below  Munroe  Falls  and 
the  latter  being  a  tributary  to  Mud  Brook.  Silver  Lake,  always  a 
favorite  locality  for  both  the  Indians  and  their  pale-faced  suc- 
cessors, has  of  late  years  attained  a  state- wide  repute  as  a  Summer 
resort.  Of  abundant 'depth — in  some  places  from  seventy-five  to 
eighty  feet — to  float  the  good-sized  steamboat  which  has  been 
plying  its  waters  for  several  years;  w^ith  its  beautiful  grove,  upon 
its  western  border,  tastefully  fitted  up  with  conveniences  for  shel- 
tering and  feeding  the  multitude,  and  w^ith  a  good  carriage  road, 
and  a  railroad  station  in  close  proximity,  it  is  now^,  under  its 
present  proprietor,  Mr.  Ralph  H.  Lodge,  one  of  the  most  popular 
pleasure  resorts  in  Northern  Ohio. 

Industrial  Stow. — By  referring  to  the  maps,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  village  of  Munroe  Falls,  and  quite  a  large  part  of  the 
village  and  township  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  lie  within  the  original 
boundaries  of  Stow  township,  both  affording  large  manufacturing 
facilities,  that  should,  perhaps,  be  credited  to  Stow,  but  which 
being  alluded  to  in  connection  with  those  villages,  need  not  be 
repeated  here.  In  addition  to  various  w^orks  at  those  points, 
during  the  pioneer  period,  there  were  several  early  saw^-mills  in 
different  parts  of  the  township,  the  earliest  in  1808,  by  Ezra  Wyatt, 
on  eighty  acres  of  land  donated  to  him  for  that  purpose,  by  Judge 
Wetmore,  near  the  present  site  of  the  Cliff  house  at  Stow  Corners, 
but  w^hich  w^as  dismantled  in  the  early  twenties  by  reason  of  the 
failure  of  the  waters  of  that  stream;  one  upon  Mud  Brook,  built  by 
Joshua  Stewart  prior  to  1820,  and  for  many  years  operated  by  Mr. 
Henry  Wilcox;  one  on  Fish  Creek  and  a  number  of  others,  w^hich 
by  reason  af  the  clearing  up  of  adjacent  timber  lands,  and  the  con- 
sequent diminution  of  the  water  in  those  streams,  were  long  ago 
dismantled,  and  the  sites  of  some  of  them  are  scarcely  known  to 
the  present  "oldest  inhabitant"  of  the  tow^nship^ — portable  saw- 
mills now  doing  such  occasional  local  work  as  may  be  needed  in 
that  line.  That  modern  lacteal  institution,  the  cheese  factory, 
how^ever,  has  for  several  years  been  a  prominent  industrial  feature 
of  the  neighborhood,  several  of  w^hich,  in  different  localities  acces- 
sible to  suitable  streams  of  w^aters,  for  cooling  and  cleansing  pur- 
poses, afford  a  ready  (though  perhaps  not  always  very  profitable) 
market  for  the  milk  product  of  the  adjacent  farms.  The  soil  may 
be  generally  called  a  clayey  loam — though  in  some  places 
approaching  to  sandy — and  adapted  to  every  variety  of  farm  and 
garden  vegetables  and  grain,  but  especially  favorable  to  stock 
growing  and  fruit. 


WHISKY,    EDUCATION,    RELIGION.  1009 

In  this  connection  the  fact  should  not  be  omitted,  that  among 
the  very  earliest  of  Stow's  supposed  to  be  indepensable  industries 
w^as  the  whisky  distillery.  Army  regulations,  at  that  day, 
requiring  that  one  gill  of  grog  per  day  should  be  dealt  out  to  each 
soldier,  and  as  the  whisky  used  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the 
troops  at  Old  Portage,  and  contiguous  points,  had  to  be  trans- 
ported at  heavy  expense  from  Pittsburg,  Commissar^'  Wetmore,  in 
1812  or  1813,  erected  a  distillery  upon  the  east  side  of  Stow^  Pond 
(now  Silver  Lake)  in  which  Mr.  John  Graham,  w^ho  had  w^orked  at 
the  business  in  Scotland,  was  emplo3'ed  as  distiller.  After  the 
close  of  the  war,  to  supply  the  demand  caused  by  increased  immi- 
gration, Mr.  Graham  built  a  distillery  for  himself  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  river  near  the  present  village  of  Munroe  Falls,  two 
others  being  built  in  other  portions  of  the  township  about  the 
same  time.  Though  these  establishments  were  quite  profitable, 
and  at  that  time  universally  regarded  as  a  legitimate  and  honor- 
able business,  the  agitation  of  the  temperance  question  in  the 
latter  twenties  and  early  thirties,  not  only  lessened  the  demand, 
but  brought  conviction  to  the  minds  of  the  proprietors  of  the 
w^rongfulness  of  the  business,  and  they  were  all  soon  afterwards 
dismantled,  though  a  third  of  a  century  later  an  immense  dis- 
tillery was  carried  on  for  several  years,  w^ithin  the  original  limits 
of  Stow,  now  Cuyahoga  Falls. 

Education,  Morality,  Religion,  Etc.  —  It  ]ias  'been  repre- 
sented, in  certain  quarters,  that  fhe  leading  early  sentiment  of 
Stow  being  atheistic  in  its  character,  the  tow^nship  suffers,  in  com- 
parison with  some  of  its  neighbors,  in  regard  to  its  intelligence, 
morality  and  religious  status,  which  it  seems  to  the  writer  is 
grossly  unjust  to  both  the  early  settlers  and  the  present  inhabi- 
itants  of  the  township.  It '  is  verj^  possible  that  some  of  her 
pioneer  settlers,  as  ^vell  as  some  of  their  descendants  and  suc- 
cessors, may  have  been  free  thinkers,  and  it  is  quite  probable  that 
she  may  not  have  sent  forth  as  many  eminent  divines,  scientists, 
and  statesmen  as  some  of  her  sister  townships;  but  that  she  is  in 
any  sense  behind  her  neighbors  in  general  intelligence,  morality, 
piety  or  patriotism,  can  scarcely  be  conceded. 

As  early,  perhaps,  as  1806,  Deacon  Stephen  Butler,  a  rigid 
Presbyterian,  whose  cabin  was  a  short  distance  north  of  the  center 
organized  a  small  class  among  his  Christian  neighbors,  who  met 
regularly  at  his  house  for  laj^  worship,  with  such  occasional 
preaching  as  could  be  secured  from  Hudson  and  other  neighboring 
localities.  Later  on,  the  meetings  were  held  in  the  school  house 
at  Stow  Corners,  and  still  later  in  a  small  house  of  worship  erected 
a  short  distance  southwest  of  the  Corners,  on  the  Cuyahoga  Falls 
road.  Some  of  the  remembered  prominent  members  of  this  society 
in  addition  to  Deacon  Butler,  were  William  Stow,  and  John  and 
Thomas  Gaylord,  with  their  respective  families.  The  member- 
ship gradually  increased  until  some  time  during  the  early  forties, 
w^hen,  the  Disciples  having  obtained  a  strong  following  in  the 
township,  the  house  was  transferred  to  that  denomination,  the 
Presbyterians  allying  themselves  with  the  church  at  Cuyahoga 
Falls.  The  Disciples,  largely  in  the  ascendency  in  the  township 
at  the  present  time,  a  few  years  since  erected  a  more  commodious 
and  imposing  house  of  worship  at  the  Corners,  on  the  east  side  of 
the  Hudson  road. 

64 


1010  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Kpiscopalianism  also,  as  early  as  1818,  obtained  quite  a  footing 
among  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Stow,  the  present  St,  John's  Church 
and  society  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  having  been  organized  there  in 
1830.  Among  the  early  promoters  of  this  form  of  faith,  were  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Josiah  Wetmore  (the  latter  being  especially  zealous  and 
active),  at  whose  house,  at  Stow  Corners,  the  meetings  were  first 
held;  Orrin  Gilbert,  Frederick  Sanford,  Henry  O'Brien,  Arthur 
Sadler,  Frederick  Wolcott,  William  Wetmore,  Rowland  Clapp,  sev- 
eral of  the  Gaylords  and  others  whose  names  are  not  now 
recalled.  Lay  serv^ices,  with  occasional  preaching,  w^ere  held  in 
different  places,  in  private  houses,  in  school  houses,  at  the  tavern, 
etc.,  until  1835,  when  the  society  permanently  located  at  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  erecting  the  present  St.  John's  Church  structure,  corner  of 
Portage  and  Second  streets,  w^hich,  being  completed  in  the  Spring 
of  that  year,  w^as  consecrated  as  a  house  of  worship  by  Bishop 
Mcllvaine,  July  16,  1836,  Stow  still  maintaining  a  respectable  mem- 
bership in  the  society.  In  the  early  twenties,  also,  a  Universalist 
society  was  organized,  and  for  several  years  vigorously  maintained, 
among  its  promoters  being  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Caleb  Wetmore,  Isaac 
Wilcox,  Francis  Kelsey  and  others,  services  being  held  in  the 
school  house  by  the  resident  preacher.  Rev.  Bigelow,  a  very  fluent 
speaker,  and  a  most  excellent  citizen. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing,  there  has  also  existed,  for  many 
3^ears,  in  the  northwestern  portion  of  the  township,  at  the  point  so 
long  designated  as  "Little  Ireland,"  but  w^hose  postoffice  desig- 
nation is  now  "  Metz"  a  United  Presbyterian  Church  and  society, 
-with  a  snug  little  house  of  worship,  and  quite  a  large  membership, 
w^hile  religious  meetings  have  been  of  frequent  occurrence  in  the 
commodious  school  house  at  Darrow  Street,  now  officially  called 
Darrowville.  and  perhaps  in  other  localities,  during  the  past  half 
century,  so  that  it  may  be  safely  stated,  that  whoever  asseverates 
that  Stow  is  "  without  God  and  ^vithout  hope,  in  the  world,"  lies — 
under  a  very  grave  misapprehension. 

In  the  matter  of  education,  while  it  is  true  that  Stow  offers  no 
academic  or  collegiate  advantages  to  her  youth,  like  some  of  her 
neighbors,  it  is  also  emphatically  true  that  her  common  schools 
are  as  highly  cherished,  and  as  well  conducted,  as  those  of  the 
very  best  of  her  contemporaries,  with  a  general  corresponding 
intelligence  among  all  classes  of  her  people. 

Terrible  and  Fatal  Tornado.— On  the  night  of  October  20, 
1837,  or  rather  on  the  morning  of  the  21st,  there  occurred  one  of 
the  most  violent  and  fatal  hurricanes  that  ever  visited  Summit 
county,  or  perhaps  the  State.  On  the  east  and  w^est  center  road, 
and  a  few  rods  directly  north  of  what  is  now  known  as  Silver  Lake, 
stood  the  residence  of  Mr.  Frederick  Sanford,  a  small  story-and-a- 
half  frame  house,  with  a  frame  barn  standing  some  12  or  15 
rods  northeasterly  therefrom.  The  family  consisted  of  Mrs. 
Sanford,  his  wife,  Clarissa,  their  tw^o  sons,  Charles,  aged  22, 
and  Norman,  19,  their  daughter,  Mary  C,  14,  and  Mrs.  Mary  Col- 
lins, the  mother  of  Mrs.  Sanford.  On  the  evening  of  October  20, 
the  entire  family  had  been  absent  from  home,  attending  a  wed- 
ding, for  w^hich  purpose,  in  addition  to  their  ow^n,  they  had  bor- 
rowed a  buggy  from  the  widow  Butler,  living  a  short  distance 
northeasterly,  on  the  north  and  south  center  road.  Returning  at  a 
late  hour,  leaving  the  buggies  standing  in  the  yard,  between  the 


THE  FATAL  TORNADO   OF   1837.  1011 

"house  and  the  barn,  the  family  retired  to  bed,  all  but  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Sanford  sleeping  up  stairs.  Between  three  and  four  o'clock,  while 
all  were  sound  asleep,  the  cyclone  struck  the  house,  every  portion 
of  which  above  the  cellar  walls,  was  entirely  demolished,  and  all 
the  family  excepting  Mrs.  Sanford,  and  her  daughter  Mary,  almost 
instantly  killed.  The  bodies  were  all  found  between  the  house 
and  barn,  Mary  being  the  farthest  from  the  house.  Mrs.  Sanford's 
collar  bone  w^as  broken,  and  she  was  otherwise  considerably  cut 
and  bruised;  but  Mary,  found  in  an  unconscious  condition,  lying 
upon  a  gate  w^hich  had  been  carried  from  in  front  of  the  house, 
sustained  no  further  injury  than  a  slight  cut  upon  one  of  her 
ankles  and  a  few  inconsiderable  bruises,  though  the  shock  to  her 
system  made  it  necessary  for  her  to  keep  her  bed  for  several  days. 
The  tick  of  the  bed  on  w^hich  Mary  was  sleeping  being  found  in 
the  top  of  quite  a  large  tree,  between  the  house  and  the  barn,  it 
was  supposed  that  she  had  been  carried  through  the  top  of  the 
tree,  also.  In  her  hand  was  tightly  clutched  her  every-day  dress, 
w^hich,  on  retiring,  she  had  laid  upon  the  bed  ready  for  use  in  the 
morning.  Mr.  Sanford  Avas  still  alive  when  found,  and  removed 
to  the  house  of  Mr.  Maxwell  Graham,  but  expired  in  a  short  time 
without  regaining  consciousness,  his  thigh  being  broken,  besides 
the  internal  injuries  w^hich  caused  his  death.  The  two  sons  and 
Mrs.  Collins  were  all  dead  when  found,  though  it  is  not  remem- 
bered that  any  of  them  were  seriously  disfigured. 

The  course  of  the  tornado  seemed  to  be  from  southw^esterly  to 
northeasterly,  some  effects  of  it  being  visible  near  Gilbert's  Cor- 
ners, three-fourths  of  a  mile  w^est,  while  it  w^as  evident,  from  the 
moisture  and  sand  found  about  the  Sanford  premises,  that  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  water  and  mud,  in  what  is  noAv  known  as 
Crystal  Lake  (formerly  Cochran's  or  Hart's  pond),  were  scooped 
up  and  carried  along  by  the  storm.  Mr.  Sanford's  barn  w^as  partly 
unroofed,  and  an  adjoining  shed  entirely  demolished;  the  barn 
doors  blown  open  and  a  fanning  mill  standing  on  the  barn  floor 
carried  away;  a  cart  and  barrow  left  standing  in  the  street,  south 
of  the  house,  were  found  some  distance  beyond  the  barn;  the  tvsro 
buggies  left  standing  in  the  yard  w^ere  entirely  demolished  and 
carried  away;  a  plow  standing  near  the  house,  after  being  made 
to  plow^  quite  a  long  circular  furrow,  w^as  dashed  to  pieces,  and 
nearly  all  the  chickens  upon  the  place  were  killed  and  stripped  of 
their  feathers.  The  household  furniture  Avas  entirely  demolished, 
^nd  the  family  clothing,  bedding,  etc.,  all  destroyed  or  blown  away, 
some  of  it  being  found  in  Streetsboro,  some  five  or  six  miles  away, 
and  other  portions  nearer  by,  folded  and  in  good  order,  as  when 
laid  aw^ay  by  their  respective  ow^ners. 

Easterly  from  the  scene  of  the  chief  disaster,  Mr.  Maxwell 
Graham's  barn  was  unroofed  and  house  somewhat  racked;  a  log 
house  further  east  occupied  by  a  family  named  Wells,  the  house  of 
R.  M.  Barnes,  a  short  distance  beyond  on  the  same  street,  and  that 
of  Mrs.  Butler,  upon  the  Hudson  road,  were  unroofed  and  other- 
wise more  or  less  injured,  Mrs.  Butler  finding  fragments  of  her 
own  buggy,  which  had  been  loaned  to  the  Sanford's,  as  above 
stated,  in  the  loft  of  her  own  house  after  the  storm  was  over.  For- 
tunately, however,  no  other  persons  than  those  named,  were  killed 
or  seriously  injured,  though  quite  a  number  of  domestic  animals 
-were  either  killed  or  more  of  less  crippled,  while  fences  and  a  large 


1012  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

number  of  forest  and  fruit  trees  were  uprooted  or  twisted  off  by^ 
the  gyrating  besom  of  destruction,  in  its  brief  but  fearful  march 
through  the  township. 

The  funeral  of  the  four  persons  thus  suddenly  deprived  of  life^ 
was  held  at  St.  John's  church,  Cuyahoga  Falls  (of  which  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Sanfordwere  communicants  on  its  first  organization  in  Stow^ 
as  elsewhere  mentioned),  October  23,  the  very  impressive  services 
being  conducted  by  Kev.  Boydon,  rector  of  Trinity  church,  Cleve- 
land, the  burial  being  in  the  cemetery  at  Cuyahoga  Falls.  A  new 
house  was  afterwards  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  demolished 
structure,  which  is  still  standing.  Mrs.  Sanford  died  February  12^ 
1849,  at  the  age  of  61  years.  Mary  was  married  to  Mr.  William  L. 
Hanford,  on  the  18th  day  of  February,  1844,  and,  with  her  highly 
respected  husband,  still  lives  upon  the  site  of  her  fearful  and 
mournful  experience  of  54  years  ago. 

Vital  Statistics. — The  first  marriage  in  the  township  i& 
believed  to  have  been  that  of  John  C.  Singletary,  of  Streetsboro,  to 
Harriett  Powers,  daughter  of  Captain  Gregory  Powers,  by  Justice 
William  Wetmore,  in  1806,  though  Joseph  Darrow,  of  Stow,  w^as 
married  to  Sally  Prior,  in  Northampton,  as  early  as  1803;  William 
Lappin,  of  Northampton,  being  married  to  Elizabeth  Walker,  of 
Stow,  by  'Squire  Wetmore,  in  1807. 

There  is  some  discrepancy  of  recollection  as  to  the  first  birth 
in  the  township,  a  former  historian  having  recorded  that  Betsey 
Walker  was  born  in  the  Fall  of  1803,  Mary  Campbell  in  1804, 
Samuel  Walker  in  1805,  and  Clarissa  Rice,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Rice,  the  same  year,  though  Mr.  Henry  Wetmore  is  of  the  opinion 
that  the  last  named  w^as  the  first  white  child  born  in  the  tow^n- 
ship. 

The. first  death  reported  in  the  township  was  that  of  Mrs, 
Gregory  Powers,  in  February,  1807;  the  second  that  of  Elizabeth 
Gaylord  in  1809;  third  that  of  George  Darrow,  November  20,  the 
same  year. 

"Lo!  THE  Poor  Indian."— On  the  first  arrival  of  the  whites  in 
Stow,  Indians  were  abundant,  especially  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  river  and  lakes,  Mr.  Henry  W-etmore  reporting  that  from  1808 
to  1812  there  was  a  continuous  line  of  wigwams  around  the  south- 
ern end  of  the  lake,  about  where  the  wagon  road  now  is,  and 
another  camp  near  the  river,  at  which  points  there  must  have 
been  at  least  500  Indians,  men,  Avomen  and  children.  They  w^ere 
generally  on  very  friendly  terms  with  the  whites,  though  misun- 
derstandings w^ould  now^  and  then  arise,  with  perhaps  occasional 
instances  of  treachery  and  cruelty  on  the  part  of  the  savages,  and 
retaliation  on  the  part  of  the  w^hites;  especial  emphasis  beings 
given,  in  the  traditionary  lore  of  the  neighborhood,  to  the  Indian- 
killing  exploits  of  Jonathan  Williams  (the  slayer  of  the  Indian 
Nickshaw,  as  detailed  elsewhere);  at  least  three  townships— Hud- 
son, Stow  and  Northampton — claiming  the  honor  of  Williams'^ 
prow^ess,  in  the  selfsame  transactions,  w^hile  a  resident  of  their 
respective  townships,  fuller  mention  of  w^hose  reputed  exploits 
will  be  found  in  another  chapter. 

Mysterious  Exodus, — Soon  after  the  inauguration  of  the  War 
of  1812,  between  England  and  the  United  States,  it  was  suddenly 
noticed  by  the  white  settlers,  that  something  unusual  was  trans- 
piring in  the  camps   of  their  tawny  neighbors;  their  visits  to  the 


INDIANS,   RATTLESNAKES,   ETC.  1013 

cabins  of  the  whites  had  entirely  ceased;  there  was  much  hurrying 
to  and  fro,  from  camp  to  camp,  and  from  lodge  to  lodge,  the  men 
holding  frequent  consultations  and  apparently  engaging  in  impor- 
tant discussion;  the  apprehension  rapidly  spreading  that  mischief 
w^as  brewing  for  the  pale-faces,  who  quietly  put  themselves  and 
their  cabins  in  as  good  a  state  of  defense  as  their  limited  resources 
■would  admit,  of. 

But  early  one  morning  it  w^as  found  that,  during  the  night, 
the  Indians  had  all  departed,  in  a  westward  direction,  leaving  their 
w^igwams  standing  intact.  After  the  war,  the  few  that  temporarily 
returned,  disclosed  the  true  inwardness  of  their  "sudden  taking 
-off."  A  British  emissary  had  visited  the  camps,  in  the  disguise  of 
an  Indian,  and  persuaded  them  that  they  had  been  swindled  in 
the  ceding  of  their  lands  to  the  United  States,  promising  that  if 
they  would  rise  and  massacre  the  w^hites,  by  w^hom  they  were 
surrounded,  and  join  the  British  army,  after  the  Americans  had 
been  conquered  by  the  English,  their  lands  should  be  restored  to 
them.  They  assented  to  the  proposition  to  join  the  British  army, 
and  light  for  the  reclamation  of  their  hunting  and  fishing  grounds, 
but  utterly  refused  to  massacre,  in  cold  blood,  those  ^vho  had 
always  treated  them  kindly,  but  on  returning  with  the  victorious 
army,  give  their  old  neighbors  a  chance  to  light  for  their  posses- 
sions, or  run  for  their  lives.  The  many  other  traditioriary  Indian 
reminiscences  extant  in  the  township  will  have  to  be  omitted  here, 
for  want  of  space.  .  ^ 

The  Venomous  "Sarpent." — In  the  early  times  immense  num- 
bers of  rattlesnakes  abounded  in  the  vicinity  of  the  river,  and  in 
the  gorges  traversed  by  the  smaller  streams,  particularly  in  the 
rocky  fastnesses  of  Wetmore  Creek,  between  Stow  Corners  and  the 
river.  At  length  a  sort  of  club  was  formed  by  the  neighboring 
settlers,  devoting  a  certain  amotint  of  time  to  the  destruction  of 
the  venomous  reptiles,  which  was  joined  by  Samuel  Baker,  a 
blacksmith,  on  condition  that  he  might  do  his  share  on  Sunday,  as 
he  could  not  spare  the  time  during  the  week. 

One  Sunday  morning  he  discovered  a  large  number  of  snakes 
issuing  from  a  cleft  in  the  side  of  the  gorge,  south  of  the  cemetery, 
and  sunning  themselves  on  a  narrow  ledge  of  rock.  When  all 
were  apparently  out.  Baker  stripped  off  his  coat,  and,  w^ith  a  long 
pole,  shoved  it  into  the  fissure  from  whence  the  snakes  emanated, 
to  prevent  their  returning  to  their  den.  He  then  descended  into 
the  chasm,  and  w^ith  his  pole  began  an  onslaught  upon  the  squirm- 
ing and  w^rithing,  but  half  torpid,  mass. 

While  Baker  was  thus  engaged,  Deacon  Butler  and  his  devoted 
neighbors  \vere  holding  religious  services  in  a  log  cabin  near  the 
•Corners,  and  while  the  Deacon  was  in  the  midst  of  a  fervent 
prayer.  Baker's  little  son  came  running  up  to  the  open  door  of  the 
cabin,  yelling,  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  "  O,  dad's  killed  a  lot  of 
snakes!  Dad's  killed  a  lot  of  snakes!"  "Amen!"  said  the  deacon, 
abruptl)'^  closing  his  prayer,  and  the  entire  congregation  hastened 
to  the  gorge  to  witness  the  discomfiture  of  man's  original  enemy, 
and  found  the  entire  product  of  Baker's  Sunday  morning  "devo- 
tions" to  be,  upon  actual  count,  just  sixty-five  dead  rattlesnakes. 
On  blasting  open  the  den,  the  next  day,  one  old  patriarch,  only, 
probably  the  ancestor  of  the  entire  batch  killed,  was  found  therein. 
J^'rom    this    time    such    vigilance   was   exercised  that   the  entire 


1014  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

venomous  race  wholly  disappeared  within  a  few  years,  though  not 
before  one  young  man  had  lost  his  life  and  several  fatalities  to  ani- 
mals had  occurred  from  their  virulent  bite;  and  it  is  related  by  Mr, 
Henry  Wetmore,  as  a  singular  fact,  that  with  the  disappearance  of 
the  Indians  and  the  rattlesnakes,  the  plant  used  by  the  former  as 
an  antidote  for  the  bite  of  the  latter,  entirely  disappeared  from  the 
w^oods,  also. 

Horrific  Incident. —  One,  only,  of  the  many  narrow^  escapes 
from  fatal  casualty,  by  contact  with  rattlesnakes,  can  be  here 
given:  A  little  three-year-old  child  of  John  Campbell  had  been 
given  a  cup  of  milk  and  a  spoon,  and  left  sitting  on  the  rough 
cabin  floor  for  a  few  minutes,  while  the  mother  absented  herself 
from  the  room.  On  her  return,  hearing  the  little  one  cooing  and 
prattling  to  itself,  as  she  supposed,  she  looked  through  the  small 
w^indow^  at  the  end  of  the  house,  to  see  what  it  was  doing.  To  her 
intense  horror  she  saw  a  huge  rattlesnake  coiled  up,  almost  in  the 
child's  lap,  licking  up  the  milk  w^hich  had  been  spilled  upon  its 
apron,  and  the  child  delightedly  patting  the  snake  upon  the  head 
with  the  spoon.  The  frightened  mother  uttered  a  piercing 
scream  and  rushed  to  the  rescue  of  her  child,  whereupon  the 
snake  glided  beneath  the  floor,  through  a  crack  between  the 
puncheons,  where  Mr,  Campbell  and  Mr.  William  Wetmore  soon 
afterwards  found  and  killed  it. 

Bears,  Wolves,  Ktc. — Bears,  wolves  and  other  wild  animals^ 
and  game,  both  large  and  small,  were  abundant,  some  of  which, 
though  not  regarded  as  especially  dangerous,  were  a  very  great 
nuisance.  Mr.  Henry  Wetmore  informs  the  writer  that  one  day, 
when  quite  a  small  boy,  being  in  the  woods,  he  saw  their  drove  of 
hogs  running  rapidly  towards  him,  in  the  direction  of  the  house^ 
and  stepping  from  the  path  to  let  them  pass,  a  large  bear  bound 
past  him  in  hot  pursuit,  while  he  himself  started  in  the  wake  of 
the  bear.  The  hogs  dodged  through  a  gap  in  the  fence  which  was  toa 
small  to  admit  bruin,  who,  when  Mrs.  Wetmore  came  to  the  door^ 
to  ascertain  the  cause  of  the  disturbance,  was  standing  on  his- 
hind  feet  looking  over  the  fence  at  the  porkers  with  w^istful  eyes^ 
and  w^atering  mouth.  Motioning  her  boy  to  go  around,  as  soon  as- 
she  found  that  he  -was  safe,  the  plucky  woman  seized  some  con- 
venient weapon  and  sallying  forth  drove  the  discomfited  quad- 
ruped aw^ay.  At  another  time  Mr.  Jacob  Cochran,  being  at  Mr^ 
Wetmore's,  saw  a  bear  seize  a  good-sized  shote  and  make  off  with 
it.  Mr.  Cochran  gave  chase,  and  on  going  through  a  thicket  the 
bear  dropped  the  hog  betw^een  two  saplings,  w^hich  so  delayed  its 
movements  that  Mr.  Cochran  came  up  and  shot  the  bear.  The  hog" 
was  so  seriously  injured  that  it  had  to  be  killed,  also,  both  car- 
casses being  hauled  to  the  house  by  Mr.  Wetmore's  oxen  and  cart. 
Other  families  had  similar  "  pleasurable"  experiences,  which  can 
not  be  given  within  the  limits  of  this  chapter. 

Pigeons  by  the  Millions. — Elsewhere  reference  is  made  to- 
the  ancient  pigeon  roosts  in  Copley  s^vam  p.  In  this  township,  alsOr 
at  Mud  Brook  Swamp,  w^as  a  similar  resort  for  millions  of  pigeons^ 
every  Autumn,  while  stopping,  in  their  flight  southward,  to  feed 
upon  the  beech  nuts  and  acorns  of  the  adjacent  forests.  For" 
an  hour  or  tw^o,  night  and  morning,  while  going  to  and 
returning  from  their  feeding  grounds,  millions  of  them  would  fill 
the  sky,  obscuring  the  sun  like  a  dense  black  cloud,  and  in  theii' 


LARGE    BUT   TRUTHFUL   PIGEON    STORY.  1015 

flight  producing  a  noise  like  the  roar  of  a  mighty  wind.  In  1815, 
Mr.  Wetmore,  with  several  companions,  visited  the  swamp  one 
night  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  supply  of  the  birds  for  the 
family  table,  the  noise  of  their  w^ings  and  their  chatter,  at  the  dis- 
tance of  half  a  mile,  resembling  the  rumble  of  a  heavy  waterfall, 
and  w^hen  close  at  hand  being  so  great  that  the  visitors  had  to 
raise  their  voices  to  a  high  pitch  to  be  heard  by  each  other.  Not 
only  the  large  trees  but  the  smaller  bushes  of  the  swamp  were 
thoroughly  covered  with  the  birds,  large  branches  of  lofty  elms 
being  broken  down  by  their  weight;  the  company  being  able  to 
capture  and  bag  what  they  needed,  with  their  hands,  within  a  very 
few  minutes.  This  may  seem  incredible  to  the  modern  reader,  but 
from  similar  experiences  in  Copley  sw^amp,  the  writer  can  vouch 
for  its  entire  truthfulness,  myriads  being  thus  captured  ev^ery 
season,  from  forty  to  fifty  years  ago,  for  the  Akron  and  Cleveland 
markets,  to  say  nothing  of  the  immense  numbers  consumed  by  the 
inhabitants  of  contiguous  localities. 

Stow's  Tavern  Accommodations.  —  At  an  earLy  day,  Ezra 
Wyatt,  built  a  house  of  entertainment,  at  the  Stow^  Corners,  on  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  Hudson  and  Kent  roads,  which  was  for 
many  years,  under  its  successive  proprietors,  one  of  the  leading 
country  hotels  in  the  State.  The  old  mail  stage  route  from 
Cleveland  to  Pittsburg,  on  the  east,  and  to  Middlebury,  Canton, 
Akron,  Wooster,  etc.,  on  the  south,  was  through  Hudson  and  Stow, 
the  latter  point  being  the  junction  of  the  diverging  routes,  and  the 
hotel  in  question  being  the  ''stage  house"  for  the  entertainment 
and  transfer  of  passengers. 

With  a  large  dancing  hall,  and  an  ample  dining  room,  it  was 
also  a  popular  resort  for  sleighing  and  other  social  parties,  and  the 
headquarters  for  the  annual  militia  "trainings,"  so  vigorously  kept 
up  for  many  years  after  the  close  of  the  War  of  1812;  as  well  as  the 
scene  of  many  a  carouse,  and  an  occasional  disgraceful  fight, 
between  the  bummers  attracted  thither  from  neighboring  local- 
ities, by  its  well  furnished  bar. 

In  the  later  years  of  its  existence  as  a  hotel,  this  house  w^as 
kept  by  General  Oliver  E.  Gross,  w^ho  afterwards  bought  and  fitted 
up  the  "Cliff  House,"  just  around  the  corner  on  the  Munroe  Falls 
road,  the  original  old  Stow  Corners  hotel  being  now  fenced  in  and 
relegated  to  private  use. 

Stow's  Military  History. — There  is  no  adequate  record  in 
regard  to  the  early  military  history  of  Stow^.  That  a  number  of 
her  original  settlers  had  performed  honorable  service  in  the  War 
of  the  Revolution  is  quite  probable,  though  the  names  of  four, 
only,  have  been  handed  down,  viz:  those  of  Isaac  Steele,  Charles 
Wooden,  George  Darrow  and  Gregory  Powers.  In  the  defense  of 
the  frontier,  in  the  War  of  1812,  quite  a  large  proportion  of  her 
adult  male  citizens  took  an  active  part,  the  names  of  Josiah  Starr, 
Samuel  Flanders,  Oscar  Harvey,  Ambrose  Roswell,  William  Burn- 
ham,  George  Darrow^  and  Harry  Wilcox,  being  mentioned  in  that 
connection,  by  Colonel  Schoonover,  in  his  contribution  to  the  Mili- 
tary History  of  Ohio. 

In  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  however,  through  the  foresight 
and  courtesy  of  Mr.  William  Southmayd,  formerly  a  resident  of 
Stow,  afterwards  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  but  now  deceased,  w^e  are 
enabled  to  include  in  this  work  a  full  list  of  the   patriotic  young 


1016  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

men  who  went  into  the  Union  army  from  that  township,  which  is 
as  follows:  George  W.  Bailey,  Frank  D.  Bailey,  Charles  Beckley, 
Benjamin  Boon,  Samuel  B.  Bradley,  Charles  Buchanan,  Benjamin 
F.  Buckelin,  William  Burdick,  Elmer  Barney,  Norman  Cochran, 
E.  T.  Curtis,  A.  B.  Curtis,  Oscar  Champney,  Seeley  H.  Chapman, 
Asa  Clapp,  J.  W.  Chamberlin,  Alexander  Corey,  Henry  Cedar,  A. 
H,  Cole,  John  C.  Castle,  Theodore  Castle,  Embury  Castle,  John 
Campbell,  Norman  L.  Darrow,  James  M.  Darrow,  James  Dailey, 
Frank  Davis,  Albert  G.  Eves,  Leonard  E.  Gaylord,  Robert  Gaj^ord, 
Samuel  Gaylord,  Hannibal  Grinnell,  Sylvester  Gaylord,  William 
Gaylord,  Charles  H.  Gridley,  Albert  R.  Hewitt,  Thomas  Hoover, 
William  Hazzard,  Arthur  A.  Jones,  Clayton  Kelso,  Luther  Lend- 
say,  Henry  Lendsay,  Walter  Lew^is,  Richard  Lewis,  Wesley  E. 
Loomis,  Ferdinand  Lord,  Thomas  Morris,  Milton  Miller,  Lyman  C. 
McAdams,  Ulysses  L.  Marvin,  George  E.  Nichols,  Henry  Nicker- 
son,  Theodore  Nickerson,  Albert  Nichols,  Jesse  D.  Post,  Levi  D. 
Post,  William  Peate,  Ransom  C.  Parks,  Edward  Peebles,  Frank 
Peck,  Andrew^  Peck.  Eugene  Pendleton,  William  Puts,  Albert 
Reeves,  Frank  M.  Root,  George  Ray,  Horace  Southmayd,  J.  S. 
Sweeney,  Edwin  A,  Season,  Chauncey  F.  Smith,  William  R.  Smith, 
Edwin  S.  Smith,  L.  B.  Stark,  Charles  H.  Stark,  Henry  Smith,  Alan- 
son  Standish,  Dwight  Shumvsray,  St.  Clair  Steel,  Martin  Schrady, 
Henry  F.  SteAvart,  Robert  Sears,  John  Scanlin,  Robert  Scanlin, 
Edgar  Sears,  Thomas  Steel,  Newell  Stratton,  George  S.  Turner, 
Lorenzo  Talcott,  Adelbert  Thomas,  Charles  G.  Talcott,  Edward 
Thompson,  James  Tothaker,  James  Turner,  Henry  Victor,  Julius 
O.  Williamson,  Alson  Wetmore,  Samuel  Wooldridge,  Clarence  Wil- 
cox, Lemuel  Wilcox,  Charles  H.  Wetmore,  Joseph  Wallace,  Warren 
Wright,  John  Wooldridge  and  William  W.  Wetmore,  101  in  all,  the 
last  two  being  in  the  100  days'  service  in  1861,  in  addition  to 
which  Samuel  Gaylord  and  William  C.  Nichols  joined  the  Squirrel 
Hunters  to  repel  the  projected  attack  of  the  rebel  forces,  under 
General  Kirby  Smith,  on  Cincinnati,  in  September,  1862. 

Space  will  not  permit  a  full  record  of  the  service  of  each  vol- 
unteer, as  named  above,  a  brief  synopsis  of  which,  as  furnished 
by  Mr.  Southmayd,  w^as  published  in  the  Summit  Coantv  Beacon, 
September  7,  1865,  and  was  also,  probably,  spread  upon  the  records 
of  the  township.  The  aggregate  term  of  service  of  the  104  per- 
sons named,  was,  as  computed  by  Mr.  Southmayd,  181  years.  Of 
the  entire  number,  though  in  a  great  many  engagements,  one 
only,  Samuel  Wooldridge,  is  definitely  known  to  have  been  killed 
in  battle,  shot  through  the  head  at  Buzzard  Roost  Gap,  May  8, 
1864,  though  two  others,  Alanson  Standish  and  Benjamin  Boon, 
w^ere  so  reported.  Seventeen  died  in  service  from  various  causes; 
two  (Jesse  D.  Post  and  Henry  Victor)  from  starvation  in  rebel 
prison  at  Andersonville;  two  (Robert  Gaylord  and  Charles  H.  Wet- 
more) after  six  or  eight  months  of  terrible  suffering  in  the  prison 
pens  of  Meridian  and  Andersonville,  lost  their  lives  by  the  blowing 
up  and  burning  of  the  steamer  Sultana,  on  the  Mississippi  river, 
while  en  route  for  home,  April  27,  1865;  there  being  but  two 
deserters  in  the  entire  number,  and  only  ten  discharges  for  disa- 
bility before  expiration  of  their  several  terms  of  service,  several  of 
w^hom,  on  recovery  re-enlisted. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  Hiram  Gaylord,  being  drafted  in 
October,  1862,  procured  a  substitute  for  three  years;  in  May,  1864, 


MILITARY    AND   CIVIL   AFFAIRS.  1017 

Charles  Southmayd,  Elias  Shick,  Alexander  Gettys,  John  Buch- 
anan, George  W.  Hart  and  Lyman  Gilbert,  were  drafted,  the  two 
former  paying  $300  commutation  each  and  the  four  latter  furnish- 
ing substitutes.  In  the  Fall  of  1864  the  following  persons  fur- 
nished substitutes  before  the  draft:  Hobart  Wolcott  and  William 
McGrew,  one  year  each;  Henry  Southmayd,  two  years;  Marcus 
DarroAV,  Henry  O'Brien  and  George  S.  Richardson,  Jr.,  three  years 
each.  The  assessor  for  1865  returns  the  following,  as  having  died 
in  the  service:  Samuel  B.  Bradley,  Norman  L.  Darrow,  Ransom 
C  Parks,  Horace  Southmayd,  Kdwin  Smith,  Edward  Peebles, 
Henry  Victor,  Samuel  Gaylord.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  Stow, 
notwithstanding  the  frightful  episode  connected  therewith,  to  be 
hereinafter  detailed,  was  loyal  and  patriotic  to  the  core,  in  the 
bloody  conflict  of  1861-65,  for  the  defense  of  the  Union  and  the 
supremacy  of  the  stars  and  stripes. 

Stow  ix  Civil  Affairs. — While  Stow  has  furnished  no  presi- 
dential incumbents  of  the  White  House,  at  Washington,  or  any 
ministers  plenipotentiary  to  the  Court  of  St.  James,  or  Envoys 
Extraordinary  to  the  king  of  Cannibal  Islands,  she  nevertheless 
presents  a  civil  record  in  county  and  state  affairs  that  w^ill  com- 
pare favorably  with  the  average  of  her  sister  townships  of  Sum- 
mit county. 

William  Wetmore,  Stow's  earliest  permanent  settler,  besides 
being  the  first  justice  of  the  peace  of  the  township,  w^as  one  of 
the  associate  judges  of  Portage  county,  on  its  organization,  in 
1808,  resigning  which  honorable  but  profitless  position,  after  about 
two  years  service,  he  officiated  as  both  clerk  and  recorder  of  the 
■county  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  1812,  through  which 
he  served  as  commissary  of  the  army,  as  heretofore  detailed. 

Titus  Wetmore,  brother  of  the  above,  w^as  the  first  regularly 
■elected  recorder  of  Portage  county,  holding  the  office  two  years, 
from  1808  to  1810,  though  its  duties  were  mainly  performed  for  him 
by  his  brother.  Judge  William  Wetmore,  as  elsewhere  stated. 

Gregory  Powers,  Jr.,  was  elected  representative  to  the  Legis- 
lature from  Portage  county  in  1832,  serving  one  year,  and  elected 
state  senator  in  1838,  but  died  before  the  expiration  of  his  term, 
July  10,  1839. 

William  Wetmore,  Jr.  (the  eldest  son  of  the  Judge),  was  state 
senator  for  the  Portage-Summit  district,  from  1844  to  1846,  filling 
the  office  very  acceptably  to  his  constituents  in  both  counties  for 
the  full  term  of  two  years. 

Edwin  Wetmore,  (the  second  son  of  Judge  Wetmore),  for 
three  consecutive  terms,  of  three  years  each,  from  1849  to  1858,  was 
■one  of  the  very  best  county  commissioners  that  Summit  ever  had. 

General  Oliver  E.  Gross,  for  many  years  a  citizen  of  Stow, 
besides  filling  important  positions  in  the  local  military  organiza- 
tions of  the  county  for  many  years,  very  acceptajjly  filled  the  office 
of  coroner,  from  1853  to  1855,  and  again  for  two  consecutive  terms, 
from  1868  to  1872. 

Ulysses  L.  Marvin,  a  native  of  Stow,  though  for  many  years 
past,  a  resident  of  Akron,  besides  his  honorable  military  service  in 
the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  gave  to  the  people  of  Summit  county 
able  and  faithful  service  as  probate  judge,  for  two  full  terms  of 
three  years  each,  from  1869  to  1875.     On  the  resignation  of  Judge 


1018  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

N.  D.  Tibbals,  M^y  1,  1883,  Judge  Marvin  was  appointed,  by  Gover- 
nor Charles  Foster,  to  fill  the  vacancy  upon  the  common  plea& 
bench,  which  he  very  acceptably  did  until  the  induction  of  hi& 
successor,  Judge  Edwin  P.  Green,  in  the  following  October,  Judge 
Marvin  also  being  the  presidential  elector  for  the  Twentieth  Con- 
gressional District,  composed  of  Summit,  Medina  and  Stark  coun- 
ties, for  1884,  casting  his  vote  in  Electoral  College  for  James  G. 
Blaine,  for  president  and  John  A.  Logan  for  vice  president. 

Samuel  C.  Williamson,  though  born  in  Portage  county,  may 
properly  be  regarded  as  a  Stow  boy,  having  spent  much  of  his 
boyhood  with  relatives  there.  For  faithful  service,  both  in  the 
volunteer  and  regular  army,  he  fully  earned  his  several  promo- 
tions in  the  latter,  from  sergeant  to  captain;  and  though  after- 
wards manfully  battling  w^ith  the  fell  disease,  contracted  in  the 
service,  which  finally  carried  him  to  his  grave,  gave  to  the  office  of 
probate  judge,  to  which  he  was  twice  elected — in  1875  and  1878 — 
six  years  of  unswerving  fidelity  and  more  than  av^erage  ability. 

Moses  D.  Call,  for  many  years  one  of  the  justices  of  the  peace 
for  the  township,  with  whose  interests  he  w^as  identified  for  nearly 
half  a  century,  was  elected  county  commissioner,  in  October,  1877,. 
and  re-elected  in  1880,  making  an  extremely  faithful  and  painstak- 
ing officer  for  the  full  period  of  six  years. 

William  Southmayd  was  born  in  Stow,  May  16,  1830.  Always 
active  and  public  spirited,  after  having  served  as  tow^nship  clerk 
for  nearly  20  consecutive  years,  in  October,  1879,  was  elected 
infirmary  directory  for  one  year,  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by 
the  resignation  of  Captain  Alfred  R.  Townsend,  and  in  1880  was 
re-elected  for  the  full  term  of  three  years.  While  serving  in  that 
capacity,  Mr.  Southmayd  had  personal  supervision  of  the  first 
re-construction  of  the  insane  department,  and  to  the  close  personal 
labors  which  he  bestowed  upon  that  noisome  job,  Mr.  Southmayd 
very  largely  attributed  the  malady  which  finally  resulted  in  his 
death. 

Hon.  Francis  Marion  Green,  was  born  in  Norton,  September 
28,  1836,  removing  w^ith  his  parents  to  Stow  w^hen  eight  or  nine 
years  old.  Educated  at  Hiram  College,  under  President  James  A. 
Garfield,  follo^^ring  the  example  of  his  father,  Elder  Philander 
Green  and  his  uncle.  Elder  Almon  B.  Green,  both  w^ell-known 
preachers  of  the  Disciple  Faiith,  he  early  adopted  the  ministry  as 
his  life  calling.  In  addition  to  his  very  acceptable  ministrations 
in  Stow,  and  elsewhere,  Mr.  Green  for  several  years  did  good  ser- 
vice on  the  editorial  staff  of  the  Christian  Standard,  and  made 
numerous  and  valuable  contributions  to  the  Ministerial  and  Sun- 
day School  literature  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  receiving  from 
Bethany  College,  in  1884,  the  Honorary  Degree  of  Master  of  Liter- 
ature. Coincident  with  his  clerical  duties,  Mr.  Green  has  alw^ay& 
taken  an  active  interest  in  political  matters,  as  an  uncompromis- 
ing Republican,  and,  in  1885,  w^as  elected  by  his  party  to  the  State 
Legislature,  for  two  years  serving  his  constituents  as  ably  and  as 
faithfully  as  any  representative  that  Summit  county  ever  had. 

THE  GRAHAM-FILLEY-KILPATRICK  TRAGEDY. 

Stow^,  generally  as  orderly  and  peaceful  as  the  average  of  the 
proverbially  orderly  and  peaceful  townships  of  the  Western 
Reserve,  \vas,  nevertheless,  the  scene  of  one  of  those  occasional 


STOW'S   GREAT   WAR   TRAGEDY.  101^ 

bloody  tragedies,  growing  out  of  political  and  partisan  bias  and 
bitterness  during  the  late  Civil  War,  In  the  states  in  rebellion,^ 
the  slightest  expression  of  opinion  against  the  cause  of  the  South, 
w^as  deemed  to  be  sufficient  reason  for  suminary  action  against 
both  the  property  and  the  person  of  the  recalcitrant;  but  in  the 
North,  the  utmost  freedom  of  speech  and  action,  short  of  dow^n- 
right  treason,  w^as  generally  quiescently,  if  not  cheerfully  sub- 
mitted to. 

As  the  War  progressed,  however,  and  as  the  danger  to  the 
Union  became  more  immitient,  the  feeling  grew  stronger,  among 
the  masses,  that  the  people  of  the  loyal  states  should  be  com- 
pelled to  be  as  unanimous  in  support  of  the  government,  as  were 
those  of  the  disloyal  states  for  its  destruction;  especially  in  regard 
to  contributing  their  just  proportion  towards  furnishing  the 
sinews  of  war,  both  physical  and  monetary.  Thus,  w^hen  troops 
w^ere  called  for,  in  the  later  years  of  the  War,  it  became  customary ,- 
in  raising  the  necessary  amount  of  money  to  clear  them  from  a 
draft,  for  the  people  of  the  several  tow^nships  to  appoint  commit- 
tees for  the  purpose  of  assessing  and  collecting  the  required 
amount  from  business  men  and  property  ow^ners,  in  proportion  to- 
their  supposed  ability  to  pay,  liability  to  draft,  etc.  And  in  some 
instances,  when,  from  parsimony  or  partisanship,  persons  able  ta 
contribute  refused  to  do  so,  a  species  of  coercion  was  resorted  to — 
or  "raiding,"  as  it  was  termed — by  which,  if  the  moral  pressure 
thus  brought  to  bear  proved  ineffectual,  a  horse,  cow,  or  some 
other  valuable  belonging  was  confiscated  to  the  fund  in  ques-' 
tion. 

Beginning  of  the  Trouble.— Among  the  very  limited  number 
of  the  citizens  of  Stow^  whose  political  partisanship  overshadowed 
their  patriotism,  w^as  Mr.  William  Graham,  one  of  the  most 
wealthy  and  enterprising  farmers  of  the  township.  During  the 
presidential  campaign  of  1860,  Mr.  Graham  had  many  exciting' 
political  discussions  with  his  neighbors,  and  others,  and  on  the 
announcement  of  the  result,  and  the  inauguration  of  the  secession 
movement,  openly  advocated  the  cause  of  the  South,  and  bitterly 
opposed  the  coercion  of  the  seceding  states.  As  the  War  pro- 
gressed, and  call  after  call  was  made  for  troops,  and  money  for 
recruiting  and  bounty  purposes,  Mr.  Graham's  bitterness  and  hos- 
tility increased,  and,  though  having  a  son  subject  to  draft,  not  a 
penny  w^ould  he  contribute  to  the  bounty  fund,  sought  to  be  raised 
by  voluntary  subscriptions,  for  filling  the  township's  quota  and 
obviating  the  necessity  for  a  draft. 

When  the  last  draft  was  pending,  in  the  beginning  of  1865,  in 
making  their  computations  and  assessments,  the  committee — 
composed  of  some  eighteen  or  twenty  of  the  best  people  of  the 
tow^nship,  both  Democrats  and  Republicans — apportioned  to  Mr, 
Graham  the  sum  of  $50,  on  his  property  possessions,  and  $10  addi- 
tional, because  of  the  liability  of  his  son  to  the  draft.  These 
sums,  on  being  called  upon  by  a  member  of  the  committee,  Mr, 
Graham,  with  great  bitterness  of  speech,  peremptorily  refused  ta 
pay,  and  on  learning  that  others  entertaining  the  same  views — in 
Stow^  and  elsew^here — were  being  "raided,"  gave  out  that  he  should 
defend  his  property  from  seizure  at  all  hazards,  and  to  this  end 
had  his  double-barreled  gun  thoroughly  repaired,  bought  a  supplv^ 
of  ammunition,  prepared  a  quantity  of  bullets,  slugs,  etc. 


1020  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

The  Deadly  Ambuscade. — Thus  matters  stood  on  the  morn- 
ing of  Thursday,  March  2,  1865^^  Feeling  that  it  was  due  to  the 
rest  of  the  people  of  the  township  that  Mr.  Graham  should  con- 
tribute to  the  bounty  fund  the  proportionately  small  sum  assessed 
against  him,  it  was  resolved  to  call  upon  him  in  "  committee  of  the 
whole,"  hoping  that  their  united  influence  and  persuasion  would 
be  as  effectual  w^ith  him  as  it  had  already  been  w^ith  several  others 
of  his  class,  who  at  first  had  refused  to  contribute. 

Accordingly,  early  in  the  afternoon  of  the  day  named,  the 
committee  in  a  body,  on  horseback,  but  wholly  unarmed,  started 
from  the  hotel  at  Stow^  Corners,  in  the  direction  of  Mr.  Graham's 
residence,  about  a  mile  distant,  on  the  east  and  w^est  center 
road.  After  turning  the  corner,  and  while  yet  some  distance  from 
Mr.  Graham's  premises,  the  committee  halted  for  consultation.  It 
was  agreed,  that  whatever  might  be  the  result  of  their  visit,  they 
w^ould  not  undertake  to  sequestrate  any  of  his  property,  and  sent 
one  of  their  number,  a  warm  personal  and  political  friend  of  Mr. 
O., forward  to  assure  him  of  their  pacific  and  friendly  intentions. 

While  quietly  proceeding  on  his  way,  and  w^hile  opposite  the 
lands  of  Mr.  Kdwin  Wetmore,  some  distance  east  of  the  premises 
of  Mr.  Graham,  he  was  halted  and,  on  pain  of  death,  ordered  into 
the  fence  corner  by  Mr.  Graham,  who  was  concealed  in  the  bushes, 
behind  the  fence,  on  Wetmore's  land.  Seeing  their  delegate  thus 
diverted  from  his  course,  two  other  members  of  the  committee 
rode  forward  to  ascertain  the  cause.  On  coming  opposite  to  Mr. 
Graham,  they,  too,  were  ordered  to  halt,  and  not  complying,  ^vere 
fired  upon  by  the  infuriated  man,  but  fortunately  without  serious 
result,  one  of  them  putting  spurs  to  his  horse  and  riding  rapidly 
down  the  road  to  the  ^rest,  while  the  other  turned  back  towards 
the  main  body  up  the  road,  the  original  delegate  also  starting  for- 
w^ard  down  the  road. 

Unavailing  Neighborly  Intervention. — Almost  opposite  the 
point  occupied  by  Mr.  Graham,  lived  Mr.  John  H.  Burridge,  who, 
on  hearing  the  command  to  halt  and  the  report  of  the  gun,  came 
out  to  ascertain  the  cause.  On  seeing  Mr.  Graham  in  the  act  of 
reloading  his  gun,  the  two  men  riding  rapidly  down  the  road  and 
the  balance  of  the  committee  to  the  east,  Mr.  Burridge  instantly 
took  in  the  situation,  and  started  across  the  road  to  plead  with  his 
neighbor  to  go  home,  and  avoid  the  serious  trouble  he  was  evi- 
dently getting  himself  into.  But  this  only  serv^ed  to  increase  his 
fury,  Graham  threatening  to  shoot  him  if  he  did  not  go  back.  Mr. 
Burridge  then  walked  up  the  road  towards  the  committee  with  the 
view  of  advising  them  to  retire,  lest  fatal  consequences  might 
ensue.  In  the  meantime,  Graham,  still  in  the  lot,  Avorked  east- 
ward towards  the  committee,  and  assuming  a  threatening  attitude, 
the  committee  dismounted,  using  their  horses  as  a  breast-w^ork,  in 
case  they  should  be  fired  upon. 

Two  Fatal  Shots. — Here  Mr.  Burridge  again  begged  Mr. 
Graham  to  retire,  but  instead  of  doing  so,  he  fired  one  barrel  of  his 
gun,  loaded  with  slugs,  at  Hugh  Kilpatrick,  whose  person  had 
become  partially  exposed  by  the  restiveness  of  his  horse.  The 
main  portion  of  the  charge  struck  Kilpatrick's  right  thigh.  The 
w^ounded  man  hobbled  towards  the  fence  on  the  north  side  of  the 
road.  Mr.  Burridge  and  Mr.  Homer  Filley,  a  member  of  the 
committee,  going  to  his  assistance,  the  balance  of  the  committee 


TWO   MEN   DELIBERATELY   SHOT   TO    DEATH.  1021 

retreating  up  the  road.  Mr.  Burridge  now  made-  another  earnest 
appeal  to  Mr.  Graham  to  desist  in  his  bloody  w^ork,  and  assist  him 
and  Mr.  Filley  to  carry  the  wounded  man  to  his  house  and  endeavor 
to  save  his  life.  But  the  appeal  was  w^holly  unavailing,  Mr.  Gra- 
ham re-loading  his  gun  and  taking  deliberate  aim  across  the  fence, 
firing  at  Mr.  Filley,  while  endeavoring  to  stanch  the  flow  of  blood 
from  the  shattered  leg  of  his  w^ounded  friend.  The  ball  also 
entered  Mr.  Filley's  right  thigh,  causing  him  to  leave  his  dying 
comrade  to  the  care  of  Mr.  Burridge,  and  run  towards  the  rest  of 
the  company,  up  the  road,  on  reaching  whom,  he  fell  to  the  ground, 
and  soon  afterwards  expired,  the  femoral  artery  in  both  cases 
being  severed.  Mr.  Burridge  was  now^  compelled,  by  Graham, 
on  pain  of  death,  to  leave  Mr.  Kilpatrick,  who  by  this  time  had 
fainted  from  loss  of  blood,  but  soon  afterwards  returned  for  a 
moment — while  Graham  had  gone  in  pursuit  of  the  rest  of  the 
committee,  who  had  by  this  time  dispersed — only  to  find  Mr.  K. 
dead,  also. 

Standing  Guard  Over  His  Victims. — Mr.  Burridge  then 
went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Maxwell  Graham,  a  short  distance  west, 
to  get  him  to  endeavor  to  appease  his  brother,  but  finding  him 
absent,  again  started  for  the  scene  of  carnage.  Before  reaching 
his  ow^n  house,  he  w^as  luet  by  Graham,  who,  leveling  his  gun  at 
him,  threatened  to  shoot  him,  also,  if  he  did  not  instantly  leave  the 
street  and  go  into  his  house,  compelling  him  to  climb  three  fences 
in  doing  so,  instead  of  permitting  him  to  enter  the  gate. 

Thus,  all  the  afternoon,  Graham  kept  guard  over  his  victims, 
permitting  no  one  to  approach,  excepting  Dr.  George  C.  Upson,  of 
Cuyahoga  Falls,  to  ascertain  w^hether  the  vs^ounded  men  were  liv- 
ing or  dead.  Some  distance  before  reaching  the  w^ounded  men, 
the  doctor  was  halted  by  Graham,  from  his  peach  orchard,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  road.  In  answer  to  an  inquiry  as  to  w^hat  he 
wanted,  the  doctor  explained  that  he  had  been  sent  to  look  after 
the  wounded  men,  w^hereupon  Graham  said:  "I  want  you  to 
understand  that  this  is  headquarters  and  you  must  report  to  me," 
and  permitted  him  to  pass.  Finding  both  men  dead,  the  doctor  so 
reported  to  Graham,  who  declared  he  was  glad  of  it,  and  wished  to 
God  he  had  killed  more  of  them,  and  then  ordered  the  doctor  to 
leave.  In  response  to  the  doctor's  request  to  be  permitted  to  come 
with  a  wagon  and  a  single  assistant,  to  remove  the  bodies,  Graham 
declared  that  the  bodiesshould  not  be  removed  until  those  horses 
had  been  returned  (alluding  to  several  head  of  horses  that  had 
been  taken  from  another  party),  but  finally  acceded  to  the  doctor's 
request. 

Graham  Himself  Wounded. — In  the  meantime  the  news  of 
the  tragedy  spread  rapidly  throughout  the  neighborhood,  and  a 
w^arrant, .issued  by  Justice  Charles  W.  Wetmore,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls, 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Constable  Julius  A.  Upson,  w^ho  started, 
unarmed  except  as  to  the  legal  process  indicated,  for  the  truly 
"dark  and  bloody"  ground.  There  w^ere,  by  this  time,  hundreds  of 
terribly  excited  men  at  Stow  Corners,  w^ho  endeavored  to  dissuade 
the  constable  from  approaching  the  infuriated  man  alone  and 
unarmed;  but  Mr.  Upson  determined  to  make  the  venture.  As  the 
officer  approached  (on  foot)  he  was  halted  by  Graham,  who 
demanded  to  know  his  business.  Informing  him  that  he  had  a 
warrant  for  his  arrest,  and  urging  him  to   submit  to  the  process 


1022  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

of  the  law,  the  constable  was  told  to  be  off,  on  pain  of  death,  as  he 
would  not  submit  to  arrest.  Returning  to  the  Corners,  Mr.  Upson 
sought  to  organize  a  posse  to  aid  him  in  the  arrest,  but  finding  the 
crowd  decidedly  averse  to  facing  the  desperate  man  w^ho  had 
already  laid  two  of  their  neighbors  low  in  death,  he  accepted  the 
proffered  services  of  the  late  Parvin  Kves  to  accompany  him  alone, 
providing  he  could  be  furnished  with  a  sure-fire  w^eapon. 

A  messenger  was  accordingly  sent  to  Mr.  Thomas  W.  Cornell, 
-at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  w^ho  was  known  to  be  the  possessor  of  a  very 
fine  rifle;  that  gentleman,  after  carefully  loading  the  weapon, 
promptly  responding  to  the  call.  On  the  return  of  the  messenger, 
with  the  rifle,  Messrs.  Upson  and  Eves  started,  the  former  walking 
in  the  middle  of  the  road,  while  the  latter  skirted  the  fence,  inside 
the  lot,  the  intention  being  that  if  he  saw  Graham  raise  his 
w^eapon  on  the  officer,  to  immediately  fire  upon  him,  w^ith  the  view^ 
-of  crippling  and  preventing  him  from  doing  further  fatal  mischief. 

As  Mr.  Upson  again  approached,  he  was  again  halted  by  Gra- 
ham, still  on  the  north  side  of  the  road,  and  a  short  parley  ensued, 
the  officer  stating  to  Graham  that  it  was  both  his  duty  and  his 
determination  to  serve  the  warrant  which  had  been  placed  in  his 
hands,  and  again  urging  him  to  peaceably  surrender -without  caus- 
ing any  further  bloodshed  to  either  others  or  himself.  Peremp- 
torily refusing  to  submit,  Graham  again  raised  his  rifle  and  ordered 
Upson  to  leave  on  pain  of  instant  death,  and  as  he  turned  to  leave 
Graham  fired,  one  of  the  slugs  with  w^hich  the  gun  w^as  loaded.cut- 
ting  quite  a  gash  on  the  side  of  his  neck,  the  remaining  slugs  rid- 
dling the  fence  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road.  Simultaneously 
w^ith  the  discharge  of  Graham's  gun.  Eves  also  fired,  Avhereupon 
Graham  immediately  retired  to  the  corner  of  the  fence  out  of  sight. 
In  a  few  minutes  he  called  to  Mr.  Upson  to  approach,  saying  that 
he  was  wounded  and  would  surrender.  After  a  momentary  delay, 
fearing  a  ruse  on  the  part  of  Graham,  to  get  the  officer  within 
range  of  his  gun,  w^hile  himself  safe  from  that  of  his  ally,  Upson 
w^ent  to  him,  soon  after  w^hich  Graham  tumbled  over  upon  his  face 
in  the  snow  in  a  dead  faint.  On  turning  him  upon  his  back,  and 
throwing  snow^  in  his  face  to  bring  him  to,  Mr.  Upson  discovered 
that  his  left  elbow  was  badly  shattered,  by  the  shot  fired  by  Mr. 
Eves.  Constable  Upson  then  called  to  his  brother,  Dr.  G.  C. 
Upson,  who  -with  many  others,  a  short  distance  up  the  road,  w^ere 
anxiously  watching  the  proceedings,  although  by  this  time  it  was 
getting  quite  dark.  Dr.  Upson  gave  the  w^ounded  elbow  such 
surgical  attention  as  the  means  at  his  command  w^ould  admit  of, 
.and  Graham  and  the  bodies  of  his  tw^o  victims  were  taken  to  Stow 
Corners,  by  Constable  Upson,  and  the  many  w^illing  hands  now 
tendering  their  assistance. 

The  Murderer  in  Jail. — Sheriff  James  Burlison  having  been 
telegraphed  for,  accompanied  by  Deputy  United  States  Marshal 
David  A.  Scott,  arrived  at  the  hotel  soon  after  the  arrival  of  the 
party  there,  and  though  the  excitement  -was  by  this  time  most 
intense,  both  in  the  neighborhood  and  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  as  well 
.as  in  Akron,  succeeded  in  safely  conveying  the  prisoner  to  jail. 
Doctors  William  Bowen  and  George  P.  Ashmun  being  called  in  by 
Sheriff  Burlison,  the  next  morning,  found  Graham's  elbow  so 
badly  shattered  that  amputation  was  at  first  deemed  to  be  neces- 
sary; but  finally,  after   removing   several  fragments  of   bone,  by 


INDICTMENT,    TRIAL,    VERDICT.  1023 

ihe  use  of  splints,  bandages,  etc.,  the  arm  was  saved,  though  in  a 
badly  crippled  condition.  A  few  days  later,  a  brief  preliminary 
examination  w^as  held  by  Justice  Wetmore,  the  defendant  being 
duly  committed,  Mrithout  bail,  on  the  charge  of  deliberate  and  pre- 
meditated murder. 

Solemn  Funeral  Services. — The  obsequies  of  the  two  murdered 
men  were  jointly  held  at  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in 
Cuyahoga  Falls,  on  Sunday,  March  5,  1865.  There  w^as  a  very 
large  attendance,  the  solemn  services  being  conducted  by  the 
pastor  of  that  church,  Rev.  Chapin.  The  remains  of  Mr.  Filley 
were  taken  to  Northampton  for  interment;  those  of  Mr.  Kilpatrick 
being  buried  in  the  cemetery  near  Stow  Corners,  w^ith  masonic 
rites,  Mr.  K.  being  a  highly  respected  member  of  that  order. 

Indictment,  Continuance,  Etc.— The  February  term  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  being  then  in  session,  the  matter  was 
immediately  brought  before  the  grand  jury,  by  Prosecuting 
Attorney,  Edward  Oviatt,  Esq.,  and  two  separate  bills  of  indict- 
ment were  returned,  each  charging  the  defendant  with  murder  in 
the  first  degree.  Owing  to  his  physical  condition,  however,  the 
trial  w^as  postponed  until  the  ensuing  May  term,  two  new  indict- 
ments, of  three  counts  each,  being  found  by  the  grand  jury  of  that 
term;  the  several  counts,  in  both  indictments,  each  charging 
Oraham  w^ith  deliberate,  Avillful,  premeditated  and  malicious 
murder. 

Arraignment,  Trial,  Etc. — On  all  of  the  six  counts,  on  being 
arraigned  before  Judge  Stephenson  Burke,  the  defendant  entered 
a  plea  of  not  guilty.  Prosecutor  Oviatt  first  putting  him  on  trial 
for  the  murder  of  Homer  Filley.  The  trial,  which  lasted  nearly  a 
Aveek,  was  conducted  by  Prosecuting  Attorney  Edw^ard  Oviatt, 
assisted  by  Henry  McKinney,  Esq.,  on  behalf  of  the  State,  and  by 
S.  W.  McClure,  Esq.,  Judge  Rufus  P.  Ranney,  of  Cleveland,  and  R. 
O.  Hammond,  Esq.,  for  the  defense;  the  plea  of  both  insanity  on 
the  subject  of  politics  and  war,  and  of  justifiable  homicide,  being 
urged  in  behalf  of  the  defendant. 

The  main  facts  as  to  the  killing,  substantially  as  above  given, 
and  as  developed  on  the  trial,  were  admitted  by  defendant's 
attorneys,  but  a  large  amount  of  testimony  was  introduced  tending 
to  show,  first,  that  by  reason  of  injuries  to  his  head,  received  in  a 
serious  railroad  accident,  a  short  time  previous,  the  .defendant's 
mind  was  so  far  thrown  out  of  balance  that,  under  great  provocation 
an4  excitement  he  was  ^vhoUy  irresponsible  for  his  acts;  and, 
second,  that  from  reports  which  had  been  brought  to  him  of  the 
action  of  the  committee  with  other  parties,  and  of  their  intended 
action  against  him,  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  he  was  about  to  be 
illegally  despoiled  of  his  property,  and  perhaps  subjected  to  per- 
sonal injury,  and  fully  believed  that  the  defense  of  both  his  person 
and  property  against  the  formidable  body  of  men  he  saw  approach- 
ing his  premises,  was  justifiable. 

Arguments — Charge — ^ Verdict,  Etc. — The  testimony  closed 
about  noon,  on  Thursday,  January  8,  1865.  Prosecutor  Oviatt 
opened  the  argument  for  the  State,  in  a  clear  and  lucid  argument 
of  about  an  hour  and  a  half,  followed  by  S.  W.  McClure,  in  an  able 
plea  of  about  three  hours,  on  the  part  of  the  defense.  On  Friday 
morning,  Judge  Ranney,  in  an  extremely  ingenious  plea,  of  nearly 
four  hours,  closed  the  argument  for  the  defense,  Mr.  McKinney 


1024  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

summing  up  the  case,  and  concluding  the  arguments  for  the  State 
in  an  extremely  impressive  plea  of  about  five  hours.  The  charge 
of  Judge  Burke,  occupying  about  three  quarters  of  an  hour,  was 
regarded  by  all  who  heard  it,  as  remarkably  clear  and  impartial, 
carefully  guarding  the  interests  of  the  people  as  v/ell  as  affording 
full  protection  to  all  the  rights  of  the  accused,  under  the  lawr  and 
the  testimony  given  in  the  case. 

The  case  was  given  to  the  jury  at  6  o'clock  p.  >i.,  and  at  about 
10  o'clock  the  same  night,  they  returned  a  verdict  of  murder  in  the 
second  degree,  which,  the  theory  of  insanity  being  thus  discarded, 
^vas  at  the  time  generally  regarded  as  unwarrantably  mild,  in  view 
of  the  war-like  preparations  w^hich  the  defendant  had  made,  and 
the  deliberation  and  persistence  with  which  his  attack  upon  the 
unarmed  body  of  men  approaching,  and  before  they  had  reached 
his  own  premises,  w^as  made  and  followed  up — even  to  the  extent 
of  preventing  a  disinterested  neighbor,  and  a  peaceable  physician 
from  giving  succor  to  the  two  men  who  had  already  fallen  before 
his  deadly  aim.  Exceptions  to  Judge  Burke's  charge  were  filed,  by 
defendant's  counsel,  but  no  further  move  w^as  made  for  a  new^ 
trial,  and  Judge  Burke  immediately  sentenced  the  defendant  to 
imprisonment,  at  hard  labor,  in  the  state  penitentiary,  during  the 
period  of  his  natural  life,  and  to  pay  the  costs  of  prosecution, 
amounting  to  $747.86. 

After  the  Trial. — In  speaking  of  the  trial  and  its  results,  the 
present  w^riter,  editorially  in  The  Beacon,  said:  "The  prisoner 
has  nearly  recovered  from  the  wound  received  in  his  capture, 
though  the  elbow^  w^ill  always,  probably,  be  stiff.  We  do  not  learn 
that  he  has  ever  manifested  any  contrition  for  the  terrible  crime, 
though  he  admits  that  it  would  have  been  better  for  him  to  have 
paid  w^hat  was  asked  of  him,  and  esteems  himself  very  lucky, 
indeed,  at  the  mildness  of  his  sentence.  He  is  very  busy  w^ith  his 
friends — w^ho  in  their  deep  affliction  have  the  cordial  sympathy  of 
the  entire  community — in  arranging  his  business  matters,  and 
otherwise  preparing  for  the  long  imprisonment  w^hich  awaits  him, 
the  legitimate  fruits  of  his  unbridled  temper  and  his  sympathy 
w^ith  the  enemies  of  his  country." 

In  the  Penitentiary. — Sheriff  James  Burlison  conveyed  Mr. 
Graham  to  the  penitentiary  on  the  23d  of  June,  1865,  in  speaking  of 
w^hich  the  present  writer  then  editorially  said:  "The  prisoner  ^^as 
very  observant  of  the  grow^ing  crops  and  of  passing  events,  and 
expressed  himself  as  being  w^holly  unable  to  realize  w^hither  he 
was  going.  Surely  it  must  have  been  very  difficult  for  the  doomed 
man,  who  has  ever  been  in  the  enjoyment  of  prosperity,  the  society 
of  kind  friends,  and  but  for  his  ungoverned  temper,  unalloyed 
happiness,  to  comprehend,  in  its  full  import,  the  terrible  fact  that 
he  w^as  soon  to  be  shut  out  forever  from  the  bright  and  beautiful 
scenes  of  earth,  to  drag  out  the  remainder  of  his  existence  at  hard 
labor  within  the  gloomy  w^alls  of  the  penitentiary.  'Verily  the 
w^ay  of  the  transgressor  is  hard.'" 

Civil  Suits  for  Damages.— On  the  17th  day  of  March,  1865, 
Messrs.  Henry  McKinney  and  J.  J.  Hall  filed  petitions  in  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas,  in  behalf  of  Amanda  Filley  administratrix  of 
the  estate  of  Homer  Filley  and  Seth  W.  Harrington,  administrator 
of  the  estate  of  Hugh  Kilpatrick,  against  William  Graham,  for 
civil  damages,  in  the  sum  of  $5,000  each.     At  the  May  term  of  the 


COMMENDABLE   ACTION   OF   SON.  1025 

court  when  the  cases  were  called,  though  answers  had  been  duly 
filed,  no  defense  was  made,  and  judgment  was  rendered  by  Judge 
Burke  for  the  full  amount  of  damages  claimed.  As  was  then 
quite  largely  practiced,  a  second  trial  was  asked  for  and  granted, 
thus  carrying  the  matter  over  until  a  subsequent  term.  After  the 
consignment  of  Mr.  Graham  to  the  penitentiar3^  however,  and 
before  the  civil  suits  w^ere  reached,  the  son,  Mr.  Henry  B.  Graham, 
arranged  for  an  amicable  and  equitable  settlement  of  both  suits, 
as  will  be  seen  from  the  following  editorial  from  the  pen  of  the 
present  writer  published  in  The  Beacon  of  May  10,  1866: 

"Highly  Commendable. — We  learn  that  Henry  B.  Graham, 
upon  w^hom  has  devolved  the  care  of  the  family  and  the  business 
affairs  of  his  father,  Mr.  William  Graham,  since  the  occurrence  of 
the  unfortunate  affair  that  at  once  deprived  him  of  his  liberty  and 
two  of  his  neighbors  of  their  lives,  has  secured  to  the  w^idows  of 
Messrs.  Kilpatrick  and  Filley  the  payment  of  $5,000  each,  in  annual 
installments  of  w^hich  $1,000  has  already  been  paid.  This  evinces 
not  only  a  high  sense  of  honor  on  the  part  of  young  Graham,  but  a 
spirit  of  energy  and  determination,  also,  which  will  meet  w^ith  the 
hearty  commendation  and  sympathy  of  the  entire  community." 

The  Pardon  Question. — Within  a  very  few  months  after  Mr. 
Graham's  incarceration,  the  War  being  over  and  the  asperities  aris- 
ing therefrom  becoming  very  greatly  softened,  the  friends  of  Mr. 
Graham  began  to  agitate  the  question  of  applying  to  Governor 
Jacob  D.  Cox  for  his  pardon,  but  no  definite  move  w^as  made  in 
that  direction  until  after  the  accession  of  Governor  Rutherford  B. 
Hayes,  in  1867.  In  a  communication  to  The  Beacon,  under  date 
of  April  3,  1867  Mr.  William  Southmayd,  of  Stow,  said:  "The 
friends  of  Mr.  William  Graham  are  circulating  a  petition  for  his 
pardon,  with  what  success  I  am  not  advised.  *  *  *  j  think  the 
move  is  considered  premature  by  those  looking  upon  his  case  Avith 
the  most  charitable  eyes."  In  commenting  upon  this  item,  the 
w^riter  editorially  said:  "We  w^ould  not  do  anything  to  w^ound  the 
feelings  of  the  family  or  friends  of  the  condemned  man,  or  to  pre- 
judice his  case  with  the  executive,  or  public,  and  therefore  with- 
hold a  resume  of  the  evidence  in  the  case  given  by  'Justice,'  yet  at 
the  same  time  agreeing  with  our  correspondents,  that  the  move- 
ment for  a  pardon  is  at  this  time,  in  our  judgment,  premature." 

Governor  Hayes  Declines  to  Intervene. — The  petition, 
numerously  signed,  by  men  of  both  political  parties,  was  earnestly 
urged  upon  the  attention  of  Governor  Hayes,  by  interested  friends 
and  able  counsel,  but  the  Governor,  on  fully  acquainting  himself 
with  all  the  circumstances  connected  with  the  double  homicide, 
declined  to  interfere,  believing  that  if,  in  any  event,  executive 
clemency  should  intervene,  the  time  had  not  yet  arrived  for  its 
exercise. 

Final  Pardon. — Mr.  Graham  thus  remained  in  prison,  until 
the  accession  to  the  Governorship  of  Hon.  William  Allen,  in  1874, 
before  whom  the  application  w^as  successfully  renewed,  a  pardon 
being  granted  by  Governor  Allen  on  the  11th  day  of  February, 
1874.  In  his  list  of  pardons,  and  the  reasons  thereof,  subsequently 
reported  to  the  legislature,  Governor  Allen  said  of  this  particular 
case:  "Pardoned  on  the  petition  of  1,500  citizens  of  Summit 
county,  on  application  of  Hon.  A.  C.  Voris,  delegate  to  Constitu- 
tional Convention  from  Summit  county;  of  Senator  Goodhue  from 

65 


1026  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Summit  District;  of  Lieutenant  Governor  Hart;  of  the  prosecuting 
attorney;  judges  of  Probate  and  Common  Pleas  Courts;  of  the 
treasurer,  recorder,  auditor  and  clerk  of  Summit  county;  of  the 
mayor  of  Akron,  and  of  leading  bankers,  professional  and  business 
men  of  Summit  county.  The  crime  ^vas  committed  under  extreme 
provocation,  and  during  intense  mental  excitement  while  the  vic- 
tims were  engaged  in  an  unlawful  act  which  Graham  had  reason 
to  believe  jeopardized  his  person  and  property.  As  he  had  suffered 
incarceration  for  a  period  of  nearly  nine  years,  it  seemed  to  me 
that  the  ends  of  justice  w^ere  fully  subserved  in  his  case." 

Subsequent  Life,  Death,  Etc. — Mr.  Graham  returned  to  his 
home,  in  Stow,  on  the  evening  of  February  12,  1874,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  live  quietly  and  peaceably,  until  his  sudden  death  from 
heart  disease,  on  the  3rd  day  of  August,  1883,  at  the  age  of  68 
years,  3  months  and  28  days.  His  surviving  family  are  among  the 
most  respectable  and  influential  families  of  Stow  township,  and 
of  Summit  county,  and  in  no  way  lessened  in  the  public  esteem 
by  the  occurrence  of  the  fearful  tragedy  in  which  the  husband 
and  father  was  so  prominent  an  actor,  in  the  most  exciting  period 
of  our  country's  history. 

Families  of  the  Murdered  Men. — Homer  Filley  was  born  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  lacked  about  a  month  of  being  40 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death.  In  1852,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Amanda  Robstein,  in  Michigan,  shortly  afterwards  settling 
near  his  mother,  in  Northampton,  working  in  sawmill,  at  farming, 
etc.,  a  year  or  two  later  at  Munroe  Falls,  and  doing  similar  work 
in  that  vicinity.  Besides  his  widow,  five  children  were  left  to 
mourn  his  tragic  death:  Eliza,  12;  Alice,  8;  Wallace  H.,  5;  Ida,  3; 
and  Loretta,  4  months;  all  of  whom,  except  the  youngest,  are  now 
living,  and  all  married  and  comfortably  settled  in  life:  Eliza  and 
Ida  at  Munroe  Falls,  Alice  in  Michigan  and  \A  allace  H.  in  Akron, 
an  operative  in  the  Knife  Works;  Mrs.  Filley  still  occupying  the 
comfortable  homestead  which  had  been  provided  for  the  family  by 
her  lamented  husband,  previous  to  his  death. 

Hugh  Kilpatrick  was  a  native  of  Glasgow,  Scotland,  emigrat- 
ing, w^hen  a  boy,  to  Kingston,  Canada.  His  parents  dying  when 
he  w^as  still  quite  young,  he  was  reared  to  manhood  by  friends  of 
his  family.  In  1847,  he  went  to  California,  and  on  his  return  went 
to  Patterson,  N.  J.  Thence  he  came  to  Cuyahoga  Falls,  subse- 
quently going  to  Munroe  Falls,  in  both  places  working  at  his 
trade  of  paper-maker,  for  a  time  being  a  partner  in  the  w^ell- 
remembered  firm  of  Howard,  Peebles  &  Co.  June  25,  1857,  Mr. 
Kilpatrick  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  B.  Gaylord  (daughter  of  the 
late  Isaac  T.  Gaylord,  of  Stow),  w^ho,  after  bearing  him  three  chil- 
dren, died  June  29,  1864;  Mr.  K.  marrying  for  his  second  w^ife,  Jan- 
uary 1,  1865,  Miss  Charlotte  L.  Benedict,  of  Northampton.  At  the 
time  of  his  death,  Mr.  Kilpatrick  was  36  years,  10  months  and  22 
days  of  age;  the  names  and  ages  of  his  children  being:  Adelaide 
M.,  5;  Arthur  G.,  4;  and  Henry  Theodore,  1;  Arthur  G.  surviving 
his  father  but  about  three  weeks.  Adelaide  M.  is  now  the  wife  of 
Dr.  Sylvanus  Koontz,  a  prosperous  physician  of  Roanoke,  Ind., 
and  Henry  Theodore  is  a  resident  of  Morgan  Park,  near  Chicago, 
111.,  engaged  in  the  lucrative  business  of  plumbing.  Mr.  Kilpat- 
rick's  Avidow,  Charlotte  L.,  was  married  to  the  late  Parvin  Eves,  of 
Stow,    June    15,    1866,    but   a    little   over   a    year   later  was   again 


STOW'S    PRESENT   OFFICIAL   STATUS. 


1027 


-widowed,  Mr.  Kves  being  accidentally  killed  by  the  cars,  at  Cuya- 
hoga Falls,  August  19,  1867.  Mrs.  Kves  was  again  married, 
November  26,  1872,  to  Mr.  Amos  B.  Wait,  w^ith  whom  she  is  now 
living  at  Hilliard  Station,  Mich. 

STOW'S  POPULATION,  OFFICIAL  ROSTER,  ETC. 

The  census  of  1840  gave  to  Stow,  including  the  populous  cor- 
ner included  in  the  village  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  and  the  then  boom- 
ing village  of  Munroe  Falls,  a  population  of  1,533;  the  census  of 
1880  giving  her,  exclusive  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  911;  w^hile  the  cen- 
sus of  1890  credits  her  with  936,  so  that  it  will  be  seen  that  while 
there  may  have  been  a  slight  shrinkage  between  1840  and  1880,  she 
has  rather  more  than  kept  her  own  during  the  last  decade. 

The  present  official  roster  of  the  township  (1891)  is  as  foUow^s: 
Trustees,  Charles  Edward  Hanson,  Levi  Swinehart,  Charles  N. 
Gaylord;  clerk,  William  Nickerson;  justices  of  the  peace,  Ira  B. 
Fairchild,  Henry  B.  Graham;  constables.  Fay  G.  Davis,  Frederick 
Barnard;  postmasters:  Metz,  Edward  A.  Seasons;  Munroe  Falls, 
C  C.  Reid. 


CHAPTER   XLIX. 

MUNROE  FALLS— BOSTON  CAPITALISTS  PROJECT  A  GREAT  MANUFACTURING 
CITY— ITS  RISE,  PROGRESS  AND  DECLINE— ITS  PROTEGE,  EDWARD  P.  WILLIS^ 
CHARGED  WITH  AN  INFAMOUS  CRIME— TRIAL,  CONVICTION  AND  SENTENCE 
—SECOND  TRIAL  AND  CONVICTION— ESCAPE  FROM  JAIL  AND  SIX  WEEKS' 
HIDING  IN  HIS  ATTORNEY'S  CISTERN  —  FLIGHT  TO  ITALY— RETURN  TO- 
AMERICA  AS  BUSINESS  MANAGER  FOR  THE  NOTORIOUS  LOLA  MONTEZ, 
"COUNTESS  OF  LANSFELD"  —  SUMMARY  EJECTION  FROM  HER  PRESENCE 
AND  SERVICE— PREMATURE  DEATH,  ETC. 

A   CITY  THAT  WAS,   BUT  IS  NOT. 

ABOUT  two  miles  northeasterly  from  the  enterprising  village 
of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  near  the  south  line  of  the  township  of 
Stow^,  is  a  small,  but  pleasant  hamlet,  known  as  Munroe  Falls.  It 
is  located  upon  the  Cuyahoga  river,  and  exists  by  reason  of  the 
considerable  water  power  afforded  by  the  fall  in  the  stream  in  that 
immediate  vicinity.  In  the  early  thirties,  manufacturing  enter- 
prises, at  points  w^here  w^ater  powder  was  attainable,  had  nearly 
reached  their  limit  in  New^  England,  and  eastern  capitalists  began 
to  explore  the  then  far  w^est  for  eligible  locations  for  investment  of 
their  surplus  means,  and  the  augmentation  of  their  w^ealth  and 
fame.  Middlebury,  Akron,  and  Cuyahoga  Falls,  had  already 
secured  considerable  reputation  as  manufacturing  centers,  while 
at  many  other  contiguous  points,  grist-mills,  saw-mills  and  carding 
and  fulling  mills,  or  w^oolen  factories,  had  been  put  in  operation 
by  local  enterprise. 

The  Beginning. — At  the  point  in  question,  under  the  name  of 
"Florence,"  several  small  mills  of  this  character  had  been  erected 
by  local  operators,  several  years  before  anything  had  been  done  or 
thought  of  at  Akron,  and  about  contemporary  w^ith  the  first 
improvements  of  a  similar  nature  at  the  upper,  or  old,  village  of 
Cuyahoga  Falls,  a  mile  or  so  above  the  present  business  center  of 
that  village.  But  early  in  March,  1836,  Edmund  Munroe,  a  wealthy 
merchant  of  Boston,  Mass.,  bought  from  Guy  Wolcott,  George 
Lodge,  Zebulon  Stow,  and  other  farmers  of  the  neighborhood,  sev- 
eral hundred  acres  of  land,  including  the  water-pow^er,  mills  and 
other  improvements  thereon  existing.  About  200  acres  of  these 
lands  ^vere  immediately  platted,  and  a  handsome  map  prepared 
and  published  of  the  proposed  village,  or  prospective  city  of 
"Munroe  Falls."  A  commodious  store  was  erected,  and  stocked 
with  a  full  assortment  of  general  merchandise;  old  mills  were 
rejuvenated,  new^  mills  projected  and  quite  a  number  of  dwelling 
houses  w^ere  erected  by  Mr.  Munroe,  for  the  use  of  his  agents  and 
operatives,  and  by  others  to  whom  lots  in  the  new  city  had  been 
sold.  So  rapid  was  its  growth,  and  so  great  was  the  popular  con- 
fidence in  its  success,  that  several  of  the  prosperous  farmers  of  the 
neighborhood,  together  with  several  other  eastern  gentlemen,  pro- 
posed to  share  the  glory,  as  well  as  the  profits,  w^ith  Mr.  Munroe, 
by  the  organization  of  a  joint  stock  company.     Accordingly,  on  the 


INCORPORATORS — BANK,    ETC.  1029 

:3d  day  of  April,  1837,  a  charter  was  granted  by  the  Legislature  of 
Ohio,  to  Edmund  Munroe,  Isaac  I.  Bigelow,  Oliver  O.  Brown, 
William  H.  Munroe,  and  their  associates,  until  the  year  1860,  to  be 
known  by  the  name  of  the  "Munroe  Falls  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany." By  the  terms  of  its  charter,  the  company  was  authorized 
^'to  grow  and  manufacture  silk  and  w^ool,  and  also  to  manufacture 
<;otton,  paper,  flour,  sugar,  machinery,  and  tools  of  all  descriptions 
which  may  be  necessary  in  their  manufacturing  operations,"  and 
with  an  authorized  capital  stock  of  $500,000  in  shares  of  $100.00 
<iach.  The  working  capital,  to  begin  with,  was  fixed  at  $100,000,  of 
w^hich  amount,  as  appears  by  the  original  stock  book  now  in  the 
hands  of  the  writer,  $82,000,  was  subscribed,  in  sums  ranging  from 
:$200.00  to  $40,000,  as  follows:  Edmund  Munroe,  $40,000;  Isaac  I. 
Bigelow,  $4,000;  Oliver  O.  Brown,  $4,500;  William  H.  Munroe, 
:$3,000;  Owen  Brown,  $1,000;  Henry  Cogger,  $1,000;  Edmund  S. 
Munroe,  $10,000;  Joseph  Anderson,  $2,000;  Robinson  Truesdale, 
:$1,500;  Joseph  Hine,  $1,000;  Herman  Peck,  $300;  Jacob  Bollinger, 
Jr.,  $200;  John  B.  Whedon,  $500;  Daniel  Porter,  $300;  Parvin  Eves, 
$500;  William  Armstrong,  $500;  James  B.  Angell,  $500;  Henry 
Harshbarger,  $500;  Hiram  C.  Carlton,  $500;  James  Anderson,  $400; 
Jonas  D.  Bigelow,  $500;  William  Stow,  $1,200;  Samuel  M.  Coombs, 
$1,000;  John  Hall,  2d,  $300;  James  Kent,  $1,000;  Ogden  Wetmore, 
$1,000;  Martin  Bushnell,  $300;  Horace  Bushnell,  $300;  William 
Hickox,  $300;  Owen  B.  King,  $200;  Lewis  Dailey,  $1,000;  Ralph 
Smith,  $1,000;  Benjamin  Sewall,  $1,000;  George  D.  Munroe,  $1,000. 
It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  Munroes  held  a  majority  of  the 
stock,  and  no  doubt  was  entertained  in  regard  to  the  final  success 
of  the  corporotion,  and  the  rapid  ^and  prosperous  grow^th  of  the 
new  city.  The  entire  plat,  together  with  all  buildings,  machinery, 
goods,  bills  payable,  crops,  farm  produce,  teams,  live  stock,  etc., 
belonging  to  Edmund  Munroe,  valued  at  $71,631,  was  transferred 
to  the  company.  By-laws  w^ere  adopted — directors  and  officers 
were  elected,  and  the  entire  machinery  of  the  corporation  was 
under  full  momentum  early  in  the  Summer  of  1837. 

The  Company  Starts  a  "Bank." — Elsewhere  allusion  has 
been  made  to  the  great  panic  of  1837,  during  which  all  the  banks 
of  the  country  suspended  specie  payment,  and  a  very  large  num- 
ber entirely  collapsed,  w^hile  dire  financial  distress,  in  commercial, 
manufacturing  and  agricultural  operations,  universally  prevailed. 
In  this  emergency,  like  many  other  similar  corporations,  the  Mun- 
roe Falls  Manufacturing  Company,  to  facilitate  its  own  business 
operations,  as  well,  perhaps,  as  to  afford  financial  relief  to  its 
patrons  and  neighbors,  issued  neatly  engraved  and  printed  scrip, 
in  denominations  of  10,  25  and  50  cents,  and  one  and  two  dollars, 
payable  on  demand,  in  current  bank  notes,  when  presented  in 
sums  of  five  dollars,  or  any  multiple  of  that  sum.  For  a  year  or 
two,  these  notes,  with  others  of  their  class,  circulated  freely,  and 
very  greatly  facilitated  the  company's  mercantile  and  manufact- 
uring operations,  during  which  time,  in  addition  to  quite  an  exten- 
sive retail  trade  in  general  merchandise,  w^as  added  a  wholesale 
<lepartment.  From  this  establishment,  merchants  from  neighbor- 
ing towns  and  villages  w^ere  supplied,  at  about  eastern  jobbing 
prices,  with  prints  and  other  cotton  fabrics  of  New  England  man- 
ufacture. The  company  fairly  held  its  own  for  three  or  four 
years,  when,  by  reason  of  the  continued  business  depression,  and 


1030  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

its  inability  to  realize  upon  the  almost  unlimited  credit  which  had 
been  extended  to  its  customers,  it  became  financially  embarrassed^ 
and  finally  bankrupt,  large  amounts  of  its  "currency"  in  the 
hands  of  the  people  proving  entirely  worthless. 

Its  Chief  Clerk  Comes  to  Grief. — Among  the  operatives 
and  employes  of  the  company,  was  a  young  Bostonian  by  the 
name  of  Bdw^ard  P.  Willis,  w^ho  occupied  the  position  of  chief- 
clerk  in  the  store  of  the  corporation.  This  young  man  was  a 
younger  brother  of  the  renowned  poet,  Nathaniel  P.Willis.  Young 
Willis  was  of  rather  a  gay  order — somew^hat  of  the  modern  dude 
persuasion — and  it  was  rumored  that,  leading  rather  a  fast  life  in 
the  city  of  Boston,  his  friends  had  sent  him  to  Ohio,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  very  respectable  representatives  of  that  city,  con- 
nected w^ith  the  company,  in  the  hope  of  effecting  his  reformation. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  certain  it  is,  that  in  1844,  he  is  thrown  into 
prison,  charged  with  an  infamous  crime.  The  cause  of  his  appre- 
hension may  be  thus  readily  stated:  Being  in  attendance  upon 
the  commencement  exercises  of  Western  Reserve  College,  at  Hud- 
son, on  the  8th  day  of  August,  1844,  young  Willis  was  introduced 
to  a  young  lady  from  Ravenna,  by  the  name  of  Clara  M.  Bard,  who, 
with  her  brother-in-law^,  Deputy  Sheriff  Kdward  P.  Bassett,  and 
her  sister,  Mrs.  Cornelia  Bassett,  w^ere  also  in  attendance.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  commencement  and  graduating  exercises,  in  the  day- 
time, a  musical  entertainment  was  given  in  the  college  chapel  in 
the  evening,  to  which  entertainment  Miss  Bard  was  accompanied 
by  Willis.  Learning,  during  the  evening,  that  it  was  the  intention 
of  the  Ravenna  party  to  spend  the  night  with  friends  at  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  Willis  proposed  that  if  Miss  Bard  w^ould  accept  a  seat  in  his 
buggy,  he  would  go  home  by  way  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Tvhich  propo- 
sition w^as  assented  to,  by  both  Miss  Bard  and  her  friends.  Start- 
ing from  Hudson  together,  Willis  soon  out-distanced  the  Bassetts, 
though  the  latter  arrived  at  their  destination  some  time  before  the 
former  did,  occasioning  the  friends  of  the  young  lady  considerable 
anxiety,  and  no  little  alarm.  Nothing  w^rong,  however,  was  sus- 
pected, until  after  the  return  of  the  party  to  Ravenna,  the  next 
day,  when  Miss  Bard  w^as  found  to  be  in  such  a  state  of  nervous 
prostration  that  her  friends  commenced  an  investigation  of  the 
cause,  eliciting  from  her  the  story,  that  somewhere  between  Hud- 
son and  Cuyahoga  Falls  her  escort  had  turned  off  from  the  main 
road,  into  a  dense  piece  of  w^oods,  w^here  he  had  made  a  criminal 
assault  upon  her,  and  that  in  the  desperate  struggle  which  she 
had  made  to  prevent  the  accomplishment  of  his  designs,  she  had 
sustained  serious  bruises  upon  her  back  and  limbs,  as  well  as  a 
terrible  strain  upon  her  nervous  system. 

Arrest  anb  Examination. — On  learning  the  true  state  of  the 
case,  the  young  lady's  brother,  Mr.  Rodolphus  Bard,  of  Ravenna, 
visited  Cuyahoga  Falls,  on  the  10th  day  of  August,  1844,  and  filed 
an  affidavit  before  Birdsey  Booth,  Esq.,  one  of  the  justices  of  the 
peace  for  Tallmadge  township,  charging  said  Willis  with  assault 
with  intent  to  ravish  the  said  Clara  M.  Bard.  A  warrant  was- 
immediately  placed  in  the  hands  of  Constable  Warren  Lane,  whe- 
at once  proceeded  to  Munroe  Falls  and,  taking  the  accused  into 
custody,  escorted  him  before  Justice  Booth,  to  answer  to  said 
charge.  Pleading  not  guilty,  on  hearing  the  affidavit  read,  the 
examination  was  postponed  until  August  13,  at  10  o'clock  A.  m.,  by" 


TRIAL,    CONVICTION,    SENTENCE.  1031 

reason  of  the  illness  of  Miss  Bard,  and  in  default  of  bail  for  his 
appearance  at  that  time  Willis  was  committed  to  jail. 

On  the  day  named  Miss  Bard  and  her  mother,  Anna  M.  Bard, 
and  her  brother-in-law^,  E.  P.  Bassett,  were  sw^orn  and  examined. 
The  defendant,  offering  no  testimony,  he  was  held  to  bail  in  the 
sum  of  $5,000  for  his  appearance  at  the  September  term  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  to  answer  to  said  charge,  in  default  of 
which  he  was  remanded  to  jail. 

It  may  well  be  imagined  that  the  excitement  over  the  affair, 
both  in  Summit  and  Portage  counties,  w^as  intense,  w^hich  was 
considerably  augmented  by  the  fact  that  the  young  lady  in  giving 
her  testimony  had  fainted  entirely  away,  with  the  prospect,  for  a 
time,  that  the  swoon  might  prove  fatal.  While  the  public  sym- 
pathy in  the  two  counties,  was  decidedly  with  Miss  Bard,  with 
corresponding  indignation  against  her  alleged  assailant,  the 
friends  of  the  accused  \^ere  also  quite  numerous  and  influential, 
not  only  providing  him  with  able  counsel  and  every  available  appli- 
ance for  his  defense,  but  also  laboring  to  mollify  thcpublic  feeling 
and  to  induce  the  aggrieved  parties  to  modify  their  charges  and 
condone  the  offense. 

Before  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. — At  the  September 
term,  1844.  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  Hon.  Eben  Newton,  of 
Canfield,  Mahoning  county,  presided,  assisted  by  associate  judges 
Charles  Sumner,  of  Middlebury,  Hugh  R.  Caldwell,  of  Franklin 
township,  and  Robert  K.  DuBois,  of  Akron.  The  grand  jury,  after 
a  most  careful  and  searching  investigation,  returned  a  true  bill  of 
indictment  against  the  accused  in  the  following  words:  "That 
Edward  P.  Willis,  on  the  8th  day  of  August,  A.  I).,  1844,  with  force 
and  arms,  at  Northampton,  in  the  county  of  Summit  aforesaid,  in 
and  upon  one  Clara  M.  Bard,  a  female  in  the  peace  of  the  State  of 
Ohio,  then  and  there  being,  did  make  an  unlawful  assault,  and  her 
the  said  Clara  M.  Bard,  did  then  and  there  unlawfully  beat,  wound, 
and  ill-treat,  with  intent  then  and  there,  unlawfully  to  ravish  and 
carnally  know^,  to  the  great  damage  of  her,  the  said  Clara  M.  Bard, 
contrary  to  the  form  of  the  statute  in  such  case  made  and  pro- 
vided, and  against  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  State  of  Ohio." 

On  being  arraigned,  under  the  indictment,  the  defendant 
enters  a  plea  of  "not  guilty,"  and,  in  the  language  of  the  law, 
"throws  himself  upon  the  country."  A  large  number  of  witnesses 
w^ere  examined,  the  court  room  being  crowded  to  its  extremest 
capacity,  with  a  most  intensely  interested  audience,  both  men  and 
women.  The  main  interest,  of  course,  centered  in  the  testimony 
of  the  accusing  witness,  Miss  Bard,  who,  by  reason  of  the  delicate 
position  in  which  she  was  placed,  and  the  embarrassing  nature  of 
the  questions  propounded,  again,  as  before^  the  magistrate, 
sw^ooned  during  the  extremely  severe  cross-examination,  to  which 
she  was  subjected  by  the  defendant's  counsel,  though  maintaining 
a  straight-forward  and  consistent  story,  throughout. 

Conviction  and  Sentence. — The  testimony  being  all  in,  the 
case  w^as  ably  argued  by  Rufus  P.  Spalding  and  S.  W,  McClure, 
who  were  assigned  to  assist  William  M.  Dodge,  prosecuting  attor- 
ney, on  the  part  of  the  State,  and  by  L.  V.  Bierce  and  Van  R. 
Humphrey  on  the  part  of  defense.  After  an  elaborate  charge  by 
Judge  Newton,  the  case  which  had  occupied  the  attention  of  the 
court  for  nearly  a  week,  was  given  to  the  jury,  which,  after  a  few 


1032  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

hours'  consideration,  returned  "  that  the  said  Edward  P.  Willis  is 
guilty  in  manner  and  form  as  he  stands  charged  in  said  indict- 
ment." The  defendant's  counsel  immediately  moved  for  a  new 
trial  on  the  ground  that  one  of  the  jurors  had  expressed  an  opin- 
ion against  the  prisoner,  previous  to  the  trial,  w^hich  fact  was 
unknown  to  the  defendant  or  his  counsel  before  the  case  was  given 
to  the  jury;  and  also  because  of  error  in  the  charge  of  the  court 
to  the  jury.  The  court,  after  hearing  arguments  of  counsel  for 
and  against,  overruled  the  motion  and  immediately  sentenced  the 
prisoner  to  five  years  in  the  penitentiary. 

A  bill  of  exceptions  was  presented  by  the  defendant's  counsel, 
which  was  signed  by  all  the  judges,  except  Judge  Sumner,  who 
declined  to  attach  his  signature  to  the  bill  because  of  the  impeach- 
able character  of  the  w^itnesses  w^ho  had  testified  in  regard  to 
juror  having  expressed  an  opinion  previous  to  the  trial.  On  this 
bill  of  exceptions,  Hon.  Reuben  Wood,  one  of  the  judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  on  the  7th  day  of  October,  1844,  granted  a  writ  of 
error,  and  ordered  a  transcript  of  the  writ  to  be  certified  to  the 
Supreme  Court  for  review. 

Hearing  Before  Supreme  Court. — Willis,  notwithstanding 
his  large  array  of  influential  friends,  being  unable  to  procure  bail, 
continued  to  occupy  a  felon's  cell  in  the  county  jail,  awaiting  the 
hearing  of  his  case  before  the  Supreme  Court,  which,  under  the 
old  system  of  jurisprudence,  being  a  circulating  institution,  did 
not  get  around  to  Summit  county  until  the  6th  day  of  October, 
1845,  Judges  Reuben  Wood  and  Matthew  Burchard  presiding.  On 
the  case  being  reached,  the  alleged  causes  of  error  in  the  proceed- 
ings below  were  duly  presented,  and  the  case  ably  argued  by 
counsel  for  both  the  defense  and  the  State,  a  portion  of  whicli  alle- 
gations were  sustained  by  the  court  and  the  case  remanded  to  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  a  new^  trial. 

At  the  November  term  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  1845, 
the  defendant  was  again  brought  to  trial,  commencing  on  Monday, 
November  24,  and  occupying  the  attention  of  the  court  during  the 
balaiice  of  the  week,  the  attendance  being  as  large  and  the  excite- 
ment even  greater  than  on  the  former  trial,  the  State  being  this 
time  represented  by  William  S.  C.  Otis,  prosecuting  attorney,  and 
S.  W.  McClure,  and  the  defense  by  L.  V.  Bierce  and  Van  R.  Hum- 
phrey, as  before;  Judge  Humphrey's  plea  for  the  accused,  being 
one  of  the  most  eloquent  efforts  ever  made  in  Summit  county  and 
occupying  over  six  hours. 

Under  the  charge  of  the  court  the  case  was  given  to  the  jury 
on  Friday,  November  28,  who,  after  nearly  twenty-four  hours' 
deliberation,  late  on  Saturday  afternoon  rendered  a  verdict  of 
guilty,  as  charged  in  the  indictment.  Defendant's  counsel  again 
immediately  moved  for  a  new  trial  and  change  of  venue,  on  the 
ground  of  misconduct  on  the  part  of  several  of  the  jurors,  and  of 
undue  prejudice  against  the  prisoner  among  the  people  of  Summit 
county.  The  hearing  of  the  motion  was  postponed  until  Friday, 
December  5,  on  the  early  morning  of  which  day  the  town  and 
entire  vicinity  \v^ere  thrown  into  the  most  intense  excitement  by 
the  rapidly  spreading  report  that  "fFi7/is  has  escaped  from  jaiiy 

Investigation  disclosed  the  fact  that,  probably  through  outside 
aid,  the  outer  doors  of  the  jail,  and  three  of  the  cell  doors,  had 
been  unlocked  by  means  of  false  keys,  during  the  previous  night, 


DECLARATION   OF  INDEPENDENCE.  1033 

and  that  Willis  and  another  prisoner,  charged  with  forgery,  had 
•escaped — the  third  prisoner,  William  Buckmaster,  of  Bath,  under 
a  six  years'  sentence  for  incest,  for  some  unexplained  reason,  fail- 
ing to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity  thus  afforded  him  for 
securing  his  liberty. 

On  the  coming  in  of  court,  counsel  for  defense  filed  several 
affidavits,  including  those  of  three  of  the  jurors  who  had  tried  the 
case,  and  counter-affidavits  were  also  produced  by  Prosecuting 
Attorney  Otis,  all  of  w^hich,  ow^ing  to  the  escape  of  the  prisoner, 
w^ere  su||)mitted  without  argument,  whereupon  the  motion  for  a 
new  trial  and  change  of  venue  was  overruled  and  the  case 
continued. 

A  Unique  Document.— In  anticipation  of  his  escape,  and  as  a 
stupendous  joke  upon  the  officers  of  the  law,  Willis  left  behind 
him  a  formal  "Declaration  of  Independence,"  which,  in  his  own 
handw^riting,  is  now  in  pot<session  of  the  writer.  It  is  a  close  imi- 
tation of  the  immortal  Declaration  of  American  Independence, 
after  giving,  as  his  motto,  "If  we  fail,  it  can  be  no  worse  for  us, 
but  we  shall  not  fail,"  starting  out  with: 

"  When  in  the  course  of  human  events  it  becomes  necessary  for  one 
person  to  dissolve  the  legal  bonds  which  have  been  unjustly  imposed  upon 
him  by  others,  and  to  assume  among-  mankind  the  separate  and  equal  sta- 
tion to  which  the  laws  of  Nature  and  of  Nature's  God  entitle  hitn,  a  decent 
respect  to  the  feelings  of  others  who  may  be  interested,  requires  that  he 
should  declare  the  causes  which  impel  him  to  the  separation." 

Quoting  almost  vei-batim  the  second  section  of  the  Declara- 
tion as  to  abuses,  usurpations,  etc.,  as  applicable  to  the  attitude  of 
the  public,  and  especially  of  the  court  officials,  towards  himself, 
he  proceeds:  "To  prove  this,  let  facts  be  submitted  to  a  candid 
world : 

"They  have  unjustlj^  entered  our  house  at  midnight,  filled  our  room 
with  men  and  called  upon  us,  in  the  presence  of  this  force,  to  go  to  a  neigh- 
boring village. 

"  When  arrived  and,  on  hearing  the  charge,  demanding  an  immediate 
investigation,  it  was  refused,  and  bail  ordered  to  be  given  on  penalty  of 
being  committed  to  prison. 

"On  going,  in  custody  of  the  officer,  in  pursuit  of  bail,  a  mob  was 
raised  and  we  were  dragged  back  before  the  justice,  who,  under  the  threat 
and  terror  of  the  mob,  increased  the  bail,  first  to  more  than  three  times  and 
«ventuallj^  to  more  than  sixteen  times  the  original  amount. 

"Every  effort  was  made  to  frighten  the  officer  out  of  the  discharge  of 
his  duty  to  our  injury  and  the  perversion  of  justice. 

"The  charge  consists  mainly  of  an  intent,  of  which  no  one,  unless  he 
have  directly  iinparted  to  him  the  divine  prerogative,  can  know,  but  ourself. 

"To  prove  this  charge  a  witness  is  called  to  substantiate  by  oath  a 
statement  made  by  her  in  the  heat  of  the  moment  to  meet  a  wronglj^  sup- 
posed betra3^al  of  her  secret  by  us,  and  which  statement  is  as  untrue  in  its 
material  points,  as  it  is  repugnant  to  every  feeling  in  the  breast  of  a 
human   being. 

"All  the  testimony  of  the  prosecuting  witness  is  received  in  full  force, 
and  it  is  believed  that  she  does  not  tell  half  the  truth,  while  we,  less  inter- 
ested, and  of  necessity  knowing  more  about  it,  have  our  mouth  sealed. 

"The  position  in  which  we  are  placed,  that  of  antagonism  to  a  woman, 
is  an  extremely  unpleasant  and  embarrassing  one  in  which  chivalry  forbids 
a  proper  defense,  while  the  consequences  of  not  making  one  are  utter  ruin. 

"Improper  means  were  used  to  influence  and  excite  the  feelings  of  an 
innocent  and  unsuspecting  jury,  by  an  unseemly  display  of  this  well-trained 
and  fascinating  female,  in  a  theatrical  and  effective  tableau.  A  fainting 
scene  was  twice  got  up  for  effect  in  the  progress  of  the  testimony,  leaving 
an  impression  on  the  minds  of  the  jury  that  there  was  something  kept  back 
much  too  horrible  to  mention. 


1034  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

"Finally,  destruction  without  proper  representation,  and  damnation  on? 
misrepresentation,  are  equally  abhorrent  to  every  rule  of  justice,  and  every 
sense  of  rig-ht,  and  should  be  resisted  to  the  utmost  by  every  good  citizen 
and  every  friend  of  his  country. 

"  We,  therefore,  in  unjust  confinement  held — appealing-  to  the  Supreme- 
Judg^e  of  the  world  for  the  rectitude  of  our  intentions—do,  in  our  own  name- 
and  authority,  f^olemnly  publish  and  declare  that  we  are,  and  of  right  ought 
to  be,  free  and  independent. 

"And  for  the  support  of  this  declaration,  with  a  firm  reliance  in  the 
protection  of  Divine  Providence,  we  sing-ly  pledge  ovir  life,  our  fortune  and 
our  sacred  honor." 

[Sig-ned]       Edward  P  Willis." 

A  Curious  Hiding  Place. — The  county  commissioners  offered 
the  meager  reward  of  $100  for  his  arrest  and  return,  and  the  offi- 
cers made  every  possible  effort  to  trace  the  fugitive,  but  without 
avail.  Many  rumors  w^ere  afloat  as  to  his  having  been  seen  at  this 
and  that  point,  both  in  the  east  and  west,  w^hich,  on  being  traced 
up,  were  found  to  be  without  foundation.  The  case  was  continued 
from  term  to  term  for  over  five  years,  w^hen  at  the  March  term, 
1851,  a  nolle  prosequi  w^as  entered  by  the  court.  This  left  Mr. 
Willis  free  to  come  forth  from  his  hiding  whenever  he  might 
choose  to  do  so,  and  his  counsel  to  tell  what  they  might  know 
concerning  his  escape  and  flight. 

General  Bierce's  Story. — After  the  safety  of  his  client  had 
been  thus  secured,  through  the  dismissal  of  the  suit.  General 
Bierce  took  seeming  delight  in  rehearsing  the  story  of  his  escape^ 
concealment  and  flight.  Disclaiming  any  personal  knowledge  as 
to  the  procurement  or  manipulation  of  the  false  keys,  or  even  that 
an  escape  was  contemplated,  the  General  said  that  sometime  dur- 
ing the  night,  he  was  awakened  from  sleep  by  a  succession  of  light 
taps  upon  his  bedroom  w^indow^;  that  on  going  to  the  window  to 
ascertain  the  cause,  he  found  a  muffled  figure  standing  there, 
w^hich  in  a  timid,  frightened  and  w^hispered  voice  disclosed  itself 
to  be  his  tw^ice  convicted  client.  Sending  him  around  to  the  other 
side  of  the  house,  he  cautiously  let  him  in;  and  there,  in  the  dark- 
ness, formed  a  plan  for  his  concealment,  which  w^as  no  less  a 
scheme  than  to  immure  him  in  an  unused  cistern  in  his  back  yard, 
until  the  excitement  should  blow^  over.  Quietly  gathering  up  one 
or  two  buffalo  robes,  which  he  happened  to  have  in  the  housCr 
together  writh  sundry  articles  of  bedding,  clothing,  etc.,  and 
depositing  them  in  the  cistern,  by  the  aid  of  a  short  ladder,  con- 
veniently at  hand,  the  ci-dev^ant  Boston  dude  was  as  completely 
entombed  from  the  world  as  though  physically  dead  and  funereally 
interred.  Food  and  other  creature  comforts  w^ere  regularly  sup- 
plied at  night,  for  about  six  weeks,  w^hen,  on  a  particularly  tem- 
pestuous night,  about  the  middle  of  January,  1846,  in  a  well-con- 
trived disguise,  the  fugitive  emerged  from  his  living  sepulcher^ 
received  from  his  faithful  attorney  a  well-filled  purse,  mounted  a 
thoroughly-caparisoned,  fleet-footed  horse  found  standing  in  an 
adjoining  alley,  and,  "solitary  and  alone,"  rode  forth  into  the  dark- 
ness and  the  storm. 

Finds  a  Refuge  in  Sunny  Italy. — Rumors  from  time  to  time 
reached  the  public  ear  that  Willis  was  sojourning  in  FlorencCr 
Italy,  but  nothing  definite  was  learned  by  the  general  public  as  to 
his  whereabouts,  and  no  efforts  w^ere  made  by  the  authorities  to- 
secure  his  extradition,  if,  indeed,  there  was  any  extradition  treaty' 
in  existence  for  that  grade  of  offense  bet^^'^een  the  two  countries,  at 


RETURN  TO   AMERICA — DEATH,   ETC.  1035 

that  time.  Thus  matters  stood  until  after  a^nolle  had  been  entered 
in  the  case,  as  above  stated,  when,  in  the  Autumn  of  1851,  he 
accompanied  the  notorious  Lola  Montez  to  New  York,  as  her  con- 
fidential adviser,  and  managing  agent.  The  older  portion  of  our 
readers  w^ill  readily  recall  the  remarkable  career  of  this  remarkable 
woman,  both  in  Burope  and  America,  and  her  erratic  history  need 
not  be  repeated  here,  excepting  to  say  that  during  her  stay  in  New 
York,  w^here  she  appeared  upon  the  stage  of  the  Broadway  theater 
in  a  piece  entitled  "Lola  Montez  in  Bavaria,"  she  quarreled  w^ith 
her  gay  and  festive  confidential  agent  and  adviser  and  summarily 
ejected  him  from  her  apartiuents  at  the  Astor  House,  and  igno- 
miniously  kicked  him  down  stairs. 

The  End  of  Edward  P.  Willis. — After  his  break  with  his^ 
erratic  mistress,  Willis  was  for  a  time  given  a  subordinate  position 
in  the  office  of  the  Home  Journal  (formerly  the  Nevt^  York  Mirror, oi 
w^hich  his  distinguished  brother,  Nathaniel  P.  Willis,  the  poet  and 
popular  prose  writer,  w^as  one  of  the  editors  and  publishers),  his 
death  occuring  in  Boston  a  few  years  later,  but  at  w^hat  particular 
date,  or  from  what  particular  cause,  the  writer  is  not  advised.^ 
Thus  ends  the  sad  story  of  a  young  man  of  excellent  parentage 
and  of  good  native  ability,  who  by  taking  the  downu^-ard  path,, 
became  as  dishonorably  infamous,  in  Summit  and  Portage 
counties,  forty-five  years  ago,  as,  by  taking  the  upward  track,  his 
elder  brother  became  honorably  famous  throughout  all  the  civi- 
lized nations  of  the  earth.  Young  man  !  which  of  the  two  brothers 
yviWj^ou  emulate — the  famous  or  the  infatnous?  ^ 


CHAPTER  L. 

TALLMADGE  TOWNSHIP— ORIGIN,  EARLY  SETTLEMENT,  ETC.— A  UTOPIAN 
PROJECT— UNIQUE  ADJUSTMENT  OF  LOTS  AND  ROADS— AN  OCTUPLE  GUIDE 
BOARD— NAME,  ORGANIZATION,  ETC.— PET  SCHEME  OF  FOUNDER  THWARTED 
—CHURCH  AND  EDUCATIONAL  MATTERS— PIONEER  DEAF  AND  DUMB 
SCHOOL  IN  OHIO— CURIOUS  CHURCH  PRIZE  CURIOUSLY  WON— FIRST 
"STRIKE"  ON  RECORD— PIONEER  MINING  OPERATIONS— EARLY  LOCAL 
RAILROAD— BLAST  FURNACE  PROJECT— EXTENSIVE  CARRIAGE  SHOPS, 
SEWER  PIPE  WORKS,  ETC.— CLEAN  CRIMINAL  RECORD— SPLENDID  MILITARY 
SHOWING— BRILLIANT  CIVIL  RECORD,  ETC. 

TALLMADGE  TOWNSHIP. 

ONE  of  the  most  reliable  and  painstaking  local  historians  of 
Summit  county  w^as  the  late  Charles  C.  Bronson,  of  Tall- 
madge.  Emigrating  to  that  township  from  Connecticut,  w^ith  his 
parents,  in  1819,  then  a  boy  of  15  years,  he  resided  upon  the  farm 
which  he  then  helped  to  clear,  until  his  death,  April  11,  1886,  a 
period  of  76  years,  and  possessing  a  remarkably  retentive  memory, 
as  w^ell  as  being  a  minute  observer  and  recorder  of  passing  events, 
w^hatever  has  emanated  from  his  pen  may  be  received  w^ith  the 
fullest  confidence  as  being  thoroughly  correct. 

In  attempting,  therefore,  the  preparation  of  a  brief  historical 
sketch  of  Tallmadge,  I  have  availed  myself  of  the  w^ritings  of  my  late 
friend,  aided  by  those  of  the  late  Captain  Amos  Seward,  Colonel 
Charles  Whittlesey,  Hon.  E.  N.  Sill  and  Gen.  Lucius  V.  Bierce, 
and  the  recollections  of  Messrs*  Daniel  Hine,  Andrew  Fenn,  Ira 
P.  Sperry,  Daniel  A.  Upson,  George  Allison  and  other  surviving 
residents  of  the  to^vnship. 

Origin,  Early  Settlement,  Etc. — The  survey  of  the  Western 
Reserve  lands,  east  of  the  Cuyahoga  river  and  Portage  Path,  w^as 
completed,  by  Wareham  Shepard  and  Amzi  Atw^ater,  for  the  Con- 
necticut Land  Company,  late  in  the  Fall  of  1797,  Tallmadge,  then 
unnamed,  being  designated  as  Town  2,  Range  10.  In  the  24th  draft, 
at  Hartford,  Conn.,  in  January,  1798,  the  township  fell  to  Jonathan 
Brace  and  Enoch  Perkins,  of  Hartford,  Roger  Newberry,  of  Wind- 
sor, Elijah  White,  of  Bolton,  Conn.,  Justin  Ely,  of  West  Spring- 
field, Azariah  Rockwell,  Abner  and  Roswell  Root,  and  Oliver  P. 
Dickinson,  of  Pittsfield,  and  Stephen  W.  Jones,  of  Stockbridge, 
Mass.;  the  total  number  of  acres  within  the  township,  thus  drawn, 
being  15,225. 

The  first  five  parties  named  constituted  what  was  known  as 
the  "Brace  Company,"  the  last  five  forming  the  "Rockwell  Com- 
pany." Subsequently,  in  October,  1799,  Jones  sold  his  share  to 
Ephraim  Starr,  of  Goshen,  and  Stanley  Griswold,  of  New  Milford, 
Conn.,  Starr  purchasing  Griswold's  interest  the  foUow^ing  year. 
The  remaining  members  of  the  Rockw^ell  Company,  Nov.  9,  1799, 
transferred  their  interest  to  Colonel  Benjamin  Tallmadge,  of 
Litchfield,  Conn.  This  made  the  Brace  Company  and  Messrs. 
Tallmadge  and  Starr,  tenants  in  common  of  the  entire  township. 


A   TRULY   PURITANICAL   SCHEME.  1037 

by  a  subsequent  arrangement  the  Brace  Company  taking  the 
entire  \vest  half  of  the  township,  Mr.  Starr  three  sections  east  of 
the  center  line,  from  the  north  line  of  the  to\srnship  southward ,^ 
and  Colonel  Tallmadge  the  balance  of  the  township, 

A  Projected  Utopia. — In  1806,  Rev.  David  Bacon,  of  Wood- 
stock, Conn.,  who  w^ith  true,  Puritanic  piety  and  devotion  had,, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Connecticut  Missionary  Society,  given 
about  five  years  to  missionary  ^rork  among  the  Indians  near 
Detroit,  made  a  contract  with  Messrs.  Tallmadge  and  Starr  and 
the  Brace  Company,  for  the  purchase  of  a  portion,  and  to  act  as 
their  agent  for  the  sale  of  the  residue  of  their  lands  in  the  yet 
unsettled  and  unnamed  tow^nship. 

Being  an  earnest  believer  in,  and  preacher  of,  the  christian 
religion,  Mr.  Bacon  conceived  the  idea  of  founding,  in  the  Tvilds  of 
Ohio,  a  community  that  should  be  in  full  sympathy  w^ith  his  ow^n 
unsw^erving  orthodox  religious  notions — a  sort  of  Ecclesiastical 
Utopia — to  be  conducted  upon,  and  governed  by,  a  strictly  moral 
and  spiritual  code  of  ethics. 

Hence,  Mr.  Bacon's  first  work,  before  any  settlements  what- 
ever w^ere  made,  w^as  to  re-survey  and  re-arrange  the  lots  and  the 
roads  of  the  tow^nship,  so  as  to  bring  every  portion  thereof,  a» 
nearly  as  possible,  upon  a  direct  road  leading  to  the  contemplated 
sanctuary.  The  lands  of  the  township  had  already  been  laid  out,, 
by  Gen.  Simon  Perkins,  of  Warren,  as  agent  of  the  Connecticut 
Land  Company,  into  twenty-five  sections  of  one  mile  square,  each,, 
with  east  and  west  and  north  and  south  roads,  crossing  at  right 
angles. 

The  survey  ordered  by  Mr.  Bacon,  divided  the  township  into 
sixteen  great  lots  of  one  and  a-fourth  miles  square,  not  only 
divided  by  north  and  south,  and  east  and  w^est  roads,  but  also  sub- 
dividing one-half  of  the  lots  with  diagonal  roads  from  the  north- 
east to  the  southwest,  and  from  the, north w^est  to  the  southeast 
corners,  the  other  half  of  the  lots  also  cornering  upon  said  diagonal 
roads,  all,  like  the  east  and  west  and  north  and  south  roads,  lead- 
ing directly  to  the  center  of  the  town. 

At  the  center  a  commodious  public  square,  of  seven  and  one- 
half  acres,  was  laid  out  by  Mr.  Bacon,  on  which,  and  around  which^ 
was  to  be  planted  the  church,  the  school-house,  the  store,  the  tav- 
ern, and  the  various  mechanics'  shops  and  private  residences  that 
were  to  form  the  future  business  emporium  of  the  township,  and 
as  they  have  existed  for  the  past  three-fourths  of  a  century. 

Puzzling  as  Well  as  Convenient. — This  arrangement  of  the 
roads  produced  eight  corners  at  the  center,  and  six  corners 
midway  between  the  center  and  each  of  the  four  corners  of  the 
township,  designated  by  the  inhabitants  as  the  northeast,  north- 
west, southeast  and  southwest  six  corners  respectively.  This  mul- 
tiplicity of  "corners"  has  often  been  very  puzzling  to  strangers 
— not  always  well  posted  on  the  points  of  the  compass — though 
the  local  authorities  have  been  exceptionally  careful  to  keep  a 
good  supply  of  guide-boards  at  the  several  points  designated. 

After  the  country  became  settled  up,  w^ith  thriving  communi- 
ties and  villages  on  every  hand,  and  before  the  public  square  had 
been  fenced  in  and  planted  to  the  beautiful  shade  trees  by  which 
it  is  now^  adorned,  an  eight-fingered  guide-board  was  placed  near 
the  center  of  the  square,  w^ith  an  arm  pointing  towards  each  of  the 


1038  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

^ight  diverging  roads.  Avith  the  proper  legend  inscribed  on  each 
side  thereof.  This  octuple  guide-board,  with  sixteen  to  twenty 
-different  directions  upon  it,  \sras  a  great  source  of  curiosity  and 
study  to  travelers  passing  through  the  town,  often  eliciting  many 
facetious  remarks  and  much  boisterous  merriment. 

It  is  related  that  one  day  the  people  living  about  the  square 
were  attracted  by  loud  and  repeated  peals  of  laughter  and  on 
looking  out  of  their  doors  and  w^indow^s  discovered  a  stranger 
rolling  upon  the  ground,  near  the  guide-board,  indulging  in  the 
most  extravagant  contortions  and  paroxysms  of  laughter.  He  was 
soon  surrounded  by  quite  a  cro^vd,  w^ho,  from  his  hilarious  antics 
^nd  prolonged  and  vigorous  guffaws,  thought  the  stranger  must 
have  been  taken  suddenly  crazy.  After  awhile,  in  response  to 
their  anxious  inquiries,  he  raised  himself  on  end  and  replied: 

"I've  often  heard  (ha!  ha!  ha!)  of  the  (ho!  ho!  ho!)  center  of 
<rreation  (hi!  hi!  hi!)  but  I  never  expected  to  (he!  he!  he!)  see  it — 
and  now^  (ha!  ha!  ha!)  I've  got  there!" 

At  each  of  the  six  corners  named,  a  school  house  was  estab- 
lished at  an  early  day,  thus  giving  the  inhabitants  of  every  por- 
tion of  the  township  easj''  access  to  the  school  as  w^ell  as  to  the 
sanctuarj^,  other  school  houses  being  erected  from  time  to  time  in 
co'nvenient  localities  as  the  necessities  of  the  people  required. 

Tallmauge's  First  Settler. — Previous  to  the  arrangement 
betw^een  Mr.  Bacon  and  the  principal  proprietor  of  the  township, 
as  above  stated,  a  fe\^r  lots  had  been  sold  to  private  parties,  Mr. 
Jotham  Blakeslee,  of  Kent,  Connecticut,  having,  in  1805,  purchased 
from  Kphraim  Starr  a  portion  of  lot  six,  tract  fourteen,  of  the 
Perkins  survey,  on  the  middle  south  line  of  the  tow^nship.  Mr. 
Blakeslee  soon  afterwards  removed  from  Connecticut  to  Ravenna, 
though  a  few  years  later  permanently  locating  in  Tallmadge. 

There  is  some  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  w^ho  w^as  the  first 
actual  settler  in  the  township.  The  generally  accepted  belief  has 
been  that  it  \^ras  Mr.  Bacon  himself,  Hon.  E.  N.  Sill,  Dr.  Leonard 
Bacon  and  other  speakers  at  the  semi-centennial  celebration,  June 
24,  1857,  taking  that  ground.  Mr.  Bronson,  however,  gives  the  pre- 
cedence to  Mr,  George  Boosinger,  who  w^ith  his  father  had  settled 
in  Ravenna  in  1801.  Mr.  Bronson  states,  that  Boosinger,  having 
bought  seventy-five  acres  of  Mr.  Blakeslee's  land,  in  March,  1807, 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Blakeslee,  and  some  eight  or  ten  other 
Ravenna  neighbors,  came  over  to  Tallmadge,  and  in  a  single  day 
cut  the  logs  and  built  a  16x20  foot  cabin,  covering  it  with  long 
split  shingles,  and  laying  a  floor  of  split  and  hewed  puncheons,  the 
door  being  constructed  of  the  same  material,  with  wooden  hinges, 
latch,  etc.  Into  this  cabin,  the  latter  part  of  March,  or  fore  part  of 
April,  Boosinger  moved  his  family,  though  a  few  weeks  later  Mrs. 
B.  returned  to  Ravenna  for  a  brief  period,  while  there  giving  birth 
to  tw^ins — boy  and  girl — the  boy  dying  shortly  after  her  return  to 
her  new  home  in  Tallmadge. 

The  same  Spring  (1807)  Mr.  Bacon,  w^ho  had  been  temporarily 
sojourning  in  Hudson,  hired  a  new^ly  arrived  Vermonter,  by  the 
name  of  Justin  K.  Frink,  to  clear  a  piece  of  ground  for  a  garden, 
and  on  w^hich  to  build  a  house.  The  ground  selected  was  about  a 
mile  w^est  of  Boosinger's  cabin,  near  the  south  line  of  the  tow^n- 
ship.  Of  the  removal  of  the  family,  on  the  completion  of  the  reg- 
ulation log  cabin,  the  late  Dr.  Leonard  Bacon  (son  of  Rev.  David 


NAME,   ORGANIZATION,    ETC.  1039 

Bacon,  born  at  Detroit,  February  19,  1802)  in  his  semi-centennial 
address  said:  "I  well  remember,  among  the  dim  and  early  remi- 
niscences of  early  childhood,  the  pleasant  day  in  the  month  of 
July,  if  I  mistake  not,  when  the  family  made  its  removal  from  the 
center  of  Hudson  to  the  new  log  house  that  had  been  prepared  for 
it,  in  the  township  which  had  no  other  designation  than  No.  2, 
Range  10."  I  think,  therefore,  it  may  be  accepted  as  a  fixed  fact 
that  George  Boosinger  was  the  first  actual  settler  in  the  township, 
and  that,  too,  w^ithout  detracting  in  the  slightest  degree  from  the 
honor  due  to  Mr.  Bacon,  as  the  founder  of  the  township,  and  the 
forerunner  of  its  sterling  population.  Boosinger  sold  his  property 
in  1836  and  removed  to  Illinois,  w^here  he  died  in  1862. 

Other  Pioneer  Settlers. — Up  to  February,  1808,  there  were 
in  the  township  nine  persons  only — Boosinger,  w^ife  and  child;  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Bacon  and  their  three  children,  and  Justin  E.  Frink. 
Early  in  1808,  came  Ephraim  Clark,  Jr.,  of  Southington,  Conn., 
w^ith  his  newly  married  w^ife,  a  Miss  Sperry,  of  Mesopotamia,  Ohio, 
in  w^hich  vicinity  he  had  lived  about  nine  years.  The  next  set- 
tler is  supposed  to  have  been  Jonathan  Sprague,  also  in  1808,  fol- 
low^ed  the  same  year,  by  Nathaniel  Chapman,  his  father,  Titus 
Ohapman,  William  Neal,  George  Kilbourne,  and  Charles  Chit- 
tenden, the  latter  moving  into  Springfield  some  t^vo  or  three  years 
later. 

In  rapid  succession  came  Aaron  Norton,  Dr.  Amos  C.  Wright, 
Moses  Bradford,  Thomas  Dunlap,  Eli  Hill,  Edmund  Strong,  Cap- 
tain John  Wright,  John  Wright,  Jr.,  Jotham  Blakeslee,  Alpha 
Wright,  Conrad  Boosinger,  Elizur  Wright,  David  Preston,  John  S. 
Preston,  Drake  Fellows,  Samuel  McCoy,  Deacon  Salmon  Sackett, 
John  Caruthers,  Luther  Chamberlain,  Deacon  Nathaniel  Gillett, 
Hosea  Wilcox,  Reuben  Upson,  Jesse  Neal,  followed  still  later  by 
the  Treats,  the  Fenns,  the  Hines,  the  Carters,  the  Stones,  the 
Sperrys,  the  Upsons,  the  Barnes',  the  Wolcotts,  the  Pecks,  the 
Lymans,  the  Morrises,  the  Hinmans,  the  Ashmuns,  the  Sew^ards, 
the  Upsons,  the  Pierces,  the  Roots,  the  Bronsons,  the  Betteses, 
the  Battersons,  etc.  The  majority  of  the  early  residents  of  Tall- 
madge,'were  from  Connecticut,  with  a  slight  sprinkling  from  other 
New  England  States,  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  and 
in  the  beginning  was  almost  exclusively  a  Yankee  town,  though 
many  other  nationalities  are  at  the  present  time  represented  in  its 
population. 

It  w^ill  be  impossible,  within  the  limits  of  this  chapter,  to  fol- 
low the  individual  fortunes  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Tallmadge 
township,  all  of  whom,  almost  without  an  exception — though  not 
all  indorsing  the  peculiar  notions  of  its  founder— making  first- 
class  citizens,  each  cheerfully  bearing  his  or  her  share  of  the  labors 
and  responsibilities  of  shaping  the  destinies  of  the  township  and 
in  supporting  the  material,  moral  and  religious  institutions  of  the 
county.  State  and  nation. 

Name,  Organization,  Etc. — Originally,  Tallmadge,  like  all  the 
tow^nships  of  the  wrestern  Reserve,  w^as  five  miles  square,  bounded 
on  the  north  by  Stow,  east  by  Brimfield  (Portage  county),  south  by 
Springfield,  and  west  by  Portage.  On  the  erection  of  the  township 
of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  in  1851,  out  of  the  four  contiguous  corners  of 
Tallmadge,  Stow,  Northampton  and  Portage,  about  1,000  acres, 
embracing  all  of  tract  one,  and  about  one-fifth  of  tract  five,  were 


1040  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

contributed  by  Tallmadge,  while,  in  like  manner,  in  1858,  lots  thfee 
and  five,  and  part  of  lots  four  and  six,  containing  about  300  acres 
were  attached  to  the  new  township  of  Middlebury,  then  erected, 
and  now  constitute  a  part  of  the  Sixth  Ward  of  Akron,  As  sup- 
posed by  Mr.  Bronson,  some  time  in  June,  1808,  the  settlers  of  the 
township  met  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Bacon,  to  determine  upon  a 
name,  the  only  designation,  up  to  that  time  being  ToAvn  2,  Range 

10.  Mr.  Bacon  suggested  that  in  honor  to  Col.  Tallmadge,  the 
largest  individual  proprietary  land  owner  of  the  township,  it 
should  be  named  after  him,  which  w^as  unanimously  assented  to. 

As  stated  in  another  "chapter,  Tallmadge,  though  at  first 
rather  a  dependency  of  Hudson,  was  under  township  organization 
with  Springfield,  Coventry,  Suffield  and  Randolph,  under  the  gen- 
eral name  of  Randolph,  and  after  separate  organizations  had  been 
provided  for  the  others,  affiliated  with  Springfield  until  November 

11,  1812,  when  it  was  duly  organized  under  its  own  proper  name. 
The  first  town  clerk  was  Elizur  Wright,  and  the  first  justice  of  the 
peace,  Nathaniel  Chapman;  other  officers  not  remembered. 

The  first  death  in  the  township  was  the  twin  boy  of  the 
Boosingers,  heretofore  alluded  to,  in  1807;  the  first  birth  w^as  a 
daughter,  Clarissa,  to  Mr,  and  Mrs.  Charles  Chittenden,  in  1808, 
w^hich  child,  grown  to  womanhood,  married  Mr,  Isaac  Newton, 
son  of  Middlebury's  well-kno\srn  hotel  keeper  of  fifty  years  ago, 
Mr,  Samuel  Newton,  and  brother  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  R.  Johnston, 
still  living  in  Akron.  Mrs.  New^ton  (who  w^as  a  sister  of  the  late 
Mrs,  Huldah  Bowen,  widow  of  the  late  Dr,  Bowen,  of  Akron),  is 
still  living  in  Dakota,  her  husband  having  died  some  five  or  six 
years  ago.  The  first  male  child  born  in  Tallmadge,  October  5, 
1808,  was  the  present  well-preserved  octogenarian.  Dr.  Amos 
Wright;  the  first  marriage  being  Sally  Chapman,  daughter  of 
Deacon  Nathaniel  Chapman  to  John  Collins,  January  7,  1809;  the 
first  adult  death  in  the  township  being  that  of  Mr,  Titus  Chapman, 
November  18,  1808, 

Topography,  Population,  Etc, — The  face  of  the  towmship  is 
generally  gently  rolling,  though  a  mile  or  so  west  of  the  center  is 
quite  an  abrupt  eminence,  known  as  Coal  Hill,  while  there  are 
also  pretty  steep  hills  and  bluffs  overlooking  the  valley  of  the 
Little  Cuyahoga  river,  near  the  southwest  corner,  A  point  on 
Coal  Hill,  on  the  farm  of  Mr.  Daniel  Hine,  a  short  distance  south 
of  his  residence,  is  636  feet  above  the  surface  of  Lake  Erie,  and  the 
highest  ground  in  Summit  county,  excepting  a  portion  of  the 
tow^nship  of  Richfield, 

In  1840  the  population  of  Tallmadge  ^vas  2,134,  the  census  of 
1880  giving  her  a  total  of  1,455,  and  that  of  1890  giving  her  1.145 
inhabitants,  only.  This  apparent  large  falling  off  is  due  to  the  fact 
that,  during  the  intervening  fifty  years,  she  had  been  despoiled  of 
the  two  most  populous  corners  of  her  territory,  at  Cuyahoga  Falls 
and  Middlebury  (now^  Akron)  the  probability  being  that  she  has 
not  only  not  retrograded,  like  some  of  the  other  townships  of  the 
county,  but  that  the  number  of  inhabitants  w^ithin  the  present 
limits  of  the  township,  is  considerably  greater  than  that  of  the 
same  territory  in  1840. 

The  soil  is  generally  a  light  loam,  but  with  the  most  excellent 
tillage  given  to  it  by  its  industrious  and  intelligent  occupants, 
extremely   fertile    and   productive,  the  original  forests,  generally 


DISAPPOINTMENTS,   REVERSES,   ETC.  1041 

oak  and  chestnut,  embracing  also  quite  a  sprinkling  of  ash,  elm 
hickory,  black- walnut,  cucumber,  beech,  maple,  etc.  The  drainage 
of  the  north  and  northwestern  portion,  is  into  the  Big  Cuyahoga 
river,  w^hich  skirts  the  northern  border,  penetrating  the  township 
at  one  point  only,  by  a  sharp  bend  on  the  old  Adna  Sperry  farm, 
and  crossing  that  portion  of  the  northwest  corner  now^  embraced 
in  the  tow^nship  of  Cuyahoga  Falls.  On  the  south  and  southwest, 
the  drainage  is  into  the  Little  Cuyahoga,  which,  traversing  the 
extreme  north  part  of  Springfield,  and  the  Sixth  Ward  of  Akron, 
cuts  across  the  southw^est  corner  of  the  towrnship  near  the  Old 
Forge.  Several  small  creeks  and  rivulets  traverse  different  parts 
of  the  to\^rnship,  the  most  important  of  \\rhich  is  Camp  Brook  in 
the  southwest  portion,  emptying  into  the  Little  Cuyahoga.  Water 
powder  for  manufacturing  purposes,  was  therefore  not  very  abun- 
dant one  or  tw^o  water-propelled  saw-mills,  only,  finding  a  short- 
lived existence,  excepting  such  milling  and  manufacturing  opera- 
tions as  may  have  existed  w^ithin  the  original  limits  of  the  toAvnship, 
at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  upon  the  Big  Cuyahoga,  and  at  Middlebury  and 
Old  Forge  upon  the  Little  Cuyahoga. 

UTOPIAN  VISIONS  NOT  FULLY  REALIZED. 

Although  the  early  efforts  of  its  truly  pious  and  devoted 
founder,  David  Bacon,  peopled  the  tow^nship  w^ith  an  exceptionally 
worthy  class  of  inhabitants,  and  though  the  adjustment  of  lots, 
roads,  etc.,  was  most  admirable,  the  good  man  failed  to  realize  the 
fruition  of  his  scheme  in  an  ecclesiastical  point  of  view.  It  had  been 
his  desire  to  conform  the  entire  township  to  the  support  of  the 
church  to  which  he  himself  belonged.  To  this  end  he  caused  to  be 
inserted  in  the  contracts  and  deeds  of  conveyance  a  clause  binding 
each  100  acres  sold  to  the  annual  payment  of  $2  for  the  support  of 
the  "Gospel  Ministry  of  the  Calvinistic  Faith  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Order  forever,"  and  also,  in  said  deeds  reserving  the  right 
and  pow^er  to  distrain  for  said  annuity  in  case  the  same  should  be 
in  arrears. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  Congregational  society,  w^hen  organized 
in  1809,  adopted  a  voluntary  schedule  of  taxation  for  its  support, 
fixing  the  valuation  of  property,  as  a  basis  therefor,  as  follows: 
Timber  land,  $4  per  acre;  girdled  and  underbrushed  land,  $10,- 
cleared  land,  $15;  horses,  three  years  old  or  over,  $30;  oxen,  four 
years  old  or  over,  $20;  steers  and  cows,  $15;  buildings  to  be  valued 
by  listers. 

The  first  plan,  though  lived  up  to  for  several  years,  by  a  por- 
tion of  the  land-owners,  finally  proved  a  failure,  several  persons^ 
who,  though  good  and  pious  men,  but  not  subscribing  to  the 
Calvinistic  faith,  refusing  to  pay  the  stipulated  annuity.  Mr. 
Edmund  Strong  being  a  leading  recusant,  in  1811  was  sued  by  Mr, 
Bacon  for  the  amount  levied  on  his  land,  as  a  test  of  the  legality 
of  such  contracts.  The  late  Peter  Hitchcock,  afterw^ards  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress  and  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio,  acted 
as  attorney  for  Mr.  Strong,  the  case  being  decided  in  his  favor. 

Thus  ended  the  perpetual  land  tax  scheme  devised  by  Mr. 
Bacon,  for  the  support  of  the  gospel  in  Tallmadge,  though  the 
maintenance  of  the  gospel,  and  the  Congregational  Church  there, 
was  by  no  means  a  failure.  How^  long  the  other  scheme  adopted 
by  the  society,  of  taxation  on  valuation,  continued,  the  w^riter  is 

66 


1042 


AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


not  advised;  but  that,  too,  finally  gave  way  to  the  more  modern,  if 
not  more  equitable,  mode  of  ministerial  support  and  church 
usage. 


REV.  DAVID  BACON,  —  the 
founder  of  Talltnadg-e  township, 
as  herein  written,  was  born  at  Wood- 
stock, Connecticut,  in  1871,  being  bap- 
tized September  15,  of  that  year. 
Piously  reared  and  educated,  he  was 
ordained  a  minister  by  the  mis- 
sionary society  of  Connecticut, 
Decetnber  31,  1800,  and  assigned  to 
duty  among-  the  western  Indians, 
with  headquarters  at  Detroit,  having 
already,  the  previous  autuinn,  made 
a  preliminary  survey  of  the  field, 
performing  the  journeys  either  way 
mostly  on  foot.  His  salary,  paying 
his  own  expenses,  was  fixed  at  one 
hundred  and  ten  cents  per  day. 
On  his  second  journey,  in  January, 
1801,  he  was  accompanied  by  his 
young  wife,  having  meantime, 
December  24,  1800,  been  married  to 
Miss  Alice  Parks,  of  Lebanon,  Con- 
necticut, then  but  17  years  of  age,  the 
first  part  of  the  journey  by  sleigh, 
and  the  balance  on  horseback.  Here 
the  devoted  couple,  amid  great  dis- 
couragements and  privations,labored 
faithfully  some  four  years,  their  first 
eon,  the  since  celebrated  Dr.  Leonard 
Bacon,  having  been  born  there,  Feb- 
ruary 14,  1802.  Want  of  adequate 
support  by  the  parent  society,  and 
other  untoward  circumstanceSjfinally 
compelled  the  abandonment  of  their 
cherished  enterjjrise,  and  late  in  the 
Fall  of  1804,  they  regretfully  turned 
their  steps  eastward.  The  balance  of 
their  story  is  told  in  the  history  of 
Tallmadge,   of  which   township   Mr. 


kLV.    J)A\  II)    HACOX. 

Bacon  w^as  the  founder  and  pioneer. 
Mr.  Bacon  died  at  Hartford,  Connecti- 
cut, August  27,  1817,  in  the  46th  year 
of  his  age,  Mrs.  Bacon  dying  at  New 
Haven,  Connecticut,  in  1850.  Dr. 
.Leonard  Bacon,  the  son,  after  a  long 
and  useful  life,  as  minister,  educator 
and  philanthropist,  died  at  New 
Haven,  December  24,  1881 — the  grand- 
son, Rev.  Leonard  Woolsey  Bacon.  D. 
D.,  being  now  pastor  of  the  Second 
Congregational  Church,  at  Norwich, 
Connecticut. 


Mr.  Bacon  Shakes  the  Dust  of  Tallmadge  From  His  Feet. 
— Realizing  the  failure  of  his  pet  scheme  and  deploring  the  unex- 
pected opposition  to  his  general  plans,  both  temporal  and  spirit- 
ual, not  only  from  the  "outsiders"  who  had  found  lodgment  in 
the  tow^nship,  but  from  some  of  the  members  of  the  church  which 
he  had  founded,  and  also  having  become  somewhat  financially 
embarrassed,  Mr.  Bacon,  early  in  1812,  returned  with  his  family  to 
Connecticut,  selecting  for  the  text  of  his  farewell  sermon  the 
ninth  verse  of  the  third  chapter  of  Paul's  Second  Epistle  to  Tim- 
othy: "But  they  shall  proceed  no  farther;  for  their  folly  shall  be 
made  manifest  unto  all  men,  as  theirs  was  also,"  his  remarks 
being  very  pointed,  and  somewhat  bitter  towards  those  w^ho  had 
opposed,  and  possibly  thwarted,  his  cherished  plans.  Mr.  Bacon 
died  at  Hartford,  Conn.,  August  27,  1817,  at  the  early  age  of  46 
years,  his  son,  Rev.  Dr.  Leonard  Bacon,  noted  for  his  learning, 
piety,  philanthropy  and  patriotism,  five  years  of  whose  boyhood 
were  spent  in  Tallmadge,  dying  at  New  Haven,  Conn.,  December  24, 
1881,  at  the  age  of  79  years,  10  months  and  5  days.  Through  the 
courtesy   of  Rev.  Leonard  W.  Bacon,  D,   D.,  of  Norwich,   Conn., 


EDUCATIONAL   MATTERS. 


1043 


grandson  of  Rev.  David  Bacon,  we  are  enabled  to  present  to  the 
readers  of  this  work  the  accompanying  most  excellent  portrait  of 
the  earnest  and  self-sacrificing  founder  of  this,  in  all  respects, 
model  township — reliable  Old  Tallmadge. 

Though  the  planting  of  the  church  was  the  first  and  para- 
mount duty  performed  by  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Tallmadge,  the 
cause  of  education  was  by  no  means  neglected.  The  first  school, 
in  a  small  log  house  built  for  the  purpose  at  the  south  four- 
corners,  was  kept  by  Miss  Lucy  Foster,  afterwards  Mrs.  Alpha 
Wright,  mother  of  Mrs.  Horner  S.  Carter,  the  late  Mrs.  Sidney 
Kdgerton,  and  Clement  and  Benjamin  D.  Wright.  Other  similar 
-schools  were  opened  in  convenient  localities,  as  the  population 
increased,  but  who  taught  them  is  not  now  remembered. 


ALPHA  WRIGHT,  —  born  at 
■^  Winsted,  Connecticut,  Decem- 
ber 26,  1788  ;  removed  with  parents  to 
Ashtabula  county,  Ohio,  in  1802,  and 
to  TaUtnadge,  in  1808,  being-  among- 
the  earliest  settlers  of  that  township  ; 
December  12,  1811,  was  married  to 
Miss  Lucy  Foster,  a  native  of  Han- 
over, New^  Hampshire,  w^ho  taught 
the  first  school  in  Tallmadge,  in  a 
log  house,  erected  in  1810 ;  in  the  War 
of  1812  was  a  member  of  Captain 
Rial  McArthur's  rifle  company,  April 
18,  1814,  being  promoted  from  ser- 
geant to  ensign  ;  in  1827,  with  others, 
organized  a  school  for  the  instruction 
of  deaf  mutes  (the  first  in  Ohio),  the 
Legislature,  in  1828,  appropriating 
$1CO.OO  for  its  support,  the  pupils 
being  transferred  to  the  State  Asylum 
on  its  establishment  at  Columbus,  in 
1829.  A  great  reader  and  a  deep 
thinker,  Mr.  Wright  was  a  leader  in 
all  relig-ious,  educational  and  moral 
enterprises,  and  especially  in  the 
largely  prevailing  anti-slavery  senti- 
ment of  his  township  ;  a  fine  singer 
and  ready  speaker,  was  the  life  and 
soul  of  religious  and  social  gather- 
ings, and  his  home  the  seat  of  an 
•enlightened  and  generous  hospital- 
ity. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wright  were  the 
parents  of  twelve  children  —  Philo, 
born  October  2,  1812,  died  December 
3,  1844;  Rev.  William  Wheeler,  born 
May  12,  1814,  now  deceased ;  Lucy 
Ann,  now  widow  of  Rev.  Luther  ^haw, 
in     Tallmadge ;     Clement,     died     in 


ALPHA  WRIGHT. 

infancy ;  Abigail,  now  Mrs.  Rev. 
Loomis  Chandler,  of  Holly,  Michi- 
gan ;  Clement,  for  40  years  a  mer- 
chant, and  for  thirty-seven  years 
treasurer  and  many  years  postmaster 
of  Tallmadge ;  Amelia,  deceased ; 
Martha  and  Mary,  Martha,  wife  of  Mr, 
Homer  S.Carter,  of  Tallmadge;  Mary, 
late  wife  of  Hon.  Sidney  Edg-erton  ; 
Benjamin  Demming-,  now  secretary 
Akron  Underwriters'  Association, 
still  residing  in  Tallmadge  ;  Handel, 
deceased ;  Charles  Storrs,  deceased. 
Mr.  Wright  died  March  1, 1856,  at  the 
ag'e  of  67  years,  2  months  and  5  days, 
Mrs.  Wrig-ht  dying-  September  30, 
1875,  ag-ed  85  years. 


The  first  school  house  at  the  center  was  a  two-story,  26x36 
frame,  upon  the  ground  where  the  Congregational  Church  now 
stands,  commenced  in  1814,  but  not  completed  until  the  following 
year.  The  lower  story  was  used  for  the  district  school,  and  the 
upper  story  as  an  academy,  and  for  religious  meetings  and  other 
public  purposes.  "Tallmadge  Academy"  was  incorporated,  by  act 
of  Legislature,  February  27,  1816,  Rev.  Simeon  Woodruff  and 
Blizur  Wright  being  among  the  earliest  teachers.  The  academy 
building  was  destroyed  by  fire  on  the  night  of  January  12,  1820.  A 
jiewr  building  was  erected,  exclusively  for  an  academy,  upon  the 


1044 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


corner  of  the  square  and  the  southwest  diagonal  road,  where  the 
store  of  Mr.  Clement  Wright  now  stands,  which  building  was 
afterwards  removed  to  the  place  where  it  still  stands,  southeast  of 
the  N.  Y.,  P.  &  O.  depot,  a  separate  district  school  house  having 
been  erected  at  the  corner  of  the  square  and  the  southeast  diag- 
onal road. 


DR.  AMOS  WRIGHT,— born  Octo- 
ber 8,  1808,  the  first  white  boy 
baby  born  in  Talhriadge,  his  parents, 
Dr.  Amos  Wright,  Sr.,  and  Lydia 
(Kinney)  Wrig-ht,  natives  of  Connecti- 
cut, having  settled  in  Tallmadge  that 
year,  after  a  residence  of  six  years  in 
Vernon,  Truinbull  county  ;  educated 
at  Tallmadge  Academy  till  14,  and 
working-  on  farm  till  19  years  of  age, 
then  read  inedicine  with  his  father 
two  years,  in  1831  and  1832,  attending 
lectures  in  Yale  College ;  in  1833, 
opened  drug  store  in  Tallmadge,  con- 
tinuing one  year ;  then  practiced 
medicine  in  Trumbull  county  two 
years,  returning  to  Tallmadge  in 
1836,  where  he  has  been  in  continuous 

Sractice  ever  since,  fifty-five  years, 
[arch  31,  1831,  Dr.  Wright  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Clemence  C.  Fenn,  of 
Tallmadge,  having  duly  and  appro- 
priately celebrated  their  60th  wedding 
anniversary  on  March  31,  1891.  Nine 
children  have  been  born  to  them— 
Stella,  Ellen  M.,  Julia  I.,  Darwin  E., 
now  living,  and  H.  M.,  Sarah  E.  and 
Alice,  deceased.  The  doctor,  at  83,  is 
still  hale  and  hearty,  and  can  inter- 


DR.  AMOS    WRIGHT. 

estingly  rehearse  the  many  thrilling" 
pioneer  incidents  with  which  his 
still  unimpaired  memory  is  filled. 


The  third  academy  building  was  erected  on  the  ground  now 
occupied  by  the  Baldwin  carriage  shop,  corner  of  the  square  and 
the  north  center  road,  this  building  also  subsequently  being 
burned.  A  town  hall  being  built  upon  the  south  side  of  the  pub- 
lic square  about  this  time,  an  upper  story  w^as  added,  by  voluntary 
donations,  to  be  used  for  academical  purposes  (of  \\rhich  Hon.  Sid- 
ney Edgerton,  in  the  early  forties,  was  principal)  and  w^as  so  used 
until  that  institution  w^as  superseded  by  the  present  graded  school 
system,  embracing  a  district  a  mile  and  a  quarter  square,  when  a 
nice  four-room  union  school  building  was  erected,  a  short  distance 
north  of  the  public  square,  the  High  School  department  graduat- 
ing a  goodly  number  of  thoroughly  educated  pupils  every  year. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  Mr.  Eph'raim  T.  Sturtevant,  having 
bought  the  second  academy  building,  and  removed  it  to  the  place 
w^here  it  now^  stands,  east  of  the  depot,  sometime  in  the  middle 
thirties,  for  several  years  taught  a  select  classical  school,  w^ith 
very  great  acceptance  to  his  pupils  and  patrons. 

Pioneer  Deaf  and  Dumb  School. — In  the  middle  twenties, 
among  the  children  of  the  tow^nship,  of  school  age,  there  were 
three  deaf  mutes,  all  daughters  of  Mr.  Justus  Bradley,  and  the 
question  of  providing  them  vsrith  an  education  was  discussed. 
There  w^as  at  the  same  time  residing  in  Middlebury  a  young  deaf 
mute  by  the  name  of  Colonel  Smith,  who  had  been  educated  at 
the  Deaf  and  Dumb  School  in  Hartford,  Conn.      An  arrangement 


tallmadge's  church  history.  1045 

was  therefore  made  with  Mr.  Smith  to  undertake  the  education  of 
the  three  children  in  question,  and  such  other  mutes  as  might 
desire  to  avail  themselves  of  his  instruction.  This  school  was 
opened  May  1st,  1827,  in  a  room  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Alpha  Wright, 
one  mile  south  of  the  center,  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Mr.  Cor- 
nelius A.  Johnson.  This  was,  undoubtedly,  the  first  deaf  and 
dumb  school  in  the  State,  if  not  the  first  west  of  the  Allegheny 
Mountains.  In  1829  the  deaf  and  dumb  asylum  was  opened  at 
Columbus,  Smith's  pupils  being  sent  thither,  and  the  Tallmadge 
school  discontinued. 

Public  Library. — In  connection  w^ith  educational  matters,  it 
is  worthy  of  note,  that  a  public  library  was  established,  in  1813,  on 
the  joitlt  stock  plan,  supported  by  sales  of  shares,  fines,  assess- 
ments, donations,  etc.,  which  has  maintained  an  unbroken  exist- 
ence of  over  three-fourths  of  a  century,  and  contains  at  the  present 
time  some  800  volumes. 

Church  and  Spiritual  Matters. — Though  the  cherished  plan 
of  its  founder  was  to  make  the  township  purely  and  exclusively 
Congregational,  in  religious  sentiment  and  government,  the  effort 
was,  as  before  intimated,  a  failure,  not  only  believers  in  o,ther 
forms  of  faith,  but  many  non-believers,  even  to  downright  infidel- 
ity, finding  a  lodgment  w^ithin  the  township;  the  overwhelming 
sentiment,  however,  remaining  uncompromisingly  orthodox  w^ith 
Congregationalism  in  the  lead. 

The  first  sermon  in  the  township  w^as  preached  by  Mr.  Bacon, 
in  his  own  house,  -where,  and  in  the  houses  of  other  settlers,  as 
they  were  built,  Sabbath  and  other  occasional  services  were  held 
for  several  years.  The  first  church  organization  was  effected  in 
Mr.  Bacon's  cabin,  January  22,  1809,  Rev.  Jonathan  Leslie  acting 
as  moderator.  George  Kilbourn  and  his  wife,  Almira;  Ephraina 
Clark,  Jr.,  and  his  wife,  Amelia;  Alice  Bacon;  Amos  C.  Wright 
and  his  wife,  Lydia;  Hepzibah  Chapman  and  Justin  E.  Frink 
being  duly  constituted  a  Church  of  Christ,  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  being  then  and  there  for  the  first  time  administered 
in  the  township,  with  the  ordinance  of  baptism  upon  four  children: 
Juliana  and  Alice,  daughters  of  Mr.  Bacon;  Amos,  son  of  Dr. 
Amos  C.  Wright,  and  Eliza,  daughter  of  George  Kilbourn. 

The  first  regular  pastor  to  the  church  w^as  Rev.  Simeon 
Woodruff,  a  native  of  Litchfield,  Conn.,  who  w^as  installed,  in  the 
barn  of  Ephraim  Clark,  May  18,  1813,  closing  his  labors  with  the 
church  September  19,  1823.  Successive  pastors  to  the  present 
time:  Rev.  John  Keys,  September  9,  1824,  to  April  16,  1832;  Rev. 
Jedediah  E.  Parmelee,  acting  pastor,  January  18,  1833,  to  April  14, 
1840;  Rev.  William  Magill,  1840  to  1843;  Rev.  Carlos  Smith,  acting 
pastor,  1847  to  1862;  Rev.  Seth  W.  Segur,  1862  to  1871;  Rev.  Charles 
Cutler,  1871  to  1875;  Rev.  Wm.  B.  Marsh,  acting  pastor,  1875  to 
1885;  Rev.  A.  E.  Thompson,  September,  1887  to  September  1889; 
Rev.  S.  D.  Gammell,  December  1889  to  present  time,  December, 
1891.  Present  membership,  295;  scholars  in  Sunday  schqol,  298, 
w^ith  an  average  attendance  of  190;  benevolent  contributions  in  the 
past  vear:  by  Sunday  school,  $135;  by  church,  including  one  $500 
legacy,  $1,002. 

Sensible  Church  Discipline. — As  showing  .  the  thorough 
church  discipline  maintained  in  the  early  days,  as  w^ell  as  the 
sound  horse-sense  of  its  members,  Mr.   Daniel   Hine  relates   the 


1046  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

following:  The  old  Revolutionary  hero,  Captain  Nathaniel  Bettes^ 
was  summoned  before  the  church  to  answer  to  the  charge  of  hunt- 
ing on  Sunday,  The  charge  being  read,  and  the  statements  of  his 
accusers  duly  listened  to,  the  Captain  arose  in  his  defense.  "Breth- 
ren," said  he,  "I  started  for  meeting  on  Sunday  morning,  and  had 
gone  but  a  short  distance  when  I  saAv  a  nice  fat  buck  standing 
right  in  my  pathway.  Being  rather  short  of  provisions,  I  asked 
the  Lord  if  I  might  shoot  that  deer,  and  the  Lord  said  'yes.'  So  I 
went  back  to  the  house,  got  my  rifle,  killed  the  deer,  took  it  home 
and  dressed  it,  and  then  continued  on  to  meeting.  Brethren,  did  I 
do  right  or  wrong  in  obeying  the  voice  of  the  Lord?  "  The  vote  is 
said  to  have  been  unanimous  that  the  Captain  did  just  exactly 
right. 

The  First  Church  Edifice. — The  first  and  only  house  of 
worship  of  the  Congregational  Society  of  Tallmadge,  stands  upon 
the  north  side  of  the  public  square,  on  the  same  site  occupied  by 
the  original  Academy  building,  and  w^as  erected  in  1822.  It  i& 
44x56  feet  in  size,  surmounted  in  front  by  a  handsonie  belfry  and 
tow^er  100  feet  high,  supported  by  massive  columns,  and  was  at  the 
first  a  handsome  structure,  though  sundry  modern  improvements,, 
both  outside  and  in,  have  from  time  to  time  been  made  thereon. 
It  was  the  fifth  steeple  church  built  upon  the  Western  Reserve, 
and  as  it  was  then  the  very  best,  it  w^ill  still,  though  nearly  three 
score  and  ten  years  of  age,  compare  favorably,  in  point  of  archi- 
tecture and  ornamentation,  \vith  the  majority  of  the  rural  church 
structures  of  the  present  time. 

The  Methodist  Denomination. — Under  the  ministrations  of 
Rev.  Billings  O.  Plympton,  then  preaching  on  the  Canton  Circuit 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  a  society  of  that  denomination 
w^as  organized  in  Tallmadge  about  1825,  the  first  class,  consisting 
of  Jotham  Blakeslee,  Milo  Stone,  Sarah  B.  Stone  (wife  of  Milo), 
Mrs.  Martha  Stephens,  Shubel  H.  Lowrey  and  Anna  P.  Lowrey, 
his  w^ife,  with  Jotham  Blakeslee,  as  leader.  The  meetings  of  the 
society  w^ere  held  in  the  school  houses  and  private  residences  of 
the  neighborhood  until  1832,  when  a  plain  house  of  worship,  costing 
about  $1,500,  was  erected  some  200  rods  from  the  public  square,  on 
the  northeast  diagonal  road.  This  modest  structure  served  the 
purposes  of  the  gradually  increasing  congregation  until  1874,  ^rhen 
a  larger  and  more  attractive  edifice  was  erected  on  the  south  side 
of  the  public  square,  at  a  cost  of  about  $8,000.  The  old  structure, 
after  its  dismantlement  as  a  church,  w^as  moved  to  near  the  north- 
east corner  of  the  square  and  the  east  and  west  center  road  and  for 
several  years  used  as  a  carriage  shop,  and  is  now  doing  duty  as  a 
stable  for  horses  used  in  hauling  clay  to  the  contiguous  sewer 
pipe  w^orks  of  the  Messrs.  Sperry.  , 

A  Curious  Prize,  Curiously  Won. — Though  all  good  and 
pious  men,  the  early  settlers  in  Tallmadge,  as  was  then  the  custom 
everywhere,  regarded  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors  as  indispensa- 
ble articles  of  domestic  economy,  and  as  particularly  conducive  to 
social  good  cheer  and  public  enterprise.  Hence  the  whisky  bottle 
was  wont  to  "adorn"  every  family  side-board  and  to  pass  freely 
at  all  raisings,  huskings,  trainings  and  other  public  and  festive 
gatherings. 

In  the  construction  of  the  Congregational  church,  the  timber  for 
the  frame  was  contributed  by  the  land   owners  of   the  township 


FIRST   RECORDED   LABOR    STRIKE.  1047 

generally,  whether  members  of  the  church  or  not.  The  contractors 
for  building  the  church  were  Sebbens  Saxton,  Lemuel  Porter, 
Wylys  Fenn  and  Joseph  Richardson,  with  Reuben  Beach  as  super- 
intendent of  construction.  Having  previously  selected  and  blazed 
the  trees  that  w^ere  to  be  cut  by  the  several  contributors,  with  the 
length  designated  thereon,  the  24th  day  of  December,  1821,  was 
appointed  as  the  day  for  hauling  in  the  logs,  and  as  an  incentive 
to  prompt  action.  Superintendent  Beach  offered  a  gallon  of  whisky 
as  a  prize  to  the  man  who  should  be  first  upon  the  ground  with 
his  stick  of  iimber. 

Gen.  Bierce,  in  his  "Reminiscences,"  published  in  1854,  says 
that  one  Daniel  Beach,  w^hile  preparing  none  himself,  hitched  his 
oxen  on  to  the  stick  that  had  been  got  in  readiness  by  his  neigh- 
bor, Mr.  Justus  Barnes,  before  that  gentleman  was  astir,  drew  it 
upon  the  ground  just  as  daylight  was  appearing,  and  got  the 
whisky,  Avhile  Hon.  E.  N.  Sill,  in  his  semi-centennial  address,  in 
1857,  says:  "Before  1  o'clock  in  the  morning,  timber  had  been 
brought  upon  the  site  from  each  of  the  eight  roads  coming  into 
the  public  square,  Amadeus  N.  Sperry  winning  the  honors  of  the 
occasion."     Mr.  Bronson  is  silent  upon  the  subject. 

Strong  Temperance  Sentiment. — Early,  however,  the  good 
people  of  the  township  began  to  take  an  interest  in  temperance 
matters,  and  for  the  past  tifty  years  Tallmadge — always  remark- 
able for  sobriety  and  good  order — has  been  in  the  very  van  of  tem- 
perance reform,  though  it  is  even  now  hinted  that  an  occasiynal 
occupant  of  her  "sacred  soil"  is  still  rather  too  ardently  attached 
to  the  ruddy  juice  of  the  luscious  apple  so  abundantly  grown  in 
every  portion  of  the  to\srnship. 

The  First  "Strike"  on  Record. — Though  in  no  sense  agrarian 
or  anarchical  in  sentiment,  Tallmadge  may  justly  claim  the  honor, 
if  honor  it  be,  of  inaugurating  the  strike  system  now  so  common 
the  world  over.  It  was  not  a  strike  for  an  increase  of  w^ages,  for 
everybody — mechanic  and  farm  laborer  alike — w^as  then  satisfied  to 
w^ork  for  from  fifty  to  seventy-five  cents  per  day.  It  w^as  not  a 
strike  for  shorter  hours,  for  then  everybody  expected  to  work  from 
sun  to  sun,  and,  in  the  Winter  season,  two  or  three  hours  by  candle 
light.  It  was  not  a  strike  for  cash  payments,  for  nobody  expected 
cash  in  payment  for  anything,  for  there  w^as  very  little  money 
afloat  in  those  days,  the  "truck  and  dicker"  system  heretofore 
described,  being  everywhere  in  vogue. 

But  it  was  a  strike  for  wool!  "A  curious  cause  for  a  strike," 
says  the  modern  reader,  but  not  so  curious  to  those  familiar  w^ith 
early  times  and  circumstances  by  which  the  first  settlers  of  the 
w^estern  country  were  surrounded.  The  subscriptions  for  the 
building  of  the  church,  aggregating  $3,500,  were  payable  in  labor, 
lumber,  wheat  and  other  farm  produce,  in  installments  of  one,  two 
and  three  years,  wheat  being  the  only  cominodity  convertible  into 
cash  at  all,  and  that  only  selling  at  about  twenty-five  cents  per 
bushel — a  little  mone}^,  of  course,  being  needed  for  the  purchase 
of  nails,  hardware,  glass,  paints,  etc.,  for  the  new^  edifice. 

But  clothing  for  the  workmen  and  their  families  >vas  also  an 
absolute  necessity,  and  w^ool  was  needed  for  its  fabrication.  The 
local  demand  for  wool  being  greater  than  the  local  supply,  made 
it  a  decidedly  cash  article,  non-purchasable  with  ordinary  farm 
produce,  and  therefore  impossible  of  procurement  by  the  workmen 


1048  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

in  exchange  for  the  commodities  in  v^rhich  they  were  paid.  Hence 
the  suspension  of  work  upon  the  church,  until  the  needed  supply 
of  wool  should  be  forthcoming. 

The  building  committee,  consisting  of  Capt.  Amos  Seward, 
Asaph  Whittlesey,  Richard  Fenn,  Reuben  Beach,  Peck  Fenn, 
Lemuel  Porter  and  Aaron  Hine,  called  a  meeting  to  consider  the 
matter,  and,  regarding  the  demand  of  the  men  reasonable  and  just, 
by  an  extraordinary  effort,  raised  the  quantity  of  wool  required — 
he  strike  was  declared  off  and  the  sanctuary  duly  finished. 

Also  Anti-Slavery  to  the  Core. — ^The  cause  of  the  freedom  of 
the  down-trodden  slave  obtained  an  early  hearing,  and  the  most 
hearty  co-operation  in  Tallmadge,  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  being 
stronger  and  more  unanimous  there  than  perhaps  in  any  other 
township  on  the  Western  Reserve,  excepting,  possibly,  the  neigh- 
boring township  of  Hudson.  Many  are  the  traditions  still  extant 
among  the  people,  in  regard  to  the  assistance  given  to  fugitives 
from  slavery,  w^hile  timorously  journeying  through  the  pretended, 
to  the  real  land  of  freedom — Canada — in  spite  of  the  threatened 
pains  and  penalties  of  the  infamous  Fugitive  Slave  Law:  and  as 
Mr.  Bronson  well  remarks,  the  man  Avho  would  betray  a  fleeing 
slave,  or  inform  on  his  succorer,  "  would  have  found  Tallmadge 
rather  a  warm  climate  to  live  in."  And  w^hen,  because  of  this 
sympathy,  and  because  of  the  growing  determination  in  the  free 
North  that  the  encroachments  of  slavery  should  cease,  the  oligarchy 
impiously  struck  at  the  life  of  the  Nation,  Tallmadge  buckled  on 
her  armor  and  fought  bravely  in  its  defense,  as  "will  be  seen  by  the 
full  roster  of  her  volunteer  soldiery  herewith  given. 

Coal  and  Mining  Interests. — For  what  might  properly  be 
called  a  purely  agricultural  town,  Tallmadge  has  also  achieved 
marked  success  as  a  mining  and  manufacturing  town.  As  early 
as  1808  or  1809,  Mr.  Jotham  Blakeslee,  working  at  his  trade  as  a 
blacksmith,  found  coal  on  the  land  of  Col.  Meacham,  in  the  south- 
east part  of  the  township,  which  he  used  on  his  forge,  and  in  1810 
procured  coal  from  a  vein  found  on  the  land  of  Deacon  Elizur 
Wright,  one  mile  w^est  of  the  Center,  a  tradition  running  to  the 
effect  that  this  vein  \eas  discovered  by  means  of  small  pieces  of 
coal  being  brought  to  the  surface  by  a  woodchuck  in  digging  his 
burrow.  Other  veins  were  soon  afterwards  discovered  along  the 
east  side  of  w^hat  has  since  come  to  be  kno\vn  as  "Coal  Hill,"  and 
worked  to  some  extent  by  Asaph  Whittlesey  and  Samuel  Newton, 
w^ho,  in  connection  with  Messrs.  Laird  and  Norton,  of  Middlebury 
Furnace  fame,  built  and  operated  a  forge  for  the  manufacture  of 
bar  iron,  at  what  is  now  known  as  the  "Old  Forge,"  about  1817. 

Timber  was  so  abundant  in  those  days  that  there  was  very 
little  demand  for  coal,  as  fuel,  or  for  manufacturing  purposes,  and 
for  a  decade  and  a  half,  but  little  was  mined.  About  1825,  Mr. 
Henry  Newberry,  the  owner  of  1,000  acres  of  land  in  the  northwest 
corner  of  Tallmadge,  discovered  and  opened  a  vein  of  coal  near  the 
northwest  six-corners,  and  about  1828  tried  the  experiment  of  ship- 
ping it  to  Cleveland  by  hauling  it  in  wagons  to  Lock  16,  on  the 
Ohio  Canal.  It  did  not,  however,  prove  a  very  profitable  venture, 
though,  according  to  Col.  Whittlesey,  the  canal  receipts  at  Cleve- 
land for  four  years,  and  before  shipments  from  Massillon  and 
other  points  south  of  Akron,  commenced  (1833),  being  as  follows: 
1829,  108  tons;  1830,  178  tons;  1831,  294  tons;   1832,  431  tons. 


tallmadgb's  industrial  status. 


1049 


About  the  year  1832,  Dr.  Daniel  Upson,  of  Worthington,  Frank- 
lin county,  O.,  where  he  had  been  several  times  honored  with  a 
seat  in  the  Legislature,  removed  to  Tallmadge,  purchasing  quite  a 
property  and  engaging  in  farming.  His  attention  being  called  to 
the  coal  indications  alluded  to,  the  Doctor,  soon,  by  purchase  and 
lease,  secured  control  of  a  large  portion  of  Coal  Hill,  a  mile  or  more 
west  of  the  Center,  from  w^hich  w^ere  mined,  from  1833  to  1840,  con- 
siderable quantities  of  coal  for  the  Akron,  Cuyahoga  Falls  and 
home  market. 


DR.  DANIEL  UPSON, —  born  in 
Southing-ton,  Connecticut,  March 
18,  1786  ;  youth  spent  on  farm,  and  in 
securing' an  education;  taught  school 
several  years,  meantime  studying- 
medicine  ;  on  completion  of  studies, 
located  in  Hartford,Trumbull  county, 
Ohio  ;  in  1818,  removed  to  Worthing- 
ton, Franklin  county,  during  his 
fourteen  years  residence  there,  serv- 
ing several  terms  in  the  State  Leg-is- 
lature  ;  in  1832,  removed  to  Tallmadge, 
relinquishing-  his  practice  and 
engaging-  extensively  in  farming  and 
coal  mining,  being  the  pioneer  in 
the  development  of  that  industry  in 
Northern  Ohio  ;  in  1836,  '37,  served  as 
State  senator  for  Portage  county, 
later  taking  an  active  part  in  securing 
the  erection  of  the  new  county  of 
Summit ;  May  19, 1814,  was  married  to 
Miss  Polly  Wright,  daughter  of 
Deacon  Elizur  Wright,  of  Talliuadge, 
w^ho  bore  him  six  children — Dr.  Fran- 
cis Wright  Upson,  no-w  deceased; 
Julius  B.,  died  in  infancy;  Julia 
Elmore  Upson,  wife  of  ProJF.  Elias 
Loomis,  of  Yale  Colleg-e,  died  in  1854  ; 
Daniel  A.  Upson,  now  occupying  the 
■old  homestead ;  William  H.  Upson, 
now  Judge  of  Circuit,  for  the  past 
forty-five  years  a  resident  of  Akron  ; 
and  James  W.,  now^  living  in  Cleve- 
land. Dr.  Upson,  w^hile  teaching 
school  and  studying   medicine,  wit- 


DR.  DANIEL  UPSON. 

nessed  the  trial  trip  of  Robert  Ful- 
ton's first  steambofit  on  the  Hudson 
river,  in  1807,  and  lived  to  see  steam 
universally  applied,  both  to  river  and 
ocean  navigation,  and  world-wide 
land  travel  and  machinerj^  propul- 
sion. Dr.  Upson  died  June  21,  1863, 
aged  77  years,  3  months  and  3  days, 
Mrs.  Upson  dying  July  30,  1872,  aged 
87  years  and  4  days. 


Early  Railroad  Enterprise. — ^In  1838,  in  anticipation  of  the 
completion  of  the  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  Canal,  a  charter  was 
obtained  from  the  Legislature  incorporating  the  "Tallmadge  Coal 
Company,"  the  stock  of  which  was  principally  owned  by  Daniel 
Upson,  Francis  H.  Wright  and  Charles  Whittlesey.  This  com- 
pany constructed  a  tramway  from  their  mines  to  the  canal,  near 
what  was  known  as  the  "Nine  Locks,"  a  distance  of  about  two 
miles.  The  track  w^as  composed  of  large  logs,  faced  on  one  side, 
laid  lengthwise,  on  which  four-inch  scantling  were  firinly  pinned  for 
the  trucks  to  run  upon.  The  cars  used  had  a  capacity  of  about 
three  tons  each,  a  train  of  three  or  four  cars  being  drawn  by  two 
and  three  horses  from  the  mines  to  the  chutes  upon  the  canal. 

Tallmadge  coal  was  nearly,  if  not  quite,  the  first  coal  used 
upon  the  Lake  Erie  steamers,  the  company  in  question  furnishing 
the  Northern  Transportation  Company  with  over  3,000  tons  in 
1841.     Changes  in  the  firm  were  made  from  time  to  time,  D.  Upson 


1050 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


&  Co.  succeeding  the  Tallmadge  Coal  Co.;  Upson  &  Sons  follow- 
ing, and  after  the  doctor's  death,  June  21,  1863,  at  the  age  of  77,  the 
business  was  continued  by  Upson  Brothers,  until,  by  reason  of  the 
substantial  exhaustion  of  the  veins  they  v^-ere  then  working,  and 
the  dismantlement  of  the  canal,  the  business  was  abandoned^ 
except  for  purely  domestic  use  and  local  supply,  the  mines,  in 
1887,  being  under  lease  to  Philip  Thomas,  and  w^orked  to  a  limited 
extent  by  Henry  Thomas  &  Co. 

It  is  estimated  that  there  are  yet  about  fifty  acres  of  coal  in  the 
township  unworked,  Mr.  Horace  B.  Camp  having  recently  sunk  a 
shaft  upon  the  Richardson  farm,  near  the  southeast  corner  of 
Cuyahoga  Falls  township.  By  careful  computation,  it  is  thought 
that  for  fifty  years  the  average  output  of  the  Tallmadge  mines 
was  at  least  12,000  tons  a  year,  making  a  grand  total  of  600,000 
tons,  a  very  material  factor  in  the  unrivaled  prosperity  of  the 
township  during  that  period. 


GEORGE  ALLISON,— born  inWest- 
moreland,  North  of  England,  in 
1822 ;  came  with  parents  to  America 
when  about  three  years  old  ;  after  a 
short  sojourn  at  Middlebury,  family 
started  for  Galena,  Illinois,  via  the 
Ohio  river,  but  on  reaching  Beaver, 
Penns5^1vania,  both  parents  died, 
leaving  their  five  children  among 
strangers  destitute.  George  found  a 
home  with  a  farmer  named  Potter,  at 
fourteen  being  apprenticed  to  a  brick 
mason  named  Dellzell.  On  com- 
pleting his  trade  he  moved  to  Tall- 
madge, near  Middlebury,  where  he 
has  ever  since  resided.  In  1851,  '52, 
Mr.  Allison  was  superintendent  of 
masonry  on  the  C,  Z.  &  C,  now  the 
C,  A.  &  C.  R.  R.,  and  later  built  the 
Summit  County  Infirmary  and  the 
Cu5^ahoga  Falls  and  Kent  High 
Schools,  besides  numerous  brick 
stores  and  residences  in  Akron,  at 
the  same  time  carrying  on  extensive 
farming  operations  in  Tallmadge. 
Mr.  Allison's  father,  George  Allison, 
Sr.,  was  a  soldier  in  the  British  armj'^, 
participating  in  the  celebrated  battle 
of  Waterloo,  where  Wellington 
defeated  the  great  Napoleon.  Mr. 
Allison  was  married,  September  14, 
1843,  to  Miss  Mary  L.  Bettes,  daughter 


GEORGE  ALLISON. 


of  Captain  Nathaniel  Bettes,  a  Revo- 
lutionary soldier,  their  only  son,. 
Byron  M.  Allison,  being  now  the 
successful  manager  and  secretary  of 
the  Akron  Fire  Brick  Company  in 
the  Sixth  Ward. 


Blast  Furnace  in  Tallmadge. — In  addition  to  the  abundant 
supply  of  coal,  above  written  of,  there  were  also  considerable  veins 
of  iron  ore  in  the  neighborhood,  one  on  Mr.  Asaph  Whittlesey's 
land,  and  another  just  over  the  line  in  Springfield,  on  the  Brittain 
farm,  and  perhaps  others.  About  1844  or  1845  some  Welsh  gentle- 
men frotn  Pittsburg,  having  some  knowledge  of  iron  making, 
erected  a  blast  furnace  near  the  coal  chutes  of  the  Tallmadge  Coal 
Company  at  an  expense  of  several  thousand  dollars,  giving  to  it 
the  name  of  Cambria  Furnace,  the  name  of  the  firm  being  Vinton^ 
Lewis,  Reese  &  Co. 

On  the  completion  of  their  stack  the  furnace  was  duly  started^ 
the  blast  being  run  by  steam   poAver.     Through   some  defect,   or 


AGRICULTURAL,   MECHANICAL,   ETC. 


1051 


mistnanagement,  the  charge  became  chilled  before  fully  ready  to 
draw — it  is  said  by  persons  living  in  the  vicinity,  because  of  the 
condensation  of  vapors  arising  from  the  foundation  of  the  stack,, 
which  had  been  laid  in  a  very  damp  location.  Be  this  as  it  may, 
the  chilled  charge  being  removed  after  considerable  labor  and 
expense,  and  the  stack  refilled,  the  blast  was  again  turned  on  with 
precisely  the  same  result.  After  several  similar  failures  to  pro- 
duce marketable  pig-iron — the.  company,  by  this  time  having 
exhausted  w^hatever  means  it  may  have  originally  had,  besides 
owing  the  Messrs.  Upson  some  $3,000  for  coal  and  other  supplies — 
the  enterprise  was  abandoned,  Cambria  Furnace  now^  being  a 
reminiscence,  only. 


T  UCIUS  W.  HITCHCOCK,  — born 
J—'  in  Cheshire,  Connecticut,  Octo- 
ber 10,  1801  ;  common  school  educa- 
tion ;  raised  a  farmer ;  in  1822,  came 
on  foot  to  Talhnadge,  where  he 
bought  a  farm,  on  which  he  lived 
over  half  a  century,  moving'  to  Akron 
in  1873.  April  20,  1826.  Mr.  Hitchcock 
was  married  to  Miss  Eleanor  Wolcott, 
of  Tallmadge,  who  bore  him  seven 
children — Wolcott  Warner,  born  Sep- 
tember 14, 1827,  deceased  ;  Frederick, 
born  July  29,  1829,  deceased ;  Ellen 
Arabella,  born  February  11, 1831,  died 
in  infancy  ;  Elizur,  born  August  15, 
1832,  now  a  physician  in  Akron ; 
George  Ellsworth,  born  July  1,  1835, 
deceased ;  Oella  Pamphila,  born 
March  31,  1839,  now  Mrs.  Charles 
Harris,  residing  in  the  State  of  Wash- 
ington ;  and  Herbert  Paschal,  born 
July  18,  1841,  now  a  successful  busi- 
ness man  in  Akron,  as  elsewhere 
noted.  Mrs.  Hitchcock  dying  Jan- 
uary 11, 1873,  Mr.  Hitchcock  was  again 
married,  January  3,  1877,  to  Mrs. 
Matilda  L.  (Randall)  Harvey,  a  native 
of  Newburg,  Orange  county,  New 
York,  and  for  over  twenty  years  one 
of  Akron's  most  successful  teachers, 
who  still  survives,  Mr.  Hitchcock 
dying  April  2,  1881,  at  the  age  of  79 


^rtBSS^SS"^^; 


LUCIUS  W.  HITCHCOCK. 

years,  5  months  and  25  da5's.  Mr.. 
Hitchcock  was  in  all  respects  a 
christian  gentleman  and  public- 
spirited  citizen. 


The  Carriage-Making  Business. — Tallmadge  was  for  many 
years  favored  with  one  of  the  most  extensive  carriage  manufac- 
tories in  the  Western  country,  w^hich  added  greatly  to  the  pros- 
perity of  the  village  and  township.  About  the  year  1827,  Mr. 
Amos  Avery  opened  a  small  wagon  and  repair  shop  at  the  Center, 
Mr.  William  C.  Oviatt,  of  Milford,  Conn.,  having  started  a  custom 
blacksmith  shop  in  the  same  locality,  about  the  same  time. 

These  gentlemen,  associating  with  themselves  Mr.  Isaac  C.  B. 
Robinson,  about  1836,  under  the  firm  name  of  Avery,  Oviatt  & 
Robinson,  built  shops  on  the  southw^est  diagonal  road,  and 
engaged  quite  extensively  in  the  carriage-making  business,  Mr. 
Oviatt  claiming  the  honor  of  making  the  first  elliptic  buggy 
springs  ever  made  in  Ohio,  in  w^hich  he  w^as  assisted  by  Mr.  Jame& 
M.  Hale,  now  living  in  Akron,  w^ho  w^as  a  workman  in  the  estab- 
lishment for  several  vears. 


1052 


AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Later,  Mr.  Avery  sold  out  to  William  Smith  and  Marcus 
Brundige,  the  firm  name  changing  to  Oviatt,  Robinson  &  Co.  In 
1841,  Mr.  Ira  P.  Sperry  succeeded  Messrs.  Smith  &  Brundige,  the 
firm  name  of  Oviatt  &  Sperry  continuing  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  w^hen  Mr.  Samuel  J.  Ritchie  became  a  partner  in  the  con- 
cern, Oviatt,  Sperry  &  Ritchie  running  the  works  until  the  death 
of  the  senior  partner,  Mr.  Oviatt,  February  1,  1869,  the  surviving 
partners  finally  closing  out  the  business  in  April,  1871. 

In  addition  to  supplying  a  considerable  portion  of  Northern 
Ohio  virith  fine  carriages,  the  firm  for  many  years  maintained  a 
large  repository  in  Cincinnati,  at  v^rhich  from  $20,000  to  $25,000 
worth  of  their  carriages  w^ere  yearly  sold.  Quite  extensive  car- 
riage-making operations  w^ere  also  carried  on  by  Mr.  James  B. 
Baldwin,  Mr.  Lucius  V.  Bierce  and  others  for  several  years. 


HON.  IRA  P.  SPERRY,  -born  in 
Watertown,  Connecticut,  Novem- 
ber 24, 1818  ;  at  one  year  of  ag-e  came 
with  parents  to  Tallmadge,  settlings 
on  farm  ;  common  school  edtication  ; 
14  to  17,  blacksmith's  apprentice ;  17 
to  20,  apprentice  to  carriage  ironer's 
trade  ;  at  21,  a  j^ear  in  school  at  Cuya- 
hoga  Falls  ;  then  worked  for  William 
C  Oviatt  two  years  at  carriage  iron- 
ing, in  1841,  purchasing  an  interest  in 
the  works,  which,  under  different 
partnership  relations,  he  success- 
fully carried  on  for  nearly  a  third  of 
a  century,  as  elsewhere  detailed.  In 
1870,  with  his  brother,  Dr.  Willis 
Sperr}'^,  and  Mr.  Samuel  J.  Ritchie,  he 
■established  extensive  sewer  pipe 
works  in  Tallmadge,  which,  in  con- 
nection with  his  son,  George  P. 
Sperry,  he  is  still  successfully  con- 
ducting. An  early  anti-slavery  man, 
Mr.  Sperry,  in  1858,  was  elected  on  the 
Republican  ticket,  as  Summit 
county's  representative  to  the  State 
Legislature,  ably  serving  two  years. 
-September  27,  1841,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Clarissa  Carlton,  of  Portage 
county,  who  has  borne  him  six  chil- 
dren— Willis  C,  born  December  12, 
1847,  now  practicing  medicine  in 
Julesburg,  Colorado ;  Charles  O., 
died  in  infancy ;  Mary  A.,  born  July 
30.  1853,  died  in  Oberlin,  October  17, 
1870,  aged  17  j^ears,  2  months  and  17 


HON.  IRA  p.  SPERRY. 

days  ;  George  P.,  born  September  30, 
1858,  sewer  pipe  manufacturer,  Tall- 
madge ;  Francis  L.,  born  October  22, 
1861,  chemist  for  Canada  Copper  Coin- 
pany,  at  Sudbury,  Canada ;  and 
Henry  B.,  born  November  1,  1863, 
assistant  secretary  and  treasurer  of 
Pennsylvania  Sewer  Pipe  Company, 
Huntingdon,  Penns5'lvania. 


Sewer-Pipe,  Stoneware,  Etc. — About  the  year  1868,  Messrs. 
Charles  Tryon,  Benjamin  D.  Wright  and  Alfred  Sperry,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Tryon,  Wright  &  Co.,  established  sewer-pipe  Avorks 
at  the  center  of  Tallmadge,  the  clay  for  which  was  found  in  al^un- 
dant  supply  a  short  distance  west  of  the  center,  Mr.  Tryon's  inter- 
est subsequently  passing  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Henry  M.  Camp. 

In  1871,  Messrs,  Ira  P.  Sperry  and  Samuel  J.  Ritchie,  having 
closed  out  their  carriage  business  as  stated,  in  connection  with 
Dr.  Willis  Sperry,  purchased  the  sewer-pipe  works  in  question, 
materially  increasing  their  facilities,  and  filling  large  contracts  in 
the  city  of  Washington  and  other  municipal  corporations,  both 


LATER   BUSINESS  OPERATIONS. 


1053 


east  and  west,    Sperry,  Ritchie  &  Co.  continued  to  do  a  large  busi- 
ness, until  the  works  were  dsetroyed  by  fire  in  1878. 

After  an  interregnum  of  about  three  years,  the  works  w^ere 
rebuilt  by  Mr.  Ira  P.  Sperry,  and  his  son,  George  P.  Sperry,  and 
are  now  (1891)  manufacturing  from  500  to  600  car-loads  of  the  very 
best  quality  of  sewer  pipe  per  annum. 

SAMUEL  J.  RITCHIE,  —  born  in 
Boston  township,  November  24, 
1838 ;  educated  in  district  schools, 
Twinsburg  Institute  and  Grammar 
School  of  Western  Reserve  College ; 
raised  on  farm,  early  engaging-  in 
lumbering  and  railroad  business; 
June  15,  1865,  was  married  to  Miss 
Sophronia  Hale,  daughter  of  the  late 
Andrew  Hale,  of  Bath,  in  1867,  asso- 
ciated himself  with  Messrs.  Oviatt  & 
Sperry,  in  the  carriage  making  busi- 
ness, in  Tallmadge,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Oviatt,  Sperry  &  Ritchie, 
closing  out  that  business  in  1871,  and 
engaging  in  the  manufacture  of 
sewer  pipe,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Sperry,  Ritchie  &  Co.,  until  the  burn- 
ing of  the  works  in  1878.  In  1881,  Mr. 
Ritchie  became  connected  with  Cana- 
dian enterprises — the  Central  Ontario 
Railway,  of  which  company  he  was 
president — the  Angio-American  Iron 
Company,  and  the  Canadian  Copper 
Company,  composed  of  Akron  and 
Cleveland  capitalists,  Mr.  Ritchie 
being  also  the  first  president  of  the 
latter  organization,  with  Mr.  Thomas 
W.  Cornell,  of  Akron,  as  his  succes- 
sor. Though  thoroughly  Republican, 
Mr.  Ritchie  has  never  sought  or  held 
office,  but  is  zealously  exerting  his 
influence  in  bringing  about  closer 
or  reciprocal  trade  relations  between 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  and 


SAMUEL  J.   RITCHIE. 

by  his  intelligent  advocacy  of  that 
cause,  has  secured  the  hearty  co-ope- 
ration of  Hon.  Erastus  Wiman,  Hon. 
Benjamin  Butterworth  and  other 
able  statesmen  therein.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Ritchie  have  three  children — 
Lewis  Andrew,  born  October  20, 1867 ; 
Clara  Bell,  born  April  24,  1869;  and 
Charles  Edward,  born  July  16, 1877. 


Tw^o  or  three  establishments  for  the  manufacture  of  stoneware 
have  also  existed  in  the  to\srnship  at  different  times;  the  flower-pot 
w^orks  of  Charles  Iv.  Clark,  and  the  drain-tile  works  of  Messrs.  F. 
B.  McNeal  and  William  Seiz  being  among  the  later  establishments 
of  the  kind  in  operation  therfe. 

In  the  days  of  sorghum  culture,  some  tw^enty  years  ago,  Mr. 
John  A.  Caruthers  established  a  steam  sorghutn  mill  upon  his 
farm  one  mile  east  of  the  Center,  which,  on  the  decline  of  that 
industry  was  converted  into  an  apple  butter  factory,  w^hich  did 
quite  a  large  business  for  several  years. 

Mr.  Albert  A.  Viall  is  the  proprietor  of  a  steam  saw-mill  on  the 
farm  adjoining  Mr.  Caruthers,  w^hich  being  the  only  mill  in  the 
township  at  the  present  time  has  quite  a  run  of  business. 

Trade  and  Traffic. — In  the  mercantile  line,  the  names  of 
Fenn  &  How^ard,  Christopher  C.  Sturtevant  and  Charles  Clark, 
Wiswell  &  Groff,  Eleazer  C.  Sackett,  William  A.  Hanford,  Homer 
S.  Carter,  Elbert  V.  Carter,  Clement  Wright  and  Benjamin  D. 
Wright  are  remembered  .as  local  merchants,  Mr.  Clement  Wright 
being  the  present  (1891)  genial  and  accommodating  incumbent  of 


1054 


AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


"the  village  store,  on  the  corner  of  the  square  and  the  southwest 
diagonal  road. 

C.  C.  Conaghan  and  F.  K.  Hinman,  for  many  years  successful 
grocers  and  dealers  in  meats  and  other  family  supplies,  having 
sold  their  former  place  at  the  southeast  corner,  to  the  Messrs. 
Sperry,  about  1887  located  near  the  southwest  corner  of  the  public 
square. 


GEORGE  PECK  SPERRY,— second 
son  of  Ira  Peck  and  Clarissa 
(Carlton)  Sperry,  was  born  in  Tall- 
madge,  September  30,  1858  ;  educated 
in  Tallmadge  public  schools,  and  at 
Oberlin  Colleg'e ;  at  14  engaged  as 
/clerk  in  store  of  Mr.  Clement  Wright, 
in  Tallmadge,  later  entering  the 
employ  of  Mr.  William  M.  Dee,  an 
extensive  sewer  pipe  dealer  in  Chi- 
cago, remaining  in  charge  of  the 
yards  there  about  two  years,  return- 
ing thence  to  Tallmadge  and  taking 
a  position  in  the  sewer  pipe  works  of 
Sperry,  Ritchie  &  Co.,  there ;  on  the 
destruction  of  the  works  bj^  fire,  in 
1878,  he  engaged  as  manager  of  the 
sewer  pipe  works  of  Mr.  James  H. 
Cooke,  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  on  the 
death  of  Mr.  Cooke,  in  1880,  leasing 
and  successfully  running  the  works 
upon  his  own  account,  until  the 
rebuilding  of  the  Tallmadge  factory, 
in  1882,  of  which  he  assuined  control, 
and  is  now  an  acknowledged  author- 
ity in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the 
manufacture  of  sewer  pipe  in  the 
United  States.  September  27, 1882,  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Jessie  R.  Stevens, 
of  Glendale,  Hamilton  county,  Ohio. 


GEORGE  PECK  SPERRY. 

They  have  three  children — Ira  Benja- 
min, born  August  31,  1883;  Blanche 
Virginia,  born  October  18,  1885 ;  and 
George  Hill,  born  July  13, 1888. 


Travel,  Transportation,  Etc. — Though  the  Pennsylvania 
and  Ohio  Canal  was  made  available  for  the  shipment  of  coal  as 
before  stated,  and  though  the  "Akron  Branch  "  railroad  (now  the 
C,  A.  &  C.)  completed  from  Hudson  to  Akron  in  1852,  traversed 
the  township  upon  the  west  side,  Tallmadge  had  no  special  means 
of  communication  with  the  "outer  world,"  until  the  completion  of 
the  Atlantic  and  Great  Western  Railway  (now  the  N.  Y.,  P.  &  O.) 
in  1863.  By  this  road  not  only  is  the  large  output  of  sew^er  pipe, 
and  other  wares  manufactured,  shipped  to  distant  points,  but  it  is 
also  a  great  convenience  to  persons  desiring  to  get  to  or  from  the 
tovt^n  by  other  means  than  private  conveyance.  Later,  the 
Pittsburg  &  Western,  now  a  part  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
sytem,  skirting  the  northern  and  western  borders  of  the  township, 
has  materially  added  to  transportation  facilities. 

Clean  Criminal  Record. — During  the  three-quarters  of  a  cen- 
tury, and  over,  of  its  existence,  Tallmadge  has  been  exceptionally 
exempt  from  startling  crimes,  not  a  single  homicide  having 
occurred  w^ithin  her  borders,  nor  more  than  t\^ro  or  three  peniten- 
tiary offenses,  unless  in  those  portions  of  the  township  embraced 
in  the  villages  of  Middlebury  and  Cuyahoga  Falls.  Some  minor 
irregularities  have  from  time  to  time  prejrailed,  the  most,  if  not  all, 
of  which  were  traceable  to  the  influence  of  the  village  tavern,  when 


A    PROUD    MILITARY    RECORD.  1055 

under  w^hisky  management,  and  the  outside  roughs  -which  such 
institutions  naturally  attract,  coupled  with  the  dime  novel  litera- 
ture, that  so  seriously  poisoned  the  minds  of  some  of  the  young 
men  and  boys  of  the  township  a  few  years  ago. 

MILITARY  MATTERS. 

The  military  record  of  Tallmadge,  is  second  to  none  on  the 
Reserve.  Among  the  early  residents  of  Tallmadge,  who  were  in 
the  Revolutionary  Army,  the  names  of  Captain  Nathaniel  Bettes, 
w^ho  was  at  the  storming  of  Quebec  on  the  night  of  December  31, 
1775,  under  the  ill-fated  Gen.  Montgomery,  and  who,  at  his  death 
at  Bettes'  Corners,  January  15,  1840,  at  the  age  of  ninety-four  years, 
was  buried  with  military  honors  by  Akron's  first  Independent 
Military  Company — the  "  Summit  Guards,"— of  which  the  late 
Gen.  Philo  Chamberlin  was  then  captain;  Hosea  Wilcox,  also  a 
participant  in  the  attack  upon  Quebec;  David  Preston,  who  was 
taken  prisoner  and  for  some  time  confined  at  the  "Cedars,"  above 
Fort  Ticonderoga;  Conrad  Boosinger,  Capt.  John  Wright,  Deacon 
Nathaniel  Gillett,  William  Neal,  Reuben  Beach,  Isaac  Dudley, 
Thomas  Granger,  Ephraim  Clark,  Salmon  Sackett  and  Alexander 
Grisw^old,  the  latter  being  captured  by  the  British  and  for  some 
time  confined  in  the  prison-ship  in  New  York  harbor. 

Other  early  settlers  were  undoubtedly  enrolled  in  the  Conti- 
nental Army,  whose  names  have  not  been  handed  down,  but  the 
list  already  given  is  sufficiently  glorious  for  a  single  township. 

The  War  of  1812. — The  writer  is  indebted  to  Andrew  Fenn, 
Esq.,  for  the  following  full  rosters  of  the  volunteer  soldiery  of 
Tallmadge  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  no 
soldiers  havang  gone  to  the  Mexican  War  from  that  tow^nship. 

Previous  to  the  War  of  1812  the  "Tallmadge  Independent 
Rifle  Company"  had  been  organized  with  Rial  McArthur  as 
captain,  and  Charles  Powers  as  lieutenant,  and  the  following 
privates:  Almon  Norton,  Alpha  Wright,  Justin  Barnes,  Justin  E. 
Frink,  Shubel  H.  Lowrey,  Titus  Chapman,  Samuel  and  Lot 
Preston,  Liberton  Dixon,  Joseph  Tousley,  Edmund  Strong  and 
Samuel  Fogger.  On  the  surrender  of  Hull's  army,  at  Detroit,  in 
August,  1812,  these  fourteen  men  volunteered  in  a  body  to  go  to 
the  defense  of  the  frontier,  and  afterwards  there  w^ere  drafted  from 
the  general  militia,  six  more,  as  follows:  Reuben  Upson,  John 
Caruthers,  Norman  Sackett,  Moses  Bradford,  Asa  Gillett  and 
Jotham  Blakeslee,  who  served  in  various  places  during  the  w^ar — 
twenty  in  all. 

The  War  of  the  Rebellion. — The  following  named  volun- 
teer soldiers  andrnarines  represented  Tallmadge  in  the  Union 
army  during  the  War  of  the  Rebellion:  George  Ashmun,  Williston 
Ailing,  Erastus  Albert,  James  Buchanan,  Silas  W.  Bettes,  Lorin 
Barnhart,  William  Boyd,  Jr.,  Edward  Butler,  George  Blakeslee, 
H.  M.  Baldwin,  Wellington  Bettes,  Albert  B.  Clark,  Perez  Clark, 
John  Condon,  A.  S.  Carr,  T.  J.  Conley,  J.  F.  Conw^ay,  Clinton 
Chambers,  C.  C.  Caruthers,  E.  P.  Caruthers,  William  Dimmock, 
John  Davis,  Alexander  Douglass,  Thomas  Dixon,  David  Evans, 
Thomas  Evans,  Edward  Ellis,  George  Ellis,  E.  P.  Fenn,  J.  E.  Fenn, 
John  Freeze,  Thomas  Foley,  F.  C.  Fulkerson,  Chris  Fisher,  Ed. 
Gearhart,  Henry  Golden,  James  Gordon,  Otis  Graham,  James 
•Gaule,   John    Harris,   George    Hunter,  John    Honoddle,   Michael 


1056  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Honoddle,  James  Hogarth,  George  Huber,  Rufus  M.  Hinman, 
Ambrose  Hine,  Frank  Huntley,  Frank  Harter,  Henry  Hart,  E.  G. 
Jones,  Norman  S.  Keller,  Richard  Limber,  Otto  Limber,  Allen 
Limber,  George  Lansinger,  Adam  Lansinger,  William  Lyons,  S. 
Mathews,  William  Murray,  John  Moore,  George  C.  Monks,  James 
Morgan,  Henry  McClelland,  John  McMuUin,  David  Mclntire,  H. 
McAlpine,  Thomas  Owens,  John  Owens,  Henry  Packard,  Daniel 
Puff,  Alfred  Palmer,  John  Patterson,  George  Patterson,  Henry 
Patterson,  William  Pride,  Thomas  Price,  Albert  Reeves,  Ashbel 
Root,  John  Randall,  Jacob  Randall,  Frederick  Rexford,  Clinton 
Ruckel,  William  Rinehart,  Alfred  Sperry,  Joseph  Spellman,  T.  W, 
Screen,  Fred  Spafford,  C.  H.  Sackett,  Daniel  Sullivan,  James 
Sangster,  H.  Stiffler,  Daniel  Schaaf,  John  Stinhour,  Junius 
Saunders,  S.  W.  Schenkenberger,  D.  B.  Treat,  R.  B.  Treat,  Jr., 
David  Thomas,  Adam  Taggart,  Solomon  Upson,  C.  W.  Wick,  Amos 
Wills,  Leonard  Winkler,  O.  O.  Wright,  S.  E.  Wright,  J.  M.  Walton, 
Wesley  Wells,  William  R.  Warren,  O.  E.  Whitney,  Willis  Woodruff, 
Henry  Woodruff  and  Charles  Young — 113  men  in  all. 

"  Squirrel  Hunters." — Early  in  September,  1862,  the  Govern- 
ment became  apprehensive  of  an  attempt  by  the  rebels,  under 
General  Kirby  Smith,  to  make  an  attack  upon  Cincinnati  and 
other  river  towns,  and  in  the  absence  of  sufficient  regular  troops  in 
that  vicinity  to  cope  w^ith  them,  temporary  volunteers,  to  respond 
forthwith,  were  called  for  by  Governor  Tod,  Akron  and  a  number 
of  the  towns  of  Summit  county  turning  out  in  considerable  force. 
These  "troops,"  dressed  in  every  variety  of  costume  know^n  to  civil 
life,  armed  with  every  variety  of  \sreapon  kno^v^n  to  domestic  gun- 
nery and  sport,  and  w^ithout  any  military  training  vt^hatever,  were 
called  "Squirrel  Hunters."  The  following  is  Tallmadge's  con- 
tingent in. that  "organization:"  Dr.  Amos  Wright,  L.  C.Walton, 
William  B.  Ashmun,  G.  T.  Preston,  L.  H.  Ashmun,  D.  B.  Treat, 
Joseph  Upson,  Henry  Tilden,  J.  E.  Baldwin,  Hon.  Sidney  Edgerton, 
(then  member  of  Congress  and  being  at  his  home  in  Tallmadge 
during  vacation),  C.  Callahan,  F.  H.  Wright  and  J.  O.  Curtiss — 
thirteen  in  all.  The  "  Squirrel  Hunters"  were  on  duty  about  one 
w^eek,  when,  the  scare  being  over  (General  Smith  undoubtedly 
being  intimidated  by  their  presence),  they  were  dismissed  by  the 
Governor  w^ith  thanks,  being  transported  from  and  to  their  homes 
and  subsisted  during  their  absence  at  the  expense  of  the  State. 

The  Ohio  National  Guard. — In  the  Spring  of  1864,  when  all 
the  trained  forces  of  the  Nation  were  needed  by  General  Grant  for 
the  final  struggle.  Governor  Brough,  at  a  meeting  called  at  his 
suggestion  for  that  purpose,  proposed  to  the  governors  of  those 
states  that  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa  and  Wisconsin  should  join. 
Ohio  in  tendering  to  President  Lincoln  85,000  of  the  State  militia 
of  the  several  states  to  serve  in  the  fortifications,  or  where  their 
services  \srere  needed,  for  the  period  of  100  days.  This  tender  was 
accordingly  made  and  accepted.  Of  thi-s  force  Ohio  furnished 
30,000  men,  consisting  of  forty-one  regiments,  averaging  about  730 
men  each.  Summit  county's  contingent  to  this  force  were  assigned 
to  the  164th  regiment,  under  Colonel  John  C.  Lee,  and  mustered  in 
at  Camp  Taylor  May  11,  the  regiment,  865  strong,  starting  for 
Washington  May  14. 

Tallmadge  furnished  Company  D,  164th  Regiment  O.  N.  G.,  64 
men,  as  follows:     Norman  S.  Keller,  captain;    Francis  H.  Wright, 


TALLMADGE   IN   PUBLIC   QFFICE.  1057 

Jr.,  first  lieutenant,  and  the  following  named  privates:  L.  H. 
Ashmun,  Henry  Ashmun,  Byron  Allison,  William  Bell,  Bruce 
Baldwin,  William  H,  Bronson,  S.  E.  Barnes,  C.  E.  Barnes,  F.  N. 
Barnes,  H.  M.  Camp,  L.  N.  Camp,  Frank  Clark,  Chris.  Callahan, 
J.  Drake,  Thomas  Davis,  William  Denmead,  Robert  Ellis,  David 
Evans,  E.  Evans,  F.  B.  Fenn,  S.  P.  Fenn,  F.  F.  Fenn,  G.  E.  Hitch- 
cock, S.  W.  Harris,  Henry  Harris,  A.  A.  Hine,  John  Hier,  Ed.  Jones, 
G.  F.  Lyman,  C.  A.  Lyman,  Jef,  Limber,  Otto  Limber,  A.  F. 
Means,  John  McNeal,  Atkin  Ogle,  John  Owen,  William  T.  Owen, 
L.  B.  Pierce,  S,  B.  Pettibone,  L.  B.  Peck,  John  Roudebush,  William 
Ripley,  Jonathan  Sprague,  Parmenas  Sprague,  F.  Schenkenberger, 
C.  A.  Sackett,  B.  W.  Skinner,  Lyman  Stone,  F.  Sperry,  Dennis 
Treat,  J.  C.  Treat,  O.  S.  Treat,  L.  Thomas.  William  L.  Thomas,  S. 
C.  Taylor,  D.  A.  Upson,  H.  C.  Upson,  J.  E.  Upson,  J.  S.  Upton, 
Daniel  Vogt,  H.  Westover  and  George  Young. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  Puritanic  old  Tallmadge  has  never 
acted  upon  the  unpatriotic  motto  "invincible  in  peace — invisible 
in  w^ar" — for  w^hile  she  has  manifested  a  good  degree  of  invinci- 
bility in  the  prosecution  of  the  arts  of  peace,  industry  and  morality, 
she  has  been  conspicuously  visible,  when  brave  hearts  and  strong 
hands  were  needed  to  establish  or  defend  those  free  institutions 
which  have  made  her  ow^n,  and  the  Nation's  past  and  present 
prosperous  condition  possible. 

HONORABLE  CIVIL  RECORD. 

Dr.  Daniel  Upson. — Besides  serving  several  terms  in  the  Leg- 
islature as  the  representative  of  Franklin  county,  before  removing 
to  Tallmadge,  in  1832,  Dr.  Upson  was  elected  State  senator  for 
Portage  county  in   October,  1836,   holding  the  position  two  years. 

Russell  H.  Ashmun  was  Summit  county's  first  county  sur- 
veyor, elected  in  April,  1840,  re-elected  in  October,  1840,  holding 
the  office  three  years  and  seven  months. 

Captain  Amos  Seward  was  elected  representative  of  Portage 
county  to  the  Legislature  in  1834;  as  representative  of  the  new^ 
county  of  Summit  in  October,  1842,  and  again  fleeted  (as  a  "float") 
in  1847,  giving  to  that  important  position  three  years  of  faithful 
service. 

Frederick  Seward  w^as  elected  county  surveyor  in  October, 
1846,  holding  the  position  three  years. 

Nelson  B.  Stone,  in  1841,  entered  upon  the  duties  of  deputy 
clerk,  under  the  administration  of  Clerk  Lucian  Swift,  serving  in 
that  capacity  until  1851,  when  he  succeeded  to  the  clerkship  for 
the  term  of  three  years,  making  in  all  respects  a  first-class  officer. 
Portrait  and  biography  on  page  260. 

Dudley  Seward,  for  several  years  a  resident  of  Tallmadge, 
after  serving  five  years  as  deputy,  under  sheriffs  Janes  and  Clarke, 
was  elected  sheriff  in  1852,  and  re-elected  in  1854,  thus  giving  to 
the  duties  of  that  office  nine  years  of  continuous  service.  After 
a  bfilliant  career,  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  in  both  the  volunteer 
and  regular  service,  Colonel  Seward  was  repeatedly  elected  justice 
of  the  peace  for  Portage  township,  holding  the  position  to  the  time 
of  his  sudden  death.  May  24,  1882.  Portrait  and  biography  on 
page  379. 

67 


1058  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Ira  p.  Sperry,  from  infancy  a  resident  of  Tallmadge,  and  one 
of  its  most  intelligent  and  enterprising  mecl,ianics  and  business 
men,  was,  in  October,  1857,  elected  representative  to  the  State  Leg- 
islature, being,  during  the  regular  session  of  1857,  '58,  and  the 
adjourned  session  of  1858,  '59,  an  extremely,  useful  and  influential 
member  of  that  body. 

Sidney  Edgerton,  while  a  resident  of  Tallmadge  (having  pre- 
viously served  two  terms  as  prosecuting  attorney,  from  1852  to 
1856),  w^as  elected  to  Congress  from  the  Eighteenth  District,  com- 
posed of  Summit,  Stark  and  Portage  counties,  in  October,  1858, 
and  re-elected  in  1860,  giving  to  the  position,  during  the  most  criti- 
cal period  in  the  history  of  the  government,  the  most  faithful  and 
valuable  service,  supporting  and  voting  for  all  the  important 
measures  necessary  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  and  the 
preservation  of  the  Union.  In  1863,  Mr.  Edgerton  vk^as  appointed 
chief  justice  of  the  new  territory  of  Idaho,  by  President  Lincoln,  a 
year  later,  on  the  division  of  the  territory,  being  appointed  gov- 
ernor of  Montana.  Resigning  that  office  in  1865,  he  returned  to 
Tallmadge,  soon  afterwards  removing  to  Akron  and  resuming  his 
law  practice.     Portrait  and  biography  on  page  180. 

William  H.  Upson,  an  early  adopted  son  of  Tallmadge,  served 
as  prosecuting  attorney  from  1848  to  1850;  was  State  Senator  for 
Summit  and  Portage  counties  from  1853  to  1855;  was  member  of 
Congress  from  the  eighteenth  district  (then  composed  of  Summit, 
Cuyahoga  and  Lake  counties)  from  March  4, 1869,  to  March  4,  1873; 
was  a  delegate  to  the  Republican  National  Convention,  at  Balti- 
more, which  renominated  Abraham  Lincoln,  in  1864,  and  delegate 
at  large  from  Ohio  to  the  Cincinnati  convention,  ^vhich  nominated 
Rutherford  B.  Hayes  for  the  presidency,  in  1876.  On  the  death  of 
Chief  Justice  William  White,  in  March,  1883,  Mr.  Upson  was 
appointed,  by  Gov.  Foster,  to  fill  the  vacancy  upon  the  Supreme 
bench,  holding  that  exalted  position  until  the  following  December. 
On  the  enactment  of  the  law  creating  the  present  Circuit  Court 
system  of  the  State,  Mr.  L^pson  was  elected  one  of  the  Judges  for 
the  Eighth  Circuit,  composed  of  Summit,  Cuyahoga,  Medina  and 
Lorain  counties,  in  October,  1885,  drawing,  by  lot,  the  fractional 
term  of  one  3^ear,  and  in  1886  was  re-elected  for  the  full  term  of  five 
years,  in  which  position  he  is  giving  the  most  perfect  satisfac- 
tion.     Portrait  and  biography  on  page  172. 

John  W.  Seward,  w^as  elected  county  surveyor,  in  October, 
1874,  acceptably  performing  the  intricate  and  responsible  duties  of 
that  office  for  the  full  term  of  three  years,  and  is  now  one  of  the 
township  justices  of  the  peace. 

John  C.  Means,  born  in  Northfield,  but  reared  in  Tallmadge, 
having  received  a  thorough  legal  training  under  the  tuition  of 
Judge  N.  D.  Tibbals,  and  successfully  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
the  law,  was,  in  1884,  elected  to  the  office  of  prosecuting  attorney, 
which  office  he  administered  with  energy  and  ability,  until  his 
sudden  death,  which  occurred  at  the  residence  of  his  mother,  in 
Tallmadge,  May  8,  1886,  Edwin  F.  Voris,  of  Akron,  being  appointed 
by  the  court  to  fill  the  vacancy  for  the  balance  of  the  term.    . 

Andrew  Fenn,  Esq.,  besides  serving  as  a  justice  of  the  peace 
for  many  years,  w^as  one  of  Internal  Revenue  Assessor  John  E. 
Hurlbut's  most  efficient  deputies,  during  and  for  several  years 
after  the  close  of  the  War. 


PRESENT  BUSINESS   AND  OFFICIAL   STATUS,  1059 

Tallmadge's  Present  Official  Roster  (1891). — Trustees,  Wylis 
P.  Fenn,  Samuel  W.  Harris,  Robert  P.  Denniead ;  clerk,  C.  C. 
■Conaghan;  treasurer,  Clement  Wright;  justices  of  the  peace,  Wil- 
liston  Ailing,  John  W.  Seward;  constables,  William  G.  Seiz,  John 
Chapman;  postmaster,  Clement  Wright;  the  latter  gentleman 
having  continuously  officiated  as  treasurer  of  township  since  1852. 

Tallmadge's  Present  Business  Status. — George  P.  Sperry, 
manufacturer  of  sewer  pipe,  dealer  in  coal,  etc.;  Tallmadge  Drain 
Tile  Co.  (W.  Ailing,  F.  D.  Ailing;  F.  B.  McNeil  and  W.  G.  Seiz); 
Tallmadge  Flower  Pot  Co.,  C.  B.  Skinner,  manager;  A.  A.  Viall, 
saw-mill  and  dealer  in  lumber;  B.  W.  Skinner,  corn  and  feed  mill; 
W.  J.  Bmmett,  wire  picket  fence;  A.  A.  Hine  &  Son,  threshing  and 
■wood  sawing;  Skinner  &  Sperry,  threshing  and  wood  saw- 
ing; W.  J.  Bmmett,  threshing  and  clover  mill;  W.  W.  Car- 
ter, builder  and  contractor;  W.  Ailing,  builder  and  architect;  F.  D. 
Ailing,  carpenter  and  builder;  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  carriage  repairer, 
trimmer,  etc.;  Charles  Sharp,  carriage  maker  and  repairer;  John 
^.  Hayden,  blacksmith;  W.  L.  Hinman,  blacksmith;  John  Walter, 
stone  mason;  F.  B.  McNeil,  brick  mason;  W.  Wagoner,  carriage 
trimmer;  George  Geylin,  harness  maker;  John  Sieber,  shoemaker; 
L.  B.  Pierce,  nursery  and  dealer  in  small  fruits  and  plants;  J.  P. 
Howland,  nursery,  fruit  grower,  etc.;  C.  P.  Parmelee,  vegetables, 
fruits,  etc.;  R.  R.  Lawrence,  small  fruits  and  vegetables;  W.  P. 
Sperry,  dealer  in  horses,  cattle,  etc.;  W.  E.  Hinman,  dealer  in  fat 
cattle;  Sidney  Newport,  butcher;  Francis  H.  Wright,  dealer  in 
milk;  Henry  Thomas  &  Co.,  coal  miners,  and  dealers;  Thomas 
Roberts  &  Son,  coal  miners  and  dealers;  Thomas  Rhymes,  green- 
house, dealer  in  plants,  etc.;  Parker,  dealer  in  milk  and  vege- 
tables;   Welton,  cheese  factory;  Clement  Wright,  general  mer- 
chandise;. Conaghan  &  Hine  (C.  C.  Conaghan  and  F.  E.  Hine), 
groceries  and  meat  market;  Carl  B.  Skinner,  general  merchandise, 
telephone  station,  etc.;  practicing  physicians — Drs.  Willis  Sperry, 
S.  St.  John  Wright;  D.  E.  Fenn,  dentist;  John  W.  Seward,  surveyor; 
Oeorge  M.  Wright,  attorney;  W.  E.  Miller,  agent  N.  Y.,  P.  &  O.  R. 
R.  Co.,  Wells  Fargo  &  Co.'s  Express  and  Western  Union  Telegraph 
Co.;  ministers:  Congregational,  Rev.  S.  D.  Gammell;  Methodist 
Episcopal,  Rev.  M.  W,  Dallas,  D.  D.;  Welsh  Congregational,  Rev. 
J.  P.  Davis. 

CONCLUSION. 

Thus  has  Tallmadge  played  well  her  part,  both  physically, 
morally  and  politically — in  the  counsels  of  the  county.  State  and 
Nation,  and  upon  the  field  of  battle;  and  in  the  brilliant  record 
she  has  made,  as  above  but  faintly  set  forth,  the  minor  faults  and 
foibles,  that  have  at  long  intervals  slightly  beclouded  her  fair  fame 
may  w^ell  be  graciously  overlooked  and  remembered  against  her 
jievermore. 


CHAPTER   LI. 

TWINSBURG'S  BEGINNING— FIRST  CALLED  "  MILLSVILLE "— HOW  AND  WHY 
CHANGED— TOPOGRAPHY,  RESOURCES,  ETC.  —FIRST  SETTLER  A  SEVENTEEN- 
YEAR-OLD  BOY,  WHO  BECOMES  THE  PIONEER  FARMER,  THE  PIONEER  DAIRY- 
MAN, THE  PIONEER  HOTEL  KEEPER,  THE  PIONEER  STAGE  PROPRIETOR,  THE 
PIONEER  MERCHANT,  ETC.— SINGULAR  COINCIDENTS— EARLY  BUILDINGS^ 
EARLY  PRICES,  EARLY  BIRT«S,  EARLY  MARRIAGES  AND  DEATHS — PEDES- 
TRIANISM  VERSUS  EQUESTRIANISM— BUSINESS  AFFAIR.S— FATAL  MISTAKE  ON 
THE  RAILROAD  QUESTION— CHURCH  MATTERS— SPLENDID  EDUCATIONAL 
RECORD— OVER  SIX  THOUSAND  SCHOLARS  IN  SIXTY  YEARS— WONDERFUL 
PLUCK  ANDPERSEVERANCE— STILL  HALE  AND  HEARTY  IN  HIS  NINETY-FIFTH 
YEAR — MAGNIFICENT  MILITARY  SHOWING — ENDURING  MONUMENT  TO  THE 
VALOR  OF  THE  SONS,  AND  THE  GRATITUDE  OF  THE  FATHERS— FULL  ROSTER 
OF  SOLDIERS— CIVIL  vSTAT US— MEAGER  CRIMINAL  RECORD-— NOT  QUITE  A 
HOMICIDE. 

TWINSBURG'S  BEGINNING. 

TWINSBURG — the  northeasternmost  township  of  Summit 
county — was,  for  reasons  not  now^  explainable,  the  last  township 
in  the  county  to  be  settled.  In  the  survey  of  the  Western  Reserve 
into  townships,  in  1796,  as  elsewhere  detailed,  what  is  now  called 
Twinsburg  Avas  designated  as  township  5,  range  10,  and  has  thus 
continued  to  be  known  upon  the  records  of  both  Portage  and  Sum- 
mit counties. 

In  the  distribution  of  the  lands  of  the  Connecticut  Land  Com- 
pany, by  draft,  as  already  explained,  the  north  and  northeasterly 
portion  of  township  5,  range  10,  fell  to  Moses  and  Aaron  Wilcox; 
south  and  southeasterly  portion  to  Mills  &  Hoadley,  and  the  west 
and  northwesterly  portion  to  Henry  Champion. 

Topography,  Name,  Etc. — Topographically,  Twinsburg  will 
average  w^ith  the  townships  of  the  county.  It  is  w^ell  watered  and 
drained  by  numerous  springs  and  runs  rising  in  the  highlands  on 
either  side  and  flowing  into  Tinker's  creek,  a  considerable  stream 
w^hich,  rising  in  Streetsboro  and  Hudson,  traverses  the  entire 
township  from  the  southeast  to  the  northwest,  emptying  into  the 
Cuyahoga,  in  the  township  of  Bedford.  This  creek  was  named  by 
Gen.  Moses  Cleveland,  while  making  his  preliminary  survey  of 
the  Western  Reserve,  in  1796,  in  honor  of  Joseph  Tinker,  one  of  his 
most  efficient  assistants,  Mr.  Tinker  being  drowned  by  the  cap- 
sizing of  one  of  their  boats  on  Lake  Erie,  on  the  return  trip  to 
Connecticut,  in  the  Fall  of  that  year. 

With  the  exception  of  certain  portions  of  the  bottom  lands  of 
the  creek,  and  certain  stony  ridges  both  upon  the  east  and  upon 
the  west,  the  soil,  generally  clay,  with  intervals  of  loam,  is  w^ell 
adapted  to  general  agriculture,  and  especially  valuable  for  grazing 
and  dairy  purposes. 

By  reason  of  his  large  interest,  as  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the 
township,  and  of  the  early  laying  out  of  a  village,  at  the  falls  of 
the  creek,  some  two  miles  southeast  of  the  center,  the  name  of 
Millsville  w^as  at   first  given  to  the  tow^nship  by  Mr.  Isaac  Mills^ 


1 


TWINSBURG — WHY   SO   NAMED. 


1061 


senior  partner  of  the  firm  of  Mills  &  Hoadley,  Mr.  Mills,  presum- 
ably being  a  brother  of  Gideon  Mills,  Esq.,  and  Doctor  Oliver  Mills, 
\srell  known  early  citizens  of  Hudson. 

Singular  Coincidents. — Moses  and  Aaron  Wilcox  were  twins, 
natives  of  North  Killingworth,  Conn.,  and  at  the  time  of  coming 
into  the  ownership  of  that  portion  of  the  township  5,  range  10, 
<lra>vn  by  them,  were  prosperous  young  merchants  in  their  native 
town.  They  did  not,  at  first,  personally  visit  their  new  posses- 
sions, though  a  few  years  later  becoming  prominent  citizens  of 
the  township.  After  considerable  settlement  had  been  made,  the 
brothers  made  a  proposition  to  the  settlers,  to  donate  six  acres  of 
land  at  the  center  for  a  public  square,  and  $20  in  money  towards 
the  erection  of  a  school  house,  for  the  privilege  of  naming  the 
township,  which  proposition  was  accepted,  whereupon  the  twin 
brothers,  Moses  and  Aaron,  sharing  the  honor  equally,  named  it 
•"  Twinsburg." 

It  is  related  of  these  brothers,  as  a  singular  concatenation  of 
events,  that  besides  being  born  upon  the  same  day.  May  11,  1770, 
educated  in  the  same  school,  going  into  business  together  when 
grown  to  manhood,  and  so  near  alike  in  feature,  voice  and  man- 
ners, their  most  intimate  friends  could  scarcely  tell  them  apart, 
that  they  married  sisters,  Huldah  and  Mabel  Lord,  of  Killing- 
-worth,  at  the  same  time,  had  the  same  number  of  children,  moved 
to  Ohio  together,  held  their  property  in  common,  w^ere  taken  sick 
^"with  the  same  disease  on  the  same  day,  died  within  a  few  days  of 
■each  other,  and  w^ere  buried  in  the  same  grave  in  September,  1827. 
Twinsburg's  First  Settler. — Though  certain  settlers  in  Hud- 
son and  Aurora,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  people  of  those 
tow^nships,  had  previously  begun  preparations  for  the  building  of 

a  saw-mill  at  the  falls  on  Tinker's 
Creek,  erecting  and  partly  finishing 
a  log  shanty,  and  hauling  several 
sticks  of  he>vn  timber  on  the  grounci 
for  the  frame  of  the  mill,  the  first 
actual  settler  in  the  township,  w^as 
undoubtedly  the  late  Ethan  Ailing, 
father  of  Akron's  virell  known  citi- 
zen, Mr.  Ethan  Lewis  Ailing.  .  Mr. 
Ethan  AUing's  father,  Lewis  Ailing, 
was  raised  to  the  occupation  of  a 
farmer,  in  North  Milford,  Conn., 
but  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  cen- 
tury, sold  his  farm  and  engaged  in 
trade  in  the  city  of  New  Haven. 
This  calling  w^as  a  few  years  later 
re-exchanged  for  a  small  farm  and 
hotel,  four  miles  west  of  New 
Haven.  Mr.  AUing's  first  born, 
Ethan,  (born  August  13,  1800),  after 
a  very  limited  common  school  edu- 
cation was,  w^hen  about  fourteen 
years  of  age,  placed  in  the  grocery  store  of  Loomis  &  Johnson,  of 
New  Haven,  as  clerk,  his  father  paying  his  board  the  first  year, 
and  a  merely  nominal  salary  being  paid  him  for  his  services  the 
second  year. 


ETHAN    ALLING. 


1062  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

In  the  Winter  of  1816,  '17,  the  elder  Ailing  sold  his  farm  and 
other  property,  mostly  taking  notes  therefor,  which  (guaranteeing 
payment)  he  exchanged  with  Mills  &  Hoadley,  for  1,000  acres  of 
land  in  tract  3,  township  5,  range  10,  of  Connecticut  Western 
Reserve,  consideration  $5,000,  or  at  the  rate  of  $5  per  acre.  A  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  paper  thus  guaranteed  proving  ^^orthless^ 
only  about  400  acres  of  the  land  thus  purchased  was  finally 
retained  by  Mr.  Ailing. 

Early  in  the  Spring  of  1817,  Mr.  Ailing,  placing  the  fullest 
confidence  in  the  judgment  and  ability  of  the  boy  Ethan,  then  less 
than  17  years  of  age,  started  him  with  three  hired  men,  Zeri 
Ailing,  Rodolphus  Wolcott  and  Lex  Johnson,  to  locate  the  land, 
and  prepare  for  the  settlement  of  the  family  thereon.  Young 
Ailing  and  his  three  companions  started  from  Connecticut,  March 
3,  presumably  on  foot,  and  arrived  in  Hudson,  March  31.  Having 
a  letter  of  introduction  from  the  senior  member  of  the  firm  of 
Mills  &  Hoadley  to  Esquire  Gideon  Mills,  of  Hudson,  young- 
Ailing  and  his  companions  were  ^^elcomed  by  that  gentleman, 
who,  the  next  day,  April  1,  1817,  went  with  them  to  point  out  the 
lands  from  which  they  w^ere  to  make  their  selection. 

Following  the  marked  line,  which  Mr.  Mills  designated  the 
Chagrin  road,  they  at  length  came  to  a  point  which  Mr.  Mills  said 
w^as  the  geographical  center  of  the  to"wnship,  which  point  w^as  at 
the  present  southeast  corner  of  the  public  square.  The  lay  of  the 
land  at  this  point,  and  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  was  so  uneven 
and  forbidding,  that  young  Ailing  determined  to  look  for  a  more 
favorable  location.  The  party  accordingly  followed  Tinker's  creek 
southeasterly  to  the  falls,  above  spoken  of,  and  thence  passed  over 
the  hill,  for  many  years  past  known  as  the  Hawkins  farm,  and 
returned  to  Hudson. 

The  next  two  weeks  were  spent  by  young  Ailing  and  his  men 
in  clearing  a  portion  of  Mr.  Mill's  slashing,  for  raising  a  crop  of 
corn  on  shares,  one  or  two  trips  having  been  made  in  the  mean 
time  into  the  new  tow^nship  and  a  location  selected  on  the  hill 
spoken  of.  In  a  sketch  of  Twinsburg,  published  by  Mr.  Ailing,  in 
1861,  he  gives  these  reasons  for  locating  here,  instead  of  at  the 
center:  "First — there  we  found  excellent  plow  and  grass  land, 
water,  stone,  timber,  sugar  trees,  etc.;  second — the  water  power  at 
the  falls  was  the  best  for  miles  around,  probably  three  times  the 
w^ater  that  there  is  there  now,  and  we  believed  that  the  business 
w^ould  center  there  as  it  had  centered  at  Middlebury,  and  other 
places,  regardless  of  the  center;  and  I  still  think  there  would  have 
been  a  smart  village  built  up  had  not  the  owners.  Mills  &  Hoadley, 
attempted  a  foolish  speculation  by  laying  out  a  village  and  ask- 
ing from  $50  to  $200  for  lots  containing  less  than  half  an  acre  of 
land,  thus  shutting  out  mechanics,  etc." 

First  Building  Completed. — Young  Ailing  and  his  men  tem- 
porarily took  possession  of  the  unfinished  log  shanty  at  the  falls,, 
above  alluded  to,  April  15,  taking  with  them,  as  supplies,  pur- 
chased from  Captain  Heman  Oviatt:  one  barrel  of  pork  at  $25;^ 
one  barrel  of  flour,  $8;  ten  bushels  of  potatoes,  $5;  one  gallon 
whisky,  $1.50;  the  entire  outfit  of  kitchen  utensils  being  one  bail- 
less  bake-kettle,  two  tin  bake-pans,  one  case  knife,  one  iron  spoon 
and  a  board  two  by  six  feet,  intended  for  a  door,  but  temporarily 
used  for  a  table;  individual  jack  knives  being  pressed  into  service 


PIONEER   BUILDINGS,    PRICES,   ETC.  1063 

at  meal  times,  witli  sharpened  sticks  for  forks,  and  clean  broad 
chips  for  plates,  Mr.  Ailing  being  commissary  general,  and  the 
"chief  cook  and  bottle-washer"  of  the  party. 

May  20,  Elisha  Loomis  and  Lester  Davas  arrived  from  New 
Haven,  putting  up  at  "Hotel  Ailing,"  followed  by  Frederick  Stan- 
ley, May  31;  Lewis  Ailing  Jr.  (younger  brother  of  Ethan),  Gideon 
Thompson  and  Zenas  Ailing,  July  1;  and  by  Lewis  Ailing,  Sr., 
wife,  and  daughter  Elizal)eth,  Irena  Thomas,  Amos  Cook  Taylor 
and  Wilson  Whittacus  (colored  boy  called  "Tone"),  July  27.  Up  to 
the  latter  date  mentioned  there  had  been  fifteen  arrivals  in  the 
township,  though  in  the  mean  time  two — Lex  Johnson  and  Lester 
Davis — becoming  disgusted  with  pioneer  life,  had  taken  the  back 
track,  thus  reducing  the  colony  to  a  round  "baker's  dozen." 

Previous  to  this,  however,  young  Ailing  and  his  men  had 
erected  a  commodious  log  house  upon  the  hill,  into  which  the 
family  moved,  on  the  arrival  of  father  and  mother  Ailing, , Mr. 
Loomis  having  meantime  built  a  cabin  at  the  falls,  \^here  he  also 
that  year  erected  a  saw-mill,  long  afterwards  known  as  Loomis's 
mill;  Mr.  Elias  W.  Mather  erecting  a  grist  inill  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  creek,  in  1818;  a  distillery  also  being  erected  in  1821  by 
Joel  W.  Thompson. 

Early  in  the  Spring  of  1818,  the  Allings  built  a  frame  barn,  and 
later  in  the  same  season  raised  and  partly  finished  a  frame  house, 
the  first  structures  of  this  kind  in  the  township;  the  first  house 
(of  logs)  erected  at  the  center  being  that  of  Mr.  Elijah  W.  Bron- 
son,  agent  of  the  Wilcox  brothers,  probably  about  1820,  on  the  east 
side  of  the  square,  the  Wilcoxes  building  a  small  frame  house  for 
themselves  on  the  north  side  of  the  square  in  1823.  These  gentle- 
men, instead  of  holding  their  lands  at  speculative  prices,  as  had 
Mills  &  Hoadley,  at  the  falls,  sold  their  lots  adjacent  to  the  square 
at  very  low^  figures,  and  giving  outright  to  mechanics  and  trades- 
men, to  induce  them  to  settle  there,  so  that  w^ithin  five  or  six  years 
there  were  from  tw^elve  to  fifteen  families  congregated  about  and 
near  the  public  square,  the  Twinsburg  postoffice  being  established 
in  1823,  with  Moses  Wilcox  as  postmaster. 

The  Wilcox  brothers  were  thoroughly  upright  men,  but  in  the 
purchase  of  their  land  they  had  unfortunately  incumbered  it  w^ith 
mortgages- to  the  State  of  Connecticut,  while  in  selling  they  had 
in  most  instances  received  payment  in  full.  Had  they  lived,  all 
w^ould  undoubtedly  have  been  well,  but  their  early  death  caused 
very  great  embarrassment  to  those  who  had  purchased  under 
them,  and  was  a  very  great  hindrance  to  the  full  development  of 
that  portion  of  the  tow^nship  for  a  number  of  years.  At  length 
Rev.  Samuel  Bissell,  whose  philanthropic  labors  in  the  cause  of 
education  had  become  favorably  known  in  the  East,  interceded 
w^ith  the  Connecticut  school  fund  commissioner  and  secured 
proper  relief,  after  w^hich  the  Wilcox  tract  became  rapidly  settled 
and  improved. 

Pioneer  Prices. — Provisions,  except  such  w^ild  game  as  could 
be  secured  in  the  woods,  and  such  vegetables  as  could  be  raised, 
as  well  as  all  kinds  of  merchandise,  were  very  high,  Mr.  Ailing 
and  Mr.  Luman  Lane,  quoting  prices  from  1817  to  1820  as  follows: 
Pork,  $8.00  per  cwt.;  flour,  $8.00  per  bbl.;  salt,  $10.00  per  bbl.;  cot- 
ton shirting,  %  yard  wide,  50  cents  per  yard;  calico,  75  cents; 
coarse  woolen  cloth,  $3.00;  lead,  25  cents  per  lb.;  nails,  12i/^  cents 


1064 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


(and  poor  at  that),  Mr.  Ailing  paying  transportation  on  a  box  of  log 
chains,  wedges,  etc.,  from  New  Haven  to  Cleveland,  $16.00  per  cw^t. 
Prices  of  farm  produce  were  at  the  other  extreme,  Mr.  Ailing,  in 
his  memoirs,  speaking  of  having,  in  1819,  received  from  Mr.  Oliver 
Brown,  of  Hudson,  twenty-four  bushels  of  the  best  white  seed 
wheat  in  payment  of  $9.00  in  money  which  he  had  previously 
loaned  him. 


T  UMAN  LANE, —  oldest  son  of 
1— '  Philip  and  Rebina  (Nettleton) 
Lane,  was  born  in  Killing-worth,  Con- 
necticut, October  17,  1796;  his  six 
brothers  were,  Henry,  Harvey,  Chaun- 
cey,  Julius,  Abner  and  Nathan,  and 
his  three  sisters,  Lbvina,  Harriet  and 
Polly.  He  came  on  foot  from  Kil- 
ling-worth  to  Twinsburg-,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1820,  settling  upon  the  farm  in 
the  north  part  of  the  township,  where 
he  resided  until  his  death,  April  17, 
1879.  Mr.  Lane  was  married  Novem- 
ber 25,  1823,  to  Miss  Irena  Thomas, 
who  bore  him  seven  children  — 
Charles,  Albert,  Charlotte,  Augusta, 
Edward,  Emeline  and  Sarah.  Mrs. 
Lane  dying,  May  19,  18v38,  (in  child- 
bed, and  not  from  hydrophobia,  as 
has  been  erroneously  stated),  Mr. 
Lane  was  again  married,  to  Mrs. 
Emma  Parish,  a  native  of  Vermont, 
April  16,  1839,  who  bore  him  one 
child,  Mary  Philena,  the  second  Mrs. 
Lane  dying  June  4, 1879,  surviving-  her 
husband  only  one  month  and  four- 
teen daj^s.  Four  of  Mr.  Lane's  chil- 
dren, only,  are  now  living- — Charles, 
on  the  old  homestead ;  Albert,  of 
Hopkins,   Michigan ;    Augusta,   wife 


/^ 


r- 


LUMAN   LANE. 

of  O.  O.  Kelsev  ;  and  Sarah,  wife  of 
G.  H.  Mills,  of  Twinsburg.  Two  of 
Mr.  Lane's  brothers — Chauncey  and 
Julius  —  also  settled  in  Twinsburg, 
where  their  descendants  still  live. 


Township  Organization,  Etc. — By  proclamation  of  the  coni- 
missioners  of  Portage  county,  Twinsburg  township  was  organized 
in  April,  1819.  At  this  date  the  voters  of  the  township,  according 
to  the  recollection  of  Mr.  Luman  Lane  were:  Lewis  Ailing,  Sr., 
William  Allen,  Elisha  Loomis,  Elias  W.  Mather,  Joel  W.  Thomp- 
son, Josiah  Myrick,  Noah  P.  Nichols,  N.  J.  Palmer,  Henry  Ben- 
nett, Amos  C.  Taylor,  Lyman  Richmond,  Reuben  Chamberlain, 
Frederick  Stanley,  John  Bassett,  Samuel  Vail,  Edwin  B.  Vail, 
Homer  G.  Vail,  John  Dodge,  Isaiah  Humphrey,  Roman  Humphrey, 
Nestor  Hurlbut,  Ezra  Osborn,  Preston  Pond,  Samuel  Alger,  Cyrus 
Hodgskin,  N.  S.  Barnett,  Cotton  M.  Leach,  Emery  Alger,  Elijah 
W.  Bronson,  Asa  Upson,  Orrin  Tucker,  Leonard  Kilbourn,  Oliver 
Clark  and  Messrs.  Perkins,  Sawyer,  Davis  and  Darling,  whose 
given  names  w^ere  not  remembered  by  Mr.  Lane. 

There  is  no  authentic  record  now  extant  of  this  first  election 
except  that  Frederick  Stanley  was  elected  clerk;  the  first  com- 
missioned justices  of  the  peace,  elected  in  October,  1819,  being 
Lewis  Ailing  and  Samuel  Vail.  Township  clerk:  in  1820,  ElisTia 
Loomis;  in  1821,  Elijah  W.  Bronson;  in  1822,  Luman  Lane.  The 
first  marriage  was  that  of  Emery  W.  Alger  to  Eliza  Dodge,  by  Jus- 
tice Lewis    Ailing,  March   19,  1821;  the    first  birth,  that  of   Maria 


EARLY  FATALITIES,   PIONEER   TRIALS,   ETC.  1065 

Stanley,  November  23,  1819;  the  iirst  death,  the  infant  child  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Reuben  Chamberlain,  in  the  Spring  of  1819: 

Early  Fatalities. — The  decomposition  of  vegetation  (as  was 
supposed)  caused  by  the  erection  of  the  dam  and  the  overflowing 
of  the  bottom  lands  of  Tinker's  Creek,  produced  a  great  amount  of 
sickness  and  many  deaths,  from  bilious,  intermittent  and  typhus 
fevers,  in  the  vicinity  of  Loomis's  Mill,  in  the  years  1822  and  1823, 
hardly  an  adult  person  living  w^ithin  one  mile  of  the  pond  escaping 
an  attack,  and  not  more  than  two  of  the  age  of  forty  years  or  over 
recovering  therefrom;  among  the  victims,  being  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Lewis  Ailing,  who  were  laid  in  one  grave,  September  7,  1823. 

Ethan  Alling's  Subsequent  Life. — April  24,  1824,  Mr.  Ailing 
was  married  to  Miss  Eliza  Blackman,  of  Bridgeport,  Conn., 
immediately  installing  her  as  the  mistress  of  his  Ohio  farm.  In 
1825,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ailing  went  into  the  dairy  business  with  twenty- 
two  cows,  for  which  they  paid  $12  per  head,  marketing  their  but- 
ter in  Akron  (where  the  locks  of  the  Ohio  canal  were  then  being 
built)  at  eight  cents  per  pound,  and  selling  such  portions  of  their 
cheese  as,  from  imperfect  manufacture,  did  not  spoil  upon  their 
hands,  in  Aurora,  at  five  cents  per  pound;  this  being  the  first 
cheese  manufactured  in  the  township  for  sale. 

That  Fall  (1825)  Mr.  Ailing  commenced  the  erection  of  a  hotel 
opposite  the  southeast  corner  of  the  public  square,  moving  into  it 
December  6, 1826,  and  formally  opening  it  to  the  public  by  a  grand 
opening  ball,  on  Monday  evening,  December  25. 

Pioneer  Merchant. — Previous  to  1829,  all  articles  of  merchan- 
dise had  to  be  obtained  elsewhere,  chiefly  in  Hudson  and  Aurora. 
In  the  Fall  of  1829,  however,  Mr.  Ailing  commenced  keeping  a  few 
^'necessaries"  for  sale  in  addition  to  the  stock  of  liquors  every 
well-regulated  tavern  was  then  obliged  to  keep,  his  first  invest- 
ment being  $3.50  for  snuff  and  tobacco,  his  "  store  "  being  kept  in 
the  six  by  eight  apartment  occupied  by  the  bar.  Other  articles 
w^ere  from  time  to  time  added  to  the  stock,  until  at  length  a  sep- 
arate building  was  found  to  be  necessary  to  accommodate  his 
growing  trade. 

Having  sold  his  tw^o-hundred  acre  farm,  with  all  its  better- 
ments, for  $1,500,  ($7.50  per  acre),  in  1831  he  rented  his  hotel  to 
Samuel  Edgerly,  (afterwards  landlord  of  the  American  House,  in 
Hudson  and  the  Summit  House,  in  Akron),  and  moved  his  family 
and  goods  into  a  building  which  he  had  in  the  meantime  erected 
upon  the  west  side  of  the  public  square,  placing  therein  the  first 
stock  of  goods  brought  into  the  township  from  New  York.  In 
1835,  Mr.  Ailing  built  and  stocked  the  commodious  store  still  stand- 
ing at  the  northwest  corner  of  the  public  square,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  do  business  until  1847,  w^hich,  in  that  year,  exclusive  of  salt, 
flour  and  farm  and  dairy  products,  amounted  to  over  $14,000.  In 
1818,  the  business  was  relegated  to  his  two  eldest  sons,  Francis  A, 
and  George  Hoadley,  the  latter  buying  out  the  former,  in  1851,  and 
continuing  the  business  until  his  death,  in  November,  1856,  the 
former  having  deceased  in  October,  1854,  the  store  now  (1891)  being 
occupied  by  Mr.  Seth  R.  Hanchett,  merchant,  postmaster,  etc. 

In  October,  1827,  on  the  death  of  Mr.  Moses  Wilcox,  Mr.  Ailing 
w^as  appointed  postmaster,  w^hich  office  he  continuously  held  until 
1839 — the  amount  received  for  postage  the  first  year  of  his  incum- 
t>ency  being  $36.01;  the  last  year,  $256.67. 


1066  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

*  Pioneer  Stage  Line. — In  the  earlier  years  the  stage  route  from 
Cleveland  southeasterly  to  Hudson,  Ravenna,  Pittsburg,  etc.,  was 
through  Northlield,  on  what  was  then,  as  now,  known  as  the  State 
road.  With  the  view  of  enhancing  the  business  interests  of  Twins- 
burg,  in  the  Spring  of  1828,  in  connection  with  Mr.  Jabez  Gilbert, 
Mr.  Ailing  bought  out  the  stage  line  from  Cleveland  to  Hudson,, 
changing  the  route  from  Bedford  directly  toTwinsburg,  over  what 
w^as  then  designated  the  turnpike,  to  the  building  and  mainte- 
nance of  which  the  land  owners  and  business  men  of  Tw^insburg 
were  liberal  contributors. 

This  enterprise  was  a  success,  so  far  as  increasing  the  business 
of  the  hotel,  and  the  general  prosperity  of  the  town  was  concerned^ 
the  public  travel  following  the  stage  route,  the  hotel  barns  some- 
times stabling  as  many  as  fifty  horses  over  night,  with  a  corre- 
sponding patronage  for  the  hotel  itself;  though  it  in  reality  came 
very  near  swamping  the  enterprising  proprietors,  Mr.  AUing's 
individual  loss,  in  running  the  line,  being  over  $600,  the  first  seven 
months.  Subsequently  Mr.  Ailing  became  the  sole  proprietor  of 
the  line,  running  it  for  several  years  thereafter,  if  not  with  profit,, 
yet  without  serious  loss. 

Benevolence,  Death,  Etc. — Mr.  Ailing  died  April  22,  1867, 
aged  66  years,  8  months  and  9  days.  Though  not  wealthy,  in  the 
modern  acceptation  of  the  term,  besides  his  ever  generous  hospi- 
tality, and  his  liberal  contributions  to  all  public  improvements 
and  benevolent  and  patriotic  enterprises  of  the  town,  Mr.  Ailing 
left  an  estate  of  about  $40,000,  in  his  will,  besides  providing  liber- 
ally for  his  own  immediate  family,  making  quite  a  number  of 
bequests  to  w^orthy  but  needy  friends,  and  about  $5,000  to  church, 
Sabbath  school  and  benevolent  purposes;  among  the  latter  being 
a  bequest  of  $300  to  the  Baptist  Church  at  Twinsburg;  $1,000  to 
the  American  Sunday  School  Union;  $50  to  each  church  Sunday 
school  in  Twinsburg  at  the  time  of  his  decease,  to  replenish  their 
libraries;  to  the  mayors  of  the  cities  of  Cleveland  and  Akron  (in 
trust  for  said  cities),  all  dividends  upon  tw^elve  and  eight  shares, 
respectively,  of  the  capital  stock  of  the  Cleveland,  Columbus  & 
Cincinnati  Railroad  Company,  "for  the  express  purpose  of  render- 
ing assistance,  by  way  of  food  and  clothing,  to,  and  thereby  pro- 
moting the  temporal  and  spiritual  condition  of,  the  poor  orphan, 
cast  off  and  destitute  children  of  said  cities,  in  providing  Avays 
and  means  by  which  they  may  enjoy  the  blessings  of  the  Sabbath 
school,"  etc. 

Mrs.  Ailing,  though  for  several  years  helpless  from  paralysis,  wa» 
kindly  cared  for  by  her  only  surviving  son,  Kthan  Lewis  Ailing, 
Esq.,  and  his  estimable  wife,  at  their  home,  113  Prospect  street,  in 
the  city  of  Akron,  until  her  death,  on  the  24th  day  of  April,  1889,  at 
the  age  of  87  years,  8  months  and  8  days. 

Pioneer  Incidents. — Twinsburg  has  no  pioneer  Indian  tradi- 
tions, the  aboriginal  denizens  of  that  township  having  "vamosed 
the  ranch  "  several  years  before  w^hite  settlement  began.  The  usual 
pioneer  exploits  w^ith  w^ild  beasts,  and  of  individual  pluck  and 
daring  are  still  rife  among  the  people,  but  cannot  be  here  recorded 
because  of  the  space  which  the  more  recent  history  of  the  town- 
ship will  occupy  in  this  chapter. 

A  few  incidents,  however,  illustrative  of  the  hardy  nature 
and  invincible  will  of  the  early  settlers,  may  not  be  amiss.    Means 


EARLY    MODES   OF   TRAVEL,    BUSINESS,    ETC.  1067 

of  travel  between  Connecticut  and  Ohio,  even  as  late  as  the 
middle  twenties,  were  so  meager,  that  it  was  no  uncommon  thing 
for  emigrants  to  make  the  entire  journey,  of  over  600  miles,  on 
foot,  Mr.  Luman  Lane  and  Mr.  Hanford  White  traveling  in  that 
way  in  November,  1820,  the  last  day  of  their  journey  walking  46 
miles. 

The  Deadly  Massasauger. — In  1831,  Mr.  Luman  Lane  was 
bitten  on  the  foot  by  a  massasauger,  but  his  life  was  saved  by  hi& 
hired  man  cutting  open  the  wound  with  his  pocket  knife  and  suck- 
ing out  the  poison,  though  he  nearly  bled  to  death  before  the 
nearest  physician,  Dr.  Town,  of  Hudson,  could  be  summoned,  and, 
in  fact,  suffered  more  or  less  pain  from  it  to  the  day  of  his  death. 

Greater  Endurance  Than  a  Horse. — Mr.  Nestor  Hurlbut/ 
an  uncle  of  Henry  Ward  Ingersoll,  Ksq.,  of  Akron,  walked  the 
entire  distance  between  Goshen,  Conn.,  and  Twinsburg,  five  times. 
On  his  last  trip  he  made  a  wager  with  a  man  who  was  about  to 
set  out  on  horseback,  that  he  would  beat  him  in.  Starting  at  the 
same  time,  the  horseman,  of  course,  left  the  footman  behind  early 
in  the  day,  but  by  making  a  little  longer  day  of  it,  the  footman 
slept  at  the  same  place  as  the  horseman  over  night.  Then,  by  get- 
ting an  earlier  start  in  the  morning  and  traveling  later  at  night, 
they  kept  along  pretty  evenly  together  until  near  the  end  of  their 
journey,  when  the  horse,  as  well  as  its  rider,  began  to  show  symp- 
toms of  fatigue,  and  by  making  a  little  extra  exertion  on  the 
"home  stretch,"  Hurlbut  actually  arrived  at  Twinsburg  about  six 
hours  ahead  of  his  equestrian  competitor. 

Even  in  local  travel  from  town  to  tow^n,  and  from  county  to 
county,  pedestrianism  was  rather  the  rule  than  the  exception,  the 
w^riter,  in  the  latter  thirties,  having  often  footed  it  from  Akron  to 
Ravenna,  Aurora,  Painesville,  etc.;  it  being  related  that  Mr.  Isaiah 
Humphrey,  grandfather  of  C.  P.  Humphrey,  Esq.,  of  Akron,  hav- 
ing purchased  an  old-fashioned,  heavy  bull-nosed  plow  in  Rich- 
field, shouldered  it  and  walked  the  entire  distance  to  Twinsburg, 
fifteen  miles,  without  stopping  to  rest. 

In  1817,  Lewis  Ailing,  Jr.  (then  15  years  old),  Zenas  Ailing  and 
Gideon  Thompson,  started  on  foot  from  Derby,  Conn.,  -with  104 
Merino  sheep,  Avhich  they  drove  safely  through  to  Hudson,  650 
miles,  in  thirty  days,  though  betw^een  the  w^olves,  the  dogs  and 
disease,  it  proved  a  poor  investment,  nearly  all  being  lost. 

Business  Status  of  Twinsburg. — In  the  two  decades,  from 
1835  to  1855,  Twinsburg  w^as  decidedly  a  business  town.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  original  hotel,  then  (1835)  kept  by  David  Grant,  another 
house  of  entertainment  at  the  northeast  corner  of  the  public 
square  had  been  erected  about  1830,  by  Otis  and  Eli  Boise,  for 
many  years  past  known  as  Clark's  hotel,  and  still  ow^ned  by  the 
widow  of  its  late  proprietor,  Elmore  W.  Clark,  Esq. 

Other  merchants  than  Mr.  Ailing  also  abounded,  w^ith  the 
average  degree  of  enterprise  and  success,  or  non-success,  incident 
to  mercantile  operations.  Mr.  ApoUos  White  erected  mills,  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  township,  and  for  many  years  maufactured 
large  quantities  of  lumber,  the  writer  having,  in  the  latter  thirties 
and  early  forties,  purchased  from  Mr.  White  many  thousands  of 
feet  of  the  very  best  w^hitewood,  oak,  ash  and  hickory  lumber  at 
from  $6  to  $8  per  thousand.  The  village  also  had  its  full  comple- 
ment of  mechanics,  Mr.  James  Alexander  for  many  years  carrying 


1068  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

on  quite  an  extensive  carriage  manufactory;  the  handling  of  the 
large  dairy  product  of  the  township  (under  the  old  process)  by  Mr. 
Ailing  and  others,  being  quite  a  large  factor  in  the  business  activ- 
ity and  prosperity  of  the  village;  all  of  which  was  augmented  by 
the  liberality  of  the  people  of  Twinsburg  and  other  towns  along 
the  line,  in  converting  the  old  mud  turnpike  from  Hudson  to 
Cleveland,  into  a  plank  road,  sometime  in  the  middle  forties, 
■which  greatly  facilitated  stage  and  other  travel,  transportation  of 
produce  to,  and  merchandise  from,  Cleveland,  etc.,  a  hotel  being 
established  and  for  many  years  maintained  upon  this  road,  near 
the  northwest  corner  of  the  township,  by  Mr.  Ezra  Starkweather. 

The  Railroad  Era. — The  advent  of  the  railroad  into  Ohio, 
however,  very  materially  changed  the  business  aspects  and  pros- 
pects of  Tw^insburg,  in  common  Avith  many  of  the  other  rural 
villages  of  the  county  and  State.  When  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburg 
Railroad  was  projected,  the  route  through  Twinsburg  was  deemed 
both  feasible  and  desirable,  being  on  the  direct  line  bet\sreen 
Cleveland  and  Ravenna,  but,  under  the  mistaken  notion  that  it 
would  be  a  detriment  instead  of  an  advantage,  the  people  mani- 
fested so  much  hostility  to  the  project  that  the  road  was  finally 
located  three  and  a  half  miles  to  the  w^est  of  the  Center  in  the 
tow^nship  of  Northfield,  and  on  to  Hudson,  largely  increasing  busi- 
ness there,  and  building  up  a  rival  business  point  at  Macedonia 
Depot,  besides  placing  the  citizens  of  the  tow^nship  at  a  disadvan- 
tage with  their  neighbors  in  the  matter  of  travel  and  transpor- 
tation. Being  thus  isolated  from  railroad  facilities  the  commercial 
and  mechanical  importance  of  the  village  rapidly  declined,  with- 
out any  of  the  compensating  advantages  to  the  rural  population 
incident  to  railroad  proximity.  But  the  completion  of  the 
Connotton  Valley  road  (now  Cleveland  &  Canton)  through  the 
township,  a  short  distance  east  of  the  Center,  in  1880,  while  not 
very  materially  increasing  the  mercantile  and  industrial  opera- 
tions of  the  village,  is  proving  otherwise  convenient  and  bene- 
ficial, not  only  as  a  great  means  of  travel  to  Cleveland,  Kent  and 
other  points,  but  also  for  shipment  of  the  immense  product  of  her 
several  stone  quarries,  hereinafter  more  particularly  referred  to.  . 
But  the  chief  value  of  the  road  to  the  people  of  Tw^insburg,  in 
addition  to  the  advantages  named,  and  the  ready  means  thus 
afforded  of  supplying  themselves  with  coal,  lumber,  etc.,  is  the 
opportunity  which  it  offers  to  contiguous  farmers  of  daily  sending 
the  product  of  their  dairies  to  Cleveland,  milk  stations  being 
established  at  nearly  every  cross  road,  and  special  trains  run  for 
that  purpose. 

Church  Organizations,  Etc. — In  chuch  matters,  Twinsburg 
has,  from  the  start,  held  a  fair  average  with  her  neighbors.  Relig- 
ious meetings  w^ere  held  from  the  very  beginning  of  settlement, 
generally  in  private  houses,  Lewis  Ailing,  Sr.,  and  Asa  Upson 
taking  turns  in  leading  (when  no  preacher  w^as  present)  until  the 
death  of  Mr.  Ailing,  in  1823,  when  Mr.  Moses  Wilcox  took  his  place. 

In  1822,  an  itinerant  Methodist  minister  (name  not  remem- 
bered) formed  a  class,  w^ith  Emery  Alger  and  Asa  Upson  as 
members.  In  1821,  '22,  Rev.  John  Seward  (Congregationalist) 
preached  one-fourth  of  the  time  on  the  Sabbath,  after  which  Rev. 
Willian  Hanford  did  likewise  for  several  years;  a  Congregational 
church  being  formed  in  1822,  with  Lewis  Ailing,  Sr.,  Robert  Hurd 


RELIGIOUS    AND   CHURCH    MATTERS.  1069 

and  wife,  J.  H.  Kelsey  and  Avife,  Belizer  Beach  and  wife,  Julia  Ann 
White  (wife  of  William  White),  Comfort  Nichols  (wife  of  N.  P. 
Nichols),  Irena  Thomas,  Luman  Lane,  Hanford  White  and  John  A, 
Wells  as  members,  Lew^is  Ailing,  Sr,,  being  chosen  deacon.  Rev. 
Samuel  Bissell,  of  Aurora,  was  ordained  as  pastor  April  20,  1828, 
being  succeeded  by  Rev.  Mr.  Hair  in  1835.  Differences  arising,, 
now  difficult  of  explanation,  a  second  Congregational  church  was 
organized  with  Mr.  Bissell  as  its  pastor,  the  pulpit  of  the  first 
church  being  successively  tilled  by  Revs.  Treat,  Ward  and  Chapin 
until  1843,  when  the  two  churches  were  united  with  Rev.  Robert 
C.  Learned  as  pastor,  followed,  April  5,  1848,  by  Rev.  Horace  W. 
Palmer;  November,  1853,  Rev.  Joseph  H.  Scott;  November  21,  I860,. 
Rev.  Sidney  Bryant,  an  interregnum  of  about  two  years,  1859,  '60, 
being  filled  by  President  Pierce  and  Prof.  Hosford,  of  Western 
Reserve  College,  alternately.  Successive  pastors  since.  Revs. 
Andrew  Sharp,  Post,  Charles  McNulty,  William  Haynes  and 
Charles  H.  Lemmon,  present  incumbent,  w^hose  pastorate  com- 
menced March  1,  1890.  Present,  membership  150,  Macedonia 
branch  22,  total  178. 

Church  Edifices. — In  1823  the  Congregationalists  undertook 
to  build  a  small  two-story  house  upon  the  public  square,  the  upper 
story  to  be  used  as  a  place  of  worship  and  the  lower  story  as  a 
school  room,  hauling  the  timber  upon  the  ground  for  that  purpose. 
Exceptions  being  taken,  a  tow^n  meeting  w^as  called  at  w^hich  it 
was  voted  "that  the  public  square  shall  remain  unoccupied  by  any 
public  building  at  present."  Notwithstanding  such  action,  a  one- 
story  house  was  soon  after  built,  and  jointly  used  as  indicated  for 
several  years,  being  tw^ice  removed  and  finally  torn  down. 

Fn  1831,  Mr.  Bissell,  then  teaching  a  select  school,  was  empow- 
ered to  raise  funds  and  build  a  house  for  church  and  high  school 
purposes,  which  was  located  east  of  the  public  square  and  imme- 
diately north  of  the  Ailing  hotel,  completed  in  1832,  the  total  cost 
being' about  $700.  The  present  edifice  west  of  the  public  square, 
erected  in  1848,  originally  cost  about  $3,000,  though  material 
improvements  have  from  time  to  time  been  made  during  the 
intervening  years. 

Other  Denominations. — The  Methodist  class  of  two  members 
above  alluded  to,  formed  in  1821,  expanded  into  a  full  church 
organization  a  few  years  later,  their  first  house  of  worship,  near 
the  northeast  corner  of  the  square,  being  erected  in  1832,  the 
present  structure  on  the  south  side  of  the  square,  being  built  in 
1848.  Present  membership  about  112.  Present  pastor  (1891,  '92,) 
Rev.  Ira  J.  Harris. 

A  Baptist  society  was  organized  June  15,  1832,  and  a  house  of 
worship  built  in  1841.  April  14,  1843,  a  Free  Will  Baptist  Society 
was  organized,  building  a  house  of  worship  in  1847.  This  house 
was  destroyed  by  fire  and  rebuilt,  in  1851.  This  latter  society 
declining  in  numbers  and  influence,  in  1859  their  house  was  sold 
to  Mr.  Riley,  who  soon  afterwards  exchanged  houses  with  the 
Baptists,  who  have  occupied  it  ever  since,  the  house  being  located 
a  short  distance  north  of  the  square,  on  the  Cleveland  road.  This 
society  has  been  w^ithout  a  pastor  for  the  past  few^  years,  and 
from  deaths  and  removals  is  reduced  to  about  twenty-five  mem- 
bers, w^ho  at  present  unite  in  w^orship  with  the  Congregation- 
alists. 


1070 


AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


Educational  Matters. — In  the  matter  of  education.  Twins- 
burg  has,  in  some  respects,  the  most  wonderful  record  of  any 
township  in  Summit  county,  not  even  excepting  that  long-time 
•emporium  of  learning  immediately  adjoining  upon  the  south,  Hud- 
son. While  her  common  schools  have  fully  averaged  with  those 
of  her  neighbors  on  the  Reserve,  having  now  a  fine  high  school 
building  a  few^  rods  south  of  the  square,  "  Twinsburg  Institute" 
stands  as  a  time  honored  and  imperishable  monument  of  what  one 
good,  conscientious  and  energetic  mind  can  accomplish,  during  a 
well-rounded  lifetime. 

Samuel  Bissell  was  born  in  Middlefield,  Hampshire  county, 
Mass.,  April  28,  1797.  In  1806,  removed  with  his  parents  to  Aurora, 
laboring  on  the  farm  until   1816,   w^hen    he    began  to  prepare    for 

college.  Entering  Yale  in  1819,  he 
graduated  w^ith  high  honors,  in  1823. 
Then  ensued  a  rigid  course  of  theo- 
logical study,  amid  difficulties  that 
would  have  appalled  an  ordinary 
man,  completing  his  studies  in  New 
Preston,  Conn.,  and  receiving  a 
license  to  preach  in  1825.  Returning 
to  Aurora  in  1825,  he  opened  a  small 
select  school  Tvhich  he  kept  till  1828, 
when  he  became  pastor  of  the  Con- 
gregational church  at  Twinsburg, 
as  elsew^here  stated,  at  the  same 
time  conducting  a  private  select 
school,  the  first  three  years  in  a 
small  log  house,  and  then  in  the 
church  in  -which  he  preached,  con- 
tinuing this  dual  occupation  for 
seven  years. 

After  an  absence  of  about  one  year, 
as  pastor  of  the  Congregational 
church  at  Edinburg,  Portage  county, 
Mr.  Bissell,  about  1840,  returned  to  his  double  duty  of  preaching 
and  teaching  in  Tw^insburg.  In  1843,  owing  to  the  rapid  increase 
of  his  pupils,  Mr.  Bissell  resigned  the  pastorate  and  established 
"The  Twinsburg  Institute,"  which  has  never  missed  a  term  during 
all  the  intervening  48  years. 

On  his  return  to  Twinsburg,  a  small  school  building  was 
erected  by  Mr.  Bissell  a  short  distance  south  of  the  Center,  which, 
after  being  once  or  tw^ice  enlarged,  so  as  to  accommodate  80  or  90 
scholars,  was  still  found  to  be  too  small  to  accommodate  all  who 
desired  to  enter  the  school.  Mr.  Bissell  then  purchase'd  the  old 
Ailing  hotel  property,  adding  to  it,  upon  the  south,  making  the 
building  102  feet  long  by  30  feet  wide,  subsequently  adding  a  three- 
story  30x30  foot  wing,  upon  the  east,  and  still  afterwards  annexing 
the  30x60  foot  building  upon  the  north,  formerly  used  by  him  as  a 
church  and  school  house  (then  called  "Lyceum  Hall")  and  still 
later,  about  1858,  annexing  another  school  building  on  the  north. 
This  composite  building,  or  group  of  buildings,  w^hile  making 
no  pretensions  to  outside  show,  or  interior  adornment,  had  at  one 
time  over  300  students  in  attendance,  requiring,  besides  the  princi- 
pal,   some    seven    or   eight   teachers    and    assistants    to    properly 


SAMUEL  bissell. 


twinsburg's  great  educator,  1071 

conduct  the  several  classes  therein  receiving  instructions,  besides 
the  necessary  household  regulations  for  boarding  and  lodging,  per- 
haps one-fourth  of  the  number  in  attendance  finding  homes  with 
the  various  private  families  and  boarding  houses  of  the  village. 

"Twinsburg  Institute"  was  simply  a  private  individual  enter- 
prise— no  charter,  no  $500,000  donation,  no  endowment  funds,  but 
solely  the  outgrowth  of  the  persevering  energy  of  its  liberal- 
hearted,  self-sacrificing  founder,  and  -wholly  maintained  on  the 
basis  of  the  meager  tuition  fee  of  $2.00  to  $4.00  per  term,  and  the 
still  more  meager  charge  of  from  $1.12i4>  to  $1.50  per  week  for 
board  and  lodging. 

A  Vigorous  Nonagexarian. — The  venerable  principal  of  this 
remarkable  school,  now  almost  95  years  of  age,  is  still  (November 
1891),  vigorous  in  both  mind  and  body,  except  as  to  impaired  hear- 
ing. In  a  letter  to  the  w^riter,  in  reply  to  inquiries  about  his 
school,  Mr.  Bissell,  in  1887,  said: 

"As  to  Twinsburg-  Institute  I  have  kept  no  record  of  the  number  of 
scholars,  and  can  only  approximate  to  it,  as  I  find  from  some  of  its  catalog-ues 
and  from  meinory.  It  has  never  lost  a  term  from  its  commencement,  and 
will  averag-e  100  a  year  from  1840,  a  period  of  47  j-ears,  making-  4,7(X),  and 
from  its  beg-inning,  in  1828,  not  less  than  6,000;  among  them  more  than 
200  Indian  youth,  both  from  the  east  and  from  the  west." 

And  to  this  brief  and  modest  mention  of  the  gigantic  labors 
of  this  remarkable  man,  the  writer  will  add  that  a  very  large  pro- 
portion of  the  instruction  and  sustenance  imparted  to  the  200 
dusky  pupils  mentioned,  was  gratuitous,  while  a  goodlj^  number 
of  indigent  vv^hite  youth,  of  both  sexes,  were  also  taken  in,  boarded 
and  educated  free  of  charge,  or  on  the  "manual  labor"  system,  the 
labor  performed  consisting  of  chores,  and  other  light  work  about 
the  institution,  that  could  have  been  done  by  regular  hired  heli?  at 
far  less  cost  to  the  kind-hearted  proprietor. 

As  illustrative  of  the  tenacity  of  purpose  of  this  philanthropic 
educator,  it  may  be  stated  that  w^hen,  by  reason  of  his  open-handed 
liberality,  and  the  embarrassments  growing  out  of  the  War,  he  was 
obliged  to  vacate  the  buildings  he  had  occupied  for  nearly  twenty 
years,  though  then  seventy  years  of  age,  Mr.  Bissell  resolutely  set 
about  erecting  another  on  his  own  private  lot,  a  short  distance 
south  of  the  public  square.  This  is  a  two-story  stone  structure,  33x77 
feet  in  size.  Mr.  Bissell  himself  helping  to  quarry  and  haul  the 
stone,  and  with  his  own  hands  framing  and  putting  on  the  roof, 
laying  the  floors  and  doing  all  the  joiner  work,  except  making  the 
-windo-w  fraines  and  sash.  The  walls  -were  laid  by  a  Scotchman, 
over  twenty  years  ago,  with  instructions  to  regard  strength  rather 
than  beauty,  and,  adds  Mr,  Bissell:  "The  rock  of  Gibraltar  will 
as  soon  give  way,  -without  an  earthquake,"  though  a  suit  w^as 
brought  against  him,  by  a  neighbor,  three  or  four  years  ago,  on 
account  of  its  liability  to  fall  and  crush  his  (the  neighbor's)  house 
upon  the  adjoining  lot — the  old  gentleman  feeling  deeply  grieved  at 
being  compelled  to  defend  himself  from  the  charge  of  maintaining 
a  nuisance  (his  first  law  suit),  in  the  91st  year  of  his  life,  the  suit 
being  happily  decided  in  his  favor. 

In  closing  a  letter  about  his  school,  Mr.  Bissell,  in  1887,  says: 
"Circumstances  are  such,  we  expect  to  do  but  little  more  bj^  way 
of  giving  instruction,  and  very  little  more  than  the  name  will  con- 
tinue." Mr.  Bissell  still  survives,  and  in  his  93d  year  delivered  an 
address  before  the  Old  Settlers'  Association,  at  Cleveland,  July  22, 


1072 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


1889,  with  twenty  of  his  old  pupils  on  the  platform  with  him,  and 
October  8,  1890,  took  part  in  the  90th  anniversary  exercises  in 
honor  of  Mrs.  Anner  Mary  (Hudson)  Baldw^in,  in  Hudson, 

Among  well-known  citizens  w^ho  ha^^e  in  years  past  attended 
Tw^insburg  Institute  are  the  following:  General  A,  C.  Voris; 
Hon.  U.  L.  Marvin;  B,  C.  Herrick,  Ksq.;  Hon.  Henry  McKinney, 
State  senator  for  Summit- Portage  district,  1869,  '70,  since  Common 
Pleas  Judge  in  Cuyahoga  county;  Hons.  D.  W.  Gage  and  W.  S, 
Kerruish,  of  Cleveland;  H.  \V.  Ingersoll,  Esq.,  Akron;  Hon.  E.  E. 
White,  former  president  De  Pauw  University,  Ohio  commissioner 
of  common  schools,  and  late  superintendent  schools,  Cincinnati; 
General  Lucius  Fairchild,  ex-member  of  Congress,  ex-governor  of 
Wisconsin,  ex-U.  S.  consul  at  Liverpool,  ex-consul  general  at 
Paris,  ex-minister  to  Spain,  ex-commander  Department  of  Wiscon- 
sin, G.  A.  R.,  ex-commander-in-chief  of  National  Encampment 
G.  A.  R.,  etc.,  etc. 


JONATHAN  E.  HERRICK,— one  of 
J  the  pioneers  of  Twinsburg  town- 
ship, was  born  in  Worthington,  Mas- 
sachusetts, Jul}^  11,  1804.  At  22  years 
of  age  he  came  to  Ohio,  then  an 
almost  unbroken  wilderness,  settling- 
in  Aurora,  Portage  county.  April  10, 
1828,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Phila 
Clark,  of  Twinsburg-,  soon  after  which 
he  bought  a  farm  in  that  township,  a 
mile  and  a  quarter  south  of  the  vil- 
lage, from  which  he  cleared  the 
forest,  and  on  which  he  resided  over 
sixtj'  years,  in  1845,  erecting  a  fine 
stone  house,  one  of  the  best  in  the 
township.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Herrick  were 
the  parents  of  five  children — Burke 
C.  Herrick,  for  the  past  twenty  years 
a  successful  crockery  merchant  in 
Akron  ;  Earl,  now  residing  in  Cleve- 
land ;  Electa  A.,  now  Mrs.  E.  L.  Ailing, 
of  Akron ;  and  Olive  and  Cyrus  M., 
deceased.  Mrs.  Herrick  died  May  7, 
1889  ;  Mr.  Herrick,  though  still  retain- 
ing his  propertj^  interests  in  Twins- 
burg,  is  now  living  with  his  daughter, 
Mrs.  Ailing,  in  Akron,  in  the  88th 
year  of  his  age.  Mr.  Herrick  was  for 
several  years  one  of  the  trustees  of 
his  township,  and  otherwise  active 
in  public  affairs,  being  chairman  of 


JONATHAN  E.  HERRICK. 

the  monumental  committee,  which 
erected  the  beautiful  soldiers'  monu- 
ment on  the  Public  Square,  an 
engTaving  and  description  of  which 
will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this 
chapter. 


Twinsburg's  Patriotism. — The  first  settlement  being  more 
than  forty  years  removed  from  the  Revolutionary  struggle,  and 
several  years  after  the  close  of  the  War  of  1812,  we  find  no  recorded 
or  traditionary  history  of  the  participation  of  any  of  her  citizens 
in  either  of  those  wars,  though  it  is  very  probable  that  a  number 
of  her  early  settlers  were  soldiers  in  the  latter,  and  probably  some 
in  the  former  struggle;  nor  is  it  thought  that  Twinsburg  furnished 
a  single  volunteer  for  the  Mexican  War,  of  1846-48. 

The  township  paid  some  attention,  however,  to  early  military 
matters,  keeping  the  patriotic  ardor  of  New  England  fully  glow- 
ing for  many  years,  under  the  old  militia  system  of  Ohio,  Mr. 
Luman  Lane  recording  that  Elisha   Loomis  was  captain  of  the 


soldiers'  monument,  dedication,  etc. 


10^3 


first  military  company,  Joseph  Myric,  second  and  Asa  Upson, 
third.  This  is  all  of  the  early  military  history  of  the  township 
that  has  come  down  to  us.  But  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion — 1861- 
65 — her  patiotism  and  valor  was  second  to  no  other  township  in 
the  county,  according  to  population,  having  furnished  a  total  of 
one  hundred  and  seventeen  soldiers  for  the  Union  Army. 

A  Magnificent  Tribute. — Not  only  were  the  customary  boun- 
ties promptly  raised  and  paid  to  her  volunteers,  and  their  dependent 
families  kindly  looked  after  during  their  absence,  but   after   the 

close  of  the  War,  a  splendid  monu- 
ment was  ejected  on  the  public 
square,  in  memory  of  her  fallen, 
and  in  honor  of  her  surviving, 
heroes.  This  monument,  located 
near  the  north  side  of  the  square, 
is  of  the  following  dimensions: 
First  base  (paradoxical  as  it  may 
seem,  the  "crowning"  glory  of  the 
superstructure),  is  a  solid  sand- 
stone block,  quarried  one  mile  west 
of  the  village,  containing  358i/^ 
cubic  feet,  and  weighing  50,549 
pounds  ;  Second  base,  also  a  single 
block,  120  cubic  feet,  16,920  pounds; 
Third  base,  48  cubic  feet,  5,768 
pounds,  all  firmly  resting  upon  a 
solid  sandstone  foundation.  The 
monument  proper  consists  of  seven 
pieces  of  handsomely  wrought 
Italian  marble,  measuring  100% 
cubic  feet,  weighing  18,120  pounds, 
the  main  shaft  being  surmounted 
by  a  splendidly  carved  spread 
eagle,  the  entire  height,  above  the 
foundation,  being  28  feet,  and  the 
total  cost  not  far  from  $2,500. 

Dedication  of  the  Monument. — 
July  4,  1867,  was  truly  a  gala  day 
for  the  people  of  Twinsburg — a  triple  celebration — the  91st  anni- 
versary of  American  Independence ;  the  Semi-Centennial  of  the 
first  settlement  of  Twinsburg,  and  the  unveiling  and  dedication  of 
the  beautiful  soldiers'  monument  in  question. 

Jonathan'E.  Herrick,  Esq.,  was  president  of  the  day  and  Horace 
P.  Cannon,  Esq.,  was  chief  marshal.  A  mammoth  tent  had  been 
erected  about  the  center  of  the  square,  in  which  the  chief  literary 
and  oratorical  exercises  w^ere  held,  a  free  banquet  being  provided 
in  a  neighboring  orchard,  the  central  figure  of  Avhich  was  a  one 
thousand  pound  steer,  roasted  whole,  flanked  by  a  very  great 
variety  of  gustatory  viands. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence  was  read  by  Isadore  Roskolp, 
Esq.,  of  Cleveland;  Hon.  O.  S.  Griswold,  of  Cleveland,  being  the 
orator  of  the  day.  Hon.  N.  D.  Tibbals,  of  Akron,  responded  to  the 
toast, "Our  Citizen  Soldiery;"  President  Henry  L.  Hitchcock  (who 
had  lost  a  son  in  the  army),  to  "Our  Sons  Who  Never  Returned;" 
Dr.  H.  J.  Herrick,  of  Cleveland  (a  native  of  Twinsburg),  to  "The 

68 


Twinsburg's  Soldiers'  Monument, 
on  Public  Square. 


1074  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Surgeons  of  the  Army;"  Rev.  S.  Bryant  to  "Woman  in  the  Hos- 
pital and  Woman  at  Home;"  Edward  Oviatt,  Esq.,  of  Akron,  to 
"The  Day  We  Celebrate;"  S.  A.  Lane,  editor  Summit  County  Bea- 
con, to  "  The  Press;  "  Ethan  Ailing,  to  "  The  First  Settler  of  Twins- 
burg." 

The  exercises  were  interspersed  by  the  firing  of  cannon, 
martial,  b^nd  and  vocal  music,  and  general  good  cheer,  scarcely 
dampened  by  the  drenching  rainstorm  w^hich  occurred  early  in 
the  afternoon. 

INSCRIPTIONS  ON  MONUMENT. 

North  Sidk. — ^"Semi<-centennial  settlement  of  this  .  town — 
Twinsburg." 

West  Side.—"  To  the  memory  of  our  sons  who  fell  during  the 
Rebellion  of  1861-65."  Killed  in  Battle: — Charles  Stearns,  7th 
regiment,  March  23,  1862-22;  Edward  Bissell,  19th  regiment,  shot 
on  guard  duty,  July  28,  1864-24;  Dryden  Ferguson,  125th  regiment; 
Charles  Weatherbee.  Died  From  Wounds: — Anderson  Oviatt,  19th 
regiment.  May  1,  1862-19;  Elmore  C.  Hinckston,  7th  regiment,  Jan- 
uary 29,  1864-24;  Charles  H.  Springer,  41st  regiment,  June  2,  1864- 
22.  Died  From  Disease: — Warren  Wait,  19th  regiment,  December 
4,  1861-18;  George  Gaylord,  July  18,  1862-29;  Edwin  H.  Hanks,  19th 
regiment,  February  25,  1863-20;  George  W.  Hanks,  104th  regiment, 
May  10,  1861;  Walter  Chamberlain,  177th  regiment,  February  14, 
1865-16.  Casualties: — Louis  Schroeder,  7th  regiment,  drov^ned  in 
Fall  of  1862-24;  E.  Thompson,  115th  regiment,  drowned.  Sultana, 
April  27,  1865-45;  H.  Crocker,  115th  regiment,  killed  on  cars  at  Col- 
umbus, October  24,  1862-25;  G.  E.  Pease,  10th  cavalry,  died  in 
Andersonville  prison;  John  E.  Carter,  177th  regirrent,  fate 
unknown.  Having  Friends  Here:  Wm.  H.  Bliss,  63rd  Pennsyl- 
vania, September  29,  1862;  H.  G.  Bennett,  19th  Wisconsin,  July  18, 
1865-26;  Samuel  Eells,  Iowa  cavalry,  December  4,  1862-30;  Isaac  F. 
Smith,  43rd  Illinois,  July  16,  1865-41. 

South  and  East  Sides. — List  of  soldiers  who  survived:  H.J. 
Herrick, surgeon;  19th Regiment: — Wm.H.  Andrews,  E.R.  Andrew^s, 
A.  D.  Barber,  Harlow  Bissell,  Elmore  Barney,  Joseph  Carter,  Milo 
Corbett,  J.  Chamberlain,  John  Dell,  Edward  Hanks,  Sherman  Lane, 
James  Malone,  D.  W.  Turner,  Albert  Upson,  Wesley  Upson,  Geo. 
Williams,  Newton  Wait;  115th  Regiment:— Fred  Barney,  H.  G. 
Beardsley,  Cassius  Baldwin,  Samuel  Chamberlain,  Wm.  McKin- 
ney,  J.  C.  Smith,  C.  S.  Tyson;  84th  Regiment: — Carl  Herrick; 
177th  Regiment: — Geo.  Andrews,  Henry  Bissell,  Morris  Blodgett, 
John  Booth,  Fred  Baldw^in,  Frank  Bailey,  Wm.  Dodge,  Monroe 
Freeman,  John  Flohr,  Henry  Flohr,  Wm.  Flohr,  F.  C.  Hull,  Henry 
Holcomb,  Spafford  Heather,  Clinton  Heather,  Charles  Harlow^, 
Chauncey  Lane,  Henry  Livingston,  John  Mead,  Lyman  Oviatt, 
Edward  Powers,  Evelyn  Parmelee,  R.  R.  Redfield,  Thomas  Stark- 
w^eather,  Aurelius  Tucker,  Wilber  Upson,  Orville  Upson,  Sherwin 
Wilcox,  Henry  Wait,  Nelson  Wright;  41st  Regiment: — Jarvis  Bar- 
ber, Caswell  Barber,  John  Hansard,  Wm.  Hansard,  Julius  Jones, 
Isaac  Lanning,  Arthur  Mason,  Nathaniel  Mason,  Henry  Pratt, 
Augustus  Seymore;  23rd  Regiment: — John  H.  Bull,  John  Chap- 
man; 85th  Regiment:  —  J.  C.  Coffee;  103d  Regiment: — Benj. 
Franklin,  David  France;  42d  Regiment: — Pitkin  Gray,  Benj. 
Oray;  104th  Regiment:— Alton  Griswold,  Charles  Parks;  Unknown: 


EARLY   MILITARY   REMINISCENCE. 


1075 


'Wm.  J.  Beardsley,  Andrew  Lamb,  Willard  Prentiss,  Giles  Post, 
Geo.  Sodon,  Geo.  Thompson,  Sidney  Varney;  Died  in  Service: — 
Edward  Webster,  E.  F.  Wilcox;  Battery: — Wm.  C.  Calander, 
Joseph  Oviatt,  Geo.  L.  Stanley,  Charles  Webster,  H.  M.  Wright; 
6th  Cavalry: — Howard  Chaffee,  Virgil  Richmond,  Edward  Sodon; 
.2d  Cavalry: — A.  A.  Maxam,  Henry  Mead,  Calvin  Smith;  Music: — 
David  Crankshaw,  J.  W.  Fessenden,  F.  M.  Fessenden,  H.  C.  Fes- 
senden,  S.  H.  Hull,  Alfred  Hawkins,  Orrin  Redfield.  The  follow- 
ing names  not  on  the  monument  were  also  returned  by  the  Twins- 
burg  assessor,  as  soldiers  from  that  tow^nship:  Hiram  Holton, 
Harvey  McLain,  Eldridge  Post,  George  Palmer,  Irving  Wilcox, 
A.  S.  Meakin,  William  Penhale,  S.  D.  Jones  and  George  Read. 


ORRIN  P.  NICHOLS,  —  born  in 
Hatnpden  county,  Massachu- 
setts, June  21, 1817  ;  at  six  years  of  age 
removed  with  parents  to  Trumbull 
county,  Ohio,*  and  afterwards  to 
Franklin  Mills  (now^  Kent) ;  inarried 
in  1840  to  Miss  Lemisa  Crow,  the  same 
3'ear  purchasing-  a  70  acre  farm  north 
of  Twinsburg-  Center,  on  the  Cleve- 
land road,  subsequently  adding- 
thereto  several  other  farms,  also  for 
a  number  of  years  conducting  exten- 
sive lumber  operations  in  Western 
New  York.  Mrs.  Nichols  dying  in 
1844  (their  two  children  having  died 
in  infancy),  in  November,  1847,  Mr. 
Nichols  married  Miss  Wealthy  C. 
Baird,  who  still  survives ;  three  of 
their  four  children:  Fremont  A., 
Orrin  P.,  and  Katie  A.,  all  married, 
living  upon  the  several  fine  farms 
left  them  by  their  enterprising  father. 
Though  of  limited  education,  Mr. 
Nichols  was  a  man  of  large  intelli- 
g-ence,  broad  views  and  great  per- 
sonal and  political  influence.  In 
October,  1875,  Mr.  Nichols  was  elected 
as  Summit  county's  representative  to 
the  State  Legislature,  serving  with 
eminent  ability,  until  his  unfortunate 
death,  April  28,  1877,  superinduced,  as 


ORKIN   p.  NICHOLS. 

was  believed,  by  the  shock  to-  his 
system,  received  in  a  slight  railroad 
accident,  between  Akron  and  Colum- 
bus, during  his  incumbency  ;  his  age 
at  the  tiine  of  his  death  being  59 
years,  10  months  and  7  days. 


Captured  by  "  Ingens." — Mr.  Luman  Lane  relates  of  Twins- 
burg's  first  military  company,  that  while  it  w^as  captained  by  Asa 
Upson  (probably  about  1825),  the  company  was  invited  by  his 
father,  Mr.  Saul  Upson,  to  a  dinner  to  be  served  in  his  new  frame 
barn.  While  marching  through  the  w^oods  it  was  suggested  by 
the  captain  that  one  of  his  subordinate  officers  select  a  squad  of 
men  and  go  on  ahead  to  play  Indian,  for  the  purpose  of  demon- 
strating the  military  skill  and  prowess  of  the  captain  and  his 
command  in  case  of  an  attack.  Giving  the  "Indians"  a  good 
start,  the  company  started  forward  keeping  a  sharp  lookout  for 
the  "enemy,"  and  were  beginning  to  w^onder  what  had  become  of 
the  supposititious  "red-skins,"  when  suddenly  they  sprang  forth 
and  seized  the  redoubtable  captain  before  he  could  use  his  sword, 
and  captured  and  disarmed  the  entire  company  before  they  could 
bring  their  w^eapons  to  a  position  for  defense.  It  was  a  bloodless 
victory,  but  one  that  afforded  a  vast  amount  of  merriment  at  the 


1076  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

expense  of  Captain  Upson  and  his  discomfited  "  braves."  The 
dinner,  consisting  of  roast  pig,  turkey,  chicken-pie,  etc.,  was  rel- 
ished alike  by  all,  while  the  after-dinner  patriotic  and  pioneer 
stories,  songs,  etc.,  were  most  heartily  enjoyed  by  all,  both 
"friend"  and  "foe." 

The  Ancient  "Toboggan." — F'or  years  there  were  very  few 
w^agons  in  the  to^vnship,  especially  the  northern  portion  of  it,  so 
that  other  means  of  transportation  than  the  horseback  and  "foot- 
back"  process  heretofore  alluded  to  had  to  be  devised.  Rude 
sleds  were,  therefore,  made  use  of,  both  Summer  and  Winter^ 
while  w^hat  Tvas  known  as  the  sap-boat — a  sort  of  toboggan-shaped 
vehicle,  made  out  of  long  flat  puncheons,  turned  up  at  the  front, 
fastened  together  with  strong  cleats  and  wooden  pins — wa» 
brought  into  requisition  in  hauling  grists  to  mill,  women  and  chil- 
dren to  meetings,  parties,  etc.,  while  ancient  3'oung  America  would 
sometimes  ride  in  sap-troughs  hitched  to  the  rear  of  the  larger 
vehicle,  as  modern  j^oung  America  hitches  his  modern  coaster  to 
every  passing  sleigh  or  "bob,"  that  he  can  possibly  "  catch  on  "  to. 

Dangers  of  the  Wilderness. — People  in  those  days  often  lost 
their  bearings  while  traveling  through  the  woods,  even  in  the  day 
time,  a  number  of  instances  of  which  are  related  by  Mr.  Lane; 
one  being  that  of  Professor  Rufus  Nutting,  of  Western  Reserve 
College,  while  going  to  Solon  to  preach,  who,  becoming  bewildered 
in  passing  through  a  swamp  in  the  southwest  part  of  Solon  tow^n- 
ship,  with  his  horse  remained  all  night  in  the  woods,  covering  hi& 
feet  with  his  saddle  to  keep  them  from  freezing.  Mr.  Lane  also 
rescued,  one  evening,  near  his  place,  a  Mrs.  Bull,  of  Solon,  who, 
having  gone  into  the  woods  to  hunt  up  her  sheep,  had  lost  her 
bearings,  and,  but  for  the  prompt  response  of  Mr.  Lane  to  her  call, 
w^hich  he  at  first  mistook  for  a  panther,  must  have  remained  in 
the  woods  all  night,  and  perhaps  have  perished;  Mrs.  Reuben 
Henry,  of  Tw^insburg,  having  also  been  similarly  rescued  by  Mr, 
Lane  w^hen,  after  dark,  she  was  headed  toward  Solon,  in  which 
direction  it  was  six  miles  to  the  nearest  house. 

Locust  Grove  Cemetery. — The  earlier  burials  took  place  on 
the  farms  where  the  deaths  occurred,  the  first  township  burying 
ground,  of  one  acre,  being  laid  out  northeast  of  the  public  square, 
in  1823.  Mr.  Ethan  Ailing,  feeling  the  importance  of  having  a 
suitable  resting  place  for  his  own  dead,  and  believing  that  indi- 
vidual rights  would  be  more  satisfactory  than  rights  in  eommon 
in  a  public  burial  ground,  in  1846  bought  an  acre  and  a  half  of 
land  a  short  distance  vt^est  of  the  center,  which  he  caused  to  be 
graded,  platted,  fenced  and  planted  to  locust  trees,  and  which  he 
named  "Locust  Grove  Cemetery."  There  were  130  lots  in  all, 
besides  a  portion  of  the  ground  set  apart  for  individual  graves, 
and  for  the  gratuitous-  use  of  those  unable  to  purchase  a  burial 
place  for  their  dead. 

Up  to  1860,  some  eighty-five  or  ninety  of  the  lots  had  been 
sold,  the  prices  being  originally  from  $3  to  $5  per  lot,  to  be 
enhanced  from  year  to  year,  by  an  amount  equal  to  simple  annual 
interest  on  those  sums.  It  \\ras  now^  (1860)  found  that  a  new  fence 
w^as  fast  becoming  an  imperative  necessity,  and  the  lot  owners 
w^ere  invited  to  join  Mr.  Ailing  in  putting  a  solid  stone  w^all 
around  the  grounds  that  w^ould  never  decay  or  need  repairs. 
Responses  w^ere  made  by  eighty-two  of  the  lot  ow^ners,   in    sums 


TWINSBURG   UNION   FAIR. 


1077 


ranging  from  $5  to  $45  which,  with  the  liberal  contributions  of  Mr. 
Ailing  and  his  brother,  Lewis,  swelled  the  total  amount  of  the 
fund  to  $1,140. 

Not  to  trench  upon  the  original  ground,  Mr.  Ailing  bought  a 
strip  three  feet  in  width  on  each  side,  on  which  to  build  the  wall. 
Four  courses  of  the  best  Twinsburg  free  stone  compose  the  wall, 
as  follows:  First  course  or  foundation  stone,  twro  feet  square;  sec- 
ond course,  eighteen  inches  bed,  sixteen  inches  thick;  third  course, 
fifteen  inches  bed,  sixteen  inches  thick;  fourth  course,  tw^elve 
inches  square;  the  wall  being  three  and  a  half  feet  high  above  the 
foundation;  the  only  entrance  gate  being  of  iron,  and  the  total 
cost  being  $1,079.66. 

The  care  and  custody  of  this  noble  monument  to  Mr.  Alling's 
memory,  by  the  will  of  the  father  has  been  relegated  to  the  only 
surviving  son,  Ethan  Lewis  Ailing,  Esq.,  now  a  resident  of  Akron, 
but  w^hose  property  interests  are  still  largely  in  Twinsburg. 


WILLIAM  McKINNEY,— born  in 
Franklin  county,  Ohio,  Decem- 
ber 29,  1833,  when  young-  removing 
with  his  mother  to  Cuyahog-a  county, 
his  father  having  died  in  1834;  edu- 
■cated  in  district  schools ;  .at  16 
apprenticed  to  shoemaker,  serving 
three  years ;  worked  at  trade  in 
Twinsburg-,  and  in  Iowa  and  Kansas 
several  years  ;  in  1860,  returned  to 
Twinsburg  and  opened  a  shoe  shop  ; 
in  1862,  leaving  shop  in  charge  of  a 
brother,  enlisted  in  company  G.,  115th 
Reg-'t,  O.  V.  I.,  serving  till  close  of 
Wai-,  first  as  corporal  and  later  as  2nd 
sergeant ;  while  in  command  of 
block  house,  at  Luverne,  near  Nash- 
ville, on  December  5,  1864,  was  cap- 
tured by  Forrest,  and  with  the  rest  of 
his  command,  held  as  prisoners, 
being  moved ,  to  Black  River,  near 
Vicksburg,  the  following-  March, 
w^here  he  escaped,  making  his  way  to 
Vicksburg  and  finally  home,  his 
•weight  being  reduced  to  eighty 
pounds.  Receiving  his  discharg-e  a 
month  later  at  Camp  Chase,  he 
resumed  shoemaking-  in  Twinsburg; 
in  1871,  was  made  postinaster  of 
Twinsburg,  holding-  the  office  until 
January  1,  1881,  when  he  removed  to 
Akron,  to  enter  upon  the  duties  of 
sheriff,  to  which  office  he   had  been 


WILLIAM  MCKINNEY. 

elected  the  previous  October ;  re- 
elected in  1882,  serving-  four  years. 
Februaj-y  8,  1853,  Mr.  McKinney  was 
married  to  Miss  Sarah  A.  Carver,  of 
Twinsburg,  who  has  borne  hiin  six 
children,  three  of  whom  are  living-, 
Clara  (now  Mrs.  Charles  Mallison), 
Perry  A.,  and  Paul. 


Twinsburg  Fair. — Owing  to  its  distance  from  the  county  seat 
and  the  lack  of  proper  facilities  of  getting  to  and  from  the  regular 
county  fair,  and  with  the  view  of  stimulating  the  dairy  and  agri- 
cultural interests  of  the  township,  a  series  of  local  fairs  were  held 
upon  the  public  square  of  Twinsburg,  for  three  or  four  years  in 
the  early  fifties.  These  fairs  attracted  more  than  a  local  interest, 
and  several  of  the  contiguous  townships  of  both  Summit,  Portage, 
Oeauga  and  Cuyahoga  counties  joined  with  Twinsburg  in  the  for- 
mation of  the  "Union  Fair  Association,"  purchasing  and  fitting  up 
with  buildings,  trotting  track,  etc.,  about  thirteen  acres  of  land,  a 
short  distance  east  of  the  public  square. 


1078  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  association  was  held  in  September^ 
1856,  and  was  a  grand  success,  both  in  the  variety,  magnitude  and 
excellence  of  its  exhibits,  and  in  attendance.  This  interest  mainly- 
through  the  energy  and  public  spirit  of  the  people  of  Twrinsburg^. 
was  vigorously  maintained  for  some  ten  or  twelve  years.  Its 
patrons,  how^ever,  being  largely  engaged  in  dairying  and  stock- 
growing,  a  succession  of  extremely  dry  seasons,  in  the  latter 
sixties,  and  the  decease  and  removal  of  several  of  the  most  active 
promoters,  so  dampened  the  ardor  of  the  remaining  members, 
that  the  meetings  were  at  length  discontinued,  the  last  fair  being 
held  in  1871.  The  grounds  were  sold  and  the  affairs  of  the  associ- 
ation w^ere  closed  in  1872,  though  the  memory  of  "  Tw^insburg 
Union  Fair,"  and  the  lively  interest  and  pleasure  inspired  by  it& 
annual  recurrence,  is  still  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  average 
Twinsburgian. 

TWINSBURG'S  CIVIL  STATUS. 

Though  not  as  extensive  an  "office  holder"  as  some  of  her 
sisters,  Tw^insburg  has  a  highly  honorable  civil  record,  as  the  fol- 
lowing brief  mention  will  clearly  demonstrate: 

Augustus  E.  Foote  was  elected  to  the  office  of  county  com- 
missioner, on  the  organization  of  the  new  county  of  Summit,  in 
April,  1840,  and  re-elected  in  October  of  the  same  year  for  a  full 
term,  rendering  much  valuable  assistance  to  his  colleagues,  both 
on  the  board  and  in  the  other  county  offices  in  organizing  and  har- 
monizing the  business  of  the  several  departments,  holding  the 
office  three  years  and  seven  months;  Mr.  Foote  also  serving  as  rep- 
resentative to  the  State  Legislature,  in  the  session  of  1843,  '44,  as- 
the  colleague  of  Hon.  John  H.  McMillan,  of  Middlebury. 

Nelson  Upson,  was  chosen  commissioner  in  1860,  and 
re-elected  in  1863,  faithfully  serving  his  constituents  five  years  and 
five  months,  resigning  the  office  in  March,  1866. 

Orrin  p.  Nichols,  one  of  Twinsburg's  most  successful  farm- 
ers, and  for  several  years  engaged  in  the  lumber  trade  in  Western 
Pennsylvania  and  Northern  New^  York,  was  elected  as  a  represen- 
tative to  the  State  Legislature  in  October,  1875,  being  a  very  popu- 
lar and  influential  member  of  that  body,  until  his  universally 
lamented  death  in  1877. 

William  McKinney,  for  many  years  a  resident  of  Twinsburg^ 
and  one  of  her  brave  soldier  boys  during  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,, 
was  elected  to  the  responsible  office  of  sheriff,  in  October,  1880,  and 
re-elected  in  1882,  ably  filling  the  office  for  the  full  constitutional 
period  of  four  years ;  another  Twinsburg  "  boy,"  Mr.  E.  A.  Parmelee^ 
acting  throughout  as  his  efficient  deputy. 

Horace  P.  Cannon,  in  1858,  was,  after  several  years'  service  as  a 
director,  elected  vice  president  of  the  Summit  county  Agricultural 
Society,  promoted  to  president  in  1859,  and  again  elected  in  1863r 
being  faithful  and  energetic  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  devolved 
upon  him. 

THE  TWINSBURG  OF  TO-DAY  (1891.) 


I 


General  Merchandise. — Seth  M.  Hanchett,  A.  L.  Nelson  and 
George  W.  Mizer;  Stoves  and  Tinware— Edward  Grouse;  Meat 
Market — R.  B.  Sawyer;  Blacksmiths — G.  L.  Andrews  and  James- 


PRESENT   BUSINESS   AND  'OFFICIAL   STATUS. 


1079 


Fisher;  Wagon-Maker — N.  A.  Chapman;  Painter— E.  A.  Par- 
melee;  Carpenter — W.  C.  Prentiss;  Agent,  C.  C.  &  S.  R.  R. — A.  J, 
Webb;  Coal  and  Feed — A.  W.  Greer;  Clark  Hotel — George 
Luke;  Cheese  Factories — ^John  Adams,  1;  F.  Hurd,  of  Aurora,  2; 
Physicians — L.  G.  Griste  and  S.  Freeman;  Stone  Quarries — 
Nelson  Doubrava,  Boose  Brothers,  H.  Dunshee,  A.  N.  Stanley,  N. 
Herrick  and  D.  &  C.  F.  Herrick. 

Present  Official  Status  (1891):  Trustees,  Chauncey  B. 
Lane,  Lincoln  H.  Oviatt,  George  L.  Andrews;  clerk,  Darius  L. 
Chamberlain;  treasurer,  Edward  Crouse;  justices  of  the  peace, 
Almon  J.  Brown  and  William  A.  Rudd;  constables,  Eugene  E. 
Lewis  and  Edward  B.  Crouse;  postmaster,  Seth  R.  Hanchett. 


J 


CHAPTER  LII. 

SUMMIT  COUNTY  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY— ORGANIZED  IN  1849— EARLY  FAIRS 
ON  COURT  HOUSE  GROUNDS,  WITH  COURT  ROOM  AS  FLORAL  AND  FINE 
ARTS  HALL— GENUINE  AGRICULTURAL  EXHIBITION— PLOWING  AND  PULL- 
ING MATCHES — THIRTY-FOUR  YOKE  OF  OXEN  IN  ONE  STRING — FIFTEEN 
SPAN  OF  HORSES  IN  ANOTHER— HOME-MADE  STRAW  BONNET  ON  EXHIBI- 
TION—FAIR GROUNDS  FITTED  UP  ON  SOUTH  MAIN  STREET— REMOVAL  TO 
SUMMIT  GROVE,  A  MAGNIFICENT  LOCATION— PHENOMENAL  SUCCESS— MUNI- 
FICENT OFFER  REJECTED— ANOTHER  CHANGE  OF  BASE— TEN  SUCCESSFUL 
YEARS  ON  THE  HALL  GROUNDS— FIVE  YEARS'  CONTROVERSY  OVER  PUR- 
CHASE OF  NEW  GROUxXDS—"  POWDER  PATCH"  SELECTED— OPPOSITION 
FAIR  ORGANIZED—"  FOUNTAIN  PARK "  A  GRAND  SUCCESS— THE  BEST 
GROUNDS  AND  THE  BEST  FAIR  IN  OHIO— LOCAL  FAIRS  AT  RICHFIELD, 
TWINSBURG  AND  CUYAHOGA  FALLS,  ETC. 

SUMMIT  COUNTY'S  FAIRS. 

'"pHE  records  of  the  Summit  County  Agricultural  Society,  pre- 
■■-  vious  to  1859,  were  destroyed  by  fire,  but  a  careful  search  of  the 
files  of  the  Beacon,  prior  to  that  period,  made  by  the  writer  for 
another  purpose,  a  few  years  ago,  w^ill  insure  a  pretty  full  and 
accurate  history  of  that  important  public  institution.  Though, 
under  fostering  legislative  action,  the  Ohio  State  Agricultural 
Society,  and  several  county  societies  in  different  portions  of  the 
State,  had  been  previously  organized,  the  first  definite  move  in  that 
direction,  in  Summit  county,  was  in  the  Fall  of  1849,  though  as 
early  as  May  14,  1844,  a  notice  appears  in  print  requesting  the 
"officers  and  executive  committee  of  the  Summit  County  Agricul- 
tural Society  to  meet  at  the  American  House,  in  Akron,  May  22,  for 
the  purpose  of  adopting  such  rules  and  by-laws  as  may  be  neces- 
sary for  the  government  of  the  society,"  signed  by  Van  R.  Humph- 
rey, president. 

Pursuant  to  notice  issued  by  County  Auditor  Nathaniel  W. 
Goodhue,  Esq.,  on  the  31st  day  of  October,  1849,  a  public  meeting 
was  held  at  the  court  house,  November  11,  1849,  of  which  Captain 
Amos  Seward,  of  Tallmadge,  w^as  president,  Henry  G.  Weaver,  of 
Springfield,  vice  president  and  N.  W.  Goodhue,  secretary. 

At  this  meeting  Lucius  W.  Hitchcock  and  William  A.  Hanford, 
of  Tallmadge,  Talmon  Beardsley,  of  Coventry,  Sylvester  H.  Thomp- 
son, of  Hudson,  and  John  Hoy,  of  Franklin,  were  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  report  a  constitution  and  by-law^s  for  the  government  of 
the  society.  About  seventy  names  were  presented  for  member- 
ship, at  this  meeting. 

Society  Fully  Organized. — An  adjourned  meeting  was  held 
November  18,  1849,  at  which  the  constitution  reported  by  the  above 
named  committee  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  permanent  offi- 
cers elected  as  follows:  President,  Simon  Perkins;  secretary, 
William  A.  Hanford;  treasurer,  William  H.Dewey;  /Managers,  John 
Hoy,  Sylvester  H.  Thompson,  Avery  Spicer,  Philo  C.  Stone  and 
James  W.  Weld.  Of  these  officers.  Secretary  Hanford  now  alone 
survives. 


INITIAL  AGRICULTURAL   FAIR.  1081 

First  Annual  Exhibit. — The  "Summit  County  Agricultural 
Society  "  being  thus  legally  organized,  was  entitled  to  draw  from  the 
county  treasury  $137.50  yearly,  tow^ards  its  support,  and  the  people 
generally^ — villagers  as  well  as  farmers — worked  harmoniously  and 
energetically  for  its  success.  At  a  meeting  of  the  directors,  August 
22, 1850,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  and  publish  a  premium 
list,  and  Wednesday  and  Thursday,  October  2d  and  3d,  1850,  was 
fixed  for  holding  the  first  annual  fair,  the  premiums  offered  being: 
Cattle,  $1  to  $8;  sheep,  $2  to  $5;  swine,  $2  to  $4;  horses  $3  to  #; 
best  kept  dairy,  $10;  best  butter,  $3;  best  cheese,  $3;  farm  imple- 
ments, $1  to  $3;  domestic  manufactures,  50  cents  to  $3;  factory 
cloths  and  flannels,  $2  to  $3;  grains  and  seeds,  $1;  vegetables  and 
fruits,  $1  to  $2;  field  crops,  $1  to  $5. 

The  society,  at  this  time,  had  no  grounds  of  its  own,  and  by 
permission  of  the  county  commissioners,  the  fair  was  held  on  the 
court  house  grounds,  the  court  house  itself  being  used  for  the 
exhibition  of  fruits,  flow^ers,  domestic  fabrics,  fancy  work,  etc., 
among  other  domestic  handiwork  exhibited,  being  a  strain  bonnet, 
made  from  straw^  raised  in  Summit  county.  In  the  bovine  and 
equine  display  w^as  one  team  of  34  yoke  of  oxen,  and  another  of  15 
span  of  horses,  both  from  Tallmadge.  Though  some  attention 
.was  given,  at  this  initial  fair,  to  blooded  stock  and  fancy  driving, 
the  chief  interest  centered  in  the  plowing  matches,  upon  the  com- 
mons, east  of  the  jail,  with  both  oxen  and  horses,  and  the  pulling 
tests,  upon  both  loaded  wagons  and  stone-boats,  stumps,  etc.  No 
prizes  for  racing  or  fast  trotting  were  then  offered  by  the  society, 
though  a  year  or  two  later,  a  track  was  improvised  on  the  west 
side  of  the  road,  about  where  the  Barber  Match  Works  now  stand, 
on  which  private  prizes  were  competed  for  by  the  local  high-step- 
pers of  that  early  period.  The  receipts  were  from  membership 
fees,  $1  per  year,  no  admission  being  charged,  the  total  receipts, 
including  amount  drawn  from  county  treasury,  being  $327.53,  the 
total  amount  of  premiums  awarded  being  $100. 

Fair  Grounds  Fitted  Up. — Officers  elected  November  20, 
1850:  President,  Simon  Perkins,  of  Akron;  vice  president,  Amos 
Seward,  of  Tallmadge;  J'rea surer.  Nelson  B.  Stone,  of  Akron;  sec- 
retary,  Nathaniel  W.  Goodhue,  of  Middlebury;  directors,  Henry 
Van  Hyning,  of  Norton;  Daniel  Hine,  of  Tallmadge;  Milo  Stone,  of 
Tallmadge;  James  M.Hale,  of  Akron;  Harvey  Baldwin,  of  Hudson. 

The  fairs  of  1851  and  1852  were  also  held  upon  the  court  house 
grounds  a  tempory  structure,  40x60  feet,  being  erected  each  year 
upon  the  north  side  of  the  court  house,  for  the  display  of  fancy 
work,  farming  implements,  agricultural  products,  fruits,  etc.,  the 
floral  and  fine  art  display  being  in  the  court  room,  to  which  a 
small  admission  fee  w^as  charged. 

At  the  annual  meeting,  November  21,  1851,  among  other  busi- 
ness transacted,  the  following  resolution  was  unanimously 
adopted:  ^^ Resolved,  That  this  society  will  award  no  premiums 
on  any  thing  that  will  intoxicate." 

Colonel  Simon  Perkins  having,  with  characteristic  generosity, 
tendered  to  the  society  the  free  use  of  six  acres  of  land  on  South 
Main  street,  opposite  the  present  Rubber  Factory,  the  grounds 
-were  enclosed,  and  a  floral  hall,  40x100  feet  erected,  with  stock 
pens,  sheds,  etc.,  in  time  for  the  fourth  annual  fair,  which  was 
held  on  the  new  grounds  on  Wednesday  and  Thursday,  October  12 


1082  AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

and  13,  1853.  The  total  cost  of  fitting  up  the  grounds  was  $1,800,. 
mostly  paid  by  voluntary  contributions.  At  this  fair  an  entrance 
fee  of  ten  cents  was  charged,  by  w^hich,  and  the  annual  member- 
ship fees,  between  $700  and  $800  was  realized. 

Removal  to  "Summit  Grove."— The  attendance  increasing 
from  year  to  year  (the  receipts  growing  from  $800  in  1854  to  $903  in 
in  1855,  $1,230.50  in  1856,  and  $1,350  in  1858),  the  six  acres  were 
found  to  be  too  small,  and  though  Colonel  Perkins  offered  to  sell 
to  the  society  the  land  already  occupied  at  the  rate  of  $125  per  acre, 
and  as  much  more  as  was  needed,  adjoining  upon  the  south,  at  $80 
per  acre;  or  an  exchange,  acre  for  acre,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
road,  w^here  the  Rubber  Works,  and  Match  factory  buildings 
now  stand,  the  society  delayed  action  until  the  contiguous  lands 
had  been  disposed  of,  so  that  a  change  of  location  became  an 
imperative  necessity.  Under  this  condition  of  things  a  spirited 
rivalry  for  the  location  sprang  up,  the  people  of  Cuyahoga  Falls 
offering  to  donate  $6,000  to  the  society  if  the  location  offered  there 
should  be  decided  upon. 

At  this  juncture,  David  L.  King,  Esq.,  tendered  to  the  society, 
on  a  reasonable  rental,  for  five  years,  nearly  thirty  acres  overlook- 
ing the  city  on  the  w^est,  where  the  fine  residences  of  Hon.  Lew^is 
Miller,  and  Colonel  Arthur  Iv.  Conger  are  now  located,  Mr.  King 
stipulating  to  either  sell  the  grounds  to  the  society,  at  a  price  to  be 
named  by  him,  or  to  pay  the  society  for  its  buildings,  fences,  etc., 
at  their  appraised  value,  at  the  expiration  of  the  lease. 

A  Magnificent  Location. — The  greater  portion  of  the  tract  in 
question  being  covered  by  large  forest  trees,  and  affording  such  a 
fine  view  of  the  city,  it  was  one  of  the  very  handsomest  and  most 
convenient  locations  for  county  fair  grounds  in  the  State.  The 
new  grounds  were  fitted  up  and  the  buildings  and  fences  from  the 
old  grounds  removed  thither  in  September,  1859,  at  a  total  expense, 
including  new  cattle  sheds,  trotting  track,  etc.,  of  $3,128.60,  of 
w^hich  amount  the  citizens  of  Akron  voluntarily  contributed 
$1,870.07,  in  money,  a  large  amount  of  labor  of  men  and  teams 
also  being  donated  by  the  people  of  Akron  and  contiguous  towns. 

From  this  time  on  the  Summit  county  fair  became  the  fair  of 
Northern  Ohio,  not  only  constituting  a  grand  harvest  home  fes- 
tival, in  October  of  each  year,  for  the  people  of  Summit  county, 
but  annually  attracting  thousands  of  visitors  from  contiguous 
counties,  and  many  from  more  remote  portions  of  Ohio  and  con- 
tiguous States. 

The  Society  Again  "Miss  It." — On  the  expiration  of  the 
lease,  Mr.  King,  pursuant  to  agreement,  subniitted  to  the  officers  a 
proposition  to  sell  them  the  entire  tract  for  the  sum  of  $5,000,  on 
very  easy  terms  of  payment,  stipulating,  only,  that  should  the 
grounds  cease  to  be  used  for  fair  purposes,  they  should  revert  to 
him  and  his  heirs.  In  the  mean  time,  the  directorship  had  been 
increased  from  five  to  eighteen — one  from  each  township.  Unfor- 
tunately for  the  interests  of  the  society  and  of  the  county,  Mr. 
King's  truly  magnificent  proposition  w^as  not  accepted,  the  major- 
ity of  the  directors,  comparing  the  price  named  with  the  value  of 
unimproved  farm  lands  more  remote,  and  less  eligibly  situated, 
being  unable  to  realize  the  magnificent  prize  they  were  rejecting, 
until  it  w^as  too  late,  the  option  expiring  and  the  offer  not  being 
renew^ed. 


PURCHASING   GROUNDS   OF   ITS   OWN.  1083 

A  Second  Removal. — In  1864,  the  society  leased  of  Mr.  P.  D, 
Hall  thirty  acres  of  ground,  covered  for  the  most  part  with  forest 
trees,  at  the  corner  of  South  Maple  and  Balch  streets,  for  the 
period  of  ten  years.  To  these  grounds  the  buildings  and  fences 
were  removed  from  "Summit  Grove,"  a  new  trotting  track  graded, 
at  an  expense  of  over  $1,000  to  the  society,  besides  a  large  amount 
of  labor  and  money  contributed  by  citizens  of  Akron  and  sur- 
rounding townships. 

The  fair  of  1864,  though  less  convenient  of  access  for  many 
than  the  old  grounds,  was  a  grand  success,  and  was  followed  from 
year  to  year  with  such  increasing  interest  and  attendance,  that  at 
the  end  of  its  ten  years'  lease,  the  society  had  several  thousand 
dollars  in  its  treasury,  as  the  nucleus  of  a  fund  Avith  w^hich  to  pur- 
chase grounds  of  its  own.  In  the  meantime,  however,  the  rapid 
growth  of  the  city  had  so  enhanced  the  value  of  the  grounds  then 
occupied,  and  contiguous  lands,  as  to  place  them  beyond  the  sup- 
posed ability  of  the  society  to  pay  for. 

The  "  Powder  Patch." — ^Anticipating  the  expiration  of  it» 
lease  with  Mr.  Hall,  in  1870  the  society  began  to  agitate  the  ques- 
tion of  a  new^  location,  and  a  permanent  home  of  its  ow^n.  Pro-  • 
posals  for  sites  w^ere  invited,  and  offers  w^ere  made  as  follows:  S, 
W.  Bartges,  on  Wooster  avenue,  thirty-five  acres,  at  $500  per  acre^ 
S.  H.  Coburn  and  Samuel  Thornton,  south  line  of  city,  west  of 
Main  street,  thirty  acres,  $400  per  acre;  General  A.  C.  Voris  and 
Major  E.  Steinbacher,  twenty-six  acres,  south  line  of  city,  east  of 
Main  street,  $500  per  acre;  Allyn  and  Falor,  north  line  of  Coventry, 
any  desired  quantity,  $400  per  acre;  J.  H.  Kramer,  twenty  acres 
along  the  canal,  south  of  city,  $250  per  acre;  James  McAllister, 
thirty  acres,  one  mile  and  a  half  w^est  of  Akron,  $200  per  acre. 

A  committee,  appointed  October  24,  1870,  w^ere  instructed  ta 
purchase  the  Coburn  tract,  but  subsequently  empowered  to  pur- 
chase such  grounds  as  in  their  judgment  would  be  for  the  best 
interest  of  the  society.  This  committee,  consisting  of  James 
Hammond,  of  Copley,  Edw^ard  Cranz,  of  Bath,  and  David  S, 
Alexander,  of  Akron,  decided  upon  and  bought  the  McAllister 
tract  in  1872. 

This  location,  being  so  remote  from  the  business  center  and 
from  railroad  facilities,  gave  very  great  dissatisfaction  to  the 
people  of  Akron,  and  of  the  eastern,  northern  and  southern  town- 
ships of  the  county,  and  a  heated  controversy  of  nearly  two  years' 
duration  ensued.  In  the  meantime,  A.  T.  Burrows  had  offered 
forty- five  acres  on  the  "Chuckery,"  at  $400  per  acre;  fifty  acre» 
near  Bettes's  Corners,  known  as  the  Fouse  tract,  had  been  offered 
at  $200  per  acre,  and  the  lands  in  the  valley  of  the  Cuyahoga  river, 
known  as  the  "Powder  Patch,"  had  been  offered  to  the  society  on 
favorable  terms. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  society,  in  January,  1875,  it  wa» 
voted  336  to  212  to  sell  the  McAllister  grounds  and  purchase  the 
Burrow^s  tract.  This  joint  duty  the  committee  appointed  for  the 
purpose  w^ere  unable  to  satisfactorily  accomplish,  and  at  a  meet- 
ing of  the  directors,  June  26,  1875,  after  a  personal  inspection  of 
all  the  localities  named,  the  Powder  Patch  was  selected  by  one 
majority.  The  tract  purchased  contained  about  forty-five  acres, 
the  consideration  for  which  was  the  McAllister  tract  and  $5,000 
in  money. 


1084  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

The  tract  formerly  belonged  to  the  Austin  Powder  Company, 
their  extensive  mills,  from  1833  to  1860,  being  located  along  the 
banks  of  the  tortuous  Little  Cuyahoga  river  traversing  the  same. 
Hence  the  name.  Some  seven  or  eight  acres,  at  a  cost  of  $200  per 
acre,  have  since  been  added  to  the  grounds  upon  the  north,  mak- 
ing a  total  of  about  fifty-two  acres.  The  first  meeting  of  the 
■society  upon  its  ow^n  grounds,  was  held  in  October,  1875,  and  not- 
w^ithstanding  the  prognostications  of  failure,  by  those  who  had  so 
bitterly  opposed  their  selection,  there  was  a  very  large  attendance, 
as  well  as  a  very  considerable  increase  in  the  variety  and  volume 
of  exhibits. 

PopuiwAR  "  Fountain  Park." — Though  in  its  then  rough  and 
unimproved  condition,  the  location  seemed  to  many  to  be  most 
forbidding,  the  wisdom  of  the  society  in  its  purchase  is  now  pal- 
pable to  all.  Naturally  picturesque  and  romantic,  by  the  judicious 
expenditure  of  a  reasonable  amount  of  money  and  labor  yearly, 
it  has  become  one  of  the  most  desirable  places  of  resort  in  the 
vicinity,  not  only  for  fair  purposes,  but  for  private  and  public 
meetings,  picnics,  etc. 

The  tracks  of  four  railroads — the  Clev^eland,  Akron  &  Colum- 
bus, the  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio,  the  Pittsburg  Sc  West- 
ern, and  the  Valley  Rail\vay— are  in  close  proximity  to  the 
grounds,  affording  the  most  ample  transportation  to  and  from  the 
fair,  ^vith  equally  easy  access  by  private  conveyance,  and  w^ith 
abundant  hitching  facilities  for  the  thousands  of  teams  that 
yearly  there  do  congregate. 

A  high  picket  fence  surrounds  the  grounds.  Extensive  build- 
ings— mercantile  hall,  agricultural  hall,  mechanics'  hall,  floral  and 
fine  arts  hall,  dining  halls,  machinery  stands,  stables,  sheds,  trot- 
ting track,  grand  stand,  with  lakes,  fountains,  ornamental  shrub- 
bery, etc.,  serve  to  make  it  one  of  the  most  perfect  of  its  class  in 
the  State. 

As  showing  the  rapid  grow^th  as  well  as  the  increasing  popu- 
larity of  Summit  county's  harvest  home  festival,  its  semi-decen- 
nial gross  receipts  for  the  years  named,  are  abundantly  significant: 
1850,  $320;  1855,  $903;  1860,  $2,100;  1865,  $2,800;  1870,  $3,698;  1875, 
$5,014;  1880,  $7,444;  1886.  $11,257. 16;  1887,  $12,323.21;  there  being  a 
slight  falling  off  in  1888  by  reason  of  unfavorable  weather,  the 
receipts  being  $9,431.53,  but  increasing  again  in  1889  to  $16,608.94, 
and  to  $16,883.60  in  1890.  In  1891,  the  weather  being  very  forbid- 
ding the  first  two  days,  there  was  a  slight  falling  off  in  receipts, 
the  total  amount  being  $11,985,  and  the  disbursements  for  interest 
on  bonded  debt,  premiums,  current  expenses,  etc.,  being  $9,675, 
showing  a  surplus  for  the  year  of  $2,310. 

This  munificent  increase  of  patronage,  has  not  only  enabled 
the  society  to  yearly  very  greatly  improve  the  grounds  and  build- 
ings, materially  enlarge  its  proverbially  liberal  premium  list,  and 
pay  its  necessarily  heavy  running  expenses,  but  also,  besides  pay- 
ing the  yearly  interest,  to  very  materially  reduce  the  heavy  indebt- 
edness incurred  in  the  purchase  and  fitting  up  the  grounds. 

The  directory  now  consists  of  one  director  from  every  town- 
ship and  each  city  ward,  twenty- four  in  all.  Officers  for  1891: 
William  C.  Sackett,  of  Copley,  president;  Anton  McFarlin,  of  Bath, 
vice  president;  Robert  Turner,  of  Portage,  treasurer;  Albert  Hale, 
of  Springfield,  secretary.     Directors: — Anton  McFarlin,  of  Bath; 


DIVERS    AND    SUNDRY   OTHER    FAIRS.  1085 

George  C.  Stanford,  of  Boston;  William  C.  Sackett,  of  Copley; 
George  W.  Brewster,  of  Coventry;  David  J.  Thomas,  of  Cuyahoga 
Falls;  Levi  M.  Kauffman,  of  Franklin;  J.  W.  Kreighbaum,  of 
Green;  James  Doncaster,  of  Hudson;  Joseph  Hartzell,  of  Norton; 
B.  A.  Robinet,  of  Northfield;  James  Harrington,  of  Northampton; 
Robert  Turner,  of  Portage;  W.  R.  Townsend,  of  Richfield;  Albert 
Hale,  of  Springfield;  George  W.  Bailey,  of  Stow;  D.  E.  Fenn,  of 
Tallmadge;  L.  H,  Oviatt,  of  Twinsburg;  D,  W,  Thomas,  first  ward, 
Akron;  C.  E.  Sheldon,  second  ward;  H.  H.  Foltz,  third  ward;  W. 
H.  Evans,  fourth  ward;  A.  W.  Hall,  fifth  ward  and  J.M.Wills, 
sixth  w^ard.  ' 

SUMMIT  COUNTY  FAIR   ASSOCIATION. 

During  the  agitation  of  the  purchase  of  permanent  Fair 
grounds,  personal  and  sectional  feeling  ran  so  high  that,  on  the 
final  determination  of  the  matter,  a  counter  organization  w^as 
formed,  under  the  name  of  the  "  Summit  County  Fair  Association," 
which,  being  duly  incorporated,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $5,000, 
leased  the  Hall  grounds,  vacated  by  the  old  society,  refitting  them 
in  good  style  w^ith  new^  buildings,  sheds,  pens,  fences,  etc.,  and  in 
September,  1875,  held  a  very  successful  fair,  both  in  point  of  dis- 
play and  attendance,  the  officers  of  the  association  being:  James 
Hammond,  of  Copley,  president;  Frank  A.  Foster,  of  Copley,  vice- 
president;  Wellington  Miller,  of  Norton,  secretary;  and  Philander 
D.  Hall,  Jr.,  of  Akron,  treasurer. 

The  fair  of  the  association,  for  1876,  was  also  reasonably  suc- 
cessful. Exhibitors  and  visitors,  tiring  of  contributing  and  attend- 
ance upon,  two  fairs  so  near  together,  and  the  predjudice  against 
the  new  grounds  gradually  subsiding,  interest  in  the  "ne\^rfair 
upon  the  old  grounds,"  correspondingly  diminished,  and  a  year  or 
two  later,  the  association  disbanded,  its  affairs  being  placed  in  the 
hands  of  a  receiver  for  liquidation. 

The  new  grounds  of  the  county  society  not  proving  so  danger- 
ous to  life  and  limb,  by  reason  of  their  proxmity  to  railroads,  as 
had  been  anticipated,  the  roads  on  the  contrary,  being  of  immense 
advantage  in  conveying  visitors  to  and  from  the  grounds,  the  feel- 
ing of  antagonism  rapidly  abated,  and  now  the  farmers  and  citi-' 
zens  of  all  parts  of  the  county  are  harmoniously  united  in  their 
efforts  to  make  the  Summit  County  Agricultural  Society,  what  it 
is  everyw^here  conceded  to  be,  the  very  best  and  most  prosperous 
local  organization  of  its  class  in  Ohio,  if  not  in  the  United  States. 

OTHER  FAIR  ASSOCIATIONS. 

In  1851,  "Richfield  Agricultural  Club,"  was  organized,  w^hose 
annual  exhibits  and  exercises  became  so  popular,  that,  in  1858, 
Bath  and  Boston,  in  Summit;  Brecksville  and  Royalton,  in  Cuy- 
ahoga; and  Granger  and  Hinckley,  in  Medina,  joined  with  Rich- 
field in  the  organization  of  the  "  Union  Agricultural  and  Mechanic 
Art  Society,"  \srhich,  on  ten  acres  of  leased  ground,  midw^ay  between 
the  east  and  w^est  centers,  for  ten  years,  was  very  popular  and 
prosperous.  Later,  about  1868,  the  society  reorganized  as  a  stock 
company,  purchased  the  grounds,  and  with  increased  vitality,  con- 
tinued to  prosper  for  several  years  longer,  but  finally  disbanded 
in  1875,  selling  its  grounds  and  buildings  and  closing  up  its  affairs 
in  1876. 


1086 


AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


At  Twinsburg,  also,  in  the  middle  fifties,  after  several  suc- 
cessful annual  township  exhibitions,  a  "Union  Fair  Association " 
was  organized,  comprising  the  townships  of  Tw^insburg,  Hudson 
and  Northfield  in  Summit,  Aurora  in  Portage,  and  Solon  and 
Bedford  in  Cuyahoga.  The  first  meeting  of  the  society  was  held 
in  September,  1856,  upon  its  ow^n  handsomely  fitted  up  and  fur- 
nished grounds  a  short  distance  east  of  Twinsburg  Center,  and,  as 
with  the  Richfield  society,  its  annual  fairs  for  several  years  w^ere 
very  popular  and  successful.  The  death  and  removal  of  some  of 
its  more  active  promoters,  together  with  the  recurrence  of  several 
dry  and  un'productive  seasons  in  that  locality,  so  diminished  the 
popular  interest,  that,  with  the  fair  of  1871,  its  meetings  w^ere  dis- 
continued, its  grounds  being  sold  and  its  affairs  closed  in  1872. 

A  "  Union  Fair  Association"  was  also  organized  and  quite 
extensive  grounds  fitted  up  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  in  1859,  upon 
which  three  quite  successful  annual  fairs,  and  one  exclusive  trot- 
ting fair  (with  the  celebrated  Flora  Temple  as  a  competitor)  were 
held,  but  the  Civil.  War  and  other  matters  claiming  the  attention 
of  the  people,  the  project  was  abandoned. 

Experiments  and  sectional  rivalries  having  thus  ceased,  the 
people  of  every  portion  of  the  county  now  unitedly  vie  w^ith  each 
other  in  adding  to  the  interest  and  continued  prosperity  of  the  old 
reliable,  and  ever  entertaining  and  pleasant  Summit  County  Fair. 


CHAPTER  LIII. 

SUMMIT  COUNTY'S  BENEVOLENCE— GREATLY  IMPROVED  METHODS  OF  CARING 
FOR  THE  POOR— THE  COUNTY  FARM— ORIGINAL  INFIRMARY  BUILDINGS- 
ADDITIONAL  LANDS  PURCHASED  —  NEW  AND  ENLARGED  STRUCTURES — 
MODERN  IMPROVEMENTS  —  ONE  OF  THE  VERY  BEST  IN  THE  STATE  —  THE 
CHILDREN'S  HOME— A  MUCH  NEEDED  INSTITUTION—THE  DE  ROO  HOSPITAL 
— MUNIFICENT  BEQUEST— A  WORTHY  EXAMPLE  FOR  OTHERS  TO  FOLLOW — 
OTHER  CHARITABLE  INSTITUTIONS— MENDICANCY  DIMINISHED  BY  TEACH- 
ING THE   POOR   HOW  TO  HELP  THEMSELVES,  ETC. 

SUMMIT'S  BENEFICENCE. 

PREVIOUS  to  1849,  although  the  law  authorized  county  com- 
missioners to  establish  "County  Poor  Houses"  (name  after- 
w^ards  changed  by  statute  to  "Infirmary"),  the  poor  of  the  several 
townships  of  Summit  county  were  provided  for  by  the  trustees  of 
the  townships  themselves — the  "keep"  of  the  unfortunates  being 
generally  let  to  the  lowest  bidder,  sometimes  in  bulk  to  one  person, 
and  sometimes  each  individual  pauper  to  a  separate  bidder — a 
system  that  did  not  always  secure  the  most  humane  treatment,  or 
the  tenderest  care. 

In  Portage  tow^nship,  including  the  village  of  Akron  and  a 
portion  of  Middlebury,  a  regular  poor-house  w^as  established — a 
one-story  board  shanty,  perhaps  20x60  feet  in  size,  being  erected 
on  the  south  side  of  the  marsh,  traversed  by  Wolf  Ledge  Run,  on 
the  east  side  of  South  Main  street,  opposite  Brew^sters'  flouring  and 
saw^-mills.  This  institution  was,  by  contract  w^ith  the  overseers  of 
the  poor,  or  poor  masters,  as  they  were  generally  called,  assigned 
to  the  care  and  custody  of  the  late  Silas  \V,  Wilder,  a  hotel  and 
boarding  house  keeper  in  Akron  for  many  years,  from  its  estab- 
lishment until  the  inauguration  of  the  County  Infirmary  system, 
as  hereinafter  stated. 

Summit  County  Infirmary. — January'  12,  1849,  county  commis- 
sioners Mills  Thompson,  of  Hudson,  James  W.  Weld,  of  Richfield, 
and  Henry  G.  Weaver,  of  Springfield,  bought  what  was  then  known 
as  the  McCune  farm,  on  the  corner  of  Medina  and  Portage  roads, 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  west  of  Howard  street,  in  Akron.  The 
farm,  but  partially  cleared,  contained  a  trifle  less  than  150  acres  of 
land,  upon  the  front  end  of  which  there  was  a  story-and-a-half 
dwelling  house  and  a  moderate  sized  frame  barn,  the  consideration 
being  $3,953.33,  or  at  the  rate  of  about  $26.50  per  acre. 

In  addition  to  the  buildings  already  mentioned  upon  the  farm, 
the  county  commissioners  caused  to  be  erected  a  plain  but  sub- 
stantial two-story  frame  building,  about  20x60,  and  sundry  out- 
buildings at  a  cost  of  $1,966,  w^hich  w^ere  accepted  from  the 
contractor,  Mr.  Leander  Starr,  of  Hudson,  July  10,  1849.  July  11,  as 
provided  by  law,  the  commissioners  appointed  Messrs.  Roswell 
Kent,  of  Middlebury,  Avery  Spicer,  of  Coventry,  and  Lucius  V. 
Bierce.  of  Akron,  a  board  of  directors  for  the  'management  of  the 
farm  and  the  care  of  the  county's  poor,  to  hold  their  offices  until 


1088 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


the  ensuing  October  election.  The  board  iminediately  organized 
with  RosAvell  Kent  as  president,  and  L.  V.  Bierce  as  secretary,  and 
by  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Abraham  Sichley  as  superintendent. 

Under  the  fostering  care  of  the  county  commissioners,  these 
four  gentlemen  laid,  firmly  and  deeply,  the  foundation  of  Avhat,  in 
the  intervening  forty  years,  has  grown  to  be  one  of  the  very  best  of 
the  many  local  public  charities  of  the  State,  our  present  magnifi- 
cent Summit  County  Infirmary. 

In  May,  1856,  the  commissioners  bought  from  Mr.  Morgan 
Sweeney  43.62  acres  of  land  adjoining  the  farm  upon  the  west,  at 
a  cost  of  $1,828.80,  being  at  the  rate  of  about  $42  per  acre ;  and  still 
later,  in  1879,  an  additional  parcel  of  37.54  acres  was  purchased 
from  the  late  James  McAllister,  for  the  sum  of  $4,223.25,  or  at 
about  the  rate  of  $112.50  per  acre,  making  an  aggregate  of  about 
230  acres  for  infirmary  purposes,  less  two  acres  on  the  northeast 
corner,  sold  to  Mr.  Michael  Mull,  June  27,  1881,  for  the  sum  of  $1,200, 
and  two  and  three-fourths  acres,  fronting  on  Portage  road,  sold  to 
Mr.  Aaron  Teeple,  April  15,  1882,  for  the  sum  of  $1,100.  Other 
similar  small  parcels,  for  private  residences,  fronting  on  Medina 
road,  or  West  Market  street  extended,  may  possibly  yet  be  disposed 
of  without  serious  impairment  of  the  farm  for  infirmary  purposes, 
and  at  prices  which  w^ill  somewhat  reimburse  the  county  in  the 
large  outlay  in  lands,  buildings  and  improvements  that  has  from 
time  to  time  been  made. 


Summit  County  Infirmary,  Erected  in  liM'A.  '<)5— Addition  in  1S73. 

Though  small  additions  were  from  time  to  time  inade  to  the 
original  frame  structures,  it  was  at  length  found  that  better  and 
larger  facilities  for  the  care  of  the  county's  wards,  and  the  econom- 
ical management  of  the  county  farm,  were  imperatively  needed, 
and  on  the  23rd  day  of  March,  1864,  by  special  act  of  the  legislature 
the  county  commissioners  were  authorized  to  build  an  Infirmary 
at  a  -cost  not  to  exceed  $16,000. 


INFIRMARY   FORMALLY   DEDICATED.  1089 

The  site  for  the  new  building  w^as  selected  near  the  center  of 
the  original  Infirmary  farm,  on  the  south  side  of  Exchange  street 
extended,  an  approach  to  it  from  West  Market  street  extended, 
also  being  made  on  the  north  line  of  the  farm. 

The  brick  for  the  new  building  w^as  made  upon  the  ground, 
largely  b}'  pauper  labor,  under  the  direction  of  Frank  T.  Husong, 
and  Mr.  E.  C.  Briggs,  a  practical  brick  maker,  several  hundred 
thousand  brick  being  disposed  of  at  remunerative  prices  to  out- 
side parties,  thus  bringing  the  cost  of  the  brick  used  in  the  new 
structure  down  to  a  comparatively  low^  figure. 

The  stone  foundations  and  the  walls  w^ere  erected  under  the 
supervision  of  that  thoroughly  experienced  brick  mason,  Mr. 
George  Allison,  of  Tallmadge,  and  the  wood  \srork  w^as  done  on 
contract,  by  the  late  George  Thomas,  the  whole  under  the  super- 
vision of  Infirmary  Director  Avery  Spicer,  and  County  Commis- 
sioner David  E.  Hill,  the  latter  being  appointed  general 
superintendent  of  the  w^ork  by  the  board,  June  4,  1865. 

The  economical  plan  of  construction  indicated  brought  the 
cost  of  the  edifice  nominally  within  the  figures  prescribed  by  the 
legislature,  though  adding  the  value  of  home  material  furnished, 
home  labor  performed,  the  actual  cost  of  the  improvement  was 
probably  not  far  from  $20,000. 

The  building,  as  then  erected,  w^as  of  the  follow^ing  dimensions: 
central  building,  two  stories,  exclusive  of  basement  and  attic,  26 x 
40;  two  wings,  same  height,  25x32;  rear  wing,  30x32,  with  a  still 
further  rear  extension  for  the  insane,  30x36. 

The  exterior  of  the  building  is  of  a  mixed  order  of  architecture,, 
approximating  the  gothic,  with  bracketed  cornice  and  gables,  and 
its  interior  plainly  but  substantially  finished,  and  divided  into  con- 
venient apartments  for  the  use  of  the  family  of  the  superintend- 
ent and  the  accommodation  of  the  inmates. 

Though  somewhat  earlier  occupied,  the  new^  building  was  for- 
mally dedicated  on  the  evening  of  February  3,  1866,  by  a  public 
supper,  under  the  auspices  of  the  directors  and  Superintendent 
Husong.  In  addition  to  the  trustees  of  the  several  townships, 
many  invited  guests  from  Akron  and  elsewhere  enjoyed  the  fes- 
tivities of  the  occasion. 

At  the  close  of  the  supper,  George  D.  Bates,  Esq.,  was  called 
to  the  chair,  and  congratulatory  speeches  w^ere  made,  by  Gen.  A. 
C.  Voris,  WiUiam  T.  Allen,  S.  A.  I^ane,  Dr.  E.  W,  Howard,  and 
others,  at  the  close  of  w^hich,  the  following  resolution  was  unani- 
mously adopted: 

"Resolved,  That  the  county  conunissionersand  directors  of  the  county 
infirmary,  together  with  those  who  have  so  faithfully  aided  them  in  the 
undertaking-,  are  entitled  to  the  thanks  of  the  citizens  of  Summit  county,  for 
the  able  manner  in  which  they  have  planned  and  prosecuted  to  completion 
the  erection  of  an  infirmary  edifice,  which  is  at  once  an  ornament  and  an 
honor  to  the  county,  and  a  inark  of  the  exalted  humanity  and  liberality  of 
its  people." 

Barns  and  other  out-buildings  have  from  time  to  time  been 
erected  and  the  grounds  handsomely  laid  out  and  planted  to 
ornamental  trees  and  shrubbery,  making  them  both  pleasant  for 
the  inmates  and  attractive  to  visitors,  while  the  farm  itself,  by 
reason  of  the  careful  and  judicious  tillage  given  to  it  by  its  several 
superintendents,  has  become  one  of  the  most  productive  in  the 
county,  giving  healthy  employment  to  such  of  the  inmates  as  are. 

60 


1090  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

mentally  and  physically  able  to  perform  manual  labor,  and  at  the 
same  time  making  the  institution  largely  self-supporting. 

As  ample  as  the  above  described  buildings  were  thought  to  be, 
at  the  time  of  their  erection,  as  the  population  of  the  county,  and 
particularly  of  the  city  of  Akron,  increased,  it  was  at  length  found 
that  additional  accommodations  were  needed. 

At  the  instance  of  the  county  commissioners,  therefore,  through 
the  efforts  of  Senator  N.  W.  Goodhue,  of  Akron,  and  Representa- 
tive Hiram  H.  Mack,  of  Bath,  the  legislature,  on  the  7th  day  of 
March,  1875,  passed  a  special  act  authorizing  the  commissioners  to 
levy  a  tax  not  to  exceed,  in  the  aggregate,  $10,000  for  the  purpose 
of  erecting  an  addition  to  the  infirmary  building. 

Under  the  supervision  of  Architect  Jacob  Snyder,  the  con- 
tractors, Messrs.  Derhamer,  Steese  &  Co..  erected,  in  the  Summer 
of  1875,  an  addition,  adjoining  the  west  wing,  as  above  described, 
corresponding  in  general  style  of  finish  to  the  central  building, 
32x42  feet,  the  several  stories  being  conveniently  divided  up  into 
sitting  room,  dining  room,  sick  room,  bed  rooms,  clothes  rooms, 
etc.,  the  total  cost  of  this  improvement  being  not  far  from  $8,000. 

In  1880,  a  separate  two-story  brick  building,  20x30  feet  was 
erected  for  laundry  and  storage  purposes,  a  short  distance  east  of 
the  rear  wing,  and  a  year  or  two  later,  a  separate  one-story  build- 
ing, 30x57  feet,  southwest  of  the  original  insane  department,  was 
erected  for  the  better  care  of  the  insane;  and  in  1887,  an  inter- 
mediate two-story  brick,  33x60  feet,  wras  erected,  and  the  whole 
re-arranged,  now  making  one  of  the  most  complete  local  insane 
hospitjils  in  the  State. 

This  year  also  (1887),  the  storage  and  laundry  building  above 
spoken  of,  gave  place  to  a  substantial  combined  boiler  and  engine 
house  and  laundry,  36  x  24,  in  the  lower  story  of  w^hich  is  a  battery 
of  two  medium-sized  tubular  boilers,  with  a  small  but  first-class 
engine  and  pump  for  supplying  the  entire  institution  with  steam, 
hot  and  cold  water,  and  running  the  laundry  overhead,  which  is  sup- 
supplied  w^ith  first-class  washing,  drying  and  ironingappliances,the 
last  improvements  mentioned  (1887),  including  machinery  and 
plumbing,  costing  about  $13,000.  The  directors  of  the  infirmary 
for  the  present  year  (1891),  are  Joseph  Moore,  Eli  Smith  and  Jacob 
Koplin:  superintendent,  Sherman  B.  Stotler, 

CHILDREN'S  HOME. 

Up  to  1866,  the  children  of  indigent  and  unfortunate  parents 
were  provided  for  at  the  various  poor-houses  and  infirmaries  of  the 
State,  with  the  exception  of  the  fe"w  Avho  were  so  fortunate  as  to  be 
received  into  the  occasional  orphanages  established  by  private 
munificence  as  at  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  etc.  But  for  many  years 
the  growing  humanitarian  sentiment  of  the  people  has  deplored 
the  practice  of  consigning  bright  and  healthy  children  to  the  com- 
panionship, and  often  to  the  care  and  nurture,  of  the  diseased, 
imbecile  and  sometimes  vicious  inmates  of  these  institutions. 

This  sentiment  communicating  itself  to  the  law-makers  of  the 
State,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  Legislature,  March  20, 1866,  author- 
izing county  commissioners,  at  their  discretion,  to  establish 
Children's  Homes  in  their  respective  counties,  to  which  orphans 
and  abandoned  and  neglected  children,  under  16  years  of  age, 
should  be  admitted  and  properly  provided  and  cared  for. 


I 


I 


SUMMIT   COUNTY   CHILDREN'S   HOME. 


1091 


Sundry  amendments  to  the  law  in  question  were  made  from 
-time  to  time,  among  others  that  passed  March  22,  1876,  providing 
that  the  question  of  establishing  a  Children's  Home  should  be 
.submitted  to  the  voters  of  the  proper  county,  by  the  commissioners. 

August  8,  1881,  the  county  commisioners,  Messrs.  Dr.  William 
Sisler,  of  Akron,  Moses  D.  Call,  of  Stow,  and  Hiram  Hart,  of  Rich- 
field, on  the  petition  of  200  tax-payers  of  the  county,  authorized 
Auditor  Aaron  Wagoner  to  issue  a  notice  to  the  electors  of  the 
-county,  to  vote  at  the  ensuing  October  election,  on  the  question  of 
issuing  bonds  for  the  purchase  of  a  site  and  erecting  the  necessary 
buildings  for  a  Children's  Home  for  Summit  county. 


Summit  County  Children's  Home,  South  Arlington  Street,  Purchased,  Fitted 
Up  and  Occupied  in  1890. 

The  vote  stood  5,810  ballots  for,  and  1,091  against  the  proposi- 
tion, showing  a  clear  majority  in  its  favor  of  4,719  votes.  With 
this  magnificent  backing  the  commissioners  felt  w^arranted  in  going 
ahead,  and  various  propositions  for  sites  were  made  and  duly  con- 
sidered, the  Cooke  property  at  Cuyahoga  Falls  (the  old  Henry  New- 
berry place,  east  of  the  covered  bridge),  being  selected  at  the  meet- 
ing of  the  commissioners  on  the  20th  day  of  February,  1882. 

March  20  a  resolution  was  adopted  to  issue  the  bonds  of  the 
county  in  the  sum  of  $25,000,  for  the  purpose  named,  but  on  the  3d 
day  of  April  the  proposition  w^as  w^ithdrawn  by  the  representatives 
of  the  Cooke  estate. 

August  12,  1882,  the  commissioners  closed  a  contract  with  Mr. 
George  Allison,  of  Tallmadge,  for  the  purchase  of  his  farm,  a  short 
distance  north  of  Bettes'  Corners,  on  the  Cuyahoga  Falls  road. 
This  purchase  consisted  of  142.27  acres,  the  price  paid  being  $110 
per  acre,  or  an  aggregate,  in  round  numbers,  of  $15,650. 

August  14,  1882,  the  commissioners  appointed  as  trustees 
of  the  Children's  Home,  George  W.  Crouse,  of  Akron,  George 
Sackett,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  and  E.  S.  Gregory,  of  Hudson.  The 
trustees  and  commissioners,  acting  conjointly,  in  canvassing  the 


1092  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

matter  of  erecting  suitable,  buildings  on  the  farm  thus  purchased^ 
found  that  the  balance  left,  after  paying  for  the  land,  would  be 
inadequate  for  the  erection  of  such  a  structure  as  they  deemed 
fitting,  and  on  March  6,  1883,  authorized  Auditor  Wagoner  to  issue 
notice  for  a  vote  of  the  county,  at  the  ensuing  April  election,  upon 
the  proposition  to  issue  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $12,000  more. 

By  this  time,  the  impression  had  become  quite  prevalent,  that 
so  large  a  farm  as  had  been  purchased  Avas  not  needed,  and  much 
dissatisfaction  was  also  manifested  at  the  location  which  had  been 
selected,  and  furthermore  that  $37,000  in  addition  to  the  yearly  tax- 
levy  for  its  support,  was  a  larger  sum  than  should  be  invested  in 
such  an  institution.  Feeling  thus,  the  vote  on  the  last  proposition 
resulted  as  follows:  "For,"  1,818;  "Against,"  3,195;  the  adverse 
majority  being  1,377. 

The  Home  Inaugurated. — Finding  themselves  thus  handi- 
capped, yet  realizing  the  importance  of  establishing  the  Home  in 
question,  the  commissioners  and  trustees,  on  the  27th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1885,  leased  the  property  known  as  the  "  Buckeye  House,"^ 
nearly  opposite  the  Court  House,  on  South  Broadway,  for  the 
period  of  two  years,  for  the  sum  of  $600  per  year. 

Mr.  William  A.  Hanford,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  \vras  appointed 
superintendent,  and  Mrs.  Hanford,  matron,  who  entered  upon 
their  arduous  duties  as  soon  as  the  house  could  be  put  in  proper 
order  and  appropriately  furnished;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hanford  being 
succeeded  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Grubb,  of  Franklin  to^vnship, 
in  November,  1887. 

The  report  of  the  trustees  for  the  year  ending  September  1, 
1890,  shows  an  average  daily  attendance  of  55  children,  some  being 
provided  from  time  to  time,  with  permanent  homes  in  private  fam- 
ilies, their  places  being  speedily  filled  by  new  accessions.  The 
levy,  this  year,  for  the  running  expenses  of  the  Home,thl-ee-tenth& 
of  a  mill,  w^ill  probably  be  in  excess  of  its  necessities. 

PART  OF  THE  TALLMADGE  FARM  SOLD. 

Believing  the  Tallmadge  farm  purchased  from  Mr.  Allison 
largely  in  excess  of  the  necessities  of  the  institution,  even  if  that 
location  should  finally  be  determined  upon  for  the  permanent 
building,  on  the  7th  day  of  March,  1887,  the  commissioners,  Messrs. 
King  J.  EUet,  of  Springfield,  Charles  C.  Hine,  of  Hudson,  and  John 
C.  Hill,  of  Akron,  sold  to  Mr.  C.  I.  Bettes,  40.06  acres,  and  to  Mr.  M, 
J.  Hogue  46.07  acres,  for  the  aggregate  sum  of  $5,225,  or  at  the  rate 
of  about  $63  per  acre. 

The  avails  of  these  sales,  w^ith  the  balance  of  the  original 
$25,000  realized  from  the  sale  of  the  bonds  above  spoken  of, 
amounted  to  about  $15,000.  Through  the  efforts  of  Representative 
Henry  C.  Sanford  and  Senator  J.  Park  Alexander,  the  Legislature, 
during  the  session  of  1888,  '89,  passed  an  act  authorizing  the  com- 
missioners to  sell  the  entire  Tallmadge  farm,  and  to  purchase  such 
other  site  for  the  Home  as  might  be  jointly  agreed  upon  by  the 
commissioners  and  the  trustees,  w^ho  finally  decided  upon,  and 
purchased,  the  Jewett  homestead,  and  some  contiguous  lands 
(in  all  seven  acres),  on  Arlington  street,  in  the  south  part  of  the  Sixth 
ward.  The  large  dw^elling  house,  under  the  plans  of  Architect 
Jacob  Snyder,  approved  by  the  board  of  State  Charities,  has  been 
remodeled  to  meet  the  present  and  immediate  future  needs,  of  the 


THE    DE    ROO   HOSPITAL   FUND.  1093 

institution,  the  price  paid  for  the  property  being  $11,000,  and  the 
expense  of  remodeling  and  furnishing  $9,000,  a  total  outlay  of 
$20,000.  The  present  trustees  of  the  Home  (July,  1891):  John  J. 
Hall,  Lewis  Miller  and  David  E.  Hill,  Mr.  Grubb  still  being  con- 
tinued as  superintendent,  and  Mrs.  Grubb  as  matron. 

The  balance  of  the  Allison  farm  is  still  owned  by  the  county 
and  rented  on  shares,  largely  furnishing  vegetables  and  other  sup- 
plies to  the  Home,  and  paying  a  fair  interest  upon  the  investment. 

THE  DE  ROO  HOSPITAL. 

On  the  death  of  Boniface  De  Roo,  a  native  of  BVance,  an 
unmarried  and  eccentric  but  industrious  and  economical  resident 
of  Middlebury  and  the  Sixth  ward  for  many  years,  his  will  was 
found  to  contain  the  following  provisions: 

"First,  the  payment  of  his  just  debts  and  funeral  expenses;  second, 
$200  for  the  purchase  of  a  lot  in  the  Akron  Rural  Cemetery  ;  third,  $300  for 
the  trustees  of  the  cemetery,  in  trust,  to  be  invested  on  interest  for  beautify- 
ing- said  lot ;  fourth,  $500  for  a  granite  monument  of  obelisk  form  ;  fifth,  $100 
for  good  metallic  coffin  without  plate  or  ornament,  no  funeral  services  to  be 
held  over  his  remains  and  bodj^  to  be  deposited  in  vault  a  sufficient  length 
of  time  to  prevent  intrusion,  then  to  be  buried  on  lot ;  sixth,  the  balance  of 
his  estate,  real  and  personal,  to  the  city  of  Akron,  to  be  held  in  trust  and 
.appropriated  by  said  city  for  the  buying  of  real  estate  and  the  erection  of 
the  necessary  buildings  and  maintenance  of  the  same  for  a  city  hospital, 
wherein  invalids  and  infirm  persons,  without  distinction  of  race,  nationality, 
color  or  sex,  ma}^  be  provided  for  without  charge  or  compensation  in  case  of 
inability  to  paj^  for  the  same." 

The  will  further  stipulated  that  in  case  the  funds  so 
bequeathed  were  insufficient  for  the  purchase  of  the  necessary 
real  estate,  and  the  expenses  of  carrying  on  said  institution,  said 
funds  Avere  to  be  invested  until,  supplemented  by  additions  of  like 
character,  and  appropriations  w^hich  it  is  anticipated  may  be  made 
by  the  city,  shall  be  sufficient  to  create  and  maintain  said  hospital; 
*the  testator  also  expressing  the  desire  that  said  hospital  shall  bear 
the  name  of  the  person  donating  the  largest  sum  of  money  for 
the  erection  and  maintenance  of  the  same. 

Protracted  Litigation. — The  will  of  Mr.  De  Roo  was  executed 
August  5,  1883,  with  Edward  Oviatt  and  George  G.  Allen  as  wit- 
nesses, and  Messrs.  William  Rowley  and  John  F.  Viall  named  as 
executors.  Mr.  De  Roo  died  on  the  3rd  day  of  November,  1883  the 
\srill  being  duly  probated  on  the  5th  day  of  that  month. 

It  was  at  first  thought  that  the  net  amount  of  this  benevolent 
and  humane  bequest  would  be  fully  $10,000,  but  that  sum  was 
considerably  diminished  by  the  proceedings  which  follow:  The 
deceased  had  boarded  for  many  years  in  a  family  of  the  same 
nationality  as  himself,  by  the  name  of  Pouchot,  having  regularly 
paid  his  board  at  a  stipulated  price  per  week,  the  last  $20  due 
being  paid  by  him  upon  the  day  of  his  removal  to  other  quarters, 
September  28,  1883. 

Subsequently,  however,  Mrs.  Pouchot  presented  a  claim  to  the 
-executors  for  the  sum  of  $2,016.67  for  nursing,  care  and  attend- 
ance, including  washing  and  ironing,  from  November  5,  1877,  to 
September  28,  1883,  at  the  rate  of  six  and  two-third  dollars  per 
week.  This  claim  being  rejected  by  the  executors,  suit  w^as 
brought  for  its  enforcement  in  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  at 
the  May  term,  1885,  the  jury  rendered  a  verdict  in  favor  of  the 
plaintiff  in  the  sum  of  $1,645.46. 


1094  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Attorneys  for  the  defense  filed  a  motion  for  a  new  trial,  one  of 
the  grounds  of  which  "was  that  the  verdict  was  excessive,  and 
another  that  a  verdict  for  plaintiff  was  not  sustained  by  the  evi- 
dence and  w^as  contrary  to  law^.  The  court,  on  due  consideration 
of  the  motion,  made  the  following  entry  in  the  case:  "The  court 
being  of  the  opinion  that  the  amount  of  damages  a\\rarded  by  the 
jury  is  excessive  in  the  sum  of  $800,  and  the  plaintiff,  now  here  in 
court,  consenting  to  remit  the  excess  aforesaid,  therefore  the  Court 
overrules  the  motion  for  a  new  trial,  and  that  the  plaintiff  recover 
from  the  said  executors  $845.46,  the  residue  of  the  damages  by 
the  jury  awarded,  together  with  costs,  taxed  at  $132.14. 

TRUST  ACCEPTED  BY  COUNCIL. 

On  the  final  settlement  of  the  estate,  the  executors  turned  ov^er 
to  the  city  the  sum  of  $8,012- 16,  which  was  duly  accepted  by  an 
ordinance  passed  February  1,  1886,  the  ordinance  also  providing 
for  the  appointment  of  three  resident  freeholders  of  the  city  of 
Akron  to  act  as  commissioners  of  said  hospital  fund,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  keeping  said  fund  properly  "invested  until  such  time  as 
said  sum,  with  its  accumulations,  and  such  additions  as  may  be 
made  thereto  by  donations,  or  appropriations,  shall  be  sufficient  to 
erect  and  maintain  an  institution  which  shall  be  at  once  a  credit 
to  the  city,  and  an  honor  to  its  founders."  The  present  trustees 
(1891)  are  Henry  Perkins,  president,  Burdette  L.  Dodge,  secretary, 
and  Joseph  Kendall.    Amount  now  in  fund,  July  1,  1891,  $10,200.16. 

OTHER  CHARITABLE  OPERATIONS. 

While  the  people  of  Akron,  and  the  county  generally,  have 
ever  been  liberal  in  the  dispensation  of  private  charities,  as  indi- 
viduals, much  has  also  been  done  by  organized  and  systematic 
effort  in  that  direction.  Most  of  the  churches  of  both  Akron  and< 
the  surrounding  villages  and  townships  through  appropriate  com- 
mittees, afford  abundant  relief  to  their  own  invalid  and  indigent 
people,  while  all  of  the  beneficiary  orders  also  look  carefully  after 
their  ow^n  sick  and  needy  members.  In  addition  to  this,  in  special 
hard  times,  and  in  extremely  severe  Winters,  county  and  society 
aid  has  for  many  years  been  supplemented  by  organized  action 
through  citizens'  committees. 

Akron  Board  of  Charities. — ^The  duties  of  such  committees 
ceasing  with  the  emergency  which  called  them  into  existence,  it 
■was  at  length  deemed  advisable  that  some  more  permanent 
system  should  be  devised.  Accordingly,  on  a  numerously  signed 
petition,  in  December,  1884,  the  council  appointed  a  committee  of 
citizens  consisting  of  Messrs.  O.  C.  Barber,  W.  H.  Upson,  N.  D. 
Tibbals,  Michael  O'Neil  and  T.  C.  Raynolds  to  see  what  could  be 
done  in  the  premises.  On  the  report  of  this  committee,  to  a  public 
meeting,  held  January  13,  1885,  the  Akron  Board  of  Charities  -was 
organized,  all  contributors  to  be  members  for  the  current  year,  the 
aims  of  the  board  being  tersely  stated  thus:  "1.  To  see  that  all 
deserving  cases  of  destitution  are  properly  relieved.  2.  To  prevent 
indiscriminate  and  duplicate  giving.  3.  To  make  employment  the 
basis  of  relief.  4.  To  secure  community  from  imposture.  5.  To 
reduce  vagrancy  and  pauperism  and  ascertain  their  true  causes."^ 

Present  officers:  (1888)  N.  D.  Tibbals,  president;  Nathan 
Morse,  secretary;  B.  C.  Herrick,  treasurer,  with  four  trustees — two' 


AKRON    UNION   CHARITY   ASSOCIATION.  1095 

ladies  and  two  gentlemen — in  each  ward  to  investigate  and  report 
cases  of  destitution  in  their  particular  localities,  and  order  such 
relief  as  may  be  deemed  necessary. 

The  resources  of  the  board  are  voluntary  contributions,  the 
amounts  distributed,  ranging  from  $500  to  $1,500  per  year. 

Women's  Benevolent  Association. — This  is  an  institution 
similar  in.  design  but  operated  on  somewhat  different  methods 
from  the  board  above  named.  By  the  generosity  of  our  citizens, 
the  Association  is  the  owner  of  a  Home,  on  South  High  street, 
immediately  north  of  the  Congregational  Church,  costing,  with 
the  heating  apparatus,  $4,750.  It  is  maintained  entirely  by  ladies, 
and  advisory  board  of  six  gentlemen — one  from  each  w^ard — its 
present  officers  (1888)  being  as  follows:  Mrs.  J.  A  .Long,  president; 
Mrs.  L.  A.  Meacham,  treasurer;  Mrs;  J.  W.  Lyder,  recording 
secretary;  Mrs.  E.  A.  Josselyn,  corresponding  secretary;  with  one 
vice  president  for  each  ward  and  with  Miss  Lou  Lusk  as 
missionary. 

Though  much  direct  aid  is  given  from  time  to  time,  the  main 
feature  of  this  institution  is  to  teach  the  needy  to  help  themselves. 
To  this  end  Avhat  are  denominated  "Mother's  Meetings"  are  held 
at  the  Home,  weekly,  at  which  mothers  of  families  are  taught  to 
cut,  make  and  mend  garments  for  themselves  and  children,  pro- 
vided w^ith  the  necessary  materials  in  return  for  a  reasonable 
amount  of  labor,  such  as  tying  comforters,  making  carpets,  and 
any  plain  sewing  that  members  of  the  society  and  other  ladies 
desire  to  have  done,  from  80  to  120  mothers  thus  assembling  and 
industriously  w^orking  every  Friday,  not  only  receiving  full  pay 
for  the  work  they  thus  do,  but,  far  better,  receiving  such  intelli- 
gent instructions  as  will  enable  them*  to  do  more  and  better  >vork 
at  their  own  homes,  on  the  other  days  of  the  week,  than  they 
otherwise  could  do. 

There  is  also  a  kindergarten,  and  an  industrial  department,  for 
girls  and  young  children,  with  a  roll  of  185,  and  an  average  attend- 
ance of  110  on  Saturdays;  the  girls  being  taught  to  do  plain  sewing 
and  other  domestic  w^ork,  and  given  such  educational  and  moral 
instruction  as  their  several  necessities  seem  to  require. 

Since  the  foregoing  was  compiled  and  published  in  serial  form, 
the  two  societies  have  been  consolidated,  under  the  title  of 

THE  UNION   CHARITY  ASSOCIATION   OF  AKRON. 

The  Association  w^as  duly  incorporated  December  4,  1889,  the 
corporators  being  A.  L.  Conger,  A.  P.  Baldwin,  Ferd.  Schumacher, 
Mrs.  W.  K,  Foltz,  Mrs.  L.  A.  Meacham,  Mrs.  Henry  Perkins,  Mrs. 
Anna  L.  Booth,  Mrs.  Celia  Baldwin,  Mrs.  Martha  Manderbach, 
Miss  Clara  W.  Botsford,  Mrs.  Frances  Sweitzer,.  R.  H.  Wright,  N. 
D.  Tibbals,  O.  C.  .Barber,  Mrs.  Sumner  Nash,  Mrs.  L.  J.  Brewster, 
Mrs.  Laura  K,  Fraunfelter,  and  Miss  Lou  A,  Lusk.  The  constitu- 
tion of  the  Association  is  as  follows: 

Akticle  I. — This  organization  shall  be  called  the  "  Union  Charity  Asso- 
ciation." 

Article  II.— Its  aim  shall  be  to  see  that  all  deserving-  cases  of  destitu- 
tion are  properly  relieved,  and  to  make  employment  the  basis  of  relief  ;  also 
to  promote  the  moral,  educational  and  industrial  interests  of  all  who  may 
come  under  its  care,  and  by  a  system  of  thorough  visitation  and  investiga- 
tion to  prevent  wasteful  and  indiscriminate  alms-giving. 


1096  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Article  III. — Section  /.—All  cash  contributors,  of  g'ood  inoral  char- 
acter, who  shall  have  subscribed  to  the  charter,  shall  be  eligible  to  member- 
ship. Section  II. — Meinbers  may  be  elected  at  any  reg"ular  ineeting-  of  the 
association,  by  a  inajority  vote,  after  the  tiominations  have  been  referred  to 
and  reported  from  a  prudential  committee. 

Article  TV.— Section  I. — The  officers  shall  be  elected  annually,  by 
ballot,  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  October,  and  shall  consist  of  president,  two 
vice  presidents,  treasurer  and  secretar}".  Section  II. — There  shall  also  be  one 
lady  trustee  from  each  ward,  who  shall  be  elected  by  the  association,  whose 
duty  it  shall  be  to  have  charge  of  the  work  in  the  ward,  each  trustee  to  choose 
the  needed  assistants,  the  names  of  such  persons  to  be  presented  to,  and 
approved  by,  the  association. 

Article  V. — The  trustees  shall  consist  of  the  president,  vice  president, 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  association,  and  one  gentleman  and  one  lady, 
for  each  ward,  who  shall  have  charge  of  real  property,  stock,  or  bonds,  or 
evidence  of  indebtedness  and  contracts  belonging'  to  the  association.  They 
shall  approve  of  all  transfers  of  real  property,  stocks  or  bonds,  before  the 
same  shall  be  legal.  They  shall  approve  of  the  investments  of  funds  of  the 
association. 

Article  VI. — The  executive  committee  of  this  association,  shall  con- 
sist of  the  president,  vice  president,  trustees,  secretary  and  treasurer,  who 
shall  hold  monthly  meetings,  as  they  may  designate.  At  these  meetings  a 
majority  shall  be  a  quorum,  for  the  transaction  of  all  business.  They  shall 
prescribe  the  duties  of  all  executive  officers  of  this  association,  not  herein 
prescribed,  and  inay  appoint  such  coinmittees  as  the}^  may  deem  necessary, 
to  carry  on  the  work,  under  their  supervision  and  control.  Thej"  shall  also 
make  all  necessary  rules  and  regulations  for  the  maintenance  of  the  rooms. 

A  concise  and  practical  code  of  by-laws  was  also  formulated 
and  adopted,  under  which  the  work  of  the  Association  is  now 
being  harmoniously  and  most  efficiently  prosecuted,  the  present 
officers  (November,  1891),  being  as  follows:  Colonel  A.  L.  Conger, 
president;  Mrs.  L.  A.  Meacham,  first  vice  president;  Judge  N.  D. 
Tibbals,  second  vice  presidjsnt;  B.  F.  Clark,  secretary;  Mrs. 
Anna  L.  Booth,  assistant  secretary;  M.  T.  Cutter,  treasurer; 
Mrs.  Sumner  Nash,  superintendent  kitchengarten;  Mrs. 
N.  D.  Tibbals,  superintendent  industrial  department;  Mrs. 
Alexander  Brewster,  assistant;  Miss  Lou  A.  Lusk,  matron 
of  Home  and  city  missionary;  Mrs.  Lucy  Stall,  superintendent  of 
industrial  school.  Trustees,  elected  in  October,  1891:  First  ward, 
R.  H.  Wright  and  Mrs  S.  M.  Dussell,  Mrs.  Mary  J.  Crain,  assistant; 
Second  ward,  Michael  O'  Neil  and  Mrs.  W.  K.  Foltz,  Mrs.  Henry 
Perkins,  assistant;  Third  ward,  Rev.  T.  F.  Mahar  and  Mrs.  A. 
P.  Baldwin,  Miss  Kate  Hurley,  assistant;  Fourth  ward,  John  A. 
Wagoner  and  Mrs.  E.  Hitchcock,  Mrs.  L.  A.  Chisnell,  assistant; 
Fifth  ward,  Frank  D.  Cassidy  and  Mrs.  S.  W.  Pike,  Mrs.  J.  W. 
Dunn,  assistant;  Sixth  ward,  Harvey  Baldwin  and  Miss  Sarah 
Buckingham,  Miss  Eva  Gregory,  assistant.  Standing  Committees: 
Entertainment,  Mrs.  Henry  Perkins,  M.  T.  Cutter,  Michael  O'Neil 
and  N.  D.  Tibbals;  Prudential,  Mrs.  Alexander  Brewster,  Mrs.  A. 
P.  Baldwin,  R.  H.  Wright  and  Ferd.  Scliumacher. 

AKRON  DAY  NURSERY. 

October  18,  1890,  the  "Heart  and  Hand"  and  the  "Wayside" 
Circles  of  the  Order  of  the  King's  Daughters,  jointly  established  a 
Day  Nursery,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  a  home  during  the  day  to 
the  children  of  working  women,  being  temporarily  given  the  use 
of  a  room  in  the  Home  of  the  L^nion  Charity  Association,  116 
South  High  street,  the  members,  on  organization,  being:  Mrs, 
Mary   Raymond,    president;    Miss    Anna    Ganter,    vice    president; 


MARY    DA,Y   NURSERY.  1097 

Miss  Carita  McEbright,  secretary;  Miss  Bessie  Raymond,  treas- 
urer; Misses  Belle  Adams,  Gertrude  Commins,  Addle  Commins, 
Julia  Crouse,  Mary  Crouse,  Mrs.  Rose  Christy,  Misses  Belle  Green, 
Helen  Humphrey,  Maud  Watters,  Mary  Buell,  Lizzie  Griffin, 
Martha  Henry,  Julia  McGregor,  Mary  Miller,  Helen  Storer,  Harriet 
Wise  and  Alice  Work. 

Rules  for  receiving  and  caring  for  children  in  the  nursery, 
were  adopted  as  follows: 

I.  No  child  shall  be  received  permanently  in  the  nursery,  until  the 
chairman  is  satisfied,  by  thorough  investigation  that  such  child  is  a  proper 
subject  for  admission, 

II.  No  children  can  be  kept  at  the  nursery,  but  those  whose  mothers  are 
At  work  away  from  their  homes  during-  the  day,  or  are  engaged  at  home  in 
such  work  for  wages  that  they  cannot  give  their  children  proper  care. 

III.  The  admission  fee  shall  be  five  cents  a  day  for  one  child;  twelve 
cents  where  three  come  from  one  family;  fifteen  cents  -where  four  come 
from  one  family. 

IV.  No  child  shall  be  admitted  free  of  charge,  nor  unless  the  mother  is 
willing  to  conform  to,  and  have  her  child  obey  the  rules  of  the  nursery. 

V.  No  child  shall  be  received  before  6:30  A.  M.,  or  remain  after  7  P.  M. 

VI.  No  child  shall  be  received  in  the  nursery,  who  has  anj^  contagious 
•disease  or  who  comes  from  a  home  where  such  disease  exists. 

VII.  The  matron  shall  see  that  every  child  is  properly  washed,  on 
arrival  in  the  nursery,  and  neatly  dressed,  when  necessary  in  garments  from 
the  nursery  wardrobe.  These  garments  shall  never  be  worn  away  from  the 
nursery. 

Besides  liberal  contributions  from  several  persons,  funds  have 
from  time  to  time  been  raised  by  tableaux  and  other  entertain- 
ments, so  that  the  expenses  of  this  most  worthj'^  benevolent  enter- 
prise have  thus  far  been  readily  met,  for  of  course,  the  moderate 
per  diem  fee  charged  for  admission  and  care  of  such  children  as 
come  to  them  w^ill  not  go  far  towards  defraying  the  cost  of  its 
maintenance,  one  of  the  most  successful  entertainments  in  its 
behalf  being  the  musicale  given  at  Irving  Lawn,  the  fine  new 
home  of  Col.  and  Mrs.  A.  L.  Conger,  on  the  evening  of  September 
21,  1891,  by  which  $200  were  added  to  the  treasury. 

MARY  DAY  NURSERY. 

After  gratuitous  occupation  of  quarters  in  the  Home  of  the 
Union  Charity  Association,  for  about  one  year,  on  the  evening  of 
October  20, 1891,  the  Nursery  Association  gave  a  general  and  largely 
attended  reception  in  its  own  well-appointed  Home,  406  South 
High  street,  the  house  and  lot  being  generously  donated  to  the 
Association  by  Colonel  George  T.  Perkins,  in  behalf  of  his  first 
grandchild,  little  Mary  Raymond,  in  honor  of  whom  the  name 
was  changed  from  the  Akron  Day  Nursery  to  the  "Mary  Day 
Nursery,"  and  under  that  name  was  duly  incorporated  September 
18,  1891,  five  trustees  being  elected  as  follows:  Colonel  George  T. 
Perkins,  Frank  M.  Atterholt,  Henry  C.  Corson,  Mrs.  Charles  B. 
Raymond  and  Miss  Helen  A.  Storer;  the  original  officers,  as  above 
given,  being  re-elected  for  another  year;  Miss  Flora  E.  Hanchett 
being  chosen  matron. 

In  her  first  annual  report  the  secretary  says:  "There  are 
eighteen  children  on  the  roll;  aggregate  attendance,  571;  average 
daily  attendance,  three;  there  was  no  day  without  children,  the 
largest  attendance  in  one  day  being  eight." 


1098  «  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

The  new  Home,  so  generously  provided,  was  furnished  in  a 
like  generous  manner,  by  useful  and  timely  gifts  of  furniture,, 
stoves,  crockery,  cutlery,  silvervi^are,  tinware,  kitchen  utensils,, 
clothing,  fuel,  oil,  etc.,  by  dealers  whose  names  cannot  be  enumer- 
ated here,  and  it  may  safely  be  predicted  that  the  Mary  Day  Nurs- 
ery is  destined  to  become  one  of  the  most  useful  of  the  many 
purely  philanthropic  institutions  of  our  proverbially  benevolent 
city  and  county — one  of  the  designs  of  its  managers  being  the 
establishment  of  a  kindergarten  in  connection  w^ith  the  Nursery 
at  an  early  day. 

OTHER   PHILANTHROPIC   WORK. 

Besides  the  local  church  and  other  benevolent  operations  in 
the  several  villages  and  townships  of  the  county,  there  are  also,  in 
Akron,  in  addition  to  those  enumerated,  the  Young  Men's  Christ- 
ian Association,  with  Rufus  Wright,  president;  Othello  W.  Hale, 
vice  president;  R,-  B.  Carter,  secretary;  and  Will  H,  Hunt,  .treasurer, 
under  the  very  efficient  management  of  General  Secretary  J.  New- 
ton Gunn;  the  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  with 
Mrs.  G.  C.  Berry  as  president,  Miss  H.  Hall  as  secretary,  Mrs. 
M.  J.  Crain  as  treasurer,  and  Miss  Mary  A.  Cushman  as  missionary 
and  friendly  visitor;  and  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union  with  Miss  Maud  A.  Le  Fevre  as  president,  and  Miss 
Maud  C.  Miller  as  secretary,  all  very  efficient  aids  in  the  benevo- 
lent and  reformatory  ^vork  of  the  city.  , 

It  w^ill  thus  be  seen  that  both  Summit  county  and  the  city  of 
Akron  are  fully  abreast  with  the  enlightened  and  humanitarian 
spirit  of  the  age,  in  charitable  deeds  and  methods,  as  w^ell  as  in 
educational,  agricultural,  commercial  and  manufacturing  enter- 
prise. 


CHAPTER  LIV. 

LABOR  FIFTY  YEARS  AGO  —  HISTORY  REPEATING  ITSELF  —  DISSATISFACTION, 
STRIKES,  RIOTS  AND  BLOODSHED  —  LABOR  ORGANIZATIONS  —  SHORTER 
HOURS  AND  INCREASED  PAY  DEMANDED  —  KICK  AGAINST  THE  "TRUCK 
AND  DICKER"  SYSTEM— POLITICAL  COMBINATIONS—SUCCESSES,  DEFEATS^ 
ETC.  —  MECHANICS'  ASSOCIATION,  READING  ROOM,  LIBRARY,  ETC.  —  FINAL 
OUTCOME,  LESSON  INCULCATED,  ETC. 

THE  TWELVE   HOUR  DAY. 

REFERRING  to,  and  apropos  of,  the  matters,  and  things  treated 
of  in  chapter  IV.,  a  concise  history  of  the  status  of  labor  in 
Akron,  and  else^vhere,  half  a  century  ago,  •will  be  in  order  here. 
Then  in  all  departments  of  mechanical  labor  t\Nrelve  hours  consti- 
tuted a  day's  w^ork,  necessitating  the  working  from  two  to  three 
hours  by  candle-light  five  nights  in  the  week,  during  the  Winter 
months. 

Growing  Dissatisfaction.— This  elongated  day's  work,  taken 
in  connection  with  the  lowness  of  w^ages,  and  the  "truck  and 
dicker"  system  of  payments  heretofore  described,  created  the  most 
intense  dissatisfaction  among  the  laboring  classes,  and  called 
forth  many  efforts  and  schemes  for  the  amelioration  of  their  con- 
dition, with  frequent  strikes,  and  occasional  mobs  and  bloody  riot» 
in  different  cities  of  the  country. 

Besides  the  precarious  nature  of  his  pay,  the  wages  of  the 
mechanic  and  the  laborer  were  scarcely  half  the  present  rates, 
while  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  necessaries  of  life — clothing 
of  all  kinds,  calicoes,  cotton  cloths,  boots  and  shoes,  sugars,  teas, 
coffees,  crockery,  cutlery,  etc.,  were,  on  the  average,  nearly  double 
present  prices,  though  of  course,  farm  products  were  considerably 
cheaper  then  than  now. 

First  Labor  Movement  in  Akron. — As  early  as  March  2, 1837, 
The  Akron  Journal  (Judge  Bryan's  paper)  contains  this  notice: 

"The  mechanics  of  Akron  and  vicinity,  are  requested  to  meet  at  the 
school  house  in  South  Akron,  on  Monday  evening  next  at  6  o'clock,  with  a 
view  to  the  formation  of  a  Mechanics'  Association.  It  is  hoped  that  every 
mechanic  in  the  place  will  be  punctual  to  the  hour  in  his  attendance. 

At  this  meeting,  which  was  largely  attended,  two  committees 
w^ere  appointed — one  to  draft  a  constitution  for  the  government  of 
the  Association,  and  the  other  to  report,  to  an  adjourned  meeting, 
candidates  to  be  supported  at  the  ensuing  township  election.  The 
objects  to  be  attained  by  such  action,  and  the  motives  actuating 
the  several  participants,  seems  to  have  been  quite  misunderstood, 
as  appears  by  a  wordy  and  somewhat  personal  controversy 
between  Ansel  Miller  (carpenter)  and  Ithiel  Mills  (harness  maker) 
in  the  succeeding  numbers  of  the  Journal. 

Ansel  Miller's  Views. — In  his  first  article,  Mr.  Miller,  a& 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  nominations  (the  names  of  the  can- 
didates reported  are  not  published),  after  explaining  the  action  of 


1100  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

the  two  meetings,  and  expressing  the  beUef  that  the  ticket  "  will 
meet  the  approbation  of  a  majority  of  the  sober,  candid  and 
respectable  citizens  of  Portage  township"  said 

"As  to  auy  distinction  between  different  classes  of  citizens,  your  com- 
mittee beg-  leave  to  state,  that  it  was  agreed,  and  we  believe  inet  with  the 
approbation  of  a  larg^e  majoritj^  of  those  present,  that  all  honorable  pursuits, 
whether  professional  or  mechanical,  where  industry  or  moral  deportment 
renders  them  worthy  of  public  confidence,  were  equally  deserving  the  suf- 
frages of  this  Association.  *  *  *  It  is  true  our  citizenship  does  not  extend 
back  as  far  as  the  days  of  keg  money,  when  the  votes  of  a  whole  township 
could  be  bought  with  a  churn  of  egg-nog ;  when  we  were  ruled  by  a  set  of 
men  who  have  left  a  stigma  upon  this  place  that  nothing-  but  time  can 
remove.  *  *  *  We  lay  aside  all  political  prejudice, and  party  feelings, and 
act  solely  with  reference  to  the  promotion  of  justice,  virtue  and  morality." 

Marshal  Mills  Demurs. — Major  Mills,  who  had  held  the  office 
of  to\^nship  constable  for  several  years,  and  was  then  village  mar- 
shal, and  also,  by  appointment,  a  deputy  United  States  marshal, 
took  exceptions  to  Mr.  Miller's  remarks  —  especially  the  "keg 
money"  and  the  "egg-nog"  portion  thereof — and  in  a  long  reply, 
among  other  things,  said: 

"You  must  not  think.  Sir,  to  screen  yourself  from  the  severe  castig-ation 
which  jrou  so  richly  merit,  and  with  impunity  trifle  with  the  feelings  of  those 
that  are  but  little  inferior  to  yourself,  in  points  that  constitute  the  man. 
■Citizens!  you  have  heard  the  charge,  are  you  prepared  to  ineet  it?  Is  the 
charg-e  true  or  false?  If  true,  submit  in  silence;  if  not,  spurn  it  as  you 
would  the  deeds  of  the  midnight  assassin." 

Mr.  Miller's  Rejoinder. — In  his  column  and  a  half  rejoinder, 
Mr.  Miller  goes  back  at  Mr.  Mills  thus: 

"For  what  reason  do  I  so  richly  merit  this  severe  castig-ation,  Mr.  M.? 
Is  it  because  I  have  for  years  past  been  co-operating-  with  others  to  put  an 
end  to  those  abominable  practices?  Or  is  it  because  reference  is  made  to 
practices  and  transactions  of  which  the  gentleman  dare  not  attempt  a 
denial?" 

Mechanics'  Ticket  Defeated. — The  inharmony  indicated  in 
the  foregoing  extracts,  brought  defeat  to  the  ticket  nominated  by 
the  mechanics,  a  "People's"  ticket,  composed  of  both  Whigs  and 
Democrats,  being  elected  as  follows:  William  B.  Mitchell,  Miner 
Spicer  and  John  Sherbondy,  trustees;  Samuel  A.  Wheeler  treas- 
urer; Franklin  C,  May,  clerk;  Isaac  NcAvton,  Moses  Cleveland  and 
Warren  H.  Smith,  constables;  William  E.  Wright  and  Erastus 
Torrey,  overseers  of  poor;  Horace  K.  Smith,  Joseph  Cole  and 
Constant  Bryan,  school  inspectors. 

What  Shall  be  Done  With  the  Funds? — In  the  Journal,  of 
April  20,  1837,  A.  R.  Townsend,  assistant  secretary,  announces  that 
a  meeting  of  the  Mechanics'  and  Workingmen's  Association  will 
be  held  on  Monday  evening.  May,  1st,  "for  the  purpose  of  taking 
into  consideration  the  disposition  of  the  funds  now  in  the  treasury," 
The  result  of  this  meeting  is  not  recorded,  but  one  thing  is  sure, 
the  custodian  of  the  "funds"  did  not  abscond  with  them  to 
Canada,  or  squander  them  on  "margins." 

The  Carpenters  Unite. — May  11,  1837,  the  Journal  contains 
this  notice: 

"The  members  of  the  Carpenters'  and  Joiners'  Society  of  Akron,  are 
requested  to  meet  at  the  school  house.  South  Akron,  on  Thursda}'-  16th  inst., 
at  early  candlelight;  at  which  time  committee  on  prices  will  present  their 
price-book  for  adoption,  and  transact  such  other  business  as  inay  be  thought 
proper. 

E.  N.  BANGS,  Sec'y  of  said  Society." 


LABOR   AND    POLITICS.  1101 

Again  in  Politics. — The  American  Balance  of  September 
21,  1837,  publishes  this  notice: 

"The  mechanics  and  workingrnen  of  Portage  township,  are  requested  to 
meet  at  the  school  house,  in  South  Akron,  on  Monday  evening',  September  25, 
1837,  at  6  o'clock,  to  take  into  consideration  the  propriety  of  calling  a  county 
convention,  to  make  a  ticket  to  be  supported  at  the  next  election  by  the 
mechanics  and  workinginen  of  Portage  county.     By  order  of  the  President, 

N.  FAY,  Secretary." 

The  meeting  was  adjourned  until  the  evening  of  September 
30,  but  there  is  no  record  as  to  whether  a  separate  w^orkingmen's 
ticket  was  put  in  nomination  or  not,  though  if  there  "was  it  failed 
of  success,  the  regular  Whig  county  ticket  being  elected. 

"Innocuous  Desuetude." — From  this  time  on,  for  fully  eight 
years,  the  mechanics  and  workingmen  of  Akron,  so  far  as  political 
action  or  general  organization  is  concerned,  remained  quiescent, 
though  the  different  trades,  such  as  carpenters,  painters,  etc., 
would  occasionally  combine  to  regulate  prices  for  work,  but  these 
combinations  the  unstable  and  precarious  sheep's  gray — pot-metal 
— shinplaster^ — truck  and  dicker  system  of  payment,  heretofore 
detailed,  w^ould  render  of  very  short  duration. 

In  1845,  hovi^ever,  there  seems  to  have  been  a  "  movement  all 
along  the  line,"  in  the  direction  of  bettering  the  condition  of  labor, 
not  only  for  better  and  more  stable  pay,  but  for  a  shorter  day. 

Striking  Carpenters. — The  Beacon,  of  April  9,  1845,  says: 

"There  has  been  a  strike  among  the  carpenters  of  Cincinnati.  They 
turned  out  in  a  body,  with  music.  They  demand  $1 .50  a  day,  in  cash,  instead 
of  $1.25  in  orders." 

The  $1.25  per  day,  then  paid  for  skilled  labor  in  Cincinnati, 
was  considerably  higher  than  the  average  in  the  western  country 
at  that  period.  In  this  vicinity,  in  the  early  forties,  competent 
mechanics  (single  men)  could  be  hired  at  the  rate  of  $100  per 
year,  and  board,  and  paid  in  orders  on  stores,  and  other  "truck,"  at 
that;  the  same  grade  of  workmen,  having  families  and  boarding 
themselves,  commanding  from  $18  to  $20  a  month,  only,  w^ith  the 
same  kind  of  pay;  common  laborers  receiving  from  50  to  62^ 
cents  per  day,  and  finding  themselves.  One  of  the  present  solid 
men  of  Summit  county — Mr.  Peter  Lepper,  of  Springfield,  then 
about  20  years  of  age — in  1845,  sawed,  split,  and  carried  up  two 
flights  of  stairs  for  the  writer,  a  full  cord  of  stove  wood,  for  fifty 
cents  (a  little  under  current  rates,  perhaps,  because  of  his  being 
paid  in  cash,  instead  of  store  goods);  a  reminiscence  that  Mr.  Lep- 
per delights  to  recall  w^henever  he  and  the  writer  chance  to  meet, 
Mr.  L.,  perhaps,  considering  that  hard-earned  half  dollar  the  chief 
corner-stone  of  the  magnificent  farm  and  other  valuable  posses- 
sions of  w^hich  he  is  now  the  ow^ner. 

Striking  Mill  Operatives. — The  Beacon  of  May  28,  1845, 
chronicles  a  strike  in  a  Pittsburg  iron  mill,  for  an  advance  of  one 
dollar  per  ton;  and  in  October  of  the  same  year,  speaks  of  "a  great 
excitement  in  Pittsburg  and  Allegheny  in  consequence  of  a  turn- 
out, or  strike,  in  the  factories  of  the  latter  city,  on  the  demand  for 
a  ten  hour  day,  in  which  there  had  been  disorderly  and  mobbish 
demonstrations,  with  considerable  damage  to  property,  though  it 
was  believed  that  most  of  them  would  soon  return  to  work  under 
the  former  system." 


1102  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

A  few^  months  later  is  the  announcement  of  a  strike  of  the 
■workmen  on  the  new  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  dock,  for  higher  -wages,  and 
fe\vrer  hours  of  labor,  the  new  hands  employed  by  the  contractor 
being  driven  from  their  -work  by  the  strikers;  the  military  being 
called  out  and  one  of  the  strikers  killed;  the  house  of  one  of  the 
contractors  being  fired  by  the  mob  and  destroyed.  Wonderfully 
like  the  strike  operations  of  1891,  isn't  it? 

Akron  Operatives  Try  It  On. — In  the  temperance  paper,  the 
Cascade  Roarer,  published  by  the  writer,  under  date  of  Novem- 
ber 11,  1845,  is  this  announcement: 

"  The  hands  in  one  of  our  factories  struck  for  higher  wag-es  last  week. 
They  generally  receive  their  pay  in  woolen  cloth,  and  as  they  cannot  get  as 
much  for  it  at  the  stores,  by  two  shillings  per  yard  as  they  were  obliged  to 
allow  for  it,  they  entered  into  a  solid  compact,  refusing  to  work  until  the 
price  was  lowered,  and  yesterday  not  one  of  them  would  throw  a  shuttle." 

The  Ten  Hour  System.— In  the  issue  of  December  9,  1845,  the 
w^riter,  in  speaking  of  the  "Ten  Hour  System,"  editorially  said: 

"A  great  many  employers,  manufacturers  and  others,  have  recently 
been  inquiring  into  the  system,  and  it  appears  are  indicating  a  determina- 
tion to  be  foremost  in  effecting  a  reformation  of  the  slavish  drudgery  to 
which  many  mechanics  and  others  are  now  subjected,  without  decent  time 
for  recreation  and  enjoyment." 

After  alluding  to  a  similar  movement  in  Kngland,  the  w^riter 
added,  in  closing: 

"We  hope  that  among  the  manufacturers  of  our  own  country,  a  reform 
may  be  set  in  motion,  which  will  also  bring  about  these  good  results." 

Massillon  Takes  a  Hand  In. — On  the  5th  of  May,  1846,  a 
general  strike  of  the  mechanics  of  Massillon  is  announced,  "  w^ho 
in  a  body  refused  to  perform  any  more  labor  until  a  reformation  is 
effected,"  and  who,  in  a  circular,  called  upon  their  brother 
mechanics  in  the  United  States  to  assist  them  in  carrying  out 
their  measures — the  ten  hour  day,  and  cash  payments.  The  Mas- 
sillonians  became  so  enthusiastic  that  they  not  only  formed  a 
compact  organization,  similar  to  the  modern  trades'  unions,  but 
sent  missionaries  into  other  industrial  towns  and  villages,  to  work 
up  an  interest  in  the  good  cause. 

Mechanics'  Association  in  Akron. — Two  of  their  mission- 
aries, Messrs.  Dodd  and  Mathews,  addressed  a  large  meeting  of 
our  mechanics,  at  Military  Hall,  on  the  evening  of  June  23,  1846, 
resulting  in  the  organization  of  the  "Mechanics'  Association  of 
Akron,"  w^ith  David  F.  Bruner,  president;  Jeremiah  Crissman  and 
William  S.  Painton,  vice  presidents;  H.  G.  Allen,  recording  secre- 
tary; D.  G.  Sanford,  corresponding  secretary,  and  James  M.  Hale, 
treasurer. 

So  rapid  was  the  growth  of  the  society  that  a  delegation  of 
nearly  100  members  attended  the  spirited  celebration  held  by  the 
Massillon  Association,  on  the  ensuing  Fourth  of  July,  chartering 
a  canal  boat  for  that  purpose,  and  marching  in  procession,  with 
appropriate  music,  banners,  mottoes,  etc.  An  oration,  or  address, 
appropriate  to  both  the  day  and  the  cause,  was  delivered  by 
Reuben  McMillan,  Esq.  (father  of  Mrs.  D.  E.  Hill,  of  the  Sixth" 
Ward),  then  a  prominent  manufacturer  in  Massillon — a  former  part- 
ner of  Messrs.  David  and  Jesse  Allen,  in  Akron,  and  afterwards 
senior  member  of  the  firm  of  McMillan,  Irish  &  Co.,  for  several 


LABOR    AND   LITERATURE.  1103 

years    extensive    manufacturers    of    wool   carding   and    spinning 
machinery  in  Middlebury. 

On  a  Strictly  Cold  Water  Basis. — In  reporting  this  celebra- 
tion, the  ^vriter,  in  his  Cascade  Roarer,  said: 

"The  exercises  were  conducted  on  strict  cold  water  principles,  and,  to 
their  honor  be  it  said,  the  mechanics  would  not  let  a  grocery  keeper  estab- 
lish a  stand  upon  the  grounds,  for  the  sale  of  even  small  beer,  ginger- 
bread, etc." 

And  in  the  same  issue,  under  the  head  of  "  We  go  for  Refortti," 
the  writer  editorially  said: 

"An  interest  of  no  inconsiderable  extent,  has  been  awakened  in  our 
village,  and  now,  while  the  ball  is  in  motion,  let  us  urge  all  to  take  an 
energetic  interest  in  keeping  up  the  motion.  Let  it  not  be  an  ephemeral 
excitement.  The  cause  is  well  worthy  the  unceasing  exertion  of  all  classes. 
If  the  contemplated  victory  is  achieved,  it  will  promote  the  happiness,  as 
well  as  the  interest,  of  the  merchant,  the  lawyer,  the  doctor,  the  employer, 
the  inechanic  and  the  laboring  man.  It  is  a  fact,  if  there  is  any  virtue  in 
civilization,  that  the  inore  mankind  are  elevated,  the  better  calculated  are 
they  to  advance  the  happiness  and  the  prosperity  of  the  great  human 
family." 

Mechanics'  Library. — To  show  with  what  promptness  and 
kindliness  the  w^ell-to^do  people  of  Akron  responded  to  this  move- 
ment, not  only  w^ere  the  demands  for  the  ten  hour  day,  and  cash 
payments,  generallj''  acceded  to  with  a  good  grace,  by  employers, 
but  a  movement  w^as  immediately  inaugurated  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Mechanics'  Library  and  Reading  Room,  and  a  system  of 
lectures,  debates  and  other  literary  exercises,  for  the  special  benefit 
of  the  laboring  classes.  To  the  library  fund  Judge  James  R.  Ford 
and  Colonel  Simon  Perkins,  each  contributed  $50.00,  while  many 
other  liberal  donations,  both  in  money  and  books,  were  made, 
resulting  in  the  accumulation  of  some  250  volumes  of  the  best  sci- 
entific and  miscellaneous  w^orks  of  the  day,  for  circulation,  and  a 
large  number  of  the  best  periodicals  of  that  period  for  the  reading 
room,  which  was  open  on  stated  evenings  for  the  use  of  members 
of  the  Association,  and  other  contributors  to  the  library  and  reading 
fund. 

Another  Political  Twist. — March  3,  1848,  a  meeting  of  the 
w^orkingmen  of  Portage  township  w^as  held  at  Trussell's  Hall,  for 
the  purpose  of  forming  a  Working  Man's  Ticket,  at  w^hich  it  w^as 

"Resolved,  That  this  meeting  recognize  as  workingmen  only  those  who 
gain  their  subsistence  by  manual  labor. 

"i?eso/Ke(i,  That  this  meeting  set  aside  all  party  feuds,  prejudices  and 
feelings*  and  that  we  form  a  '  Working  Man's  Party.'  " 

At  an  adjourned  meeting,  held  at  the  same  place,  March  11,  a 
preamble  and  resolutions  w^ere  adopted  as  follows: 

"Whereas,  We  are  thoroughly  convinced  that  working  men  and  working' 
women,  have  never  held  that  station  in  society  to  which  their  high  calling 
entitles  them— being  naturally  the  most  independent  as  well  as  the  most 
useful  part  of  the  community,  and  ought  to  stand  first  and  foremost  in  all 
that  pertains  to  the  good  of  society,  the  elevation  of  the  human  family  and 
the  councils  of  a  free,  intelligent  and  happy  people  ;  Therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  we  will  throw  off  all  party  political  prejudices,  and  will 
unite  for  our  mutual  good  and  protection  against  the  encroachments  of 
wealth,  aristocracy  and  a  few  unprincipled  ofifice-seekers,  who  act  only  for 
their  own  aggrandizement." 


1104  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

A  committee  on  nominations,  consisting  of  K.  N.  Bangs,  J.  M, 
Hale,  W.  B.  Storer,  C.  G.  Hayes,  J.  Crissman,  S.  A.  Lane,  D.  Kirby, 
James  Holmes  and  J.  H.  Hand,  reported  the  following  ticket, 
which  w^as  adopted: 

For  trustees,  W,  B.  Storer,  David  Miller,  John  Ayres;  for  treas- 
urer, Zebulon  Jones;  for  clerk,  Tilman  Waggoner;  for  assessor, 
John  Shei'bondy;  for  constables,  Hiram  Force,  Jeremiah  Crissman, 
Asa  S.  Mariner;  for  justice  of  the  peace,  Joshua  C.  Berry. 

This  ticket  was  duly  elected,  and  on  the  26th  day  of  May  the 
following  ticket  for  corporation  officers  w^as  placed  in  nomination 
by  the  mechanics  and  laboring  men  of  Akron: 

For  Mayor,  James  Holmes;  for  recorder,  David  G.  Sanford; 
for  trustees,  Ansel  Miller,  David  F,  Bruner,  James  M.  Hale, 
Nathaniel  Finch,  Benjamin  McNaughton;  for  school  directors, 
James  B.  Taplin,  William  M.  Dodge. 

By  invitation  a  couple  of  young  lawyers  of  the  village  made 
addresses  at  the  nominating  meeting,  as  appears  by  the  following 
card  published  in  the  American  Democrat,  of  June  1,  1848: 

"The  mechanics  and  working-  men  of  Akron,  desire  to  express  their 
thanks  to  Messrs.  Edward  Oviatt  and  Charles  G.  Ladd,  for  their  instructive 
speeches,  on  Saturday  evening",  at  Trussell's  Hall,  and  especially  for  their 
explanation  of  the  laws  of  nations  and  of  the  qualifications  necessary  for 
workingmen  to  have,  before  they  can  go  on  a  foreign  mission,  or  represent 
their  constituents  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States." 

This  labor  ticket,  however,  was  defeated,  the  following  mixed 
or  people's  ticket  being  elected  :  Mayor,  Israel  E.  Carter;  recorder, 
Arad  Kent;  trustees,  Ansel  Miller,  John  M.  Cutler,  Nathaniel 
Finch,  George  W.  Bloom  and  Benjamin  McNaughton;  school 
directors,  Harvey  B.  Spelman  and  James  S.  Carpenter. 

First  Legal  Ten  Hour  Day. — This  item  in  the  American 
Democrat,  of  September  7,  1848.  so  far  as  the  writer  is  advised, 
announces  the  first  legislative  action  in  favor  of  the  ten  hour  day 
in  the  United  States: 

"The  Ten  Hour  Law.— A  law  restricting  the  hours  of  labor  to  ten 
hours  a  day,  has  been  passed  by  the  Legislature  of  Maine,  in  accordance 
with  the  wishes  of  the  mass  of  operatives  in  that  State.  Thus  is  the  good 
work  g-oing  forward.  Thus  will  the  masses  be  induced  to  contend  for  their 
rights  in  such  a  manner  as  to  teach  the  money  owners  thaf  their  labor  is  of 
equal,  and  even  greater  importance,  than  mere  money  wealth." 

The  Final  Outcome. — The  radical  changes  in  the  nature  of 
Akron's  industries — the  woolen  factory,  with  its  "sheep's  gray 
legal-tender  currency,"  having  entirely  disappeared — and  the 
improved  methods  of  performing  and  rewarding  labor,  that  have 
taken  place  within  the  past  forty  years,  has  also  brought  corre- 
sponding changes  in  the  nature  and  objects  of  labor  organizations, 
in  the  process  of  w^hich  the  old  Mechanics'  Associations,  here  and 
elsewhere,  became  obsolete.  The  fine  collection  of  books  consti- 
tuting the  library  of  the  Akron  Association,  vs^as  generously  turned 
over  to  the  Board  of  Education,  and  became  a  part  of  the  Ohio 
School  Library,  of  Akron,  for  many  years  maintained  by  Legisla- 
tive authority  and  State  aid,  the  whole  being  subsequently  merged 
in  the  present  splendid  Free  Public  Library  of  the  city  of  Akron. 

The  Lesson  Inculcated. — Though  there  still  exists  a  vast 
amount  of  unrest  among  the  laboring  classes,  of  the  country,  those 
of  Akron  and  Summit  county,  by  a  close  analysis  of  what  has  been 


EARLY   AND   MdDERN    LABOR    CONTRASTED. 


1105 


here  and  heretofore  written,  will  see  that  their  condition  and 
advantages  are  infinitely  superior  to  those  of  their  brethren  of 
half  a  century  ago,  and  that,  w^ith  the  same  degree  of  economy 
and  abstemiousness  w^hich  ive  were  then  obliged  to  practice,  they 
might,  from  the  present  emoluments  of  their  yearly  toil — excelling 
feven  their  existing  condition  of  comparative  independence— soon 
achieve  "capitalistic,"  if  not  "monopolistic"   eminence  and  power. 


70 


CHAPTER   LV. 

AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY  IN  CALIFORNIA— INDEPENDENCE  AND  'ANNEX- 
ATION OF  TEXAS  — WAR  WITH  MEXICO  —  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA  — 
CAPTAIN  JOHN  AUGUSTUS  SUTTER— GOLD  FIRST  DISCOVERED  IN  HIS  MILL 
RACE  — THE  CAPTAIN  UTTERLY  RUINED  BY  GOLD  HUNTERS  AND  SQUAT- 
TERS—PENSIONED BY  CALIFORNIA,  IN  HIS  OLD  AGE— THE  WHOLE  WORLD 
EXCITED  — AKRON  AND  SUMMIT  COUNTY  EARLY  ON  THE  MOVE  — THE 
PLUCKY  "FORTY-NINERS"  — THE  GREAT  EXODUS  OF  1850  — PRETTY  FULL 
j£lST  OF  LOCAL  .ADVENTURERS— INCIDENTS  OF  THE  JOURNEY,  THRILLING, 
LUDICROUS  AND  SAD— DEATHS  FROM  CHOLERA  AND  OTHER  CAUSES— UPS 
AND  DOWNS  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIFE —  FORTUNES  EASILY  MADE  AND  AS 
EASILY  LOST— A  CHAPTER  FULL  OF  PRESENT  AND  REMINISCENT  INTEREST 
TO  ALL.   . 

ACQUISITION   OF  CALIFORNIA. 

'T'EXAS,  formerly  a  part  of  Old  Mexico,  under  the  lead  of  General 
^  Samuel  Houston  achieved  her  independence,  and  established 
a  separate  government,  in  1835.  Though  acknowledged  as  such 
by  the  United  States,  England,  France  and  other  foreign  nations, 
Mexico  herself  refused  to  sanction  the  claim,  and  w^hen,  in 
December,  1845  the  "Lone  Star"  was  formally  annexed  to  the 
United  States,  Mexico  sought  to  reclaim  the  valuable  territory  of 
which  she  w^as  being  despoiled  by  force  of  arms.  This  precipi- 
tated the  War  of  1846,  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico, 
resulting  not  only  in  the  relinquishment  of  the  claim  of  the  latter 
to  the  territory  in  dispute,  but  also  in  the  cession  to  the  United 
States  of  the  immense  territories  of  New  Mexico  and  California, 
though  early  in  the  war  the  latter  had  been  taken  possession  of 
by  Generals  Fremont  and  Kearney,  and  Commodores  Sloat  and 
Stockton, 

Captain  John  A.  Sutter. — Amongthe  limited  number  of  adven- 
turers into  California,  previous  to  its  conquest  by,  and  cession  to, 
the  United  States,  was  Captain  John  A.  Sutter,  a  native  of 
Switzerland,  who,  emigrating  to  the  United  States  in  1834,  had 
made  his  way  via  Santa  Fe,  to  the  Pacific  slope,  and  having  pro- 
cured from  the  Mexican  Government  a  grant  for  a  large  tract  of 
land,  covering  the  present  site  of  Sacramento  City,  building  a  fort 
and  making  other  improvements,  had  established  himself  as  a 
stock  growler  and  dealer  in  furs,  hides,  etc.,  surrounding  himself 
w^ith  quite  a  following  of  Mexicans  and  native  Californians,  and 
giving  to  his  ranch  the  name  of  "  New  Helvetia."  During  the 
war  his  services  to  the  United  States  troops  were  invaluable,  and 
at  its  close  Captain  Sutter  sought  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  aid  and 
encourage  immigration  both  from  the  States  and  Europe,  not  only 
"with  the  view  of  advancing  his  own  personal  interests,  but  also  of 
developing  the  agricultural  and  commercial  resources  of  "Uncle 
Sam's"  newly  acquired  possessions. 

First  Gold  Discoveries. — To  this  end,  in  the  Fall  of  1847,  he 
commenced  the  enlargement  of  the  saw^-mill  w^hich  he  had  pre- 
viously built,  some  distance  above  his  fort,  in  doing  which,  w^hile 


FIRST   GOLD   DISCOVERIES   IN   CALIFORNIA.  1107 

<ieepeningthe  tail-race,  in  February,  1848,  the  man  in  charge  of  the 
Avork,  named  Marshall,  observing  yellow  glittering  particles 
^among  the  sands  of  the  race,  submitted  a  portion  of  them  to 
•Captain  Sutter,  who  in  turn  procured  an  examination  to  be  made 
by  such  metallurgists  as  were  available  at  San  Francisco,  who 
pronounced  it  gold  of  superior  quality. 

The  news  of  the  discovery  spread  like  a  prairie  fire,  and  in  a 
very  brief  period  of  time  almost  the  entire  population  of  San 
Francisco,  and  of  the  territory,  were  delving  for  the  precious 
metal.  As  soon  as  vessels  could  reach  other  portions  of  the  world, 
the  wonderful  stories  told  caused  innumerable  expeditions  to  be 
fitted  out,  and  before  the  end  of  the  year  tens  of  thousands  of 
adventurers,  from  almost  every  country  on  the  globe,  were  ran- 
.sacking  the  placers  and  gulches  of  California  for  gold. 

CAPTAIN  SUTTER  UTTERLY  RUINED. 

So  helpless  was  the  hapless  Captain  Sutter,  in  the  then  chaotic 
state  of  public  authority  and  government,  that  his  entire  domain 
Avas  staked  off  into  claims  and  taken  possession  of  by  squatters, 
:and  the  Captain  himself  would  have  been  reduced  to  beggary  in 
his  old  age,  but  for  a  pension  of  $3,000  per  year,  which  was  after- 
w^ards  granted  to  him  by  California,  he  having  settled  in 
Pennsylvania  in  1873,  dying  there  in  1880,  at  the  age  of  77  years. 

Summit  County  Excited. — The  golden  reports  began  to  reach 
the  interior  portions  of  the  Western  States,  by  the  middle  of  the 
year  1848,  and  by  the  Winter  of  1848,  '49,  expeditions  of  greater  or 
less  magnitude  were  projected  in  most  of  the  principal  towns  in 
the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  valleys  for  the  new^  Eldorado,  the  greater 
portion  going  overland,  across  the  plains  and  mountains,  others 
by  water,  via  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  while  a  few  ventured  upon 
the  longer,  but  less  perilous  trip  around  Cape  Horn. 

Akron  and  Summit  county  were  not,  of  course,  to  be  left  in  the 
lurch  in  the  scramble  for  gold,  and  in  the  Spring  of  1849,  com- 
panies for  the  overland  journey  were  organized  as  follows: 

The  first  company,  styled  "The  Akron  Mining  Company," 
started  on  the  7th  day  of  March,  1849.  It  was  composed  of  Lewis 
P.  Buckley,  John  O.  Garrett,  Arza  Kellogg,  Russell  Abbey,  Ira 
Rose,  Erhard  Steinbacher,  George  Ayliffe,  J.  R.  Gilbert,  J.  L. 
Oilbert,  Charles  Gressard,  Henry  S.  Long,  John  Decker,  Gilbert 
Carr,  Louis  Philtendorf,  and  P.  Fisher — fifteen  souls  in  all. 

Route  and  Mode  of  Travel.  —  Having  provided  themselves 
with  substantial  wagons,  harness,  camp  equipage,  clothing,  bed- 
-ding,  and  such  needed  supplies  as  they  could  obtain  here,  includ- 
ing of  course,  a  full  quota  of  rifles,  ammunition,  etc.,  they  -were 
<iriven,  by  hired  teams,  to  Wellsville,  from  w^hence  they  proceeded 
by  steamer,  via  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers,  to  St.  Louis,  and 
from  thence,  by  another  steamer,  up  the  Missouri  river  to 
Independence,  where  they  completed  their  outfit  by  the  purchase 
of  such  animals — mules  or  oxen — as  they  deemed  best  adapted  to 
the  successful  accomplishment  of  the  long  and  perilous  journey 
before  them — horses  and  mules  in  about  equal  number  being 
selected. 

"The  Middlebury  Mining  Company." — The  second  company 
to  leave,  two  weeks  later,  bearing  the  above  title,  was  composed  as 


1108  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

follows:  Thomas  B.  Hickox  (father  of  the  late  Mrs.  Henry  H^ 
Brown),  Increase  Sumner,  Samuel  Newton  (father  of  Mrs.  John 
Johnston),  Frederick  A.  Nash,  Nelson  Palmer,  William  A.  Ostrom, 
George  W.  Rhodes,  Aaron  S.  Cleveland,  of  Middlebury,  J.  W. 
Olmstead,  Nelson  Waite,  Francis  Watt  and  James  Evans,  of 
Hudson,  and  E.  Brooks,  Samuel  Farber  and  Samuel  Brittain,  of 
Elyria,  also  fifteen  in  number.  This  company,  similarly  provided 
as  the  first,  and  proceeding  by  the  same  means  and  route,  on 
reaching  Independence,  fitted  themselves  out  with  ox  teams,  with 
such  saddle  horses  as  they  needed,  the  bo\"ines,  if  not  quite  so 
fast,  proving  quite  as  reliable  as  the  equines,  in  accomplishing  the 
journey. 

By  the  Isthmus  Route,  Also. — March  19, 1849,  John  Scupholm 
(or  as  usually  called,  John  Addy),  Jeremiah  Yockey,  Clark  Elliott, 
Henry  Prior,  and  a  Mr.  Benum  and  son,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  and  at 
about  the  same  time  Nicholas  Rector  (brother-in-law  of  General 
George  W.  McNeil),  Porter  C.  Rector,  James  G.  Dow,  Eucian  B, 
Raymond,  Charles  G.  and  Thomas  Caldwell  and  several  other 
Akronians  started  via  New^  York,  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  etc.,  for 
the  same  destination. 

Though  the  overland  route  bristled  with  perils  and  hard- 
ships, the  Isthmus  route  was,  at  that  early  day,  far  worse.  There 
w^as,  of  course,  abundance  of  transportation  from  New  York,  and 
other  Atlantic  ports,  to  the  Isthmus,  but  the  rub  was  to  get  from 
the  Isthmus  to  San  Francisco.  There  were,  at  that  time,  but  tw^o 
regular  steamers  plying  between  Portland,  Oregon,  and  Panama, 
w^ith  long  intervals  between  arrivals  and  departures,  w^hile  coast- 
wise sailing  vessels  on  the  Pacific  were  also  few  and  far  between. 

Unscrupulous  proprietors  and  agents  of  transportation  lines 
upon  this  side  would  assure  all  applicants  that  there  would  be  no 
difficulty  in  securing  passage  from  Panama,  as  several  steamers, 
w^hich  had  been  sent  around  the  Horn,  would  surely  be  there  in 
time  to  accommodate  all.  The  transit  of  the  Isthmus  itself  w^a& 
filled  w^ith  perils,  hardships,  disease  and  death.  Arriving  at 
Chagres,  the  only  mode  of  travel  to  Gorgona,  thirty  miles,  was  in 
open  boats,  slow^ly  poled  or  paddled  up  the  Chagres  river  by 
nearly  naked  natives.  From  Gorgona  to  Panama,  thirty  miles 
further,  the  emigrant  had  to  foot  it  through  narrow,  deep-worn 
mountain  trails  and  almost  bottomless  marshes;  the  natives  acting 
as  pack-horses  for  the  transportation  of  baggage,  and  sometimes 
of  humans,  upon  their  backs. 

Finally  arrived  at  Panama,  then  came  the  "  tug  of  war."  Wait- 
ing for  days,  and  sometimes  w^eeks,  for  a  chance  passage,  their 
money  rapidly  diminishing  for  subsistence,  many  despairing  of 
reaching  California  alive,  would  retrace  their  steps,  while  others, 
overcome  by  exposure  and  disease,  would  simply  lie  down  and  die, 

Mr.  Nicholas  Rector's  Return. — About  the  middle  of  Aprils 
1849,  Mr.  Nicholas  Rector  returned  to  Akron,  the  account  given  by 
him  adding  very  greatly  to  the  anxiety  of  those  whose  friends  had 
gone  by  that  route.  When  he  left  Panama  there  were  over  3,000 
emigrants  awaiting  transportation,  and  hundreds  daily  arriving, 
and  not  a  vessel  in  the  harbor.  Passage  tickets  on  the  expected 
steamers  around  the  Horn,  as  well  as  those  already  upon  the 
coast,  were  held  at  from  $600  to  $1,200,  a  sum  beyond  the  ability  of 
the    majority    to    pay,    necessitating    the     securing    of     cheaper 


HARDSHIPS   OF   THE   ISTHMUS    ROUTE.  1109 

transportation,  or  returning  to  their  homes  disgusted,  as  did  Mr. 
Rector. 

Akrox  PivUCk  and  Perseverance. — Yet  the  majority  of  those 
^who  did  not  die  upon  the  Isthmus,  or  upon  the  overcrowded  ves- 
sels, upon  which  they  finally  did  secure  a  passage,  managed  by 
^'hook  or  by  crook"  to  "get  there." 

As  a  sample  of  pluck  and  perseverance,  under  the  most  appall- 
ing difficulties,  the  bitter  experience  of  three  Akron  gentlemen 
may  properly  here  be  cited.  Messrs.  James  G.  Dow,  Lucian  B. 
Raymond  and  Porter  C.  Rector,  after  remaining  upon  the  Isthmus 
several  weeks,  and  until  their  individual  funds  were  nearly 
exhausted,  finally,  by  pooling  their  resources,  managed  to  secure 
passage  upon  an  old  schooner.  She  w^as  a  poor  sailer,  at  the  best, 
and  being  laden  largely  beyond  her  capacity,  and  beset  by  head 
■winds,  calms,  etc.,  her  progress  ^ras  very  slow  indeed,  and,  after 
being  on  the  ocean  nearly  three  months,  and  being  reduced  to 
nearly  starvation  rations,  Messrs.  Dow  and  Raymond,  with  many 
others,  went  on  shore  and  footed  it  nearly  a  thousand  miles  up  the 
coast,  begging  their  scanty  daily  subsistence  from  the  sparse  and 
not  at  that  time  very  hospitable  Mexican  population,  and  getting 
into  San  Francisco  considerably  in  advance  of  the  old  tub  in 
which  they  started,  Mr,  Rector,  and  others  w^ho  remained  on  board, 
during  the  last  ten  days  out,  having  to  subsist  almost  wholly  upon 
w^ormy  and  mouldy  beans. 

The  Great  Exodus  of  1850. — Reserving,  for  the  present,  a 
•description  of  the  experiences  and  hardships  of  the  "overland" 
journey,  we  will  only  say  of  the  Forty-niners  from  here,  that,  so 
far  as  known,  all  got  safely  through,  though  all  did  not  realize 
their  fond  expectations  of  rapid  wealth,  w^hile  some  laid  dow^n 
their  lives  in  their  efforts  to  secure  a  competence  for  themselves 
and  families. 

In  January  and  February  of  1850,  Messrs.  John  O.  Garrett, 
Russell  Abbey,  Samuel  Newton,  and  one  or  two  other  members  of 
the  companies  above  named,  returned,  Wa  the  Isthmus,  some  of 
them  bringing  such  favorable  accounts  of  their  own  and  others* 
success,  that  the  "  yellow  fever  "  soon  began  to  rage.  The  Beacon, 
of  February  27,  1850,  in  speaking  of  the  intention  of  Messrs.  Gar- 
rett and  Abbey  to  return,  editorially  saying: 

"About  thirty  of  our  best  citizens  expect  to  start  overland  for  Califor- 
nia within  three  weeks.  They  gfo  under  the  lead  of  Mr.  Garrett,  and  several 
will  be  accompanied  by  their  wives.  A  number  of  our  citizens  also  go  by 
the  Isthmvis." 

It  should  be  added  that  in  the  intervening  year,  transporta- 
tion facilities  between  Panama  and  San  Francisco  had  ver^ 
greatly  increased,  while  mule  locomotion  had  been  added  to  the 
western  portion  of  the  transit  across  the  Isthmus,  though  the  hor- 
rors of  that  portion  pf  the  journey  were  not  entirely  obviated  until 
the  completion  of  the  Panama  Railroad,  in  1855. 

Tme  Grand  Cavalcade. — The  Beacon  of  March  20,  1850, 
under  the  heading  "California-Bound,"  said: 

"Nearly  200  persons  have  left  Akron  and  Summit  county,  during-  the 
past  week,  via  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  and  a  number  more  are  making  their 
arrangements  to  go.  A  large  proportion  of  the  whole  number  have  hitherto 
t)een    residents    of    Akron    and    among    our   most  useful   citizens — chiefly 


1110  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

mechanics.  About  forty  wag-ons  left  on  Thursday  last,  making-  a  fine  pro- 
cession. The  streets  were  crowded  with  the  friends  of  the  fearless  adven- 
turers, and  inany  hearts  ached  as  parting-  words  were  uttered,  and  the  trairt 
disappeared  ainid  the  roaring-  of  cannon.  Several  females  were  in  the 
companjr,  and  Mr.  Garrett,  the  leader,  who  recently  returned  from  Sacra- 
mento, took  his  whole  family,  intending  to  make  a  permanent  settlement  itt 
California." 

To  show  that  Akron  was  not  alone  a  sufferer,  in  the  loss  of 
"useful  citizens,"  the  same  issue  contains  a  clipping  from  a  Mas- 
sillon  paper  to  the  effect  that  a  company  of  about  the"  same  size 
left  Massillon  the  same  week.  And  so  it  was  all  over  the  Western 
states,  and  in  fact  the  whole  country,  it  being  estimated  that  some 
200,000  crossed  the  plains  in  1850,  besides  the  large  contingent  who 
went  from  both  the  East  and  the  West  via  the  Isthmus,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  immense  influx  from  almost  every  other  civilized 
and  semi-civilized  country  on  the  globe. 

A  Roster  of  the  California- Bound. — It  will,  of  course,  be 
quite  impossible  to  furnish  a  stricly  accurate  list  of  all  who  com- 
posed the  Akron  and  Summit  county  wing  of  this  Grand  Army,. 
but  from  a  list  furnished  The  Beacon  by  Mr.  Garrett,  and  the 
writer's  recollection  of  the  names  of  those  composing  his  own. 
company,  who  left  a  week  later,  and  other  data  at  his  command,, 
an  approximately  correct  list  from  1850  to  1852  is    as  follows: 

Russell  Abbey,  O.  H.  P.  Ayres,  John  Allen,  George  Andrews,. 
Lewis  Anser,  C.  Ayliffe,  Levi  Allen,  Edwin  Allen,  John  Allen,  Mar- 
tin Asper,  Stephen  Ayres,  John  Ayres,  Cordelia  M.  Ayres,  Orrin 
H.  Ayres,  Hiram  J.  Ayres,  Thomas  Ayres,  Allen  Ayres,  Henry 
Anson,  William  B.  Ashmun,  William  C.  Allen,  Samuel  B.  Axtell^- 
Augustus  G.  Babcock,  A.  B.  Bradley,  Harvey  Baldwin,  Noah 
Baldwin,  Michael  Breem,  William  Barker,  George  Best,  Milton 
Briggs,  Hugh  Boyd,  William  E.  Bradley,  Henry  Baker,  G.  Bates, 
M.  Bishop,  John  Biddle,  E.  Beach,  L.  Bradley,  David  H.  Bliss,. 
Ephraim  Bellows,  P.  Beales,  Alexander  Brewster,  Daniel  Balch,, 

John  W.  Baker,  William  Baird, Butler,  G.  C.  Briggs,  wife  and 

sister,  E.  Crain  and  wife,  Charles  Curtiss,  O.  Bell,  Truman  Barnett,, 
J&mes  Birge,  Edward  Brown,  James  Boyle,  Adam  Bergert,  George 
Bechtel,  Samuel  Britton,  George  Beckwith,  William  Barr,  John 
G.  Carpender,  James  Christy,  Archibald  Christy,  Robert  Carson^ 
Edward  Cummings,  S.  Chandler,  John  Cook,  Charles  Carner,  A. 
Coke,  Robert  Cochran,  George  E.  Clark,  E.  Cooke,  A.  Chapman,  L, 
M.  Comstock,  Warren  Clark,  S.  Chandler,  James  Coggeshall,  Orion- 
Church,  John  Cutshaw,  Elihu  Chilson,  S.  M.  Cobb,  E.  P.  Cook,. 
Gilbert  Carr,  L.  B.  Curtiss,  John  Cross.  Orrin  Cooke,  Linus  Culver^ 
E.  Comstock,  Jerry  Conrad,  Abraham  De  Haven,  L.  Davis,  Edward 
Dugan  and  wife,  B.  F,  Dickerman  and  v.dfe,  Miss  Maria  Dickerman,. 

Davis,  John  Devin,  C.  C.   Dewey,  John  Dulin,  Samuel  Dulin,. 

Dixon,  William  Denaple,  Perrin  De  Puy,  J.  C.  Dickerman  and 

wife,  John  and  Edmund  Dunn,  Lyman  Davis,  D.  Everett,  E.  Fry,^ 
Jesse  Felt,  John  Falor,  William  Finch,  Jonath-an  F.  Fenn,  A.  Fenn,. 
Theodore  Fenn,  Richard  Fassett,  C.  G.  Field,  B.  B.  Green,  N.  Geer, 
John  Gatz,  Peter  Graffleman,  S.  Gibson,  John  T.  Good,  W.  Gunder 
J.  Gardiner,  John  O.  Garrett,  wife  and  five  children — Emily,  John 
Jr.,  Hiram,  Sarah  and  Henry— D.  C.  Gillett,  William  H.  Garrett.  J. 
B,  Gibbons,  Edwin  Gilson,  Eli  Goodale  and  wife,  George  M.  Griffin,, 
George  W.  Greeley,  J.  B.  Gleason,  Jacob  Good,  Calvin  Hall,  Setb 
Hamlin,  John  Hamlin,  Adam  Hart,  David  Hanscom,  Lewis  Hanscom^ 


SUMMIT   county's   GOLD-SEEKERS.  1111 

James  Holmes,  M.  Hennessy,  C.  Holflemany,  John  Herman, 
C.  J.  Hays,  E.  Hull,  John  Hill,  P.  Hickox,  C.  Harkins,  Calvin  Holt, 
Bruce  Herrick  and  wife.  Captain  Richard  Howe,  Richard  G.  How^e, 
William  Howe,  H.  Hestler,  E.  Hays,  Walton  Hulin,  Dr.  Mendal 
Jewett,  James  R.  Jewett,  Henry  Jewett,  William  Ives,  John  Johns, 

J.   S.  Jones,  William  B.  Judd,  William   H.  Jones,- Janes,  Rees 

Jones,  Peter  Jahant,  Z,  Jones,  George  F.  Kent,  Horace  Kent, 
Henry  Kenyon,  John  Krytzer,  R.  C.  Kimball,  Levi  Kryder,  Adam 
Kempel,  Lew^is  Kilbourn,  John  Kidder,  Joseph  Kidder,  David 
Kirby,  B.  Kirby,  John  E.  King,  Charles  Kempel,  Hallet  Kilbourn, 
Edward  Kilbourn,  Oscar  Kilbourn,  John  Kuhner  and  wife,  Calvin 

Kidder,  A.  Kilbourn,"  King,   Leroy  S.  Kidder,  Chris.   Killifer, 

Samuel  A.  Lane,  J.  H.  Leavitt,  H.  Lye,  H.  C.  Lacey,  George  Lillie, 
William  Lewis,  W^illiam  Lamb,  Gilbert  Lanphier,  Albert  Lanphier, 
B.Lockwood,  O.  C.  Lee,  James  M.  Livenspferger,  Burton  Lockvv^ood, 
Jonas  Leach,  Giles  L'Homm^dieu,  J.  J .  Myers,  Norris  Miller,  N.  May, 
W.D.  Myers,  George  McKay,  John  McKibben,  William  Meese,  W.  B. 
McCune,  Michael  Metzler,  D.  Marshall,  James  McKelvey,  Felix 
Morgan,  Andrew  Martin,  F.  Masters,  Nathaniel  Morton,  S.  D. 
McNeal,  John  D.  Miner,  W.  D.  McClure,  Henry  McMasters,  Daniel 
Martin  and  son  Henrv,  James  M.   Mills,  W,  Mayer,  A.   McDonald, 

William    T.    Mather,'  James    M.    Moore,    Ithiel    Mills,    Mrs.  

McArthur,  W.  Moses,  Dr.  L.  Northrop,  Owen  O'Neil,  James  O'Neil, 
James  Newing,  Marvin  Oviatt,  Wallace  Nelson,  George  Ore utt, 
Stephen  Neighman,  A.  Nixon,  Mason  Oviatt,  Orlen  Ncav- 
comb,  Judson  Olmstead,  John  Pendleton,  Levi  Post,  John  Pat- 
terson, Moses  R,  Paine,  Luther  E.  Payne,  A.  Packard,  Jr.,  M. 
Porter,  Daniel  Powles,  S.  S.  Peck,  Benjamin  Peart,  — —  Powers, 
H.  B.  Pomeroy,  S.  E.  Phelps,  J.  T.  Powers,  Elijah  Poor,  J.  Rhinie, 
Daniel  Richmond,  James  Root,  Leonard  Root,  J.  Reynolds,  Jona- 
than Remington,  George  Richey,  Frank  Rumrill,  J.  Radick,  Samuel 
Rattle,  William  Rattle,  E.  Randall,  Robbins,  Edward  Robin- 
son, Alonzo  Rogers,  Caleb  Smith,  Frederick  Steese,  Thomas  Smith, 
George  W.  Smith,  Hiram  Stott,  John  Stine,  J.  W.  Sherw^ood,  Wil- 
liam Shaw,  S.  L.  Shaw,  Christian  Scriber,  William  Smagg,  George 
Sumner,  F.  Sumner,  King  Smith,  John  Stineberger,  David  Santom, 
J.  Spicer,  S.  Sparhawk,  R.  B.  Smith,  B.  Stanton,  W.  B.  Stone, 
Joseph  Spiker,  S.  Snow,  Richard  Smetts,  William  Smetts,  Ira  P. 
Sperry,  Alvin  N.  Stone,  John  C.  Stanley,  Warren  H.  Smith,  David 
Simpson,  William  Sinclair,  A.  J.   Smith,  J.  M.   Sheppard,  Edward 

Sumner, Sizer,  William  Smith,  Seth   Sackett,  Julius  Stock,  D. 

R.  Stoffer,  O.  E.  Shepard,  John  Teucher,  H.  Taylor,  William  A. 
Taylor,  William  J.  Taylor,  Charles  W.  Tappan  and  family,  Charles 
O.  Turner,  Leander  Titus,  William  Thompson,  George  Wells,  R. 
Weltz,  N.  White,  Leander  Washburn,  Miss  Lorinda  W^ashburn,  M. 

A.  Wheeler,  Jesse  Widoe,  J.  Wohmein,  Mayer  Weil,  H.  Willard, 
Mrs.  Willard,  Theodore  Willard,  H.  O.  Willard,  J.   D.  Whitney,  H. 

B.  W^illiams,  D.  Wright,  O.  Wright,  Judge  Samuel  A.  Wheeler, 
Thomas  Wilson,  Elijah,  Frederick  and  Henry  Wadsworth,  Orrin 
L.  Walker,  Jefferson  Walker,  Edward  Waite,  Philo  E.  Wright,  Ben- 
jamin D.  Wright,  Wm.  H.White,  A.  Wood,  J.  W.  Wilbur,  Benjamin 
K.  Waite,  Henry  S.  and  Solomon  Whetstone,  F.  P.  Warren,  Joseph 
Wallace,  Cyrus  Wirt,  David  H.  Wood,  Wm.  Walling,  J.  Waggaman, 
Henry  C.  Wadhams,  Theo.Williard  and  wife,  Geo.  York,  L.Y.Young, 
A.  Vaughn,  J.  M.  Yocum,  J.Vickers,  Dorsey  W.Viers,  H.S.Vaughn. 


1112  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY.     . 

Included  in  the  foregoing  list  of  fully  350  names  are  several 
residents  of  contiguous  counties,  who  joined  the  Akron  companies 
in  crossing  the  plains  and  mountains,  in  1849,  '50,  as  well  as  quite 
a  number  w^ho  made  their  way  to  the  Pacific  Slope  the  two  foUow^- 
ing  years,  during  the  writer's  sojourn  there,  but  doubtless  omit- 
ting many  whom  he  did  not  meet  or  have  knowledge  of.  It 
may  thus  be  safely  stated  that  not  less  than  400  people  went  from 
Summit  county  to  California  during  the  years  1849  to  1852,  while 
hundreds  of  others  have  wended  their  w^ay  thither,  for  business  or 
pleasure  during  the  intervening  forty  years.  All  who  started, 
however,  did  not  live  to  reach  their  destination— King,  Stineberger 
and  Smith,  of  Akron,  Finch,  of  Richfield,  and  Cook,  of  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  dying  at  or  before  reaching  St.  Joseph,  and  a  number  of 
others  dying  en  route  upon  the  plains  or  ocean. 

It  is  proper  to  remark  here  that  the  majority  of  those  who  left 
this  vicinity,  in  the  Spring  of  1850,  enrolled  themselves  under  the 
banner  of  Captain  Garrett,  by  reason  of  his  experience  of  the  year 
before.  Others,  however,  organized  or  united  with  smaller  com- 
panies, the  sequel  showing  that  while  proximity  to  number3, 
en  route,  was  an  element  of  safety  in  passing  through  the  terri- 
tory of  hostile  Indians,  moderate  sized  companies  were  more  readily 
handled,  more  harmonious  and  more  successful  in  overcoming  the 
difficulties  of  the  journey,  and  averting  disaster  to  themselves  and 
their  animals,  the  liability  to,  and  magnitude  of,  which  will  faintly 
appear  in  what  follows. 

The  writer,  w^ith  some  forty-five  or  fifty  others  from  Akron  and 
vicinity,  starting  a  ^veek  later  than  Captain  Garrett's  Company,  by 
the  same  route  and  means,  reached  Wellsville,  March  22,  1850, 
where,  with  wagons,  horses  and  other  property,  we  embarked  on 
the  steamer  "  North  River,"  for  St.  Louis,  the  river  transit  occu- 
pying just  six  days. 

Overland  Through  Missouri. — Satisfying  ourselves  on  inquiry 
that,  owing  to  the  backwardness  of  the  season,  we  had  a  v^^hole 
month  to  spare  before  it  would  be  safe  to  start  out  upon  the  plains, 
and  that  mules  and  other  needed  supplies  could  be  bought  cheaper 
at  St.  L/Ouis  than  at  St.  Joseph,  we  determined  on  making  the 
journey  through  Missouri,  some  350  miles,  by  land,  instead  of 
water,  both  as  a  matter  of  economy  and  accustoming  ourselves 
and  our  animals  to  the  work  before  us  and  them,  as  well  as  to 
enable  us  to  remedy  any  defects  of  outfit  we  might  discover  before 
passing  beyond  the  bounds  of  civilization. 

Several  members  of  the  company  had  taken  horses  w^ith  them 
from  home,  but  such  mules  as  were  needed  had  to  be  purchased 
there.  The  majority  of  the  mules  in  the  market  were  "  green,"  or 
unbroken,  and  to  say  that  the  boys  had  lots  of  fun  breaking  them, 
w^ould  be  drawing  it  mild,  our  present  veteran  drayman.  Uncle 
"Dick"  Smetts,  at  one  time  getting  a  whack  upon  the  abdomen, 
from  a  pair  of  hoofs,  that  threatened  serious  results  for  several 
days,  and  at  another  time  dislocating  his  shoulder  in  wrestling 
w^ith  a  mule;  w^hile  the  dignified  Judge  Wheeler  w^as  doubled  up 
like  a  jack-knife,  and  the  serious-minded  Deacon  Jonathan  F. 
Fenn,  at  one  end  of  a  lariat,  vt'itli  a  gyratory  mule  at  the  other  end, 
w^as  straightened  out  like  a  w^hip-lash;  and  even  the  writer  hiin- 
self,  getting  a  severe  tap  upon  the  knee  that  produced  a  painful 
limp  for  several  days,  and  at  another  time,  incredible  as  it  may 


OVERLAND   THROUGH    MISSOURI.  1113 

:appear,  a  pair  of  heels  passed  in  such  close  proximity  to  his  face 
^s  to  knock  off  his  wide-brimmed  hat,  without  hitting  his  nose! 

The  price  of  mules  varied  from  $65  tb  $85  per  head,  for  green, 
and  from  $90  to  $100  for  those  broken  to  harness.  The  mess  to 
which  the  writer  was  attached,  consit«ting,  besides  himself,  of 
James  Holmes,  Robert  Carson  and  John  McKibben,  bought  two 
span  of  well-broken  mules  at  $90  a  head,  which,  with  our  four 
equally  well-broken  horses,  taken  from  home,  made  us  a  most 
excellent  team,  and  that,  too,  without  the  wear  and  tear  of  muscle 
and  temper,  to  which  the  purchasers  of  the  unbroken  animals  were 
subjected,  to  say  nothing  of  the  detriment  of  the  breaking-in  pro- 
cess to  the  animals  themselves. 

Generous  Hospitality. — Having  shipped  the  bulk  of  our  pro- 
visions and  luggage  by  steamer  to  St.  Joseph,  we  were  in  readi- 
ness for  a  start  from  St.  Louis,  on  Saturday,  March  30.  Meantiirie 
Mr.  William  P.  Fenn,  a  former  resident  of  Tallmadge,  then  the 
proprietor  of  an  extensive  dairy  farm,  six  miles  west  of  St.  Louis, 
and  directly  upon  our  route,  had  invited  the  entire  company  to 
spend  the  Sabbath  with  him,  w^hich  invitation  was  cordially 
accepted,  and  right  royally  w^ere  w^e  entertained. 

On  Monday  morning,  April  1st,  we  started  on  our  journey,  Mr. 
Fenn  and  one  of  his  men  kindly  accompanying  us  far  as  St.  Charles, 
a  distance  of  twenty  miles.  Here  we  crossed  the  river,  and,  upon 
the  north  side  of  the  Missouri,  pursued  our  way  leisurely  to  our 
final  starting  point,  St.  Joseph,  then  the  extreme  western  verge  of 
civilization. 

Undue  Fastidiousness. — The  many  interesting  incidents 
encountered  in  that  slave-cursed  State  cannot  be  here  given,  for 
want  of  space.  One,  only,  as  bearing  upon  the  later  trials  and  pri- 
vations of  the  journey  must  suffice.  On  the  supposition  that 
provisions  of  all  kinds  could  be  readily  obtained  from  the  planta- 
tions we  might  pass,  w^e  took  very  little  with  us,  but  found  that,  so 
far  as  bread  was  concerned,  we  could  obtain  none  whatev^er, 
except  in  two  or  three  villages  which  we  passed  through;  every 
tneal,  from  bread  up,  as  in  all  other  slave  States,  being  literally 
prepared  from  "  hand  to  mouth."  Our  wagon  being  in  the  lead, 
one  day,  w^e  stopped  at  a  w^ay-side  horse-power  grist-mill,  and 
bought  half  a  bushel  of  coarse-ground  corn  meal.  Judge  Wheeler 
coming  up,  as  I  \\ras  pouring  the  meal  into  our  provision  chest, 
exclaimed:  "Lane,  what  in  the  world  are  you  going  to  do  with 
that?"  "Make  it  into  griddle  cakes,"  I  replied.  "But  how  are  you 
going  to  manage  to  sift  it?"  inquired  the  Judge.  "Cook  it  without 
sifting,"  I  replied.  "Well,"  said  the  Judge,  contemptuously,  "  You 
can  eat  coarse-ground,  unsifted  corn  meal,  if  you  like,  but  I  w^as 
better  brought  up!"  Before  we  get  to  our  journey's  end,  we 
shall  see. 

Organizing  for  the  Journey.  —  We  arrived  at  St.  Joseph, 
March  25th,  finding  that  Captain  Garrett's  train,  w^ith  about  forty 
w^agons  and  160  men,  had  started  out  upon  the  plains  some  tw^o  or 
three  days  before.  Loading  up  our  supplies,  w^hich  had  been  for- 
w^arded  by  water,  -we  ascended  the  river  about  five  miles,  and, 
crossing  over,  encamped  on  a  high  bluff,  in  the  Indian  territory, 
w^here  we  remained  a  few  days,  visiting  town  daily,  to  put  the  fin- 
ishing touches  upon  our  outfit,  one  indispensable  item  of  which 
^vas   as   much    corn   and   other  feed  as  we  could  haul  upon  our 


1114  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

wagons,  or  pack  upon  the  backs  of  our  loose  animals,  for  their 
subsistence,  from  the  fact  that  not  a  single  spire  of  the  green  grass 
that  had  been  depended  upon  for  that  purpose,  was  yet  visible. 

Deeming  thorough  organization  of  the  first  importance,  a 
meeting  was  held  on  the  morning  of  April  27th,  of  which  Captain 
Richard  Howe  was  made  chairman  and  S.  A.  Lane,  secretary.  At 
this  meeting  Captain  Ho\v^e  was  unanimously  elected  captain  of 
the  train,  Judge  Samuel  A.  Wheeler,  assistant,  and  Henry  Anson, 
sergeant  of  the  guard.  James  M.  Mills,  Ira  P.  Sperry  and  Jonathan 
Avery  (of  Adrian,  Mich.)  were  appointed  a  committee  on  rules, 
■who,  the  same  evening,  reported  the  followring: 

"Resolved,  That  we  recommend  that  this  division  of  the  California 
emigration  be  named  'Howe's  Train.'" 

"Resolved,  That,  for  the  protection  of  our  train,  no  member  shall  dis- 
charere  a  gun  incainp,  or  put  the  same  loaded  and  capped  either  into  tent 
or  wagon,  without  being  so  ordered  by  the  officers  of  the  train. 

"Resolved,  That  each  member  stand  guard  as  his  name  appears  on  the 
roll,  and  the  captain  shall  have  power  to  increase  or  diminish  the  guard  as 
circuiu stances  maj^  require. 

"Resolved,  That  the  train  shall  be  formed  as  the  captain  may  direct. 

"Resolved,  That  if  other  persons,  with  wagons,  wish  to  join  the  train, 
the  company  may  elect  or  refuse,  as  a  majority  may  determine. 

"Resolved,  That  three  hours  be  the  time  of  standing  guard,  from  8 
o'clock  until  daylight,  to  be  divided  into  three  equal  watches,  and  that  the 
roll  be  formed  by  taking  one  name  in  turn  from  each  mess,  as  given  in,  the 
names  to  be  taken  in  regular  rotation,  in  the  formation  of  the  guard." 

The  list  as  given  in,  and  the  several  messes  originally  consti- 
tuting "Howe's  train,"  were  as  follows  :  Richard  Howe,  Kdwin 
Gilson,  Edward  Waite,  J.  S.  Jones,  George  Wilcox,  Samuel  A, 
Wheeler,  Richard  Smetts,  William  Smetts,  Richard  G.  Howe, 
Augustus  G.  Babcock;  Ira  P.  Sperry,  Benjamin  D.  Wright,  Philo 
E.  Wright,  Alvin  N.  Stone;  James  M.  Mills,  Henry  Anson,  Henry 
McMasters,  William  Denaple;  John  T.  Good,  John  Cook,  Michael 
Metzler,  J.  Waggaman;  James  Holmes,  Samuel  A.  Lane,  Robert 
Carson,  John  McKibben;  John  G.  Carpender,  Leander  Titus,  Felix 
Morgan,  A.  Nixon;  Warren  Clark,  J.  Vickers,  Daniel  Martin, 
Henry  Martin;  Owen  O'Neil,  James  O'Neil,  John  Patterson,  Wil- 
liam Shaw,  Hugh  Boyd;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edward  Dugan,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  John  Kuhner;  Jonathan  F.  Fenn,  Leonard  Root;  Walton 
Hulin,  James  Boyle,  (from  Trumbull  county);  Elihu  Chilson,  J.  M. 
Sheppard,  William  Thompson;  Jonathan  Avery,  Moses  L.  Gore, 
Philip  Roberts,  Henry  Price,  Morgan  Brazee,  P.  O.  Cook  (the  latter 
six  from  Adrain,  Mich.);  56  persons,  with  85  head  of  horses  and 
mules,  all  told. 

It  should  be  properly  added,  here,  that  besides  the  messes,. 
above  enumerated,  a  German  by  the  name  of  George  Bechtel,  wha 
had  been  employed  in  the  warehouse  of  Mr.  P.  D.  Hall,  went 
through  upon  his  "own  hook,"  writh  a  single  mule,  upon  w^hich 
was  strapped  his  blankets  and  provisions,  picking  up,  kernel  by 
kernel,  the  corn  ^^^asted  by  our  o>vn  and  other  trains,  on  which  his- 
own  mule  w^as  kept  fat  and  sleek,  w^hile  other  animals,  by  the 
thousand,  succumbed  to  the  rigors  of  the  journey  and  the  scanti- 
ness of  their  feed. 

The  "Military"  Train. — While  the  great  mass  of  the  wagons 
of  the  emigrants  were  covered  with  w^hite  or  brown  canvas,  it  so 
happened  that  the  most  of  ours  were  covered  with  black  rubber 


ROUTINE   TRAVEL   AND   CAMP   DUTY.  111& 

cloth,  \srhich  fact,  together  with  the  circumstance  that  that  prince 
of  drummers,  Henry  McMasters,  had  his  drum  along,  and  our 
Trumbull  county  neighbor,  Hulin,  an  equally  skilled  musician^ 
had  his  life  with  him,  upon  w^hich  instruments  they  w^ould  aw^ake 
the  echoes  of  the  plains  and  mountains  w^ith  soul-stirring  martial 
music,  nearly  every  evening,  gave  us  the  title,  among  our  neigh- 
bors of  the  "Military  Train,"  and  possibly  afforded  us  immunity 
from  disturbance  by  the  hostile  Indians  through  whose  hunting 
grounds  we  w^ere  obliged  to  pass,  from  w^hich  so  many  trains  that 
year  and  the  year  before  were  annoyed  and  despoiled  of  their 
animals  and  other  property,  and  often  of  their  lives,  upon  the 
journey. 

Camp  Duty  —  Standing  Guard,  Etc. — But  notwithstanding 
this  supposed  immunity,  w^e  by  no  means  relaxed  our  vigilance.^ 
In  a  mess  of  four,  tw^o  Avere  assigned  the  task  of  caring  for  the 
animals,  one  as  cook  and  the  other  as  general  utility  man,  by 
courtesy  called  the  "chambermaid,"  whose  duties  w^ere  to  pack  and 
unpack  the  wagon,  set  up  and  take  dow^n  the  tent,  make  beds^ 
gather  fuel,  water,  etc.  The  captain,  or  his  assistant,  having  by 
riding  ahead  secured  a  proper  camping  ground — usually  selected 
w^ith  reference  to  proximity  to  feed  and  water — at  about  6  o'clock 
w^ould  conduct  us  into  camp.  The  w^agons  w^ere  arranged  in  cir- 
cular form,  w^ith  our  tents  between,  and  our  camp-fires  on  the 
inside.  On  getting  into  position,  the  first  care  was  for  the  animals, 
"which  w^ere  securely  tethered  by  lariats  attached  to  iron  pins  driven 
into  the  ground,  the  teamstiers  being  sometimes  obliged  to  go  quite 
a  distance  to  find  good  pasturage. 

Meantime  the  cook  skirmishes  around  for  fuel  and  water^ 
kindles  his  lire  and  prepares  his  meal,  while  the  "chambermaid  "^ 
unpacks  the  ^vagon,  pitches  the  tent,  unrolls  and  adjusts  the  bed- 
ding, sets  the  table,  etc. — the  latter  piece  of  "furniture"  consisting' 
of  a  piece  of  oilcloth,  about  four  feet  square,  spread  upon  the 
ground,  the  "crockery"  consisting  of  tin  plates,  tin  tea  and  coffee 
pots  and  cups,  iron  spoons,  knives,  forks,  etc.,  w^ith  the  frying  pan 
in  the  center,  surrounded  by  pans  of  rice,  beans,  bread,  stewed 
apple,  etc.,  from  w^hich  each  messmate,  sitting  flat  upon  the  ground, 
helps  himself,  without  stint  or  ceremony.  And  such  appetites! 
Little  wonder  that  the  w^riter  increased  his  avoirdupois  over  thirty 
pounds  on  that  journey,  fatiguing  and  wearing  as  it  was. 

At  eight  o'clock  the  stock  is  gathered  up  and  securely  picketed 
inside  the  ring,  and  then  to  bed.  And  w^e  had  beds,  too.  First 
rubber  blankets  spread  upon  the  ground,  then  light  cotton  mat- 
tresses, w^oolen  blankets,  comforters,  feather  pillow^s,  etc,  and 
making  it  a  rule  to  regularly  undress,  as  if  at  home,  except  in  casea 
of  supposed  danger,  stress  of  ^veather,  etc. 

The  night  was  divided  into  three  watches  —  from  eight  till 
eleven,  eleven  till  two,  and  from  two  till  daylight — w^hen  the  camp 
was  aroused  by  the  firing  off  of  the  guns.  Regular  beats  w^ere 
maintained  around  the  camp,  at  times  a  very  hazardous  operation, 
as  was  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  a  number  of  the  guards  of  other 
trains  were  killed  by  Indians  while  thus  on  duty,  either  from  sheer 
savage  w^antonness,  or  for  purposes  of  plunder  by  stampeding  the 
stock,  as  was  frequently  done. 

The  routine  duty  of  the  morning  was,  first,  for  the  teamsters  to 
get  the  stock  to  the  feeding  grounds,  the  cook  meantime  preparing 


1116  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

breakfast,  while  the  "chambermaid"  rolled  up  the  bedding,  struck 
ihe  tent,  packed  the  wagon,  set  the  table,  etc.  The  morning  meal 
over,  the  dishes  were  washed  and  packed,  the  animals  gathered  in 
and  tackled,  and  everything  made  ready  for  a  start — the  team  first 
in  readiness  being  the  leader  for  the  day;  a  halt  of  from  one  totw^o 
hours  being  made  in  the  middle  of  the  day  for  baiting  our  animals 
and  ourselves. 

Commissary  Stores,  Fuel,  Cooking,  Etc. — Our  main  reliance, 
in  the  provision  line,  was  cured  side  pork  and  sea  biscuit,  what 
have  since,  in  w^ar  parlance,  come  to  be  know^n  as  "  sow^-belly"  and 
-"hard-tack,"  though  each  company  w^as  provided  w^ith  such 
■"  luxuries,"  as  the  taste  and  purses  of  its  members  might  suggest 
or  w^arrant — corn  meal,  flour,  dried  beef,  dried  apples  and  peaches, 
■coffee,  tea,  sugar,  cheese,  etc. 

The  most  of  the  cooking  w^as  done  over  the  open  camp-fire,  and 
was,  of  course,  more  or  less  seasoned  w^ith  flying  dust,  and  flavored 
by  odors  of  the  different  kinds  of  fuel  accessible  to  us — dry  grass, 
w^eeds,  green  sage-brush,  buffalo  "chips,"  etc.,  for  often,  for  hun- 
<lreds  of  miles,  not  a  twig  or  splinter  of  wood  was  within  our  reach; 
the  "chips,"  by  the  by,  being  about  the  best  fuel  encountered  upon 
ihe  journey. 

The  writer's  own  mess  was  provided  with  a  small  two-story 
sheet-iron  stove,  with  oven,  boiler  holes,  etc.,  by  which  we  w^ere 
enabled  to  provide  a  variety  of  bakery  goods — biscuits,  short-cake, 
gingerbread,  apple-pies,  etc  ,  that  but  few  of  our  neighbors  could 
indulge  in — the  writer  officiating  as  cook  through  Missouri,  and 
Mr.  James  Holmes  upon  the  plains. 

Incidents  of  the  Journey.— To  re-produce  even  the  brief  daily 
record  of  the  journal  kept  by  the  writer,  would  occupy  more  space 
than  could  be  given  to  it  here.  A  few^  of  the  more  salient  incidents 
therefore  must  suffice.  We  left  our  camp  upon  the  bluffs  at  pre- 
■cisely  10  o'clock  on  the  first  day  of  May,  to  the  pluck-inspiring 
music  of  the  fife  and  drum,  our  first  objective  point  being  Fort 
Kearney,  300  miles  distant,  on  the  Platte  River,  which  we  reached 
May  16,  having  averaged  about  20  miles  a  day.  Though  w^e  were 
almost  at  the  head  of  the  emigration  that  year,  a  record  kept  at 
ttCb  fort  showed  that  1,952  wagons  and  6,152  souls  had  preceded  us. 

For  the  first  t^vo  w^eeks,  so  backward  was  the  season,  we  had  to 
rely  principally  upon  the  corn  and  other  feed  carried  with  us,  by 
the  aid  of  sickles,  hatchets,  knives,  etc.,  converting  the  prairie  grass 
of  the  year  before,  mixed  w^ith  middlings,  into  "chop"  \\rhich  the 
animals  devoured  with  great  avidity  and  seeming  relish.  Those 
w^ho  did  not  thus  take  along  feed,  had  to  depend  solely  upon  this 
<lry  grass  for  the  subsistence  of  their  stock,  which  soon  began  to  be 
painfully  manifest  by  the  constantly  increasing  number  of  dead 
animals  along  the  route. 

Death  on  the  Trail. — On  our  fourth  day  out  we  saw  our 
first  grave,  that  of  a  man  from  Michigan,  who  died  the 
year  before.  At  the  head  of  the  grave  was  a  small  board  giv- 
ing name,  age,  residence,  date  of  death,  etc.,  the  mound 
being  surmounted  by  the  huge  branching  antlers  of  a  prai- 
rie elk,  with  its  prongs  firmly  implanted  in  the  ground.  This 
grave,  on  a  knoll  several  rods  from  the  road,  had  a  deep-worn  path 
to,  and  from  it,  indicating  that  nearly  every  passing  pilgrim  to  the 
land  of  gold,  paid  a  visit  thereto,  an  unavoidable  sadness  pervading 


INCIDENTS    UPON    THE    PLAINS.  1117 

the  minds  of  all  who  viewed  it,  lest  in  the  long  and  perilous  jour- 
ney before  them,  they  or  their  friends  might  share  the  fate  of  the 
one  who  had  thus  fallen  at  the  very  outset  of  the  journey.  The 
sight  became  a  very  familiar  one,  however,  as  we  proceeded,  many 
others  of  those  who  died  the  year  before,  from  cholera  and  other 
diseases,  with  many  fresh  mounds  under  which  were  quietly  sleep- 
ing those  who,  but  a  few  days  before,  were  as  eagerly  pursuing 
their  quest  for  gold  as  ourselves. 

Buffaloes  by  the  Million. — Soon  after  leaving  Fort  Kearney, 
we  struck  the  buffalo  pasture  grounds,  "chips"  for  fuel  being 
plenty,  l)ut  for  several  days  none  of  the  animals  in  sight,  except 
an  occasional  herd  in  the  distance,  seen  from  the  bluffs.  The  day 
after  leaving  the  fort,  towards  night,  a  solitary  buffalo  was  descried 
a  mile  or  two  to  the  left,  towards  the  bluffs,  and  our  cook  shoul- 
dered his  rifle  and  sauntered  off  that  way,  thinking  to  get  a  crack 
at  him,  and  then  make  his  way  towards  the  train.  We  w^ent  into 
camp  at  about  the  usual  hour,  in  a  small  ravine,  a  short  distance 
from  the  road,  but  no  Holmes  put  in  an  appearance.  The 
"chambermaid"  got  supper,  the  animals  were  duly  cared  for,  bed- 
time arrived,  but  still  no  Holmes.  By  this  time  the  camp  was 
thoroughly  alarmed.  The  drum  \vas  beaten  and  guns  were  tired 
to  guide  the  wanderer  into  camp,  but  still  he  came  not.  Thinking 
that  he  might  have  got  bewildered  in  some  of  the  gulches  of  the 
bluffs,  a  searching  party  was  organized,  which,  armed  with  lan- 
terns, guns,  drum,  fife,  etc.,  started  for  the  bluffs.  Finally,  at 
about  eleven  o'clock,  and  just  before  the  return  of  the  searching 
party,  the  lost  one  came  slowly  marching  into  camp,  almost  utterly 
exhausted.  It  appeared  that  on  returning  to  the  road  about  where 
we  would  be  likely  to  be  encamped,  w^e  were  not  in  sight,  being  in 
a  ravine  as  before  stated.  Inquiring  at  another  camp  for  the  "  mili- 
tary train,"  he  was  told  that  we  were  behind,  and  back  he  walked 
several  miles,  w^hen  he  w^as  told  that  we  were  ahead,  and  ahead  he 
w^ent  to  be  again  and  again  told  that  we  were  to  the  right  or  to  the 
left,  finally  striking  a  company  who  told  him  that  early  in  the 
evening  the  beating  of  a  drum  and  the  firing  of  guns  was  heard 
in  a  given  direction,  w^hen  he  marched  right  into  camp.  The 
unsuccessful  searching  party  soon  returned  \srith  sorrow^ful  coun- 
tenances, but  when  they  learned  that  the  lost  was  found,  their  sor- 
row was  turned  to  joy,  and  tired  as  he  was,  and  as  we  all  w^ere,  an 
impromptu  midnight  jollification  was  held  over  the  happy  out- 
come of  the  adventure.  Holmes  kept  pretty  near  home  after 
that.  , 

Animals  Frightened  Off. — Three  days  later,  while  lying  by 
for  lunch,  an  immense  herd  of  buffaloes  was  discovered  to  be  bearing 
directly  down  upon  us  from  the  north.  All  hands  made  a  rush  for 
the  teams,  but  before  all  could  be  secured  six  head  had  pulled 
their  lariat  pins  and  escaped — two  mules  belonging  to  Mills  and 
Anson,  and  two  mules  and  two  horses  belonging  to  Kuhner  and 
Dugan.  The  two  former  were  recovered  during  the  afternoon,  but 
the  four  latter,  after  a  thorough  search  of  a  day  and  a  half,  being 
now^here  to  be  found  or  even  seen,  it  being  stated  by  old  buffalo 
hunters,  that  domestic  animals  thus  frightened,  will  run  with,  and 
become  merged  in  the  herd  from  w^hich  they  are  endeavoring  to 
escape.  Having  two  large  horses  left,  by  such  aid  as  was  afforded 
them  by  other  members  of  the  train,  the  unfortunate  couple,  with 


1118  AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

iheir  wives,  w^ere  enabled  to  pursue  their  journey  Avithout  much 
inconvenience. 

A  Neat  Mechanical  Operation. — ^We  were  now  far  enough 
upon  our  journey  to  require  occasional  repairs  upon  our  w^agons. 
Several  spokes  had  been  broken  out  of  one  of  the  hind  wheels  of 
Wheeler's  w^agon,  w^hile  it  w^as  becoming  musically  evident  that 
the  tires  upon  all  of  the  w^heels  of  our  wagon  needed  to  be  re-set; 
but  how  could  it  be  done,  w^ith  no  wood  or  coal,  no  bellows  or  anvil 
or  other  appliances  -with  which  to  cut  and  shut  the  tire?  But  the 
skill  of  the  practical  carriage-maker  and  blacksmith  at  the  head  of 
the  Tallmadge  mess,  Mr.  Ira  P.  Sperry,  was  adequate  to  the  occa- 
sion. Having  previously  supplied  ourselves  w^ith  the  necessary 
timber  from  the  crippled  wagon  of  another  train  ^vhich  was  being 
dismantled,  taking  advantage  of  our  involuntary  delay  "while 
searching  for  the  missing  stock,  stripping  the  tire  from  the  wheels 
in  question,  new^  spokes  were  speedily  adjusted  to  the  one,  and  to 
compensate  for  our  inability  to  contract  the  diameter  of  the  tire, 
the  diameter  of  the  w^heel  itself  w^as  increased  by  tacking  thin 
tapering  strips  to  the  outer  surface  of  the  felloes.  Then  the  proper 
expansion  of  the  tire  was  effected  by  the  use  of  buffalo  "chips"  for 
fuel,  and,  when  in  place,  contracted  by  the  waters  of  the  near-by 
creek,  giving  to  the  wheels,  when  cooled,  as  sound  a  ring  as  when 
first  turned  from  the  shop  in  old  Tallinadge. 

"  Slaughter  of  the  Innocents." — During  our  day  and  a  half 
sojourn,  as  stated,  numerous  buffaloes  passed  near  us,  and  the 
hunters  of  our  party  gave  chase,  killing  from  twelve  to  fifteen  of 
them,  so  that  our  entire  train  fared  sumptuously  upon  fresh  beef, 
so  long  as  it  could  be  kept  from  spoiling  with  the  appliances  we 
had.  Of  course  w^e  could  use  but  a  small  portion  of  the  slaugh- 
tered animals,  some  of  them  being  too  far  from  camp  to  be  brought 
in,  while  other  portions  were  given  to  the  members  of  contiguous 
trains.  Immense  herds  were  also  seen  bro\vsing  upon  the  north 
side  of  the  Platte,  w^hile  many  similar  herds  crossed  our  path,  and 
were  seen  upon  either  hand,  for  several  days,  so  that  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  we  saw  millions  of  the  shaggy-maned  bovines  within  the 
<iistance  of  100  miles  on  this  portion  of  our  journey. 

Perils  of  the  Murky  Deep.  —  About  100  miles  from  Fort 
Kearney  we  came  to  the  forks  of  the  Platte,  and  passing  up  the 
left  bank  of  the  South  fork  about  forty  miles,  crossed  the  river,  and 
over  a  succession  of  steep  ridges  into  Ash  Hollow,  on  the  North 
Platte.  The  South  Platte,  where  we  crossed  it,  was  about  half  a 
mile  in  width,  but  the  ford  being  diagonally  across,  just  about 
doubled  the  distance.  The  water  was  about  three  feet  deep,  and 
extremely  muddy,  from  the  washings  of  the  soft  rocky-earthj'^  bluffs 
through  which  it  runs  higher  up.  It  is  the  South  Platte  that 
gives  its  muddy  character  to  the  main  Platte,  which,  in  turn  dis- 
colors the  Missouri  and  the  Mississippi,  both  the  North  Platte  and 
the  upper  Missouri  and  Mississippi,  being  as  clear  as  crystal. 

The  South  Platte,  at  the  crossing,  had  a  rapid  current  and  a 
C[uick-sand  bottom,  with  the  exception  of  narrow  bars  of  solid 
ground  from  fiteen  to  twenty  rods  apart.  Once  in  the  stream,  men 
and  animals  had  to  keep  moving,  from  one  bar  to  another,  or  the 
sand  would  w^ash  out  from  under  their  feet  and  down  they  w^ould 
go.  The  animals,  as  well  as  the  humans,  instinctively  realized 
the  danger,  and  pulled  for  dear  life,  though  an  occasional  one. 


"DISTANCE   LENDS  ENCHANTMENT  TO  THE   VIEW."  1119 

^weakened  by  travel  and  poor  care,  Avould  sink  down  exhausted, 
and  have  to  be  pulled  through  by  his  companions,  being  some- 
iiinies  drowned  in  the  operation. 

Sublimely  Beautiful. — The  country  between  Ash  Hollow  and 
Fort  Laramie,  150  miles,  w^as  lovely  in  the  extreme,  the  broad  and 
fertile  valley  of  the  river,  being  flanked  on  either  side  by  high 
bluffs,  to  which,  in  the  clear  atmosphere  of  the  region,  distance 
lent  the  most  delightful  enchantment.  These  bluffs,  as  w^e 
approached  and  passed  them,  presented  the  appearance  of  turreted 
•castles,  handsome  villas  and  magnificent  cities,  with  their  domes 
and  spires,  but  a  few  miles  distant,  but  w^hich  in  reality  were  from 
tw^enty-five  to  fifty  miles  away.  An  occasional  isolated  fragment, 
standing  out  in  bold 'relief,  would  attract  the  curiosity  and  incite 
a  visit  from  the  emigrant. 

The  first  of  these  was  called  "  Court  House  Rock,"  \srhich,  as 
'we  approached,  strikingly  resembled  the  regulation  stone  court 
liouse,  w^ith  a  lofty  dome  upon  its  summit,  tw^o  or  three  miles  from 
ihe  road,  over  a  seemingly  perfect  level  prairie.  It  was  visited  by 
thousands,  mostly  on  foot,  who  found  that  instead  of  two  or  three, 
it  was  seven  or  eight  miles  from  the  road,  with  deep  ravines,  and 
one  or  two  considerable  streams  of  water  intervening.  With 
several  of  our  company,  on  muleback,  I  visited  the  "  Court  House." 
We  found  it  to  be  an  irregular  soft,  clayey  lime-stone  formation, 
ihree-fourths  of  a  mile  around  the  base,  and  from  150  to  200  feet 
Tiigh,  the  "dome"  being  an  almost  perpendicular  shaft  of  some 
iorty-five  or  fifty  feet  in  height,  and  fifteen  feet  across  the  top. 
Thousands  of  names  of  emigrants  w^ere  carved  upon  the  surface 
of  this  rock,  from  base  to  top  of  dome,  the  only  one  recognized  by 
the  writer  being  that  of  "William  Smagg,  Akron,  Ohio,  May  17, 
1850,"  just  ten  days  before  our  visit,  indicating  that  our  train  and 
Oarrett's  w^ere  making  about  the  same  time. 

Thirteen  miles  beyond,  "Chimney  Rock,"  five  or  six  miles  from 
the  road,  is  also  visited  by  thousands.  This  w^as  a  conical  mass  of 
rock,  about  150  feet  in  height,  with  a  perpendicular  shaft  of  100 
feet  or  more  rising  from  its  center,  giving  it,  from  a  distance,  the 
appearance  of  a  huge  factory  smoke-stack. 

Thirty  miles  beyond,  we  arrive  at  and  pass  through,  a  romantic 
-chain,  called  "  Scott's  Bluff,"  which  has  been  seemingly  but  a  few 
miles  ahead  for  four  or  five  days,  and  twenty  miles  further  brings 
us  to  Fort  Laramie,  600  miles  from  St.  Joseph,  which  we  reached 
on  the  morning  of  May  30,  having  maintained  an  average  of 
twenty  miles  per  day,  including  the  Sundays  and  other  occasional 
■days  that  we  did  not  travel. 

Though  for  the  most  part  our  road  has  thus  far  been  seem- 
ingly almost  upon  a  dead  level,  along  the  valley  of  the  Platte  and 
its  tributaries,  we  have  been  gradually  going  up  hill,  Fort  Laramie 
being  4,770  feet  higher  than  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  at  the  base  of 
the  far-famed  Rocky  Mountains. 

Property  Values  upon  the  Plains. — About  fifeen  miles  this 
side  of  Fort  Laramie,  by  the  sliding  of  our  wagon,  in  passing  over 
a  sideling  gulley,  one  of  our  hind  w^heels  was  turned  inside  out, 
but  we  were  fortunate  in  securing  another  w^agon,  from  another 
company,  for  the  moderate  sum  of  $20.  Transferring  our  luggage 
to  the  new  purchase,  we  hauled  the  crippled  w^agon  to  the  fort, 
•with  the  view  of  getting  it  repaired,  if  possible.     We  indeed  found 


1120  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

a  repair  shop  there,  but  as  the  fellows  running  it  wanted  $20  for 
filling  the  wheel,  and  would  not  promise  to  do  it  for  two  or  three 
days  at  that,  w^e  sold  them  the  wagon  that  we  had  paid  $90  for^ 
three  months  before,  for  the  paltry  pittance  of  $12,  and  pushed 
ahead,  with  the  plainer  and  lighter,  but  stronger  one  purchased  as 
above  stated.  A  few  days  later  we  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  our 
familiar  old  w^agon  pass  our  camp,  and  on  inquiry  learned  that  its 
then  owners  had  traded  a  still  heavier  wagon  for  it,  and  paid  $35 
to  boot. 

The  Journey  a  Temper  Tester.  —  The  overland  journey  was 
admirably  calculated  to  develop  the  perverse  and  selfish  instincts 
of  human  nature.  If,  as  was  often  the  case,  companies  found  them- 
selves overloaded  with  provisions  or  articles  which  they  had 
thought  to  carry  through  for  use  on  the  other  side,  or  concluded  ta 
abandon  their  wagons,  tents,  etc.,  and  pack  the  rest  of  the  journey, 
the  universal  practice  was  to  destroy  what  they  could  not  sell. 
Wagons  would  be  chopped  to  pieces  or  burned;  tents  torn  into 
shreds,  gun-barrels  bent,  chains,  and  iron  and  steel  implements 
sunk  in  the  streams,  etc.,  it  being  reported  of  a  well  known  Akron 
lady,  that,  finding  she  must  dispense  with  her  cherished  flat-ironSr 
she  hurled  them  writh  her  own  hand,  into  the  middle  of  a  near-by 
river. 

So,  too,  little  differences  of  opinion  in  regard  to  train  manage- 
ment, care  of  stock,  selection  of  camping  ground,  lying  by  or 
going  ahead  on  Sunday,  etc.,  would  develop  into  angry  quarrels^ 
that  would  not  only  cause  some  very  circumspect  people,  w^hen  at 
home,  to  use  extremely  "  sulphurous"  language,  but  to  frequently 
break  up  messes,  and  sometimes  entire  companies,  each  member 
thereafter  going  it  upon  his  OAvn  hook;  broils  of  that  character  not 
infrequently  terminating  in  bloody  and  fatal  fights,  or  life-long 
bitter  enmities. 

Our  little  company  w^as  comparatively  exempt  from  that  clas& 
of  disasters,  and  though  splits  were  sometimes  imminent,  writh  a 
single  exception  the  messes  of  "Military  Train"  remained  intact 
to  the  end.  The  exception  alluded  to  was  the  sudden  falling  out 
between  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kuhner  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dugan,  the  cause 
of  w^hich  was  never  fully  apparent  to  the  rest  of  us. 

On  the  Sunday  morning  after  the  unfortunate  loss  of  their 
animals,  as  above  detailed,  -while  we  were  encamped  on  the  Platte 
river,  getting  into  some  trivial  controversy,  Kuhner's  " Dutch  "^ 
became  excited  and  Dugan  got  his  "Irish"  up  to  such  an  extent 
that,  before  any  of  us  were  aw^are  of  what  w^as  going  on,  they  had 
divided  all  of  their  effects,  cutting  and  sawing  right  dow^n  through 
the  center  of  the  top  and  body  of  their  splendid  rubber-top 
w^agon  and  converting  it  into  a  couple  of  bob-tailed  carts.  Pre- 
vious to  the  loss  of  their  animals,  as  stated,  Kuhner  had  purchased 
from  an  Indian  trader,  for  his  wife  to  ride  on,  an  Indian  pony, 
w^hich  he  now^  harnessed  up  with  his  large  horse  to  the  cart,  made 
from  the  forward  portion  of  the  wagon,  *while  Dugan,  mounting 
his  horse,  rode  some  ten  miles  to  the  bluffs,  w^here  he  secured  a 
couple  of  pine  poles,  out  of  w^hich  he  constructed  shafts  to  the 
hinder  portion,  and  w^ith  these  unique  rigs  they  continued  on  ^vith 
the  train,  the  rest  of  us  giving  the  ^vomen  frequent  rides  on  our 
own  wagons,  and  also  helping  the  late  belligerents  over  the  hard 
spots  on  the  journey. 


POISONOUS   WATERS    AND    GRASSES.  1121 

California  Prices  Already, — From  Fort  Laramie,  the  snow- 
capped peaks  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  are  distinctly  visible,  and 
their  chilling  influence,  these  last  days  of  May  and  first  days  of 
June,  uncomfortably  apparent,  for  though  in  midday  the  sun 
shines  bright  and  warm,  the  nights  are  sufficiently  cool  to  form 
ice  from  an  eighth  to  a  quarter  inch  in  thickness  upon  our  water- 
buckets  and  the  shallower  streams  of  w^ater  of  the  vicinity.  Pass- 
ing over  a  spur  of  the  Black  Hills,  forty  miles  brings  us  again  to 
the  valley  of  the  North  Platte,  which  we  foUow^,  between  lofty 
ranges  of  solid  granite,  about  eighty-five  or  ninety  miles. 

At  this  point,  125  miles  from  Fort  Laramie,  w^e  cross  the  river, 
which,  earlier  and  later  in  the  season,  is  easily  fordable,  but  during 
the  melting  of  snow  in  the  mountains  the  current  attains  a  depth 
and  velocity  that  renders  the  fording  process  impracticable. 
Hitherto,  in  such  an  emergency,  emigrants  had,  at  great  risk,  fer- 
ried themselves  and  their  effects  over  in  wagon  boxes,  or  on  impro- 
vised rafts,  as  best  as  they  could,  the  animals  and  many  of  the 
men,  having  to  swim  for  it,  many  lives  and  much  property  being 
lost  in  the  operation.  But  this  year  parties  from  the  fort  had 
established  a  ferry  here,  having  five  boats  rudely  constructed 
from  the  large  trees  found  along  the  river  bank  at  this  point,  and 
propelled  across  by  the  current,  by  means  of  cables  stretched 
across  the  stream,  and  kept  in  proper  tension  by  windlasses  on 
either  side, — the  width  of  the  river  being  about  300  feet.  The 
ferriage  fee  was  onJj^  four  dollars  per  u^agon,  and  tjventjr- five 
cents  for  each  animal,  the  humans  being  generously  crossed 
without  charge. 

At  the  ferry  we  found,  upon  a  tree,  the  names  of  Hallet  Kil- 
bourn,  Frederick  Wadsworth,  David  H.  Bliss,  and  several  other 
Akronians,  under  date  of  May  27,  showing  that  we  were  all  mak- 
ing about  the  same  speed,  as  it  will  be  remembered  that  Garrett's 
train  started  ten  days  ahead  of  us,  and  it  is  now  the  6th  day  of 
June.  Many  other  names  and  messages  were  here  and  elsew^here 
inscribed  upon  the  trees  and  rocks,  indicating  to  following  friends 
the  progress  that  was  being  made,  and  the  welfare  of  those  ahead 
of  them. 

Poisonous  Waters,  Grasses,  Ktc. — A  few  miles  from  the  ferry 
we  started  upon  our  heaviest  climb,  thus  far,  over  the  divide 
between  the  Platte  and  the  Sweetwater,  a  distance  of  about  sixty 
miles.  In  the  intervening  vallej'S  between  the  tw^o  rivers,  w^e  for 
the  first  time  strike  the  poisonous  alkaline  springs  and  meadows, 
so  fatal  to  the  animals  of  the  emigrants.  In  one  place  we  passed 
what,  as  we  approached,  looked  like  a  lake  of  milk,  but  which 
proved  to  be  a  solid  bed  of  what  was  found,  by  experiment,  to  be 
a  fair  quality  of  saleratus.  In  these  valleys  w^ere  innumerable 
poisonous  springs,  almost  side  by  side  with  springs  of  pure  and 
wholesome  water,  requiring  the  utmost  vigilance,  on  the  part  of 
emigrants,  to  prevent  disaster  to  themselves  and  stock,  as  evi- 
denced by  the  hundreds  of  dead  horses,  mules  and  oxen  visible 
to  both  the  optic  and  the  olfactory  organs,  on  every  hand.  Emi- 
grants of  the  year  before,  who  had  suffered  from  this  cause,  had 
thoughtfully  posted  cards  indicating  the  more  prominent  of  these 
poisonous  spots,  but  many  others  Avere  not  thus  indicated.  One 
afternoon,  w^hile  riding  one  of  our  ponies  and  leading  two  of  our 
mules,  I  turned  aside  into  what  appeared  to  be  a  patch  of  nutritious 

71 


1122  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

meadow  grass,  while  the  train  passed  on.  Allowing  the  ani- 
mals to  graze  half  or  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  I  started  forward 
to  overtake  the  train.  Soon  after  reaching  the  road,  I  discovered 
that  the  pony  I  was  riding  was  sick.  He  would  stop,  crouch 
nearly  to  the  ground,  retch  as  if  trying  to  vomit,  and  groan  as  if 
in  great  distress.  Hastily  transferring  the  saddle  to  one  of  the 
mules,  I  pushed  on  as  rapidly  as  possible,  but  soon  found  that 
both  of  the  mules  were  affected  the  same  ^way.  Thanks  to  Mr. 
Russell  Abbey,  from  his  experience  of  the  year  before,  we  had 
provided  ourselves  with  antidotes — tartaric  and  citric  acids.  On 
reaching  the  train,  which  had  gone  into  camp,  we  drenched  the 
three  animals  with  a  solution  of  the  acid,  and  in  fifteen  minutes 
the  mules  were  apparently  as  well  as  ever,  and  the  pony  a  good 
deal  better,  though  it  was  several  days  before  he  entirely  recov- 
ered. Later  on,  when  the  very  best  water  we  could  procure  was 
more  or  less  impregnated  w^ith  alkali,  we  made  free  use  of  the 
acids  in  question,  with  great  benefit  to  our  animals  and  ourselves, 
our  company  getting  through  with  every  head  of  stock  we  started 
with,  excepting  those  frightened  off  by  buffaloes,  as  heretofore 
stated. 

"Independence  Rock" — "Devil's  Gate,"  Etc. — Soon  after 
reaching  the  Sweetwater,  a  beautiful  stream  about  six  or  eight 
rods  wide,  and  from  two  to  four  feet  deep,  we  cross  to  the  north 
bank,  and  halt  for  lunch  under  the  shadow^  of  "Independence 
Rock" — a  solitary  mass  of  granite  1,800  feet  long,  360  feet  wide, 
and  from  300  to  400  feet  high,  so  named  not  only  because  of  its 
standing  on  the  level  plain  of  the  valley,  independent  of  the  neigh- 
boring chain  of  mountains,  but  also  because  one  of  the  earliest 
trains  that  went  through  to  Oregon  celebrated  the  Fourth  of  July 
at  its  base,  and  planted  the  Stars  and  Stripes  upon  its  summit. 

This  rock  vi;^as  literally  covered — not  w^ith  patent  medicine 
advertisements,  as  perchance  it  may  be  now — but  with  the  names 
of  thousands  of  emigrants,  inscribed  in  every  variety  of  style, 
color  and  material — w^hite,  red  and  black  paint,  tar,  lampblack  and 
grease,  chalk,  charcoal,  etc.,  some  being  even  chiseled  into  the 
hard  granite. 

A  short  distance  beyond  Independence  Rock,  is  w^hat  is 
denominated  the  "Devil's  Gate."  A  sharp  spur  of  the  mountain, 
around  which  the  river  originally  ran,  perhaps  being  undermined 
by  the  current,  had  apparently  split  off,  the  outer  portion  filling 
up  the  bed  of  the  river,  and  forcing  the  water  through  the  cleft  in 
the  rock.  The  sides  of  the  cleft  were  some  400  feet  in  height,  and, 
being  considerably  narrow^er  than  the  channel  of  the  river  on 
either  side,  the  water  rushes  through  with  considerable  force,  and 
a  roar  resembling  that  of  Niagara  Falls  at  a  distance. 

Mountain  Sheep,  Goats,  Etc. — Camping  over  Sunday,  just 
beyond  the  "Devil's  Gate,"  a  number  of  our  boys  clambered  to  the 
top  of  the  mountain,  several  thousand  feet,  Avhere  they  saw  range 
on  range  beyond,  vi^ith  broad,  heavy  timbered  valleys  between, 
w^hich  seemed  the  more  singular  from  the  fact  that  there  w^as  not 
a  tree  or  shrub  in  the  valley  of  the  Sweetwater,  except  the  odorif- 
erous sage-brush.  Many  mountain  sheep  and  goats  w^ere  seen  by 
the  boys,  but  they  were  unable  to  approach  sufficiently  near  to  get 
a  shot  at  them. 


ON   THB   SUMMIT   OF   THE    ROCKY    MOUNTAINS.  1123 

Gold  Excitement  Extraordinary. — At  this  point,  also,  great 
excitement  \vas  produced  by  the  discovery  of  what  seemed  like 
innumerable  particles  of  gold  among  the  sands  of  the  Sweet- 
water. The  first  impulse  w^as  to  wash  out  a  few  thousands  and 
return,  but  when  it  was  found  that  the  shining  particles  were 
much  lighter  than  the  sand,  and  w^ould  all  float  off  on  attempting 
a  separation  by  w^ashing,  that  project  w^as  abandoned  and  we  con- 
cluded to  push  forward  to  the  Pacific  slope,  where  we  could  shovel 
up    the  big-  lumps. 

Snow-Clad  Mountains. — Leaving  the  "Devil's  Gate"  on  Mon- 
day morning,  June  10,  we  foUo^v  the  general  course  of  the  Sweet- 
w^ater  nearly  three  days,  fording  it  several  times,  passing  between 
snow-capped  mountains,  and  over  a  number  of  high  ranges,  on 
the  top  of  one  of  which  we  found  an  almost  level  sandy  plain, 
sixteen  miles,  without  water;  on  another  of  about  the  same 
dimensions,  several  creeks  and  marshes,  and  sno^v  drifts. 

On  the  night  of  June  12,  while  encamped  on  Willow  creek,  we 
-were  visited  w^ith  a  furious  storm  of  sleet  and  snow^,  and  on  the 
morning  of  June  13,  found  the  w^ater  in  our  half-filled  tin  >vater- 
dish  frozen  solid.  It  was  a  curious  sight,  that,  to  see  bright  and 
fragrant  flowers  sweetly  blooming  on  the  icy  margins  of  these 
slowly  melting  snoAv-banks,  where  a  person  could  easily  gather  a 
snow-ball  with  one  hand  and  a  beautiful  bouquet  with  the  other. 

"Squeezing  Through"  the  South  Pass. — Crossing  the  Sweet- 
w^ater  for  the  last  time,  a  short  ten  miles  brings  us  to  what  was 
then,  and  perhaps  still  is,  known  as  the  "South  Pass"  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and,  what  may  seem  singular,  the  five  miles  on 
either  side  is  almost  a  dead  level,  and  the  road  quite  sandy. 
Indeed,  so  gradual  is  the  ascent  and  descent,  that  the  emigrant 
only  knows  that  he  has  really  passed  the  summit,  when  he  finds 
the  waters  of  Pacific  creek  running  in  the  opposite  direction  from 
those  he  has  lately  been  traversing. 

And  what  of  the  pass  itself?  Instead  of  a  narrow,  rough,  zig- 
zag fissure  through  craggy  rocks,  it  is  a  broad  plain,  eighteen  or 
tw^enty  miles  in  extent,  north  and  south,  our  road  being  near  its 
southern  verge,  and  skirting  along  huge  drifts  of  snow  on  the 
northern  slope  of  the  lofty  mountain  range  to  the  south  of  us. 

At  this  point  we  are  960  miles  from  St.  Joseph,  and  7,490  feet 
higher  than  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  extreme  rarefaction  of  the 
atmosphere  not  only  rendering  it  extremely  difficult  for  men  and 
animals  to  properly  inflate  their  lungs,  or  to  walk  or  work  without 
panting,  but  also  making  it  almost  impossible  to  do  any  cooking, 
particularly  beans  and  rice,  water  boiling  at  so  low  a  temperature, 
as  to  have  very  little  impression  on  that  class  of  edibles. 

Diverging  Routes. — Eighteen  miles  beyond  the  pass,  the  road 
forks,  the  right  being  the  old  Oregon  trail,  via  Fort  Hall,  and 
the  left  the  Salt  Lake  road,  the  travel  being  about  equally 
divided  between  the  two  routes.  The  most  of  Garrett's  train,  as 
w^e  learned  by  cards  posted  at  the  fork,  had  taken  the  Salt  Lake 
route,  but  our  train,  by  a  nearly  unanimous  vote,  kept  the  old  trail. 

Three  miles  from  the  fork  is  the  Little  Sandy  river,  and  six 
miles  beyond  the  Big  Sandy,  after  crossing  w^hich  is  a  stretch  of 
fifty  miles,  without  water,  and  called  a  desert,  though  grass  is 
abundant.  Kept  advised  as  to  w^hat  w^as  before  us,  by  guide- 
books, compiled  by  parties  who  made  the  journey  the  year  previous. 


1124  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

we  took  along  as  much  water  as  our  rubber  tanks  and  other 
vessels  could  contain,  thus  obviating  the  serious  suffering  from 
thirst  that  would  otherwise  have  occurred  to  ourselves  and  stock.^ 

More  Jumbo  Ferriage  Charges. — Getting  down,  by  steep  and 
difficult  grades,  from  the  plateau  just  described,  we  came  to  Green 
river,  one  of  the  principal  tributaries  of  the  Rio  Colorado.  The 
river  w^as  sixteen  rods  wide,  and  ordinarily  fordable,  though  dan- 
gerous at  the  best,  from  the  rapidity  of  the  current,  but  now, 
from  the  melting  snows,  it  was  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  feet 
deep.  Here,  ten  days  before,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bruce  Herrick,  of 
Akron,  lost  their  entire  stock  of  provisions  and  other  property,  as 
did  also  many  others,  together  with  considerable  loss  of  animal 
and  human  life. 

But  this  year,  just  before  our  arrival,  some  Mormons  from 
Salt  Lake,  and  an  Indian  trader,  had  established  a  ferry  here,  with 
tw^o  boats,  or  rafts.  Unlike  the  North  Platte  ferrymen,  they  had 
no  cables,  steering  their  crafts  across  with  paddles,  as  best  they 
could,  landing  fully  a  quarter  of  a  mile  below,  and,  after  unload- 
ing, towing  the  boats  up  stream,  with  a  yoke  of  oxen,  a  sufficient 
distance  to  enable  them  to  strike  the  landing  from  w^hence  they 
started.  The  process  was  slow,  from  tw^o  to  four  days  being 
required  for  the  several  companies  to  reach  their  turns.  We 
reached  the  ferry  on  Sunday,  June  16,  about  1  o'clock  p.  m.,  not 
being  able  to  remain  in  camp  through  the  day,  as  w^as  our  cus- 
tom, for  lack  of  w^ater  as  above  stated,  and  our  turn  at  the  boats 
did  not  come  until  Tuesday  morning. 

The  ferry  charges  w^ere  $7  for  each  wagon,  and  $1  for  each 
head  of  stock,  owners  gratis.  There  being  no  feed  along  the  nar- 
row margin  on  the  east  side,  the  stock  had  to  be  taken  to  the  west 
side  for  pasturage,  the  larger  portion  being  made  to  swim  the 
river,  though  many  of  the  weaker  animals  were  thereby  lost,  the 
tendency  being  to  get  confused,  on  reaching  the  middle  of  the 
rapid  current,  swimming  round  and  round  until  exhausted.  Our 
mess  had  taken  along  a  small  cow^-bell,  by  the  sound  of  which 
such  of  our  animals  as  w^ere  permitted  to  run  loose  were  taught  to 
follow.  Taking  this  bell  across  to  a  spot  where  we  wanted  our 
stock  to  land,  and  gently  tinkling  it  as  the  animals  were  headed 
into  the  stream,  they  followed  the  sound  straight  across,  and 
landed  without  an  accident  or  hitch. 

Snow-Storm — Packing  Mania,  Etc. — On  this  Sunday  night, 
June  16,  though  we  have  descended  1,240  feet,  since  leaving  the 
South  Pass,  there  is  a  fkll  of  about  five  inches  of  snow,  though 
the  most  of  it  disappears  in  the  warm  sunlight  of  the  following 
day.  It  is  now  forty-seven  days  since  we  left  St.  Jo,  and  we  are 
just  about  half  way.  Feeling  that  his  progress  is  too  slow,  a  sort 
of  mania  here  seizes  the  emigrant  to  abandon  his  wagons,  and 
tents,  and  pack,  or  else  to  lighten  them  up  to  the  narrowest  verge 
of  safety,  so  as  to  enable  him  to  increase  his  speed.  Hence,  not 
only  large  numbers  of  wagons,  harnesses,  tents,  etc.,  w^ere  con- 
verted into  pack-saddles  and  fuel,  but  clothing  and  other  necessa- 
ries and  conveniencies  thrown  away,  and  surplus  provisions  sold 
to  such  as  w^ere  already  short,  the  supposition  being  that  by  per- 
forming the  last  half  of  the  journey  in  thirty  days,  instead  of 
consuming  a  month  and  a  half,  as  on  the  first  half,  a  third  less  pro- 
visions   ^vould    be    needed    to    carrj'^    them    through.       On    this 


SEPARATING   FROM   THE   CROWD.  1125 

hypothesis,  though  still  retaining  their  wagons,  several  of  the 
messes  of  our  train  sold  considerable  quantities  of  pork,  hard 
bread,  etc.,  at  fifty  or  sixty  cents  per  pound,  w^hich,  being  six  or 
eight  times  their  cost,  was  supposed  to  be  a  good  speculation. 
Whether  such  was  the  case,  we  shall  see  before  we  get  through. 
All  safely  across  the  river,  and  somewhat  refreshed  by  our 
three  days'  rest,  we  pluckily  resumed  our  journey.  A  succession 
of  rugged  hills,  the  last  range  being  the  Bear  River  Mountains, 
with  intervening  muddy  valleys,  and  difficult  crossings  of  creeks, 
'  brings  us  to  Bear  river,  which,  where  w^e  struck  it,  runs  about 
northwest,  but  sixty-five  miles  further  on  turns  abruptly  to  the 
south  and  empties  into  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  150 ,  miles  to  the 
southw^ard. 

An  Indian  Philosopher. — A  few  miles  before  reaching  the 
bend  of  Bear  river,  we  passed  a  number  of  now  celebrated  soda 
springs,  and  geysers,  including  steamboat  spring,  in  the  bank  of 
the  river,  ejecting  at  intervals  of  a  second  or  two  jets  of  water  and 
vapor,  w^ith  a  sound  resembling  the  puffing  of  a  low-pressure 
steamboat. 

From  the  bend  of  Bear  river,  the  old  Oregon  trail  runs  in  a 
northerly  direction,  through  a  fertile  valley,  about  twenty  miles, 
and  then  over  a  low  divide  into  the  valley  of  Lewis'  Fork,  of  the 
Columbia  river,  on  which  Fort  Hall  is  situated,  the  road  forking  a 
few  miles  beyond  the  fort,  the  right  keeping  on  northw^esterly 
into  Oregon  and  the  left  running  southwesterly  towards  California. 

The  year  before,  as  above  stated,  about  one-half  of  the  emi- 
grants went  via  Fort  Hall,  the  balance  by  Salt  Lake.  This  year, 
however,  an  early  emigrant,  by  the  name  of  Sublette,  had  discov- 
ered a  so-called  "cut-off,"  by  which,  proceeding  due  west  from  the 
bend  of  Beaver  river,  over  a  succession  of  rugged  mountain  ranges 
intersecting  the  regular  trail  on  the  other  side,  about  one-half  of 
the  distance,  could  be  saved.  Imbued  with  the  desire  to  "get 
there  "  as  quickly  as  possible,  nearly  the  entire  northern  w^ing  w^ent 
that  way. 

Having  been  advised  by  Captain  Grant,  an  agent  of  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company,  whom  we  met  here,  to  go  by  Fort  Hall,  instead  of 
by  this  "cut-off,"  when  we  reached  the  diverging  point  we  stopped 
to  hold  a  "  council  of  w^ar."  The  train  was  about  evenly  divided  in 
sentiment,  when  an  old  Snake  Indian,  who  seemed  to  comprehend 
the  situation,  volunteered  to  enlighten  us  upon  the  subject. 
Pointing  westward,  by  a  motion  of  his  hand,  he  indicated  the 
number  of  high  mountain  ranges  w^e  would  have  to  climb  and 
descend,  Avith  rapid  intervening  streams  to  cross,  as  vsrell  as  the 
scarcity  of  feed,  by  the  Sublette  route,  and,  by  similar  signs,  the 
avoidance  of  difficult  hills  with  plenty  of  feed,  by  the  Fort  Hall 
route,  clinching  his  pantomimic  argument  by  raising  the  bail  of 
one  of  our  water-buckets,  to  a  perpendicular  and  tracing  the  circum- 
ference with  his  hand,  and  then  laying  it  down  on  the  edge  of  the 
bucket,  going  through  the  same  motion,  indicating  that  it  really 
was  no  further  to  go  around  the  hills  than  to  go  over  them,  w^hile 
the  labor  for  both  men  and  teams  would  be  less  and  feed  far  better. 

We  finally  took  the  old  Indian's  advice,  and  though  rather 
lonesome,  until  w^e  again  fell  in  with  the  Grand  Procession,  we  had 
no  reason  to  regret  our  choice,  besides  lying  by  a  day  or  two  on 
account  of  sickness,  actually  reaching  the  junction  ahead  of  many 


J126  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

•who  left  the  bend  of  Bear  river  about  the  same  time  we  did,  thus^ 
demonstrating,  anew,  the  old  adage  that  "  the  longest  way  around 
is'the  shortest  ^vay  home." 

A  Characteristic  Incident. — In  crossing  Ham's  Fork  of  Bear 
river,  a  narrow  but  rapid  stream,  on  descending  the  steep  bank, 
by  the  mismanagement  of  our  driver,  John  McKibben,  the  off  hind 
mule  became  entangled  in  the  evener  and  whippletrees  of  the 
leaders,  and  was  thrown  beneath  the  pole  with  his  head  under 
w^ater.  Holmes,  who  was  on  the  wagon,  and  Carson  and  myself, 
■who  were  horse-back,  rushed  to  the  rescue,  and  by  "sloshing 
around,"  waist-deep  in  the  muddy  water  ten  or  fifteen  minutes, 
succeeded  in  straightening  out  the  tangle  and  saving  the  animal's 
life. 

The  Magic  Cheese. — Among  the  provisions  taken  from  home 
by  our  mess,  was  a  rich,  fifty-live  pound  Tallmadge-built  cheese. 
This,  in  a  closely-fitting  box,  was  packed  in  the  bottom  of  the  wagon^ 
There  it  remained  undisturbed  for  about  three  weeks,  when,  get- 
ting cheese  hungry,  I  cut  out  a  wedge  of  five  or  six  pounds  for 
present  use,  replacing  the  balance  in  the  box.  Two  v^eeks  later,  in 
seeking  to  replenish  our  provision  chest,  on  opening  the  box,  I 
found  the  cheese  apparently  as  perfect  as  w^hen  taken  from  the 
press.  By  brushing  off  the  mould  which  had  gathered  upon  the 
surface,  I  found  w^here  the  cut  had  been  made,  took  another  ^vedgCr 
precisely  the  same  size,  and  replaced  the  box,  as  before.  Another 
fortnight  passes  by,  when  a  third  requisition  on  the  supply  finds 
the  cheese  again  w^hole,  though  by  this  time  quite  a  visible  diminu- 
tion in  the  thickness  of  the  oleaginous  product  is  apparent,  the 
constant  motion  of  the  wagon  causing  the  pulpy  substance  of  the 
cheese  to  settle  and  adjust  itself  to  the  dimensions  of  the  box. 
Measures  Avere  then  taken  to  prevent  its  further  spread,  a  pre- 
caution that  w^ould  scarcely  be^  necessary  with  most  of  the  cheese 
product  of  the  present  day. 

A  "  Pale  "  Brandy  Episode. — While  many  emigrants  took 
along,  as  a  primt  necessitv,  a  good  supply  of  whisky  and  other 
liquors — generally  to  their  detriment — very  little  was  taken  or 
used  by  the  members  of  our  train.  Holmes,  however,  as  purveyor 
for  our  mess,  purchased,  at  St.  Louis,  a  half  gallon  of  pure  pale 
brandy,  for  use  in  case  of  sickness  or  accident,  the  precious  fluid 
being  stored  in  a  tin  canteen.  Stowed  away  in  the  lower  depths 
of  our  wragon  box,  the  "medicine"  remained  intact  for  about  six 
■weeks,  -when,  unfortunately,  the  stifle  joint  of  one  of  our  mules 
became  dislocated.  Thinking  that  bathing  it  with  brandy  might 
aid  in  keeping  the  weakened  joint  in  place,  -when  re-set,  I  extracted 
the  canteen  from  the  wagon,  our  good-natured  mess-mate,  McKib- 
ben— Avho  Avith  several  others  were  watching  the  operation  with 
■watering  mouths — saying:  "WuU,  I'm  bound  to  have  one  good 
s-wug  at  it,  onyhow!"  But  lo!  and  behold!  on  uncorking  the  can- 
teen, the  "pale"  brandy  panned  out  as  black  as  ink — the  fiery 
liquid  having,  by  corrosion,  been  converted  into  a  very  pronounced 
solution  of  tin  and  iron.  The  swiggers  declined  to  sw^ig,  and  finding 
no  further  use  for  it,  as  an  external  remedy,  the  residue  was  poured 
upon  the  ground. 

Something  About  Indians. — After  passing  the  Indian  agency 
and  mission  school  for  the  Sac,  Fox  and  Iowa  tribes,  thirty  miles 
■west  of  St.  Joseph,  the  entire  country  traversed,   before  crossing 


INDIAN    BEGGARY,    COOKERY,    ETC.  1127 

the  South  Platte,  was  inhabited  by  Pawnees,  though  many  of  them 
having  taken  the  cholera  from  the  later  emigration  of  the  year 
before,  they  fought  shy  of  us,  and  excepting  a  few  about  Fort 
Kearney,  were  only  seen  at  a  distance. 

Beyond  the  junction  of  the  north  and  south  branches  of  the 
Platte,  however,  Indians  were  abundant.  At  the  head  of  Ash  Hol- 
low, was  a  small  village  of  the  Sioux  (Soo)  variety,  the  stalwart 
chief  greeting  the  emigrants  with:  "How!  How!  How!  Do!  Do! 
Do!"  and  an  affectionate  shake  of  the  hand,  and  presenting  a 
paper  from  a  government  agent  asking  for  contributions  to  com- 
pensate the  Indians  for  the  loss  of  their  cattle  (buffalo,  elk,  etc.), 
grass  and  fuel,  and  nearly  every  mess  chipped  in  a  little  pork, 
bread,  beans,  rice,  sugar,  matches,  tobacco,  etc.,  the  collections  for 
the  day  being  stored  on  buffalo  robes  spread  upon  the  ground.  A 
few  miles  further  on  was  a  much  larger  tow^n,  with  a  herd  of  sev- 
eral hundred  head  of  horses  and  mules  and  some  oxen  feeding 
upon  the  plains  near  by,  many  of  vsrhich  were  undoubtedly  stolen 
from  the  emigrants,  for  we  had  already  met  several  companies 
returning  home  on  account  of  having  lost  their  stock.  Quite  a 
traffic  was  carried  on  here,  a  small  quantity  of  provisions,  tobacco, 
blankets,  etc.,  purchasing  a  pretty  good  horse  or  mule,  though  they 
didn't  seem  to  understand  much  about  the  value  of  money,  and 
w^ouldn't  pay  any  attention  w^hatever  to  the  cheap  brass  rings  and 
trinkets,  taken  along  by  many  of  the  emigrants  for  the  purpose 
of  traffic. 

Model  Culinary  Operations.— And  then,  such  arrant  beggars! 
Scarcely  would  we  get  our  camp-fires  kindled,  than,  if  permitted  to 
approach,  w^ould  a  hungry-looking  squaw,  with  t^vo  o'r  three  still 
hungrier-looking  youngsters,  squat  themselves  down  near-by,  and 
watch  our  every  movement  while  cooking  and  eating  our  meals, 
and  by  signs  make  known  their  anxiety  to  secure  a  portion  of  the 
savory  viands,  every  morsel  throw^n  to  them  being  devoured  w^ith 
the  greatest  avidity. 

And  their  manner  of  cooking!  In  the  absence  of  larger  fresh 
game,  the  prairie  gopher — a  little  burrower  between  a  squirrel  and 
a  rat — was  found  to  make  quite  a  palatable  stew^.  Hunting  for  a 
mess  one  day.  Holmes  only  succeeded  in  bagging  one,  which  w^as 
thrown  aside  as  not  worth  dressing  and  cooking.  A  full  grown 
young  Indian,  by  signs,  asking  if  he  might  have  it,  on  being 
answ^ered  in  the  affirmative,  went  to  a  neighboring  camp  fire,  cov- 
ered said  gopher  with  hot  ashes  and  embers  for  fifteen  or  tw^enty 
minutes,  when  raking  it  out  and  scraping  off  the  ashes  and  singed 
hair  with  his  fingers,  he  devoured  the  entire  rodent,  hide,  entrails 
and  all,  with  great  gusto. 

One  Sunday,  when  encamped  on  Ham's  Fork  of  Bear  river, 
several  members  of  our  train  visited  one  of  the  numerous  villages 
of  the  Snake  Indians  found  in  the  vicinity.  While  there,  our 
w^onderment  at  the  large  nutnber  of  w^olf-looking  dogs  they  kept 
was  solved  by  an  old  squaw  knocking  one  of  them  on  the  head 
w^ith  a  club,  and,  almost  before  it  had  done  kicking,  singeing  off 
the  hair,  over  the  fire,  and  without  further  dressing,  placing  it  in 
a  large  stone  kettle  to  boil!     /  didn't  staj^  to  dinner. 

Unique  and  Fanciful  Toilets. — The  earlier  tribes  passed 
were  much  better  dressed  than  those  encountered  later — the  adults 
among  the  latter  being  rather  sparsely  clad  in  dirty  blankets,  w^hile 


1128  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

many  of  the  ju"eniles  were  entirely  naked.  Some  of  the  adults, 
however,  had  become  possessed  of  sundry  cast-off  "  civilized  "  gar- 
ments, the  novel  modes  of  wearing  which,  very  greatly  amused  the 
emigrants.  If  a  stalwart  buck  could  secure  a  high  plug  hat,  he 
cared  for  little  else.  A  sleeveless  shirt,  a  ragged  coat,  vest  or  pair 
of  pants  were  to  them  mines  of  wealth.  One  strapping  fellow  had 
his  long  arms  stuck  through  the  legs  of  a  dilapidated  pair  of  pants, 
"with  the  waistband  buttoned  around  his  neck,  while  a  gay  and  fes- 
tive young  squaw^  had  thrust  her  legs  through  the  sleeves  of  an 
old  red  and  white  blanket  coat,  with  the  skirts  fastened  about  her 
waist — her  head  being  adorned  w^ith  a  rimless  and  crownless 
chip  hat. 

Murders,  Stratagems  and  Spoils.  —  Notices  were  found 
posted,  from  time  to  time,  warning  us  of  depredations  committed 
by  Indians — stealing  stock,  and  provision,  killing  guards,  etc.  As 
before  stated,  through  our  extreme  vigilance,  we  were  not  seriously 
incommoded,  but  came  very  near  it  one  night.  There  being  no 
feed  near  the  road,  our  entire  stock  was  taken  to  a  large  meadow 
or  swale,  about  a  mile  from  camp,  and  picketed  there  for  the  night, 
w^ith  an  extra  large  guard  for  their  protection.  Though  the  night 
•was  bright  starlight,  the  dense  forest  surrounding  the  meadow 
created  intense  darkness.  Having  eaten  their  fill  the  animals  laid 
down  to  rest,  about  midnight,  and  soon  not  a  sound  was  to  be 
heard,  save  the  tread  of  the  guards,  with  an  occasional  word  on 
meeting  at  the  end  of  their  respective  beats.  Just  before  daylight, 
^without  an  object  having  been  seen  or  a  sound  heard  by  the  guards 
to  produce  such  a  result,  every  animal  at  the  same  instant  sprang 
io  its  feet  and  made  a  frantic  effort  to  escape,  all  in  the  same 
direction.  Fortunately,  however,  the  lariat  pins  all  held,  and  not 
one  of  the  seventy-five  or  eighty  animals  thus  tethered,  escaped, 
lyighting  their  lanterns  and  circulating  among  the  stock,  the  boys 
— little  less  frightened  than  the  animals  themselves — soon  restored 
them  to  quiet,  though  many  frightened  glances  w^ere  pointed  in 
the  direction  from  w^hence  the  alarm  had  apparently  conae. 

Though  nothing  had  been  seen  or  heard  by  the  guards,  it  was 
supposed  to  have  been  an  Indian  stratagem  to  stampede  the 
stock,  to  be  gathered  in  by  them  in  the  neighboring  woods  the 
next  day.  Many  animals  were  thus  lost,  and  hundred  of  emigrants 
compelled  to  abandon  their  wagons,  and  other  effects,  and  with 
such  subsistence  as  they  could  carry  upon  their  backs,  foot  it  the 
last  500  or  GOO  miles  of  their  journey. 

Forts,  Troops,  Shipwreck,  Etc. — At  Fort  Kearney  there  were 
175  soldiers,  besides  the  officers  and  their  families,  and  at  Fort 
Ivaramie  200  soldiers  with  the  usual  complement  of  officers,  women, 
and  children,  and  quite  a  number  of  government  teamsters, 
mechanics,  etc. — about  250  souls  in  all.  The  new  government 
buildings  and  property  at  Fort  Hall,  were  guarded  by  a  single 
soldier,  only,  the  troops,  owing  to  change  of  the  current  of  emigra- 
tion this  year,  and  the  trouble  made  by  the  Indians  on  that  route, 
having  been  transferred  to  Fort  Bridger,  on  the  Salt  Lake  route. 
'The  original  Fort  Hall  was  then  merely  a  trading  station,  occupied 
by  agents  of  the  Hudson  Bay  and  American  Fur  Companies  and 
their  families,  from  whom  we  obtained  a  limited  supply  of  milk 
and  butter,  the  first  at  10  cents  per  quart,  and  the  latter  at  50  cents 
per  pound. 


SERIOUS   ILLNESS   FROM   MOUNTAIN    FEVER.  1129 

The  representatives  of  several  tribes  of  Indians  were  found 
here,  the  Snakes  predominating.  Just  beyond  the  fort  were  a 
■couple  of  difficult  rivers  to  cross,  the  Port  Neuff,  300  feet  wide,  and 
the  Pannack,  350  feet,  both  rising  in  the  "  Cut-off"  Mountains  and 
emptying  into  Lewis'  Fork  of  the  Columbia  river. 

An  old  Walla-Walla  Indian  and  his  son,  mounted  on  excellent 
horses,  volunteered  to  pilot  us  across  these  streams.  Plunging 
into  the  Port  Neuff,  they  showed  us  that  the  water  would  reach  about 
six  inches  above  the  bottom  of  the  wagon  boxes,  making  it  neces- 
sary to  raise  the  box  up  on  blocks,  resting  upon  the  rocker  and 
bolster,  to  prevent  our  supplies  from  getting  wet,  as  we  had  often 
had  occasion  to  do.  Arrived  at  the  Pannack,  by  the  same  process 
they  showed  us  that  to  go  straight  across  at  that  stage  of  the 
water,  our  animals  would  have  to  swim,  in  the  rapidest  part  of  the 
stream,  but  by  heading  up  stream  after  getting  into  the  water,  and 
making  a  long  circuit,  it  could  be  readily  waded.  All  our  wagons 
got  safely  over  but  that  of  Mills  and  Anson.  The  driver,  William 
Denaple,  inadvertently  driving  too  far  out;  before  turning  up 
stream,  the  wagon  box  was  lifted  from  the  blocks,  and  becoming 
<:apsized,  floated  down  the  river.  By  rushing  down  the  river  bank 
and  plunging  in,  on  either  side,  the  boys  succeeded  in  saving 
nearly  everything,  though  in  a  decidedly  moist  condition. 

Dentistry  Extraordinary. — Compensating  our  tawny  guides 
w^ith  liberal  contributions  of  bread,  sugar,  tobacco,  matches,  etc., 
w^e  soon  after  went  into  camp  to  give  our  water-soaked  comrades 
ijn  opportunity  to  "dry-up;"  the  rest  of  us  exchanging  as  much  of 
our  hard-bread  for  their  soft-bread,  as  w^e  could  consume  before  it 
w^ould  be  likely  to  sour  or  mould. 

Eight  yeas  before,  the  late  well-known  dentist.  Dr.  I.  E.  Carter, 
had  inserted  four  nice  porcelain  teeth  in  the  upper  jaw  of  the 
writer,  on  hickory  pegs.  A  too  ravenous  attack  on  a  piece  of  our 
hard-bread  had  twisted  off  one  of  the  pegs  aforesaid,  and  while 
the  drying  process  was  going  forward  I  thought  I  Avould  see  if  I 
could  not  remedy  the  inconvenience  occasioned  by  the  absence  of 
said  porcelain  incisor.  Splitting  off  a  fragment  from  the  but-end 
of  our  well-seasoned  hickory  whip-stock,  I  carefully  adjusted  one 
end  to  the  orifice  in  the  tooth,  and  the  other  to  the  orifice  in  the 
jaw^,  and,  after  extracting  the  moisture  with  a  little  cotton  batting 
purloined  from  a  bed-comforter,  on  the  point  of  my  darning-needle, 
I  placed  the  tooth  in  position  and  drove  it  home  w^ith  a  horse- 
shoeing hammer,  w^here  it  firmly  remained  for  some  eight  or  ten 
years  thereafter. 

Many  other  mechanical  and  "professional"  operations  were 
performed  upon  that  journey,  without  either  proper  materials  or 
tools,  that  would  do  credit  to  home  skill  and  ingenuity,  again  and 
again  demonstrating  the  well- w^orn  truism,  that  "  necessity  is  the 
mother  of  invention." 

Illness  of  Mr.  Sperry. — The  so-called  mountain  fever,  after 
getting  fairly  among  the  "Rockies,"  became  quite  prevalent,  and 
many  deaths  from  that  cause  occurred  among  the  emigrants. 
Several  of  the  members  of  our  own  company  were  more  or  less 
affected,  the  most  serious  case  being  that  of  our  well-known  fellow- 
citizen,  Hon.  Ira  P.  Sperry,  of  Tallmadge.  The  second  morning 
after  the  mishap  above  recorded,  Mr.  Sperry  w^as  found  to  be  too  ill 
to  travel,  and  the  train  remained  in  camp,  a  few  miles  below  the 


1130  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Atnerican  Falls,  on  Lewis'  Fork  of  the  Columbia  river,  three  days, 
Friday,  Saturday  and  Sunday.  Impatient  at  the  delay,  the 
majority  of  our  men  voted  to  move  for\srard,  on  Monday  morning, 
whether  Mr.  S.  Avas  able  to  travel  or  not.  Monday  morning  came 
and  the  patient  was  apparently  no  better.  The  balance  of  the 
train  accordingly  pulled  out— some  of  us  with  sad  hearts — leaving 
Mr.  S.  and  his  mess  alone  in  camp,  excepting  that  Mr.  James  M, 
Mills  took  the  place  of  Mr.  Philo  Wright,  w^ho  w^as  also  quite 
unwell,  transferring  Mr.  W.  to  his  ow^n  w^agon;  Mr.  Jonathan  F. 
Fenn,  of  Tallmadge,  and  his  man,  Leonard  Root,  also  remaining 
behind. 

It  was  understood  that  we  should  travel  slowly,  so  that  if  Mr.  S. 
did  get  better  they  could  overtake  us,  notwithstanding  which,, 
and  the  difficult  nature  of  the  roads,  the  end  of  the  Aveek  found  us 
on  the  further  side  of  "  Thousand  Spring  Valley,"  fully  150  miles 
from  the  point  where  we  had  left  our  sick  friend,  on  Monday 
morning. 

The  Fever  Broken. — Fortunately,  the  day  we  left  him,  Mr, 
Sperry's  fever  abated — possibly  from  the  copious  draughts  of  cold 
citric-acid  "lemonade,"  administered  to  him  by  the  writer,  \srhile 
w^atching  w^ith  him  the  night  before — and  early  on  Tuesday  morn- 
ing, at  his  urgent  request,  making  as  comfortable  a  bed  for  him  as 
possible  in  the  wagon,  his  attendants  again  started  forward  with 
him,  making  such  good  time — keeping  advised  of  our  movements 
by  the  notices  posted  from  point  to  point — that  they  came  up  'with 
us  at  the  place  indicated  above,  about  5  o'clock  on  Sunday  after- 
noon. 

Mr.  Sperry  has  since  told  me  that  he  never  before  or  since 
experienced  such  pleasurable  emotions  as  were  produced  by  the 
motion  of  the  wagon  as  they  started  from  that  lonely  camp.  And 
no  wonder!  For  three  or  four  days  he  had  been  lying  there,  upon 
the  hard  earth,  with  a  reasonable  prospect  that  it  w^ould  soon  open 
to  receive  his  lifeless  body — aw^ay  from  his  wife  and  children  and 
every  civilized  comfort;  abandoned  by  those  whom  he  had  so  often 
laid  under  especial  obligations,  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the  journey; 
and  noAV  to  feel  that  he  was  once  more  in  motion;  that  though 
still  very  weak,  he  w^as  improving;  that  his  destination  might 
possibly  be  reached;  and  above  all,  that  he  might  once  more  be 
permitted  to  join  his  family  and  friends  in  old  Tallmadge,  were 
certainly  emotions  far  more  easily  imagined  than  described. 

Steeple  Rocks — The  Glorious  Fourth,  Etc. — Soon  after  leav- 
ing "Sick  Camp,"  as  stated,  we  left  the  Oregon  trail  to  the  right, 
passing  up  Raft  river  (also  rising  in  the  "  Cut-Off"  mountains)  and 
the  principal  tributary.  Rattlesnake  river,  with  their  innumerable 
muddy  and  mirey  crossings,  and  on  the  second  day,  arrived  at  the 
junction  with  the  cut-off  road,  when  it  really  seemed  as  though 
we  had  got  home  again,  one  or  two  small  trains,  only,  besides  our 
ow^n,  having  been  seen  on  the  Fort  Hall  route.  On  comparing 
notes,  we  found  that,  deducting  the  time  we  had  laid  by  for  sick- 
ness, we  had  made  better  time  in  reaching  that  point  than  those 
who  had  taken  the  so-called  "cut-off." 

From  Rattlesnake  river,  \sre  passed  over  the  low  but  rough 
and  nearly  barren  range  of  mountains  between  the  Rattlesnake 
river  and  Goose  Creek,  about  twenty  miles,  passing  the  junction 
w^ith  the  Salt  Lake  road,  about  mid-w^ay  when  the  grand  procession 


THE  DEADLY  HUMBOLDT  RIV'ER.  1131 

again  became  a  unit.  It  was  also  learned,  from  the  notes 
posted  at  the  junction,  and  from  conversation  Avith  emigrants,  that 
the  Salt  Lake  w^ing  had  scarcely  made  as  good  time  as  we  did, 
while  the  hardships  of  travel  and  casualties  had  been  fully  as 
great,  their  only  advantage  being  in  the  opportunity  to  replenish 
supplies  at  the  extravagant  rates  prevalent  among  the  saints. 

Just  before  reaching  the  junction,  we  found  a  series  of  curious 
granite  formations  called  "  Steeple  Kocks" — blocks  from  twenty  to 
forty  feet  square,  being  piled  one  on  top  of  another  to  the  height 
of  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  or  more,  some  of  the 
columns  quite  regular,  and  others  so  over-lapping  that  seemingly 
a  sudden  mountain  zephyr  might  topple  them  down.  Camping 
under  the  shadow  of  these  rocks  on  the  night  of  July  3,  on  the 
morning  of  the  Glorious  Fourth,  the  day  was  duly  remembered  by 
a  patriotic  rendition  of  "  Yankee  Doodle"  by  our  martial  band,  and 
and  by  a  few  extra  discharges  from  our  rifles,  but  though  feeling 
pretty  "independent,"  we  could  not  tarry  for  a  more  elaborate  cele- 
bration. 

Thousand  Spring  Valley. — The  mountain  range  we  had  just 
crossed  is  the  divide  between  the  Columbia  and  Humboldt  valleys. 
Soon  after  descending  into  the  latter  Ave  reach  the  head  of 
"Thousand  Spring  Valley,"  a  sandy  but  generally  grassy  basin 
about  thirty  miles  in  diameter,  peculiar  from  the  fact  that  the 
large  number  of  considerable  streams  of  pure  water  which  flow 
into  it  from  the  surrounding  hills,  sink  into  the  sand  near  the  bor- 
der, to  reappear  near  the  center  in  thousands  of  springs,  or  more 
properly  wells,  flush  w^ith  the  surface,  some  of  them  being 
unfathomable  with  any  sounding  appliances  at  the  command  of 
the  emigrant. 

The  Pestilent  Humboldt. — Thirty  miles  from  Thousand 
Spring  Valley,  brings  us  to  the  north  fork  of  the  Humboldt,  and 
thirty  miles  further  to  the  south  or  main  branch  of  that  celebrated 
river,  which  at  that  point  was  found  to  be  fordable,  b^--  raising  our 
w^agon  boxes  as  heretofore  indicated.  The  previous  year,  the 
emigrants  had  crossed  and  re-crossed  the  river  its  entire  length, 
three  hundred  miles,  at  pleasure,  but  this  year,  by  reason  of  high 
water,  we  w^ere  obliged  to  keep  entirely  upon  its  western  or  sterile 
side,  often  making  long  detours  into  the  neighboring  hills  to  get 
around  impassable  sloughs.  Nearly  its  entire  length,  grass  for 
our  stock  was  only  obtainable  by  swimming  the  river,  w^ading 
through  water-two  or  three  feet  deep,  from  one  to  two  miles,  cutting 
with  sickles  and  knives,  carrying  it  in  bundles  upon  the  back,  and 
towing  it  across  the  river  with  ropes. 

Nearly  a  Fatal  Swim. — Though  less  than  one  hundred  feet  in 
w^idth,  this  river  w^as  one  of  the  most  dangerous  streams  to  swim 
across,  encountered  upon  the  journey.  In  a  high  stage  of  water 
innumerable  eddies  are  formed,  getting  into  the  influence  of  which 
the  most  expert  sw^immer,  being  carried  round  and  round,  can 
make  no  headway'',  and  soon  becoming  exhausted,  sinks  to  rise  no 
more.  One  evening,  Benjamin  D.  Wright,  of  Tallmadge,  and 
Henry  Anson  and  Warren  Clark,  of  Akron,  all  good  swimmers, 
having  arrived  w^ith  their  back-loads  of  grass,  started  to  swim 
across  so  as  to  be  ready  to  assist  in  towing  the  bundles  over,  when 
the  other  grass-gatherers  should  arrive.  Getting  into  an  eddy  in 
mid-stream,  they  were  unable  to  extricate  themselves,  while  we 


1132  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

non-swrimmers  on  shore  were  unable  to  render  them  any  assist- 
ance with  such  appliances  as  w^e  had.  The  boys  Avere  rapidly 
becoming  exhausted,  w^hen,  providentially,  a  stranger,  from  Michi- 
gan, came  along,  and  comprehending  the  situation  at  a  glance, 
divested  himself  of  his  clothing,  and  seizing  the  end  of  a  lariat 
between  his  teeth,  the  end  of  which,  by  splicing  w^ith  others,  w^as 
retained  by  strong  hands  on  shore,  succeeded  in  rescuing  all  of 
them  from  a  w^atery  grave. 

It  transpiring  that  the  stranger's  company,  having  lost  their 
stock  and  provisions,  virere  footing  it  through,  and  subsisting  as 
best  they  could,  he  was  gratefully  taken  into  the  Tallmadge  mess, 
and  treated  as  one  of  the  family  during  the  balance  of  the  journey. 

Hot  Springs,  Ashes,  Dust,  Btc. — Innumerable  volcanic  indi- 
cations had  been  seen  upon  the  journey,  notably  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Soda  Springs,  and  at  the  head  of  Bear  river.  But  the  west 
bank  of  the  Humboldt,  for  three  hundred  miles,  was  little  else 
than  solid  packed  scoria  and  ashes.  The  ashen  sage-bush  bottoms 
in  the  traveled  road,  were  w^orn  dow^n  from  six  to  tw^elve  inches, 
and  the  plod,  plod  of  the  animals,  and  the  continuous  grinding  of 
the  Avagons  raised  a  cloud  of  fine  alkaline  dust  that  permeated 
everywhere  and  everything — eyes,  ears,  nose,  moth,  clothing,  pro- 
visions, etc.,  making  the  emigrant,  w^ith  his  best  efforts  at  cleanli- 
ness, a  fit  companion,  externally,  for  the  "Digger"  Indians,  the 
most  squalid  and  filthy  of  all  the  tribes  encountered,  who  infested 
the  last  four  or  five  hundred  miles  of  our  journey. 

At  several  points,  especially  at  the  foot  of  several  volcanic 
hills  over  w^hich  we  passed,  hot  springs  -were  to  be  found  almost 
side  by  side  with  springs  of  normal  coolness.  It  was  said  of  a 
Teutonic  member  of  a  neighboring  train,  that  lying  down  to  drink 
from  the  first  of  these  w^arm  springs  encountered,  on  nearly  scald- 
ing the  tip  of  his  nose,  he  sprang  to  his  feet  and  exclaimed: 
"Trive  on,  poys  !  Trive  on  !  for  hell  ish  not  more  as  two  miles  from 
dish  blace !" 

A  Harvest  of  Destitution. — It  was  along  this  river  that  the 
most  destitution  and  suffering  prevailed  among  the  emigrants. 
Brackish  from  the  start,  the  water  becomes  largely  impregnated 
w^ith  alkali,  from  the  volcanic  rocks  and  ashen  soil  through  which 
it  passes,  and  the  innumerable  alkaline  springs  adjacent  thereto. 
Hundreds,  and  perhaps  thousands,  are  without  teams  or  pro- 
visions, and  many  without  money  with  which  to  buy,  even  had 
their  more  fortunate  neighbors  provisions  to  sell,  and  later  in  the 
season  scores  were  driven  to  the  necessity  of  eating  their  own 
famished  horses  and  mules. 

The  most  of  our  company,  though  running  out  of  "sorts,"  gen- 
erally had  enough  to  prevent  serious  suffering,  and  one  or  two 
had  some  provisions  to  sell  generally,  in  such  cases,  favoring  the 
members  of  our  own  train,  though  suffering  no  outside  applicant 
for  a  bite  to  go  unrelieved. 

The  "Law"  of  the  Plains. — Speaking  of  selling  brings  us  to 
prices  and  the  mode  of  adjusting  differences,  and  dispensing  jus- 
tice upon  the  plains.  At  any  time  after  reaching  the  Humboldt 
Valley,  all  kinds  of  provisions — bread,  flour,  meat,  rice,  beans, 
pork,  sugar,  etc.,  sold  readily  at  a  dollar  per  pound,  a  pint  of  all  the 
measurable  articles  named  being  counted  a  pound.  On  reaching 
that  point  in  the  river,  where  grass  had   to  be  obtained  from  the 


ADMINISTERING   JUSTICE   UPON   THE   PLAINS.  1133 

Opposite  side,  a  member  of  the  company  who  could  not  swim,  but 
who  had  a  surplus  of  bread,  made  a  bargain  with  the  boys  of 
another  mess,  who  were  running  short,  that  if  they  would  supply 
him  with  grass,  he  would  pay  them  in  bread — a  pound  for  each 
back-load.  The  grass  was  accordingly  furnished  from  day  to  day, 
as  long  as  the  necessity  therefor  existed,  but  when,  a  few  days 
later,  the  boys  demanded  their  bread,  they  were  tendered  a  dollar 
a  load  in  money,  the  party  of  the  first  part  declaring  that  he  had 
no  bread  to  spare.  This  the  boys  refused  to  receive — they  had  not 
risked  their  lives  to  obtain  the  grass  for  money,  but  for  bread,  and 
bread  they  would  have. 

In  the  course  of  the  discussion  it  transpired  that  the  surplus 
bread  promised  to  the  boys  had  been  sold  to  outside  parties,  for  $2 
a  pound,  but  as  it  viras  w^orth  only  one  dollar  when  the  bargain 
was  made  and  the  grass  furnished,  that  was  all  that  he  would  pay 
them.  Things  were  assuming  a  serious  aspect,  when  other  mem- 
bers of  the  company  proposed  that  the  matter  be  settled  by  arbi- 
tration, w^hich  w^as  agreed  to,  each  party  choosing  an  arbitrator 
and  the  two  the  third. 

The  "High  Court"  being  duly  organized,  the  statements  of 
the  parties  were  listened  to,  and  other  evidence  adduced,  and  the 
general  summing  up  and  verdict  of  the  arbitrators  w^as  about 
this:  First,  that  a  fair-sized  back-load  of  grass,  obtained  in  the 
manner  indicated,  was  worth  more  than  a  pound  of  bread;  sec- 
ond, that  if  a  pound  of  bread  was  w^orth  $2  in  money,  a  load  of 
grass  was  \^^orth  $2.50,  and  that  in  the  absence  of  bread,  the 
defendant  must  pay  to  the  plaintiffs,  at  that  rate,  in  money,  for 
the  quantity  of  grass  furnished.  The  defendant  put  in  a  demur- 
rer after  judgment,  but  finding  that  the  verdict  of  the  arbitrators 
was  approved  by  the  balance  of  the  members  of  the  train,  the 
money  was  reluctantly  paid  over. 

Sequel  to  that  Better  "Broughten  Up." — Apropos  of  the 
bread  question,  and  of  the  general  shortness  of  provisions  at  this 
stage  of  our  journey,  recalls  the  unsifted  corn-meal  episode  of  Mis- 
souri, and  a  subsequent  incident  w^hich  demonstrates  anew  the 
aphorism,  that  "circumstances  alter  cases."  It  will  be  recollected 
that  we  all  took  along  a  supply  of  corn  for  the  subsistence  of  our 
animals,  in  the  absence  of  grass,  on  the  first  part  of  our  journey. 
Knowing  that  we  had  at  least  one  forty-mile  desert  to  traverse, 
w^ithout  grass  or  v^rater,  further  on,  the  most  of  us  had  reserved  a 
small  portion  of  grain  to  help  us  over  that  hard  spot. 

While  not  entirely  out  of  provisions,  the  Wheeler  and  Howe 
messes  began  to  run  pretty  short  of  "sorts,"  particularly  of  bread. 
A  day  or  two  before  reaching  the  desert,  looking  across  the  camp, 
I  saw  Judge  Wheeler  and  his  boys  vigorously  twisting  away  at  the 
coffee  mill  attached  to  the  box  of  oneof  their  wagons.  On  drawing 
near  I  found  them  grinding  the  corn  which  had  been  hauled  1,500 
nriiles  to  feed  to  the  mules  upon  the  desert,  then   almost  in  sight. 

"Hello,  Judge!  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  that?"  I 
inquired.  "  Make  it  into  griddle  cakes,"  said  he.  "But  hoAv  in  the 
w^orld  w^ill  you  manage  to  sift  it?"  I  asked.  "  Eat  it  w^ithout  sift- 
ing," responded  the  Judge.  "Well,"  said  I,  with  a  grin,  "you  can 
eat  coarse,  coffee-mill-ground  corn  meal,  without  sifting,  if  you 
choose  to,  but  I  was  better  brought  up!"  The  Judge  good- 
naturedly   "  acknowleged  the  corn"  by  saying  that  I  had  fairly 


1134  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

turned  the  tables  on  him,  and  afterwards  declared  that  those 
coffee-mill  griddle  cakes  were  the  sweetest  he  ever  tasted. 

Humboldt  Sink,  Desert,  Etc. — The  minor  peculiarities  of  the 
pestilential  Humboldt,  are  above  faintly  set  forth,  but  its  chief 
characteristic  remains  to  be  mentioned,  in  that,  in  a  run  of  perhaps 
400  miles  it  suddenly  disappears  on  the  northern  verge  of  a  forty- 
mile  desert  lying  between  it  and  Carson  river.  This  year,  however, 
the  "sink" — an  extensive  marsh — by  reason  of  extra  high  w^ater, 
had  spread  itself  out  into  sloughs,  several  miles  on  to  the  desert, 
making  the  distance  to  be  traveled,  in  crossing  it,  from  five  to  ten 
miles  further  than  in  ordinary  seasons. 

It  is  now  the  23rd  day  of  July,  and  though  the  mountains  to 
the  right  and  left  are  covered  with  snow,  it  is  almost  suffoca- 
tingly hot  in  the  valley  and  on  the  desert.  It  is  the  better  plan, 
therefore,  to  make  as  much  of  the  journey  across  at  night  as  w^e 
possibly  can.  Arriving  at  the  sink  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, w^e  rest  there  until  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  in  the  mean- 
time having  provided  ourselves  w^ith  a  supply  of  dry  grass,  and  as 
much  w^ater  as  we  have  vessels  for. 

Starting  out  with  comparative  freshness,  we  hope  to  reach 
the  Carson  soon  after  daylight  the  next  morning.  The  first  twenty 
miles  were,  like  the  valley  of  the  Humboldt,  of  a  solid  ashen  foun- 
dation, sparsely  covered  with  sage  brush;  then  about  two  miles  of 
heavy  sand,  then  five  or  six  miles  of  sage  brush,  and  the  remainder, 
sixteen  or  eighteen  miles  of  heavy  fine  sand,  unrelieved  by  a 
single  shrub  or  blade  of  grass  or  other  vegetation.  Ten  miles  out 
we  stopped  two  hours  to  feed  and  rest,  and  ten  miles  further — on 
the  narrow  strip  of  sand  spoken  of— two  hours  and  a  half,  by  this 
time  using  up  nearly  all  our  feed  and  water,  and  yet  not  half  way 
across. 

Moonlight  and  Poetry.^ — The  night  was  clear  and  bright — 
just  the  full  of  the  moon — a  night  ^vell  calculated,  in  spite  of 
adverse  surroundings,  to  inspire  poesy  and  melody  in  the  most 
prosy  mind.  Our  four  mules  and  the  two  larger  horses  were 
attached  to  the  wagon,  which  for  the  first  twenty  miles  was  in 
charge  of  Carson  and  McKibben,  w^hile  to  Holmes  and  myself  was 
assigned  the  care  of  the  two  ponies,  the  Aveakest  of  the  eight.  As 
along  the  Humboldt,  dead  animals  line  the  road  on  either  hand,  by 
actual  count  fully  twenty  to  the  mile. 

Marching  along  side  by  side,  in  the  bright  moonlight,  and 
odoriferous  atmosphere,  each  towing  a  pony,  silently  ruminating 
upon  the  pleasures  of  the  journey,  Holmes,  remembering  the 
familiar  song  beginning: 

"  The  moon  had  climbed  the  hig-hest  hill 
That  rises  o'er  the  source  of  Dee," 

suddenly  broke  out : 

"The  moon  had  climed  the  hig^hest  hill ! 
Hesitating  a  moment,  here,  I  caught  up  the  refrain  by  adding  : 

"  That  rises  o'er  the  Humboldt  sink" — 
Holmes  continuing  : 

"  And  a.s  we  travel  o'er  the  plain  " — 
I  completing  the  stanza  : 

"  Whew !  How  those  old  dead  horses  stink ! " 


THE  TERRORS   OF  THE   DESERT.  1135 

Abandoning  Wagons  on  the  Desert. — On  striking  the  first 
belt  of  heavy  sand,  Wheeler  and  Howe  were  compelled  to  leave 
their  wagons  to  save  their  animals;  out  of  the  abandoned  material 
constructing  pack-saddles  for  the  transportation  of  provisions, 
clothing,  and  such  other  necessaries  as  they  must  carry  along. 

Striking  the  sixteen-mile  stretch  of  sand  about  daylight,  our 
progress  was  slow  and  fatiguing  in  the  extreme.  Leaving  Holmes 
w^ith  Carson  and  McKibben,  to  manage  the  wagon,  I  started  for- 
w^ard  alone,  w^ith  the  two  nearly  done-over  ponies,  having  almost 
literally  to  pull  them  along  by  main  strength.  Six  miles  out  upon 
this  burning  sandy  desert,  a  couple  of  enterprising  emigrants  had 
established  a  water  station — hauling  Avater  from  the  Carson  river, 
and  selling  it  to  their  famishing  comrades  at  twenty-five  cents 
per  quart.  Happening  to  have  a  loose  quarter  about  me,  I  bought 
a  quart,  gave  about  half  of  it  to  the  two  ponies  and  divided  the 
balance  betw^een  myself  and  a  stranger  who  was  destitute  of 
money,  and  -who  afterwards  told  me  that  but  for  that  drink  of 
w^ater  he  should  never  have  got  through  alive. 

The  Life-Invigorating  Carson. — ^Thus  refreshed,  with  my  two 
ponies  I  pushed,  or  rather  pulled  forward,  but  when  a  mile  or  tAvo 
further  on  the  sagacious  animals  seem  to  sniff  the  fresh  waters 
and  grasses  of  the  Carson  Valley,  and  pricking  up  their  ears,  and 
quickening  their  pace,  I  had  to  step  quite  lively  to  keep  up  with 
them  the  last  two  or  three  miles. 

I  reached  the  river  about  11  o'clock  and  by  noon  our  entire 
company,  w^ith  every  animal  alive,  w^ere  snugly  encamped  in  the 
grateful  shade  of  the  immense  cotton-wood  trees  that  lined  the 
banks  of  the  Carson  river  at  this  point. 

The  thirst  created  by  that  last  sixteen  miles  of  desert  travel, 
between  broiling  sun  and  blistering  sands,  w^as  fearful  to  contem- 
plate—men plunging  into  the  river  and  drinking  like  cattle,  while 
the  animals  themselves,  if  not  restrained,  would  rush  into  the 
middle  of  the  river,  and,  turning  their  heads  up-stream,  literally 
let  the  water  run  down  their  throats. 

Relief  Stations — Speculators,  Etc.  —  Here,  in  the  Carson 
Valley,  we  met  so-called  relief  trains — speculators,  who,  in  antici- 
pation of  the  distress  w^hich  would  prevail  among  the  emigrants,' 
had  come  from  Sacramento  with  provisions,  "  whisky,"  and  other 
necessaries,  which  they  sold  at  high  figures  to  such  as  had  naoney, 
but  giving,  in  limited  quantities,  to  such  as  w^ere  destitute — their 
prime  object  being  to  buy  the  famished  animals  of  the  emigrants 
at  low  figures,  and  recruit  them  for  the  California  market. 

But  a  few  days  later  we  met  the  real  relief  trains,  sent  out  by 
the  generous-hearted  people  of  Sacramento  and  San  Francisco,  on 
the  report  of  the  earlier  emigrants,  that  there  was  likely  to  be  ter- 
rible suffering  among  those  yet  to  follow,  these  trains  not  only 
affording  needed  relief  to  those  in  the  the  Carson  Valley,  but 
crossing  the  desert,  and  extending  their  humanitarian  efforts  some 
distance  up  the  Humboldt. 

Packing  Becomes  General. — Owing  to  the  weakness  of  our 
animals,  and  the  extreme  labor  of  getting  v^ragons  over  the  almost 
impassable  ridges  of  the  Sierras,  the  rest  of  us,  except  the 
Tallmadge  messes,  also  concluded  to  pack  the  balance  of  the  way. 
We  left  our  wagon  and  tent  intact,  and  such  other  conveniences 


1136  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

as  we  had  to  dispense  with,  in  good  order.  Another  company 
w^ith  ox-team,  observing  our  operations  asked  permission  to  sub- 
stitute our  lighter  wagon  for  their  heavier  one,  which  was  granted 
on  condition  that  they  Mrould  leave  theirs  standing  in  like  good 
order.  Many  "  household "  conveniences,  of  course,  had  to  be 
abandoned  with  the  wagons  and  tents,  but  nearly  every  one  had 
some  highly  cherished  article  that  he  very  greatly  desired  to  carry 
through.  The  w^riter,  for  instance,  slung  his  nice  little  seven  and 
a  half  pound  rifle  across  his  shoulders,  but  in  a  day  or  two  it 
became  so  burdensome,  that  he  "cheerfully"  gave  it  aw^ay.  So, 
also,  with  McMasters  and  his  drum — his  constant  companion  for 
tw^enty  years,  and  which  was  such  a  source  of  comfort  to  us  all 
upon  the  journey — light  as  it  w^as  it  got  so  heavy  that  on  the 
second  morning  of  our  packing  life,  it  was  left,  not  exactly 
"  hanging  upon  the  willows,"  but  on  the  limb  of  a  large  cotton- 
w^ood  tree. 

Carson  Valley,  w^hich  we  traversed  for  about  100  miles,  was 
really  the  Garden  of  Eden  of  our  journey,  abounding  in  innumer- 
able streams  of  fresh  water,  luxuriant  meadows  of  timothy,  clover 
and  other  w^holesome  grasses,  w^ith  a  sufficiency  of  fuel  for  culinary 
purposes. 

Crossing  the  Sierra  Nevadas.  —  Taking  leave  of  Carson 
Valley,  we  pass  through  a  five-mile  zig-zag  canon  with  vertical 
walls  a  thousand  feet  in  height,  traversed  by  a  rapid  mountain 
creek  with  many  difficult  crossings,  in  which  many  of  the  animals 
of  the  earlier  emigrants  had  stuck  fast  and  perished,  though 
before  our  arrival  the  approaching  relief  parties  had  humanely 
constructed  corduroy  bridges  over  the  worst  of  thein. 

Getting  through  this  canon,  w^e  encountered  a  succession  of 
beautiful  valleys  sandwiched  between  lofty  and  almost  inacces- 
sible mountains,  up  and  do^wn  the  craggy  sides  of  w^hich  men  and 
animals  climb  with  the  utmost  difficulty,  and  over  v^hich  wagons 
and  other  similar  commodities  had  to  be  carried,  piece  by  piece, 
and  hoisted  and  lowered  over  the  most  difficult  places,  by  ropes. 

Over  Perpetual  Snow. — The  tops  of  these  mountains  w^ere 
covered  w^ith  snow,  and  on  ascending  the  highest,  properly 
denominated  "SnoAv  Mountain" — 10,000  feet  above  sea-level — on 
July  31,  we  passed  over  hard-packed  sno^w  apparently  from  50  to 
100  feet  in  depth,  the  continual  tramping  of  animals  and  menw^ith 
a  slight  softening  by  the  midday  sun,  having  sunk  the  traveled 
road  from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  below^  the  general  level.  Over- 
coats and  blankets  were  by  no  means  uncomfortable  at  high  noon, 
while  in  the  valleys  w^here  v^^e  encamped,  ice  would  form  upon 
the  streams  at  night  nearly  half  an  inch  in  thickness. 

On  the  Home  Stretch. — On  the  western  slope  of  the  Sierras, 
the  road  was  tolerably  good  but  feed  scarce  and  difficult  of  access, 
being  found  only  in  narrow^  valleys  and  ravines,  considerable  dis- 
tance from  the  road.  But  w^ay-side  (tent)  gr(>ggeries  w^ere  abun- 
dant, and  it  was  strange  to  see  men,  reputed  to  have  been  abste- 
miious  and  thoroughly  temperate  at  home,  throwing  off  all  restraint, 
and  becoming  uproariously  intoxicated  on  this  the  last  stage  of 
their  long  and  perilous  journey,  though  I  am  happy  to  say  our 
entire  company  should  be  excepted  from  that  imputation. 

Hay  Fiv^e  Hundred  Dollars  a  Ton. — At  one  point,  where 
our  guide  books  advised  us  that  there  was  a  large  meadow  of  good 


HAY   FIVE    HUNDRED    DOLLARS   PER   TON.  1137 

grass  three  miles  from  the  road,  we  found  orie  of  these  whisky- 
shops— a  cloth  affair— called  the  "Mountain  House,"  the  proprie- 
tors of  which  had  caused  all  the  grass  of  the  meadow  in  question 
to  be  cut,  cured,  hauled  to  the  road  and  stacked,  to  be  sold  to  the 
incoming  immigrants  at  25  cents  per  pound,  or  at  the  rate  of 
$500.00  per  ton.  Other  similar  philanthropists  were  found  further 
on,  every  available  blade  of  grass  being  thus  appropriated,  though 
the  price  declined,  first  to  20,  then  to  15  cents  per  pound,  or  $300.00 
per  ton.  Of  course,  the  owners  of  animals  had  to  have  it,  our  mess 
treating  each  of  our  eight  head  of  stock  to  half  a  pound  or  so,  each, 
twice  a  day. 

Fairly  in  the  "Diggings." — On  the  westward  slope  of  the 
Sierra  Nevadas  we  saw  large  areas  of  the  more  diminutive  of  the 
celebrated  big  trees  of  California — one  of  the  smaller  of  which,  a 
redw^ood,  straight  as  an  arrow,  having  been  broken  off  several  feet 
from  the  ground,  and  with  the  top  entirely  gone,  measured  five 
feet  in  diameter  and  240  feet  in  length. 

Leaving  our  last  camp  about  8  o'clock,  on  Sunday  morning, 
August  4,  1850,  at  10  o'clock  we  rode  triumphantly  into  the  mining 
town  then  knovi^n  by  the  confidence-inspiringname  of  "  Hangtown," 
so-called  because  of  the  summary  execution,  by  strangulation,  of 
two  or  three  offenders  against  the  unwritten  "code"  of  the  mines, 
on  a  tree  standing  in  front  of  the  principal  (cloth)  hotel  of  the 
village,  a  year  or  so  before.  It  has  since  been  known  by  the  more 
euphonious,  and  equallj^  appropriate  name  of  "  Placerville." 

Here  w^e  found  several  Akronians,  the  Garrett  crowd  having 
got  into  the  "  diggings"  about  two  weeks  ahead  of  us,  and  having 
had  about  the  same  pleasurable  experiences  that  we  had  enjoined. 
Here,  too — Sunday  though  it  was — our  animals  and  other  saleable 
effects  were  disposed  of — the  four  horses  for  $250.00  and  the  four 
mules  for  $175.00,  just  about  one-half  what  they  had  originally 
cost  us. 

We  had  now  been  just  four  months  and  a  half  from  home, 
ninety-four  days  of  which  had  been  consumed  in  making  the 
journey  from  the  Missouri  river,  a  distance,  by  the  route  traveled, 
of  just  about  2,000  miles,  involving,  in  addition  to  the  time  con- 
sumed, an  amount  of  labor,  fatigue  and  privation  that  can  scarcely 
be  conceived  by  those  who  now,  in  a  palace  car,  perform  the 
journey  in  less  than  one  w^eek. 

In  the  Golden  Metropolis. — Spending  one  day  in  .  the  mines, 
among  old  acquaintances  and  obtaining  a  little  inkling  of  the 
modus  operandi  of  deiving  for,  and  the  immense  amount  of  down- 
right hard  labor  involved  in  securing,  the  coveted  metal,  I  hied 
me  to  Sacramento  City,  and  after  spending  a  day  with  the  "  boys" 
there,  to  San  Francisco,  where  I  remained  until  the  first  day  of 
September,  1852,  my  rooms  being  the  headquarters  of  the  Summit 
county  boys,  w^hen  visiting  the  Bay  City,  either  on  business,  or 
en  route  from  the  mines  for  home,  via  the  Isthmus,  or,  by  the 
same  route,  from  home  to  the  mines;  also,  during  the  entire  two 
years,  w^riting  semi-monthly  letters  to  the  Beacon,  and  part  of  the 
time  to  the  Democratic  Standard,  thus  keeping  the  good  people 
at  home  largely  advised  of  the  movements  and  w^elfare  of  their 
loved  ones  upon  the  Pacific  coast. 

Early  California  Life. — Of  course,  space  would  not  permit, 
nor  the  patience  of  the  reader  endure,  even  w^ere  the  data  at  my 

72 


1138 


AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


command,  a  full  history  of  the  individual  fortunes  and  misfor- 
tunes of  all  of  those  who  went  from  Summit  county  to  California, 
in  those  early  days.  It  should,  perhaps,  suffice  to  say  that  while  a 
few  "  struck  it "  reasonably  rich,  and  a  somewhat  larger  few 
secured  fair  compensation  for  time  and  labor  expended,  and  the 
privations  endured,  the  great  majority  of  those  who  lived  to  get 
home,  were  infinitely  worse  off,  financially,  physically,  and,  in  some 
instances,  morally,  than  Avhen  they  started. 

One  of  the  great  drav^backs  to  the  success  of  the  average 
miner,  >vas  restlessness  and  impatience.  Getting  fairly  .at  work  on 
a  claim  yielding  a  fair  return  for  his  day's  labor — say  $6  or  $8 — 
reports  reach  him  that  in  the  newly  discovered  "Humbug  Dig- 
gings," one  hundred  or  two  hundred  miles  away,  from  $100  to  $500 
can  be  gathered  in  a  day,  and  incontinently  off  he  goes,  to  find 
either  every  inch  of  the  new  territory  occupied,  or  the  dust  less 
plenteous  than  in  his  former  claim  in  which,  meantime,  his  more 
patient  successor  may  have  struck  a  regular  bonanza.  Then  off 
he  goes  again  to  some  other  reputed  rich  placers  or  gulches,  only 
to  be  again  disappointed,  and  so  on  to  the  end  of  the  chapter. 

Akron's  Bonanza  King. — For  several  years  previous  to  1850, 
Akron  had  for  a  citizen,  one  "Abe"  Curry,  by  profession  a  horse- 
jockey.  With  a  companion  named  Gould,  prospecting  in  the 
mountains,  these  two  men  stumbled  upon  a  rich  quartz-lead,  and 
not  having  the  money  to  purchase  the  necessary  machinery  for  its 
development,  the  "  Gould  and  Curry  Mining  Company"  \^as  organ- 
ized, an  agreed  upon  ratio  of  stock  being  assigned  to  them,  as  a 
consideration  for  the  find,  but  not  sufficient  to  give  them  a  con- 
trolling voice  in  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  corporation. 
A  few  years  later,  by  combinations,  watering  the  stock,  and  other 
sharp  practices,  though  millions  upon  millions  of  dollars  were 
extracted  from  the  mine,  the  original  discoverers,  and  other  small 
shareholders,  w^ere  completely  "frozen  out,"  and  at  last  accounts 
our  "Abe"  was  reported  to  be  impecuniously  and  nearly  hopelessly 
prospecting  for  another  find — and  has  probably  long  ere  this,  in 
miner's  parlance,  "passed  in  his  checks." 

Family  Ties  Stronger  Than  Love  of  Gold. — While  thousands 
upon  thousands  braved  the  dangers  and  privations  of  the  plains, 
mountains,  ocean,  etc.,  to  better  the  condition  of  their  families, 
there  w^ere  innuinerable  instances  where  men  who  had  been  sep- 
arated from  their  loved  ones  for  several  months,  voluntarily  aban- 
doned the  fortunes  w^ithin  their  very  grasp,  for  the  purpose  of 
expediting  their  return,  of  which  class  AJcron  furnished  the  fol- 
lowing notable  examples: 

One  of  the  writer's  most  intimate  friends,  both  before  and 
since,  Mr.  Lewis  Hanscom — the  younger  of  the  well-known  Hans- 
com  brothers — had  been  in  California  some  eight  or  nine 
months  without  making  any  particular  headway.  'In  the  Spring 
of  1851,  pooling  his  little  "pile"  of  some  $450,  with  like  amounts 
furnished  by  two  other  gentlemen,  they  opened  a  miners'  hotel 
and  boarding  house,  called  the  "  Eastern  Exchange,"  on  Long 
Wharf,  in  San  Francisco.  Besides  paying  a  rental  of  $600  per 
month,  and  the  expense  of  fitting  up  (which  occupied  about  a 
w^eek)  and  all  their  help,  their  profits  the  first  month  w^ere  equal  to 
their  entire  investment.  During  the  three  succeeding  months 
their  net  monthly  profits  were  $600  each. 


SUCCESSES,    REVERSES,   HOMESICKNESS,   ETC.  1139 

Coming  into  my  place  of  business  one  day,  Hanscom  informed 
tne  that  he  had  sold  out  and  Avas  going  home.  "Sold  out!"  I 
exclaimed  in  surprise,  "at  what  figure?"  "Six  hundred  dollars," 
he  replied.  "Lew  Hanscom,"  I  responded,  "You're  an  egregious 
fool !  After  struggling  and  striving  for  nearly  a  year  to  get  into  a 
paying  business,  now  that,  on  a  $450  investment,  you  are  clearing 
$600  per  month,  to  sell  out  for  $600,  and  go  home  with  a  paltry 
$3,000,  when  by  holding  on  a  few  months  you  could  realize  enough 
to  make  you  independent  for  life." 

"Lane,"  said  he,  with  quivering  lips,  and  tears  coming  into  his 
eyes,  "I've  got  a  wife  and  four  little  girls  in  Akron,  and  I  would 
give  one  hundred  dollars  apiece  to  see  them  this  very  minute." 
The  secret  was  out — homesickness.  It  is  proper  to  add  that  "  Lew  " 
subsequently  seeing  "where  he  missed  it,"  returned  to  California, 
this  time  taking  his  loved  ones  w^ith  him,  -where  a  fair  degree  of 
prosperity  has  attended  his  efforts,  his  time  being  now  about 
equally  divided  between  his  San  Francisco  home  and  a  valuable 
farm  in  Ashtabula  county,  Ohio,  of  which  he  is  the  proprietor. 

Other  Similar  Cases.— Similar  were  the  cases  of  Akron's  two 
well-known  bakers,  Henry  McMasters  and  William  Sinclair,  who 
came  home  on  the  same  vessel  with  Mr.  Hanscom.  They  had  been 
in  California  nearly  three-fourths  of  a  year  without  getting  a  start, 
w^hen  they  established  a  bakery  in  a  new  mining  camp,  a  hundred 
miles  or  so  above  Sacramento  City.  At  the  end  of  three  months 
they  divided  $2,700  net  profits  each,  over  and  above  their  inv^est- 
oaent,  when  they  sold  out  their  rapidly  increasing  business  for 
about  what  the  fixtures  had  cost  them,  and  pulled  out  for  home. 

On  being  interrogated  by  me  as  to  the  cause  of  their  foolish- 
ness, Mr.  Mac.  said  that  his  w^ife  kept  writing,  "come  home!  come 
home!"  declaring  that  she  w^ould  rather  live  in  a  cabin,  in  poverty, 
than  have  him  longer  aw^ay,  and  that  Mrs.  Howe  had  written  him 
that  his  wife  was  pining  her  life  aw^ay,  on  account  of  his  absence, 
and  as  he  had  got  more  than  he  thought  would  satisfy  him  w^hen 
he  started,  he  couldn't  bear  to  stay  away  from  home  any  longer. 
Sinclair's  reasons  w^ere  similar,  both  ever  afterwards  regretting 
their  folly. 

Commercial  Ups  and  Downs.^ — Mr.  James  G.  Dow,  whose 
trials  and  tribulations  in  reaching  California,  vin  the  Isthmus,  in 
1849,  have  already  been  described,  after  barely  subsisting  on  such 
odd  jobs  as  he  could  pick  up  for  several  months,  finally,  with  a 
young  man  from  Massachusetts,  engaged  in  the  auction  business, 
closing  up  in  October,  1850.  with  about  $20,000  each.  Charles  G. 
Caldwell,  another  Akron  Forty-niner,  who  had  accumulated  some 
money  in  the  milk,  butter  and  G^gg  business,  at  Sacramento,  in 
company  with  the  writer  succeeded  Dow  &  Co.  w^ith  a  cash  invest- 
ment of  $3,000,  with  the  prospect  of  making  money  as  rapidly  as 
their  predecessors  had  done.  But,  by  reason  of  the  stagnation  of 
business  caused  by  the  breaking  out  of  the  cholera  on  that  coast, 
and  the  over-importation  of  all  kinds  of  merchandise,  Caldwell  & 
Co.,  at  the  end  of  five  months,  instead  of  having  cleared  $40,000, 
had  sunk  their  entire  capital,  and  were  $1,500  in  debt  for  rent. 
Caldwell,  returning  to  his  cows  and  chickens,  continued  to  do  well 
for  a  year  or  two,  but  in  an  evil  hour  invested  in  a  quartz  mill, 
dying,  in  San  Francisco,  some  two  or  three  years  ago,  in  abject 
poverty. 


1140  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Charles  W.  Tappan,  proprietor  of  the  Tvell-remembered  Tap- 
pan  Hall  block,  on  Bast  Market  street,  after  nearly  dying  from  a 
gunshot  wound  and  Panama  'fever,  upon  the  Isthmus,  in  the 
Spring  of  1851  arrived  in  San  Francisco  without  a  dollar. 

Entering  into  partnership  w^ith  a  Mr.  Guild,  of  Cincinnati  (the 
latter  furnishing  $3,000  capital  on  which  he  was  to  draw  ten  per 
cent,  a  month  interest),  he  engaged  in  the  same  business  (auc- 
tion) that  had  so  recently  swamped  Caldwell  &  Co.,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  first  month,  besides  expense  of  fitting  up,  help,  and  the 
stipulated  ten  per  cent,  to  Mr.  Guild,  Mr.  Tappan's  share  of  the 
profits  was  $2,700. 

Dow  and  his  former  partner,  having  meantime  returned  from 
the  East,  purchased  Mr.  Guild's  interest,  the  business  continuing 
equally  profitable  for  a  year  or  tw^o  longer,  vt^hen  they  entered  into 
a  general  jobbing  trade  in  which  their  gains  were  larger  still, 
finally  retiring  from  this  business,  two  or  three  years  later,  pos- 
sessing from  $125,000  to  $150,000  each.  Tappan  invested  in  real 
estate  and  embarked  in  the  lumber  and  coal  business.  For  a  time 
his  profits  w^ere  larger  than  ever,  but  after  a  year  or  two  a  panicky 
shrinkage  in  values  of  the  large  stocks  of  coal  and  lumber  that  he 
had  purchased,  and  of  his  real  estate,  the  title  to  most  of  which 
proved  worthless,  every  dollar  was  sunk,  a  calamity  from  w^hich 
he  never  recovered,  afterwards  keeping  lodging  houses,  for  longer 
or  shorter  periods  at  Elko,  Nevada,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  and 
Deadwood,  Wyoming  Territory,  being  killed  at  the  latter  place,  iu 
March,  1878,  by  a  pistol-shot  at  the  hands  of  a  drunken  gambler 
w^hom  he  w^as  endeavoring  to  eject  from  his  premises;  Mrs.  Tap- 
pan  dying  at  Oakland,  California,  in  absolute  poverty,  in  1888. 

Mr.  Dow,  also,  swamped  everything  in  real  estate  speculations^ 
except  a  few^  thousand  dollars,  invested  in  the  name  of  his  w^ife, 
in  the  stock  of  the  "  Gould  &  Curry,"  on  w^hich,  after  three  years 
of  litigation,  in  resistance  to  the  "  freezing  out"  process  referred 
to,  in  1867  she  obtained  a  judgment  for  $36,000  in  gold,  which,  bear- 
ing a  high  premium  at  the  time,  netted  her  from  $50,000  to  $60,000 
in  currency,  one-half  of  w^hich  was  securely  invested  in  New  York 
City,  by  Mrs.  D.;  Mr.  D.,  after  sinking  about  one-half  of  the  bal- 
ance in  mining  operations,  in  Montana,  investing  the  residue  in, 
and  becoming  the  cashier  of,  the  First  National  Bank  of  Bozeman, 
where  he  died  in  the  Winter  of  1881,  '82. 

The  Summing  Up. — Many  incidents  and  reminiscences  of  Cali- 
fornia life — floods,  fires,  earthquakes,  murders  and  robberies,  vigi- 
lance committee  operations,  etc. — might  be  given  that  would 
doubtless  be  exceedingly  interesting  to  the  present  generation,  as 
w^ell  as  to  surviving  gold-seekers  themselves.     But  space  forbids. 

It  may  be  proper,  however,  in  summing  up,  to  say,  that  while 
a  very  large  percentage  failed  to  realize  their  expectations.  Sum- 
mit county  may  congratulate  herself  that  she  did  her  full  share  in 
the  commercial,  agricultural  and  financial  development  of  one  of 
the  most  intelligent,  enterprising  and  loyal  states  in  the  American 
Union. 


CHAPTER  LVI. 

BARLY  CRIMES  AND  OTHER  INCIDENTS  WITHIN  THE  PRESENT  LIMITS  OF 
SUMMIT  COUNTY— CAPTAIN  SAMUEL  BRADY'S  FLIGHT  AND  WONDERFUL 
LEAP  FOR  LIFE  —  SHOOTING  OF  DANIEL  DIVER,  OF  DEERFIELD,  BY  THE 
SENECA  INDIAN,  JOHN  MOHAWK  — PURSUIT  OF  INDIANS  INTO  HUDSON, 
BOSTON  AND  RICHFIELD— KILLING  OF  NICKSHAW,  AND  ESCAPE  OF  MOHAWK 
—CAPTURE,  TRIAL  AND  ACQUITTAL  OF  THE  INDIAN  CHIEF,  BIGSON,  AND 
OTHER  MEMBERS  OF  HIS  TRIBE —  SHOOTING  OF  CANAL  DRIVER,  NATHAN 
CUMMINS,  BY  ABNER  S.  BARRIS— CAPTURE  OF  THE  MURDERER— EXAMINA- 
TION BEFORE  JUSTICE  JACOB  BROWN,  OF  AKRON  — TRIAL  IN  SUPREME 
COURT  OF  PORTAGE  COUNT  Y— CON  VICTED  OF  MURDER  IN  SECOND  DEGREE 
— SENTENCED  TO  PENITENTIARY  FOR  LIFE— SUBSEQUENT  DEATH,  ETC. 

PIONEER  LIFE  AND  INCIDENT. 

npHOUGH,  of  course,  largely  traditional,  the  thrilling  advent- 
^  ures,  and  the  wonderful  nerve  and  prowess  attributed  to  our 
pioneer  settlers,  in  their  contact  w^ith  the  aboriginal  ow^ners  and 
occupants  of  the  beautiful  country  w^hich  their  descendants  and 
successors  now  inhabit,  possess  an  interest  and  charm  that 
w^ill  steadily  increase  as  the  years  go  by. 

Among  the  most  authentic,  as  well  as  among  the  most  heroic, 
of  those  early  episodes,  in  which  Summit  county  has  a  direct 
interest,  were  the  wonderful  exploits  of  Captain  Samuel  Brady, 
briefly  narrated  as  follows: 

Captain  Samuel  Brady. — Captain  Brady,  who  is  described  as 
of  medium  stature,  but  of  wonderful  nerve  and  great  power  of 
endurance,  was  a  resident  of  Western  Pennsylvania,  on  Chartier's 
creek,  near  the  Ohio  river,  and  was  one  of  the  most  daring  and  suc- 
cessful, of  the  many  daring  and  successful  "Indian  Hunters"  of 
those  early  times.  The  cause  of  his  implacable  hostility  to  the 
Indian  is  said  to  have  been  the  massacre,  by  a  marauding  expedi- 
tion from  the  Falls  of  the  Cuyahoga,  of  several  families  in  the 
neighborhood  w^here  he,  when  a  boy,  resided  with  an  uncle,  he 
alone  escaping;  another  boy  about  his  ow^n  age — an  adopted  son 
of  his  uncle — named  Simon  Girty,  being  captured  and  carried  into 
captivity  by  the  Indians.  Young  Brady  then  swore  eternal  hos- 
tility to  the  entire  savage  race,  and  as  he  grew  to  manhood,  most 
faithfully  and  fearfully  did  he  fulfil  his  oath. 

Tradition  is  rife  with  his  almost  innumerable  and  superhuman 
efforts  in  this  direction;  but  with  one,  only,  can  we  properly  deal. 
And  of  events  immediately  leading  to  this,  in  the  data  before  us, 
there  are  several  different  versions.  One  account  states  that 
about  the  year  1780,  on  one  of  his  excursions  west  of  the  Ohio 
river,  accompanied  by  three  or  four  trusted  companions,  they  were 
surprised,  near  the  Sandusky  river,  his  companions  all  killed,  and 
himself  captured  and  taken  to  the  Sandusky  Indian  village. 
'There  was  great  rejoicing  over  his  capture,  and  great  preparations 
were  made  for  torturing  him  by  slowly  burning  him  at  the  stake. 
AVhile  the  ghastly  preparations  for  his  torture  w^ere  going  forward 


1142  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

before  his  eyes,  Brady  recognized,  in  one  of  the  chiefs  who  ha(f 
come  in  to  take  part  in  the  savage  pow-wow,  his  youthful  friend,. 
Simon  Girty,  who,  grown  to  manhood  among  his  captors,  had 
adopted  their  customs,  and  by  his  prowess,  risen  to  the  high  posi- 
tion he  then  occupied.  Brady  appealed  to  his  former  playmate  to 
assist  him  to  escape,  but  without  avail. 

A  Desperate  Expedient. — The  hour  ot  execution  arrived;  the 
captive  was  lashed  to  the  stake;  the  combustibles  were  laid;  the 
fires  were  lighted;  the  savage  orgies  commenced;  the  flames  circled 
nearer  and  nearer;  the  withes  about  his  arms  and  legs  began  to 
crackle  from  the  effects  of  the  heat;  but,  watching  his  opportunity, 
he  suddenly,  by  almost  superhuman  strength,  broke  the  bands 
that  held  him  to  the  stake,  and  seizing  a  handsome  young  squaw, 
w^ho  w^as  circling  near,  threw  her  upon  the  blazing  fagots,  and,- 
in  the  confusion  of  the  moment,  made  his  escape  into  the  darkness 
of  the  surrounding  forest. 

The  very  audacity  of  this  act,  and  the  momentary  horror  and 
panic  resulting  therefrom,  delayed  pursuit,  until  a  considerable 
distance  into  the  wilderness  had  been  gained  by  the  fugitive.  A 
vigorous  pursuit  was  begun,  how^ever,  and  kept  up  for  over  a  hun- 
dred mile^  to,  and  across,  the  Cuyahoga  river,  in  what  is  no\v  the 
township  of  Northampton. 

Another  version  of  the  story  is  that  Brady  and  his  companions 
were  following  a  band  of  Indians,  ^vho  w^ere  returning  from  a 
predatory  excursion  into  Pennsylvania,  and  that  on  nearingthe  Cuy- 
ahoga river,  in  the  present  township  of  Northampton,  they  encoun- 
tered a  larger  force  of  Indians  than  they  could  successfully  cope 
w^ith,  and  that  Brady,  ordering  his  men  to  separate,  and  each  take  a 
different  direction,  himself  started  directly  east,  toward  w^hat  is  noAV 
the  village  of  Kent,  in  Portage  county,  with  the  entire  band  howl- 
ing like  demons  at  his  heels;  his  companions  being  too  small  game 
to  merit  consideration  at  their  hands. 

"Brady's  Leap  " — Whichever  of  these  and  of  the  several  other 
versions  is  the  correct  one,  all  accounts  of  the  flight  from  the 
Cuyahoga  river  eastward,  the  pursuit  and  escape,  are  substan- 
tially agreed.  To  properly  understand  the  situation,  it  should  be 
stated  that  the  Cuyahoga  river,  rising  in  Geauga  county,  pursues 
a  southwesterly  course  through  Portage  county  into  Summit, 
where,  a  mile  and  a  half  north  of  Akron,  it  turns  abruptly  to  the 
north,  emptying  into  Lake  Krie  at  Cleveland.  Thus,  in  going 
from  Bath,  in  Summit  county,  to  Ravenna,  in  Portage  county,  on  a 
direct  line,  two  crossings  of  the  river  would  necessarily  have  to  be 
made. 

Brady  forged  steadily  ahead,  intending  to  make  the  eastern 
crossing  at  a  point  known  as  "  Standing  Stone,"  a  short  distance 
above  the  present  village  of  Kent.  The  Indians,  how^ever,  being 
in  considerable  force,  divining  his  intentions,  had  spread  them- 
selves out  in  that  direction,  and  were  making  a  superhuman  effort 
to  intercept  him  before  he  could  gain  the  crossing.  Seeing  this, 
Brady  sought  to  turn  to  the  right  and  make  a  crossing  lower  down; 
but  in  this,  also,  the  Indians  had  anticipated  him,  and  were  likely 
to  head  him  off  there,  too. 

In  this  extremity,  Brady's  mind  w^as  instantly  made  up  to- 
attempt  the  dread  alternative — a  leap  for  life  across  the  rocky 
gorge,  with  a  span  of  nearly,  or  quite,  22  feet,  a  few  rods  above  the 


Brady's  wonderful  leap  for  life.  1143 

present  site  of  the  fine  stone  bridge  across  the  Cuyahoga  river  at 
the  village  of  Kent.  The  Indians,  who  were  now  close  upon  his 
heels,  could  have  killed  him  at  any  moment,  by  a  shot  from  any 
one  of  their  rifles;  but  their  great  object  and  desire  w^as  to  secure 
him  alive,  in  order  to  glut  their  savage  and  brutal  vengeance  upon 
him;  never  dreaming  that  he  would  attempt  what  the  most  agile 
among  their  ow^n  number  would  not  dare  to  do. 

Perilous  Predicament. — On,  on,  they  come,  yelling  like 
demons  incarnate.  Their  hated  foe  is,  in  imagination,  already 
w^ithin  their  fiendish  clutches.  The  brink  of  the  precipice  appears 
in  view,  with  no  perceptible  diminution  of  speed,  of  either  the 
pursued  or  the  pursuers.  Knowing  full  well  the  terrible  death 
that  awaits  him,  if  taken  alive,  and  reflecting  that  the  failure  of 
the  attempt  he  w^as  about  to  make  could  only  result  in  a  less  cruel 
death,  Brady  summoned  all  his  remaining  powers  of  bodj'  and 
mind  for  the  one  supreme  effort  of  his  life,  and,  to  the  horror  of 
his  pursuers,  sprang  boldly  across  the  fearful  chasm. 

The  point  whence  he  sprang  was  a  large  flat  overhanging 
rock,  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  feet  above  the  surface  of  the 
w^ater;  the  opposite  side,  also  overhanging  the  river,  being  some- 
w^hat  lower,  and  covered  with  small  evergreen  trees  and  bushes. 
In  landing,  Brady  struck  upon  the  edge  of  this  bushy  projection, 
and  came  near  falling  back  into  the  seething  waters  below;  but, 
clutching  hold  of  the  scraggy  bushes,  he  finally  drew  himself 
upward  and  forward,  and  escaped  into  the  timber,  on  the  east  side 
of  the  river. 

The  Indians,  for  a  moment,  could  only  hold  up  their  hands  in 
sheer  astonishment,  and  utter  unintelligible  ejaculations  of  sur- 
prise. Realizing,  as  they  almost  immediately  did,  that  their  prey 
w^as  about  to  escape  them,  several  shots  were  fired  at  him,  as  he 
was  clambering  up  the  bank,  only  one  of  which  took  effect,  pro- 
ducing an  ugly  flesh  wound  in  the  right  thigh. 

The  Flight  Not  Yet  Ended. — Taking  a  momentary  breath- 
ing spell,  to  recover  somewhat  from  the  shock  of  his  fall  upon  the 
edge  of  the  ledge,  Brady,  though  suffering  severely  from  his 
w^ound,  continued  his  flight  eastward,  but  speedily  became  avt^are 
that  the  Indians,  having  effected  a  crossing  both  above  and  below 
the  scene  of  his  daring  exploit,  were  again  in  pursuit,  on  either 
flank.  He  now  made  directly  towards  a  large  pond,  a  mile  or  so 
east  of  the  river,  where,  in  full  view  of  his  pursuers,  he  boldly 
plunged  in,  and  started  as  if  to  swim  to  the  opposite  shore.  After 
swimming  a  short  distance,  however,  he  dove  beneath  the  surface, 
and  changing  his  direction,  made  for  a  dense  mass  of  pond  lilies, 
or  as  some  accounts  state,  the  top  of  a  fallen  tree,  under  which  he 
managed  to  hide  himself,  with  his  nose  and  mouth  above  the  sur- 
face, and  so  near  the  shore  that,  understanding  their  language,  he 
could  hear  the  speculations  of  his  bloodthirsty  enemies  as  to  his 
probable  fate;  their  belief  being  that  he  had  become  exhausted 
from  his  long  run  and  leap,  and  from  the  wound  that,  from  the 
blood  left  along  his  track,  they  knew  he  had  received,  and  had 
sunk  to  the  bottom  and  drowned.  The  Indians,  at  length  satisfied 
that  their  mortal  enemy  was  surely  dead,  left  the  vicinity  of  the 
pond  and  retraced  their  steps,  to  tell  to  their  astonished  fellows 
the  almost  incredible  story  of  the  w^hite  man's  daring  "Leap  for 
Life,"  and  his  subsequent  death  from  drow^ning. 


1144  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

To  make  sure  that  they  were  not  still  lingering  about  the 
shores  of  the  pond,  Brady  remained  in  his  uncomfortable  position 
through  the  night,  when,  hearing  no  sound,  nor  seeing  any  signs 
of  further  pursuit,  he  leisurely  continued  his  weary  way  to  his 
home  in  the  Valley  of  the  Ohio;  and  from  this  event,  and  the 
other  traditional  story  that  upon  the  banks  of  the  same  pond 
Brady  and  his  companions  still  later  ambushed  and  slaughtered  a 
considerable  body  of  Indians,  it  has  long  been,  and  will  probably 
continue  forever  to  be,  known  as 

"Brady's  Lake." — This  beautiful  little  lake  has,  within  a  few 
years,  become  quite  a  resort  for  picnic  parties,  and  other  Summer 
pleasure  seekers  in  Portage  and  adjoining  counties.  The 
encroachments  of  modern  improvements,  canals,  railroads,  etc.,  to 
saj'  nothing  about  the  encroachments  of  time,  have  very  greatly 
changed  the  aspect  of  the  various  points  of  pioneer,  as  well  as 
Indian  prowess  and  adventure,  so  that  it  is  difficult,  at  this  remote 
period,  to  tell  the  exact  distance  covered  by  the  intrepid  Brady  in 
his  alleged  "leap  for  life."  The  late  Frederick  Wadsworth,  who 
pretty  thoroughly  investigated  the  matter,  some  forty-five  years 
ago,  found  the  distance  from  point  to  point  to  be  then  a  trifle  less 
than  twenty-five  feet.  But  as  nearly,  or  quite,  half  a  century  had 
then  gone  by  since  the  reputed  adventure,  it  is  probable  that 
time's  unceasing  abrasions  had  already  wrought  a  marked  change 
upon  the  edees  of  the  overhanging  rock,  though  the  leap,  if  made 
at  all  at  the  point  named,  w^hich  the  w^riter  sees  no  reason  to 
doubt,  even  if  but  twenty-two  feet,  as  most  versions  state  it,  was 
one  of  the  most  wonderful  ever  achieved  by  mortal  man;  although 
men,  in  desperate  straits,  have  since  been  known  to  make  w^onder- 
ful  leaps;  three  persons,  within  the  knowledge  of  the  writer,  hav- 
ing been  caught  in  the  upper  part  of  a  burning  building  in  San 
Francisco,  Cal.,  in  1851,  savirfg  their  lives  by  ascending  to  the  roof 
and  jumping  across  a  sixteen-foot  alley  to  the  roof  of  another 
building  a  few  feet  lower. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Portage-Summit  Pioneer  Asso- 
ciation in  September,  1886,  it  was  suggested  by  the  secretary,  Dr. 
A.  M.  Sherman,  that  a  movement  be  inaugurated  by  the  Associa- 
tion towards  erecting  a  suitable  monument,  at  the  point  on  the 
river  bank  where  Brady's  wonderful  leap  is  alleged  to  have  been 
made,  in  commemoration  of  the  event;  a  proposition  that  the 
people  of  both  counties  should  have  a  deep  interest  in  carr3^ing 
into  effect. 

The  Shooting  of  Daniel  Diver. — A  more  recent  reminiscent 
incident  of  pioneer  intercourse  and  trouble  with  the  Indians,  is 
compiled  from  reasonably  reliable  data,  and  may,  therefore,  be 
considered  substantially  accurate;  though  there  is  some  discre- 
pancy of  authority  as  to  the  exact  cause  of  the  trouble,  and  the 
name  of  the  tribe  to  which  the  Indians  implicated  belonged;  one 
account  naming  them  as  "  Moha^vks,"  and  others  as  "  Senecas," 
the  preponderance  of  evidence  being  in  favor  of  the  latter. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  in  the  Winter  of  1806,  '07  there  was  an  encamp- 
ment of  Indians  in  the  township  of  Deerfield,  in  Portage  county, 
which  had  been  opened  to  settlement  about  seven  years.  Among 
the  white  inhabitants  at  that  time  were  two  brothers  by  the  name 
of  John  and  Daniel  Diver.  The  former  had  traded  a  mare  and  colt 
to   an   Indian    named   John  Nickshaw,    for   an   Indian   pon}'^,   and 


RED-SKIN    MALIGNITY — WHITE-SKIN   REVENGE.  1145 

though  it  does  not  appear  that  either  had  obtained  any  consider- 
able advantage  in  the  trade,  for  some  reason  or  other  the  Indian 
became  dissatisfied  and  wished  to  trade  back,  which  Diver  declined 
io  do. 

On  the  20th  of  January,  1807,  while  John  Diver  was  entertain- 
ing a  sleighing  party  at  his  house,  five  Indians  from  the  camp, 
John  Nickshaw,  John  Mohawk,  John  Bigson  and  his  two  sons,  all 
under  the  influence  of  whisky,  rudely  intruded  upon  the  party, 
and  on  some  pretense,  endeavored  to  decoy  John  Diver  to  their 
camp.  Failing  in  this,  they  became  quite  boisterous,  but  were 
eventually  quieted  down  by  the  mildness  of  Daniel  Diver.  A  little 
later  they  renewed  the  disturbance,  charging  Daniel  Diver  with 
having  stolen  their  guns,  but  w^ere  finally  persuaded  by  him  to 
leave  the  house. 

The  night  was  bright  and  cold,  there  being  about  two  feet  of 
«now^  upon  the  ground.  Stepping  out  of  doors,  about  10  o'clock, 
Daniel  Diver  saw  the  five  Indians  standing  in  a  row  in  a  slight 
ravine  a  short  distance  from  the  house.  Going  rapidly  towards 
them  he  saluted  them  pleasantly,  and  viras,  in  turn,  cordially 
greeted  by  the  Indians;  each  shaking  hands  with  him  as  he  passed, 
until  the  last  one,  John  Mohawk,  was  reached,  who  not  only 
refused  to  shake  hands  with  him,  but,  as  he  w^as  turning  to  go 
back  to  the  house,  the  treacherous  savage  raised  his  gun  and  shot 
him  through  the  temples,  destroying  both  eyes.  Hearing  the 
report  of  the  gun,  John  Diver  ran  to  the  assistance  of  his  wounded 
brother,  the  Indians  fleeing  to  their  camp,  and  from  thence,  the 
same  night,  into  the  wilderness  in  a  northwesterly  direction. 
Although  Daniel  Diver  was  not  killed,  he  never  regained  his  sight, 
though  afterwards  raising  a  family  and  dying  in  1847. 

Seeking  Vengeance  on  Mohawk,  But  Killing  Nickshaw. — 
Before  daylight  the  next  morning,  so  rapidly  had  the  alarm  spread, 
a  party  of  twenty-five  determined  men  were  on  the  track  of  the 
murderous  red-skins.  The  weather  was  intensely  cold,  and  several 
of  the  pursuing  party  froze  their  feet  and  hands,  and  their  places 
were  filled  by  other  settlers  along  the  route.  The  night  following, 
the  five  fleeing  Indians  were  surprised  and  surrounded,  in  their 
camp,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Cuyahoga  river,  in  the  west  part  of 
Boston,  or  the  east  part  of  the  present  township  of  Richfield.  John 
Bigson  and  his  two  sons  were  captured,  but  Mohawk  and  Nick- 
shaw got  away.  They  were  followed  by  two  Hudson  men  named 
George  Darrow  and  Jonathan  Wi-lliams,  overtaken,  and  com- 
manded to  surrender,  but  not  obeying  the  summons,  Williams  fired 
upon  them,  instantly  killing  Nickshaw;  but  Mohawk,  the  Indian 
who  shot  Daniel  Diver,  entirely  escaped.  A  squaw  belonging  to 
the  p^rty  was  said  to  have  been  left  to  take  care  of  herself,  and  it 
was  afterwards  reported  that  she  perished  in  the  snow.  Bigson 
and  his  two  sons  were  returned  to  Deerfield,  and,  being  examined 
before  Justice  Lewis  Day,  were  committed  to  the  Warren  jail. 
They  were  subsequently  tried  in  Court  of  Common  Pleas  and 
acquitted. 

An  Indian  War  Imminent. — The  excitement  attendant  upon 
this  affair,  both  among  the  whites  and  Indians,  was  most  intense, 
and  came  very  near  resulting  in  a  bloody  war  between  the  two 
races.  Considerable  correspondence  w^as  had  between  the  citizens 
of  Deerfield   and   Gen.   Klijah  Wadsworth,  of   Warren,  then   the 


1146  AKRON    AND   SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

military  commander  for  Northern  Ohio,  and  bet-ween  Gen.  Wads- 
worth  and  Judge  Samuel  Huntington,  of  the  Supreme  Court,  at 
Cleveland  ;  several  personal  interviews  also  being  had  between 
Judge  Huntington  and  Chief  Seneca,  in  behalf  of  the  tribe  of 
Indians  involved  in  the  difficulty. 

The  people  of  Deerfield  demanded  that  John  Mohawk,  the 
shooter  of  Diver,  be  delivered  up  for  trial;  the  Indian  Chief  as 
strenuously  insisting  that  Darrow  and  Williams  should  also  be 
arrested  and  tried  for  the  killing  of  Nickshaw,  and  promising  to 
surrender  Mohawk  when  legal  steps  for  the  punishment  of  the 
white  murderers  should  be  taken.  Seneca,  in  his  talks  with  Judge 
Huntington,  Major  Carter  and  others,  said  he  did  not  want  to  go 
to  war;  he  simply  w^anted  justice.  Nicksha^v  had  been  murdered; 
shot  in  the  back,  while  fleeing  for  his  life.  He,  with  Major  Carter 
and  Mr.  Campbell,  had  gone  to  the  place  w^here  Nickshaw^  was 
killed,  and  had  buried  him.  There  was  no  evidence  of  any  struggle, 
and  Nickshaw  had  fallen  in  his  tracks  with  the  bullet  hole  in  his 
back.  Seneca  sententiously  remarking:  "Indian  may  lie;  white 
man  maj'^  lie;  but  snow  tell  no  lie,"  and  adding  that  all  he  Avanted 
■was,  that  "the  same  measure  of  justice  should  be  dealt  out  to  the 
Indian  as  to  the  white  man." 

The  excitement  finally  died  away,  and  neither  Mohawk  nor 
Williams  or  Darrow^  Tvere  ever  brouffht  to  trial,  though  it  was  a 
long  time  before  the  parties  w^ere  restored  to  their  former  friendly 
relations;  the  event,  taking  all  the  circumstances  into  consider- 
ation, furnishing  additional  proof  that  the  greater  portion  of  the 
trouble  betw^een  the  early  w^hite  settlers  and  the  Indians  grew  out 
of  the  fact  that  the  former  w^ere  not  as  ready  to  do  justice  to  the 
latter  as  to  exact  it  from  them. 

Murder  of  Nathan  Cummins,  a  Canal  Driver.— Though  a  lit- 
tle out  of  its  chronological  order,  the  follo\\ring  account  of  a  Tvan- 
ton  homicide,  perpetrated  within  the  present  limits  of  Summit 
county,  may  properly  come  in  here.  On  the  night,  of  the  8th  day 
of  September,  1832,  a  dissipated  fellow  by  the  name  of  Abner  S. 
Harris,  living  in  a  log  shanty  on  the  w^est  side  of  the  Ohio  canal, 
near  Old  Portage,  got  upon  the  canal  boat  "  Victory,"  some  dis- 
tance belowr,  to  ride  up  as  far  as  his  own  place.  On  the  way  he 
got  into  a  ^svrangle  w^ith  the  hands  upon  the  boat,  accusing  them 
of  stealing  his  w^ood,  demanding  pay  for  the  same,  etc.,  and  was 
put  off  the  boat,  in  w^hich  operation  he  was  either  purposely  or 
accidentally  throw^n  into  the  Water,  by  the  steersman,  w^hose  name 
w^as  Hart  Lepper.  Threatening  vengeance  upon  Lepper,  he  dis- 
appeared into  the  bushes,  in  the  direction  of  his  house. 

Later  in  the  night  he  appeared  upon  the  bank  of  the  canal, 
further  south,  carrying  a  gun,  and  hailing  the  steersman  of  the 
dow^nward  bound  boat,  "  Fair  American,"  inquired  for  the  boat 
upon  w^hich  he  had  been  riding,  saying  that  they  had  stolen  his 
w^ood,  pushed  him  off  the  boat  into  the  canal  and  snapped  a  gun  at 
him,  and  that  if  they  wanted  bush-w^hacking,  he  would  give  them 
plenty  of  it,  for  he  had  a  gun  and  plenty  of  ammunition,  and  knew 
how  to  use  them,  too.  When  the  "Fair  American"  reached  the 
lock,  below  Old  Portage,  an  up-bound  boat  was  found  in  the  lock, 
and  while  waiting  there,  the  report  of  a  gun  was  heard  by  the  two 
crews,  it  being  presently  discovered  that  the  driver  of  the  up-bound 
boat — the  "Victory" — a  boy  about  seventeen  years  old,  by  the  name 


MURDER    IN   THE    SECOND   DEGREE.  1147 

of  Nathan  Cummins,  belonging  in  Cleveland — had  fallen  from  his 
horse,  fatally  shot  through  the  neck. 

Barris  was,  of  course,  immediately  suspected,  followed  and 
captured,  while  skulking  in  the  bushes,  near  his  own  shanty.  He 
w^as  brought  to  Akron,  and  being  examined  before  Justice  Jacob 
Brown,  was  committed  to  the  Portage  county  jail,  at  Ravenna,  to 
answer  to  the  charge  of  murder.  At  the  May  term,  1833,  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  Portage  county,  an  indictment  was 
found  against  Barris,  charging  him  with  deliberate  and  premedi- 
tated murder.  To  this  indictment  Barris  entered  a  plea  of  not 
guilty,  and  elected  to  be  tried  in  the  Supreme  Court,  to  convene 
early  in  the  following  September. 

Trial  in  Supreme  Court. — The  Supreme  Court,  for  Portage 
county,  for  1833,  convened  at  Ravenna  on  Monday,  September  2, 
with  Judges  Ebenezer  Lane,  of  Norwalk,  and  John  C.  Wright,  of 
Cincinnati,  upon  the  bench.  L,  V.  Bierce,  then  prosecuting 
attorney  for  Portage  county,  and  Hon.  Peter  Hitchcock,  of  Geauga 
county,  appeared  on  behalf  of  the  State,  the  defendant  being  repre- 
sented by  Van  R.  Humphrey,  Esq.,  of  Hudson,  and  Eben  Newton, 
Esq.,  of  Canfield. 

The  trial  w^as  short,  only  eleven  witnesses  being  sworn  and 
examined  on  both  sides,  the  entire  proceedings,  including  the 
empaneling  of  the  jury,  examination  of  w^itnesses,  arguments  of 
counsel,  charge  of  Court,  verdict  of  jury  and  sentence  of  prisoner, 
occupying  less  than  two  days,  being  in  striking  contrast  to  the 
"long  drawn  out"  trials  in  similar  cases  in  these  modern  days. 
The  killing  of  the  boy  was  not  denied  by  either  Barris  or  his 
attorneys;  the  former,  on  being  brought  to  the  hotel  of  William 
Coolman,  Jr.,  on  his  arrival  from  Akron,  saying  to  that  gentleman, 
w^ho  had  previously  known  him,  that  "it  was  not  Barris,  but  it  was 
whisky  that  did  it."  The  principal  effort  of  counsel  for  the  defense 
w^as  to  bring  the  offense  down  to  manslaughter;  but  the  jury, 
under  the  able  charge  of  Judge  Lane,  brought  in  a  verdict  of 
murder  in  the  second  degree. 

Judge  Lane  immediately  pronounced  sentence  upon  the  pris- 
oner as  follows  : 

"Abner  S.  Barris  : — You  have  been  found  guilty,  by  a  jury  of  your  own 
selection,  of  murder.  In  most  countries,  for  this  offense  you  would  pay  the 
forfeit  of  your  life;  but  under  the  benig^n  provisions  of  that  section  of  the 
statute  under  which  you  are  convicted,  you  do  not  forfeit  your  life  ;  but  the 
law  adjudg'es  you  unworthy  long'er  to  associate  with  your  fellow  citizens. 
This  law  leaves  with  the  Cotirt  no  discretion.  We  have  no  alternative  but  to 
deprive  you  of  your  liberty  for  the  remainder  of  your  life.  Your  sentence, 
therefore,  is  that  you  be  taken  hence  to  the  Penitentiary  of  the  State  of  Ohio, 
and  that  you  be  there  confined  at  hard  labor,  for  and  during  the  remainder 
of  your  natural  life." 

No  effort  was  ever  made  for  his  pardon,  and  Abner  S  Barris, 
forty  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  conviction,  fully  expiated  the 
offense  committed  by  him  while  under  the  influence  of  that  incar- 
nate devil,  of  all  earthly  devils,  w^hisky,  by  faithful  service  to  the 
State  until  released  by  death,  February  3,  1842,  just  eight  years, 
four  months  and  five  days  from  the  date  of  his  incarceration. 


CHAPTER  LVII. 

SOME  SHARP  DETECTIVE  OPERATIONS— WEALTHY  FARMER  TURNS  DETECTIVE 
TO  AVENGE  THE  MURDER  OF  HIS  BROTHER-IN-LAW — FOLLOWS  THAT 
CALLING  AS  A  DUTY  TO  SOCIETY— MARSHAL  WRIGHT  "ARRESTS"  HIM  AND 
MAYOR  NASH  "COMMITS"  HIM  ON  THE  "CHARGE"  OF  FORGERY  — TWO 
DAYS  AND  NIGHTS  IN  A  FELON'S  CELL— HIS  DISCOVERIES  WHILE  IN  JAIL 
—  HIS  RELEASE  ON  "BAIL"  — TAKES  WITH  HIM  A  LETTER  OF  INTRODUC- 
TION TO  THE  BROTHER  OF  AN  ALLEGED  COUNTERFEITER  —  MAKES  THE 
ACQUAINTANCE  OF  SAID  BROTHER  AND  HIS  PALS  — CONTRACTS  TO  PUR- 
CHASE A  BURGLARIZED  STOCK  OF  BOOTS  AND  SHOES  FROM  THEM— FAILS 
TO  KEEP  HIS  APPOINTMENT,  BUT  OFFICERS  WRIGHT  AND  TOWNSEND 
PROMPTLY  ON  HAND— THE  BURGLARS  ARRESTED  WITH  THE  "SWAG"  IN 
THEIR  POSSESSION  —  TRIED,  CONVICTED  AND  SENTENCED  TO  THE  "PEN" 
FOR  THREE  YEARS  — DISCOVERY  OF  PLOT  TO  ROB  THE  TREASURY  OF 
SUMMIT  COUNTY  — ROBBER  CAUGHT  IN  THE  ACT— TRIAL,  SENTENCE  AND 
CONVICTION  EXTENSIVE  GANG  OF  COUNTERFEITERS  BROKEN  UP,  ETC.— 
SOME  DECIDEDLY  "CLEVER"  WORK  BY  "HOME  TALENT." 

A   VOLUNTEER  DETECTIVE. 

'T^HOUGH  not  claiming  to  have  much  detective  talent  myself,  it 
-^  w^as  nevertheless  my  good  fortune  to  have  assisted  in  some 
very  clever  detective  operations,  during  my  first  two  terms  as 
Sheriff  of  Summit  county,  from  November,  1856,  to  January,  1861. 
A  year  or  two  previous  to  my  accession  to  that  office,  the  brother- 
in-law  of  a  w^ealthy  and  enterprising  farmer,  near  Loudonville,  in 
Ashland  county,  had-  been  killed  in  a  neighboring  city,  by  being 
struck  on  the  head  with  an  iron  dray-pin.  The  authorities  of  the 
county  where  the  crime  v^^as  perpetrated  failing  to  trace  the 
murderer,  our  farmer  friend,  whose  name  was  E.  W.  Robeson, 
started  out  upon  a  line  of  detective  operations  on  his  o^wn  hook. 
Though  not'succeeding,  after  long  and  patient  search,  in  running 
down  the  slayer  of  his  kinsman,  yet  he  obtained  such  an  insight 
into  the  existing  crookedness  of  the  day,  that  for  the  benefit  of 
society  at  large,  he  gave  himself  up,  almost  exclusively,  to  the 
detection  and  exposure  of  crime,  and  in  aiding  'the  authorities  of 
his  ow^n  and  contiguous  counties,  in  bringing  the  rascals  of  their 
several  localities  to  justice  and  merited  punishment,  and  that,  too, 
w^ithout  compensation  or  expectation  of  pecuniary  rew^ard,  other 
than  his  actual  expenses  w^hen  operating  away  from  home. 

With  this  justice-loving  gentleman  Marshal  J.  J.  Wright  and 
Constable  James  Burlison  had  become  acquainted,  and  had  often 
co-operated  with  him  in  ferreting  out  crimes  in  several  of  the 
counties  to  the  south  and  west  of  us;  the  latter  gentleman  at  one 
time  actually  buying  out,  and  for  some  time  running,  a  saloon  in 
one  of  the  most  notorious  "Rogues'  Hollows"  in  Holmes  county ; 
and  in  the  denouement  of  w^hose  discoveries,  and  consequent  police 
requirements,  Marshal  Wright,  Deputy  Sheriff  Townsend  and 
Constable  David  A.  Scott  took  a  prominent  and  exceedingly  lively 
hand. 


EARLY   DETECTIVE   OPERATIONS.  1149 

"Working"  the  County  Fair. — Among  the  large  number  of 
huckster's  stands  at  the  ninth  annual  fair  (October,  1858)  of  the 
Summit  County  Agricultural  Society,  upon  their  original  six  acre 
grounds,  on  South  Main  street,  opposite  the  present  Rubber 
Works  and  Match  Factories,  v/as  one  kept  by  a  man  by  the  name 
of  J.  M.  Foster,  hailing  from  Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent),  in  Portage 
county.  Something  about  the  fellow  had  early  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  officers  who  w^ere  policeing  the  grounds,  but  no 
overt  act,  on  which  an  arrest  could  be  based,  was  detected  until 
towards  night  on  the  last  day  of  the  Fair.  Then  Marshal  Wright 
and  Constable  Burlison  caught  him  in  the  act  of  passing  a  coun- 
terfeit two  dollar  bill  upon  a  young  man  from  the  country,  took 
him  into  custody,  and  lodged  him  in  jail. 

Marshal  Wright  having  already  had  some  inkling  of  the 
crooked  propensities  of  the  Fosters,  of  Franklin  Mills,  thus  having 
one  of  them  in  limbo,  thought  it  would  be  well  enough  to  apply 
the  "pumping"  process  to  him,  and  accordingly  wrote  to  Mr. 
Robeson  to  come  to  Akron  at  once,  w^hich  summons  was  promptly 
responded  to. 

Akron's  Original  "Eel  Pot." — At  that  time  the  late  Frederick 
A.  Nash  was  m^ayor  of  Akron,  and  to  fully  carry  out  our  plans,  as 
in  "council  of  war"  agreed  upon,  he  was  taken  into  our  confidence 
and  promised  us  a  hearty  co-operation.  At  that  tiine,  too,  the 
Hanscom  brothers — George,  Charles  and  Davids— were  the  keepers 
of  the  principal  grocery  and  family  supply  store  of  Akron,  in  their 
new^  brick  block,  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Howard  and  Market 
streets.  This  grocery  store  was  the  evening  loafing  place  of  that 
time — the  original  "Eel  Pot"  of  Akron— and  among  the  numerous 
other  loafers  there  congregated  on  a  given  evening,  were  Marshal 
J.  J.  Wright  and  Sheriff  S.  A.  Lane. 

While  old-time  jokes  and  antique  "chestnuts"  were  being 
rapidly  fired  at  each  other  by  the  congregated  "eels,"  a  rather 
rough-looking  stranger  entered  the  store  and  "Dave"  Hanscom 
pulled  himself  out  of  the  charmed  (or,  more  properly  speaking, 
charming)  circle,  and  stepped  tow^ards  the  front  to  wait  upon  his 
new^  customer.  Calling  for  a  paper  of  "fine-cut,"  which  "Dave" 
produced,  the  stranger  threw  upon  the  counter  a  two  dollar  bill  in 
payment.     Glancing  at  it,  "Dave"  indignantly  exclaimed  : 

"You  don't  think  I'm  big  fool  enough  to  take  such  stuff  as 
that,  do  you?" 

"Why, 'aint  that  good?"  innocently  inquired  the  stranger.  "I 
took  it  from  the  captain  of  the  boat  I  come  from  Cleveland  on." 

"Good!  Thunder,  no!  A  blind  man  could  see  that  that  was 
counterfeit,  by  just  feeling  of  it!"  replied  "Dave." 

By  this  time  the  attention  of  the  "eels"  w^as  attracted  to  the 
conversation  between  "Dave"  and  the  stranger,  and  Marshal 
Wright  hastily  stepped  forward,  saying:  "Here,  let  me  look  at 
that,"  and  after  scrutinizing  the  bill  a  moment,  said  :  "Yes,  that's 
counterfeit,  fast  enough!"  Then,  looking  at  the  stranger,  the 
Marshal  exclaimed  :  "Hello,  you're  just  the  man  I've  been  looking 
after  for  some  time!"  and  pulling  a  pair  of  handcuffs  from  his 
pocket,  undertook  to  slip  them  upon  the  wrists  of  the  stranger. 
This  was  vigorously  resisted,  however,  and  quite  a  tussle  ensued, 
•  but  the  stranger  was  finally  subdued  and  triumphantly  escorted 
before  the  mayor. 


1150  AKRON   AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

"Committed"  to  Jail. — The  entire  crowd  of  intensely  interested 
"eels,"  the  writer  included,  followed  the  marshal  and  his  "pris- 
oner" to  the  office  of  Mayor  Nash.  The  mayor  gravely  read  the 
warrant  to  the  "prisoner,"  charging  him,  under  the  name  of 
"John  Doe,"  "Kichard  Roe"  or  some  other  equally  accurate  cogno- 
men, w^ith  having  forged  the  name  of  some  other  equally  mythical 
personage  to  a  bank  check.  To  this  charge  the  "culprit"  put  in 
an  emphatic  plea  of  "not  guilty,"  and  w^aived  an  examination, 
w^hereupon  His  Honor  required  him  to  enter  into  bonds  in  the 
sum  of  $1,000,  for  his  appearance  before  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas,  and  in  default  of  bail  filled  out  a  mittimus  in  due  form 
committing  him  to  jail.  Saying  that  he  >vould  be  all  right  as  soon 
as  he  could  get  word  to  his  brother,  a  w^ealthy  merchant  at  Canal 
Dover,  he  started  with  Marshal  Wright  and  myself  for  the  jail — 
the  handcuffs,  of  course,  being  removed  on  leaving  the  mayor's 
office  and  getting  beyond  the  observation  of  the  keen-sighted  and 
highly  interested  "eels." 

The  Pumping  Process. — At  that  time  every  cell  in  the  jail  was 
occupied,  and  it  Avould  never  do  to  put  a  "criminal"  of  that  grade 
in  so  insecure  a  place  as  the  "Debtor's  Room"  on  the  upper  floor. 
So  it  was  arranged  to  have  the  newr  man  bunk  in  with  Foster,  as 
being  the  previous  latest  comer.  Of  course,  the  reader  under- 
stands by  this  time  that  the  supposititious  forger  is  our  detective 
friend,  Robeson.  Foster  at  once  "took"  to  him,  confiding  to  the 
stranger  everything  he  knew  about  either  himself  or  his  friends, 
w^hile  in  turn  the  stranger  told  Foster  everything  he  knen^,  and 
probably  several  things  that  he  didn't  know. 

A  number  of  other  prisoners  also  sought  the  confidence  of  the 
new,  but  jolly  and  wide-awake,  "prisoner."  and  made  certain  reve- 
lations to  him  which  w^ere  afterwards  of  great  value  to  the  officers, 
Robeson  possessing  one  of  the  most  retentive  memories,  as  to 
names,  places  and  dates,  of  any  person  that  I  ever  knew^.  He 
remained  in  the  jail,  living  upon  regular  jail  rations,  and  submit- 
ting to  prison  regulations  and  accomodations,  for  two  days,  until, 
by  a  preconcerted  signal,  he  intimated  to  me  that  he  had  thor- 
oughly mastered  the  situation,  vehen  I  handed  in  to  him  what 
purported  to  be  a  letter  from  his  brother,  enclosing  a  certificate  of 
deposit  for  $1,000  for  him  to  deposit  with  the  clerk  of  the  Court,  in 
lieu  of  bail,  for  his  appearance  for  trial. 

A  Complete  Success. — On  reaching  my  office,  in  the  court 
house,  Robeson  gave  to  myself  and  Deputy  To wnsend  a  full  history 
of  his  experience  while  in  "durance  vile."  Foster  told  him  that 
he  had  a  l)rother  at  Franklin  Mills,  who  with  certain  confederates, 
w^ere  carrying  on  quite  an  extensive  store-cracking  business,  and 
who  then  had  in  their  possession  large  quantities  of  different  kinds 
of  merchandise.  To  this  brother  Foster  gave  Robeson,  under  his 
prison  cognomen,  a  letter  of  introduction,  together  with  minute 
directions  for  the  fabrication  of  a  saw^,  w^ith  w^hich  to  ^work  himself 
out  of  jail,  in  case  an  indictment  should  be  found  against  him. 

Having  a  matter  of  business  to  look  after  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Ravenna,  I  dispatched  Deputy  Townsend  thither,  w^ith  that  >vell- 
remembered  span  of  gray  horses  I  then  owned,  taking  Robeson 
w^ith  him  to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  village  of  Franklin 
Mills,  with  the  understanding  that  he  would  pick  him  up  at  the 
same  point  on  his  return  to  Akron  the  next  morning.     Though 


BURGLARS   HANDSOMELY   NABBED.  1151 

quite  dark  when  he  walked  into  the  village,  Robeson  had  no  diffi- 
culty in  finding  the  Foster  domicile,  so  minute  had  been  the  direc- 
tions given  him  by  his  late  room-mate  in  the  Summit  county 
bastile.  On  presenting  his  credentials,  Robeson  was  received  with 
open  arms,  as  it  were,  by  the  brother  and  his  family,  including  a 
brother-in-law  confederate.  During  the  evening  they  not  only 
opened  up  to  Robeson  in  regard  to  their  crooked  operations,  but 
absolutely  made  arrangements  to  transfer  to  him,  for  a  stipulated 
cash  equivalent,  a  large  quantity  of  boots  and  shoes,  to  be  deliv- 
ered at  the  hotel  in  Clinton,  in  the  south  part  of  Summit  county, 
at  a  given  time. 

He  Fails  to  "Materialize." — The  day  agreed  upon  duly 
arrived,  and  so  did  the  "Commercial  Travelers,"  with  several 
large  trunks  full  of  boots  and  shoes.  These  were  taken  into  the 
parlor  of  the  hotel,  while  their  team  was  taken  to  the  barn  by  the 
ever-attentive  hostler.  But  for  some  (to  them)  unaccountable 
reason  their  expected  "  cash  customer"  failed  to  put  in  appearance. 
Not  so,  however,  with  Marshal  Wright  arid  Deputy  Sheriff 
Townsend.  Having  approached  the  village,  on  an  indirect  and 
somewhat  obscure  road,  they  had  taken  the  precaution  to  leave 
the  gray  team  a  short  distance  out  of  tow^n  and  had  managed  to 
reach  the  hotel  unobserved.  As  they  entered  the  sitting  room, 
though  utter  strangers  to  the  Franklinites,  those  gentlemen 
instinctively  scented  danger  and  hastily  retreated  from  the  room 
— one  breaking  for  the  rear  and  the  other  for  the  front  door  of  the 
hall.  Wright  overhauled  the  one  just  as  he  w^as  passing  through 
the  back  door,  while  Townsend  froze  to  other  as  he  w^as  climbing 
over  the  railing  to  the  front  platform.  They  both  struggled  des- 
perately, but  the  officers  were  too  much  for  them.  They  were 
securely  ironed  and,  with  their  plunder,  taken  to  Ravenna  and 
delivered  to  the  authorities  of  Portage  county. 

Of  this  arrest,  the  Beacon  of  February  16,  1859,  (A.  H.  Lewis, 
Esq.,  editor),  said  : 

"On  Thursday  last,  Deputy  Sheriff  Townsend  and  Marshal  J.  J.  Wrig-ht, 
arrested  at  Clinton,  in  this  county,  two  men  named  Foster  and  Clark,  charg-ed 
with  robbing-  the  store  of  Coffin  &  Co.,  in  Ravenna,  some  weeks  ag-o.  The 
prisoners,  and  some  $400  worth  of  boots  and  shoes,  which  were  recognized  as 
belonging  to  Enos  &  Martin,  of  the  former  place,  were  taken  to  Ravenna,  and 
as  they  waived  an  examination.  Justice  Conanfheld  them  in  $1,000  each  for 
appearance  at  the  next  term,  for  that  burglarJ^  In  default  they  were  com- 
mitted to  jail.  Our  detectives  are  as  keen  at  scenting  scoundrels  as  terriers 
after  a  rat ;  and  they  rarely  fail,  if  any  game  is  within  their  bailiwick." 

Trial — Conviction — Sentence. — The  two  men  thus  hand- 
somely nabbed,  were  respectively  named,  William  H.  Foster  and 
Charles  Clark,  and  at  the  February  term  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  of  Portage  county,  for  1859,  they  were  jointly  indicted  for 
both  burglary  and  larceny,  and  for  receiving  and  concealing  stolen 
goods  the  property  of  the  boot  and  shoe  firm  of  Enos  &  Martin. 
The  proof  as  to  their  having  actually  entered  the  store,  and  per- 
sonally stolen  and  carried  away  the  goods,  being  a  little  obscure, 
w^hile  the  fact  of  their  having  the  goods  in  their  possession  w^as 
abundantly  evident,  they  were  convicted  upon  the  latter  charge, 
only,  and  sentenced  to  the  Penitentiary  for  three  years  each. 

The  reading  of  this  article,  if  they  are  still  living,  and  it  should 
perchance  fall  under  their  observation,  will  probably  give  them 
their  first  inkling  as  to  why  their  anticipated  purchaser  failed  to 


1152  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

come  to  time,  and  how  it  happened  that  the  Summit  county  offi- 
cers appeared  upon  the  scene  just  in  the  nick  of  time  to  "gobble 
them  up"  with  the  evidence  of  their  guilt  so  conspicuously 
palpable. 

The  Original  Foster  Goes  Scott  Free. — The  original  Foster 
arrested  by  Wright  and  Burlison  upon  the  fair  grounds,  for 
passing  counterfeit  money,  was  not  indicted  by  the  grand  jury  of 
this  county,  no  other  spurious  money  having  been  found  about  his 
person  or  belongings,  and  the  evidence  being  not  at  all  conclusive 
that  he  was  aware  that  the  bill  passed  by  him  was  other  than 
genuine;  but  if  he  ever  "caught  on"  to  the  little  game  that  was 
played  on  him  by  "weuns"and  our  friend  Robeson,  it  probably 
taught  him  not  to  "talk  too  much  with  his  mouth  "even  to  a  sup- 
posed kindred  spirit,  occupying  jointly  with  himself  a  felon's  cell. 

"L/ISHe"  Wait  and  George  Sapp. — Among  Northampton's 
"celebrities,"  from  1850  to  1860,  was  "Lishe"  Wait,  who  was  not 
only  extremely  fond  of  whisky,  but  also  possessed  of  an  inordinate 
desire  to  finger  other  people's  belongings.  Though  often  in 
"durance  vile  "  on  serious  charges  "Lishe"  w^as  generally  sharp 
enough  to  escape  conviction,  or  at  least  get  off  with  very  light 
penalties.  Far  less  sharp,  but  equally  inclined  to  whisky-guzzling 
and  crookedness,  w^as  George  Sapp;  one  of  their  alleged  joint  oper- 
ations being  the  burglarizing  of  the  house  of  Thomas  J.  French, 
and  stealing  therefrom  the  sum  of  $500  in  money,  on  the  night  of 
August  27,  1854.  For  this  crime  they  were  indicted  and  tried,  but 
though  morally  certain  of  their  guilt  the  evidence  w^as  too  obscure 
to  warrant  the  jury  in  legally  so  finding  and  they  were  accord- 
ingly discharged. 

This  narrow  escape  did  not  cure  their  drinking  or  thieving 
propensities,  and  both  were  often  in  limbo  on  minor  charges,  Sapp 
being  in  jail  on  a  thirty  day's  sentence  for  stealing  a  quantity  of 
wheat  from  one  of  his  neighbors  at  the  time  our  detective  was 
there,  as  above  related.  Though  Robeson  sought  to  confine  his 
"pumping"  operations  to  Foster,  among  the  most  pertinacious  to 
pour  his  "tale  of  w^oe"  and  his  schemes  of  vengeance  into  the 
detective's  ear,  w^as  the  aforesaid  George  Sapp. 

George  Sapp's  Grievances.— George  had  been  unjustly  dealt 
with;  Lishe  Wait  had  euchred  him  out  of  his  share  of  the 
"Tommy"  French  swag;  he  had  been  several  times  unjustly 
imprisoned  or  sentenced  for  longer  terms  than  his  light  offenses 
warranted,  and  he  was  botrnd  to  have  revenge;  when  he  got  out 
of  jail  there  would  be  a  few  bon-fires;  several  barns  had  already 
been  touched  off  and  several  more  would  be;  Akron  had  been 
pretty  well  scorched  and  w^ould  soon  be  lighted  up  again;  the  bar- 
rel factory  made  a  hot  blaze  and  he  knew  who  touched  it  off,  etc. 

The  Barrel  Factory  Fire. — For  many  years  the  millers  of 
Akron  had  wholly  depended  upon  the  local  coopers  of  the  several 
adjacent  townships  for  their  supply  of  barrels,  flour  in  those  early 
days  not  being  so  largely  sold  in  sacks  as  at  the  present  time. 
This  mode  of  supply  not  being  reliable,  and  perhaps  too  expensive, 
a  number  of  interested  parties  organized  the  Akron  Barrel  Com- 
pany sometime  along  in  the  iniddle  of  the  fifties,  and  erected  a  fac- 
tory on  the  site  lately  occupied  by  the  Miller  Chain  Works  and 
Match  Factory,  and  commenced  the  manufacture  of  barrels  bj'^ 
machinery. 


COUNTY    TKEASUKY    KOBBEK    XABBED,  1153 

This  scheme  w^as  regarded  by  local  coopers  as  inimical  to  their 
interests;  but  it  vv^as  not  believed  that  the  frequent  threats  of 
demolition  >vhich  from  time  to  time  found  whispered  utterance, 
would  ever  materialize.  On  the  morning  of  October  7,  1858,  how- 
ever, the  second  day  of  the  Fair  of  that  year  (the  Fair  grounds 
then  being  directly  opposite  on  the  east  side  of  Main  street),  the 
barrel  factory  was  burned  under  circumstances  \vhich  rendered  it 
almost  certain  that  the  fire  w^as  of  incendiary  origin;  the  company 
immediately  offering  a  rew^ard  of  $1,000  for  the  detection  and  con- 
viction of  the  incendiary. 

Sapp's  pointed  allusion  to  the  matter,  in  his  confidential  com- 
munications to  Robeson,  was  strongly  presumptive,  to  the  local 
officers,  that  a  clue  to  the  perpetrators  thereof  might  be  reached 
through  him.  Accordingly,  after  the  expiration  of  his  sentence, 
the  services  of  our  >vhilom  "  forger,"  Robeson,  were  called  into 
requisition.  Sapp  w^as  visited  in  his  native  haunts,  but  though  he 
talked  freely  in  regard  to  his  prospective  crookedness,  he  w^as 
quite  reticent  about  w^hat  he  knew  (if  anything),  in  regard  to  the 
burning  of  the  barrel  works,  further  than  that  a  certain  young 
man,  ^vhose  name  he  declined  to  disclose,  had  been  hired  to  set 
the  fire,  and  that  he  had  since  gone  west. 

"  Bigger  Game"  In  Pro.spect. — But  one  important  scheme  was 
developed  by  the  interview,  w^hich  was  no  less  than  the  project  of 
robbing  the  county  treasury  by  himself  and  two  "other  fellers" — 
well-known  crooks — whom  he  named,  w^hich  project  w^as  only 
aw^aiting  the  "dark  of  the  moon"  to  be  carried  into  execution. 
This  declaration  wras  deemed  of  sufficient  importance,  by  the  local 
officers,  to  be  followed  up.  The  treasurer's  office  then  occupied 
only  one-third  of  the  space  it  now"  does,  the  sheriff's  office  being" 
then  upon  the  east,  and  the  grand  jury  room  upon  the  w^est;  there^ 
being  no  vault  in  the  treasurer's  office  then  as  now,  the  public 
funds  being  confided  to  the  keeping  of  one  of  the  old-fashioned 
boiler-plate  safes;  the  only  fastening  to  the  single  window^  of  th& 
room  being  a  nail  over  the  low^er  sash.  In  anticipation  of  the  con- 
templated raid,  a  night  w^atch  was  organized,  consisting  of  the 
writer.  Marshal  J.  J.  Wright,  Deputy  Sheriff  A.  R.  Townsend,  Con- 
stables David  A.  Scott  and  James  Burlison,  Auditor  Charles  B. 
Bernard,  and  Deputy  Clerk  Alden  Gage,  who  were  to  take  turns  in 
watching,  the  sheriff's  office  being  the  rendezvous,  and  well-sup- 
plied with  buffalo  robes,  blankets,  etc.,  to  make  us  comfortable 
during  the  long  cold  w^intry  nights,  no  fire  or  lights  in  the  room 
being  permissible,  while  the  most  profound  silence  was  deemed 
absolutely  necessary. 

Watching  and  Waitincj. — Thus  for  several  nights  the  vigil  was 
kept  up,  but  neither  George  Sapp,  nor  any  "other  feller "  put  in 
an  appearance.  But  while  still  continuing  our  vigilance,  it  was 
thought  best  to  have  our  detective  "accidentally"  run  across 
George  again,  to  ascertain  the  occasion  of  the  hitch.  George  said 
they  w^ere  on  hand  at  the  time  designated,  but  became  apprehen- 
sive that  the  court  house  was  being  watched,  as  one  night,  about 
11  o'clock,  they  thought  they  saw  a  flash  of  light  in  one  of  the 
rooms  as  though  a  match  had  been  struck,  w^hich  had  actually 
been  done  by  one  of  the  watchers  to  ascertain  the  time  of  night.. 
"But,"  continued  George,  "they're  not  w^atching  now,  and  as  soon 
as  the  nights  get  dark  again,  we  will  do  the  business  sure." 

73 


1154  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY, 

Arson  as  Well  as  Robbery. — So  the  watch  was  kept  up,  but 
no  longer  from  the  sheriff's  office.  At  that  time  the  jail  coal-house 
stood  flush  with  the  street,  about  where  the  driveway  now  is 
between  the  jail  and  the  large  brick  building  upon  the  north. 
From  the  interior  of  this  building,  Marshal  Wright  and  Deputy 
Sheriff  Townsend  kept  watch  for  several  nights  after  the  moon 
began  to  darken,  while  Constable  Burlison  occupied  another  point 
of  observation  near  by. 

About  11  o'clock  on  the  night  of  January  29,  1859,  while  the 
attention  of  the  people  of  the  town  was  drawn  towards  a  burning 
school  house  at  the  corner  of  Middlebury  and  Spicer  streets 
(believed  to  be  a  part  of  the  robbery  game),  the  sharp  eye  of 
Marshal  Wright  caught  sight  of  a  man  stealthily  creeping  across 
the  court  house  yard,  diagonally  from  the  northeast  corner. 
Reaching  the  court  house,  he  hastily  passed  entirely  around  the 
building  (this  was  before  the  wings  were  added),  and  then,  turning 
upon  his  heel,  ran  around  the  other  way,  stopping  at  the  treasury 
w^indow.  Presently,  the  officers  saw  him  disappear  through  the 
w^indow,  when,  leaving  their  covert,  they  closed  in  upon  him, 
observing,  as  they  did  so,  another  man  rapidly  running  down  the 
hill  upon  the  west  side  of  the  grounds. 

Caught  in  His  Own  Trap. — Summoning  the  burglar  to  come 
forth,  and  receiving  no  response.  Marshal  Wright,  with  revolver  in 
hand,  boldly  entered  the  office,  through  the  open  window,  and 
groping  around  got  hold  of  his  man,  w^hom  he  at  once  shoved 
through  the  window  into  the  hands  of  Deputy  Tow^nsend,  by 
w^hom  he  was  immediately  invested  with  the  proper  "jewels,"  and 
forthwith  placed  in  jail. 

Procuring  a  light,  it  was  found  that  Sapp  had  pried  the  win- 
doviT  open  w^ith  the  broad  blade  of  an  old-fashioned  mattock,  with 
which  primitive  implement  it  w^as  evidently  the  intention  of  the 
burglars  to  w^ork  their  w^ay  into  the  safe  in  question;  scientific 
safe-cracking  not  being  as  well  understood  then  as  it  is  now, 
though  some  extensive  jobs  were  even  then  successfully  accom- 
plished with  as  simple  means  as  the  clumsy  mattock  in  question. 

Trial — Conviction  —  Sentence. — At  the  March  term  of  the 
court,  1859,  Sapp  w^as  duly  indicted,  tried  and  convicted  of  bur- 
glary, but  in  consideration  of  his  rather  "weak  intellect,  and  the 
failure  of  his  enterprise,  as  well  as  the  probability  x)f  his  being 
simply  the  tool  of  sharper  heads.  Judge  Carpenter  gave  him  the 
shortest  sentence  known  to  the  law  for  the  crime  of  burglary — 
one  year's  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary. 

As  to  his  alleged  accomplices  nothing  was  developed  further 
than  his  statement  to  the  detective,  and  the  shadov^ry  glimpse  of 
the  second  party  as  he  w^as  fleeing  down  the  hill  on  the  night  of 
the  burglary;  though  the  fact  that  the  principal  one,  on  Sapp's 
arrest,  immediately  absented  himself  from  the  county,  and  has 
never  returned,  would  seem  to  corroborate  Sapp's  statement  in 
that  regard. 

Sapp's  Subsequent  Life. — Having  served  out  his  term,  Sapp 
returned  to  his  old  home  in  Northampton,  but  a  few  years  later 
floated  off  West,  where,  at  last  accounts,  he  was  living  w^ith  a 
brother-in-law,  in  the  State  of  Indiana,  a  poor  demented  wreck, 
occasionally  returning  to  Summit  county,  w^here,  under  the  real 
or  simulated  hallucination  of  ownership,  he  attempts  to  assume 


SOME   OTHER    NEAT   OPERATIONS.  1155 

■control  of  his  "farm" — several  thousand  acres,  extending  from  lot 
18  to  the  river,  north  of  Cuyahoga  Falls. 

Large*  Gang  of  Counterfeiters  Broken  Up. — Clues  obtained 
by  the  detective  in  question,  and  others,  being  followed  up  by  the 
-officers  named,  and  their  JRavenna  coadjutors,  resulted  in  the 
breaking  up  of  an  extensive  gang  of  counterfeiters  in  Portage, 
Columbiana,  Mahoning  and  Cuyahoga  counties.  In  these  raids 
some  $15,000  or  $20,000  of  spurious  money — paper  and  coin — and  a 
full  wagon  load  of  apparatus  and  material,  consisting  in  part  of  a 
bank  note  press,  rolling  mill,  machine  for  stamping  coin,  dies,  coin 
in  the  rough,  finished  coin,  engravers'  tools,  crucibles,  galvanic 
batteries,  paper,  ink,  acids,  chemicals,  and  a  lot  of  dentists'  tools 
and  daguerreotype  apparatus,  under  cover  of  which  the  bogus 
business  w^as  carried  on. 

Several  quite  important  parties  w^ere  captured,  w^ho,  with  the 
evidences  of  their  guilt,  were  turned  over  to  the  authorities  of  the 
several  counties  interested,  and  of  the  United  States  authorities 
at  Cleveland.  But  as  these  operations  were  outside  of  Summit 
county,  it  is  not  necessary  to  follow  them  here,  and  are  only 
alluded  to  in  this  connection  to  show  how  extensively  the  counter- 
feiting virus  ramified  the  social  fabric  a  third  of  a  century  ago, 
and  as  demonstrative  of  the  zeal  and  skill  exhibited  by  the  public 
and  private  officers  and  detectives  of  Akron  and  Summit  county, 
in  the  detection  and  punishment  of  crime,  during  the  same 
period. 

THE  SHERIFF   HIMSELF  VICTIMIZED. 

During  the  Avriter's  first  incumbency  of  the  sheriff's  office, 
from  1856  to  1861,  among  other  official  civil  transactions  was  the 
closing,  on  attachment,  of  quite  an  extensive  dry  goods  store  at 
Cuyahoga  Falls.  Delaying  the  appraisement  for  a  few  days,  to 
give  the  parties  an  opportunity  to  amicably  adjust  matters  with 
their  creditors,  if  possible,  it  was  found,  on  proceeding  with  the 
inventory,  under  the  direction  of  the  chief  clerk  of  the  firm,  that 
about  one  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  choice  goods  had  meantime 
been  abstracted  from  the  stock. 

Efforts  were  immediately  made  to  trace  the  robbers,  among 
other  things  a  copy  of  the  private  cost  mark  of  the  firm  being  sent 
to  Chief  of  Police  Michael  Gallagher,  of  Cleveland.  This  was  on 
Friday.  On  Saturday  morning  I  took  Marshal  J.  J.  Wright  with 
me  to  Cuyahoga  Falls,  to  aid  in  the  investigation.  We  soon  struck 
a  supposed  clue,  by  which  it  was  deemed  important  to  intercept  a 
box  and  several  packages  of  goods  w^hich  had  been  shipped  to 
parties  in  Detroit  a  few  days  previously.  There  w^as  then  no  tele- 
graph office  in  either  Akron  or  Cuyahoga  Falls,  and  at  about  11 
o'clock  A.  M.  I  started,  by  team,  for  Hudson,  for  the  purpose  indi- 
cated. 

When  about  half  way  between  Cuyahoga  Falls  and  Hudson, 
on  the  diagonal  road,  I  met  a  young  man  in  a  buggy  driving  as 
rapidly  as  myself,  who,  recognizing  me  as  we  passed,  shouted  that 
he  had  a  message  for  me.  On  tearing  open  the  envelope,  I  found 
it  to  be  a  telegram  from  Chief  Gallagher,  saying:  "  I've  got  the 
thieves  and  the  goods  stolen  from  Cuyahoga  Falls.  Come  quick." 
Finding,  on  inquiry,  that  a  Cleveland  bound  train  w^as  due  in  Hud- 
son in  about  twenty  minutes,  I  let  that  little  grey  team  of  mine  go, 
pulling  up  at  the  Hudson  depot  just  as  the  train  was  pulling  in. 


1156  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

Giving  my  ponies  to  a  boy  to  take  to  a  livery  stable,  I  boarded 
the  train  for  Cleveland.  On  reaching  police  headquarters,  I  found 
two  large  satchels  full  of  the  Cuyahoga  Falls  goods, *with  a  por- 
tion of  the  cost  marks  still  attached,  and  on  going  to  the  jail  I 
found  tw^o  most  villainous  looking  fellows  w^ho  had  been  captured 
w^ith  said  goods  in  their  possession.  It  appeared  that  they  had 
boarded  a  Detroit  steamer,  and  had  endeavored  to  exchange  a  por- 
tion of  the  plunder  for  transportation  to  Detroit,  but  exhibited 
such  awkwardness  in  handling,  and  such  ignorance  in  regard  to 
the  value  of  the  goods,  as  to  excite  the  suspicion  of  the  clerk  of 
the  boat,  who  put  the  police  upon  their  track.  Being  found 
shortly  afterw^ards  in  a  river  saloon,  endeavoring  to  sell  their 
plunder,  they  were  taken  into  custody,  and  on  arriving  at  the 
police  station,  Gallagher  needed  but  a  glance  at  the  contents  of 
the  satchels  to  indicate  the  source  whence  they  came,  and  wired 
me  as  stated. 

Borrowing  the  necessary  "jewels"  from  the  Cleveland  offi- 
cers, I  chained  the  tw^o  "commercial  travelers"  together  and 
brought  them  and  their  plunder  home  with  me.  The  goods  cap- 
tured amounted  in  value  to  perhaps  $50,  ^vhile  as  near  as  could  be 
calculated  at  least  $1,000  w^orth  had  been  stolen.  The  application 
of  the  "pump"  failed  to  elicit  any  definite  information  in  regard 
to  the  missing  goods,  though  it  was  found,  from  them  and  other 
sources,  that  the  fellow^s  had,  for  several  weeks,  without  any  visi- 
ble occupation,  been  making  their  headquarters  with  a  brother  of 
one  of  them  living  on  the  outskirts  of  the  village.  The  next  daj'' 
(Sunday)  this  house  and  vicinity  were  most  thorougly  searched  by 
myself,  i)eputy  Sheriff  A.  R.  Townsend,  Marshal  J.  J.  Wright,  and 
Constables  James  Burlison  and  David  A.  Scott.  The  only  clue 
found  to  the  missing  goods  was  several  cost  mark  tags,  in  a  cavitj^ 
found  on  the  top  of  a  buckw^heat  straw-stack,  where  they  had  evi- 
dently first  been  concealed  until  they  could  be  removed  to  safer 
quarters. 

The  house  in  question  stood  on  a  sidehill,  being  a  story  and  a 
half  in  front,  w^ith  a  basement  kitchen  in  the  rear,  and  a  small  cel- 
lar opening  out  of  it  under  the  front  part  of  the  house.  In  this 
cellar  I  noticed  quite  a  quantity  of  loose,  gravelly  dirt,  in  a  sort  of 
bin,  across  one  end  of  the  cellar,  creating  an  impression  on  my 
mind  that  the  goods  in  question  might  be  concealed  in  the  cavity 
below,  w^hence  said  dirt  had  come,  the  proprietor  of  the  house,  in 
replj"  to  our  questions,  saying  that  in  excavating  for  the  basement 
kitchen  it  had  been  saved  to  make  the  mortar  for  plastering  the 
kitchen,  adding  that  though  he  knew  it  was  not  very  good  plaster- 
ing sand  the  plasterer  thought  it  w^ould  do,  for  a  rough  job  like 
that. 

Apparently  accepting  his  statement  as  true,  we  left  the  prem- 
ises without  discovering  any  further  traces  of  our  goods.  But 
that  dirt  continued  to  agitate  the  minds  of  both  Wright  and  my- 
self, and  the  next  day  w^e  repaired  again  to  that  cellar,  armed  with 
the  proper  implements,  determined  to  ascertain  what  there  was 
underneath  the  dirt.  Shoveling  the  dirt  out  of  the  bin,  we  found 
the  cellar  bottom  perfectly  hard  and  sound.  Assuring  ourselves 
that  no  excavation  had  been  made  there,  in  which  the  goods 
could  have  been  concealed,  we  shoveled  the  dirt  back  into  the 
bin,  and  began  exploring  the  other  parts  of  the  cellar.     The  space 


UNEARTHING  THE   BURIED   PLUNDER.  1157 

heing  a  little  cramped  for  two  to  work  to  advantage,  I  left  Wright 
to  continue  the  digging  there  while  I  went  on  a  prospecting  tour 
elsewhere.  There  was  a  small  pantry  underneath  the  stairs  lead- 
ing from  the  basement  kitchen  to  the  room  above,  and  it  seemed 
to  me  that,  on  removing  the  flour  barrel  and  sundry  other  articles 
from  the  pantry,  the  floor  could  be  raised  up  like  a  trap  door. 
This  supposition,  however,  was  found  to  be  incorrecf,  but  on  feel- 
ing around,  in  the  darkness,  I  fished  out  of  a  little  cubby-hole  in 
the  lower  angle  of  the  stairs,  about  a  bushel  of  packages  of  spices, 
sauces,  etc.,  which  the  marshal  recognized  as  part  of  quite  a  quan- 
tity of  goods  stolen  a  week  or  two  previously  from  the  grocery 
store  of  Adam  Schaaf  at  Bettes'  Corners,  and  also  a  quantity  of 
carpenters'  tools  recently  stolen  from  the  pattern  shop  of  the 
Akron  Stove  Company. 

Loading  this  find  into  his  buggy,  Wright  proceeded  to  Akron, 
and  arrested  the  owner  of  the  house  in  question,  who  was  work- 
ing there  during  the  day,  and  lodged  him  in  jail.  The  next  day, 
being  unable  to  go  myself.  Constable  Burlison  accompanied 
Wright  to  the  scene  of  operations,  with  instructions  to  dig  until 
they  found  those  goods,  if  they  had  to  tear  up  the  kitchen  floor,  or, 
if  necessary,  dig  over  the  entire  lot.  Commencing  w^here  Wright 
had  left  off  the  evening  before,  they  had  not  been  long  at  work, 
before,  close  to  the  partition  between  the  cellar  and  the  kitchen, 
they  struck  into  soft  earth,  and  presently,  a  foot  or  so  below  the 
surface,  came  upon  a  large  tool  chest  and  a  smaller  box,  which,  on 
being  elevated  to  the  surface  and  opened,  were  found  to  be  filled 
w^ith  the  burglarized  goods  in  question.  On  taking  an  inventory, 
the  total  of  the  goods  thus  found,  at  cost  prices,  w^as  found  to  be 
about  $800,  the  chief  clerk  of  the  firm,  from  his  familiarity  with 
the  stock,  insisting  that  about  $200  worth  of  the  stock  was  still 
missing,  though  the  most  diligent  search  of  myself  and  others 
failed  to  discover  them. 

A  SIXTEEN- YEAR-OLD  BOY  IMPLICATED. 

Further  investigation  implicated  the  sixteen-year-old  son  of 
one  of  the  most  repectable  families  of  the  neighborhood,  and  in 
whose  straw-stack  the  cost-tags  above  spoken  of  were  found,  and 
he,  too,  was  taken  into  custody.  On  being  interrogated  by  Prose- 
cuting Attorney  Henry  McKinney,  he  made  a  clean  breast  of  it, 
relating  how  he  had  been  inveigled  into  the  schemes  of  the  bur- 
glars and  had  assisted  them  in  removing  the  goods  from  the  store 
to  the  straw-stack,  whence,  on  a  subsequent  night,  they  were 
transferred  to  the  place  where  found,  but  that  no  part  of  the  plun- 
<ier,  or  the  avails  thereof,  had  as  yet  come  to  him. 

The  outcome  of  the  affair  was  that  the  two  parties  arrested  in 
Cleveland  were  convicted  of  the  crime  of  burglary  and  grand  lar- 
ceny, and  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for  ten  years  each;  the 
owner  of  the  house  where  the  goods  were  found,  having  beeri 
shown  by  the  evidence  to  have  known  thereof,  though  taking  no 
part  in  the  burglary  itself,  was  convicted  of  concealing  stolen 
property  and  sent  to  Columbus  for  one  year,  while  the  boy,  by 
reason  of  information  imparted  to  the  authorities,  and  impor- 
tant testimony  given  for  the  State,  w^as  discharged  without 
prosecution. 


1158  *  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

THE  "MISSING  LINK"  FINALLY  FOUND. 

At  that  time  there  was  living  at  Cuyahoga  Falls  an  "American 
Gentleman  of  African  descent ''  by  the  name  of  Robert  Hurst,  for 
short  called  "  Bob,"  who  was  reputed  to  be  the  possessor  of  a  full 
complement  of  extremely  "light  fingers,"  and  who  had  many 
times  been  arrested  and  punished  for  petty  pilfering.  About  a 
year  after  the  occurrence  of  the  events  above  narrated,  a  raid  was 
made  by  the  local  officers  on  "  Bob's"  domicile,  in  the  loft  of  which, 
ingeniously  concealed,  was  found  nearly  a  thousand  dollar's  worth 
of  almost  every  conceivable  kind  of  property — shirts,  sheets,  calica 
dresses,  clothing,  hats,  caps,  boots,  shoes,  crockery,  hardware,  dry 
goods,  etc.,  and  among  the  rest,  in  perfect  good  order,  the 
remainder  of  the  goods  stolen  from  the  store  in  my  Custody  as  nar- 
rated, and  invoicing  just  about  $200.  The  only  thing  that  we 
could  get  out  of  "  Bob,"  in  regard  to  them,  was  that  the  two  ten 
year  convicts  above  written  of  had  given  the  goods  to  him  to  keep 
for  them,  and  it  has  ever  since  remained  an  open  question  whether 
"Bob"  had  a  hand  in  the  main  robbery,  or  whether  he  had  inde- 
pendently raided  the  store  in  question  on  his  own  hook.  Owing  to 
this  uncertainty,  "Bob"  w^as  indicted  for,  and  convicted  of,  receiv- 
ing and  concealing  stolen  property,  only,  and  sent  to  the  peniten- 
tiary for  one  year. 

A  few  years  later  "Bob"  immigrated  to  Akron,  w^here  he 
mainly  resided  until  his  recent  death,  and  though  seemingly  dili- 
gent in  the  pursuit  of  a  legitimate  "profession" — that  of  hod- 
carrier — his  theiving  proclivities  probably  clung  to  him  to  the  end,, 
a  raid  by  Akron  officers,  on  his  premises  a  few  years  ago,, 
unearthing  a  quantity  of  miscellaneous  goods  and  chattels,  nearly 
equal  in  value  to  the  find  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  as  stated. 

HOW  "BOB"  FOOLED  THEM  ALL. 

Apropos  of  the  foregoing,  while  "  Bob"  was  in  jail  during  the 
long  vacation,  awaiting  trial  for  the  offense  named,  he  apparently 
went  into  a  rapid  consumptive  decline.  Being  lean  and  lank  in 
build,  failing  to  consume  his  customary  rations,  with  an  appar- 
ently distressing  cough,  and  an  occasional  spitting  of  blood,  my 
kind-hearted  and  sympathetic  jailer,  the  late  John  L.  Robertson, 
transferred  him  from  the  lower  to  the  upper  jail,  where  he  could 
be  made  more  comfortable,  and  more  readily  cared  for.  Here, 
though  carefully  doctored  and  nursed,  he  rapidly  grew  worse,  his 
face,  from  nearly  a  jet  black,  assuming  a  sallow  hue,  with  an 
increasing  flow  of  blood  from  between  his  gradually  bleaching  lips, 
and  it  was  thought  by  both  the  jailor  and  the  attending  physician 
that  "Bob's"  days  on  earth  were  numbered.  In  my  occasional 
visits  to  the  jail,  I  at  length  became  suspicious  that  "Bob"  was 
shamming,  and  determined  to  keep  an  eye  upon  him. 

One  day,  on  visiting  him,  I  found  him  very  feeble  indeed, 
hardly  able  to  speak  above  a  whisper,  and  apparently  exceedingly 
troubled  for  breath.  After  sympathetically  expressing  the  hope 
that  he  would  soon  be  better,  I  took  my  leave,  closing  the  outer 
door  and  turning  the  key  in  the  lock  with  a  snap,  but  quietly 
reversing  the  bolt  and  leaving  the  door  unfastened.  I  then  walked 
down  the  stairs  with  a  heavy  tread,  and  removing  my  boots  noise- 
lessly ascended  the  stairs  in  my  stocking  feet,  and  applying  my 


AN    INGENIOUS    EXPEDIENT.  1159 

eye  to  the  peep-hole  in  the  door,  I  found,  as  I  anticipated,  that  the 
invalid  was  skipping  around  the  corridor,  with  the  agility  of  a 
French  dancing  master.  After  watching  his  antics  for  a  few  min- 
utes, giving  him  no  warning  of  my  approach,  by  the  usual  sounds 
of  ascending  the  stairs  and  unlocking  the  door,  I  noiselessly  threw^ 
back  the  door  and  confronted  him  in  the  midst  of  a  half-executed 
pigeon-wing.  By  thus  simulating  sickness  "Bob"  had  hoped 
that  either  he  would  be  sent  home  to  die,  from  w^hence  he  could 
have  skipped  to  parts  unknown,  or  that  his  enfeebled  condition 
would  so  enlist  the  sympathies  of  the  court  and  jury  as  to  save 
him  from  the  penitentiary  on  the  pending  charge.  On  investiga- 
tion I  found  that  the  copious  discharges  of  blood  had  been 
produced  by  the  puncturing  of  his  gums  with  a  sharp-pointed  nail 
concealed  about  his  mattress,  while  the  pallor  upon  his  face  and 
lips  was  produced  by  the  use  of  dry  lime  procured  by  scraping  the 
w^hitewash  from  the  walls  of  his  room. 

HOW  "BOB"  ESCAPED  A  SECOND  TERM. 

A  year  or  two  after  his  return  from  the  "  pen  "  "  Bob  "  found  him- 
self in  "  durance  vile,"  charged  with  a  states-prison  offense.  As 
the  day  of  trial  approached,  it  w^as  discovered  by  his  keeper  that 
he  was  unable  to  walk,  having,  to  all  appearance,  entirely  lost 
the  use  of  his  right  leg.  Believing  that  the  fellow^  was  agajn 
shamming,  physicians  were  called  in,  and  some  very  severe  tests 
were  made,  such  as  violently  pinching  the  leg,  thrusting  needles, 
pins,  etc.,  into  the  flesh,  etc.,  but  without  producing  the  slightest 
indication  that  there  was  any  feeling  in  the  leg  whatever.  The 
trial  of  the  case  had  consequently  to  be  postponed  until  the  next 
term  and  during  the  vacation  "  Bob  "  was  sent  home  to  be  taken 
care  of  by  his  wife.  Here  he  was  occasionally  seen  by  the  neigh- 
bors hobbling  about  his  yard  on  crutches,  and  it  was  generally 
supposed  that  he  would  never  again  be  able  to  walk  or  work,  or 
even  steal.  Under  these  circumstances,  the  proper  authorities, 
believing  that  he  w^ould  be  worse  than  useless  to  the  State,  if  con- 
victed, and  deeming  it  inadvisable  to  carry  the  case  longer  upon 
the  calendar,  a  nolle  was  entered  at  the  ensuing  term  of  the  Court, 
and  "Bob"  left  to  hobble  through  the  balance  of  his  life,  on 
crutches  or  otherwise,  as  best  he  could.  Soon  afterwards,  how- 
ever, the  neighbors  were  surprised  to  see  "Bob"  without  his 
crutches,  cavorting  around  his  lot  as  nimble  as  an  organ-grinder's 
monkey,  bis  "paralysis"  having  "mysteriously  "  left  him. 

On  inquiring  of  "Bob,"  subsequently,  how  he  managed  to 
stand  all  those  pinches  and  punctures  without  wincing,  he  very 
frankly  explained  that  he  had  produced  the  numbness  in  his  leg 
by  applying  a  ligature  of  black  silk  or  linen  thread  to  his  thigh, 
drawing  it  so  tightly,  that  it  was  so  covered  by  the  indentation  of 
the  skin,  as  to  escape  the  notice  of  those  who  examined  him,  while 
at  the  same  time  deadening  its  nervous  susceptibilities  as  indicated. 


1160 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT    COUNTY. 


\y\/ltLIAM  CAMP,— born  in  Hart- 
»  »  ford,  Connecticut,  February  1, 
1809;  educated  in  city  public  schools, 
learning-  the  trade  of  cabinet  maker, 
"which  business  he  followed  until  his 
removal  to  Akron,  in  July,  1854;  a  few 
months  later  associating  hiiuself 
with  his  old  playmate  and  first 
cousin,  the  late  Charles  Webster,  and 
Mr.  James  B.  Taplin,  in  the  machine 
business,  under  the  tiriu  name  of 
Webster,  Taplin  &  Co.;  changed  on 
the  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Taplin,  in  1860, 
to  Webster,  Camp  &  Co.,  and  in  Jan- 
uarj^  1869,  on  the  accession  of  Mr. 
Julius  S.  Lane,  incorporated  as  The 
Webster,  Camp  &  Lane  Machine  Com- 
pany, which  name  it  still  bears. 
November  2,  1831,  Mr.  Camp  was  inar- 
ried,  at  Weathersfield,  Connecticut, 
to  Miss  Lucy  Butler,  born  in  Weath- 
ersfield, September  11, 1814,  who  bore 
him  one  child,  Lucy  Frances,  who 
died  at  six  years  of  age.  Mr.  Camp 
-was  not  only  zealously  devoted  to  the 
business  interests  of  his  firm  and  of 
his  adopted  city,  but  a  most  liberal 
supporter  of  the  National  g^overn- 
tiient  during  the  War.  After  long 
and  severe  suffering,  from  kidney 
affection,  Mr.  Camp  died,  March  30, 
1869.   at  the   age  of  sixty  years,  one 


ALFRED    R.    TOWNSEND. 

ALFRED  R.  TOWNSEND,— born  in 
Cazenovia,  New  York,  February 
14,1810;  educated  in  common  schools, 
learning  tailor's  trade,  in  which  bus- 
iness he  established  himself  in 
Akron  in  1834,  on  March  24,  of  that 
year  being  married,  in  Akron,  to  Miss 
Evelina  Blodgett,  a  native  of  Starks- 
boro,  Vermont.  A  few  years  later 
Mr.  Townsend  traveled  extensively 
in  Ohio  and  Kentucky  as  agent  for 


WILLIAM  CAMP. 

month,  and  twenty-nine  days,  his 
remains  being'  taken  to  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  for  interment.  Mrs. 
Camp,  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  fair 
degree  of  health,  excepting  seriously 
impaired  eye-sight,  still  survives  and 
still  retains  her  stock  interest  in  the 
prosperous  corporation,  which  her 
husband  aided  in  founding,  over  a 
third  of  a  century  ago,  and  which 
still  bears  his  name. 


Akron's  pioneer  map  publishers. 
Mannings  &  Darby;  was  then  for 
several  years  employed  as  collector 
for  Akron's  first  tinware  and  stove 
manufacturer,  Col.  Justus  Gale,  after 
his  death  assisting  Mrs.  Gale  in  set- 
tling estate;  then  for  several  years 
ran  a  packet  boat,  between  Columbus 
and  Chillicothe,  on  Ohio  canal ; 
was  Akron's  first  village  marshal 
and  tax  collector;  1856  to  1861,  deputy, 
under  Sheriff  Samuel  A.  Lane;  1861 
to  1867,  director  of  County  Infirm- 
ary; 1862  to  1873,  Deputy  United 
States  Internal  Revenue  Assessor; 
1873  to  1879,  Infirmary  director  and 
clerk  of  board,  resigning  by  reason 
of  failing  health.  The  high  esteem 
in  which  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Townsend  were 
held  was  evidenced  by  the  fact  that 
on  their  50th  wedding  anniversary 
thej^  were  presented  with  a  purse  of 
$1,086.50  in  gold  b}^  their  neighbors 
and  friends.  Their  children  were 
Henrietta  S.,  married  to  Mr.  James 
H.  F)mrich,  of  Sandusky,  deceased; 
Emil3^  G.,  deceased;  and  John  A., 
chief  telegraph  operator  at  Dunkirk, 
New  York,  their  only  grandson, 
Charles  A.  Townsend,  now  occupy- 
ing the  family  homestead,  512  West 
Market  street.  Captain  Townsend 
died  November  16,1887,  aged  77  years, 
9  months,  2  days,  Mrs.  Townsend 
dying  January  22,  1888,  aged  83  years, 
1  month  and  16  days. 


PERSONAL   AND   BIOGRAPHICAL. 


1161 


ELISHA  NASH  BANGS,  — son  of 
James  and  Martha  (Nash)  Bang's, 
born  April  10, 1800,  at  Stanstead,  Lower 
Canada,  parents  having,  about  four 
months  earlier,  removed  thither  from 
Hampshire  county,  Mass.;  common 
school  education;  learned  carpenter's 
trade,  at  19,  removing  with  parents  to 
Norwalk,  Ohio,  where,  in  1821,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Abigail  Wallace,  a 
native  of  Petersham,  Mass.;  in  1825, 
removed  to  Richfield,  and  engaged 
in  farming,  in  1836  removing  to 
Akron  and  resuming  work  at  his 
trade  andatmill-wrighting.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bangs  were  the  parents  of  two 
sons  Henry  L.  and  William  Wallace, 
both  deceased,  and  four  daughters — 
Adeline  A.,  now  Mrs.  Barnard,  of 
Chicago;  Mary  M.,  now  Mrs  A.  A. 
Tinkham,  of  Akron;  Louisa  H.,  now 
Mrs.  Simmons,  of  Chicago;  and  Celes- 
tia  E.,  now  Mrs.  P.  J.  Moersch,  of 
Akron.  In  Politics  Mr.  Bangs  was 
■originally  a  Whig,  casting  his  first 
vote  for  John  Quincy  Adams,  for 
president,  in  1824;  later  he  became  an 
ardent  anti-slavery  man,  allying 
himself  with  the  Republican  party 
on  its  organization,  in  1855;  was  chief 
fire  warden  of  Akron  many  years; 
First  ward  assessor  seven  years; 
school  enumerator  seven  years,  and 


ELISHA  NASH   BANGS. 

canal  inspector  four  years.  Firmly 
believing  in  the  fatherhood  of  God, 
and  the  brotherhood  of  Man,  and 
that  religion  consisted  in  doing 
right,  because  it  was  right,  Mr.  Bangs 
died  November  18,  1878,  at  the  age 
of  78  years,  7  months  and  8  daj^s;  Mrs. 
Bangs  dying  September  24, 1880,  aged 
78  years. 


PBTKR  J.    MOEKSCH. 

pETER  J.  MOERSCH,— son  of  Peter 
^  and  Catharine  (Wollmer)  Moersch, 
w^as  born  in  New  York  City,  January 
12,1842;  educated  in  public  schools 
and  at  Anglo-German-Franco  Col- 
lege, of  New  York,  with  Franz  Siegel; 


at  18  learned  printer's  trade  in  office 
of  Schoharie  Patriot,  edited  by  Gen- 
eral Husic  Mix;  in  1859  worked  in 
office  of  New  York  Sun;  in  1866  came 
with  father's  family  to  Ohio,  settling 
in  Buena  Vista,  Tuscarawas  county; 
owing  to  failing  eyesight,  changed 
occupation,  working  at  carriage 
painting,  atShanesville  and  in  Cleve- 
land, from  there  eoming  to  Akron 
with  Mr.  Henry  Gentz,  in  1869,  to  start 
tVie  Akron  Gerrnania,  on  which  he 
operated  as  superintendent  and  local 
editor  two  years.  November  13,  1871, 
was  married  to  Miss  Celestia  E. 
Bangs,  youngest  daughter  of  the  late 
Elisha  N.  Bangs,  who  has  borne  him 
one  son— ^Wallace  P.,  now  a  clerk  in 
business  office  of  Akron  Daily  Bea- 
con and  Republican.  Mr.  Moersch 
was  for  six  years,  1878-83,  inclusive, 
clerk  of  Portage  township;  six  years 
— 1882-88 — justice  of  the  peace;  assist- 
ant secretary  of  Summit  County 
Agricultural  Society  twelve  years ; 
publisher  of  Fair  premium  lists,  and 
of  Christmas  Magazine  and  Almanac 
for  many  years,  and  is  at  present  in 
charge  of  the  advertising  department 
of  the  Akron  Daily  Beacon  and 
Republican. 


CHAPTER   LVIII. 


MISCELLANEOUS  MENTION-  PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHY  OF  REV.  WILLIAM 
FROST  CRISPIN— BUCHTEL  COLLEGE  ADDENDA— ANOTHER  VICTIM  OF  THE 
FEARFUL  HOLOCAUST  OF  DECEMBER  13,  1890  — DEATH  OF  A  WARM  SUP- 
PORTER AND  TREASURER  OF  THE  COLLEGE,  MR.  JOY  H.  PENDLETON— 
OTHER  RECENT  DEATHS  OF  WELL-KNOWN  CITIZENS— THE  GREAT  HOWARD 
STREET  DISASTER  OF  NOVEMBER  7,  1891,  WITH  A  FINE  VIEW  OF  THE 
COLLAPSED  BUILDINGS— NEW  HIGH  STREET  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST,  ETC. 


REV.  WILLIAM  FROST  CRISPIN, 
--son  of  William  and  Mary  K. 
(Van  Kirk)  Crispin,  born  November 
14,  1833,  near  New  Martinsbiirg",  Fay- 
ette county,  Ohio,  being  of  Eng-lish 
ancestry,  the  remotest  known  being- 
Rear-Adiniral  William  Crispin,  of  the 
British  Navy,  brother-in-law  of  Sir 
Admiral  Penn,  uncle  of  William 
Penn,  the  American  ancestors  being 
Friends ;  removed  with  parents  to 
Highland  county,  when  young;  early 
education  very  limited,  in  log  school 
house;  at  inajority  borrowed  money 
at  ten  per  cent,  interest  to  go  to  Ohio 
Wesleyan  University  one  term,  work- 
ing for  father  at  $18  per  month,  to 
pay  note  ;  next  suiumer  taught  home 
school,  and  next  winter  taught  in 
Illinois  ;  then  chopped  wood,  at  fifty 
cents  per  cord,  to  go  to  what  is  now 
the  National  Normal  University,  at 
Lebanon,  Ohio,  where,  by  self-board- 
ing and  teaching  winters,  he  received 
the  teacher's  degree  (I.  J.),  in  1860; 
after  partly  completing  Senior 
course,  in  Spring  of  1862  was  called 
home  by  illness  of  father;  later 
teaching,  in  all  'about  five  years, 
mostly  in  Highland  and  Clinton 
counties.  May  25,  1865,  was  married 
to  Miss  Drusilla  D.  Evans,  of  Green- 
field, who  bore  him  three  children  — 
Mary  Frederica,  Fannie  Forester  and 
Willie  D.,  the  latter  dying  in  infancy, 
the  mother,  preceding  him,  dying 
May  16,  1872.  Was  again  married, 
June  28,  1876,  to  Miss  E.  Emma  Reed, 
of  Sabina,  Ohio.  After  first  marriage 
engaged  in  drug  and  grocery  trade, 
continuing  until  1876.  Though  raised 
a  Democrat,  Mr.  Crispin  early 
espoused     the     anti-slavery     cause, 


REV.  WILLIAM  FROST  CRISPIN. 

allying  himself  with  the  Republican 
party,  on  its  organization  ;  served  as 
census  enuinerator  for  his  township 
in  1880,  but  for  the  past  ten  years  has 
been  a  zealous  Prohibitionist.  Relig- 
iously a  Universalist,  besides  occa- 
sionally preaching  and  lecturing, 
since  1870,  traveling  for  denomina- 
tional publishing  house  two  years, 
and  in  the  interest  of  Buchtel  College 
nearly  six  years,  and  published  a 
book  on  Universalism  in  1888;  since 
his  ordination  in  1890,  has,  unaided, 
established  a  Mission,  resulting  in 
the  organization  of  a  Church  in 
Mansfield,  and  preached  for  a  time 
in  the  city  of  Springfield,  Ohio, 
besides  officiating,  since  1885,  as  the 
fortnightly  (paid)  correspondent  of 
the  Chicago  Universalist. 


A  PROPOS  of  the  foregoing  portrait  and  biography  of  Rev. 
^^  William  Frost  Crispin,  a  few  words,  in  addition  to  the  pretty 
full  history  of  Buchtel  College,  given  in  Chapter  VIII.  of  this 
w^ork,  are  due  to  that  gentleman  for  his  arduous  and  self-sacrificing 


DEATH   OF   ANOTHER    LADY    STUDENT.  1163 

labors  in  the  interest  of  that  beneficient  institution.  Notwith- 
standing the  munificence  of  Hon.  John  R.  Buchtel  and  others  of 
its  founders,  there  was  a  time,  about  1879,  '80,  w^hen  the  College 
was  struggling  under  such  an  incubus  of  debt  (about  $65,000)  as 
to  very  seriously  embarrass  its  operations,  if  not  absolutely  to 
threaten  its  existence.  In  this  emergency,  by  reason  of  his  strong 
love  for  the  Universalist  ChurcTi,  and  his  interest  in  the  cause  of 
education,  Rev.  J.  S.  Cantw^ell,  D.  D.,  recommended  Mr.  Crispin  to 
the  board  of  trustees  as  a  suitable  successor  to  Rev.  D.  C. 
Tomlinson,  as  financial  agent  of  the  College.  In  accordance  with 
this  recommendation  the  Executive  Board  made  an  arrangement 
w^ith  Mr.  Crispin,  by  which  he  entered  upon  the  work  of  can- 
vassing the  southern  half  of  Ohio,  and  Summit  county,  Rev.  W. 
P.  Burnell  being  employed  to  canvass  the  rest  of  the  northern 
half  of  the  State.  In  this  ^work  Mr.  Crispin  was  so  successful  that 
he  was  soon  regularly  employed  as  financial  agent  at  a  stated 
salary  and  expenses  paid,  removing  his  family  to  Akron  in  the 
Spring  of  1881.  By  reason  of  the  embarrassments  alluded  to,  and 
other  causes,  the  work  of  raising  money  w^as  at  this  period  at 
a  standstill,  many  of  its  friends  having  so  nearly  lost  faith  in  its 
success  that  it  w^as  very  difficult  to  rally  them  to  its  support. 

But  through  the  tact  and  perseverance  of  Mr.  Crispin,  these 
difficulties  were  overcome  and  disaster  to  the  institution  averted 
— unremittingly  laboring  through  the  week,  soliciting  money  and 
students,  and  often  lecturing  on  education  or  preaching  on 
Sunday.  This  strain,  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Crispin,  was  kept  up 
for  about  five  years  w^ithout  vacation — travelling  in  all  sorts  of 
ways  and  weather,  often  in  the  night  and  broken  of  rest,  and  fre- 
quently with  the  very  poorest  of  accommodations,  \vhich,  w^ith  the 
care  in  part  of  his  wife  in  her  severe  sickness,  w^recked  his  own 
health,  producing  nervous  prostration  and  partial  paralysis,  prac- 
tically "shelving"  him  for  many  years,  if  not  for  life.  Besides 
largely  aiding  in  the  cancellation  of  the  debt  alluded  to.  by 
collections  on  old  and  new  subscriptions,  Mr.  Crispin  secured 
nineteen  one  thousand  dollar  scholarships,  being  the  first  to  interest 
Mr.  Henry  Ainsworth,  of  Lodi,  in  the  College,  securing  first  from 
that  gentlemen  properties  valued  at  $7,500  and  later  properties 
valued  at  $10,000,  also  interesting  him  in  the  chair  of  mathematics 
w^hich  he  subsequently  endowed  with  $30,000,  his  total  benefac- 
tions and  bequests  amounting  to  over  $70,000.  Besides  the  securing 
of  many  other  smaller  sums,  the  College  was  thoroughly  adver- 
tised through  Mr.  Crispin's  lectures  on  Education  before  some 
twenty  High  Schools,  and  doubtless  his  work,  in  cultivating 
loyalty  to  the  College  among  the  Universalists  of  the  State,  w^ill 
bear  good  fruit  in  years  to  come,  all  the  money  secured  by  him, 
outside  of  Akron,  being  Universalist  mone}^  given  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  a  college  under  the  auspices  of  the  Universalist  church, 
which  could  have  been  secured  for  no  other  purpose,  Mr,  Crispin's 
experience  being  that  soliciting  money  is  the  most  difficult,  the 
most  unpleasant  and  the  least  appreciated  employment  in  which  a 
person  can  engage,  and  yet  a  most  essential  part  of  the  work  of 
founding  and  maintaining  a  college. 

SAD  ENDING  OF  ANOTHER  YOUNG  LIFE. 

In  this  connection,  recurring  to  the  appalling  disaster  in  the 
College,  on  the  night  of  December  13,  1890,  by  which  two  of  the 


1164  AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 

lady  students  were  deprived  ot  life,  and  several  others  severely 
burned,  as  described  in  Chaptei^  VIII,  of  this  work,  it  is  proper  to 
say  that  since  that  Chapter  was  printed,  another  of  the  injured 
young  ladies — Miss  Myrtle  Louisa  Barker,  of  Peru,  Ohio,  has  also 
passed  away,  as  a  result  of  the  injuries  then  received.  After 
removal  to  her  home,  the  burns  healed  rapidly,  and  though  still  a 
great  sufferer,  she  pluckily  returned  to  the  College,  and,  passing 
safely  through  the  Spring  term  of  1891,  was  promptly  in  her  place 
again  on  the  opening  of  the  Fall  term.  But  though  her  mental 
powers  were  unimpaired,  her  physical  and  nervous  system  could 
hot  stand  the  strain,  Miss  Barker  dying  suddenly,  October  9,  1891, 
to  the  general  grief  of  not  only  her  family  friends,  and  of  her 
college 'mates  and  the  faculty,  but  of  the  citizens  of  Akron  gener- 
ally. The  rest  of  the  injured  young  ladies,  so  far  as  known,  have 
substantially  recovered  from  the  fearful  results  of  that  unfor- 
tunate event. 

DEATH  OF  MR.  JOY  H.  PENDLETON. 

Since  that  chapter  was  printed,  also,  one  of  the  most  devoted 
friends  and  liberal  supporters  of  the  college,  Joy  H.  Pendleton, 
Esq.,  has  passed  away,  his  death  occurring  October  10,  1891,  at  the 
age  of  81  years,  8  month  and  9  days.  Mr.  Pendleton  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  board  of  trustees,  a  member  of  the  executive  committee 
and  treasurer  of  the  college,  Hon.  George  W.  Crouse  having  been 
appointed  to  succeed  him  on  the  executive  committee,  and  Albert 
B.  Tinker  as  treasurer,  the  vacancy  in  the  board  of  trustees  not 
yet  having  been  filled. 

In  this  connection,  and  as  a  closing  word  in  behalf  of  the  col- 
lege, it  is  proper  to  say  that  the  prospects  for  the  speedy  erection 
of  the  Science  Building  alluded  to  on  page  165  are  still  bright, 
while  the  college  authorities  are  negotiating  for  the  purchase  of 
several  acres  of  land,  a  short  distance  south  of  the  college,  for  ath- 
letic grounds,  which,  if  secured  and  properly  fitted  up,  will  prove 
a  source  of  healthful  amusement  to  the  students,  and  of  pleasure 
to  the  citizens  of  Akron  generally. 

THE  HOWARD  STREET  DISASTER. 

Originally,  the  entire  west  side  of  Howard  street,  from  Market 
street  south  to  the  present  site  of  Rohrbacher  &  Allen's  hardware 
store,  w^as  covered  w^ith  one  and  two-story  frame  business  and 
residence  buildings,  with  the  exception  of  the  two-story  brick 
tavern,  immediately  south  of  what  is  now  Phoenix  Hall,  a  part  of 
-which  is  still  standing,  the  Perkins  Company,  heretofore  written 
of,  about  1845,  erecting  the  three-story  brick  block,  now  occupied 
by  Greenwood  Brothers,  as  a  clothing  store. 

On  the  night  of  September  16,  1848,  all  of  those  wooden  struc- 
tures, between  the  Perkins  block  and  the  alley  on  the  north,  were 
destroyed  by  fire,  as  described  on  page  333,  of  this  work,  involving 
a  total  loss  about  $25,000.  The  burned  buildings  were  replaced  by 
plain,  but  substantial  two  and  three-story  brick  structures,  dur- 
ing the  years  1849,  ^50,  the  present  Dussell  block  being  erected  by 
one  of  Akron's  early  druggists,  the  late  Leverett  J.  Ives,  a  brother- 
in-law  of  our  well-known  citizen.    Thomas  H.  Goodwin,  Esq. 

On  the  night  of  February  17,  1851,  the  entire  square,  bounded 
by  Canal,  Market  and  Howard  streets,  and  the  alley,  was  devas- 
tated, except  the  partial  escape  of  the  two-story  building  on  the 


THE   HOWARD   STREET  COLLAPSE.  1165 

alley,  belonging  to  the  estate  of  the  late  Col.  Justus  Gale,  on  the 
present  site  of  Cutter's  fine  brick  block,  the  aggregate  losses  being 
from  $25,000  to  $30,000,  the  sufferers  being  Johnson  &  Pratt, 
auctioneers,  corner  Market  and  Canal  streets  (where  the  fire  origi- 
nated), P.  I).  Hall  &  Co.,  corner  Howard  and  Market,  general  mer- 
chandise; I.  P.  Sanford  &  Co.,  clothing;  A.  Hibbard  Sc  Co.  (the 
old  "  green  store"), dry  goods;  Abbey  &  Rose,  dry  goods;  and  Sum- 
ner &  Co.,  general  merchandise;  a  large  proportion  of  the  contents 
of  several  of  the  stores  named  being  removed,  how^ever,  before  the 
ilemes  reached  them. 

These  burned  frame  structures  were  also  replaced  by  plain, 
but  substantial  three-story  brick  buildings  as  rapidly  as  the 
mechanical  facilities  of  that  day  would  admit  of,  the  block  of  P. 
D.  Hall  &  Co.,  on  the  corner,  extending  back,  on  Market  street  to 
the  corner  of  Canal  street,  and  including  that  portion  on  How^ard 
street  now  occupied  by  the  City  National  Bank;  the  building 
lately  occupied  by  S.  B.  Lafferty,  by  the  late  Allen  Hibbard,  and 
that  lately  occupied  by  Herrick  &  Son,  by  C.  Johnston  &  Co.  (Cor- 
nelius Johnston  and  Daniel  McNaughton),  the  old  Gale  building, 
on  the  alley,  saved  from  the  tire,  about  1865  giving  place  to  the 
fine  brick  block,  still  standing  there,  erected  by  Cutter  &  Howe 
(Morrill  T.  Cutter  and  the  late  Charles  R.  Howe),  all  of  the  build- 
ings, as  then  erected,  being  show^n  in  the  upper  engraving,  on 
page  462. 

These  several  buildings,  exteriorly,  have  since  remained  sub- 
stantially as  originally  erected,  except  the  Johnston  block,  which, 
then  occupied  as  a  clothing  store  by  one  Jonathan  Long,  was 
"  mysteriously  "  burned  out  on  the  night  of  June  28, 1872,  in  rebuild- 
ing w^hich  its  present  ow^ners,  Messrs.  Israel  Isbell  and  Henry  H. 
Clark,  added  a  handsome  stone  front,  as  shown  in  the  lower 
engraving  on  the  page  above  named. 

Thus  matters  have  remained,  with  occasional  changes  of  ten- 
ants for  the  central  blocks,  until  Saturday,  November  7,  1891,  the 
tw^o  blocks  named,  belonging  respectively  to  the  estate  of  the  late 
Dr.  E.  W.  Howard  and  Messrs.  Isbell  Sc  Clark,  the  former  occupied 
by  Mr.  Shepherd  B.  Lafferty,  and  the  latter  by  Herrick  &  Son,  as 
above  stated.  Though  the  owners  and  occupants  had  for  some 
time  been  aware  that  the  foundation  of  the  division  wall  was 
defective,  and  were  planning  for  repairs  at  an  early  date,  no  fears 
of  immediate  disaster  were  entertained.  On  the  day  named, 
bright  and  balmy,  the  streets  of  our  always  busy  city  were  unusu- 
ally thronged,  and  its  business  places  crowded  with  customers, 
the  noon  hour  being  an  especially  busy  one  in  the  dining  hall  of 
the  Lafferty  establishment. 

About  1  o'clock,  after  the  rush  was  substantially  over,  but 
while  several  of  his  customers  were  still  at  the  tables,  Mr.  Lafferty 
became  aware,  from  certain  crackling  sounds,  and  from  falling 
plaster  in  the  front  part  of  the  store,  that  danger  was  impending, 
and  hurried  his  help  and  customers  to  the  rear  part  of  the  room. 
A  moment  later,  the  entire  front  of  the  building,  together  with 
that  occupied  by  Messrs.  Herrick  &  Son,  fell  to  the  ground  with  a 
mighty  crash,  the  front  walls,  composed  of  brick  and  heavy  blocks 
of  stone,  covering  the  sidewalk  and  extending  nearly  half  across 
the  street.  And,  most  wonderful  to  relate,  with  from  twenty  to 
twenty-five  persons  in  the  two  buildings,  and  with  the  street  and 


1166 


AKRON    AND    SUMMIT   COUNTY. 


sidewalk  crowded  w^ith  men,  \vonien  and  children,  no  loss  of 
human  life  resulted  from  the  catastrophe,  and  but  one  serious 
accident — Miss  Frances  Miner,  from  Johnson's  Corners,  being 
borne  down  by  the  falling  debris,  and  so  badly  injured  as  to 
require  the  amputation  of  the  right  leg,  at  the  knee,  a  few  hours 
later;  a  horse,  however,  belonging  to  John  H.  Stauffer,  of  Copley, 
being  instantly  killed  by  the  falling  -walls. 

While  the  inmates  and  visitors  in  the  two  collapsed  buildings 
w^ere  severely  shaken  up,  and  of  course  very  greatly  frightened, 
immunity  from  death  or  serious  injury  was  largely  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  rear  end  of  both  buildings  remained  intact,  while  the 
inner  portion  of  the  upper  floors  and  roofs,  follow^ing  the  crumbling 
wall,  left  the  outer  portion,  at  quite  an  angle,  resting  against  the 
w^alls  of  the  contiguous  buildings,  thus  preventing  the  serious, 
if  not  fatal,  consequences  to  the  several  parties  involved,  that 
must  inevitably  have  otherwise  resulted ;  one  of  the  most  mirac- 
ulous escapes  from  instant  death  being  that  of  Frank  Zimmerman, 
a  candy-maker,  just  returned  from  his  dinner  to  his  wrork  in  the 
front  part  of  the  third  story  of  the  Lafferty  block,  who  was  carried 
down  with  the  building  and,  to  the  great  surprise  of  the  rap- 
idly gathering  and  horrijfled  spfectators,  was  presently  seen  crawl- 
ing out  from  amid  the  wreckage,  and  w^ho,  on  recovering  from  the 
daze  into  which  he  was  thrown,  and  pulling  himself  together, 
-was  found  to  have  a  sprained  w^rist  and  a  few  slight  bruises,  only, 
to  remind  him  of  the  fearful  peril  from  which  he  had  so  providen- 
tially escaped. 


Messrs.  Herrick  &  Son,  with  their  characteristic  energy,  on 
the  following  Monday  morning,  established  themselves  in  the 
commodious  east  store  room  of  the  Academy  of  Music  building, 


THE  CONCLUSION. 


1167 


-where,  with  the  uninjured  portion  of  their  stock,  a  considerable 
part  of  which  was  still  in  original  packages  in  the  basement,  and 
with  immediately  ordered  large  additions,  they  are  now  (Decem- 
ber, 1891),  serving  their  customers  as  usual,  while  Mr.  Lafferty, 
with  similar  promptness,  removed  his  confectionery  store  and  din- 
ing hall  to  204  East  Market  street,  his  bakery,  in  the  rear  of  the 
old  stand,  remaining  intact,  and  his  customers  supplied  with  their 
daily  bread  without  interruption. 

The  owners  of  the  collapsed  buildings  have  not  as  yet  fully 
perfected  their  plans  for  rebuilding,  but  it  is  understood  that  both 
blocks  will  be  rebuilt  in  accordance  with  the  most  approved  style 
of  modern  architecture  at  an  early  day. 

The  foregoing  view  of  the  collapsed  buildings,  a  zinc 
etching  reproduced  by  the  Werner  Printing  &  Litho.  Company, 
from  a  photo  taken  by  George  E.  Hitchcock  immediately  after  the 
catastrophe,  more  graphically  illustrates  its  nature  and  extent, 
and  its  w^onderfuUy  fortunate  outcome,  than  could  any  word  paint- 
ing at  the  command  of  the  w^riter,  who,  though  already  largely  in 
excess  of  his  originally  designed  limits,  while  deploring  the  losses 
and  injuries  involved,  is  pleased  to  embody  it  in  his  book,  as  being 
among  the  most  wonderful  of  the  many  wonderful  events  herein 
recorded  of  "Fifty  Years  and  Over  of  Akron  and  Summit  County." 


THE  NEW  HIGH  STREET  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST. 

As  a  fitting-  close  to  this  history,  and  as  evidence  that  the  moral  and 
spiritual  sentiment  of  our  people  is  keeping-  fully  abreast  -with  their  indus- 
trial, commercial  and  financial  enterprise,  a  cut,  from  the  architects' drawing", 
is  here  g-iven  of  the  new  church  edifice  to  be  erected  by  the  High  Street 
Church  of  Christ,  in  1892.     See  history  of  Society  on  page  201. 


ADDENDA,  ERRATA,  ETC. 


IN  a  work  of  such  a  character  and  magriitude  as  this,  and  covering  several 
years  in  its  compilation,  and  several  months  in  its  publication, 
numerous  errors  will  unavoidably  have  crept  in,  and  many  changes  in 
firms,  corporations,  occupations,  locations,  etc.,  will  have  taken  place,  while 
some  of  the  parties,  whose  portraits  and  biographies  were  printed  herein 
when  they  were  still  in  actual  life,  may  possibly  have  meantime  passed 
away.  While  it  will  be  impossible  to  advert  to  all  the  errors,  of  ommission 
or  commission,  that  a  critical  perusal  will  disclose,  in  addition  to  the 
deaths  of  Mr.  Pendleton,  as  given  on  page  1164,  and  of  Judge  James  S. 
Carpenter,  noted  on  page  551,  after  their  portraits  and  biographies  had 
been  printed,  so,  also,  Mr.  Robert  L.  Ewart,  of  Springfield,  father  of  Major 
Joseph  C.  Ewart,  of  Akron,  suddenly  passed  away,  November  19,  1891,  at 
the  a^e  of  79  years,  8  months  and  1  daj',  his  portrait  being  given 
on  page  982. 

In  the  sketch  of  Akron's  well-known  machinist,  James  B.  Taplin,  Esq., 
on  page  170,  an  error  appears,  in  that  he  should  be  credited  with  service 
as  a  member  of  Council  of  the  Incorporated  Village  of  Akron,  for  the 
year  1854,  and  with  re-election  in  1855,  though  resigning,  as  stated,  before 
entering  upon  his  second  term,  as  is  shown  in  the  official  roster  on 
page  262. 

In  a  portion  of  the  edition,  as  printed.  Mr.  Ulysses  Marvin,  of  Stow, 
father  of  Judge  U.  L.  Marvin,  of  Akron,  is  recorded  as  having  been  born 
in  "Ljain,"  Connecticut,  when  it  should  have  been  "Lyme,"  an  error  which 
his  more  intimate  friends  and  acquaintances  will  readily  be  able  to 
rectify. 

Rev.  Frank  M.  Green,  is  also  given  as  still  a  resident  of  Stow,  though 
now  located  at  Wilmington,  Clinton  countj',  Ohio,  Mr.  Green  saying  in  a 
recent  letter  to  the  writer:  "While  away,  'Theologically,'  I  am  'at  home,' 
.  in  heart,  in  Summit  Countj^  and  Stow." 


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